Blog » X3AP » X3 AP, Rebirth and some other thoughts

Posted by NetHawk on Tuesday 21st February, 2012   ·   1 comments

Heyo everyone!

So, yeah long time no see. Had a lot of work going on for school and some personal BS to top it off.
Well, now Im hopefully back. A couple things changed, and a couple didnt. I still code, and I still prefer my operating systems to be Linux, but I got a copy of Windows 7 now, and a copy of X3 AP too.

X3 AP:
As some might know, Ive played only X2 and X3R, because they were available on linux. For X3AP, I actually installed a copy of windows, started a new game, and was pleasantly surprised.

GUI: The GUI redesign was a smart move, its much easier to play on 26inch screens now. I also seem to have less trouble navigating the menus (but thats probably just imagined. About the siderbar, well...I dont like it. it obstructs my view, and takes away some immersion. So, I keep "classic flight mode" on.
The sector map is now much more useful, especially in battles, the new zooming configuration is pretty neat. Station/Complex building still sucks, but we got FCC and Complex Cleaner installed for that.

There are a couple of things I would like to change, especially wing and fleet commands. Dunno about you, but Id like to have a sidebar option for configuring/commanding those.

Graphics:
Those are much better now, cant argue with that, and never will. Especially the new "big" stations (Military outpost, Shipyard) look beautiful now. Ships look better too, through we can argue about the ship design, cant argue about the graphic representation

Sound:
Some weapons are too loud (still in 1.1), atleast for my taste and the Jump sound still sounds like a gdamn missile launch. Oh and please pretty please, just cut that damn landing music, or atleast give it some more tracks...Im using a Docking Computer just to avoid that sound. The music is beautiful as always, its immersive, full and yet doesnt distract you. Through I really wish for more songs, or even a "my music" directory.

Storyline:
Well its nothing special...or rather, its a let down. its short, uninteresting and doesnt explain anything. Like roguey mentioned, I still dont know why Saya had to blow the earth torus. And why she didnt keep the dress from X2

Universe Map:
Well, I dont think it changed much...but then again, I dont really know, played Rogueys mod for too long to rememmber the original map
Its the classic X universe map, what can I say.

Fighting:
Fighting got a lot harder, and ship diversity made that possible. Sadly the command interface is still lacking a lot of features, so its very hard to use the new tactical possibilities. M3 ships dont blow everything up anymore, and M6 dont either...all in all its pretty balanced, through the M7Ms are a bit overpowered, unless you got "missile defence mosquito" installed. But since that is in the bonus pack, I think it should be considered a part of the game.

Trading and other stuff:
Recon and Freight Drones are a very welcome edition. The later make TLs much more useful, without making them too powerfull (yes, Im looking at you Bulk transporter). Jump beacons, Recon Drones, Explorer Command Software, will be great in X Rebirth, once you cant use the gate network with a jumpdrive anymore. Right now, those dont make much of a difference.
While first I got a bit annoyed to see even more weapons systems, once I understood that the Alpha, Beta, Gamma versions were dropped out, I realized that now there are less weapons systems, but they are more specialized. Wouldnt want it any other way now. About the missions in Space, while I still would like to have a bulletin board, to read news, or even better give me real-time news on whats happening in the universe, The way you accept missions now, is much simpler. Instead of docking to every single station in a sector, you just fly-by, hail the station, and check what they got. Also, accepting missions from other ships, is pretty nice, gives the universe a bit more life. I just wish they'd take the time and make a couple more missions. But thats what we got a community for.
I didnt try the stock exchange, I probably wont. Its not my style.

Ships:
new ship classes are a great addition to the game, allowing your fleets to have more variation, and thus becomming better at their job. Gotta love the Light Carrier class ships (Griffon, Panther Raider), which again will become very important once the Gate network shuts down.



Okay I think thats it for X3AP, Ive probably left out some of my thoughts, but we can discuss that later anyway


X:Rebirth
Now, we dont really have much info about Rebirth, but since AP is suppossed to be a "prelude" I think its safe to base some things on it.

1. Gateless universe: I think we all agree, that having a HUGE place to travel around is much nicer than having hundreds of small sectors. Personally I see a lot of potential in that, from the Pirate, that's laying low close to some Space-Highway, waiting for the next prey, to the explorer, searching distant, un-populated space for the treasure of a life-time. It changes the tactical aspect of the game a lot, since now ship speed WILL be important, as will inteligently placed Jump Beacons.

2. Mega-Complexes: Not bothering with the creation of complexes, and still having them look great, sounds great to me. Station turrets will also help make the game more enjoyable and less micro-management. Another thing I noticed, the collision detection seems to be a lot better now, so flying close to a huge station, in a M3 dogfight is possible, and speaking from experience, beautiful!
Transfer drones will make it possible to buy wares off stations without docking, making your TL's much more important, and useful. You can use a TL to supply your factories (complexes), and it has enough shielding and ships docked to keep it pretty safe from pirates. But back to stations, did I mention that using a complex hub and "modules" directly will make the stations look MUCH better?
Doesnt sound important? Well it probably isn't, but I think once we'll make a couple fly-by's our huge complexes, in the background a cracked planet looming above it, I dont think anyone will want to miss that.

3. Corporations: Having corporations in-game, will allow for a much more vibrant universe, not just the old Races fighting it out, but corporations fighting for resources, or just trying to get rid of their adversaries. Also there is someone really directly competing with you on the economic, and probably also military market.

4. Single ship: Yeah I dont really agree either, but let's see how they'll implement it. If done good enough it just might be better then having 100s of ships that all fly the same.
Oh and...yeah I agree with no-capital one-man-army flight too...it really aint no fun, and for those who like it...well I'm sorry guys, I'd much rather hang on the bridge, watch my minnions struggle to keep the ship flying and sip another glass of Space Fuel, then to try and manouver such a beast on my own


Okay, yeah, it's a long post, and I don't have internet connection at home, so...I'll trz to read the comments and post some more if I get some time

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