X Rebirth Trailer Analysis and Speculation

[Demotruk]

Hey, thought we could do this all in one thread.

First point: Trade lanes pop up in the trailer about 5 times. Does this mean we'll have a different style of Universe? It certainly means in-game travel will be very different.

http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s354 ... eLane1.png

[Trickmov]

There is a gate in the trailer - does this mean, we will have a similar sector organization like in all previous X-games?

[madr]

Itm might be just a trick to minimize the cpu load caused by the autopilot: the game calculates reasonable routes through the sectors which most ships follow with the same speed, so nearly no individual autopiloting for AI ships is needed.
For a moment you see a transparent warp tunnel with multiple ships flying through. This might be an IS trade lane system like in freelancer, but it might also be a new jumpgate animation.

[Demotruk]

There is a gate in the trailer - does this mean, we will have a similar sector organization like in all previous X-games?

Well there are gates in Freelancer too between larger sectors, but the universe is built in a very different way with trade lanes than something like X.

What I mean is that in Freelancer because of designer-created trade lanes, the sectors are very structured and predetermined, while in X they have been more dynamic.

[Trickmov]

Yep - my post wasn't meant as an answer, just as a second point

[cj-spartacus]

I think I'm too excited at the moment to write anything sensible (well as sensible as I ever am) and I am sure as hell too excited to do any work right now so I may as well knock off early.

Anyway, the gate could be a TOA and not a jump gate...

[David Howland]

Has anyone heard of what spec. PC will be able to play this game?

[wreckzors]

I just hope that this game runs efficient and that complex construction has been streamlined.

[X2-Eliah]

I concur with Trickmov, looks like gates are in.

What else I spotted..

-- Low-orbit areas/sectors/locations. The planets were much closer.. or rather, more prominent than in earlier games. That said.. I still believe there is no planetary landing - if it was in (properly, not just one plot cutscene), it would have been shown. Maybe there are planetary hubs hanging in very low orbit like the Torus in TC.

-- Rendering - looks like the ship models, and station models, are rendered in much the same way as in X3 engine. The ships have the same plasticky shiny look to them, the stations have similar greeble & material textures as in X3 - it just looks like stuff has been upscaled a tad in terms of size, polies and level of detail, but otherwise, it does look similar. Even the engine flares and no exhaust smoke looks just like X3.

-- Skyboxes - much more colourful and interesting.

-- Asteroids - some shots showed asteroid fields that were properly 3D, and looked a whole lot like the ones from Freelancer. Me like.

-- Weapons - you could see a bit of combat, and it didn't look all that different from X3 combat with the HUD off, actually. So it might be quite similar in terms of mechanics.

-- Stations(again) - I think that now there are less stations onscreen, but they are larger - my guess is that the new areas/sectors/whatever will have highly centralized giant hub stations that'll handle docking/trade, and no more of tens of tiny ones.

-- You're still going to be the 'ship' and not the pilot. There wasn't much indication of cockpit view, and no hint of walkable/interior stuff.. So it's still probably going to be you in the ship's cameras, manipulating all stuff from your ship's UI.

Edit: Actually - based on the look of planets,stations,skyboxes,ships,effects - I suspect ES is either using the X3 engine, or large parts of its graphics renderer.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

Edit: Actually - based on the look of planets,stations,skyboxes,ships,effects - I suspect ES is either using the X3 engine, or large parts of its graphics renderer.

Probably right, but was almost certainly a given after some of the public discussions/presentations I have been hearing about. (Iterate or die for instance).

Also noted some dynamic spot lights (ala WW-II aircraft spotting lights, I wonder if that means stations will finally be armed).

[Demotruk]

Oooh, armed stations would be sweet!

[cj-spartacus]

Actually, reading the bullet points it says:

Easy to learn - hard to master

Does that mean they've dumbed it down even more than they dumbed down TC? I really hope not. I prided myself on the fact that I had the mental capacity to play the X series and even with TC I still felt like there was a modicum of elitism to be drawn from the learning curve. I enjoy a game that takes a long time to learn and explore. When I want instant gratification I play my Xbox.

[ezra-r]

I'd like to know if it is the old engine updated, and if so, how much has it been updated.

New teaser looking good.

@X2-Eliah allow me to add in the trailer the space debris looks also exactly the same as the old games.

[amtct]

@X2-Eliah
I bet if you have a Rolls Royce and someone replaces it with a Reanult you'll never see any differences

[ezra-r]

Oooh, armed stations would be sweet!

Yeap, and a must, defenseless stations is something kind of ridiculous, taking a lot out of the role play, it was so easy to kill stations.

[X2-Eliah]

Then again, with stations this large as seen in the screens, it would be fairly ridiculous if one medium-sized ship could even inflict notable damage..

Anyway - after looking at the trailer in 1080p, I suspect that the 'trade lanes' shown, for example, in the blue backdrop near the start - with the white ships - is the same effect (tweaked, ofc) that's on the Earth sector, where you see ships moving in distance, but they aren't real.

Also, Police ships had swirling police lights *g*

[StarSword]

Congratulations are in order for the Egosoft team. Looks like another fantastic game.

Several things I'm hoping for: a redesign of the autopilot. I lost two Chimeras in an OFF mission yesterday, but not to enemy fire: they crashed into the Kha'ak station in the US north of M148. Three others were severely damaged in the same fashion (one was down to 5% hull). One suggestion I made in my "Law of Gross Tonnage" thread was to increase the detection range and have the AI distinguish between different size objects (so they will maneuver sooner for a big object than for a smaller one, and thus have a greater chance of not crashing). Also, for immobile objects like stations and asteroids, and for "Collect Ware" and "Collect Astronaut", no more orbiting the target: full stop, turn, move to side of object, full stop, turn, move behind object, continue original course.

I also want a true fleet-level command & control interface (just for starters, you should be able to give "Attack Fighters" or "Attack Capitals" to a wing, not just to individual ships), and greater control over which commands I can hotkey.

Also, be sure to have a DVD release (preferably with a paper manual). Not everybody has the Internet connection for Steam.

[Technojerk36]

Also, Police ships had swirling police lights *g*

THIS

I quite liked the detail of the stations though, with all the pretty lights XD

[Demotruk]

Anyway - after looking at the trailer in 1080p, I suspect that the 'trade lanes' shown, for example, in the blue backdrop near the start - with the white ships - is the same effect (tweaked, ofc) that's on the Earth sector, where you see ships moving in distance, but they aren't real.

Huh, that would be disappointing... It would detract from the sense of 'realness' if true. But I guess they are a bit too busy to be real.

[The-Last-Communist]

by the holy argnu! this is so amazing! I dont know what to say , this is just so Xsiting !!!!
X for ever !