X3 Reunion

[Kalmah]

Just baught on Steam.. waiting for download.

It looks a little like Eve, except single player. Trading, buidling ships, building factories and starbases... I would imagine alot of exploring too.

The graphics look really really nice. It appears to be a newer game.. (2005)
It looks like your view is from the inside of the cockpit.(I like)

I'm on a space sim kick right now for some reason.
Has anybody played this?

 

[Via]

The only thing I can say is have a lot of time handy.

There is no in-game tutorial (even thought it's referred to in the paper manual). Some people posted some web resources a while back; you probably want to check those out.

I'm sure it's a great game once you know how to play, but I never got past the first few jumpgates.

The curve is probably something like this:

25% of noobs make it past the first 1/2 hour.

An addiditonal 10% make it past the first few hours.

Of those, I imagine most stay hooked for a long time.

 

[Saga]

I'm one of the 75% that didn't make it past the first hour. No matter which race I selected I never could finish the initial mission because at one point it'd just get into some endless loop of "travel to this gate via the big quest arrow" and when I went through the gate the arrow would proceed to point me right back to the gate I just came through, so I'd go through that and.. SURPRISE, the arrow would again point me through the gate I just came through.

Perhaps the quest was me running in a small tight circle for days until I eventually went insane. I never stuck around to find out.

 

[Kalmah]

Ahh, well that sucks. I looked at the gamespot reviews which are mostly above a 9. Maybe that was a bug that they have patched since then?

 

[Via]

Just go in with an open mind and give it your best shot. Just because a lot of people couldn't get into it doesn't mean that you wont.

There was a big patch; the Steam version surely includes it.

 

[ZzZGuy]

It took me two months of on and off playing to learn the game and be able to play properly.

In short, it's a single player MMO. The game is a huge time sink.

HOWEVER, if the time sink is a turn off you can cheat yourself some money and race rep instead of spending two weeks setting up a trade network and leaving the game running while you sleep (with the power bill it's also like having a monthly fee). Another problem is when you get a lot of ships in one sector the game turns into a lag fest and the AI goes kamikaze.

Now if your just after the fighter battles, update to the latest version (which I think includes the free bonus pack), cheat some money and build your very own player station, cheat rep and buy one of each ship you might want and store them in the station. The egosoft forums also has a lotttt of mods to make the game more interesting later. Also note the not free Terran Conflict expansion contains TAGS and online activation (aside from steam) DRM on the Steam version while the DVD version has just a CD check.

 

[brandonb]

As other's have mentioned, it takes alot of getting used to. I was turned off by it when I bought it (2.0 for $20) a few years ago, then I tried it again a few years later and "figured it out."

The thing that got me over the "hump" in learning the game was just the UI. Of all the things you see on the screen, and menu's you can get through, the hardest thing was finding the "main menu"... It's a tiny icon on the bottom right hand of the screen that lets you navigate through all the other menu's. When you first start playing, you usually get an "email" and turns into a mail icon. I thought it was just an email notification like outlook would give you. Didn't realize you could actually do something with it.

I never clicked the damn thing, I didn't know what it was. The next thing is just the console menu off that main menu where you can give orders to your ship (or your fleet)...

 

[wrangler]

Go to the store and get yourself a ream of paper (hope you have a good printer) then go to this website:

http://forum.egosoft.com/index.php?c=2

Download the guides (Ships, weapons, stations, gameplay, control, scripts, sector map) for X3: Reunion. It would be helpful if you also got yourself some sheet protectors and tabs for keeping them in their correct subject.

Install and launch the game.

Have loads of fun while constantly referring to the afformentioned guides.






Seriously, once I learned it.........I loved the game. Can't wait to play X3: Terran Conflict but they're still ironing out some bugs.

 

[Alex C]

I played it for ten or so hours when I first got it, but then got distracted by The Witcher and haven't been back to it. I'll probably give it another go real soon.

 

[Saga]

Just loaded up Terran Conflict to try and remind myself how this game felt and I instantly remembered the most difficult part. The controls! No matter how I customize there are so many buttons that need pressed it's simply hard to map them all properly.

 

[Alex C]

I just reinstalled it and completed the first mission for the first time ever. I agree about the controls, I can't even remember them all, let alone map them out in an efficient manner. I think a good joystick might be nice for this one, maybe it'll be a little easier.

 

[Via]

This thread actually convinced me to re-install X2 (again); I had some free time (and it has a tutorial).

After being unsuccessful many times using a joystick or keyboard I finally tried the gamepad/keyboard combo and it made things a ton easier for me. I used the gamepad for steering, basic throttle, target cycling, and monitor cycling and the keyboard for everything else.

Why didn't I try this before? Hell - I might finally even get deep into it.

If you're having trouble with joystick or keyboard only, try the gamepad/keyboard.

The only thing that I wish I could change is the screen spinning when you're inside of space stations or near them. It makes me dizzy.

 

[Alex C]

I can't get past the second mission, the Pirates keep f'ing me up while I'm going after the crystal. I've tried it at least ten times now, and I keep getting wrecked.

 

[aka1nas]

Terran Conflict is a little easier to get into than Reunion. The mouse controls are actually easier/better than a joystick npw, and the new mission system and menu system has a guidance option that tells you where to go at all times for your current mission(s). The NPCs also got a nice boost and are a little smarter.

Your first goal in Reunion should be to get into something stronger than the default M4(Interceptor) Buster you start with. You want to get yourself an M3 (Heavy Fighter) asap so you can take on bigger targets. I'd suggest going east of Argon Prime to Elena's Fortune and ambushing some pirates to try to capture their ships. In your Buster, you should be able to take on pirate M5s and M4s, and hopefully an M3 if you can pick of it's escorts and isolate it.

Watch out for the pirate Novas as they have a mean rear turret that can take down an M4's shields with a few hits. The pirate Falcon is a decent first M3, and is tougher enough to allow you to cap the better M3s from there.

Ships will sometimes bail when you get their shield down and hull below ~83%. It depends somewhat on several factors like your combat rank, the pilots morale, with a huge random chance component. Chewing their hull down slowly is one of the better tactics to maximize your chance of a bail.

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Alex C
I can't get past the second mission, the Pirates keep f'ing me up while I'm going after the crystal. I've tried it at least ten times now, and I keep getting wrecked.

What are you flying, and what are you going up against?

 

[Kalmah]

Well, I just spent about 45 minutes just to try getting my joystick to work. If I put the control on "configure as gamepad" my joystick axis works.. but cant seem to get the throttle to do anything. Throttle is set to throttle in the controls menu. Why can't they just make it so you can move the axis you want to assign to it instead of looking through a list. I have a really complex joystick system with over 27 button(x 3 since it has a 3 mode selector switch affectively making it possible to assign each of the 27 buttons three different things) plus it has a slider and 2 rotating knobs which I believe are considered as analog axis'.

 

[Alex C]

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: Alex C
I can't get past the second mission, the Pirates keep f'ing me up while I'm going after the crystal. I've tried it at least ten times now, and I keep getting wrecked.

What are you flying, and what are you going up against?

I'm using the Buster they started me out in, with no upgrades. I'm supposed to be following a ship called Talon with my jump drive, but he keeps sending other pirates out after me. They usually come in threes, one Buster and two Harriers (I think).

 

[aka1nas]

Originally posted by: Alex C

Originally posted by: aka1nas

Originally posted by: Alex C
I can't get past the second mission, the Pirates keep f'ing me up while I'm going after the crystal. I've tried it at least ten times now, and I keep getting wrecked.

What are you flying, and what are you going up against?

I'm using the Buster they started me out in, with no upgrades. I'm supposed to be following a ship called Talon with my jump drive, but he keeps sending other pirates out after me. They usually come in threes, one Buster and two Harriers (I think).

You can leave and pick up the plot at any point pretty much, I'd at least try to upgrade the buster before taking that on. You should be able to handle a pirate buster+ 2x harrier group pretty easily with a fully decked out buster.

 

[roguerower]

I picked it up last night too...I'll see how far I can progress before getting help.

 

[Via]

I'm over 10 hours into X2; Finally, after many attempts, I've made it in to this game. I've gotten about 5 steps into the plot and explored 7 or 8 sectors.

The secret for me was ultimately embracing gamepad controls (and getting proficient at them) instead of dismissing them as I had done every other time I tried X2. It's still twitchy for me and I often end up rotating my ship accidentally when I increase the throttle, but the more I play the better I get.

After practice I can now easily and quickly control 90% of the functions from the gamepad. I only have to use the keyboard for fine thrust adjustments, max thrust/0 thrust, and a few other things.

I have to say -the graphics are awesome for a game released so long ago. You have to ignore the manual (which says to turn off forced AA and only set it in-game) and max out everything in the control panel. Forcing triple bufffering and V-sync made a big difference in smoothness.

This definitely renews my hope for X3; I'll try it again whe I get bored of X2.

 

[Build it Myself]

if you have patience it's one of the best games out there

it's funny how people say they have 10hrs into this game...that's barely enough to get a factory, let alone supplies

I have maybe 10 months into X3, maybe 1/2 that in X2, haven't played Terran Conflict because I'm still too hooked on X3

Honestly? it's really hard to start to love, but if you're a perfectionist like me, love building and micromanaging your own empire, and enjoy a real space fighting sim (collision happens and it happens often) then you might just love this game.


EDIT: Oh, and if you ever get bored, there are mods to put all the star trek ships in it, or all the star wars ships, have babalon 5 ships instead, etc. etc. The modding fanbase is huge and there's really a lot of great stuff.

 

[Via]

it's funny how people say they have 10hrs into this game...that's barely enough to get a factory, let alone supplies

:{ It took me at least 5 tries to get 10 hours into X2 (pats self on back); and I love PC games.