simgames

Greetings and welcome to my page dedicated to the simulation games I have played. At present there are only two games that I found really rocked my world and both of them are older games. Games such as Wing Commander started a huge gaming revolution for a few years. Space flight sims and ground assault sims have progessed extremely well since Atari's tank commander and Star War's X-wing. I love playing space flight sims. It is my passion in the gaming world in which I play. Unfortunately there is only one game out there that comes close to what a real space battle is for me. That game is Tachyon- The fringe. I found tachyon to be on the of most exciting space sims I have every played. The graphics on it, even to this day, are still good. The action is about as close as you can get to what it would be like to fly and fight in space. The other game that I have found for ground assualts that rocks is Mechwarrior 4. I know there are alot of expansions out for it, like the black knight expansion, but I enjoy the regular MW4 game. I think microsoft did a great job on this game and I highly recommend both tachyon and MW4 for anyone thats looking for a fun online sim experience.

Games such as Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront 2, are hybrid games. They have both 1st and 3rd person shooter applications, but they also have space sims combined in. I like what Lucasarts did with BF and BF2, but because their primary focus is ground assualt first person/ third person application, they will be listed under my first person shooters section and not here. Be it known that they do have a space sim package on them however and I highly recommend that if sims are your style you check them out.

CLICK on the above banner to be taken Microsofts Mechwarrior 4 webpage.

Mechwarrior is a simulation game. In the 1980's the Japanese released an animated cartoon called ROBOTECH which introduced alot of young Americans to the concepts of ground/air units that could transform from machines into homonoid warriors. However mechs in MW4 do not transfrom from machine to humanoid warrior, they are a hybrid of machine and humanoid warrior. As you can see from the above representation in the banner above, they have legs and weapons for arms. Some of them are very much humanoid, like the Atlas class fighter, while some are more hybridized like the above Shadowcat.

Mechs are machines designed for one purpose, mass destruction in arenas and in combat scenarios. I do not play MW4 as much anymore these days, but on occation I jack in, grab my stick and roll. I find the graphics to be incredible for a game thats nearly 5 years old, and I find the experience to still be challenging. It is true that the exsisting mechs that are in MW4 are based off of ROBOTECH in part but, Microsoft has taken the concept that was introduced to us by the Japanese and redesigned it for a more American feel. Just the same, I think they did a great job bridging the gap in this game from ROBOTECH to MW4 units.

ROBOTECH in its own right is still to this a day a huge occult following both here in America and in Japan. You can still go to your local japimation store and get the lost episodes if mechs or japimation is your dealio. I highly recommend that everyone see at least the first season of ROBOTECH. The story line was incredible and so is the cartooning.

BE WARNED: Mechwarrior 4 is a very addictive game for some. I have been known to blow complete days strapped into my chair with my hand on my joystick playing this. Remember, everything in moderation, including online games. If a game is starting to take over your life, take a walk outside and get away from the game. I know thats harder to do in the winter months for us northerners than it is for people in the south who enjoy mild winters, but none the less, take this game in stride. You will not be great at it the first time you log in and play, that kind of stategy and play comes with practice and in time.

For the action junky and the adrenaline fiends, this game is right up your alley. It is face passed and has arenas for combat which you can create yourself, or log into others that are online. I recommend allowing no more than 20 other players into your created arena's as after 20 the lag monster tends to slow it down to a painful effect. I do believe that there are free downloads for this game still floating around the net. I recommend taking the time and downloading it. Give it a try. if you dont like it, you can always delete it. I myself use to play this on a 56k modem, but I recommend for any avid online gamer a DSL or broadband connection. The latter is preferable over the DSL.

I hope all of those who read this have a good gaming experience with this game, I know i do and did when I played regularly. Enjoy...

CLICK on the icon to the left to to be taken to a really cool clan that started out in MW4. A friend of mine introduced me to the AHRIMAN CORPS, and now I am introducing them to you. They seem to be a really good bunch of people and I recommend them for anyone thats interested in the various games they are playing currently.

CLICK on the above banner to be taken to the official TACHYON webpage.

Tachyon is a registered trademark of NOVALOGIC. For information on the various games NOVALOGIC has out, just click on the NOVALOGIC name the be taken to their main site.

Novalogic has a variety of incredible games online and I recommend that everyone interested in variety go to their site and see what they have that may interest you. I have downloaded a few of their games in the past and I find these folks have a general clue as to what they are doing.

Tachyon was the first space sim game I ever purchased. I had played other games such as LUCASARTS Star Wars X-wing and Wing commander, but this is the first game that really captured what i think is a space sim. In previous incarnations of space sims, there was this banking effect, like a F-15. As we all know, or we should know, there is no gravity or friction in space, so banking turns in space is impossible. Tachyon was the first game that understood this and allowed for slides and burns along all 3 axis. X, Y, and Z. I find this aspect of this game to be what sets it above and apart from the other space sims out there. It is as close to a real space ship as we will ever get in our age. Simply stated, tachyon is the best space sim I have ever played.

BE WARNED:

Although tachyon is a great game, it can be hacked extremely easily. I personally have seen skins and ships on the game that exsist in the single player version, but not in multiplayer form in multiplayer gaming arenas. This is a real draw back to the game but at the same time it is incredible that your average joe on the street, can take exsisting information from a game, modify it, and release it for others to play. The main ships in the game are the ones in the multiplayer mode. There are 2 factions that fight for mining rights and control of their spheres of influence. Both sides ships have a variety of weapons you can load into your ships along with a wide range of ship systems and installations. The various ships on both sides have slots for weapons and equipment to specialize your gaming experience. Small ships have fewer slots on them, so please be careful what you stick on your crafts. The larger ships are slower, better armoured, and have more slots available for installs.

When I played tachyon, there were a bunch of clans in the game. Now a days there as still a bunch of people that log in and play but no where near the numbers that played this 5 years ago. Even I once a month log in and still play. What can I say, old habits die hard. You may be asking why would you go back to a game that can be hacked and where the people have caused me a great amount of frustration? The answer is simple, ITS ONLY A GAME and I still enjoy playing it. The game rocks and will always be one of my favorite games that I have purchased to date.

There is some lag in this game on occation, even with my broadband. I recommend that every avid gamer use a broadband connection when playing any game. Simply stated without it your goign to lag something fierce and get so frustrated that you will not want to play. I will also warn you that if you purchase this game, novalogic does NOT support it. The ya keep their servers up so you can create your own arenas for both dogfights and basewars, but they now longer create server arenas of their own. i find this lack of enthusiasm for a good game discouraging. It is still a great game which I highly recommend for anyoen that loves the ace feeling of fighting in space.

Please make sure you look for the lastest patches available for this game. I do believe that novalogic still has these online for anyone and everyone to use. There were some issues with their voice and chat, that they remedied. If you want the patchs please look on their main site. I know I give the feeling of this game having huge issues, but all in all it runs fairly smoothly and is fast paced. Personally I like it, if you download it and don't, simply delete it.

It appears as if NOVALOGIC has moved away from space sims and into the first person line of shooter games. It may be hard to find the tachyon download, but if your serious about it you will find it somewhere on the net. Happy hunting

CLICK on the icon to the left to be taken to a clan that I helped start and was a member of when I was playing tachyon. For the most part the VOID ALLIANCE, are a bunch of really kewl people, but on occation they have been known to be near sighted and controlling. Be warned before you go in that they are extremely opinionated and feel no matter what they are right when they can be proven wrong. Its ashame when a good thing falls into the hands of the wrong people. None the less, I recommend you check them out and see what games they are in. I am sure the trouble makers that were in the clan when I played tachyon are out. ENJOY

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