Science Fiction RPG's?

I’m wondering if there are any good PC rpgs (not text-based) based upon science fictional settings that don’t consist primarily of battles in space between ships. Something along the lines of Oblivion/Elder Scrolls, only with alien settings, characters, and sfnal plotlines. It seems like fertile ground for something great, other than a rehash of medieval fantasy.

Exploration of artifacts and lairs, encounters with new lifeforms, face-to-face battles, otherworldly settings, weightlessness, and strange physics come to mind OTOMH.

If none exist, then I might be persuaded to try my first text-based one since 1973 if it’s compelling enough.

Well, there is the Star Wars MMORPG, but 1) it costs money per month to play, and 2) it sucks ass-cock.

OTOH, there is Eve Online, which still costs money per month, but rocks the ass-cock instead of sucking it.

There’s also SW: Knights of the Old Republic, one of the best Star Wars games ever.

There’s KOTOR2, but I’ve never played it. I heard it isn’t as good.

Anarchy Online is a decent MMORPG, which is free to play right now.

You may wish to look into Mass Effect. It isn’t out yet, but promises to be awesome in a Fallout/KOTOR sort of way. Less open than the Elder Scrolls games, but still an RPG.

And it should be mentioned, of course, that Fallout is, itself, a science fiction RPG, which is awesome in a Fallout sort of way.

If you have something capable of running DOS 6, or emulating a Commodore 64, there are a couple of Buck Rogers games from the early '90s.

Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday
Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed

Oh yeah, and also Wasteland, from the same people who brought us the Bard’s Tale series. This is essentially the origin of Fallout.

So far no luck…

I’d like to steer clear of MMORPGs if I can. I’ve learned I’m too easily addicted to them. Eve Online seems to be a MMOG, all about ships, no rpg. Mass Effect is not PC.

I understand Bethesda is developing the next Fallout right now. I never played the original, but am interested in the new one. SPORE intrigues me, but not in an rpg way.

Old games are not really an option on my new gaming computer - which is underutilized at the mo’.

dammit! I was coming in here to sing the praises of Traveler but you actually meant computer games…

slinks away muttering about the good old days

First, run out and get Fallout and Fallout 2. They’re the best Science Fiction RPGs ever made, and you shouldn’t have any trouble running them on a modern PC.

Next, Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic. You can even get the sequel, though the fact that at some point they seemed to stop bothering to try and make the story make sense will probably piss you off.

The Buck Rogers games from SSI were great, and despite the age of them, they make a good showing on the short list of science fiction RPGs.

Anachronox is a fun console-style RPG with a lot of humor.

System Shock 2 and Deus Ex were designed in first-person shooter style, but they are also genuinely RPGs.

Albion is a nice RPG, if you can get your hands on it, though I never finished it because the premise got kind of stupid as the game dragged on. ("I.e., the Celts were the glory of the human race, great warriors while not being war-like, until the ‘Heliromers’ – the Greeks and Romans – came along and taught the world to hate.)

Arcanum – Fantasy/Steampunk. It had both fantasy and science-fiction elements, and was brought to you by the people who made Fallout. The graphics seemed primitive even by the standards of its own time, but it was excellent in character development and story arc.

Septerra Core – Great story, console style, somewhat tedious in how missions ended up as crawls through mazes searching for switches that opened up more maze. Overall, I’d recommend it. The story was great.

Maximus XV – Diablo clone in space, not recommended unless you want to keep your hands busy while listening to an audiobook.

I got Fallout 1 and 2 about a year ago, and didnt’ like either one much. I might be the only one in the world, but there’s a chance you won’t like them either.

Even though KotOR 1&2 are Star Wars games, they don’t involve a whole lot of space battles between ships.

How about Planescape Torment? Maybe it’s not SF, but the world is truely alien, and it’s definitely not a rehash of medieval fantasy.

There actually were two Traveller computer games made though they are of course long out of print. Even if you could find them (possible if you know where to look) you may have trouble getting them to run on modern PCs.