NEWS: New high resolution maps by Michael Clausen available for download

[The_Abyss]

As you can imagine when making any game there is normally a substantial amount of material (art work, graphics, sound effects, models etc) that is created, and for one reason or another gets discarded and consigned to a distant folder in a dark corner of the network. This is of course something of a waste however it is normally for a good reason and inevitably it is replaced with something better and improved.

Imagine though that there was some fantastic high quality material that had been made by a fan, and a publishing decision meant that it would never now see the light of day. Well of course the best thing to do is to let you all get your hands on it for free! Michael Clausen has put hour upon hour of hard work into creating possibly the best ever maps created for X3, and we are really pleased that he agreed to let us make them available for download to the community. The attention to detail is simply amazing, and in order to let you build up the collection of the entire universe, we've divided it up into 33 separate sections and will be releasing a new part every day for the next 33 days. We've also got a few words from the creator Michael Clausen himself.

(Please note that the map image displayed is a low res low quality version)

[ external image ]

Michael:

Hi! I’m a graphic designer! And have played the X-series from the beginning, in my opinion one of the most realistic and complex space-simulations I’ve ever seen.

The idea to create these "special" maps of the X-universe came from my brother and this is actually the third version we created. We discovered that nothing comparable was offered in the forums of Egosoft or anywhere else, so I contacted Bernd to tell him about my plans and to ask him for his permission to do this Needless to say, he was very interested!

Some time ago, the first final versions of the maps were finished. I was also in
contact with Koch Media,DE who were impressed by a map made in A2 that I’d sent them before. A plan was formed to add the maps (eight in total) to the next X3 game but in the end it was rejected by them.

After I told Bernd about this disappointing situation I asked him if I should still continue with my original idea of creating the maps, he of course agreed.

So, now to some of the interesting information. To get all images of stations, backgrounds ships and scale dimensions I had to continually jump in and out the game to make screenshots, and then cut out every single image from the screens in Photoshop. I’d then make finishing touches and place them into the maps.

The number of screens I made amounted to 3242 in total (the screenshot folder has a size of 12gb!)

The folder with the original maps has a size of 12gb. The archive image folder totals around 1.3gb in size.

I completed the look of the Split and Paranid races from the descriptions in the books from Helge Kautz. These images have a size of 300mb.

The volume of data in this game are enormous, so I had to be very careful in compiling all that data, and this work took a lot of extra time, believe me! The number of sectors are reduced to nine for each map, and if you would put down every numbered map next to each other you would get the total view of the X-universe.

I hope everyone enjoys my work. The maps are best printed on A3 size paper.

[The_Abyss]

Made public.

The first map should be available shortly.

Edit- I should also say that these maps are in German, but it doesn't take much explaining!

Edit 2 - The first files have now been uploaded in the X³ Bonus section. There are 3 different qualities (and hence file sizes) available.

[BugMeister]

my goodness, it looks absolutely amazing..!!

- will there be an English translation, I wonder..??

- it's so visually stunning, I don't suppose it will matter too much..
- it'll certainly be worth brushing up on my German..

[Sauron11]

Ich ferstehe nicht Deutsh
Please make English version .

Is there any way to prepare those maps in local game languages?

[esd]

Looking at that, translating and re-arting all of it is far from a trivial matter. The art would need to fit the text sizes, etc, otherwise it'd look like a botch job.

You're asking for the guy to start from scratch.

[The_Abyss]

Read the article.

Why don't you ask the designer?

[Nicholas Kabourakis]

Simply... WOW!
...

[BugMeister]

I have an additional 40G spare - so bring it on..!!

- mind you, it's just exactly the sort of reason I'd need to install an external HD..

[xalien]

I didn't quite get it - is it "just" a fan art or is it something you can see in-game?

[CBJ]

You cannot see it in-game.

[BDStyle]

Stunning work there

[tclord]

I didn't quite get it - is it "just" a fan art or is it something you can see in-game?

It's not anything in-game. It's a map, in electronic form, probably PNG files I would imagine. You can view them on the computer, or print them out, preferably on A3 paper, whatever that is. I'm not sure what A3 paper is. Considering the amazing detail, though, I think I'll make a trip to Kinko's to get it printed out by professionals that can really do it justice. They should know what A3 paper is.

This is really cool. Thanks!

I hope he's planning an english version release. It might not be as bad as starting from scratch. Since this started as an official project, I'd imagine he's already taken into account different language version, so he might already have english versions or be able to do the conversion relatively easily. Maybe he should request donations for an english version map fund or something. It's a shame he isn't being compensated for such great work as this, after all.

[Carlo the Curious]

I'm not sure what A3 paper is.

Twice the size of A4, obviously!

297 x 420mm

[Nyax]

It might not be as bad as starting from scratch

It won't be. But it WILL be a close second. It really would be an awful lot of work.

The Map is stunning. Great detail, just a shame there's no English version. At least now i know that the german for moon is Mond I also really like that the correct planets and nebulae have been used for the background.

Fantastic peace of work. Puts all the other maps out there to shame and then some.

[Carlo the Curious]

Fantastic peace of work. Puts all the other maps out there to shame and then some.

I thought your map was quite nice as well .

[Sauron11]

From where can be downloaded a high res high quality map?
How could we contact with designer to find answers for our questions?

Edit: Polish version of this news just created on PL forum.

[Graaf]

Yes, where can we find the high-res maps for download.

Why do I prefer the German sector names above the English ones? Been playing the game for 3½ yazuras in english and only see this map for 3½ mizuras.

[CBJ]

...in order to let you build up the collection of the entire universe, we've divided it up into 33 separate sections and will be releasing a new part every day for the next 33 days.

Read before you post, people.

[Deleted User]

Very nice graphics,
you moderators are such teasers

[Black Gryphon]

Just one word: SPECTACULAR!!