X-Rebirth

[Spectacle]

In the video where Bernd explains the controls on gamepad: Anyone noticed that he says nothing about rolling? Just directional movement and strafing. Now that would be serious decline...

Meh, in space rolling is mostly cosmetic. He probably never used it because it's an unnecessary control.

 

[J_C]

In the video where Bernd explains the controls on gamepad: Anyone noticed that he says nothing about rolling? Just directional movement and strafing. Now that would be serious decline...

Meh, in space rolling is mostly cosmetic. He probably never used it because it's an unnecessary control.

No it isn't. You can make tighter turns with rolling and pitching than just strafing. And that means a lot in combat. Even in space combat.

 

[Spectacle]

@J_C do you mean yaw instead of strafe? Strafing is lateral movement, not turning.

And if you can make tighter turns by rolling then that's just an artificial game mechanic, there is no physical reason for why a space craft would turn tighter in a particular axis.

 

[J_C]

@J_C do you mean yaw instead of strafe? Strafing is lateral movement, not turning.

And if you can make tighter turns by rolling then that's just an artificial game mechanic, there is no physical reason for why a space craft would turn tighter in a particular axis.

Sorry, yeah I meant yawing. Anyway, I think if a spacecraft has thrusters with different power output, there it can turn faster with rolling and pitching, instead of yawing and pitching.

 

[mikaelis]

In the video where Bernd explains the controls on gamepad: Anyone noticed that he says nothing about rolling? Just directional movement and strafing. Now that would be serious decline...

Meh, in space rolling is mostly cosmetic. He probably never used it because it's an unnecessary control.

A matter of taste, I guess. I used it often in previous X games. And my concern is valid, because you need to have it somewhere assigned to. From what he said, left analogue stick is for turning up down left and right, and right analogue stick is for strafing (four directions as well). Rolling could have been under analogue triggers for example, but they are already used by weapons etc.

 

[warpig]

Rolling is useful when you want align your ship's turn or pitch axis to the flight path of an enemy you're trying to hit. It can also used to change the axis along witch your ship "strafes" (if your ship can do that).

 

[mikaelis]

Damn! I must say it went to the very top of my most anticipated games for this year. I remember how I was hyped waiting for X2 and after the release having a fucking one of the best times playing any game (probably because I did not play X or X-Tension). Then, I have the similar hype for X3: Reunion, and was very fast disappointed. Simply, because it was too derivative and more complex just for the sake of it.
Now, X: Rebirth seems to offer another take on the x universe, and I am really hoping I will relive my past experience with X2.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Why play Fart Citizen when you can play X Rebirth instead? Calling Blaine! It's flamin' time!

 

[mikaelis]

I dunno, both games will offer something different. X-Rebirth is shaping up to be sandbox focused on trade, building, exploration and a bit of fight or whatever mixture you want, all in the single player. I hope, exploring stations in FPP will have some meaning to it, as I fear it may quickly become tedious.
Star Citizen single player module will focus on campaign based action missions, and if you are hooked up, plus, if you have a friends to play with, it may become great multiplayer game (which I am not a big fan, but if Blaine and other rich devoted guys from here form a viable faction, it may be the first MMO I am willing to invest time).

Question is what will Braben do. Might be an alternative, but more likely it might be shit. Still, he had fucking almost two decades to think about where to go with Frontier, so there's a hope it will be fun.

As of now, I backed Roberts, I intend to buy collector's edition of X-Rebirth - I have a sweet spot for X-Universe and I own all the games from the original releases including X-tension disk (never played it, though ). And, I am waiting for Braben to make me believe that his game will be worth it after 20 years of (not even)releasing shovelware.

 

[Trojan_generic]

Getting back to the thing about different controllers, I don't actually know what the fuss about gamepad/trackball/steering wheel support is. All you need in a game is keyboard and mouse support. For your Dickmaster IX you just go to the internet, download a profile and you are good to go unless you are too stupid to install the proper software for the controller. Or make the profile yourself. Or is the native controller support in the game so much more responsive?

 

[Zarniwoop]

At least they FINALLY have planet surfaces that fans have been asking for since the first game.

Quote to back this up?

Nope, just looked like it in the video. But it could just be cutscenes as before I guess...

In other news: X Rebirth is now available for preorder!!!!!1!1!!!!11!!1!!!

 

[mikaelis]

So, you will find yourself most likely disappointed. I don't think there will be planet landing (no problem). In turn, you will get a nice, huge inter-space cities-complexes, that you can explore. I really hope there is some meaning to that. Otherwise, they can as well skip it.

Anyway, I am waiting for english version of special edition to pre-order.

 

[DefJam101]

Looks like a return to form for egosoft, really. X2-style stations, extensive multicore support, subsystem-based capital ship/station combat? This could turn out to be modding heaven.

 

[Zarniwoop]

So, you will find yourself most likely disappointed. I don't think there will be planet landing (no problem). In turn, you will get a nice, huge inter-space cities-complexes, that you can explore. I really hope there is some meaning to that. Otherwise, they can as well skip it.

Anyway, I am waiting for english version of special edition to pre-order.

To be honest, I don't care about planet surfaces. I just thought it was nice that they listened to fans. I thought they got it pretty close to perfect in X3, which is probably the game that I logged the most time on ever. The only things I wanted changed in the X series is the ridiculous distance scales and thus the extreme slowness of the ships and the "systems" only occupying a minute fraction of an actual solar system, hell even on a planet surface 60 x 60 or 200 x 200km is a tiny area. That and the stories not having endings or being coherent. They should do a storyline properly or just leave it out.

 

[MetalCraze]

I just hope there will be more than one ship to fly. Since they put a lot of work into a single cockpit and never show anything else.

If not... well, gonna not remove it from an inventory and check the beautiful space anyway.

 

[Spectacle]

I just hope there will be more than one ship to fly. Since they put a lot of work into a single cockpit and never show anything else.

If not... well, gonna not remove it from an inventory and check the beautiful space anyway.

Uhm, they've explicitly said from the first announcement that you only fly one ship.

 

[MetalCraze]

Haha then what's the point in this game apart from graphics?

The only thing that made X series not 100% boring shit before was getting new ships and new stuff. But if they took that out then what's the point?

 

[Zewp]

Didn't they say you can still pilot other ships, just instead of your character you're controlling them via drones? I recall reading something like that.

 

[Gord]

Haha then what's the point in this game apart from graphics?

The only thing that made X series not 100% boring shit before was getting new ships and new stuff. But if they took that out then what's the point?

X-Series had a remarkable amount of freedom.
You could do a whole lot of shit, from headhunter, to merchant, to industry tycoon. Or just follow the main quest. Which approach you considered more fun is up to you, of course, but the game included a lot of different possibilities.
But anyway, I though you still get different ships, some you pilot directly, some not.

 

[trym88]

Haha then what's the point in this game apart from graphics?

The only thing that made X series not 100% boring shit before was getting new ships and new stuff. But if they took that out then what's the point?

You know Google? It's very good. Give it a try.

 

[Spectacle]

Didn't they say you can still pilot other ships, just instead of your character you're controlling them via drones? I recall reading something like that.

You can fly remote controlled fighter drones, but not other ships. You can own ships, but you control them by giving orders, not flying them directly.

The one ship you do fly will also supposedly have a lot of upgrade options, so it won't be exactly the same ship throughout the game.

 

[MetalCraze]

You know Google? It's very good. Give it a try.

Do I need Google to learn that they eliminated the last non-boring element from the game?

 

[trym88]

Do I need Google to learn that they eliminated the last non-boring element from the game?

You haven't experienced the new features of the game and already claim that it will be boring. It won't be X3: Terran Conflict with one ship. It will be X Rebirth with one ship... That's a difference. When you read the feature list of X Rebirth and everything in the list is not interesting for you then you should probably forget about Rebirth.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

The only thing that made Arma series not 100% boring shit before was getting new guns and new stuff. But if they took that out then what's the point?

 

[Gord]

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=306576

One of the big changes in X Rebirth when compared to the old X games is that you as a player will only be flying a single ship. But before you get upset and complain about the lack of freedom to steer other ships, WAIT... that's still possible. Its just packaged in a different way... So please be patient for a moment and read on.

Like in X:Beyond the Frontier, where the player was also bound to a single ship called the Xperimental shuttle, X Rebirth will place you in another very special ship: The Pride of Albion, or as it is more recently known: The Albion Skunk.

Rooms and NPCs

This one ship, however, is not just another ship like those you know from our past games. For starters, it has several rooms that you can see and use, it has a crew of NPCs who work for you, their captain, and who you can meet face to face.

The Co-Pilot

Some of these NPCs can be hired and exchanged, others you meet by destiny (or as we refer to it: The plot). The best example of that latter kind will be your co-pilot. She will be your interface to the ship and helps you control many of the more complex aspects of the game.

The story of the ship

It has a long history and that history is far from over.
You can influence what this ship is and how it develops.

Expanding the ship

It is a fast and maneuverable ship and can be expanded. Weapons systems, engines, shields, but most importantly: Drones.

Drones - You fly them or you command them

Drones are a very big new area of the game and are used in many different ways by YOU the player.


Torpedo drone: Drones are used for a wide variety of special tasks.

Drone remote control - The VR HUD

First of all there is the possibility to remotely control a drone. This is basically exactly like switching personally into another ship. You can fly drones in a 1st person perspective and it looks as if you are inside the drone. You do this, however, using a Virtual Reality environment in your ship. While your co-pilot takes over the control of your ship, goggles come down from the ceiling and you dive into the remote control of the drone.

The cool thing about this, is that with drones we have even more design freedom than with ships. They can be very small, for example, and are generally very specialized for a particular job. The whole gameplay experience can be a lot more varied than with normal ships, which always have to contain a lot more features.


AI: Improved flight AI allows ships inside complex station geometry.

This is also one of several gameplay changes that allow us to get the player deeper into station and ship environments and help you play with the elements at the surface of ships and stations. A drone can sometimes reach into vents and corridors that are so small that even your ship cant fit inside.

Last but not least, another nice side effect is that you won't die if you are shot down inside a drone. All that happens is that you lose a vehicle - one of many that can be launched from your ship.

Passive functions of a drone

Drones can also help you in a fully automatic mode. They have an AI and can work autonomously if you launch them. This can give you assistance for especially hard jobs.


Drones can act autonomously or can be controlled via the virtual reality remote control system of your ship.

Abilities

If you want to have some control over what a drone should be doing for you but dont want to switch to remote control with your VR goggles, you can give them commands using a quickly-accessible compass menu. Tell a fighter drone to take out that one turret on the left while you personally take care of the shield generator on the right...

Capital ship control

Where the drones are your preferred vehicles for specialized tasks inside and near the surface of a station, capital ships are your vehicle of choice for all the many "big" tasks. From transportation of goods, collecting of resources like ore, gas or plasma up to large carriers and destroyers. They all exist in X Rebirth and you can of course own and operate many of them!

You can in fact even land on these beasts and get out of your playership to meet NPCs while watching the large ship move around in space FROM the deck of the ship!

You won't be sitting in the cockpit and steer such a capital ship from the first person perspective anymore simply because that is boring. Steering huge and slowly-turning ships manually just doesnt make sense. It would force us to make them turn and move unrealistically quick and even then they would be impossible to maneuver near our huge and complex shaped stations.

Instead the steering is done by NPCs who work for you but closely follow your orders. You can control capital ships who work for you in many new ways.