NEWS: X-Universe News

[daedalao]

I was wrong, DX10 would not be as hard to implement as I originally assumed. My brother very quietly told me that it would only take at most, if programmed cleanly in directx (minus the error checking) 20 lines of code +/- 10 to change X3 from DX9 to DX10, and then anywhere between 2 to 30 lines per shader changed to SM4.0.

I'm in the process of preparing a few shaders to prove this point.

[Cycrow]

well im guessin ur brother has never actually seen the code for the X3 engine so how can he possibly say iy will only be a few line changes ?

and even if ur talking about converting it so it compiles to DX10 it doesn't mean it'll have all the new features of DX10.

althou i've not used DX10, but if its anything like the difference between DX8 and DX9 then it definatlly is not a few lines as it requires lots of changes, as most of the functions between the 2 are totatlly different.

meaning any native Dx8 call will have to change to a Dx9. And in most game engines, there are 1000's of these.

but like i said, being able to use a Dx9 game in Dx10, doesn't mean it'll be a Dx10 game

[daedalao]

He hasn't seen it I agree. But changes to 1000's of lines for the rendering engine shouldn't be necessary, I've seen a lot of d3d9 calls in some of the stuff we're working on, but not thousands.

Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is maybe changing the shaders to SM4.0/DX10 compliant. But I do think that there is a possibility it is possible, and even plausible. But I digress.

[BugMeister]

- any news on the special avatar "tick", yet..??

[Mr. AG]

I wouldn't be for constant warfare, but wars starting and ending would be nice. Wars without RRF's assistance, anyway.

I doubt that that sort of thing will appear in any patch, though. It made enough people mad that the universe was too safe, and it made even more people mad when the universe wasn't safe enough, so I think Ego is going to leave the danger balance right where it is thankyouverymuch.

What, you made some scientific statistical research? Could you show me the numbers, please? I get dissapointed when people say smth like that and have the forum "X: Buy-Sell with no hassle" whiners as number one source
Those who interested in more realistic politics inside game dont bother coming here and comenting, they just quit the game, easy trade sim lovers in nature have more free time on their hands and can argue here in forums. Thats the reality ...

[jlehtone]

Those who interested in more realistic politics inside game dont bother coming here and comenting, they just quit the game

No, they do not quit. They use the facilities already available in the game to achieve the "danger" they thirst for. The fabled "S&M".

[pjknibbs]

He hasn't seen it I agree. But changes to 1000's of lines for the rendering engine shouldn't be necessary, I've seen a lot of d3d9 calls in some of the stuff we're working on, but not thousands.

Anyways, I guess what I'm saying is maybe changing the shaders to SM4.0/DX10 compliant. But I do think that there is a possibility it is possible, and even plausible. But I digress.

Well...what would be the point? If you're making such minor changes then presumably the engine will render everything exactly the same. It can render stuff exactly the same as it does now without any changes at all! I think what anyone would understand by "DX10 upgrade" is an actual improvement to the rendering--making nebulae more realistic, for example--and that's something that would require extensive programming and testing.

[mad_axeman]

As the 'people who know' can't actually answer any questions about the upcoming new content, is anyone able to say when the next X-Universe newsletter is planned to be published?

[CBJ]

Nope. Sorry.

[Carlo the Curious]

What, you made some scientific statistical research? Could you show me the numbers, please? I get dissapointed when people say smth like that and have the forum "X: Buy-Sell with no hassle" whiners as number one source
Those who interested in more realistic politics inside game dont bother coming here and comenting, they just quit the game, easy trade sim lovers in nature have more free time on their hands and can argue here in forums. Thats the reality ...

That's just hilarious.

[Nanook]

I wouldn't be for constant warfare, but wars starting and ending would be nice. Wars without RRF's assistance, anyway.

I doubt that that sort of thing will appear in any patch, though. It made enough people mad that the universe was too safe, and it made even more people mad when the universe wasn't safe enough, so I think Ego is going to leave the danger balance right where it is thankyouverymuch.

What, you made some scientific statistical research? Could you show me the numbers, please? I get dissapointed when people say smth like that and have the forum "X: Buy-Sell with no hassle" whiners as number one source
Those who interested in more realistic politics inside game dont bother coming here and comenting, they just quit the game, easy trade sim lovers in nature have more free time on their hands and can argue here in forums. Thats the reality ...

So now who needs to show "some scientific statistical research"? Seems you're the one making unwarranted assumptions. If you'd read the forums much when the, I believe, patch 1.3 introduced the Kha'ak invasions, you'd understand where Tenlar Scarflame got his info from. There are plenty of mods that add a significant amount of danger to the universe. You might try XTM, for one.

[daedalao]

I guess what I've been trying to get at is this. If the support is added for the rendering device, yes, everything will still render the same, but the ability for someone in the mod community to develop the shaders is there.

If the ability to enable DX10 rendering were there... and I knew where to look for the derned shaders I'd be all about it

[Mr. AG]

So now who needs to show "some scientific statistical research"? Seems you're the one making unwarranted assumptions. If you'd read the forums much when the, I believe, patch 1.3 introduced the Kha'ak invasions, you'd understand where Tenlar Scarflame got his info from. There are plenty of mods that add a significant amount of danger to the universe. You might try XTM, for one.

OK! You got me on this!
But still, it must be true, that soft people have more time on their hands! I was planing to try out XTM, but after reading thru forums, i found out that it is nearly the same game, just with more ships, sectors, and "enemy" raiding parties, then taking into consideration that after moving to a new flat, i should have had to look for the game disc within 15-20 boxes full of crap, just left the idea
Smbd gave me some hopes, that germans X fans/coders were making some sort of mod to integrate more sort of Total War kind of politics and war with plenty of secure space for "traders" (<--- pfff ... pussies ), but seems they abandoned the idea.
The scripts we have here r really good, but its effects dissapears within matter of "ingame weeks".

Ohh i just try to imagine .. Total War Medieval 2 engine politics in X Space , with plenty of options for traders that game would blow me out of the chair

[parameter]

Hi Mr AG and all! Wouldn't this be an idea to go to the Dev forum? Diplomacy and Trade..... Must admit I have to get my nice, shiny Barracuda out of the garage more often to swipe the nasties attacking my TS convoys. Those bugs stick to the screen...Oh! Kha'ak! Sorry..!

[pjknibbs]

I guess what I've been trying to get at is this. If the support is added for the rendering device, yes, everything will still render the same, but the ability for someone in the mod community to develop the shaders is there.

I'm reasonably certain the X3 modding model does not allow entirely new shaders to be written, but I could be wrong on that.

[Sandalpocalypse]

X3 could obviously benefit from a DX10 upgrade. However I think resources are better directed towards optimization and additional content. Polish and little touches would make much more of a difference and would be available to everyone not just a few. (And I say that as someone who has Vista / DX10 )

If wanted to do a rewrite, dual core compatibility would be a better goal anyway imo.

Hell just adding proper ship explosions would give a lot more benefit for less work.

[daedalao]

Hell just adding proper ship explosions would give a lot more benefit for less work.

I was dinking about, and most of those sorts of things are in the cat files, 05-07. The shaders, and the explosion effects. It looks like the explosions can be modified to look more like the station explosions if one really wanted to.

[bob hope]

Hi Mr AG and all! Wouldn't this be an idea to go to the Dev forum? Diplomacy and Trade..... Must admit I have to get my nice, shiny Barracuda out of the garage more often to swipe the nasties attacking my TS convoys. Those bugs stick to the screen...Oh! Kha'ak! Sorry..!

personally i dont do much trading and prefare to make cash of ship capturing, but on the box it says trade, so i expect to trade, and if the amount of trade gets lowered with the amount of fighting raised by the same amount then its no longer an X game its just a space fps, and i would not buy it, i am sure theres a few people out there who are the same.

[Marijn]

now i don't want to be pushy but any news about the new patch yet?

[Kryten]

personally i dont do much trading and prefare to make cash of ship capturing, but on the box it says trade, so i expect to trade, and if the amount of trade gets lowered with the amount of fighting raised by the same amount then its no longer an X game

It also says fight, build and think, your statement leaves me thinking, if you don't trade much why must it be your main feature? Thats like saying I don't think much but if you don't include thinking I won't buy the next game