I disagree. I'm not saying those exact games should come out, but something very similar. I'm taking about the same depth of gameplay as X, but with the graphics of Galaxy on Fire.
I also disagree. In principle a similar game could run on the iPhone. Let's not argue tho ! Of course x3 couldn't be directly ported. But something like oolite the Elite like game for the mac could easily be made for the iPhone. I don't even mind if it's wireframe graphics ! It's just the open-ended multiple career possibilities and complex trading system that interest me.
The nearest game to Elite on iphone is Ports of Call. Highly recommended and while it's not in a space environment the actual game, in terms of what you do, is similar.
Thanks mate ! I've just bought this. Just read the help file and it looks like something I could really sink my teeth into !
yeah, but look at X - beyond the frontier. i know the iphone could handle it! (ok reduced graphics maybe. ) but fishlabs ports GoF2 at the moment. And on my phone this game was like freelancer. Just look at their homepage!
I love the first "X". I would be very hopped up. Also, here's one I love: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium_Galactica_II
Wow those screenies bring back memories ! I don't want anything with jumpgates myself though. I want real Newtonian physics and to have to manually set courses and use the gravity well of planetary bodies to slow down and things ! I remember the sense of joy in Frontier: First Encounters when I gained enough control of the ship to land on a planets surface ! Just flying about exploring was immensely satisfying ! How frustrating though when you used the auto-pilot and it sometimes went wrong and threw you into a planet ! lol ! Can you imagine the moaning that todays gamers would have in forums having to cope with such a buggy game ! Yet we still played it intensely ? You can get an update of the abandonware of First Encounters with bugs fixed and hires graphics - updated to play on todays machines ! I think it's called GLFFE if anyone wants to look it up.
all for someone prodding D.Braben's frontier developments, to start an Iphone conversion of Elite. It should be relatively easy. I remember seeing a Pocket PC version which was very impressive, but it got jumped on by DB and therefore removed. There was also a GBA version a while back As for Dark Nova, definitely Elite without the 3d/flying. Even the default character is called Jameson
There was a Google group called alt.fan.elite that dealt with this topic but I think it's largely defunct now unfortunately. Does anyone know anything about Oolite the Elite-u-like for the mac ? It was ported to run on windows. Surely it could be adapted to run on the iPhone. I guess I'll Dow little digging and see what I can find out.
It's great to see all of the ideas here! I'm from the Dark Nova dev team and we're now working to design the 2.0 version of the game. 2.0 will include a greatly expanded universe and a multi-player component. For us, it's great to read what elements people like and dislike on those various games. The descision to go 3D vs 2D, or focus more on real-time ship control vs. trading/quests/colonization/etc are some of the questions that keep us up at night. Thanks for posting here. We'll be watching and engaging as things progress! -Shon Dark Nova Dev Team Dead Jim Studios
There was a game for the Mac called Escape Velocity. It was 2D real time combat. It's very much a 2D version of Elite. Anyway, what I really wanted to say was the 2D battles were quite fun.
Thanks for Dark Nova. When my Palm died, I mourned not being able to play Space Trader. And up it pops on the App Store! V2.0: I tihnk what appeals to us is the open ended aspect of the game, not necessarily the flashy 3D real-time combat graphics. Open ended playing, open character path, lots of places to explore, lots of missions to do, replayability is what I loved about Space Trader. Escape Velocity on the iDevices would be HEAVEN for me!
elite 1 with some upgraded graphics should be perfectly sufficient. but chances are minimal that something decent comes this way.
Dark Nova seems like a very deep game, but not much explanation and hard to get into. I'm not a veteran of the genre by any means... Any tips?
After reading this thread, I headed to the app store to buy Dark Nova, only to find it's temporarily free. Can't wait to try it out. Even if I'll feel a bit guilty doing so for no charge.
My all time favorite space trader game is Star Control 2. A mix between Star Control 1 and 2 (the rotating map) along with the combat and trade from 2 probably would keep the game pretty casual.
