[MOD]X²-ReduX (maybe even X³)

[Aresius]

Hey there,

ever since I started playing the X-Series, I was intrigued by the design lineages for ships and stations for the different species. As Beyond the Frontier was quite low in the details, the extension X-Tension was kinda nice.
But with X², the ships became hardly what was usually known from their predecessors.
X³, while only seeing screenshots, shows ships and stations that do barely have anything in common with the great designs of old, some are so similar for more species that the thought of different design lineages seems to not exists at all.

I do lack the knowledge for 3D arts to design the models the ships and stations would in my eyes evolve and also do I lack the scripting and coding knowledge to create mods.
My strength is merely to draw the design in schematics.
Thus I search for people who know these arts and who want to recreate a universe that once beautiful has now merely been corrupted and perverted to a unison maze with largely equal looking things.

What the mod WILL include:

• Ship models
• Station models

What the mod MIGHT also include:

• Internal station models
• Planetary and celestrial objects
• Reworked sector maps

What the mod will NOT include:

• Other races/stations/ships than the one native to the game
• Rework of the cut-scenes

The main goal of this mod is the alteration of X², but in case there will be requests and also a mood, it may also be applied for X³.

[Shadow dream]

There is already a team that makes something similar, just bigger (and maybe even better - judge yourself).
This team is called "The Pandora Team" and we're working on this fantastic mod! (btw-we could need some scripters to help us...)
I don't want to say too much now, but some basic informations are on our forum (>sig)

Shadow

[Aresius]

Looks like I need to register to see the pictures?

Very well.
Let's take a stroll...

[Shadow dream]

well most of our part is closed to the team - especialy the restricted areas (so sign up is not enough )
But the Galleries should be public..?

Shadow

[Chris Gi]

Well, I don't think X2-Pandora is what you're actually looking for. It still uses the X2 ship and station models (which I like more than the original X-BTF or X-Tension models). And it doesn't respect your other idea:

What the mod will NOT include:

• Other races/stations/ships than the one native to the game
• Rework of the cut-scenes

Anyway, there are not many modders left working on X2, and they are all busy with their own projects. Thus I don't believe you will find many people willing to help.

[Aresius]

Unfortunately yes.
I was already considering posting the same request at the Sci-Fi Meshes forum but opted for this here first, as this is the games native forum.

Still, after I saw this one image of a redone Teladi Phoenix, I was quite intrigued. I mean, it DID look like the one from X-BtF and X-T.
About the stations, well I never really saw those solar power stations as a logical look, so there, anything is better, but for instance the Splits Majaglit factories or the Paranid Soy-farms,t hey had a unique look that I do barely feel visible in X². Can't talk about X³, I don't have it, but judging from the ships look... Oh well, I guess you get my point.

Hey Chris, schöne Grüße nach Edingen, ich komme aus Schatthausen bei Wiesloch.

[Mav/]

This would interest me, too (see my post here ).

I'm a modder, but as of yet only of other games, and also I don't have too much time at the moment.
Though, once these problems (freezes) of mine should be solved, I could propably get more interest in the project...

P.S.: I already started a VERY basic model of the Paranid Prometheus (that's the X1 Paranid M3's name, right?) , but I didn't yet invest much time into it and thus it REALLY is very basic still.

[Aresius]

Yeah, that's the gist of what I was thinking!

I don't have much problem with the Xenon being red or being blue, they're machines after all and they want to kick the butt regardless their colour, I'd say.

I was mainly also thinking about pepping the shapes up. I mean, the Split M1 received a design that largely resembles the one known from BtF and X-T, but also bears distinctively more aggressive lines, as it suits the races philosophy. Same happend to the Boron ships, which were given in ym thoughts a clearly more amphibious look.
Stations as well and I "think" I gave the pirates a base they deserved.
If I recall right, the voiced info says their ship is build of salvage parts of all races. Well, I basically made it look like that.........


Uh, sorry. Me and my mind getting 'nother blast of exhilarating ideas...

[Chris Gi]

I checked station and ship design from the older games. From my point of view, design guidelines didn't change that much. The break in design comes with X3.

Basically I agree: ship design in X2 could reflect more characteristic of a race: a more aggressive look to Split ships, a more water-like look to Boron ships.
But if you look at stations, it's getting worse. Solar Power Plants are a prominent example. But many stations look very similar among the different races. They use the same bodies, even the same texture, and the only differences are some slight changes.

While X2-Pandora doesn't follow a design line like "remake X1 ships", it follows the design line "make station and ship models more unique to a race". For example: Boron SPP and Trade Dock look like this:

[ external image ]

[ external image ]

They look more like objects that are able to float in water than the original models - and the SPP looks more like a SPP.

@Aresius:
Hallo Nachbar .
Mich würden Deine Designvorschläge sehr interessieren. Wenn das für Dich irgendwie passt, dann kannst Du die ja gerne mal im Pandora-Forum präsentieren (oder einfach mal per PM senden).

[Aresius]

Well, the helix-like trade dock was also kinda water-like, just think to the Bongo-engine in Star Wars, also quite helix like.
But that one also rocks!

Of course, the worst design "step-up" is with X³, but the Boron Octopus in X-T and X², or the Pirate ships, or the Argon Buster, Teladi Falcon they do in no way even only resemble their originals and while I do not much mourn for the Buster as it looked like some sort of space bug, the Octopus had a better design back then.

The stations, yeah, they're definitely a .. erm, yes, chaos.
I only played X² for a few hours as I was getting bored, guess why...
Well, the advantage of equal looking, say Crystal Factories or Quantum Tonus Factories (dunno if that's the English term), is that you don't have to wonder, what station produces what when moving to a new race.
Of course, it's kinda bewildering that all reaces have unique weapon factories, considering that such a delicate military installation would be secret, thus would be the design...
Also I found it rather surprising that all stations have the same Equipment Dock (well, with slight alterations of the Boron one, but really slight...).

It's of course not the point of remaking them, as they even evolved in X-T, it's also evolving them into X² and eventually into X³.
I don't know, if you're a fan of it, but consider it an Enterprise cause.
Star Trek.
Design from Kirks old Enterprise of TOS (equivalent to X-BtF) to the TMP (X-T) to the Excelsior Enterprise-B (X²) to the Galaxy Enterprise-D (X³)
The basic line remains so it's still recognisable as it, but the details change.
What they done now is practically
Kirks old Enterprise of TOS (equivalent to X-BtF) to the TMP (X-T) to the USS Curry (an Excelsior alteration) (X²) to the Klingon Negh'Var (X³).
Take it for one ship, for instance the Boron Shark or the Teladi Phoenix.

I'll send them via IM, they have to be somewhere in the scans. I've drawn them, so they're really just sketches of what I think the design would evolve.

[Chris Gi]

the Octopus had a better design back then.

You mean a design like this?
[ external image ]

(Sorry, it's not a very good picture to show the design of this ship).

I have to admit, I do not miss the design of X-BTF or X-Tension much except for a few ships (especially pirate and xenon ships). But what I'm missing is the threat Xenon ships used to pose (and the vastness of the universe). Sure, you can argue that the Xenon got defeated and this is why they don't pose a threat anymore. But I'm missing the feeling I got whenever a Xenon ship showed up! In X-BTF, I tried to avoid them. In X2, they are my favourite prey early in the game to level up and to capture the ships for money or a good M5!

I'll send them via IM

Better send them via eMail. I almost never use IM nowadays.

[Aresius]

Yeah, that's a nice way the Octo evolved.

Well, it were especially these designs that I loved most. They had something venerable.
The Boron Shark of the first two games with its lone spine that could house dozens of fighters was far more advanced than that skull version...
Admittedly, the Split Python was a better looks in X² and I kinda made a blended version.
But the Raptor of the first games looked far better than in X².
Argon Elite, Boron Eel. Baraccuda and Nove, I can live without... The X-T Paranid Perseus, well, that was kinda the way I thought it to evolve...
Although I must say, I met the Xenon ships before I met the Teladi Condor and due to their relative similar design, I was almost attacking the Condor and if it weren't about 1km out of weapons range, I would have fired upon it..

The Xenon, well I have to say, I kinda used them in X-BtF. You know the system right south of Clouds of Atreus, the system that later became Farnhams Legend?
There were perpetually freighters of the other species passing by. When first going there, the Xenon will not fire upon you and you can gather the supplies of every freighter they kill and sell it in the surrounding sectors. But that bug only worked until I had talked to Ban Danna, then they attacked, but they attack in other sectors anyway.
I once played it when I was bored of all the long range trading runs and gained about 500,000 Creds in only about 6-8 hours... And I had no station, never, somehow I cannot really run a station. Maybe I should get into one of theses guides...
Reported it to Egosoft via the bugreporter, but nothing came of this, not even in the patch... Peculiar, I say.

[Mav/]

Yeah, that's a nice way the Octo evolved.

Agreed .

Well, it were especially these designs that I loved most. They had something venerable.
The Boron Shark of the first two games with its lone spine that could house dozens of fighters was far more advanced than that skull version...

Quite propably... Though I don't really remember it anymore...

Admittedly, the Split Python was a better looks in X² and I kinda made a blended version.

Good decision - any pics?

But the Raptor of the first games looked far better than in X².

Yup - the one in X2 is rather ugly, though I sadly have forgotten how it looked in BtF/Xt, I can't remember being so annoyed by it there...

Argon Elite, Boron Eel. Baraccuda and Nove, I can live without...

Well, the Nova is actually THE ship in X2, the design of which I like most... The one in X3 on the other hand - well, because of my problems, I do only know it from screenshots, but I can say that at least that ship I don't want to know any closer...
But, for the positive side, it seems that at least in X3TC there is a version of the Nova that looks better then the one I've seen from X3R .

The X-T Paranid Perseus, well, that was kinda the way I thought it to evolve...

Yep, that's a good evolution from the BtF-M3 - Prometheus, wasn't that the name?
Having said that, I have to point out that, at least regarding the looks, I'd still choose the Prometheus over the Perseus any day... I really like the Prometheus' design ... and also it's name.



Well, a short list of my favourite ship designs in the X series so far:

- X-BtF Paranid Prometheus M3
- X-BtF Xenon M3 (and M4, a bit lesser)
- X-BtF Xenon M1 (and M2, a bit lesser)
- X-BtF Teladi M ? (I think it was M4, but am not sure)
- X-BtF Paranid M5
- X2 Argon Nova M3
- The Boron M2 looks quite nice in X2, but I can't remember it's looks in BtF and thus also not compare...
- The Boron Octopus M5 in Xt was quite nice, even partially inspired me for a mesh for Freespace (which isn't yet finished, though )

...hmm, a clear victory for BtF, I'd say . Oh, and the music was better in BtF/Xt then X2, also - X3 ingame music I can't really judge yet, except I didn't like the stuff on the CE music-CD too much .



I'd also have to admit that it isn't very story-consistent how the Teladis' fighters looked like in BtF (namely very new and high-tech) , which was certainly more consistent in X2 ... But while the ones in X2 really didn't look bad, I still prefer the looks of the BtF variants.

Another point which I found quite annoying, was that in X2 the Boron fighters nearly had the same cockpit sections as the Paranid ones (actually, I found this very annoying when X2 was still new).
And while those sections weren't too bad- fitting for both species, I thought and still think that the BtF/Xt-designs for those races looked a good deal better (though by now I don't remember much of the Boron ones... ) .