PTR wrote:I think somewhere was stated that with the trade lanes traveling through space became fun. Driving my car or motorbike, I find highways quite boring. Wonder what they did to make the trade lanes 'fun'?
I think it's not about trade lanes but about traveling and not using jumpdrive (or at least not to that extent). I remember that the most rewarding thing for me was when I finally reached argon space (around argon prime) starting as bankrupt assassin. It was so much fun having to go through all the pirate sectors (what was quite a challenge with surprisingly high pirate activity) to feel safe and start some small business in this relatively safe area. Now when I have a jumpdrive and I can simply jump over all those hostile sectors is not that thrilling.
Maybe Ego is aiming at providing this feeling of voyage (expedition) and trade lanes are just the way they want to achieve this. That's how I see it anyway..
Yeah it would be great if travel is so exciting that you want to travel for travel's sake, and not just to arrive at a trading opportunity or a fight.
In X2 I did it a lot, and not being able to save in hostile sectors made it more exciting. X3:R and X3:TC were less interesting for me, maybe because I already new the connections of a large part of the universe from X2 (that's why I like XTC so much). But X:R gets a brand new layout, so at least Explore is back.
Burn the land, boil the sea,
you can't take X from me...
The reason they are copying Freelancer is because its a simple and lazy way to avoid the complex and cpu eating activity of having heac ship flying in its own direction and space.
All the NPC ships will be using these predefined links/highways just like in freelancer, this will make sectors boring and lifeless... it can already be seen in the videos.
I'm annoyed because I wanted this new X game to be even better but it just sounds a lot worse imo.
I wonder how are these long distance tradelane (the one you can't drop out) structured. It seems there is an entry and an exit point and the ships are just hurled along, if so I have a fantabulous idea to make it fun:
1 - tell your capital ship to travel on foot for a good distance along the trade lane.
2 - tell it to park right across the trade lane.
3 - See the AI ship helplessly ram into it.
4 - Freeloot.
5 - Profit!!!???
It will be like parking a container truck across the highway, except other drivers can't stop or evade when they see it.
And if SQUASH mine comes back ... damn think about the possibility to play with these tradelane. It will be fun my friend, it will be fun
greypanther wrote:Some aspects of XR look good, others look like dumbing down. I seriously hope I am wrong.
No public beta, no pre-paid beta, no community preview, no Q&A, no dev blogs, no 'real' news (other than multi-threading) BUT we do have some pizza stories
Point is we don't actually know much at all, so we gravitate towards the negative in the absence of the positive...human nature in a western society tbh.
Egosoft will create X-Rebirth the way they want its a risk on their part but hey they are in a better position than us to call it, and its commercial success is their ass not ours.
I disagree at least in part; hasn't most of the info come from Egosoft, even if indirectly? Wasn't there a Q & A in the video?
I am not gravitating towards the negative, I am using the information gleaned from Egosoft, via third parties its true and coming to conclusions. Put simply a dumbed down soon to be console game is not for me!
You are aright about Egosoft and their publishers though, they DO need to put their commercial success above the needs of their current fanbase. After all, the console and cloud computing is the future!
Lets face it, the lack of proper information fron Egosoft is a bit like a slap in the face for loyal fans.
I for one cannot understand the illogical, odd marketing scheme they have come up with.
I think some of us missed the point about Trade lanes:
- They are only for intra system travelling.
- Jump gates still exist for inter-system travels.
This model brings more immersion, I believe.
Also I don't believe this dumb-down thingy is for the console market. The tradelane thing is designed to remove SETA, one of the last obstable for online gameplays (no I did not say there will be an MMO).
greypanther wrote:....
Lets face it, the lack of proper information fron Egosoft is a bit like a slap in the face for loyal fans.
I for one cannot understand the illogical, odd marketing scheme they have come up with.
Egosoft has nothing to do with the "odd marketing scheme". All marketing decisions, including what information to release to the fans here, has to come from and/or be approved by Deepsilver, the primary publisher. They hold the purse strings and therefore control the information flow. Why people keep bashing Egosoft for something they have no control over always amazes me.
There's plenty of fodder for Ego-bashing in the information that's been released, if you don't like what you've heard so far, so there's no need to bash them for something that's not their fault.
And no, I don't work for Egosoft. My only afiliation is as a volunteer moderator.
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.
X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.
VincentTH wrote:I think some of us missed the point about Trade lanes:
- They are only for intra system travelling.
- Jump gates still exist for inter-system travels.
One of the interviews with Bernd suggested jump gates are for between solar systems (as may be the "highways" you can only enter & leave at predefined points) and the "roads" you can hop on or off are for inter system travel...
Nanook wrote:Egosoft has nothing to do with the "odd marketing scheme". All marketing decisions, including what information to release to the fans here, has to come from and/or be approved by Deepsilver, the primary publisher.
True, but I'm still disappointed that there has been nothing official, not even Egosoft translations of the information that has officially been released
Tim
Struggling to find something from the forums - Google it!!!
Forgive me if you feel I am " bashing " Egosoft, I am not. ( Really, honest! )
Let me put it plainly: I feel Egosoft is a great company, from the games, to the peerless support, to this imo, unequaled forum! I think that the developers all deserve to be millionaires, especially the CEO.
However, my feelings. thoughts and yes fears, are all from the frustration at the poor marketing! Regardless of who is to blame, it is bizarre! Deepsilver, ( not Egosoft of course! ) risk their current fanbase for what exactly? Is the fanbase for the past games really so insignificant? Is the potential increased fanbase for a potential console/cloud/multiplayer online game so much more important? I suspect it is.
VincentTH wrote:I think some of us missed the point about Trade lanes:
- They are only for intra system travelling.
- Jump gates still exist for inter-system travels.
One of the interviews with Bernd suggested jump gates are for between solar systems (as may be the "highways" you can only enter & leave at predefined points) and the "roads" you can hop on or off are for inter system travel...
Nanook wrote:Egosoft has nothing to do with the "odd marketing scheme". All marketing decisions, including what information to release to the fans here, has to come from and/or be approved by Deepsilver, the primary publisher.
True, but I'm still disappointed that there has been nothing official, not even Egosoft translations of the information that has officially been released
Tim
@perkint
The term "system" I used is for Solar System. I just don't want to use the term Solar, because there is only 1 such system named "Sol".
I think you mistook the term "system" for "sector". In X1-X3 games, the terms "sector" and "system" are interchangeable, not so in X:R.
You and I are saying the same thing (from what Bernd said), we just used different terms for the same thing
TGB : Speaking of X Rebirth are there any exciting new features that you can tell us about?
Bernd Lehahn: Many… I am writing a series of postings for our own forums for the next few days in which I describe in depth a lot of the new game design and cool features
We hope you do come to the forum and post. Althought i know most of his posts are in the german section i DO hope he writes it in english and posts it in here for us too.
TGB: Will X Rebirth utilize some of the newer graphics technologies such as DX11? Does DX11 present development challenges for developers?
Bernd Lehahn: That’s not decided yet. X Rebirth will run on DX9 API as long as all the features that we need from the API are possible with it. That does not mean we may not at some point also support DX11, but for now we do not see a need.
Tessellation he said in a previous interview would be no use to a space sim but i disagree and would be perfect mainly for asteroids, think of tessellation applied to asteroids i reckon that would be really cool and look so detailed. Ships could have extra greebles on too with tessellation and im not sure but tessellation for planets might possibly open up planets to have landscapes to fly to and fly over which would be cool too. So dx11 would be very much appreciated for a space game. So for now its dx9 api but they could patch in dx11 in some form later in maybe a mini expansion pack like them aldern or whatever missions for x3 i think it was.
Whenever he reveals stuff sometimes its just in german section he doesnt spread it over to the eng section much. Well he never used to. The little bits of info i mean.
Bernd Lehahn: Many… I am writing a series of postings for our own forums for the next few days in which I describe in depth a lot of the new game design and cool features.One very cool new feature is drones for example. The player will have only ONE ship to fly himself. But this one ship is super cool. You can move around inside, transport and talk to NPCs aboard etc. But you also can still own and control drones and capital ships. Drones can even be CONTROLLED IN FIRST PERSON, so in reality you still have lots of ships to steer from ****pit view. The only difference is that this is done using a virtual reality system (goggles come down from top of your ****pit and the co-pilot takes over flying the main ship) and you won’t die if these drones get destroyed. This system gives us a lot more freedom in designing new and very diverse experiences
Bernd Lehahn: No. Not that we didn’t think of it. Marrying an X game with something like Mass Effect sure brings some nice ideas, but again: We are a small developer and have to do one step at a time. You WILL however be able to step out of your ship and stand on platforms. Talking to NPCs is a big and important way of controlling the game and a step to making things easier (less complicated menus and simpler conversations)
Finally.. Walking out of the ship
I love this game.. barely waiting
The term "system" I used is for Solar System. I just don't want to use the term Solar, because there is only 1 such system named "Sol".
I think you mistook the term "system" for "sector". In X1-X3 games, the terms "sector" and "system" are interchangeable, not so in X:R.
You and I are saying the same thing (from what Bernd said), we just used different terms for the same thing
Solar system does originate from Sol, as you say, but is in common (incorrect) use to mean a star system. What I was trying to say is that I think (but haven't had chance to dig out the original quote again) that Bernd suggested jump gates and the "super trade lanes" or whatever you want to call them, allow travel between different star systems/sectors/whatever
Tim
Struggling to find something from the forums - Google it!!!
VincentTH wrote:I think some of us missed the point about Trade lanes:
- They are only for intra system travelling.
- Jump gates still exist for inter-system travels.
One of the interviews with Bernd suggested jump gates are for between solar systems (as may be the "highways" you can only enter & leave at predefined points) and the "roads" you can hop on or off are for inter system travel...
The "little" lanes are for moving between objects in a small region, like between the stations in orbit around a planet or around a moon. These little lanes can be left at any time.
The "big" lanes are for moving between objects in a Solar system. Like moving between planets and moving between moons. These can only be exited at predefined points.
He said that there is a hierachy to the regions. I think it works like this
Solar System (Sector) --> Planets --> Moons --> Stations
or it could simply be
Solar System --> (Planets & Moons) --> Stations
The the Gates get us between Solar Systems, the big "highways" get us between Planets and Moons, and the little "highways" get us between stations and stuff in orbit around those moons/planets.
After watching the video again, I'm pretty certain that these "highways" replace SETA for quick travel.
There are only two things in life that matter, and I have them both. They're not what you might think, and once you learn that you'll be much happier.
Bernd Lehahn: Many… I am writing a series of postings for our own forums for the next few days in which I describe in depth a lot of the new game design and cool features.One very cool new feature is drones for example. The player will have only ONE ship to fly himself. But this one ship is super cool. You can move around inside, transport and talk to NPCs aboard etc. But you also can still own and control drones and capital ships. Drones can even be CONTROLLED IN FIRST PERSON, so in reality you still have lots of ships to steer from ****pit view. The only difference is that this is done using a virtual reality system (goggles come down from top of your ****pit and the co-pilot takes over flying the main ship) and you won’t die if these drones get destroyed. This system gives us a lot more freedom in designing new and very diverse experiences
Bernd Lehahn: No. Not that we didn’t think of it. Marrying an X game with something like Mass Effect sure brings some nice ideas, but again: We are a small developer and have to do one step at a time. You WILL however be able to step out of your ship and stand on platforms. Talking to NPCs is a big and important way of controlling the game and a step to making things easier (less complicated menus and simpler conversations)
Finally.. Walking out of the ship
I love this game.. barely waiting
Dude, link us!!! LIIINK UUUUUSSSSS!!! Seriously, give us a link
There are only two things in life that matter, and I have them both. They're not what you might think, and once you learn that you'll be much happier.
I'm annoyed because I wanted this new X game to be even better but it just sounds a lot worse imo.
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