By far the most popular control system among genre enthusiasts, however, is the joystick.
Most modern space flight simulators on the PC allow a player to utilise a combination of the WASD keys of the keyboard and mouse as a means of controlling the game (games such as Microsoft's Freelancer use this control system exclusively ). Īn additional subclass of space trading games remove combat entirely, focusing instead entirely on trading and economic manipulation in order to achieve success. Some recent games, for instance EVE Online, have expanded the scope of the experience by including thousands of simultaneous online players in what is sometimes referred to as a "living universe" - a dream some have held since the genre's early beginnings. As technology has improved it has been possible to implement a number of extensions to gameplay, such as dynamic economies, cooperative online play and realistic flight models based on Newtonian physics, but the core gameplay has changed little over the years. Īll space trading and combat games feature the core gameplay elements of directly controlling the flight of some sort of space vessel, generally armed, and of navigating from one area to another for a variety of reasons.
As an example, Freelancer has been criticised for being too rigid in its narrative structure, being in one case compared negatively with Grand Theft Auto, another series praised for its open-ended play. This aspect of the genre is very popular, but some people have complained that, in some titles, the leeway given to the player too often is only superficial, and that, in reality, the roles offered to players are very similar, and open-ended play too frequently restricted by scripted sequences. Games of this type often allow the player to choose among multiple roles to play and multiple paths to victory. In some instances, plot plays only a limited role and only a loose narrative framework tends to be provided (in certain titles of the X series, for instance, players may ignore the plot for as long as they wish and are even given the option to disable the plot completely and instead play in "sandbox" mode ) - but many games of this genre place a strong emphasis on factional conflict, leading to many small mission-driven subplots that unravel the tensions of the galaxy.
Notable examples include Elite, Wing Commander: Privateer, and Freelancer. The general formula for space trading and combat simulators, which has changed little since its genesis, is for the player to begin in a relatively small, outdated ship (that said, the ship the player controls is generally larger than that in pure space combat simulator) with little money or status and for the player to work his way up, gaining in status and power through trading, exploration, combat or a mix of different methods. Space combat simulators tend to be mission-based, as opposed to the more open-ended nature of space trading and combat simulators. Exceptions include the first Independence War and the Star Trek: Bridge Commander series, which model craft at a larger scale and/or in a more strategic fashion. The prominent Wing Commander, Tachyon: The Fringe, X-Wing and Freespace series all use this approach. Such games generally place the player into the controls of a small starfighter or smaller starship in a military force of similar and larger spaceships. Space combat simulators feature a futuristic simulation of space flight involving combat, as opposed to the modern-day and highly realistic simulation of space flight in other space flight simulators.