If there will ever be I-War 3...

That feeling... I myself have been seeking to describe it.

There's an interesting post here . It is at the end of the fourth post, submitted over twelve years ago.

I think that Torn Stars could be considered an unofficial I-War 3. If you think about it, what would people do immediately after the end of the second game? There would be no one to fight except a few petty pirates. Not for some time anyways. In my opinion, Torn Stars reflects this setting, allowing the player to make a living for himself in the I-War universe. Of course, details such as factions and system names are inaccurate, but I think it is worth considering. Besides, any legal sequel to I-War 2 at this point would have to be in mod format anyways.

Jeezes, that puts things in perspective

I was 26 when the game came out... :whistle: and I am still coming back to it again and again. I played and finished I-War 2 around that time with a mouse and a keyboard. I am now playing it with two old X-box controllers simultaneously. This gives me the complete functions over all thrusters using three thumb-sticks: The setup works great, both controllers are on the desk and I can use a hand per controller:



I must admit that I never played I-War or its expansion :blush:. I bought both games on GOG and originally on disk (I still have the first game in mint condition) sadly the I-War 2 (play and install disk) were lost during a flood in the basement. When the game came out I was barely scratching the surface of the modding scene. Several years later I am pretty good at using programs like Photoshop and doing some (basic 3d work).

Here is a screenshot of the famous Cobra Mk3 from Elite as I see it, designed in Wings 3D and ingame in Oolite.





It has subsystems that show up on the hull when you buy them (see for example the cargo bay extention attached to the green version and not to the red one ?). The added mass should also have an effect on how the ship's physics behave. That is the kind of realism I would like to see in an I-War 3.

If only porting ships to I-War were as simple as porting them to Oolite to name an example. Oolite is a cool game but it's the gameplay that makes me come back to I-War 2, the Newtonian physics engine is a real blast in I-War, as is the interface. The HUD that shows the ship's path, the representation of the L-Points, the realism of the ship design (not 500 different ships with appendages that are there just to make them look pretty - X3 series - but functional hulls with modular slots to attach weapons, cargo etc).

I had a lot of hopes for ED and invested quite an amount of cash in it, but since they decided that there was not going to be an offline version (and therefore no mod support), I kinda lost interest. Some of you have not known the pre-internet era, where your PC had to function without a connection. Nowadays internet is everywhere, but I still like to play my games without the need for it. I must be getting old.

The trend I see with games, as it is with films the last few years, is that a lot of emphasis is taken away from the actual story and characters, and more effort is put in special effects and complex mechanics (yes okay there are exceptions) but those who have watched the movie Kelly's Heroes know what I am talking about.

Look at X-Rebirth for example; the game is a technical and visually precise masterpiece (it was made by ze Germans after all); however story wise, it's an empty shell and the actors are not really there. There is no emotion in the speech and it looks like the lines were read by someone who they could only afford to pay 2 bucks an hour. The characters in I-War 2 (Cal,Smith, Jaffs etc...) are as real as they come, it takes talent to do that, not just technical know-how, sharp programming skills and a first class 3d artist.

To make a successful successor to I-War 2 one person can not pull it off, even if you are schizophrenic.

Another angle to not forget to cover is the support for Oculus Rift hardware and the likes.

Here is my list of spacegames that bring back memories besides I-War 2:

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Homeworld 1 and 2, Tachyon: The Fringe, Privateer 2: The Darkening. and to a lesser extent Starlancer.
I am keeping an eye out for Enemy Starfighter since the visuals in that game really appeal to me.

For controllers, I prefer my simple Joystick with keyboard:


That Cobra Mk3 must be from Elite: Frontier. I haven't gotten to it yet, since I just finished downloading all of the mechWarrior games. (I still have to track down a working mirror of Mechcommander Gold, though). Frontier is next on my list.

It has subsystems that show up on the hull when you buy them (see for example the cargo bay extention attached to the green version and not to the red one ?). The added mass should also have an effect on how the ship's physics behave. That is the kind of realism I would like to see in an I-War 3.

The subsystems showing on the hull is already somewhat incorporated. The Tug, Advanced Patcom, and Heavy Corvette have those modular attatchments on them. However, internal mountpoints (maybe), special subsystems (like the capsule drive), and dynamic mass would be good improvements.

No, the Cobra Mk 3 is from Oolite, I made it about a year ago, together with a Sidewinder and it is up for grabs. Sadly work took up a lot of time and I haven't been able to finish the complete pack. You can have a look at the thread here:

www.aegidian.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16698