Universal Combat CE Reviews

One of a kind game. The entire Battlecruiser/UCCE universe is as you make it. It is the MEANING of Sandbox Open World. You can start as a Land Marine, Space marine, Planetary air support, Transport smuggler, Human Supercarrier Captain, and become an admiral of the entire fleet. It has a TON of lore if you want to explore it, or just go around blowing up everything that is not you(excluding your crew you can kill them to). The manual is big, I wont lie, The game is so expansive that the manual is helpful teaching you the systems Tac-ops, Transporters, O.T.S.(Orbital Nukes), Programable ship waypoints, Deployable mining drones, Tactical, Logistics, Per-scan, Shields, Cloaking, P.T.A. system, E.T.C. Everything you see and find ship/ helicopter/ shuttle/ fighter/ tank/ buggy/ gunship is useable. Did you land on Mars and find a base with a fighter youve never tried go ahead. Want to fly to Mars, land a shuttle, and ride a dune buggy go for it. Want to teleport your CO (Resnig) to Titan and leave till he starves, do it. Want to Nuke your own team and run, why not. There is almost nothing you can't do. This is definately one of my favorite games. Completely Recommend!

ah yes, this game came out the year i was born. so quite literally, from when i was able to use a computer, this game was one of my childhood games... nothing can beat TA, but oh well. back to the point: Ctrl + H is your friend. if you people don't have the patience, then don't bother with this game, as you're part of the problem that ruins a perfectly good game such as this one... it's called a simualtor for a reason.

First of all I'd like to say that I gave this game a fair benefit of the doubt considering the bad reviews all over the net. I read up on a fair bit and took one of the reviewers advice and got Battleship Millenium Gold FREEWARE to try the game out and see for myself if it's worth spending the money on it. I played that for a bit and the gameplay in the ROAM was ok but pointless and unrewarding while the campaign missions might as well not have you participating, yet you must participate to advance and down time in between missions was not sufficient enough to get some money up to restock, refuel, repair and I ended up basically running out of money just so I can refuel. Now since Universal Combat CE promised bug fixes and more, I still gave it the benefit of the doubt. So I like a fool bought it and played about 5 hours before the game absolutely crapped itself. From starters the HUD was missing elements and the game was just a mask over the previous version with, what I can gather was just cosmetic with even worse bugs, Now I can't see planets in TacOps mode, the terrain on planets has totally blurred and the units and buildings have disappeared. For a game that has been in development for such a long time, you'd think the bugs would be ironed out. I will not be buying the $40 patch that promises even more like a bridge view and even more bugs fixed, yet for the life of me I can't find one shot of a bridge or cockpit anywhere on the net, so I'm guessing that promise is just a marketing ploy just to feed the coffers of the developer with just another cosmetic rehash or the same buggy game. For this day and age the developer should be ashamed of himself hyping up a game that doesn't hold a candle to to similar games that are available with much better graphics, game play and immersion where the developers have ironed out the bugs by listening to the people that play them, instead of just forcing a faulty relic with new bells and whistles on the unsuspecting public over and over again just so he can keep on doing it. All the documents seem to do is hype the concepts of the game without detail to the various ships, units and weapons, where the game is just full of acronyms in the names of things that it just makes it mind boggling when it comes to Trading. The developer constantly refers to the manual and appendix, while the manual is 94 odd pages, it does help you get started once you've read the entire thing in detail, but I found that it just wasn't worth the effort just to play an arcade game that wishes it was a simulator. The appendix is just a bunch of pretty pictures with minimum detail regarding the units, weapons, buildings that you walk away from it with no real insight. Now that I have experienced this tragedy of game, I'd have to agree with the negative reviewers in tagging it as a scam with hyped up marketing as the only thing it has going for it. If the developer would just fix this game and take some pointers from games like the X series, Evochron series and not just modernise, rename and remarket a really flawed and buggy game it actually could be something unique and worth while. My full recommendation at this point on the game in it's current form is to keep your money in your pocket and walk away because all you'll be doing is enabling the developer to continue with the deception that this game is worth buying (what a joke) and playing. If you like games like this, look to the Evochron Series, X series, No Mans Sky, Elite, there are so many more alternatives that will save you the hassle, are actually worth paying for and have you actually playing and enjoying without the forced complication of an unrealised concept. The very next thing I am doing is getting my money back from Steam and putting it towards something I can actually enjoy. Out of 10 I give this a 1 just because the concept is unique.

Another one of the series. I remember my grandfather gifting me the original BC3000 AD. While the game was awesome and fun, I never really understood it. After all I was just in my early teen. I was quite surprised, when later on more versions appeared and I got Battlecruiser Millenium Gold as well as Universal Combat. It was more or less by accident, when I found this one. Of course it was a must get for me. I have to admit, that the graphic improvements are cool. The manual has been made more clear since BCMG and the tutorial is especially useful. This said, I have a Terran Military ACM career ongoing and I also have a ROAM trader career going on alongside another ROAM Terran Military career. The game is fun and its quite a diversion. Yes, in ROAM there are no missions, but there are plenty of things to do. As trader you can look out for cargo, buy and sell... or you could be a Raider, attacking other pirates, the military, police or whatever for your gain... as a military ROAM commander, you can escort diplomats, enforce peace, capture stations, and whatever. All you need is some imagination. Then there is the option to be a Pilot or Elite Pilot... on a planetary base or ship or spacestation. Another option and quite an easier start. Even in ROAM you can get XP and get promoted. Then lastly, there are Marines... though I prefer them in Instant Action. A Marine ROAM game has been quite dull so far... There are attacks every now and then. You have access to the ground facilities, such as Tanks, APCs, Support Stations, Transporter Gates and of course the gunships to move around. Hence you can do a lot, even as a Marine - as long as you are on a planet. But still, in my option it is limited and marines die quickly... though if you are good at it.. a different thing. Then there are the space marines or elite marines.. This part in my opinion is really boring. You have not the options you have on planet and are mostly stuck on top of your station waiting for an attack. Here some improvement would be great. What i noticed is, that the non-combat professions, other than Traders and are quite dull. Scientists of course can explore the galaxy in a transporter, look at uninhabited and habitated worlds but still its dull. Diplomats essentially have nothing to do, unless you RP travelling to base to imagine some negotiations... then there are the Assassins, constantly looking to hunt pirates. So quite dull too. I have also tried a paramedic career which is quite uneventful in ROAM either. You do not get attacked by anybody usually, but you also get an unarmed transporter with only a handful of shuttles. Of course you get some armed escorts, but still. The only thing I noticed here, was constantly patrolling the galaxy, looking out for a ship in distress. You would then try to get there, tow it to a base and get a reward. Of course you can also trade with your vessel.. Still, quite dull. I know Derek Smart always said, it is a combat game. Nothing else. However, since these professions are there, it would be fun to make more use of them.. Have colonists colonize planets or build cities, Maybe create some interiors for the ships and have space marines invade them or Paramedics board them to heal injured people after an attack... maybe script some ACM missions for Diplomats and alike.. things like that would make this already great game really awesome! Once you get higher in rank you can control other friendly units, form fleets. You can start planetary assaults, land in a shuttle or beam down, launch probes, etc. All these parts are complex and difficult, but great and fun! If you take the time to understand the game and read through the manual and do the tutorial of course. That said, I love the game and I am happy it is still around. It is also very nice to know, that this game is running on Linux. Steam Play works fine and without issues, aside from some very rare sporadic crashes after some hours into the game (Save or Quick Safe regularly) and some unreadable or hard to read text, which in my opinion is also only a minor issue. Great work on that one. I hope there will be some more patches and further improvement. This game has a lot of potential still and I hope that we will see some of it. Cheers

How is this mostly positive....oh 14 reviews....right... Not much has changed sadly. Derek Smart is a legend in gaming but not for positive reasons....

What little I've learned from this game, I have to say, it's pretty good! when you get over the hurdles of understanding most of the stuff, it's a very enjoyable experience.

I came from playing Battlecruiser Millenium Gold, and I found that most of the changes to Universal Combat seem to be cosmetic with improved graphics and a slightly modified interface, although there may be more substantial improvements internally as well such as support for modern joysticks. Regardless, it plays essentially the same with only a few keystroke command changes, and in my view it is still a fantastic game. Let me start by stating the obvious: this game is not for everyone, not by a long shot. First off, you need to read the extensive manual. There are just no shortcuts here to be had as you have to invest the time to learn the commands and various interfaces, preferably while having the game running in front of you so you can try out what you learn. And even then you will likely frequently refer back to the manual for the more esoteric stuff. It is a complex game with a steep learning curve, but for a reason, which is that you get to control every facet of your ship and its assets, down to the location of each crew member and their various assignments. You are truly the captain of your ship, and the better you know her the more enjoyment you will get out of the game. On top of that, there are a lot of addtional things you can do like first person piloting of a fighter, shuttle, or rover, or even walk on the surface of a planet and engage in exploration or combat. You can create concerted attacks on planetary bases by marines on the ground with close air support from fighters and tactical bombing from orbit. You can mine planets to collect valuable minerals for trading in space ports. Or you can just roam the galaxy on a 5 year mission to explore new worlds and new civilizations :) To put it another way, a vivid imagination is a pre-requisite as well as a willingness to immerse yourself in the experience. With time, you will develop a fondness for your crew and an attachment to your ship, the hallmark of a true captain... Now for the detractors out there, this game plays just as advertised. I have yet to experience a serious bug with it and it delivers what it promises. The impression I get from reading many of the negative reviews is that either the reviewers have not taken the time to really learn the game because of its apparent initial complexity or were more suited for different types of games such as Elite Dangerous or its ilk. Universal Combat (and its predecessors) is a monumetal achievement that has no equal in its breadth and capabilities, and for under $10 it is a total steal. Nonetheless, if you prefer to try the game first, then Battlecruiser Millenium Gold is available as freeware and will run perfectly under Win 7 to Win 10 as long as it is set to Win 98 compatibility. And if you are still hesitant, consider reading the Starcarrier SF series from Ian Douglas, as it will give a real feel of what this game is all about.

As I understand it, this is a science fiction military simulator. It's like Dangerous Waters, Fleet Command, Falcon BMS, 688 Hunter Killer Command: Modern Operations... But it's also the space simulator with the good things from this kind of game: big universe which you can freely explore, kill stuff, capture stations, land on the planets, etc. There are also several campaigns, which are, as far as I can tell, somewhat (...a little bit) similar to X3:TC story arcs in which you receive objectives to progress through it, but how you do it is entirely up to you. X3 devs refer to it as the "Think" aspect of their "Trade Fight Build Think" It's truly amazing, but as with all serious military simulators, expect to spend some time learning it. But considering the size of manuals, this simulator is still significantly easier to learn than most realistic military sims. Consider 600 PDF pages for Dangerous Water or over 1000 for Falcon BMS... Overall, I highly recommend at least check this simulator out to any space game fan. Especially from EVE or X community who may search for some other serious space games and new intellectual challenges.

I am giving this game a massive thumbs up, but there is absolutely no point in my attempting to review it. One word describes the experience though. Immersive. To immerse yourself in it is the only way to 'get' it. Reading about it will not do it. Thus, the below wall of text is not a review, but may explain the thumbs up. I got lucky. I bought an early version of this game in the 1990's (BC3000). It was a time of my life when I needed to take some time out and basically lock myself away for a few weeks. I had this CD with this game on, a printed manual and a PC. I read the manual, which is what you did in those days, and I spent those weeks figuring out the game and learning to enjoy it more and more. It sucked me in. There was absolutely nothing like it. I got to the point where a screen full of numbers would translate in my mind to my troops running to defend my ship, I could see my engineers running down corridors to fix damage and effortlessly switch to a screen to check my inventory of parts while managing fighters and planning an escape strategy from a fight I had gotten into that I probably could not win, hoping I could pay for the parts I would need to fix her up. To give one example of a possible situation among many... many... And it was all huge fun, totally immersive and challenging and rewarding. This game is massive. You can read other reviews of it there is so much to do, but there is that one thing you need. Immersion. Eventually I had to spend my time doing other things, I forgot about the game, then one day I realised I had lost the CD, and there wasn't much hope of getting another copy. It was never a popular game. Then sometime later I discovered that it was available for free on the internet. So I downloaded it and got it to run but realised that it would just eat my life so I had to leave it to one side. Even more years later and I am so glad I have it on steam, well this evolved version of it which seems like an improvement from the few hours I have in it. I start it up and I am instantly back in the seat. The 'obtuse' interface makes internal logical sense and is intuitive once you really know the whole game, even 30 years later. It is like an old friend. I start to play and then I realise, I am in that other universe. Immersed. if I don't step away from the computer, my friends and family may not see me for weeks. There is no other game like this, that I know of, and I play a lot of games. If this small sharing of my experience with the game makes you think it may be worth your time investing in it then I say go for it. You may find the most immersive gaming experience you ever had. Or you may find that is just doesn't click for you. It's certainly a risk. I am very glad I happened to give it the time it deserves, and I look forward to having the time to give to it again.... maybe... one day... Also, it runs great on my linux laptop. It is not very demanding. If you find you lose control of the cursor or the screen glitches - alt-tabbing out and back fixes it for me. No other issues.

It takes a certain kind of person to really love this game, and I seem to be one of them. It is a difficult game to play. The tutorial document is longer than the manual. EVERYTHING is an abbreviation. But dang, this game scratches an itch. If you invest the time, it will reward you. Do you want to invest the time? That's up to you.