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When X-Rebirth was released, a lot of players pretty much went apoplectic over the huge changes and differences in the game compared to the series we all played from the first one, X-Beyond.

Me? I waited. While I had some disappointment in many of the things that changed, i.e. very few ships and not being able to fly or control any ship I wanted and a few other things like highways etc, I wanted to play it and wait and see before passing judgement entirely. One thing I really missed was the built in programming script language... especially for modding.

I KNEW the DEVS would support the title to the level they have done with ALL the titles. So I reserved judgement.

And they did. Numerous and continuing patches, upgrades and support still takes place even today. And by doing so, they have turned X-Rebirth into a game truly worthy of playing. Sure, it is not the same as all other previous titles. Yet in its own right, it is another great playable game in the X universe.

I personally now classify X-Rebirth, not as a sequel to the series, rather as an off shoot to the series.. a side game that will forever fit between X3 Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude and X-4. I found myself really enjoying playing X-Rebirth and some of the features did truly bring it into its own compared to previous titles.

However, all that being said, I have also consistently migrated back to X3-Terran Conflict/Albion Prelude to get my 'fix' of the X universe because in that regard, X Rebirth does fall flat completely.

Now, we all await the highly anticipated X4. And from what I see, it appears to be a cross of both generations, X3TC and X3R... Only time will tell upon release whether Egosoft has indeed pulled us back to that which we first fell in love with, in terms of the X universe. My hope and opinion are, they have heard us the player and they will be delivering something that will give us what we seek... a return to the X universe as we knew it.

With all that in mind, I am posting this link to my X-Rebirth game play that I stream all the time when I play. A reminder, if you will, of not only the game play that WAS and IS pretty good in X-Rebirth, but also of the VISUAL beauty and the graphical beauty that X-Rebirth did bring to the game.

So for now, let's look forward to X4 but not forget the past and where it all started.. until then....



https://youtu.be/As79-7r-4tY

Agree with you on seeing it as a spinoff to the series. There is less complexity in X:R in many areas, for example, no turret weapon choice, no autotraders, no true complexes, etc.

But there are also plenty of redeeming and new features, like destructible ship parts. A reasonable AI, i.e. pilots no longer fight to the death. Just today a mission assassination target offered me money to save him instead of shooting him down. Station building is less complex but makes more sense when thinking about realism.

Regarding highways, the HoL extension has done it perfectly. The whole industrial zone is connected by a giant ring highway while the other sectors feel relatively empty and feel like actually being in space.

I can only really echo the above two posts. Rebirth feels like popcorn X. The loss of depth leaves it feeling a bit wanting, and the poor customisation makes ships feel less "yours", which is a grievous thing to have to say about an X game. But in terms of spectacle it vastly improves on X3. It's the spectacle, and what remains of the empire-building fun, that keep me interested in it. That and UI modding, but that's not much of a point.

I could never jump right into X3. It was my first X-game, but even after 40-50h of gameplay, I felt lost, still not knowing how a lot of gameplay mechanics actually worked. While it was a great game, I would really have liked more in-game tutorials to help me get a grasp of things while providing me with some game objectives, at least to know how stuff worked.

I'm not saying that the level of complexity was too much. There's never such a thing. It was just a pretty steep learning curve for players new to the franchise.

For me, XR provided a good solution to that. It might not have been as complex, or (from what I've heard from veteran X players) as satisfying to play as the previous titles, but for me it was a good point of entry into the series.
Sure there are problems with the game. The lack of true late-game challenge, or poor fleet/empire management options for example. But at least this time I did manage to get a grasp of the game mechanics and actually start playing.

So yeah, I'm ready for X4 and for every bit of complexity and various challenges it will provide. But I'm certainly not about to dismiss XR, because for me, it still provided a lot of fun, and was a pretty good point of entry into the X universe.

Just a quick note on poll biasing via exposure (or lack thereof) : having this poll in the XR forum guarantees that the result is biased from the outset - few of those who don't play or didn't enjoy the game frequent here, and therefore few of their opinions will be represented, so the poll result is going to be largely meaningless. It's like asking a church congregation "how many of you are believers", and then drawing some sort of conclusion from that.

Ezarkal wrote:I could never jump right into X3. It was my first X-game, but even after 40-50h of gameplay, I felt lost, still not knowing how a lot of gameplay mechanics actually worked. While it was a great game, I would really have liked more in-game tutorials to help me get a grasp of things while providing me with some game objectives, at least to know how stuff worked.

I'm not saying that the level of complexity was too much. There's never such a thing. It was just a pretty steep learning curve for players new to the franchise.

For me, XR provided a good solution to that. It might not have been as complex, or (from what I've heard from veteran X players) as satisfying to play as the previous titles, but for me it was a good point of entry into the series.
Sure there are problems with the game. The lack of true late-game challenge, or poor fleet/empire management options for example. But at least this time I did manage to get a grasp of the game mechanics and actually start playing.

So yeah, I'm ready for X4 and for every bit of complexity and various challenges it will provide. But I'm certainly not about to dismiss XR, because for me, it still provided a lot of fun, and was a pretty good point of entry into the X universe.

What you said makes perfect sense.. Most like me, are from way back.. I started with the original in the Series, X-Beyond. Little did I know the journey I started back then. Each game has been unique and different yet within the bounds of the X Universe... until X Rebirth... That's why so many of us consider X Rebirth an offshoot of the series.. not a sequel. It is that different and lacking in immersion.

RAVEN.myst wrote:Just a quick note on poll biasing via exposure (or lack thereof) : having this poll in the XR forum guarantees that the result is biased from the outset - few of those who don't play or didn't enjoy the game frequent here, and therefore few of their opinions will be represented, so the poll result is going to be largely meaningless. It's like asking a church congregation "how many of you are believers", and then drawing some sort of conclusion from that.

I placed the poll for my own use, not anything official or scientific. After all this time, I want to see what kind of response we get now... and interestingly, and kind of surprising, there are no 'No' answers yet.. I am sure there will be but it is interesting already...

Malakie wrote:

RAVEN.myst wrote:Just a quick note on poll biasing via exposure (or lack thereof) : having this poll in the XR forum guarantees that the result is biased from the outset - few of those who don't play or didn't enjoy the game frequent here, and therefore few of their opinions will be represented, so the poll result is going to be largely meaningless. It's like asking a church congregation "how many of you are believers", and then drawing some sort of conclusion from that.

I placed the poll for my own use, not anything official or scientific. After all this time, I want to see what kind of response we get now... and interestingly, and kind of surprising, there are no 'No' answers yet.. I am sure there will be but it is interesting already...

No, it's not in the least bit surprising: my very point is the fact that you can't expect any/many "no" responses, as those who would respond in the negative, mostly don't even visit here, haven't seen the poll, and thus aren't being polled and therefore their "no" votes are not recorded/represented - they are excluded by default. Drawing any conclusions from that is logically invalid. If you went to a vegetarian gathering and found that no one there prefers meat, would you find that surprising? Would it be in any way interesting (never mind significant) that out of 500 men polled, none of them find a particular brand of stiletto (the shoe, not the knife ) more comfortable? It's like going to a Republican Party meeting, and being surprised that no one there (admits to) having voted Democrat. It's like floating a question about state-run benefits for the poor, but only asking the rich for their opinion. You're asking a forum for fans of XR whether they all like XR - it's foregone. Just saying... (I'm not trying to pick a fight, merely cautioning that the underlying methodology overwhelmingly pre-biases the result through incomplete representation - you may as well do away with "no"; the qualified "yes and no" is about as oppositional as you're going to get.)

Happy hunting

RAVEN.myst wrote:

Malakie wrote:

RAVEN.myst wrote:Just a quick note on poll biasing via exposure (or lack thereof) : having this poll in the XR forum guarantees that the result is biased from the outset - few of those who don't play or didn't enjoy the game frequent here, and therefore few of their opinions will be represented, so the poll result is going to be largely meaningless. It's like asking a church congregation "how many of you are believers", and then drawing some sort of conclusion from that.

I placed the poll for my own use, not anything official or scientific. After all this time, I want to see what kind of response we get now... and interestingly, and kind of surprising, there are no 'No' answers yet.. I am sure there will be but it is interesting already...

No, it's not in the least bit surprising: my very point is the fact that you can't expect any/many "no" responses, as those who would respond in the negative, mostly don't even visit here, haven't seen the poll, and thus aren't being polled and therefore their "no" votes are not recorded/represented - they are excluded by default. Drawing any conclusions from that is logically invalid. If you went to a vegetarian gathering and found that no one there prefers meat, would you find that surprising? Would it be in any way interesting (never mind significant) that out of 500 men polled, none of them find a particular brand of stiletto (the shoe, not the knife ) more comfortable? It's like going to a Republican Party meeting, and being surprised that no one there (admits to) having voted Democrat. It's like floating a question about state-run benefits for the poor, but only asking the rich for their opinion. You're asking a forum for fans of XR whether they all like XR - it's foregone. Just saying... (I'm not trying to pick a fight, merely cautioning that the underlying methodology overwhelmingly pre-biases the result through incomplete representation - you may as well do away with "no"; the qualified "yes and no" is about as oppositional as you're going to get.)

Happy hunting

Regardless, we will see how it plays out.. the fact that some are choosing the yes and no option is telling in itself too..

I know you said to forget the rocky release period, but 'Yes and No' probably attracts a number of players still posting in here who might have commented: 'No' at first, but 'Yes' later on once the game was further fixed and improved/expanded.

I did not significantly play XR aside from for testing purposes before v 3.51, as an example. I am still playing 4.30 now and much enjoying it.

"Regardless of the differences" still leaves the bugs and engine limitations, so "yes, enjoyed it, and no, sometimes it wasn't enjoyable."

I've played XR 2.0?, 3.5, 4.10, 4.30 (I tend to start anew every time), and I'm enjoying it ONLY with the mods that provide work-arounds for some of the limitations (in my opinion, anyway). Whereas X3:TC X3:AP I always played and re-played vanilla.

The visual upgrades for X4 look pretty awesome, but hopefully Egosoft delivers a game.

Alan Phipps wrote:I know you said to forget the rocky release period, but 'Yes and No' probably attracts a number of players still posting in here who might have commented: 'No' at first, but 'Yes' later on once the game was further fixed and improved/expanded.

I did not significantly play XR aside from for testing purposes before v 3.51, as an example. I am still playing 4.30 now and much enjoying it.

Exactly and why even as OP I too answer yes/no for the same reasons.

Enjoyed it right from the start, even in the early days when that meant finding the bits of the game which weren't excessively buggy & playing with those (often the case with version 1 of Egosoft games).

Mainly play these games as a trader/builder so was instantly drawn by the deeper economy (finally a use for Quantum Tubes!) & lack of alternative ships to fly was perhaps less of an issue for me than for players who focus primarily on the combat elements of these games.

Haven't felt the need to go back to any of the old games, there are too many aspects to them which put me off playing them - e.g. the old production formula (i.e. energy cells + food + mineral = everything) is just not good enough any more - compare resources needed to manufacture drones in XR & old games.

GCU Grey Area wrote:Enjoyed it right from the start, even in the early days when that meant finding the bits of the game which weren't excessively buggy & playing with those (often the case with version 1 of Egosoft games).

Mainly play these games as a trader/builder so was instantly drawn by the deeper economy (finally a use for Quantum Tubes!) & lack of alternative ships to fly was perhaps less of an issue for me than for players who focus primarily on the combat elements of these games.

Haven't felt the need to go back to any of the old games, there are too many aspects to them which put me off playing them - e.g. the old production formula (i.e. energy cells + food + mineral = everything) is just not good enough any more - compare resources needed to manufacture drones in XR & old games.

It took me a while to actually get into and play the game.. Every time I tried in the early days, I just could not get past the major points for me which were no free form play, go anywhere, do anything, and fly any ship...

I vote "NO". Every day the game is going worse for me. At the beginning i enjoyed at 20-30 fps, ok. Bad but ok. But now, with 4.30 and 5 years later, it runs at 9 fps with even a better PC. I give up, i'm tired of this.

StDragon wrote:I vote "NO". Every day the game is going worse for me. At the beginning i enjoyed at 20-30 fps, ok. Bad but ok. But now, with 4.30 and 5 years later, it runs at 9 fps with even a better PC. I give up, i'm tired of this.

You've not made any posts in Tech Support about this. We can't help you if you don't tell us you're having problems. Please give us the opportunity to find out why you are having problems that most other people are not. Remember to provide a [url=http://www.egosoft.com/support/faq/faq_answer_en.php?answer=610&version=8][b]DX[/b][b]D[/b]iag[/url] report and indicate whether or not your game is modified.

StDragon wrote:I vote "NO". Every day the game is going worse for me. At the beginning i enjoyed at 20-30 fps, ok. Bad but ok. But now, with 4.30 and 5 years later, it runs at 9 fps with even a better PC. I give up, i'm tired of this.

Are you running mods?

Please don't pursue discussion of StDragon's fps issue here now that they have a Tech Sp forum thread. (Anyway, CBJ had already asked about whether it was a modded game - and it turns out it was.)

Alan Phipps wrote:Please don't pursue discussion of StDragon's fps issue here now that they have a Tech Sp forum thread. (Anyway, CBJ had already asked about whether it was a modded game - and it turns out it was.)

Ahh.. ok was not aware of that.. was trying to help him... Thanks for the heads up.

Mostly "yes", but everytime I encounter a bug or something totaly illogical I am back at the "no" part. I mean I am still getting stuck in structures. Capital shps, even with MODs are still not what I would expect. And I have given up on giving orders to any of my traders, I just use Yet Another trader and let the credits roll.
But even with all this I bought the HoL three days ago and started a new game. Just doing a little exploring and saving for my first destroyer.
The problem is there are not any games similar to X series. And I have played X2 and X3 ad nauseum I have bought Elite Dangerous in a sale, but after seeing some gameplays it does not look like a game to catch me.
I really hope X4 gets us back to times of X2 and X3.