I have been keeping an eye on Terra Invicta for interest in the space development side of the game mostly. But now that it’s released I’ve decided, reluctantly, that it is not for me as it’s basically two different games stapled together, with some deeply questionable design choices.
Thinking about it gave me that spreadsheet game itch and it occurred to me that something that puts a grand strategy spin on kerbal space program would be really cool! Focus on mission planning, management, and R&D for early space flight through near future space industrial development/mining/permanent bases.
Has anyone heard of anything like that? Or should I just cave and give Aurora 4x another go?
Maybe too simplistic for what you’re looking for, but Buzz Aldrin’s Space Program Manager allows you to do some of it.
It’s based on an older title IIRC, and it’s a game more tuned towards education with relatively few graphical elements. You won’t be flying missions directly, nor do you have sandbox capabilities, but for mission planning / R and D / mission control, there is some fun to be had.
I go back to it occasionally.
Looks like it’s an updated version of a dos game Buzz Aldrin’s Race Into Space I think I would try the original first, there is an open source version for basically all modern OSes https://github.com/raceintospace/raceintospace
Probably the closest suggestion so far! Thanks