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I’ve always wanted to try Star Wars bridge simulator but haven’t due to the high cost and mediocre reviews.

treve 5y ago
You're probably talking about Star Trek, but I can confirm. Me and a few friends got this (some of which with VR) and it feels like a fantastic premise, but it's very linear and it has very little content. It feels more like a demo than a full game. Desperate for more in this genre we ended up playing a bunch of Pulsar: Lost Colony. It has a lot more depth (but can be a bit rough around the edges).
- chrischen 5y ago
  I’d imagine Bridge simulation is pretty close to actual naval vessel operations. If something like this doesn’t exist then someone should make a naval vessel simulator and adapt it.
  - dividuum 5y ago
    There’s Carrier Command 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2
    - AlexAndScripts 5y ago
      I've been playing CC2 a lot. It's got a steep learning curve and some bugs but is brilliant with friends.
    - sprkwd 5y ago
      Wow. That must’ve one of the longest gaps between releases.
- mhh__ 5y ago
  I think it's a fundamental limitation of video games. Unless you are playing against other people, you are never really somewhere and I think that shatters the illusion. The same way that "holding" a gun in VR is really impressive, but the headset can't mimic the wind in your face or cool spray of the sea - these issues, I think, don't arise with 2D games because there are too far away from the uncanny valley. You and your friends in charge of a spaceship would probably feel like commanding a PBR in Vietnam, but I don't think a game can capture that Vibe (it's a cheap term but I genuinely think it fits). Pulsar looks cool though, will check it out.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - chongli 5y ago
    these issues, I think, don't arise with 2D games because there are too far away from the uncanny valley Yeah. This is why I can spend hundreds of hours with a game like FTL: Faster Than Light. Its 2D and very simple pixel art give way to fantastic gameplay rife with difficult decisions and lasting consequences! It would be really cool to have the gameplay of FTL with immersive, high-end VR but I think such a game would never be made due to the risks of alienating the audience.
  - krisoft 5y ago
    > I think it's a fundamental limitation of video games. I don't think so. Game design is a whole art form in itself. Some games suck at it and some games succeed. I haven't played with the linked game, but played with Artemis. That one sucked. The good part of it was being nerdy and role-playing out a fantasy with friends. The bad part was that after the first "battle" engagement we quickly learned that the enemy is very predictable and the game won't provide any challenges to us. Basically yelling "Aye captain, proton torpedo loaded" was fun, rolling up to the next sprite and demolishing it within seconds no matter what "tactic" we employ was not fun. Basically our mistakes didn't matter, and we just had to shoot down everyone who was moving about. There were no commercial traders, everyone comms contacted immediately opened fire on us. Furthermore there was nothing we were protecting other than our own skin. The game forced us to be amnesic murderhobos going nowhere, doing nothing of value. > You and your friends in charge of a spaceship would probably feel like commanding a PBR in Vietnam I never commanded a PBR in Vietnam, but I don't think you did either. Probably you have a feeling of what you think it means, maybe action? Daring charges? High speed chases? Maybe inspired by the plot of Apocalypse Now? In reality it was probably 95% boredom, batting mosquitos and flies away, trying to stay hydrated, and maintaining the bilge pump while doing routine boring work. Punctuated with 5% "damn, we are dead because we just got ambushed" or "damn they are dead because we got the jump on them". A realistic PBR simulator would suck. One written to follow the feeling or vibe you were thinking when you wrote that sentence? Now that would rock! Making a bridge simulator is really hard. You are not just balancing one experience but a different one for each crew member. In a real ship if engineering is bored out of their mind 99% of the time that's not a bad thing, in a game that means you just ruined the experience to one of the players. You have to keep all of your players busy, and occupied with meaningful choices, while not pushing them accidentally into task saturation. If you want to make it fun you have to treat each station as a separate game interacting with the others. Which is naturally harder than just making a single game.
- routerl 5y ago
  Hey, check out Artemis. It's the exact same genre as Star Trek: Bridge Simulator, but takes the concept seriously. https://www.artemisspaceshipbridge.com/#/ https://www.artemisspaceshipbridge.com/#/
- Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
  I think that the best bridge simulator we have is FTL.
  - chrischen 5y ago
    FTL is just purely good game design, but with simplified UI model. If they can integrate with 3D or VR, the atmosphere, and multiplayer we might have a playable bridge simulator.
SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago
For a somewhat more directed and engaging experience, I recommend Pulsar: Lost Colony (1). It actually just recently (two months ago) saw a 1.0 release after 8 years in early access (2). The best way I can describe the game is that it's a 5-player cooperative FTL-meets-Star-Trek-RPG. The dev team is pretty small, but from the perspective of having that "Star-trek like experience" they have actually done a pretty good job of really capturing it and making it engaging and fun. Up to 5 people can play cooperatively, but myself and two friends have sunk probably 30-50 hours into the game exploring and progressing (the AI controls the roles that you aren't able to fill). It's also got a pretty active community with games to jump into but it's kind of hard to find other people with equal skill level as you when you are just starting out. The gameplay is there, but it feels pretty unpolished in terms of bugs and graphical assets and it would really be something special if a AAA studio bought the game and added in some professional-grade assets because it's otherwise a really well-made experience. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PULSAR:_Lost_Colony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PULSAR:_Lost_Colony [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-XbLEvhI_s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-XbLEvhI_s

You're probably talking about Star Trek, but I can confirm. Me and a few friends got this (some of which with VR) and it feels like a fantastic premise, but it's very linear and it has very little content. It feels more like a demo than a full game. Desperate for more in this genre we ended up playing a bunch of Pulsar: Lost Colony. It has a lot more depth (but can be a bit rough around the edges).

chrischen 5y ago
I’d imagine Bridge simulation is pretty close to actual naval vessel operations. If something like this doesn’t exist then someone should make a naval vessel simulator and adapt it.
- dividuum 5y ago
  There’s Carrier Command 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2 https://store.steampowered.com/app/1489630/Carrier_Command_2
  - AlexAndScripts 5y ago
    I've been playing CC2 a lot. It's got a steep learning curve and some bugs but is brilliant with friends.
  - sprkwd 5y ago
    Wow. That must’ve one of the longest gaps between releases.
mhh__ 5y ago
I think it's a fundamental limitation of video games. Unless you are playing against other people, you are never really somewhere and I think that shatters the illusion. The same way that "holding" a gun in VR is really impressive, but the headset can't mimic the wind in your face or cool spray of the sea - these issues, I think, don't arise with 2D games because there are too far away from the uncanny valley. You and your friends in charge of a spaceship would probably feel like commanding a PBR in Vietnam, but I don't think a game can capture that Vibe (it's a cheap term but I genuinely think it fits). Pulsar looks cool though, will check it out.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- chongli 5y ago
  these issues, I think, don't arise with 2D games because there are too far away from the uncanny valley Yeah. This is why I can spend hundreds of hours with a game like FTL: Faster Than Light. Its 2D and very simple pixel art give way to fantastic gameplay rife with difficult decisions and lasting consequences! It would be really cool to have the gameplay of FTL with immersive, high-end VR but I think such a game would never be made due to the risks of alienating the audience.
- krisoft 5y ago
  > I think it's a fundamental limitation of video games. I don't think so. Game design is a whole art form in itself. Some games suck at it and some games succeed. I haven't played with the linked game, but played with Artemis. That one sucked. The good part of it was being nerdy and role-playing out a fantasy with friends. The bad part was that after the first "battle" engagement we quickly learned that the enemy is very predictable and the game won't provide any challenges to us. Basically yelling "Aye captain, proton torpedo loaded" was fun, rolling up to the next sprite and demolishing it within seconds no matter what "tactic" we employ was not fun. Basically our mistakes didn't matter, and we just had to shoot down everyone who was moving about. There were no commercial traders, everyone comms contacted immediately opened fire on us. Furthermore there was nothing we were protecting other than our own skin. The game forced us to be amnesic murderhobos going nowhere, doing nothing of value. > You and your friends in charge of a spaceship would probably feel like commanding a PBR in Vietnam I never commanded a PBR in Vietnam, but I don't think you did either. Probably you have a feeling of what you think it means, maybe action? Daring charges? High speed chases? Maybe inspired by the plot of Apocalypse Now? In reality it was probably 95% boredom, batting mosquitos and flies away, trying to stay hydrated, and maintaining the bilge pump while doing routine boring work. Punctuated with 5% "damn, we are dead because we just got ambushed" or "damn they are dead because we got the jump on them". A realistic PBR simulator would suck. One written to follow the feeling or vibe you were thinking when you wrote that sentence? Now that would rock! Making a bridge simulator is really hard. You are not just balancing one experience but a different one for each crew member. In a real ship if engineering is bored out of their mind 99% of the time that's not a bad thing, in a game that means you just ruined the experience to one of the players. You have to keep all of your players busy, and occupied with meaningful choices, while not pushing them accidentally into task saturation. If you want to make it fun you have to treat each station as a separate game interacting with the others. Which is naturally harder than just making a single game.
routerl 5y ago
Hey, check out Artemis. It's the exact same genre as Star Trek: Bridge Simulator, but takes the concept seriously. https://www.artemisspaceshipbridge.com/#/ https://www.artemisspaceshipbridge.com/#/
Andrew_nenakhov 5y ago
I think that the best bridge simulator we have is FTL.
- chrischen 5y ago
  FTL is just purely good game design, but with simplified UI model. If they can integrate with 3D or VR, the atmosphere, and multiplayer we might have a playable bridge simulator.

SOLAR_FIELDS 5y ago

For a somewhat more directed and engaging experience, I recommend Pulsar: Lost Colony (1). It actually just recently (two months ago) saw a 1.0 release after 8 years in early access (2). The best way I can describe the game is that it's a 5-player cooperative FTL-meets-Star-Trek-RPG. The dev team is pretty small, but from the perspective of having that "Star-trek like experience" they have actually done a pretty good job of really capturing it and making it engaging and fun. Up to 5 people can play cooperatively, but myself and two friends have sunk probably 30-50 hours into the game exploring and progressing (the AI controls the roles that you aren't able to fill). It's also got a pretty active community with games to jump into but it's kind of hard to find other people with equal skill level as you when you are just starting out. The gameplay is there, but it feels pretty unpolished in terms of bugs and graphical assets and it would really be something special if a AAA studio bought the game and added in some professional-grade assets because it's otherwise a really well-made experience. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PULSAR:_Lost_Colony https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PULSAR:_Lost_Colony [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-XbLEvhI_s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-XbLEvhI_s