Short interview with Bernd

[Decimatarius]

I'd like to build a nice illegal weed/booze/slavegirl/squash mine plex
knowing the bad guys (whoops, I mean the authorities) aren't going to find it.

We don't even know if you can build these items anymore, they haven't really gone into any detail on types of economic resources that are available.

Theres always going to be contraband resources and i suspect that the types of resources will not change all that much, there may be some ballencing of whats required to produce example: Product 1 needs X amount of resource A and Y amount of resource B.

However i do see Engergy cells becoming more obsolete because you can just build solar pannels on your station as its all modular so aslong as the power is on it will run but there will need to be an internal ballencing act of supply and demand a bit like the C&C base power thing.

[CharlieChop]

One item we do know is plasma.....plenty of use for a plasma container...from kamikaze runs to weapons and fuel....

[Decimatarius]

One item we do know is plasma.....plenty of use for a plasma container...from kamikaze runs to weapons and fuel....

UH OH....does that mean HEPT's require ammo now

[Skeeter]

I really hope they change the economy and equipment fully and have nothing from the old x games. It is meant to be a remake after all. Definitely wouldn't touch rebirth if it had the same economy from before as in wares you buy sell make etc. Got really sick of the same thing game after game for last 10 years.

[SIMON POPPLEWELL]

Theres always going to be contraband resources and i suspect that the types of resources will not change all that much, there may be some ballencing of whats required to produce example: Product 1 needs X amount of resource A and Y amount of resource B.

However i do see Engergy cells becoming more obsolete because you can just build solar pannels on your station as its all modular so aslong as the power is on it will run but there will need to be an internal ballencing act of supply and demand a bit like the C&C base power thing.

There hasn't been any mention of trading, only station building and the economy. I'm still trying to figure out where the player's role will be in this new game. Builder, Trader, combat or a bit of all of them.

[Shootist]

Theres always going to be contraband resources and i suspect that the types of resources will not change all that much, there may be some ballencing of whats required to produce example: Product 1 needs X amount of resource A and Y amount of resource B.

However i do see Engergy cells becoming more obsolete because you can just build solar pannels on your station as its all modular so aslong as the power is on it will run but there will need to be an internal ballencing act of supply and demand a bit like the C&C base power thing.

There hasn't been any mention of trading, only station building and the economy. I'm still trying to figure out where the player's role will be in this new game. Builder, Trader, combat or a bit of all of them.

Trade Fight Think Build. But there hasn't been much talk of that.

[Scoob]

Hmm, shame we cannot extend/add to Highways. I expect a MOD will allow it though...wonder if it'd involve needing to start a new game though lol.

So, if we build our "base" off the beaten path offered by the fixed highway system, I wonder if there's any other method of speeding up our ships to traverse the distance from our base to the nearest highway?

If there's possibly some sort of "travel drive" (for those of you who are aware of it) so our ships can travel that much faster, but at the cost of extra Energy Cells (or likely just "fuel" in XR) - so just like using a Jump Drive in TC at the moment from a resource usage perspective.

I mean Pirates are not gonna sit right next to a highway are they? They'd be hammered by the first big ship that comes by and spots them. Still, maybe part of the risk of raiding a highway is the travel time/distance back to base...if you're followed expect a fleet to arrive soon!

It would work if, for example, a highway went through a sensor disrupting nebula / asteroid field meaning you'd not know that a pirate base / fleet were just a couple of km away...

What concerns me is that Egosoft are adding some excellent features, but there also appears to be critical flaws in these features. Of course, we've only partial information at this time so we shall see.

Cheers,

Scoob.

[Bill67]

Nice interview

I'm thinking that player ship might actually be a bit misleading and it might be better to refer to it as your headquarters ship because now it's confirmed that it can't be made the most powerful ship in the game (or even close for that matter) and I've also read that you can use it to dock on larger ships, get out and walk around those as well so presumably you can dock on a carrier for example, walk to the carriers bridge and have a conversation with the captain while en route to it's destination.

Which effectively makes the carrier the players ship now.

I think you might be reading too much into it as well. He does say its possible to land on a cap ship and walk around the 'deck' but not really sure what that entails.

But that he didnt deny modders making new playerships was nice to see.

[A5PECT]

Hmmkay.
So you can not build / alter highways, which makes deep space in XRB as useless as in TC.

There goes exploration.
If it hasn't been explored already (aka a highway built), you can not discover any interesting uhh... real estate because it would stay forever "too far out to be worthwhile".

This is a pretty big bummer. I'm hoping that highway construction can be modded in, similarly to how gate construction was modded into Reunion/TC. It may even be incorporated into an expansion (I'm thinking like X-Tension for Rebirth), or maybe even a patch: instead of the "Bala Gi Missions" it would be the "JSDD Missions" and the reward would be the ability to construct highways, instead of the ability to construct ships (which I'm hoping will be inherent to the game at release).

Besides the updated release date, Bernd took great care not to answer any of the other questions. =P

He did say that there would be ship classes beyond trade ships, capitals, and the player's. Also that those ships would have similar roles to those in previous games, but the old classification system is gone.

[Syock]

The old game was bogged down(in my opinion) by a Death reload last save cycle that was common in the 80's - 90's but has proven to not be an enjoyable game model over time. It just gets old! Instead you could (and should) face greater financial loss as drones should be expensive and difficult to replace. In this manner you would be penalized for death via drone control and yet not have to revert to saved games every time you die!!

Thank God for getting rid of that annoying aspect of the game egosoft!

This is a great way to look at it that I think a lot of people are missing.

[Afro Luigi]

Hmmkay.
So you can not build / alter highways, which makes deep space in XRB as useless as in TC.

Reading the interview gave me the impression that you as a player may not build a highway. But may be able to purchase one from that company. Especially since Bernd made the point in saying.

there is only one corporation that has exclusive control over the highway technology.

(edited grammar, and spelling)

[X2-Eliah]

It does depend on what the freeway role is for the game's engine. Perhaps they are the parts where one space area is 'unloaded' and the next one is 'loaded' - like the jumping in gates from X3, but fully interactive and with a temporary area in quick-loading for when you leave the highway in the middle..

If so, then building freeways might not be viable for player or mods.


Hm. I wonder if the universe will be fully persistent here, or will there be volatile on-demand generated areas too (like the unfocussed jumpdrive sector in TC).

[corhen]

Hmmkay.
So you can not build / alter highways, which makes deep space in XRB as useless as in TC.

There goes exploration.
If it hasn't been explored already (aka a highway built), you can not discover any interesting uhh... real estate because it would stay forever "too far out to be worthwhile".

Besides the updated release date, Bernd took great care not to answer any of the other questions. =P

yea, my thoughts exactly, i was looking forward to seeing something, droping out, and building a massive complex in the middle of nowhere

O well, looks like im going to be modding it (hopefully you will be able to mod Player constructable ways

[Skeeter]

What i do not understand is that Bernd said previously you could hop in and out of the highway system at any time when going through but now he says you cant hope out in this new mini interview?

Which is it?

As some of us quite liked the idea of poping in a highway stream going along between two points and just flying out the side and maybe be in some empty space we can put a secret base of our own in or maybe hope ES uses a random generator system to seed the empty vastness of space with nebulas, wormholes or hidden pirate bases or whatever cool unique spacy stuff so it adds to exploration like in star trek or somit.

[Kor'ah]

Local Highways - Can jump in and out of at will. Just like the old Freelancer Trade Lanes, but with the allowance of road rage.

Super Highways - Once you are in one you stuck in it until the end point is reached.


No idea how we get from solar system to solar system. Everything that was outlined, and the functions, was confined into the context of a single solar system.

[Decimatarius]

Local Highways - Can jump in and out of at will. Just like the old Freelancer Trade Lanes, but with the allowance of road rage.

Super Highways - Once you are in one you stuck in it until the end point is reached.


No idea how we get from solar system to solar system. Everything that was outlined, and the functions, was confined into the context of a single solar system.

I remember hearing in the interview video i think it was, that the local highways that you can drop in/out of go between places of interest in a solar system. And the Super ones that you cant jump on and off go between the different solar systems. So its exactly like Freelancer with the trade lanes and jump gates except for more control with the trade lane highways.

[SIMON POPPLEWELL]

The thing is how to we get into the highways? Are there actual gates or something like them that you have to acivate or fly through to get through one.

[perkint]

IMO it's a safe bet there will be gates to get in and out. And I think it's correct that the roads you can join & leave at any time are for intra system travel and the highways (fixed point entry & exit) are for inter system travel. But it has not (as far as I remember) been explicitly stated that way. And I wonder where the jump gates come in to it, since they are still around and it has been heavily suggested that they (some of them?) will become operational again.

I'd like to see it clarified if it's possible (however silly) to fly from one system to another without using the highways or jump gates. And if more highways can be created - if so, fixed ones as part of plots or any you choose & pay Jonferco to create for you (since Bernd has confirmed you will not be able to build them yourself, only they can build them).

Tim

[Bobucles]

The old game was bogged down(in my opinion) by a Death reload last save cycle that was common in the 80's - 90's

Actually it was more of a death/restart cycle, which worked fine when games were 20min-1hour long and every death was another quarter in the arcade. As game lengths got longer other mechanics were required, such as lives, continues, then complete save files, which were trimmed back to checkpoints, etc.

Modern "short life" games include the rogue-likes, where a typical character only lasts about 5% of the game. Once again, death isn't so bad when it sets you back a few minutes, especially as you learn how to make it further and further on. Even if you die near the end, it's more of a reward that you made it so far!

[Noimageavaiable]

The thing is how to we get into the highways? Are there actual gates or something like them that you have to acivate or fly through to get through one.

It's all been said on gamescon. There are areas around a planet which are traversed with highways you can drop out of instead of SETA. Then there are transorbital accelerators, now called super highways where you can't drop out. You use them to travel between planetary bodies. And then there are good old jumpgates for inter-system travel. In the end it's just Terran space from TC only now the hole thing is called a sector. All they changed was semantics.