A game about survival on a space station. Online space games on PC - strategies, simulators about spaceships. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Signs of Life is a sci-fi game with simple graphics and an open world. Another global war has led to the destruction of our planet. The earth is no longer suitable for life and humanity has only one chance - to find a new home! Under the leadership of the UN, two spaceships were created: Hephaestus - the main ship to overcome enormous distances and Hermes - a fast and small reconnaissance ship. An Earth-like planet has been found 18 light years away. The first to be sent was “Hermes”, which must find out everything and prepare for the arrival of the main colony, which is located on “Hephaestus”. After 4 years, Hephaestus arrived at the indicated planet, but, having caught a weak signal from nearby asteroids, he decided to check them. This became a fatal decision, as a result of which only you survived from the entire crew. Now all you have is clothing, a multi-function laser, and a wrist-mounted artificial intelligence device called AGIS. Everyone you love is dead. There is no more humanity! All you have to do is embark on your final journey with little hope for a miracle.

Avorion is a multiplayer space sandbox in which you will build spaceships and stations of any shape. Of course, construction requires money, which can be obtained by mining asteroids or trading with other players or bots. You can explore the endless expanses of space, but don't forget that pirates can take advantage of you, so take care of protection! Of course, you yourself can become a pirate, earning good money, but seriously risking your ships.

Alpha v11.5.5 2775

Imagine Earth is a new game project in which the player will be asked to create a civilization on an uninhabited planet. Before you is an ideal planet for humanity. Your task is to create a prosperous civilization on the planet. Gradually developing, you must monitor the basic resources, as well as the environment. A powerful industry provides good resources and a strong impetus for development, but at the same time it can completely destroy the planet. You can thoughtlessly cut down trees, which will very soon lead to a lack of oxygen and other natural disasters. You must learn to use the planet's wealth moderately, but at the same time develop your civilization. The problem is that other civilizations are developing on other planets, which will charmingly try to take a dominant role and because of this they will want to destroy you.

Cosmoteer is a free space sandbox in which you will explore limitless space on a ship you built yourself. Earn money to improve an old ship or build a new one. How the various components of the ship are placed will determine its characteristics. Moreover, it is impossible to build a universal ship; you should initially decide what type of ship your ship will be. It is also worth noting the combat system, where the degree and nature of the damage will depend on the location of the projectile impact. Also think carefully about your ship so that it does not fall apart after the first successful enemy hit. It is better to install vital modules in safe places, even at the expense of flight performance.

You wake up from cryogenic sleep on a giant space station - Object 6, which is flying to a new planet for colonization. When you wake up, you realize that there are serious problems at the station. She was consumed by a little-studied mental illness - Somnia. Add to this hunger and thirst and you get a gloomy post-apocalyptic world. Your task is to put everything together bit by bit and figure out what happened to the station, as well as understand the mystery of the mythical Evacuation Point.

Universe Sandbox 2 is an attempt to create a kind of sandbox simulator of our solar system. You can feel like a god, you can push the Moon into the Earth and watch what happens. Change the orbits of the planets, increase their rotation speeds, change the climate, axis tilt, etc. Each change leads to consequences, which arouses great interest. In essence, Universe Sandbox 2 can be a great educational tool. After all, you will be able to clearly find out the characteristics of the planets of our solar system, and you will also be able to change various parameters and see how they affect the planet. In addition to planets, the game has thousands of unique asteroids, meteorites and comets that can be collided with planets without much difficulty.

Space simulators are not for everyone. This axiom does not depend on the genre, year of release, graphics or ease of control. The fact is that gamers treat game projects about space with some distrust and do not want to waste their time flying in outer space. Just look at the most popular games, whether measured by online player count or digital copy sales, and you won't notice space simulators there. We don’t take Star Citizen into account, because this game is above all laws, rules and regulations.

The most popular games today are League of Legends, Dota 2, with their “Battle Royale” and all multiplayer products of this type. They gain their fame for a lot of reasons, but they certainly deserve it. Everyone wants to come home or to a computer club, sit down at the computer and fight. To somehow express yourself, throw out negative emotions, communicate with friends and receive moral satisfaction from this. Space simulators provide a slightly different experience, which makes them not so popular among gamers.

Plus, space simulators, and games related to space in general, have two key problems that prevent them from becoming so widespread and popular.

First reason- difficulty in implementation. Creating a map for CS:GO or League of Legends is quite difficult; you need to think through many details and moments, draw graphics, test and release. However, this is a certain set of elements that will be polished and not touched again. Now imagine how much effort and time it takes to create at least a solar system. Create planets, organize locations, textures, animals, vegetation on these planets, add some activities or simply make them more or less interesting.

Now let's add transport to the planets - we need a ground version, aircraft, various spaceships and everything like that. If the game is built on the basis of exploring the galaxy, then you need to come up with a lot of mechanics, details and graphical components. As a result, it is much easier to create a shooter than to develop a really good game about space.

The second reason- popularity is lower than cliched shooters and MOBAs. Yes, now many EVE Online fans will say that space simulators have a huge audience, but even the coolest and longest-running EVE online at its peak was 50 thousand people. For comparison, Dota 2 is now in decline and 400 thousand people online are considered a meager figure, while two million people log in to PUBG every day. Naturally, the developers don’t have much desire to create a heavy project about space, when it will still have ten times fewer players than the modern version of the mod for WarCraft. And, if there are few players, then it will be more difficult to get a decent profit.

Because of these two difficulties, there are indeed very, very few space-themed game projects on the market. There are various indie games where only the name remains of space, there are games from the 2000s where the graphics have been redone and now play on the feelings of the older generation. There are quite a few powerful and interesting products that I would like to play. Today I will talk about five games that, in my personal opinion, are the best representatives of their genre.

Plus, after the main part of the article there will be a bonus for those who want to play something about space, but do not want it to be the basis of the entire gameplay.

EVE Online

There are a lot of active players here, minding their own business - building an economy, extracting resources, building ships, earning money, communicating, developing development strategies, and even waging political battles. Yes, this game has its own politics, its own strong clans, and they are constantly fighting for resources, benefits, advantageous locations and territories.

The game was released back in 2003. Just imagine - the game from 2003 is still played to this day, while the online presence is even growing a little and the players are not at all planning to move somewhere. The number of active subscribers (more on subscription a little later) is 330 thousand people, from 15 to 50 thousand people are constantly online. And, most importantly, they all play on one common server. Imagine - 50 thousand people on one server. In 2016, the developer received $86 million in profit, which means that the project will be developed and attracted more and more new users.

The game is free, but you won't be able to play for a long time without a paid subscription. The fact is that the free version has a number of restrictions on the character level and equipment that you can use, so it will be unrealistic to play comfortably without a subscription. It is worth noting the price tag for an annual subscription - $131. And, most importantly, even if you pay $10 a month for access to the game, no one guarantees you success, victories in battles or a sea of ​​resources. You can explore space with an empty pocket all this year and pay the cost of two AAA games just for the opportunity to use all the project's capabilities.

However, this is the largest space game in history. A huge number of players, ships that will take your breath away, real economics and politics, a myriad of opportunities for self-realization in various areas of virtual life. If you want to sit seriously and for a long time at the helm of a spaceship, then EVE Online will give you everything you could want.

It is worth understanding that the game is quite complex and requires you to explore not only the game world, but also mechanics, economic features, interaction with other players, and performing routine tasks. If you want to fly around the galaxy and fight a couple of enemies, close the game and go on about your business - this game is not for you. Absolutely not for you.

Pros:

• 15-50 thousand people on the server;
• a virtual world of unimaginable size;
• many ships;
• politics, economics, society;
• a serious, full-fledged game about space.

• costs $131 per year;
• There is no point in playing for free;
• delving into it is long and difficult;
• even with a subscription you need to work like Papa Carlo;
• cool ship costs as much as a used car.

• the game takes a lot of time;
• you need to play for years;
• politics and economics are more important than battles.

Elite: Dangerous

But let's not talk about sad things. This project was released in 2014 and the developers are really working to make the game more enjoyable for you. Constant updates, patches, free add-ons and a cool plotline will bring you a lot of positive emotions literally in the first minutes of playthrough.

It is worth making a clarification - the game allows you to play independently, without other people; you can play co-op with friends; you can play the multiplayer version of the project.

The first two options for passing are clear - you fly alone or in the company of friends, fight, explore planets, extract resources, enjoy open space and limitless possibilities. But, sooner or later, you will want to plunge online and the sensations will change dramatically. Yes, no one has been to the most distant planets, and if you fly a little further than the zone of main activity, you will search for a living player for hours. If you stay in the high-activity sector, you get a very vigorous space simulator.

You might get robbed. Or you and your friends can rob a single person, take all his goods and then do nothing until you catch the target again. You can explore planets, go down to them (you need to pay for the DLC to do this) and drive across endless planets, collecting valuable supplies. You can just fly and watch beautiful landscapes, visit the most interesting planets and relax.

There are really a lot of activities, but the online presence here is noticeably lower and the game is not available by subscription. This is a significant difference from EVE Online - where players pay ten bucks a month and don’t want this money to just disappear. Here, users are not so motivated by achievements, wars and the economy, since the game can be bought for ridiculous money on sale and receive content for many years in a row.

Pros:

• low entry threshold;
• on sale you can get it for $10;
• no subscription;
• three game modes;
• there is no need to invest in donation.

• the Milky Way is 95% empty;
• there is no important social component;
• the players are not that serious;
• landing on the planet for DLC priced at $20.

• sandbox without a plot;
• the planets are bare and boring;
• New mechanics have been introduced for years.

No Man Sky

The fact is that the developers, as usual, promised a lot of things. In particular, they promised players the endless expanses of the galaxy, where each planet would be unique, and its flora and fauna would not be repeated. At every interview, the creators talked about a special formula that creates millions and billions of planets for the player with a unique shape, color and features.

And, although Sean Murray also lied in this regard, the two main lies are different.

First lie - the game world will be so huge, diverse and multifaceted that two friends playing the game will never be able to meet on, say, the same planet. It is because of this that the developers put pressure on the fact that it would be more interesting to play alone, because you will never meet your friend - the world is too big and you are separated by enormous distances. But in just two hours of play, players were able to get to the same planet, visit the same locations, and even communicate with non-player characters who gave the same quests and dialogues. That is, the world is not that big here.

Second lie - multiplayer game. It is because of this that the game was returned to stores by thousands of users. It is because of this that the game will never reach even an average rating on Steam. It is because of this that the game is called the biggest deception in the gaming industry of the twenty-first century.

During interviews, the developers repeatedly said that the game is multiplayer and although you will not be able to find your friend in a huge galaxy, you will meet other players and interact somehow. It's just a single player game. There's not even co-op here, just a game for one person. Imagine that you've been waiting for a game for years, hoping that you're about to set off with your friends on a spaceship across the galaxy in search of adventure and riches, only to be told that in reality this won't happen.

After such a negative start, you might think that the game didn’t improve for me and how did it even get to the top. However, if we ignore all these speeches from the creators of the product, the expectations of users and the criticism of angry fans, then the game is very cool.

We have a really big virtual world. It’s not so big that you’ll spend hours flying from planet to planet, but you can’t fly across the galaxy in a couple of minutes, there are decent distances, solar systems and everything like that.

The planets are large, populated and more or less unique. It is worth understanding that all planets and flora and fauna were created according to a set of templates and a formula. If you play for twenty hours, then you already notice the similarities between the planets; after a hundred hours, nothing new will be shown. On the other hand, the planets are interesting, you can land on them, collect resources, look at the surroundings and fly further to explore wondrous worlds.

Let's not forget about tasks, various kinds of dialogues and stories, the possibility of upgrading a ship or purchasing a new aircraft. It’s all there, it’s implemented quite cool, and if you didn’t expect something like multiplayer from the game, then you’ll like it much more than EVE Online or Elite: Dangerous. Still, flying between planets, exploring them, extracting resources manually, completing tasks and enjoying unrealistically beautiful landscapes is much more interesting than engaging in politics or wandering through deserted locations in search of opponents to fight.

Pros:

• huge open world;
• inhabited planets;
• tasks, dialogues, stories;
• ship improvements;
• the freedom of action.

• lies from the developers;
• disappointment of the century;
• don't play with friends.

• it gets boring after a hundred hours;
• where are people?

Star Citizen

The fact is that on the Kickstarter platform the developers asked for a little more than two million dollars to create their incredibly cool project. Having collected more than four million, the team began creating the first module (part) of the game, simultaneously selling content on their website, by purchasing which you get access to the game immediately after release. That is, the fundraising continued, although the amount collected was twice the required amount.

Only in 2013 was the first part of the project shown - a hangar module in which you could monitor your ship, upgrade it, and so on. Just think about it - for a whole year the studio, consisting of two offices in Austin and Los Angeles with four million dollars in hand, created a hangar in which you can only look at the ship and repaint it, add some elements. During this period, EA may release a new Need For Speed ​​with hundreds of cars and tuning, for example.

The release of alpha version 3.0 was scheduled for early 2017. The amount that the developers managed to collect exceeded $170 million. However, in the five years since the start of fundraising, the game has not left the alpha version and we were given only four moons from the promised galaxy.

At the moment, players have gained access to some content, which, although very far from what the developers promised, but it already looks cool. We have four moons (not to be confused with the Earth's satellite - the Moon), there is a decent distance between them and you can move between objects by jumping into hyperspace. Yes, just like in Star Wars, when the stars around you stretch into lines and you cover enormous distances in a matter of moments.

In addition, upon arrival in the orbit of the moon, you can explore it on your aircraft, fly around the space object and choose the most suitable place to land. The size of the moons is truly impressive, and even flying over the surface of one such satellite requires a lot of time. After exploring the landscape, you can land on the surface and go on a journey - for this there is a special vehicle on six wheels.

True, there are only a couple of interesting locations on the moon, while approximately 98% of the surface is of no interest at all. Desert locations with rare craters and hills that will get boring within ten minutes of the trip. You can search for secret places and a base with its own population, NPCs and quests.

That is, today the project allows you to jump between four moons, drive along the desert surface of each of them, plus spend an unforgettable five minutes at the bases; there is nothing longer to do there. There are also repair stations, but they are also not very interesting.

At the same time, you can only play at adequate 30 frames per second on an empty server. If two or three more people enter the server, then FPS drops to 10-20 and does not rise higher, even if your computer costs five thousand dollars. The problem is in the network code - it is not optimized at all for computers with current capacities.

A fact that caused distrust in the entire project as a whole were changes in the rules for refunding users who bought ships and sets in Star Citizen. Previously, the rules stated that if the game was not released 18 months after the specified release date, “investors” would receive all their funds back. Now the rules have changed dramatically - funds cannot be returned until the team has completely stopped developing the game. Simply put, as long as the studio says that development is underway, you can wait at least ten years for a refund.

Players are simply afraid that the developers are deliberately delaying development and investing as much effort as is necessary to further earn money from the sale of ships. After all, apart from modest and boring moons with a hangar for repairs, nothing else was implemented over such a long period and with such huge money on hand. Naturally, investors are worried about their $45 (now this is the minimum amount for access to the game) and too many factors indicate that they are worried for good reason.

However, if the game is released in full form, then this will be the end of absolutely all space simulators, and most online projects of other genres too. The developers have already shown a completely seamless virtual world with the ability to board a ship and explore space without obstacles. In the future, we are promised the opportunity to land on any planet, collect resources or complete a quest, they promise cities with characters, housing, entertainment and work. And I’m not talking about such things as battles in space, ships, modifications, and so on.

The game really has a lot of ambitions, and if it is brought to fruition, it will be possible to explore space on your own, with friends, fight or trade, work and enjoy those activities that are not available in real life or other games. Only for its ambitions and what the developers show in their modules and videos for social networks, the game was called the best and most modern project.

Just imagine a game where you board your ship, fly through a dozen solar systems, fly to one of the planets, land (without loading or tearing), fight with other players for resources, fly away and move on. Into outer space, where there are no barriers. Sounds damn good if it were still optimized for a smooth gaming experience and given a little more content.

Pros:

• the most ambitious game in history;
• $170 million for development;
• open space without loading screens;
• hundreds of activities and hobbies;
• many variations of ships and equipment.

• for five years of development only an alpha version;
• 10-20 FPS;
• four desert moons with no content;
• buy a ship and let's play.

• We may not live to see the release version.

Space Engineers

The developers have taken on the very difficult task of creating a space simulator, in which the system for designing and assembling a spaceship will be thought out in great detail, a system of landing on planets and asteroids for extracting resources will be implemented, plus the process of interaction between players. For a small development studio this is a very difficult task, but they are gradually mastering it and this is pleasing.

Space Engineers has already been optimized so that you can play on your not very powerful computer and enjoy it with a stable frame rate without lags. At the time of the release of the project in the early access stage it was almost impossible to play, but now even on a mid-level computer the picture is quite pleasant. An endless virtual world opens up before you with such a range of possibilities that it will take your breath away.

You can get confused and find designs for huge ships online, then repeat the idea in the game, somehow change the design of the aircraft or redo the design. Very popular in this game are copies of spaceships from Star Wars, for example, which are very interesting to collect and you can always come up with something of your own. If you're not interested, you can quickly assemble a couple of ships with your friends and push them against each other, look at the beautiful destruction and have a good laugh.

Pros:

• ship design;
• manual assembly of aircraft;
• a lot of mechanisms;
• open space with all the laws of physics;
• the project is constantly updated and refined;
• there are hundreds of guides on the Internet for assembling the coolest ships;
• You can collect the Death Star.

• optimization is not perfect yet;
• not very user-friendly interface;
• complex mechanisms;
• building a ship takes a lot of time.

• there are no mechanics for fun;
• There is also no need to communicate with other players.

Games closely related to space

I mean space battles - they are thought out very well and playing in space on a rebel fighter, or destroying everyone on an imperial ship, is quite cool and against the backdrop of these sensations you can even forget about the boxes. Indeed, the battle mode between spaceships here looks as vibrant as possible, players do unimaginable things with ships, and if you are a fan of all this and the theme of shootouts in space is close to you, then Star Wars: Battlefront II will give you the best multiplayer battles on space fighters on the video game market.

Mass Effect: Andromeda

I won’t say my opinion about the product as a whole, it’s no longer important, but the implementation of space research here is fantastic. You find a new system, scan each planet manually, find the information you need and move further along the storyline. Sometimes we are given the opportunity to go to the planet itself and explore its territory on an all-terrain vehicle, look for resources, enemies and secret places. Plus, there aren't many games where you can have a relationship with a girl of alien origin.

EVE: Valkyrie

Now we can say with confidence that this project is the reason why a gamer will buy a virtual reality helmet. A very colorful, bright and rich implementation of space battles, with almost complete immersion on the part of the player, allows you to completely forget about ordinary games with a mouse and keyboard/gamepad.

This game is the future of the industry, a shining example of how we will play in five years. If you really wanted to look at virtual reality, but did not notice any worthy games for which you could buy an expensive toy, then take a closer look at this simulator. It will satisfy even the most sophisticated users.

Kerbal Space Program

However, I'll try. Why is this game so interesting? We have a team of carbonauts and the task is to get to some planet, conduct our research and return home. Moreover, throughout this entire chain, success will depend solely on you and no one will land the rocket or take off for you. You need to completely design the aircraft, design its take-off module, take off from the Earth (this does not always work out) and go into space. Let's add to this the calculation of the flight trajectory to the desired point and the trajectory of return to the home planet. And, of course, landing.

Sometimes it takes hundreds of take-off attempts to realize one successful rocket. A lot of mistakes, failures and problems force you to read relevant literature, look at photos of real rockets, watch videos about the launch of real shuttles into space. Studying physics and astronomy and technical knowledge helps a lot. This is not just a toy for those who want to shoot at enemies in the evening, it requires thinking, studying and enlightenment. Agree, you don’t know many games where you need to learn something from the real world and read books.

Interesting Facts:

• In schools in Europe and the USA, the game is used for scientific projects in astronautics and physics.
• NASA directly contacted the project developers and asked them to familiarize players with the 2020 program for capturing extraterrestrial bodies.
• The developers of mods for Kerbal Space Program have created a ton of content and continue to do so.
• On the Internet you can find detailed diagrams of a wide variety of rockets and assemble everything yourself.

is a beautiful shooter with elements of a dating sim set in a space opera setting. Yes, and all kinds, and the vaunted one, are more about war than about space. But projects about space exploration without shooting and alien monsters still exist, and in honor of Cosmonautics Day we decided to recall the best games about space.

10. Moonbase

By and large, this lunar base simulator, released in 1990 for DOS, Amiga and Macintosh, was a fantastic version of SimCity. You, as a base commander, had to monitor the distribution of oxygen, water, energy, heat, etc. in a growing colony. Build new bunkers, connect them with passages, extract minerals and resources, monitor supplies from Earth. A colony was considered successful when it became completely self-sufficient.

In 1993, an updated version of the game was released - Lunar Command. And in 2001, Moon Tycoon appeared, even more similar to SimCity - in full 3D, with trade and diplomacy options.

9. Mars Colony: Challenger

Mars Colony: Challenger is a Martian colony simulator, somewhat similar to NASA's Moonbase Alpha project. But in terms of graphics, the game by HyperKat Games is very unpretentious, it looks like it was made in the early 2000s. Plus, there are still enough bugs to ruin your experience.

We set up a colony by performing various tasks: establishing a connection with the Earth, growing food, extracting resources. Everything is quite leisurely, thanks to the inconvenient interface, carefully checking every action. The game has seven large missions, divided into several phases. In addition, you can perform them in the company of friends.

8.Extrasolar

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration is involved in the development of many of the above projects. In addition, NASA produces a huge number of applications related to certain aspects of the agency’s activities and providing access to photographs taken during various missions, including literally on the day they were received, information about spacecraft, biographies of astronauts, etc. . and so on. Just search for NASA in Google Play or the App Store and you will find dozens of applications, including games about space.

Happy holiday to everyone for whom space research continues to be the forefront of science and an important aspect of the activities of the people of planet Earth.

Platforms: PC.

A radically updated version of the strategy, famous for its well-developed story campaign. Thousands of ships sailing the expanses of colorful space will impress anyone.

Battles take place in tactical mode, but are not without tension. You can command many types of starships, including giant battleships.

The collection includes both the original Homeworld and its sequel. Both look great on modern computers.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.

Humanity left Earth and went to establish a colony there. You have to manage it.

You will start with a small dome in the Martian desert, but over time you will be able to create a bustling and truly huge city of the future. The main thing is to monitor oxygen and energy, otherwise people will very soon begin to die like flies.

Platforms: PC, iOS.

The station itself is also well designed, so looking into its various corners, taking small steps closer to solving the mystery, is a real pleasure.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.

In this space simulator, you have a huge galaxy with 400 billion star systems at your disposal. You will start your journey on an unremarkable ship and you will have to decide what to do.

Become a fearless, cunning trader or a curious explorer. Take part in hot battles or be a real pacifist. One of the main features of the project is the ability to play the way you like.

By the way, controlling spaceships, be it a nimble fighter or a super-powerful cargo tractor, is incredibly enjoyable in Elite Dangerous.

Platforms: PC.

A massively multiplayer RPG in which players control every element of the vast cosmos. This is a truly living universe, with thousands of inhabitants fighting, trading, extracting resources and simply enjoying the breathtaking landscapes.

Break out of the relatively safe launch system - and you will find yourself in a real space Wild West, where espionage, piracy and fraud flourish. And here, every now and then, large-scale battles take place, with thousands of real dollars at stake.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.

A space action roguelike where when you die, your hard earned gains are yours to keep. You can spend them on upgrades, so you become stronger with each flight.

The fact that abilities accumulate allows one to climb deeper and deeper into the abyss of space. The enemies become more dangerous, but even if you die, it is not disappointing. You just start again, wondering how far you can fly this time.

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.

This online shooter with RPG elements boasts some of the most beautiful alien landscapes in gaming. It’s a pleasure to go through exciting and action-packed missions alone or with friends in any location, be it the ruins of Earth, the red jungle of the planet Nessus or the volcanoes of Io.

There you can fight with other players if you get tired of killing enemies controlled by artificial intelligence.

12. No Man's Sky

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One.