As part of GOG.com’s sale, they were giving away free copies of Rebel Galaxy when you buy something. A game I’d heard a handful of good things about but I heard a handful of things that warned me away from playing it. It’s real time space combat.
Now. Hearing that, you might say “real time space combat? SIGN ME UP!”, in which case, well, you probably already bought this game. As an old person, though, I find that “turn-based” is more my speed. Heck, in the absence of that, let me slow things down, think about them. Ruminate. Then speed them back up after I’ve queued up a handful of moves. Rebel Galaxy doesn’t quite do that.
That said, this here is the first song that I heard when I started up the game:
And I immediately said “okay… I’ll give it a shot”. Golly, was I glad I did. Rebel Galaxy is a handful of games all rolled together in one. Sure, it’s got the real time space combat thing. If you didn’t mind the broadside kinda combat popularized by Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, you will quickly see that this is something that you can learn to deal with. In addition to that, though, they’ve incorporated one of the oldies but goodies from the days of the palm pilot. Remember Dope Wars? Well, they’ve got the arbitrage game in this too. Buy some soy paste or religious tracts for 38 credits at this space station, sell it for 50 at that one. Do it enough, start trading in the *GOOD* stuff like live organs that moves in the thousands of credits.
Take the profits and improve your ship and get better at real time space combat.
As time goes on, you might even want to explore the main plot of the game. Something about your aunt or something? Heck with that, get back to Dope Wars in Space to Space Cowboy Music. Just like Firefly. Best free game I’ve ever gotten. If you dig real time space combat, then go over to GOG.com and buy something and claim your copy of Rebel Galaxy. If you wish that Dope Wars would make a comeback, the definitely pick this thing up. One heck of a good game and since it’s free (with purchase), you can’t beat it.
So… what are you playing?
(Picture is HG Wells playing a war game from Illustrated London News (25 January 1913[/efn_note]
Kerbal. Finally learned the main “trick” to space plane design (center of lift needs to be slightly behind center of gravity), thanks to Scott Manley’s YouTube videos. I was also inspired to reread Oscar’s aircraft engineering post. Now I kinda wish Kerbal had more focus on the engineering aspects, rather than mostly gluing parts together. But I realize there fun trumps realism, which all has to be balanced with what’s achievable programatically and is able to be run on the audience’s machines.Report
That’s not really a trick, it’s kinda how you design planes in general (you could just asked me, I would have told you).
PS if you like messing around with aircraft design, I recommend X-Play. It’s a top notch flight Sim & it has a built in Numerical simulation system that will estimate your design performance.Report
Thanks, I’ll add it to my wishlist and keep an eye out during the Summer Sale. (I assume you meant X-Plane.)Report
Yes, X-Plane (damn big thumbs and small phone keyboards…). I discovered that bit of software back when I was an undergrad and I tend to throw money at it every few versions because it really is quite good.Report
I do love seeing all these people saying “WHAT R BEST TIPZ FOR KERABL ROCKETS” and I’m like “kid, after I learned what those were I got to put letters after my name”.Report
We’re turning rocket science from an unaccessible hobby into an accessible one.
We’ve got kids asking for tips for rockets. They’re playing at stuff that used to get you letters after your name.
We need to make video games about drug research.Report
“This just in: new video game shows kids how to make real nova-6”Report
When they start designing and building actual rockets (even model rockets), I’ll be impressed.
Although you get the letters after your name not for knowing the tips, but for knowing how those tips all work together to prevent flaming wreckage from being strewn across three counties.Report
Ha, when was your first rocket build?Report
7 or 8, I think?
My “Oh crap, the math is really effing important” moment came when I decided to give an old model rocket a Viking funeral, pulled the ‘B’ motor mount out, glued a large ‘C’ motor into it, ripped out the parachute and hung a condom full of gasoline from the nose cone (& glued the nose cone in).
Made it I don’t know how high before the motor cut out, but it fell back to about 10 feet up in the air before the ejection charge popped and turned it into a fireball. I had hit the deck by then and felt the heat wash over me.
PS I was in my early teensReport
I guess I was about eleven when I started sending up ‘payload’.Report
I’ll be honest, a lot of this Kerbal stuff goes as far some things I’ve been paid to do.Report
Once I got used to the combat system, I really enjoyed Rebel Galaxy. I hope they do a DLC or an RG2, because I got to the end of the story & wanted more. I’m seriously considering playing it through again and going hardcore pirate.Report