NEWS: X-Universe News #30 - X3: Terran Conflict FAQ and Steam

[cucher]

Gd!

Can anybody tell whether the game will support 16:10 displays in the right way? I mean without compression on vertical axis. Just would like to buy new wide one 24'. Need to be sure about that. Thanks for advises.

[CBJ]

The game works very nicely on 4:3, 5:4, 16:10 and 16:9 screens. There is no squashing or squeezing in-game, and video playback is "letterboxed" where necessary to maintain aspect ratio without losing content.

[TwoHedWlf]

Local game site here isn't releasing the game until the 31st. Not sure why. But I'm happy to wait 2 weeks if it means I don't have to deal with the abomination that is steam. I'd rather download a pirated version...But haven't tried steam in a couple years.

[supakillaii]

What is so wrong with Steam?

[euclid]

..... I'd rather download a pirated version......

Erm..... a bad joke

Cheers Euclid

[CBJ]

I'd rather download a pirated version...But haven't tried steam in a couple years.

This is a good way to get yourself banned. You have been warned.

[andrewas]

Local game site here isn't releasing the game until the 31st. Not sure why. But I'm happy to wait 2 weeks if it means I don't have to deal with the abomination that is steam. I'd rather download a pirated version...But haven't tried steam in a couple years.

Its come a long way in the past couple of years. Its still not at the point where I can recommend it to people without qualification, but if you have a decent internet connection and are sufficiently tech savvy to keep your machine malware free, then you should have no major problems with Steam.

The only irritant is that you need to have the client open to play games bought over Steam. But the problems of the first year are gone. Major launches no longer overload the system. Download speed has increased. And, there are now many low cost titles you can use to test the system without risking much money.

[Kampenaar]

Why should that suggestion be a reason to get banned???? He's just suggesting it becaurse he doesn't rely on steam....

He also tell's (quote): I'm happy to wait for 2 weeks (end quote)

I myself rely on the good of people rather then on the bad...... But hey, that's just me.

Having said that TwoHedWlf i hope you'll get your hardcopy a bit quicker.

[fud]

And, there are now many low cost titles you can use to test the system without risking much money.

There are also demos for free you can test things out with.

[Big_Mike_643]

What is so wrong with Steam?

There is nothing wrong with Steam. For me I have ordered all of my Valve Products through it and some other 3rd party games. Its like a on-line storage vault for your games and it can keep them all up to date automatically for you, or not if you choose.

A lot of people think its a completely draconian piece of DRM software and I also thought that at first. After using it for many years now I love it and if a game comes out on Steam that I want I will buy it that way rather then getting it from retail.

I even load up all my other games through Steam so I can have X-Fire type functionality to it with out the X-Fire bs and crashing.

Thinking about that maybe the Steam users on the forums should add each other to their friends lists!

[pietser]

also can anyone tell me if i order the game from steam

can i down load it to my desk top and burn a copy to a
dvd . because i would like to have a hard copy in case
i need to reformat and have no internet

Yes, you can backup a steam download. However, you need an internet connection to authenticate the game whenever you reinstall it, and TAGES may impose further restrictions. So long as you have at least occasional access to the internet, you should have no major problems, but if you are likely to go for a prolonged period with no internet access at all, Steam is probably not the best way forward.

Occasional, do you mean I can play offline? Will I have to confirm my steam validation via the internet every week/month?

[Observe]

What is so wrong with Steam?

As a modder, I won't order from Steam because of experience with X2 Steam version being incompatible with some of the modding tools. In the case of X2, the Steam version was not an exact disk image of the CD version in terms of the compressed "cat" files. As a result, I personally have serious reservations with Steam if you intend to be doing any modding of the game. At least I'd want to wait and see if problems exist first. In the meantime, I suggest mail order from Egosoft for those like me who are so unfortunate (for a variety of reasons) as to live in the U.S.

[Ramage]

Gd!

Can anybody tell whether the game will support 16:10 displays in the right way? I mean without compression on vertical axis. Just would like to buy new wide one 24'. Need to be sure about that. Thanks for advises.

I played X3 Reunion on 24' and everything but the current ship I was flying's nose was great I liked the extra width made for a bigger view of the space graphics. Also CBJ says they have developed X3:TC for all ratio's (which probably means more detailed textures which would account for the large size in the steam download yee haw!) as big wide screens and powerful GPU's have become more affordable.

BTW Steam preload took less than 10 hours here in South Western Canada (but we have very good affordable high speed internet).

[Big_Mike_643]

To the best of my knowledge you can play games on Steam offline indefinitely after they are activated.

I may be wrong, as I almost always have the internet on to any computer I play on. Except the rare occasion when can't get internet on my laptop when I am staying in a hotel for work. I have experienced a off-line play bug that they had which was quickly sorted out. One of the great things about all of Valve's products in general is that they are very good at updating them.

[SilverDragonLord]

im not sure if this has been answered yet but once we get the game from steam where do we download the new manual? or will it be included in the download

[Ecthelion]

There is nothing wrong with Steam. For me I have ordered all of my Valve Products through it and some other 3rd party games. Its like a on-line storage vault for your games and it can keep them all up to date automatically for you, or not if you choose.

I agree. A lot of people are paranoid about digital distribution, but the positives far outweigh the negatives (for me at least). Anyway, it's becoming a trend... as publishers try to save costs however they can, we're going to see more and more games become Steam-only.

A lot of people think its a completely draconian piece of DRM software and I also thought that at first. After using it for many years now I love it and if a game comes out on Steam that I want I will buy it that way rather then getting it from retail.

The other nice thing about Steam is that it's environmentally friendly.

"Steam - it's the Boron way!"

Thinking about that maybe the Steam users on the forums should add each other to their friends lists!

Good idea! Someone should make a semi-official X3 group.

im not sure if this has been answered yet but once we get the game from steam where do we download the new manual? or will it be included in the download

It's in the download. If you preload the game (or download it on Steam after release), the manual is in the "steamapps\common\x3 terran conflict\Documents" folder under the Steam folder. I think "C:\Steam" is the default, but it might be "C:\Program Files\Steam".

[CBJ]

im not sure if this has been answered yet but once we get the game from steam where do we download the new manual? or will it be included in the download

As with most Steam games, it is part of the download. Those who have finished pre-loading are already reading theirs.

[TwoHedWlf]

I'm just imagining the additional costs Steam could add to the purchase cost for buyers here. If you're dumb enough to download it using mobile broadband here the traffic alone could worst case add some $2000 to the price of the game(No I didn't add extra zeros, it's $.57/mb) That's absolute worst case and fortunately I'm one of the few people in the country with unlimited traffic.

[mrsack]

I'm just imagining the additional costs Steam could add to the purchase cost for buyers here. If you're dumb enough to download it using mobile broadband here the traffic alone could worst case add some $2000 to the price of the game(No I didn't add extra zeros, it's $.57/mb) That's absolute worst case and fortunately I'm one of the few people in the country with unlimited traffic.

The world needs more Japan-like internets

[cucher]

Thanks, CBJ! I'm happy now