X Rebirth First Trailer

[mikeck]

Jomini...I love rebirth... More than x3:tc. Having said that, if you are going to dive in, I would recommend x3: Terran conflict and albion pride. There are two reasons. The first and most important is that since rebirth hasn't been out long as is completely new, there are not a lot of people that can help you if you have questions...we are all trying to figure it out. TC is older and has a dedicated fan base. Any question you have there are 10 people who will jump in and answer.

Secondly, there are bugs with rebirth. For someone just starting, why not go with the polished and relatively bug free version?

Of course, the other side of the argument is that if your going to sit down and learn a game, might as well be the one you really want

[jomni]

I don't really want any. Just curious. Har Har!

[PanzersEast]

X-ReBirth is on Nexus Mods

http://xrebirth.nexusmods.com/mods/searchresults//?


PE

[Jarhead0331]

I'm apprehensive about modding the game up when I know there will be many incoming patches.

[JudgeDredd]

I am about to do a MASSIVE U-Turn here.

Rather than fire the game up and piss about with the poor interface and the poor control implementation, I decided to fire it up in sandbox and fly around using the mouse.

I actually took some time to fly around, check out some systems, check out some stations and ships and the universe is so totally alive. Very, very atmospheric and engaging. Ships with their "contrails". Slow moving big bugger ships. Fast moving wee ships. I went down towards a station which had a blue light going round in circles. As I got closer, I could hear the "thrum"..."thrum"..."thrum"... of it as the light passed around me.

I'm still not totally sure about the sector maps and I don't know what I'm doing with other things - but only half an hour without fighting the interface has changed my mind on the game and I can see what other people are seeing.

I still say the graphics (at a distance) are almost pre 2005, but up close, they're pretty good. They could be much better - but they aren't as ugly as at a distance.


As for the community...

I think we're being a bit naive and disingenuous to the X mob. Not to say "they're right", but Egosoft should expect alot of fire changing the game in such a drastic way - particularly from hardcore X fans. The series has a very loyal following and to think they wouldn't necessarily be up in arms at some of the changes introduced is a bit naive. Having said that - it's a game, and a good series, and you could argue they should get a life.

But such a drastic change to a beloved series would always ruffle feathers. I was taught at college as a software engineer that when making changes to a system, regardless of how the current system fights people, you should try and make the changes as subtle as possible and stay faithful where you can - because no matter how good your upgrade is - people fight change. I don't necessarily think that fits with the world of game programming - but "what aint broke don't fix" should.

And Egosoft should be slapped for releasing a simulator with an atrocious interface for setting your controls and a buggy one at that (I have to resort to using my mouse to get around and interact with the universe)

But - as I said at the beginning (yes - there was a start to this post), I did manage to fly around without being confuddled with the interface and the controls and it is alive and does look pretty good close up.

[Darkspire]

This seems to explain a few things, I put my purchase on hold and have gone back to X2 and Distant Worlds for the moment.

Darkspire

[Yskonyn]

I just came across a gamestopper.
It's got to do with the plot, so I won't post spoilers unless you want me to, but it involved getting a new shield.
Instead of getting the new shield I sold my two current shields. Partly due to the fact the trade window wasn't making sense and I suspected a scripted event would happen resulting me in 'trading' my old shields for a new one.
No such thing; the old shields were removed from the Skunk and the mission continued as though I had gotten the new shield. Yisha actually tells me the new shield is installed when I get back to the ship, but the shield indicator is greyed out. Not good. :(
So, in fact, I just sold our only 2 shield generators to some guy on a remote station, just because his boss told me to. He never gave up his goods though! And now I do not have enough money to buy the darn things back... Load Game.

:)

Other than this I am having a blast! The campaign is actually much better than the corny versions that came before. The 'databursts' that fill the encyclopedia (the cutscene ones) are pretty cool imo. Fun game!

[Jarhead0331]

I just came across a gamestopper.
It's got to do with the plot, so I won't post spoilers unless you want me to, but it involved getting a new shield.
Instead of getting the new shield I sold my two current shields. Partly due to the fact the trade window wasn't making sense and I suspected a scripted event would happen resulting me in 'trading' my old shields for a new one.
No such thing; the old shields were removed from the Skunk and the mission continued as though I had gotten the new shield. Yisha actually tells me the new shield is installed when I get back to the ship, but the shield indicator is greyed out. Not good. :(
So, in fact, I just sold our only 2 shield generators to some guy on a remote station, just because his boss told me to. He never gave up his goods though! And now I do not have enough money to buy the darn things back... Load Game.

:)

Other than this I am having a blast! The campaign is actually much better than the corny versions that came before. The 'databursts' that fill the encyclopedia (the cutscene ones) are pretty cool imo. Fun game!

Same thing happened to me, except I had enough money to buy a better shield. I was getting a 40% discount so assumed that was the deal?  Anyway, annoying, but hardly a game stopper.

[Yskonyn]

Well it stopped my game there, didn't it? The mission right after that is a combat one. Doesn't work without shields. :D

[mikeck]

I just came across a gamestopper.
It's got to do with the plot, so I won't post spoilers unless you want me to, but it involved getting a new shield.
Instead of getting the new shield I sold my two current shields. Partly due to the fact the trade window wasn't making sense and I suspected a scripted event would happen resulting me in 'trading' my old shields for a new one.
No such thing; the old shields were removed from the Skunk and the mission continued as though I had gotten the new shield. Yisha actually tells me the new shield is installed when I get back to the ship, but the shield indicator is greyed out. Not good. :(
So, in fact, I just sold our only 2 shield generators to some guy on a remote station, just because his boss told me to. He never gave up his goods though! And now I do not have enough money to buy the darn things back... Load Game.

:)

Other than this I am having a blast! The campaign is actually much better than the corny versions that came before. The 'databursts' that fill the encyclopedia (the cutscene ones) are pretty cool imo. Fun game!

I am playing the campaign to get the tutorial down and learn how to do things mechanically. After that though I'm going back to open sandbox. I have seen many posts about issues with the campaign and bugs and such which makes me think that it's really not worth doing the plotline at this point. If all you're looking to do is Starcher solar Empire then why not just do it on sandbox... there you can avoid all these bugs

[PanzersEast]

Making my tour around the Universe I can confirm that stations are different depending on the area/race.... while some of the elements are the same, the station looks and feels different.... just fyi


Some post cards






PE

[mikeck]

I am about to do a MASSIVE U-Turn here.

Rather than fire the game up and piss about with the poor interface and the poor control implementation, I decided to fire it up in sandbox and fly around using the mouse.

I actually took some time to fly around, check out some systems, check out some stations and ships and the universe is so totally alive. Very, very atmospheric and engaging. Ships with their "contrails". Slow moving big bugger ships. Fast moving wee ships. I went down towards a station which had a blue light going round in circles. As I got closer, I could hear the "thrum"..."thrum"..."thrum"... of it as the light passed around me.

I'm still not totally sure about the sector maps and I don't know what I'm doing with other things - but only half an hour without fighting the interface has changed my mind on the game and I can see what other people are seeing.

I still say the graphics (at a distance) are almost pre 2005, but up close, they're pretty good. They could be much better - but they aren't as ugly as at a distance.


As for the community...

I think we're being a bit naive and disingenuous to the X mob. Not to say "they're right", but Egosoft should expect alot of fire changing the game in such a drastic way - particularly from hardcore X fans. The series has a very loyal following and to think they wouldn't necessarily be up in arms at some of the changes introduced is a bit naive. Having said that - it's a game, and a good series, and you could argue they should get a life.

But such a drastic change to a beloved series would always ruffle feathers. I was taught at college as a software engineer that when making changes to a system, regardless of how the current system fights people, you should try and make the changes as subtle as possible and stay faithful where you can - because no matter how good your upgrade is - people fight change. I don't necessarily think that fits with the world of game programming - but "what aint broke don't fix" should.

And Egosoft should be slapped for releasing a simulator with an atrocious interface for setting your controls and a buggy one at that (I have to resort to using my mouse to get around and interact with the universe)

But - as I said at the beginning (yes - there was a start to this post), I did manage to fly around without being confuddled with the interface and the controls and it is alive and does look pretty good close up.

Good post and I agree 100%. Wait until you fly through a factory and actually see the factory pouring molten ore into molds and welding the molds into the solar panels that it sells to trade shifts incredible detail.

Your point reminds me of a quote:

"there are two things cops hate: change and the way things are now."

[Jarhead0331]

Well it stopped my game there, didn't it? The mission right after that is a combat one. Doesn't work without shields. :D

Right...but you're the dummy :P that went ahead and sold your existing shields without checking to make sure you had enough cash to buy a replacement...oh, and by the way, you could have repurchased what you sold at the same price. At least, it was listed for sale for the same price with the merchant I dealt with.

Anyway, you can't totally blame this on the game. You played a part too.

[Yskonyn]

I just came across a gamestopper.
It's got to do with the plot, so I won't post spoilers unless you want me to, but it involved getting a new shield.
Instead of getting the new shield I sold my two current shields. Partly due to the fact the trade window wasn't making sense and I suspected a scripted event would happen resulting me in 'trading' my old shields for a new one.
No such thing; the old shields were removed from the Skunk and the mission continued as though I had gotten the new shield. Yisha actually tells me the new shield is installed when I get back to the ship, but the shield indicator is greyed out. Not good. :(
So, in fact, I just sold our only 2 shield generators to some guy on a remote station, just because his boss told me to. He never gave up his goods though! And now I do not have enough money to buy the darn things back... Load Game.

:)

Other than this I am having a blast! The campaign is actually much better than the corny versions that came before. The 'databursts' that fill the encyclopedia (the cutscene ones) are pretty cool imo. Fun game!

I am playing the campaign to get the tutorial down and learn how to do things mechanically. After that though I'm going back to open sandbox. I have seen many posts about issues with the campaign and bugs and such which makes me think that it's really not worth doing the plotline at this point. If all you're looking to do is Starcher solar Empire then why not just do it on sandbox... there you can avoid all these bugs

Yes true indeed. But, like you, I have started the campaign solely to get my feet wet and get introduced to the different mechanics of the game; which are pretty different from its predecessors. Still, you can just leave the missions be indefinately and free roam in the campaign too, taking up the missions again as you see fit.

My Skunk has seen some nasty battles just now and I need to repair my hull. Money is the biggest problem at the moment. I do not have enough to completely repair the hull (I miss the incremental repairs of X3 here; in Rebirth repairs are divided by system, but you have to pay the full amount for the system upfront).
So I am flying around in a ship that's held together with duct-tape, Plutarch is jumping me whenever they get the chance and I need to get a few jobs done to earn some cash! I haven't found a lucrative trade run for my freighter either.. They all sell above the average, making it impossible to make a profit.
Still, I am enjoying myself tremendously!

[Yskonyn]

Well it stopped my game there, didn't it? The mission right after that is a combat one. Doesn't work without shields. :D

Right...but you're the dummy :P that went ahead and sold your existing shields without checking to make sure you had enough cash to buy a replacement...oh, and by the way, you could have repurchased what you sold at the same price. At least, it was listed for sale for the same price with the merchant I dealt with.

Anyway, you can't totally blame this on the game. You played a part too.

Yes I am certainly to blame for this, but like I said; the trade window is pretty vague. Plus as it was a mission I expected a scripted action, not a normal trade.

But no, I could not buy them back at the same price. I checked. He sold them for 8% profit. Bastard!