So what's available these days to a space sim fan?

I'm an old-school space sim fan, having played them since the days of
Wing Commander I, but I haven't played anything recently in the genre,
possibly because there hasn't been much to play. However, it occurred
to me that I could well be missing some titles I'd enjoy, so I thought
I'd ask and see what's out there that I could play.

Now, before people start offering up X3 or something, I should note
that my favorite part of games is the storyline. If X3 has a
compelling storyline, great, suggest it, but I'm not particularly
interested in a 'fly around the universe and make money' game; if I
wanted to do that, I could do it with other people in EVE Online. For
a single-player game, I want a compelling storyline, optionally with
branching depending on my performance or choices (though a linear
storyline like Freespace is also acceptable).

The newest, shiniest graphics are not a requirement, though something
that knows what a graphics card _is_ would be nice. Similarly, it
doesn't have to be a big-budget release; indie games or titles I might
have to dig around the bargain bin for are totally acceptable. I'll
even consider console titles, if anybody here plays those too.

Anybody have some suggestions for me?

"Fred Sloniker" <fizzit.RemoveThis@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1193877890.113687.44610@v23g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
> I'm an old-school space sim fan, having played them since the days of
> Wing Commander I, but I haven't played anything recently in the genre,
> possibly because there hasn't been much to play. However, it occurred
> to me that I could well be missing some titles I'd enjoy, so I thought
> I'd ask and see what's out there that I could play.
>
> Now, before people start offering up X3 or something, I should note
> that my favorite part of games is the storyline. If X3 has a
> compelling storyline, great, suggest it, but I'm not particularly
> interested in a 'fly around the universe and make money' game; if I
> wanted to do that, I could do it with other people in EVE Online. For
> a single-player game, I want a compelling storyline, optionally with
> branching depending on my performance or choices (though a linear
> storyline like Freespace is also acceptable).
>
> The newest, shiniest graphics are not a requirement, though something
> that knows what a graphics card _is_ would be nice. Similarly, it
> doesn't have to be a big-budget release; indie games or titles I might
> have to dig around the bargain bin for are totally acceptable. I'll
> even consider console titles, if anybody here plays those too.
>
> Anybody have some suggestions for me?
>
Aside from X3, the only space-sim releases in the last couple of years are:

Darkstar One

Space Force: Rogue Universe

Parkan II (English version)

All of these are of the open-ended, "not on rails" type, but all have
storylines. How compelling those storylines are is, however, debateable.
IMO, the stories are underwealming and the voice acting is mediocre to
atrocious. They are the product of German, Croatian, and Russian
developers, respectively. Personally, I grew bored with the first two games
before I finished the storylines so I'm probably not the best judge of
either one when it comes to story content.