DescentBB

Austin Meyers has made Version 1.40 of his Space Combat spaceship simulator freely available. He has versions for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Here is the link:

http://www.x-plane.com/SpaceCombat.html

Sounds interesting.. getting now.

what's it like?

i ask because there are thousands of space-sims out there - i don't download them all because some are better than others. is this one good?

It's a lot like trying to fly the Eagle Moon lander. It's tough. There is no accounting for stability gyros or the like. You have to counter any movement you make to keep yourself from tumbling.

Its a really nice piece of software. Controls are in a hidden tool bar at the top that is accessed with your mouse.

What I don't like is that it is too sensitive with regards to the stick. if I so much as touch it, turning jets fire.

It's very hard to steer and the "laser" is just that.. a little red line. Intersting idea, read the readme. but i really think any fighter built for space would have some kind of "smart" system that would help keep the craft most stable than is portrayed here.

I'll keep at it and see if I can master this.

heh when i first ran it it was going spaz coz of a little VR glove - Joystick emulation setup i have.
i'll turn that off and give just the joystick a whirl.

Roid: you're right, the program may not stand out too much in the grand scheme of Windows space simulations, but the fact that it is (legitimately) free, fairly small, and available for Macs and Linux where choices are comparatively few makes it worth mentioning in my view. The focus on physics (as opposed to general mayhem) may also make it appealing to parents as an educational activity.

yep. Orbiter is a much more feature packed free download, actually it's quite similar in control which i guess is quite impressive on Space Combat's behalf.

space combat's got it beat on size, and cross platformability (if that's not a word, it sure is now).