Battlecruiser Generations

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.

Even just one of these games are worth the full price of admission, but you are getting four games. Just one game could potentially last you a life time or at the very least, many years. With games these days, it's rare to find a Dev in the community to help and answer questions, but DSmart actually does that, so that is a plus as well. I'd ask anyone into space or simulation games to give it a try. There are many options to choose from- a captain of a ship, an engineer, a space marine, etc. Travel all over the galaxy in an open world or complete missions. If it doesn't work, as was my case, refund it. But you are doing yourself a massive disservice, if you do not at least once give this a go. Don't let the graphics put you off either, there is a LOT of customization and the older graphics have it's charm. But if you simply can not get past the older graphics, try the other games available from 3000AD.

Bonus....now I know how to use DOS Box. Took me back to C:\........

An amazing simulator. Worth the reward if you stick with it and learn what it has to offer.

Can't get it to play for more than 45 minutes, and I used to love this game. Sadly, I cannot get a refund, nor can I play it. Removing it now.

Game is very involved. once you learn contols is very easy to get in game. is a bit dated but still a great game.