Pioneer, A New-ish Take On Frontier

[Mighty Midget]

In case you were unaware (on a space sim forum???), there is this free, open source sim that apparently aims at bringing Elite 2 Frontier type games back. How much it is being developed now in Dec 2017 is uncertain but there is some activity on the web so one can hope. Anyway...

After a couple of hours (or possibly a small handful of hours) later, I must say there are
-improvements over Frontier: The possibility of making money within one system is real now. Slow but real.
-Cons compared to Frontier: The game mechanics are not always thoroughly thought through with certain random systems being so large it will take the player weeks or possibly months in real time to travel within the system, at fastest time compression! One system had me close to 79,000 AU from the nearest base. That needs fixing. The galaxy is smaller than in Frontier (then again, how could it be any larger?) and one can question how the devs have solved the issue with giving the player the feeling of a vast universe, with excessive jump times (several months in game time in extreme cases). My biggest grief so far though is how trade has been nerfed to oblivion, focusing more on missions and combat. Give me my trade routes back!!

Have you tried this game? Your thoughts on it would be appreciated here. Other than that, all things Pioneer could go here, for those who have hints and tips, or questions. Who can tell, perhaps someone can answer those questions

[Morkonan]

I haven't tried it, but I keep my eye on it from time to time.

A Let's Play, for those who are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJbThI7TpA (May be a little out of date)

One thing that worries me when people develop games like this is that they're often fueled with a desire to create a "realistic simulation" of some future space/trade/fight/survive kind of game. That's great, but "real" isn't always "fun."

It's got to be fun.

Some people, and I wouldn't say I'm never one of them, would find sitting and staring at the screen for hours as their ship traveled to a distant planet... fun. That's probably as close to "realistic" as one can get in a space sim. That level of "realism" though isn't going to be very fun for most folks.

"Submarines in space." I'm reminded of this common trope when I see games like this. For instance, in the Silent Hunter series, one can end up with "you almost got your feet wet, it's so realistic" submarine simulation game. And, if you play it in real time, what are doing most of the time? Nothing, really. If you're lucky, you may spot an enemy patrol or an aircraft. Want to aim your torps manually, just like the WWII sub captains? Then, you had better read one of their books...

Pioneer looks like a great fan project. I hope it continues. I just hope it doesn't keep running afoul of "realism over play."

[Mighty Midget]

I couldn't agree more on the "have fun" bit, when it comes to these games. I personally dont mind realism (have spent long days and nights with silent hunter 3, Falcon 4.0 and DCS Black Shark 2 ) but in frontier-type games, I prefer fun over realism (realism? Hyperspace? Like complaining the green Kerbals have an unrealistic green hue )

Luckily, they do seem to favour fun over too heavy realism but it appears their algorithms for creating solar systems for one thing can go haywire and has gone haywire from time to time, forcing the player to sit through hours of nothing happening or quit and walk away, or being a complete dumbo expecting a different result the next time (that would be me).

Verdict so far is, if you liked Frontier then give it a go but be aware that this is a very rough diamond in the making.

[berth]

In case you were unaware (on a space sim forum???).....)

Human foool!!! Hahahaha, this is off-topic. Few here have played an X game in years!

Still, sounds like it could be worth a look, cheers

[Morkonan]

In case you were unaware (on a space sim forum???).....)

Human foool!!! Hahahaha, this is off-topic. Few here have played an X game in years!...

Lol!

I fired up X3TC/AP just a few months ago.. Uh, well, maybe last year sometime. No, as a matter-of-fact, it was probably in the first-quarter of this year. Probably.

Yet, I still remember my gameplay experiences and triumphs as well as my miserable failures, before I "got gud" with X3TC.

That's the sign of a quality game, right there. And, allowing its fans to ramble on in "off-topic" forums, if they so desire, is the sign of a quality developer.

To show our appreciation, maybe we should start up a "Go Fund Me" pizza party for Egosoft or something? Buy them a giant duck costume? No, I don't know why... Why not?

Come to think of it, buying them a giant duck costume would be a great present to Egosoft from the "Off-Topic Forum."



Would Bernd wear it? What if we gave him pizza?

[berth]

Classy. Yeah I'd donate for that, Bernd could wear it in the next X4 stream thingy.

I only started with AP this year, maybe? I just don't seem to find the time to play much and these games require a lot of time..

Reunion is my fave, I'd say (dogfighting hordes of pirates in the LX = joy) but the UI from TC onward is so much better that I can't go back. Reunion + TC/AP UI would be perfect for me.

(I used some basic mods in Reunion hence no stats for that but it was a LOT of time I assure you)

Forza Egosoft

[Mighty Midget]

Having something like a week on this game now and after being puzzled and searching across the dev forum for answers, I am growing less enthusiastic about this game. Phrases like "we should force the players to..." translate into English as
[ external image ]
and that is never, ever a good thing. Freedom of choice was at the heart of Frontier, freedom of choice is what these devs are fighting against like it was the devil himself. Not good. I am really turning every stone here to find reasons to keep playing Pioneer now.

[Geek]

Yup, pretty much what stopped me playing it.