What's this old space game?

September 18, 2024 3:56 AM

My husband is trying to find an old space game he used to play on PC in the early 2000s.

He was thrilled to find a Reddit post asking about it- and then it only had two responses, and no resolution.

Strategy game, orbital mechanics were a big part of game play, he thinks it was originally a physics demonstration that someone turned into a game. Windowed, not full screen. He's a 90s vintage so would have been playing this in the 2000s. Possibly as late as 2009 but probably earlier.

Two dimensional graphics, not 3D.

I told him I'd try asking metafilter.

posted by freethefeet to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Sounds like it could be some later version of Gravity Wars? I think some of the later games inspired by it are things like Death Star Battles and Gravitee wars.
posted by Mattat at 4:12 AM on September 18

Perhaps voar.io? I miss that one, it was fun.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:34 AM on September 18

Spaced Penguin?
posted by 4th number at 5:53 AM on September 18

I don't think this is the answer, but it's close enough that it should be ruled out:
Star Control II
(Currently incarnated as the ur-quan masters)

It is not the right game, that's okay. It's still one of the best games of all time and I'm happy to be reminded of it
posted by Acari at 6:58 AM on September 18 [2 favorites]

It's not Kerbal Space Program, is it? (First released in 2011.)
posted by amf at 8:37 AM on September 18

Possibly Elite or one of the sequels? The second sequel came out in 95 so older than your time frame, but the series is a classic so maybe?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_(video_game)
posted by elizabot at 8:44 AM on September 18

Space Sim Central lists about a dozen games with Solar in the title.

If you can't find it there, I'd suggest reaching out to Brian Rubin, aka Space Game Junkie.
posted by justkevin at 10:44 AM on September 18

Response by poster: None of these. Thanks for the suggestions though!
posted by freethefeet at 3:48 PM on September 18

Operation: Inner Space?
posted by zippy at 8:15 PM on September 18

Was it Stars!? (That's not a split interrobang, the exclamation mark is part of the game's name.) Some images from the game can be found here. It's a lot of windows and it's very, very detailed, with specifications for each planet, the ability to lay minefields (and clear them with ships armed with lasers), the ability to transport minerals from one planet to another via packets (or attack planets with the packets if you had the right bonuses for your species), etc. It's 90s 4X.

I can still be played apparently, using DOSBox. There are keys available from a quick google search for the full program, given that every company associated with it is long gone.

Video of the first half of the tutorial
posted by Hactar at 5:39 AM on September 19

Yeah, I was thinking either Stars! or possibly Sins of a Solar Empire, which came out in like... '08?
posted by xedrik at 12:21 PM on September 19

Best answer: It's this one!
Solar Wars (archive link)
posted by freethefeet at 3:29 AM on September 27