New interview

[Nosscar]

Although I didn't play AP that much (laptop wouldn't handle the big universe) I can't remember seeing a cockpit with ncp running around in x3 caps as mentioned earlier. I do agree joystick control of a cap ship is not my idea of fun, but much more realistic is to have a bridge with crew and giving orders is the way to go. Hopefully might come from the dev's or mods later.

[Stellen]

but Bernd has made it pretty clear hes not catering the game towards people who have sunk 200 hours into X3.

It's statements like that though which give credence to the accusations that the series is being dumbed down and consolised.

[Shootist]

but Bernd has made it pretty clear hes not catering the game towards people who have sunk 200 hours into X3.

It's statements like that though which give credence to the accusations that the series is being dumbed down and consolised.

Doesn't appear dumb or optimized for console to me.. I'll let you know in a couple of week.

[ishmaeltheforsaken]

You know, there is a great difference between FAVORITE and MOST USED ship.

Yeah, everybody says that they love M5s, that they love their Novas or Falcons, but everybody actually flies a M2 or M7M. And Springblossoms.



For those capital ships, they said that there is no direct command, but we still have hope to get indirect command (using the radio comms to give orders to captain).

And my guess is that they will never bring capital ship steering back, but instead of that they will add commanding from main bridge.

I always flew an overtuned M3+ and only docked with capitals to travel long distances through dangerous space while I was downstairs making a hot pocket or to use a jump drive.

Really Rebirth seems to be pandering to me more than any other game aside from maybe Gone Home.

Is this what it feels like to be a straight, white man?

[CutterJohn1]

The crazy maneuvers (what a word..) you do? Nah, caps need 20 minutes to turn around..

High speed chases? Yea with 50 m/s not going to happen.

Not everyone craves visceral excitement, or even finds it satisfying. Some people like shooters. Some people like chess.

Egosoft saying "This is boring, we're not going to let you do it" is a copout. The correct response is "This is boring, how can we make it more fun?".

Of course capital combat was boring. When your combat model is so simplistic the only strategy is 'Go fast and maneuver', yes, a ship that can not go fast nor maneuver is going to be boring to use.

The job was to fix the combat model, not throw away any gameplay that reveals its limitations.

[ahddib]

What I fly is only modified by what I want to do. I'm not going to choose to explore in a capital ship. I'm not going to engage a xenon invasion fleet in a m4. 90% of the old games was ship selection for the self created in game goal.

My hope is that the skunk can be modified to fit my desired game goals to the same or similar amount as the old ships, thereby replacing my NEED for multiple playerships to complete my goals.

[jasonbarron]

What I fly is only modified by what I want to do. I'm not going to choose to explore in a capital ship. I'm not going to engage a xenon invasion fleet in a m4. 90% of the old games was ship selection for the self created in game goal.

My hope is that the skunk can be modified to fit my desired game goals to the same or similar amount as the old ships, thereby replacing my NEED for multiple playerships to complete my goals.

I know what you mean, but I don't think the Skunk is ever going to be upgrade-able to M2 class standards. For those who are determined that a capital ship is the only way to fly the friendly skies, at least they can dock the Skunk on the cap ship's back and watch the action (or whatever) unfold from that vantage. Same goes for big trading ships if the player happens to prefer slower, mercantile based gameplay.

[CutterJohn1]

I know what you mean, but I don't think the Skunk is ever going to be upgrade-able to M2 class standards. For those who are determined that a capital ship is the only way to fly the friendly skies, at least they can dock the Skunk on the cap ship's back and watch the action (or whatever) unfold from that vantage. Same goes for big trading ships if the player happens to prefer slower, mercantile based gameplay.

Being in direct control is extremely important. Would you be happy if this game were an RTS, but you could go to a 1st person view at any time to watch the ships carry out your orders on autopilot?

Suggesting that 'at least we can do that' misses the entire point. It is absolutely not the same

[jasonbarron]

I know what you mean, but I don't think the Skunk is ever going to be upgrade-able to M2 class standards. For those who are determined that a capital ship is the only way to fly the friendly skies, at least they can dock the Skunk on the cap ship's back and watch the action (or whatever) unfold from that vantage. Same goes for big trading ships if the player happens to prefer slower, mercantile based gameplay.

Being in direct control is extremely important. Would you be happy if this game were an RTS, but you could go to a 1st person view at any time to watch the ships carry out your orders on autopilot?

Suggesting that 'at least we can do that' misses the entire point. It is absolutely not the same

No, I'm not missing your point, CJ1--after all, I did qualify my statement with "at least". I agree that it would be cool, at least to a degree, to directly control capital ships in XR, and perhaps one day we will, but until that day comes I'm perfectly happy to piggyback on a cap's back and run the show that way

[Tarazu]

Great interview and bernd answered really well. Nice to hear their point of view on us blowing everything up also!

Soon november and then just 15 days....

[tempsgk]

Would be good if we can control our capital ships like in homeword.

[Shootist]

Would be good if we can control our capital ships like in homeword.

Point and click your way to happiness?

[tempsgk]

If you want.

[Shootist]

If you want.

Do I misremember how ships were driven in that game. Select, right click, command, click?

[CutterJohn1]

If you want.

Do I misremember how ships were driven in that game. Select, right click, command, click?

Basically. Select a ship, press 'm'(i believe) to bring up the move tool, and click. I think you pressed shift to alter z axis. The rest of standard RTS controls applied as well, right click enemies to attack, right click friendlies to guard, right click asteroids to mine, Fkeys to alter formation and stance, etc.

If their proposed RTS controls are half as good as homeworlds it will be a huge boon to the game. Still not a replacement for flying it myself, but amazing all the same.

[Shootist]

If you want.

Do I misremember how ships were driven in that game. Select, right click, command, click?

Basically. Select a ship, press 'm'(i believe) to bring up the move tool, and click. I think you pressed shift to alter z axis. The rest of standard RTS controls applied as well, right click enemies to attack, right click friendlies to guard, right click asteroids to mine, Fkeys to alter formation and stance, etc.

If their proposed RTS controls are half as good as homeworlds it will be a huge boon to the game. Still not a replacement for flying it myself, but amazing all the same.

I did the Homeworlds. They were decent enough. Remember moving on rather quickly after finishing the plot. Don't recall much in the way of re-play excitement.

What I remember I'm unsure I'd like in Rebirth, however. Though I think it would matter if the commands were issued from a bodiless 3rd person view of the surrounding space, or from within a UI. I think, in Rebirth's case, that I would prefer a UI (map interface) rather than floating bodiless in the vicinity of the fleet.

[Inverness]

That seems like a good idea. Creating a command system directly from the bridge of a capital ship might be difficult. Instead, make it so when you're in a capital ship you own, you can use a tactical view, which brings you to a top down view from outside the ship like you would see in an RTS. You could then use this to more precisely command your ships against enemies and get a different perspective on things.

This seems like it would be much easier for Egosoft to implement than some other options.

[Captain Lemmiwinks]

Bernd made a good point when he talked about pandering to the fanbase and how that created a wall around their games. The interview was pretty good.

that made me laugh loud and long.

surely Bernd hasnt gone nuts and decided to give the game away for free ?

because if he actually wants to SELL the game,then "pandering to the fanbase" is exactly what he needs to do.
you cant sell cat food to a dog owner.

because if the plan is to ignore those who would buy X4 in favour of gambling on finding a whole new fanbase for a different game,then he has indeed lost the plot.

unless someone mistranslated "pandering",and nobody noticed how insulting that is to the people who spent the last decade supporting his games.
and before we see the generic "its still in the X universe",the X universe is not why i bought them all.

i keep thinking of X game as a cake,how many slices can you take away from the cake before its a only slice and some crumbs.

[Abraxis86]

i keep thinking of X game as a cake,how many slices can you take away from the cake before its a only slice and some crumbs.

It is not cake, it's more like a young girl getting ready for prom.

Let's say this girl moved from some small country town into the city for her last year of high school. She's never really bothered with makeup or any of that junk before, being from a pretty small town, and having known all her friends since she was old enough to remember. She likes to think she's a young woman of some integrity and intelligence. Now, however, in the city, for her prom, there are certain expectations that she conform to in order to make herself presentable for the occasion. There is plenty to gain from making a good impression and establishing herself in the eyes of her peers before going out into the world, both for her confidence to persevere towards success, and for friends who can be relied on to help her out of rough patches, or toss opportunities her way.

She has one problem though, who to bring as her date? That guy from her home town who's had a crush on her since they were 5? He adores her, and certainly others will see that. It helps her confidence and raises her sense worth in her eyes and others. It's also a relatively safe choice, as she certainly won't end up abandoned. However, he's also the one who will probably dress in some shabby rental, cling to her heals all night, bark at any other guy that even looks her way and annoy anyone else with his weird behavior. Keeping her well alienated and unable to leave his small town world for fear of her getting away from him.

Alternatively, she can ask someone from her new school she's seen looking her way a few times. He doesn't really know her, and may very well end up ignoring her all night if she doesn't impress. However, if she does succeed in making herself look nice, as is expected of any self-respecting girl at a function like this, maybe he'll give her his full attention when she speaks, rather than focus everything else going on. In doing so, maybe likely he'll find more about her to like, she's no moron, after all. suppose he then happily introduce her to his friends, quite pleased with his gamble on taking that pretty stranger to prom. Suddenly she finds herself exactly where she wanted to be.

Meanwhile, rather than being happy for her, her old friend feels threatened and betrayed, probably calls her a whore among other things.

She coulda stuck with him and ended up alone pumping out babies in some ****** backwater. Being care for, sure, but accomplishing absolutely nothing in life. Now she has a chance at something better, and anyone who really cared would be happy about that, and helping her along, rather than being sore and calling her a whore.

[Hemmingfish]

Rather emotional. It's more along the lines of they're tired of being a niche so they want mainstream appeal.