X3TC Versus X3R - How Are They Different?

[bvschipper]

I have been waiting for the U.S. release of X3TC on DVD, and have been searching the forums to see what has changed. I suppose my question is whether X3TC (in its patched form) is roughly better, worse or the same as X3R with XTM or add-on content?

I will buy X3TC regardless, but it would be nice to know how the two differ.. beyond what has been officially released and discussed.

Any thought?

Regards.

[MegaJohnny]

Storyline is more rewarding in TC.

TC has boarding, new ships, new sectors, 3-4 new full ranges of ships including Terrans, ATF, OTAS etc.
Also has more weapons, more stations, no BBS, much easier to make credits, easy side mission system, more software, giant performance issues, some idiotic balancing resulting in overpowered ships and still some inconsistencies that damage the immersion and believability of the game as a whole.

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

This and perhaps this can help answer your questions.

Odd I got my copy of TC a few weeks after it came out, though it is a UK version but I live in the.....US....... going off topic.

[NeverSnake]

Storyline is more rewarding in TC.

Materially, not in the sense of storytelling.

[Chealec]

The thing is... IF you go back to X3R after playing TC for a while, as I have done once or twice, you suddenly find a whole load of little things that annoy you in R just because they're done better in TC.

TC's not a universally better game - I've never found a "tour of a lifetime" mission in TC and I used to quite enjoy them for a bit of a relax. The upsides far outweigh the downsides though.

There are some performance issues and weird bugs (although a LOT less than there were) when comparing TC to R - but then R was at 2.5 so that's several iterations of bug-fixes and tweaks.

The TC universe is more hostile - there are more Xenon and pirates roaming around and there has been a slight drift towards larger ships with the new M7 class (Hyperion has been modified and is now an M6+).

Missiles are a must in TC not a nicety.

Trading is a little quiffy - AI traders don't seem to buy base resources as often so there's often a glut of ECells and Ore/Silicon. Many stations also seem well stocked for a lot of the time... the Sunrise Flower run around Greater Profit and the Soja Bean run around Duke's Domain for instance are nowhere near as reliable as they used to be... although you can still make good profits on Nostrop Oil around PTNI HQ.

The menu system has been overhauled - it's a little better in most cases but not as good as using the keyboard shortcuts... which is what I did in R anyway. The mission system has been overhauled - no more BBS. If you want a PHQ in TC you're gonna have to work for it... 22 days into my game and I've still not finished the mission for it.

New ships, new weapons, new sectors, improved piracy options (boarding) and so on, and so on... in short, there are a lot of differences - mostly for the better.

[MegaJohnny]

Storyline is more rewarding in TC.

Materially, not in the sense of storytelling.

I agree, and that's exactly what I meant.

[Deadbeat_Spinn]

I think both R and TC have advantages/disadvantages over each other and switching between the two from time to time help keeps things interesting.

[bvschipper]

Thank you for the answers... and links.

I have been playing X3R with XTM, so I am hopeful that X3TC will be a near equivalent.

Looking forward to mid-April release of 2.0.

Regards