The big GamesCom interview with Bernd - Comments

[Geek]

Bernd told some station scans would be legal, others not.
i.e http://www.egosoft.com/x/xnews/201105_1_44News.html

[Advent1s]

I am liking what i am hearing, even if the translation was a tad iffy at times, no offence.

This game should be quite interesting to play, at the least, I want to find out what these "Big, universally changing" events are.

[Oldman]

...

Do you have any ideea if except the boarding crews and co-pilot will we have to pay for the other crew in the ship? Will they enchance the ship in some way?

Hi!

Bernd mentioned we might have to use a sort of 'hire or fire' principle regarding some crew members on the Skunk, so i would have thought money/credits would possibly be involved....but of course I'm not 100% sure of any details.
I suppose the question of whether they will enhance the ship depends on things we don't know at the moment. For example, will they be paying passengers, working crew members of different skills or plot orientated characters (for missions etc.)


Quote Bernd.
Where our old universe was a simple arrangement of cubic sectors, we now have a hierarchy of really stellar proportions allowing a more realistic and varied universe than before.

It starts with what we call zones. This can be anything from a city in space or a group of factories to a unique asteroid field or any other interesting location. Zones are either at the end of local highways or alongside a local highway. Most of the time a group of zones, sometimes hundreds of kilometers apart form a sector. Sectors are then connected with superhighways and form a cluster (e.g a solar system).
Unquote.


Okay, I understand this I think.
Zones (which are connected by local highways) form a Sector. Sectors are connected by Superhighways and form a Cluster.

So...I'm wondering, A Cluster could be a complete Solar system, or it could be 'just' a collection of sectors with very little (if any) Planetary or Solar content. In other words a cluster might only contain some stations/factories etc. and or asteroid fields, with maybe a large or small percentage of Planets, Suns & moons. Obviously this particular content for Clusters right down to zones is not being disclosed at the moment, for understandable reasons.
What I'm wondering now is:- What's the set up for travelling between Clusters?
Do we still use a type of 'Superhighway' to connect a Cluster to another Cluster?, or is there going to be some other method of travel.
Substitute 'Solar System' for 'Cluster'....how do we get from one Solar System to another....and further out, to a different part of the local Galaxy for example. Will this be possible?
The ultimate question of 'BIG'!....and from Galaxy to Galaxy?

Oldman

[Bobucles]

Do we still use a type of 'Superhighway' to connect a Cluster to another Cluster?, or is there going to be some other method of travel.
Substitute 'Solar System' for 'Cluster'....how do we get from one Solar System to another....and further out, to a different part of the local Galaxy for example. Will this be possible?

The gate system is down. So however things work out, it's guaranteed to be a major plot point.

[Oldman]

Do we still use a type of 'Superhighway' to connect a Cluster to another Cluster?, or is there going to be some other method of travel.
Substitute 'Solar System' for 'Cluster'....how do we get from one Solar System to another....and further out, to a different part of the local Galaxy for example. Will this be possible?

The gate system is down. So however things work out, it's guaranteed to be a major plot point.

Talking about the Plot...

Quote Bernd,
Bernd:
We want to make a better Plot in every case than we did in the past. And we want to get the Players who don’t know the Game yet. And that is now everyone. Nobody knows this Game yet. And we want them to learn the Basics in the Framework of the Plot. And enable things with that, too.
That’s the reason why the Big Events occur with the progress in the Plot. For Hardcore-Players is that irrelevant. They will push toward finishing the Plot as fast as possible that they have their freedom, but nonetheless that means: the Plot is now much more Important and has much more focus now.
If it has cinematic Qualities now, that depends on Definition.
Unquote.

It's looking as if the player has got to get to the end of the plot before unlocking the whole 'Universe' and having complete freedom, so I agree, the use of 'Gates' probably will be a major part of the plot. It doesn't look like you can 'side step' the plot either as in previous games.
Well... ...as long as the Plot grabs your attention that's okay by me, it certainly will be a show stopper if it doesn't.

Oldman

[Dr2i]

That would work well for the game. In previous X you could ignore the plot till you get an armada and some wealth, at that stage the plot becomes too easy and uninteresting (exept for hq and other rewards)

Blocking the univers can restrict your progress to some extent. The plot can then stay challenging.

[jester6225]

i am thinking like the previous games the plot will be split up into segments like the following :-

1) learn basic flight controls
2) learn how to navigate local highways
3) basic station interaction and trading
4) basic combat moves (maybe with npc help)
5) reward for completing scenario (look at no 4) first station module
6) learn how to place,choose and start construction of first module
7) selecting station managers / crew members
complete quest type scenario's for a corporation to finish or activate first super highway gate.
9) first part of the plot complete, time to go explore the big bad universe
10) random communication or discovery of certain station or area for next part of the plot.

[Geek]

No. Bernd said the plot need to be finished before accessing the sandbox part.

BTW superhighways and gates are different things.

[Batmaus]

im guessing that the gates will be reactivated step by step during the plot. the further you get, the more clusters will be reconnected.
i would like that as i could let my company spread across the universe step my step aswell

[Bobucles]

No. Bernd said the plot need to be finished before accessing the sandbox part.

Even if the sandbox part isn't available off the bat, it's guaranteed to be a day 1 mod.

[Sibilantae]

No. Bernd said the plot need to be finished before accessing the sandbox part.

Even if the sandbox part isn't available off the bat, it's guaranteed to be a day 1 mod.

Sure hope so!

[Geek]

I certainly agree. Although the modding tools are likely to be delayed, so "day 1" sounds a bit optimistic.

[Sibilantae]

I certainly agree. Although the modding tools are likely to be delayed, so "day 1" sounds a bit optimistic.

With any luck we might get "month 1"~

[Demongornot]

My worst fear about this its the drone, it cau be really nice, but i hope that the gameplay was not too many based on this and that we can do a lot of mission without using it, i hate manage several unit, i love lot play with a single ship, but maybe now that we will not have stupid collision anymore i will love to have a big fleet escorting me or my transport ship, but i hope we can also play without using drone, i will use it for sure, but i don't really like to loose expensive thing and have to spend too many money for recovered it, i hope drone are not too many important for the gameplay, just improve it without be indispensable and that they will be priceless and easy to get, and not that we will need to play 20 hours for escort our transport ship for earn enough money for recover all lost drone...

I also hope that mission will be totally rebalance and that this time if we don't have jump engine we can be able to reach target/destination in time and/or earn more money with "easy" and "normal" missions...

[OnlineKenji]

What I took away was
- We may have to dig into menus to see ship status (Negative?)
- OOS combat may be a little more sensible. No more losing capital ships to frigates, or entire fighter units to a few pirate ships with flame throwers... flame throwers... in space... with no oxygen... *ahem* I digest (Positive!)
- Hulls no longer mean nothing, and a ship can actually survive a little in a battle after shields are down (Positive!)
- Discs will still be sold (idc - really wgaf?)
- We can build drones (Meh! Of course we can, they replaced fighters, right?)
- No more mass driver or guass cannon, strictly laser weapons, rockets, and missiles... I think the rockets replace the previous ammo fed stuff - stuff I never used anyway (idc)
- The Playership will become very powerful, but never able to beat the biggest of capital ships. So I'm guessing gets about as strong as an M7, because I'm sure most of us can kill M1/M2s in our M7s, but an M0 [if it existed] would kick our ass (Positive!)
- The plot will keep us from saving up real quick and buying the ultimately powerful weapon (Positive! & Negative!)
- The "Scan a station and get a discount" thing... really "Space Coupons?" LOL!! Like when we scan those weird looking blotches with our smartphones!! (idc)
- Destroying your competition's production line with a chance of anonymity (Positive!!!!)
- You can actually commit crimes without INSTANT notoriety hits on your whole empire. Seriously, that is awesome. I've always wanted ship specific notoriety, so that you can have ships that you do crimes in that get tagged as criminal vessels without tying it back to you, but this is pretty cool to (Positive!)
- He referred to drones as if they were an offensive component, defensive component, and a utility component of the player ship. I'm interested to see what that means (Positive)
- When he mentions switching weapons it seems that you'll have all weapons on at the same time and it was only a matter of picking which one you used. Did you guys interpret it that way to? (Positive?)
- Capital Ships that are physically bigger than the Player ship will have access to weapons and drones that the playership will not (Neutral)
- Combat will be pretty awesome (Plus!)
- DLC and Sequels – We know you “gotta g’dat cheddar, son”, but first focus on making the game good enough to inspire us to buy DLC!! (Negative!)
- The mechanics of the economy was not discussed. (Negative!!!)
- So we’re gonna need a computer up to about 2008 standards to play (Plus! [for the less fortunate of us] & Negative! [for those of us that want to put our rigs to the test])
- Ships and plants are pretty customizable (Plus!)

Overall this has made me look forward to this game again I can’t wait for it to hit …. Q3 2013? Hopefully not much later… take any longer and you’ll have to call it “X: Forever” (The older dudes here know what I’m referencing )

[Geek]

What I took away was
- OOS combat may be a little more sensible. No more losing capital ships to frigates, or entire fighter units to a few pirate ships with flame throwers... flame throwers... in space... with no oxygen... *ahem* I

PBG are only a matter IS, not OOS.

- We can build drones (Meh! Of course we can, they replaced fighters, right?)

I do not think fighters have disappeared, but they do not fit into the Albionk which is corvette sized.

- The Playership will become very powerful, but never able to beat the biggest of capital ships. So I'm guessing gets about as strong as an M7, because I'm sure most of us can kill M1/M2s in our M7s, but an M0 [if it existed] would kick our ass (Positive!)

We can not be sure of that before the game is released. But really nothing prevent a player flown M7 from killing any oher ship. So the Albion may stick to M6 firepower.

- When he mentions switching weapons it seems that you'll have all weapons on at the same time and it was only a matter of picking which one you used. Did you guys interpret it that way to? (Positive?)

Pretty much. However, you do not start will all the weapons.

[A5PECT]

- When he mentions switching weapons it seems that you'll have all weapons on at the same time and it was only a matter of picking which one you used. Did you guys interpret it that way to? (Positive?)

I'm interpreting as similar to classic first person shooters such as Doom or Half-Life. As you progress through the game you acquire new weapons, which you keep with you for the remainder of the game.

[Icelord666]

Thank you for the translation. I'm a big fan of the X series. I hope to see it come out sooner than later. I do wish there would have been a release date mentioned, but I am happy that they are taking their time and making sure the game works well before they release it.

[Realspace]

why all these worries about rebirth being different?

there are at least 4 games in the x-saga...and plenty of very good mods to extend the playability forever, if you want the same experience in different fashions. x3 graphic is nice enough to play it for at least another 5 years.

the x game i enjoyed most was x2, why? becouse it was the first, i had to learn all the mechanics, features, etc. x3 had better graphics but was never so interesting as the first experience. i'm so happy they are making a game that is totally new.

i'm happy they seem to be inspired by other good games (e.g. tradelanes ala freelancer...but at massive scale, universe was so small there). i lost interest in x games, would not play another x-n game, but am very intersted to see rebirth, speculations or not.

the only thing i'd like to see is some more updates on development

my stupid 2cent-opinion of course...

[RustInPieces]

Bernd:
That depends on your weapon system: the primary weapons can be upgraded as an addition. There is a limited number of primary weapons. At the beginning, you cannot use most of them, but you will find the rest during the plot. But there is no reason to remove a primary weapon entirely. You simply add them to the others.
It is similar for missiles. The ability to fire missiles is always there but you have to have the ammo. As it was in the previous games. For drones, it is different: you only have so many slots and have to use them reasonable. You can – for example – decide to carry only spy drones or only attack drones or a combination. Or shield drones. That's a tactical element – how you equip your ship. And its similar for the people you take with you.

Question:
Can I change primary weapons in battle or do I have to dock on a station for this?

Bernd:
Constantly. You can quickly switch between the primary weapons. That's the difference. There are primary weapons that are designed to be quickly exchanged. And there are other (ship)-capabilities, which can be enhanced via drones. Which is similar - the one that you have, can be released quickly. But of course not as quick as the primary weapons.
So also there is of course again a balancing difference. Sometimes the start of the drone has a certain delay. Which is where the difference really is. When the drones are more about the tactical element, the primary weapons are just about firepower.

Question:
So can I only select the primary weapons that I have in the cargo hold?

Bernd:
No, that has nothing to do with the cargo hold. There is a limited amount of primary weapons, which are compatible to your ship and these are the ones you can use. I'm talking about the player ship here.

Question:
So do I have a limited number of primary weapons?

Bernd:
Yes. But that is only one part of the whole. Which is of course important to know, since it has not taken place earlier in that form. They describe now only one part.

Question:
Depending on what you plan to fight, do you need then to exchange your weapons ?

Bernd:
As I said before, the permanent exchange of primary weapons are not necessary. And those you got you'll keep. They can possibly brake, but usually - if you pay attention - this shouldn’t happen.

Question:
You have a limited energy supply. Does this mean that you can fire only a certain number of primary weapons at once?

Bernd:
No, no, no. You can always just fire one weapon system at a time. The weapons systems differ not only in capacity. This is again another capability. Since there is no need to have two weaker weapons. I'll give you two examples: there are no longer the standard laser, alpha, beta, gamma, as we had earlier. If there is a beta-laser, which is better than the alpha-laser, then it will be replaced by the beta the laser.
But the primary weapons systems differ from each other: for example, there is a weapon system with a certain spreading, which immediately reaches a pretty big resounding power. Which is great for small ships that move quickly. There is then another weapon system which emits plasma shots very slowly, but is good against shields. Which I have of course to decide what to use, depending on the tactical situation. These are two of the primary weapons systems. Between which you can switch quickly. But they can never be used simultaneously.
But the whole thing is even more complicated because we are talking now only about the primary weapons. There are also rockets, as well as being very different things are. where there also are very different things. But altogether a summary of the systems that need a starter and ammunition. And the third system just happen to be the drones. And they are even more varied.
Well, actually that is in ascending order. The drones are the most complex thing because they actually allow the tactical upgrade of your ship. And they are just totally different. So that you hardly can compare: a normal attack drone that you deploy, to cause harm, or a spy drone, which is very fragile, but also fast and agile, to name just two. Since there can be many different things.

So it sounds like you switch weapons like in FPS games. Does this mean we are limited to only one weapon hardpoint / turret? At the least, even if we have multiple turrets they would all fire the same weapon.