egosoft.com

yes a multiplayer lan and internet would be nice no one heard anything about that subget x3 against each other or together that would be cool

It comes up time and time again.

"There is not plan for any multi-player stuff in X3" seems to be the official response.
Making a game like this MP would be a feat. Yes, I know EvE pulls it off pretty good, but they have the cash to support it.

Personally I would love to do some MP X3tc, even with only one other person, but it is not gonna happen.

they will change their mind one day when we will get sick of playing alone we will stop but if a multiplayer come up it will relance the market and profit hopefully

Please save yourself and everyone the trouble of repeating oneselves.
Everything concerning 'X-Online' is here, have fun: http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=243321

Pierre le Fou wrote:they will change their mind one day

As per the info in the thread Reimu Hakurei linked to, it's not that they don't want to do it, it's more that it is a massive task to make any form of multiplayer and it is doubtful they'd get their money back.

Hints and rumours suggest the next game will also be available on console and maybe they are looking at multi player for that. But the chances of any form of X3 multi player? Zero!

Tim

perkint wrote:...Hints and rumours suggest the next game will also be available on console...

Translation-It will be dumbed down and simplified...a shame really.

Yep. Gonna have to be just like ME 2 was. Played six hours and could not stand it. When I want to run and gun I play MP shooters thanks.

RandomBandit wrote:Translation-It will be dumbed down and simplified...a shame really.

Not necessarily. If it is to be released on a console, it would probably need a streamlined interface which wouldn't be a bad think. But it doesn't mean it has to be dumbed down.

I trust Egosoft. I don't think they'll do it if they can't do it well

Tim

perkint wrote:Not necessarily. If it is to be released on a console, it would probably need a streamlined interface which wouldn't be a bad think. But it doesn't mean it has to be dumbed down.

Oh, it certainly wouldn't be dumbed down.
It would be... more beginner friendly than ever! And streamlined graphical user interface! Learning-curve-overhauled! Features concentrated on the game's core competencies!

See? It's not dumbed down. It's all in the wording! =)

Well, evil terms like "learning-curve" probably won't make it on a console box cover. That's 3 syllables already and even contains a bad word (l**rning) and a technical term (curve) so it might scare off console gamers.
(for some reason the industry treats all console gamers as 6 year old... retards)

The nearest you will get for now is our community game.
See our progress and rules etc at
http://www.hostingphpbb.com/forum/viewf ... um=smpx3tc

Feel free to request to join us if you are interested.

I don't think it should ever be an open multiplayer - there's too many massive balancing issues. Imagine how many rules would have to be coded in against mass invasions of bases and stations of offline players or simply- fleet stacking against any particular player. If enough people hate a particular player- people could gather enough friends to ruin them and they probably wouldn't want to go online ever again.

Maybe a co-op mode against the AI and X3 GoDs might work, which can only be initialised by pledging a massive deposit security of say a substantial asset or substantial funds (half to 80% of your account lets say, depending on how rich you actually are), and plot progress to cover any 'incidental' (i.e, DELIBERATE damage and destruction) losses of a partners property.

The interfaces are too slow and cumbersome to actually counter any initiative to encroach on your assets and ships anyway. It just won't work and will cause more tears than joy.

The only other thing I think might work is pooling players into missions- and missions only- the difficulty, scale and rewards of the mission can be determined by the number of players enlisted. Once the mission is initialised, each enlisted player's X-universe converges into a temporary shared mission universe until completion or failure; and then once it's over, each player returns to their respective player universes with no fear of retribution or invasion of other players.

I just like X3:TC the way it is - multiplayer sounds dandy, but I think only as a friendly co-op mode and nothing more.

You just can't translate the X-universe games into multiplayer. It just doesn't work. It would be a very different game. It would require a very different game.

That said, you could do a very different game, based on X3. I'm imagining X3: Arena! Where you and your opponents each get a set amount of points to spend on fighting ships and weapons, then go at it inside a single sector. No permanent fleets or economy, just the one battle.

But the heart of Egosoft's X: series is the economy. The exploring and building. The chance to build your own fleet, your own Empire. The ability to make your own way, in your own way.
You could do an X3 themed multiplayer game. Might even be a lot of fun. But it would be an entirely different game.

i m not talking about a internet game but a smaller scale game you play on lan at home two pc connected together for 8 players or less even 2 or 4 players no internet you have to be in the same room but the universe is big enough for a playmate trader

If you'd read the links already provided, you'd know that idea has already been ruled out. Why? It would take pretty nearly the same amount of development as a full Internet-ready version, but due to the limited market, you wouldn't sell anything like as many copies. And Egosoft, despite the fervent desires of the fans of its games, is a company that needs to make money to survive. If the people at Egosoft have decided that making X multiplayer is not commercially viable I tend to believe them--it's THEIR livelihoods on the line, after all!