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[puke]

So, whats the best way to go about playing Starshatter?  is TGS the way to go, or the original game described here:  http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80935.0

the download in that link is TGS

SO IT IS!

how old can we go here?  I remember this sweet ST / Amiga game where you built and flew tanks, GEVs, helos, fighters, bombers.  Researched tech, and tried to prevent your enemy from finishing some sort of super laser or neutron bomb.

Post apocalyptic nuclear winter setting.

It was dynamic and open world, with no real missions but tons of small objectives.  Seemed hard, but I was also a kid, so...

You'd need an emulator to play it now. edit: Armour-Geddon  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armour-Geddon

Speaking of open world post nuclear winter games, there was this other one where you commanded a renegade war-train.  I think there is a dos version on Abandonia.  Edit:  Transartica  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transarctica

Will edit this with actual names an links when I'm not posting from my phone.  Edit: Done!

[Robsoie]

Could you be refering to Midwinter ? Though i don't remember being able to build all of that stuff , i mostly remember the long sessions in skiing around while there were planes and artillery, but it's been so long since i last played it (on my STe) that i probably have forgot most of it.

There was Carrier Command too that was somehow dynamic.
The whole campaign had you conquer islands sending your vehicles out of the carrier while your enemy was doing the same on its side, it was rather advanced at its time, hmm i'll have to replay it now that i think about it..

[Sean Mirrsen]

Could you be refering to Midwinter ? Though i don't remember being able to build all of that stuff , i mostly remember the long sessions in skiing around while there were planes and artillery, but it's been so long since i last played it (on my STe) that i probably have forgot most of it.

There was Carrier Command too that was somehow dynamic.
The whole campaign had you conquer islands sending your vehicles out of the carrier while your enemy was doing the same on its side, it was rather advanced at its time, hmm i'll have to replay it now that i think about it..

Ah yes, that game too. There's a modern remake now, Carrier Command Gaea Mission. The storyline mode is fairly railroaded, but in strategic mode (i.e. like the original game) you can go where you want and do what you want.

[puke]

Edited above.  Transartica, and Armor-Gedon.  Never played Midwinter, looks cool.

Carrier Command was one of my favorites, recently picked up CC:GM on a bundle or sale or something.  Taking islands in story mode eventually became a pretty tedious chore, but it scratched all the old itches and I think campaign mode might have been pretty satisfying if I had just started with that rather than fucking about with the tedious story.

There are some mods out there that are supposed to beef-up the difficulty and replayability of the campaign mode.  "Deadly Islands" or something.

[Robsoie]

That Armour-Geddon completely escaped my radar in its time, reading about, it seemed interesting.
The possibility to drive/fly multiple vehicles reminds me a bit of what was my favorite game on STe (available on Amiga too) , Hunter .
Though it was nowhere a simulation , as driving/flying/etc... a vehicle was just done from 3rd person view, but it was completely amazing.

The campaign wasn't dynamic though, as while you could do whatever you wanted, the AI wasn't trying to take anything you got back, you only ran into enemies on specific location in which they guarded or patrolled.

But surfing around sharks was something hilarious, or when exploring a zone on a bicycle you ran into an enemy tank rolling over you.

[Gabeux]

So, whats the best way to go about playing Starshatter?  is TGS the way to go, or the original game described here:  http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80935.0

Also, does sandbox style play count, similar to Starpoint Gemini (elite / privateer style) or does it need to be more of an actual campaign, like Space Rangers or something?

Here is some random fodder I've found on the internets, I'm not familiar with most, but people have described these as dynamic campaign games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-22_Total_Air_War
http://eechcentral.simhq.com/index.php?title=Main_Page
http://www.lowengrin.com/news.php <- for IL-2 Sturmovik

http://www.pcgamesn.com/indie/indie-space-combat-sim-enemy-starfighter-boasts-dynamic-campaign-mission-planning-lots-screen-shake/

I assume you dont want 4X like the Total War series, or Civ?

But I'm guessing things like Mount and Blade are in?

How about ARMA2?  Finally picked it up on a bundle, I hear the campaign play is dynamic.

I believe persistance of things are the number one feature.
For instance, Space Rangers is sandbox but if you kill a pilot, he's gone. In Starpoint Gemini things are kinda random (like I remember Freelancer being) - and in a side note..Gemini VOs made me want to kill myself. I don't understand that about most Russian games I played (I suppose Gemini is Russian), they spam repeating VOs and if you try to disable them, it disables all sound effects too or something. There was one very good space-arcadey-linear-campaign I played that I really liked but never found it again.

Back on track: Enemy Starfighter is on my watchlist but I didn't read much about it since it was in early development, but seems interesting.
Based on this thread, soon I'll look into Enemy Engaged series and pick one to try out

Currently I'm playing a bit of IL2 Sturmovik because I figured I need to learn more basic stuff before moving into the Falcon 4 F16, but IL2 throws you into things and pretend you are a WW2 Veteran or something. I read half of the manual but missed that "I" starts the engine, that took me more than 30 minutes to figure out (also, training doesn't teach that).
Its funny though, that it simulates even the effect of the propeller on the plane, something I never thought about. There are lots of people crying all around internet (but mostly steam) that their game is bugged and their planes bank right or their nose keeps falling down.
Now I finally know how to trim a plane (like a noob)!

Anyway..this thread makes me happy

[Anvilfolk]

Heh, yeah, IL-2's real hard to get into. Took me forever... I'm getting really sad because most servers I used to play in are empty these days. It might've been that Cliffs of Dover is finally picking up, but that means I've lost my beloved Pacific Theatre

Anyway, I remembered a few more games the other day.

There are some online campaigns for IL-2 '46, where you register and then play a few times a week, regularly. All stats are tracked, ground troops are persistent, troops can attack and defend and everything is essentially dynamic. I know of Ghost Skies, and there are some people starting to do the same for Cliffs of Dover (Storm of War, I think?). Not offline, but it doesn't get any more persistent than this stuff

Cossacks 2 has a Europe map that plays like Risk, but you only have one general to move around, That said, there's some strategic decisions you can make, and every battle plays in the usual Cossacks 2 RTS manner (thousands of units on screen, massive formations, etc).

[sambojin]

I remember when some game magazine gave Armour Geddon away for free over the course of several issues (coverdisks were the main way of trying games in the day). Had heaps of fun with it, but didn't get the third part (the one with bombers from memory). I'd actually like to have a go at getting a multi-player co-op game going of it one day.

Another good, old dynamic campaign game was Cyber Empires (also known as Steel Empire). It was a top-down action game loosely based on the Mechwarrior universe, but had a campaign map to go along with it, where you'd upgrade facilities, make mechs and choose where to attack. Pretty basic, but a fun little game anyway. A horde of Dragons heat-explodifying Titans and Atlases are my fondest memories of it.

[Anvilfolk]

That reminds me of the old Sword of the Samurai game. It had a dynamic campaign of sorts, and even though it's absurdly old, I got pretty addicted to it about a year or so ago. Basically you start off small but progressively get bigger armies and more and more land, try to marry into the right places, and chose what you can do to further your lord's will. I don't remember a lot of it, but it might be worth a go too!

Somebody should be making a list of these and putting them in the OP!

[puke]

That reminds me of the old Sword of the Samurai game.

Wasnt that based on a card game of the same name?  I remember finding the card game and being amazed at the detail and depth captured in such a simple game.

[Gabeux]

Somebody should be making a list of these and putting them in the OP!

Done - most games I can't confirm myself if they are DCGs, though, but I trust dem suggestions.

[Anvilfolk]

Somebody should be making a list of these and putting them in the OP!

Done - most games I can't confirm myself if they are DCGs, though, but I trust dem suggestions.

Sweet! Great job