Noctis

[vorvox]

Rather old pseudo-space sim. Features randomly generated universe made up of billions of stars, each one with planets that can be explored. Exploration is the only thing to do. It was written for DOS in assembly, but in the year 2000, so it's rather difficult to run speedily on dosbox. It is, however, quite magnificent. It appears as if the man coded his own 3d engine from scratch, because it looks like nothing I've ever seen. Just wondering if anyone had heard of it or was interested. The link explains more: http://anynowhere.com/bb/posts.php?t=409
Seems like a notgame to me - no challenge, only travel and discovery.

[Måns]

Nice to see someone bring this up. Noctis was probably the first notgame experience I had. The way it challenged my idea of what games can be was quite profound. I absolutely love the exploration in Noctis. Overall I think exploration for the sake of exploration is very interesting to work with in games. Me and my friends tried do to something similar with our experience Sjörök (http://www.mansbilling.com/?page_id=692). Are there any other games that resemble Noctis in this way?   

[vorvox]

Glad to see someone else has experienced this obscure gem 
There aren't many of these Exploration Games, but you might want to check out Knytt or Seiklus. Both are platformers that have minimal challenge (There are a few puzzles in each) and lovely atmospheric worlds. Although they aren't procedurally generated or simmy like Noctis, I think they have a similar feeling. Both are highly recommended. There is also a recent flash game called Small Worlds that's in a similar vein. All of these are free.

[Måns]

I'll definitely check out Seiklus. Thanks for the tip!
I have played, and enjoyed, the other two. I love Knytt with its atmosphere and simple platforming. Small Worlds is also quite clever!

When it comes to AAA-titles I found the exploration in Fallout 3 quite well done. It was undoubtedly my favorite aspect of the game. What I very much enjoy is when I find myself exploring just for the sake of exploring. Forget achievements, experience or quest lines. I just want to explore because I want to explore. I want to see the world, whatever world I'm currently in. 

[axcho]

I played Noctis until my ship ran out of fuel and I couldn't figure out how to get more.

[vorvox]

axcho: You gotta send for help. There should be a menu for emergency functions -- select 'distress beacon' and wait a bit, then a craft like yours will come and give you fuel. The whole deal with fuel is part of Noctis's weird simulation-ness.

Mans: Yeah, I replay Knytt all the time, just because it has such a lovely atmosphere. I like how Small Worlds tells a bit of a story in each little world. I should try playing Fallout 3 for the exploration aspect. I enjoy this about the Zelda games. Ultima Underworld is another nice nonlinear exploration-heavy rpg; it's for dos, and can probably be easily found via google. Games like Myst are also excellent. A lot of games have interesting worlds, and it can be a lot of fun to just experience a game like that -- walk in a direction, just to see what can be seen.