I have been looking for a space or flight sim game with a specific focus and don't really know where to look. I was hoping to find one, here on GOG of course, that had the ability to not just fly around in a battle but to also lead a large squadron of space ships (or planes, whichever) too. Something kind of like the Mount and Blade series except blasting through space and leading a fleet of battleships instead of a medieval army.

I was looking for a balance between being too "arcade-y" and too "realistic" in control. Something like Star Wars Rogue Squadron is not quite what I'm looking for. I think that in the X-Wing series you can command some other ships but I don't think it is on the larger scale that I want.

Know any games that are close to what I'm looking for that are available on GOG? Thanks.

Space flight + M&B..... You are my friend and you have brilliant ideas. Problem here is you want more than just 2-4 wingmen even if maybe not 200.

In the X games you can have an armada but it takes quite a while to be able to afford one and equip it. Not the same feel as M&B.

Here are a couple of my suggestions!

Space Pirates and Zombies 2
Starpoint Gemini Warlords
Gratuitous Space Battles 2

I'll totally second Nicole's choice of Starpoint Gemini Warlords (haven't played it but looks exactly like what you're looking for) and add in the Star Wolves series. If you're looking for an RPG type take on your request these should do it.

For more traditional flight sims Themken is right about X, up to and including the time / learning curve you'll have to overcome to get there.

If you don't mind older games, the X-Com flight sim is actually exactly what you're looking for. You set up bases, research, hire pilots and buy / outfit interceptors to fly missions with you. It's... actually a pretty decent game with a simplified Wing Commander like flight sim engine.

Speaking of Wing Commander, I think there's actually a Wing Commander game (haven't played it) that's also pretty close to this - Armada I want to say? Maybe check those out.

What an awesome idea for a genre bender though. I'd love to see a modern X-Com Interceptor type game for when I want to play something a little less RPG, a little more space flight sim.

Check out "Endless Sky", which is free over at the place with hot water vapor.

I saw that people were pretty split on X-Com Interceptor in the reviews. As someone who is not an X-Com fan, is Interceptor really close to what I'm looking for? Anything about it I should know (bugs, quirks, etc.)?

Also, I was under the impression that the X series was more about freeform space exploration. How does it handle building up an army?

Thanks for the replies!

LOL. this is epic!!
:D :P

There is no need to go there to get it. Endless Sky is a free open source project available on github.

Linkie: https://endless-sky.github.io/

Wouldn;t the Master of Orion series work as well since we're talking about "mass fleets"? Just a thought,

Not quite. I love Master of Orion (particularly the first one), but I'm looking for a game that puts the player in the cockpit alongside their fleet. Similar to how in Mount and Blade you physically lead your troops out into battle.

EDIT: Could be like a WW II flight sim game too! Doesn't matter if I'm leading X-wings or fighter planes.

X handles building up an army by having you play it a LONG time. Seriously, the game and options are huge - think old school MMO style commitment. You can capture / build / buy fleets of ships from snub fighters to capital class vessels. There are parts of the game that you won't even know exist until you've spent 50 - 100 hours ingame. It's as much "single player MMO" and economic sim as it is space flight.

Interceptor really isn't a bad game. I DID encounter a bug that prevented me from doing a mission (I think it had to do with capturing an alien freighter). It wasn't game breaking but it did cause me to stop my playthrough because I'm weird. Which was a shame because I had really been enjoying the game.

It's really not too far off from what you're looking for - you won't ever be in command of large fleets and all your ships will be snub fighters but other than that it ticks your boxes. You get to equip your guys and send them out on missions, then fly said missions with them. There's an "overmap" where you spend a lot of time building and upgrading bases, sending out probes (actually finding the aliens and monitoring space is a bit part of the game - a part I enjoyed) and conducting research.

I think the biggest "hang up" you'll have to ask yourself about the game is "Can I get over aged visuals." If you're someone who still replays Wing Commander every few years I think you might enjoy it. I know there are some games I feel have just "aged out" too much and I'll have a hard time having fun with them. If you don't think that'll happen for you with Interceptor it might be worth a shot. Like I said, I actually really liked the game when I played it about a year or so back.

Is it multiplayer, requiring players to be updated to the newest version of the game all the time?

In that case I'd see it a good option to play it through something like Steam (or Galaxy) which updates it automatically whenever a new version is available. Or does the "github version" have the ability to auto-update itself?

Of course if it is single-player only, then this doesn't matter that much (unless it is in-dev and receiving lots of important updates all the time). Anyway, free-to-play... why wouldn't I check it? I've heard of this title before but never understood it doesn't cost anything, hence I didn't check it further.

Appears to only be single player but yes, it's up at Steam:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/404410/Endless_Sky/

It really is a fun game. It's mount and blade in space.