Space Engineers vs empyrion galactic survival vs satisfactory vs starbase

[clop1000]

These games seem a little bit similar in theme and gameplay (maybe except for satisfactory)
What are the strong/weak points of these games?
What is the most interesting for you?

Why did you choose a particular one?

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yes.

[Pembroke]

Originally posted by Spaceman Spiff:

Yes.

Exactly. Why not play both?

To elaborate: Both have their strong and weak points. Empyrion is better in exploration content and survival stuff but is rather mediocre in its building system and physics. Space Engineers is the reverse. It excels in its building and engineering system which is still the best I have seen in any game even after this long. It's rather poor in exploration and survival content, though. However, you can enhance that side of Space Engineers with mods, of which there are quite good ones available.

I like both and switch between the games depending on what kind of game I happen to enjoy at the moment.

[Q]

aha

[Codo]

Originally posted by clop1000:

These games seem a little bit similar in theme and gameplay (maybe except for satisfactory)
What are the strong/weak points of these games?
What is the most interesting for you?

Why did you choose a particular one?

I can't say anything about satisfactory as I haven't played it, but I can tell you about SE and Empyrion, I refrain from making pro/con as the two are very different and subjective to your personal taste:

---Empyrion---
- Focus on exploration and survival
- Dedicated sIngleplayer content available
- Has NPCs and procedually generated galaxies, some scenarios with story (text based)
- "simple" building, no physical connection between components like fuel to engine needed, just need to be somewhere on vessel, all block hitboxes are square/blocks can "float" on objects that dont fill out their hitbox
- Integrity of builds is not that important, one block can hold an infinite mass together
- Only the numerous weapons cause damage, no ramming
- Only pre-made parts, no options for player made functional builds with hinges or rotors
- A very large selection of said parts, more block shapes than SE
- Steam workshop integration for blueprints

---Space Engineers---
- Focus on building and construction
- Singleplayer scenarios exist, but aren't worth to mention
- No NPC's in vanilla, no procedually generated galaxies in vanilla
- Complex/realistic building, all components that depend on each other must be connected by a "conveyor" system to get fuel etc (doesn't apply to electric power, that just needs to be present)
- Integrity is important, no floating blocks
- Constructions react to ramming and crashes
- Small but good selection of blocks with more coming every update
- Mechanical parts like hinges and rotors let you build pretty much anything you need
- Player made scripts and other programmable blocks open many opportunities
- Only two types of weapons at the moment
- Steam WOrkshop integration for blueprints and much more
- Mod support, almost anything you want is available if you look for it

I personally prefer modded SE since I get my fun out of tinkering, constructing, trial and error of designs and maybe even fighting with friends to see who made the better design, but also complex constructions and automated factories are possible, which can be done alone or with friends.

If you however want a large world to explore, wage war between factions etc. all in vanilla without modding a game you might want to look at empyrion

[boolybooly]

Planet Nomads was also a contender for a while, but sadly Craneballs seem to have given up on major updates. It has a clunkier movement and combat system but nice block graphics and creates a pleasant ambience, less grindy.

Empyrion has monsters and enemy factions which makes SP more of an adventure narrative than a logistics exercise. Also food instead of power and no hydrogen fuel equivalent creates a different feel.

I chose to play Empyrion when they came out as SE had no playfield to speak of and still doesnt really. But now it has planets it is worth trying and I think you do have to play both as each excels in its own way and falls short of the other in different departments. SE is grindy but it does create a sense of the worth of materials.

I dont see Satisfactory as being equivalent. I have not tried it as I dont trust the devs tbh as they come across as primarily media wheeler dealers and therefore potentially exploitative due to the way it was only available on Epic and the concerns over Epic's spyware. You can count me out of that BS. I have Factorio and Dyson Sphere Program instead.

[Tux]

I would add Stationeers to your list.

This game without mods in my opinion only really has one thing over all those games, and that is graphics.
But..play SE with Industrial Overhaul mod and Daily Needs Mod and that changes things.

That all said, if you gave me Stationeers, with SE graphics and Stationeers with ships (not just that rocket which is cool for sure) then Stationeers would be the game for me

[Takeda]

Originally posted by Spaceman Spiff:

Yes.

You don't post enough!

[Spaceman Spiff]

Originally posted by Takeda:

You don't post enough!

I'm always striving for a complete answer in the most succinct manner. I think I have succeeded here.

Oh, sure, I could get diarrhea of the keyboard and just type aimless prose so I can see myself think, but for what use? I find that searching for the quintessential answer to life's most pressing questions such as why we can't pass large objects through small conveyor ports an intriguing process. And those searches sometimes yield the most extraordinary results. So, because of that............................

I did it again, didn't I?

[Mojo]

Satisfactory does not fit in with the other games you listed. It is fun in its own unique way. The only way it comes close to being similar is you have to mine resources, that is about it. :)

[Tux]

Originally posted by Mojo:

Satisfactory does not fit in with the other games you listed. It is fun in its own unique way. The only way it comes close to being similar is you have to mine resources, that is about it. :)

yeah good point, Satisfactory would be more 'like' Evospace although to be fair really the other way around

[Doom]

Originally posted by clop1000:

These games seem a little bit similar in theme and gameplay (maybe except for satisfactory)
What are the strong/weak points of these games?
What is the most interesting for you?

Why did you choose a particular one?

Space Engineers: Nothing to do in survival, once you've reached space, it is hunting for ice forever. Scripting terminals feels like programming work and not fun game. Lots of half-assed features and unfinished functionality. It does allow creation of physically-controlled machines, but then you won't be able to mass-produce those in survival, because projectors do not support multi-grid building. Great potential, but it will never reach its potential, as devs are milking community with dlcs instead.

Empyrion: Looks extremely ugly. Supposedly there's some fun functionality under the hood, but after wandering into NPC settlement I coudl never get into this game. Very twitchy controls, and planets aren't truly round. Can't jump out of a moving vehicle.

Satisfactory: It is very grindy. IT can give you 40 hours of fun or so, but you essentually will need to start after each big update they release, and because the game doesn't have blueprints like factorio, it gets extremely tedious, as you build every single thing by hand.
The world is interesting to look at and explore, althoguh enemy variety is lacking. no custom machinery crafting there. Might be fun playing it for the first time in its current state.

I have played all three and wouldn't recommend any of them.

For messing with machinery, a decent choice is Main Assembly. Scrap mechanic can be decent too, but only in creative mode.
For automation, it is probably Factorio. Even though it can be incredibly grindy and boring, it gives some powerful tools, and have blueprints.
For block building, you'll probably want some unreal-based survival game, conan exiles or something similar.
Starship EVO was promising some time ago, but I haven't played it in ages.

That's the rough idea of it.

[john2376]

Originally posted by clop1000:

These games seem a little bit similar in theme and gameplay (maybe except for satisfactory)
What are the strong/weak points of these games?
What is the most interesting for you?

Why did you choose a particular one?

Why I choose one over the other?, Well, I didin't, I purchased Space Engineers back in 2015, I later tried Empyrion but I found the the interface tools and blocks a bit too 'clunky' and the graphics sub-par to what I come to expect from a modern game (and from experience from Space Engineers).
There is another game like those you mentioned, space-sim with blocks for building and such, though this is entirely online and only populated by players, though it is accessed through a subscription based format, called "Dual Universe", seems like if anything, possibly a contender to these games.

[M.Red]

i own(ed) them all except for starbase
in case of SE - got removed completely for reasons

i enjoy(ed) all of them for they way they are (in case of SE for quite a while until keen messed things up)

________________________________________________________

Pros for EGS (empyrion galactic survival): More like a survival game, still content to be added nice atmosphere and a whole galaxy to play on

Cons for EGS: graphics are more or less outdated , no really moveable parts

________________________________________________________

Pros for Satisfactory: very nice Graphics, nearly endless ressources, excess production and one has stuff to manage

Cons for Satisfactory: only one planet to work on wich is hand crafted - so once the player found a good spot there is nothing new

________________________________________________________

had nothing to add for SE (git gud keen)

[Buckshot]

IMO, SE and Empyrion should join forces and create the best and ultimate space type game. That would be epic. I play both but I am slowly starting to lean more towards Empyrion because I like the exploration and discovery aspect, where SE is severely lacking.

[Zaney]

None of those games can hold a candle to Starbase. Aside from extreme realism and mod support, Starbase has surpassed everything they've tried to do any went beyond it. For me, It's everything I wanted space engineers "to be" and more. The game is unparalleled and does everything the other games do and does it better. :) (1700+ hours in Space Engineers)