EGOSOFT and Deep Silver announce X Rebirth

[A5PECT]

The Egosoft rep's sudden urge to go about on the forums and talk about how NOT broken the autopilot is. Why would you do that? Oh, when you're planning on using the same system again.

If you're basing the game mechanics on what hasn't been said then according to your logic Egosoft isn't making a game at all.

Have considered they haven't told us about it yet because it's not yet finished? Or maybe it is finished and they're under NDA. Or maybe they just want to make it a surprise.

I really don't understand how you can go jumping to conclusions when we're given so very little in the way of concrete evidence.

If you're getting depressed by the information about the game then to be honest you're the one turning yourself off to it.

There just isn't that much information about the game at all. So instead of drawing conclusions from a lack of evidence, just wait until there is. Better yet, actually play the game when it comes out so you can draw a supremely educated opinion on the whole damn thing.

I honestly don't care if you hate the game or love it. But the thing is, there isn't yet a game to love or hate.

[perkint]

The Egosoft rep's sudden urge to go about on the forums and talk about how NOT broken the autopilot is. Why would you do that? Oh, when you're planning on using the same system again.

Or maybe when you happen to be a site admin for Egosoft (not a paid employee or developer in any way) who I think was trying to make the point that the autopilot is not bugged, it is just subject to some pretty nasty design limitations.

The thread I think you're referring to, pjknibbs (who is not an Egosoft employee) said a comment along those lines because the previous posts had been discussing bugs or "features" & design limitations...

Tim

[jkflipflop98]

Have you considered that saying "yeah, we're using the same ****** AI system that causes your wingmen to kamikazi dive your own ship as well as random asteroids!" doesn't look so hot?

[Legionnaire]

@KloHunter

hope this shows you what i was referring to

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php? ... j9&thumb=6

@jkflipflop98,

not sure where i saw it, but there was mention of new ai/autopillock that wasnt stupid/suicidal.

Legionnaire

[perkint]

Have you considered that saying "yeah, we're using the same ****** AI system that causes your wingmen to kamikazi dive your own ship as well as random asteroids!" doesn't look so hot?

Are you completely missing the point where I mentioned that the person you are accusing of having a "sudden urge to go about on the forums and talk about how NOT broken the autopilot is" does not actually work for Egosoft?

Or is this another example of how you read between the lines?

For those still worrying about whether you can own cap ships, there is this quote:

with the Capital-Ships, by the way – that there is still, one steers them only no more directly from the bridge

Tim

[builder680]

Yeah, the 'no more directly from the bridge' part is what I'm interested in/worried about. Given translation issues, that could mean you can only command them from another ship, or it could mean you sit somewhere else on the ship giving orders. If it's the former, I'm not very happy about it. Time will tell.

[hawat]

with the Capital-Ships, by the way – that there is still, one steers them only no more directly from the bridge

Tim

Great news thank you
Did egosoft just add some info somewhere else by the way ?

[perkint]

Some time next month, by the sound of it

And yeah - either Bernd wasn't very specific (I suspect this is the case) or the translation lost some detail. But my money is on you just playing captain on the bridge, not trying to be a one man crew.

But it does possibly open up opportunities for a better fleet control...

Tim

[A5PECT]

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php? ... j9&thumb=6

Huh? That looks a like a gate/accelerator on the left and the trade lane on the right is funneling into it.

The glowy effects are just part of the gate design.

I will note that in several shots from all of the videos you can see small ships with engine trails, while others don't have any (namely the ships forming trade lanes).

[perkint]

Did egosoft just add some info somewhere else by the way ?

No, it's part of the earlier translation, in answer to the question about toning down complexity
Part of the big paragraph half way thru the post...

Tim

[Legionnaire]

@Klohunt3r,

actually yeah now you said that, it does appear that is a gate lol, guess the letter was right, I AM due for another eye test...

Legionnaire

[Rednoahl]

After reading those interviews I'm a little worried that the niche game has been made even more niche, and I'm not getting the "I can Trade Fight Build Think = FUN" that I did from reading about previous ES games before buying them.

The impression I'm getting is I'll be restricted to the directors chair rather than being the star, and the Think part of the game equation has taken precedence over the fight,build and trade massively. There's not one thing that jumps out from what Bernd says that makes me think "that sounds like fun," and I find that deeply worrying.

There is the possibility that Bernd's answers are directed squarely at the German market/fans and what flicks their switch (assuming there could be a difference between German and other nationalities' gaming preferences.) I dunno, I'm clutching at straws as my enthusiasm wanes.

[Legionnaire]

@Rednoahl

i wouldnt take the translations as gospel, they havent been done by a human who is fluent in both languages, and as i said previously an auto translate package cannot express the INTENT of an idea or sentence like a human, I would wait until we get more information, in the form of a human translation , also wait till we have more official info. Oviously Egosoft arent going to reveal large cunks of information at a time, thats why they are called teaser trailers, or teaser info, think back to the X3:TC teaser trailers they didnt really show any actual gameplay images/footage either, its more about building expectations and a desire to want to own the game, for all we know this could very well be a test for egosoft to check what sort of things people are worried about being in/out of the game and the next trailer may show some of those aspects. But at the moment there is very little clear hard evidence of whats going on, all we can do is wait and hope, however if they started designing in 2007 and aiming for a Q4 release thats almost 4 years game development time, and from the last news letter

quote

We threw away the cosy comfortable luxury of having a platform to build on and started with NOTHING, all for the price of doing things right

Now we're in 2011. Four years (again) of development of TNBT (the next big thing) as you guys knew it. The closer we came to the release of the game, the more we realised that the spirit of this new game, the ideas that drive the design still share a lot with the X series of the past: TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK are still of course all true. Freedom to do what you want in a living and breathing universe... CHECK! That's what also X Rebirth will stand for.

So we decided that despite all these cool new gameplay ideas and designs, this new game will play in our well-established universe. But with a twist... Many twists actually.

/quote

We know they are showing minimal amounts of info, i wonder if they are trying Viral Marketing

Legionnaire

[Observe]

Have you considered that saying "yeah, we're using the same ****** AI system that causes your wingmen to kamikazi dive your own ship as well as random asteroids!" doesn't look so hot?

According to my understanding, the new game contains a new AI control system. Here is answer from ES Developer Mike Lewis (aka Apoch) found in this thread in answer to question from Alien ND:

Have you got an auto pillock that works properly ?

*runs and hides from Egosoft*

I should hope so, as good AI control is one of my responsibilities

Based on all information, I think it's accurate to say they've written new autopilot control code, and also fair to say they've made serious attempt to improve.

[Mad_CatMk2]

Random OT: jkflipfop89, really, that kind of comment on youtube? C'mon...

Great vid compilation maxxler, thanks for that.

It would be interesting to see how the 'cap ship' command/piloting changes in X-R. Maybe it IS a 'command' from captain's chair type thing,

i.e.

'all thrusters to full, roll x, go y, etc'

...or maybe a hybrid of that and full self control?

[aka1nas]

I could probably be convinced regarding losing direct piloting control of the larger capitals if they were made to feel more "permanent" - i.e. separately damageable subsystems, being able to walk around(board) the ship, very difficult to actually destroy completely.

X3 capitals still popped a few seconds after their shields dropped, and were basically oversized fighters. I can see why they would want to drop that gameplay element, as it was always as much frustrating as it was fun.

As long as we can own any ship class in the game, and at least control them simultaneously as in previous X games, I think we'll be ok. I can't imagine them completely throwing that model away, as it's basically what makes them different from the rest on their industry.

[builder680]

Regarding capital ship control/ownership:

Sorry, I'm not in agreement with "as long as we own them but have to control them from another ship, it's OK." I'm not sure, as no one is, one way or the other exactly what is meant by not controlling them from the bridge anymore. But if it turns out to mean that I don't get to board my own capital ship and control it from there, I won't like that. I'm sure many don't mind as long as you can give the ship orders, even if it's from another ship. I personally want to have the choice to be onboard that ship and control it (and the rest of my fleet) in some manner from there (or onboard any other ship, as desired), as opposed to being required to control capitals from onboard another smaller ship, or even a station, or anywhere else.

Lots of speculation here still of course. There are some details that can be construed as possible hints at only ever personally flying one ship. But of course, all details at this point are incomplete, as we have no big picture against which to check them. Hopefully that doesn't turn out to be the case, as after generations of video games, I'm hoping to see this aspect of the gameplay (multiple options of ships you can personally be aboard and command) expanded on, not lessened. I'm very interested in some real gameplay details, whenever they are released.

[CutterJohn1]

Bernd Lehan: Yes, but one will be able to walk around not on stations, but rather with other figures interoperate. There is NPCs in quite different Gameplay areas. This is a manager for your factories, pilots et cetera. Instead of digging in dry menus, then one does a lot about dialogs with these figures. The construction part will be much bigger, by the way, than earlier. There we want that the player can also see the effect of his management that that what he produces in his factories also has an effect on the economy in the universe. However, in addition I cannot still betray even more. It is new also that we have a female Co pilot who accompanies the hero.

This sounds worrying. I hope it does not mean that instead of menus we have a repetitive dialog with npcs. If anything this would be even clunkier than the menus.

[supahfly]

Being able to fly any ship you can see in the universe is one of the main differences of x series from the rest of fighter-based sims. And I fail to see how it was boring according to ES.

I am really looking forward for some fresh info from them and a bit tired reading assumptions on the forums based on a few seconds of crappy quality screener.

Also jkflipflop98 may be right as to the one available ship (yeah, some famous ship and stuff). Now that would be a total failure.

[builder680]

Also jkflipflop98 may be right as to the one available ship (yeah, some famous ship and stuff). Now that would be a total failure.

Agreed. Waited something like 15 years after FFE before I found this game. The last thing I want is for it to take a step backward in this aspect. At that rate, my dream game wouldn't get made until I was too old to play it. X3:TC is damn good though, it may last me a decade or two.