So how good is this game now after patching?

[Teelsen]

Is this game easy to jump back into after a long hiatus? Did any of the newer patches introduce some catch-up mechanics?

[SweetDaggerfall]

Like the OP the bad press (and word of mouth via the internet) about XR put me off from buying it, but recently i did pick it up on GOG, and as of the latest version there (4.30), and about 50 odd hours put into the game, i can say it is a good space/trader/sim game, and i'm glad i own it

Now it is not X3 (or even X2), and in someways it was a brave departure from that formulae of X games that most of us have enjoyed for years now. It really could (should) have had another year of development though, and you can see that in the current version vs the released state. I have had no crashes or performance issues (runs really well on my humble i5/1050Ti build on Ultra!).

Is it 'better' than X3? I'd say (loving X2+X3) it can't exactly be compared as Rebirth is trying to do something different, and in some ways it is better than the previous style of X games, and in some ways worse. It is it's own thing for sure.

What it does well vs other X games:
==========================

1. Sense of scale.

And this can not be overstated. As a longtime Elite player and fan (don't play ED though), the scale of the X games was always a bit of a dissapointment; the small(ish) sector maps with everything usually in a central location to the geometrically placed (NWSE) jump gates, kind of made navigating a little predictable. In X:Rebirth they made space feel HUGE again (as it should be) and difficult to navigate, even if the number of 'sectors' vs X3 is less, they feel bigger and the traveling to them is more involved (if not perfect as i'll go into later).

Also you really feel the size of all the stations and ships, it seems like everything is just much bigger compared to the player and that has it's own wow factor.

2. Making the game look alive.

This did surprise me, all the 'space traffic' in and around the stations, it feels like i'm inside my own Bladerunner film! I can spend minutes just floating off a station enjoying the sounds (always a strong point of the X games) and just watching the traffic pass by. It's like a space aqarium! Very strong visually and in maybe a first for a X game, you don't feel that typical sense of isolation (just you, a ship and a UI). It feels like there are lots of other 'people' going about their business in the X:Rebirth universe, and it's one of the games strongest achievements.

3. A huge (and informative) Campaign.

It teaches you the game (so is kind of essential to start out in the game with it!) and seems massive (others will be able to tell you exactly how many hours it takes), i've really just started the early stages and it is a lot of fun (sometimes frustrating re the combat sections). Still i think it is the best 'story' we've had in the X Universe so far and i look forward to seeing where it takes me.

Mistakes it makes in doing things differently to other X games:
=============================================

1. pushing mini-games that disturb the immersion.

Some might argue that the mini-games are fun or something interesting to do. I've given them a good go and in general i get why they are here, but overall i'd say they actually detract from the 'real-world' building all the amazing points from above contribute to the game. When your trying (and succeeding!) to build a cohesive game world, one the players will fully invest in, hitting an 'uncanny valley' or immersion breaking event is a problem.

Example A: the conversation mini-game (anyone remember Oblivions?) is a good mechanic on paper to get the game to divulge more info to the player, improve relations with factions etc, but when the same voice dialogue is used every single time, that audio-spam pulls you out of the game (as it did in Oblivion too) and you are not a space guy anymore, just a dude playing a game. "Show we your wares please." over and over and over.

The trick with limited assets (voice) is to use them sparingly (Morrowind did this well). So what would help this aspect of mini-games in Rebirth is to use them just some of the time, you could give it a % chance of running the voice dialogue lines (we still have the text to say it in our minds eye). This would break up the robotic repetition and give a more natural organic feel to that part of those mini-games (and any non essential voiced dialogues like trade etc).

Example B: Space lane music change. You can go from chilling out and getting the awesome X space vibes from the aways incredible music tracks to suddenly being thrust into a techno-fueled game of......what exactly? Who drives like that in real life, weaving and getting in the way deliberately?! But that music shift is brutal, and just pulls you out of that all important immersion zone.

So don't shift to that music for the space lanes, keep the current background music going (or have none at all in the space lane?) and maybe make the space traffic behave in a sane logical manner. I mean we can see that the denezins of the Rebirth universe can drive in perfect lines (all around the space stations), so they should do the same in the space lanes. Sure it might not be as adrenaline fueled as it was, but this part of the game just does not need that, especially as it is so jarring to the general feel and theme your building (realistic space world).

2. 'unfinished' Space Legs.

For want of a better word. I actually love getting off my ship to walk around, it is a huge moment of liberation (and the first in the X games history) and i (still) currently enjoy 'stretching my legs'. However. It needs 'more'. Not talking a full fps shoot-em-up (definately does NOT need that), but it feels half done. Not enough variation in layouts, not enough variation in NPC graphics, and lots of little bits here and there that look like maybe much more was intended for this part of the game.

For example all those mute guards standing around at entry points and junctions with their space rifles ready, but nothing to say. Like i can't ask a police officer for directions? Or have them actually behave like the 'guards' they look like they should be? How cool would it be to have them have a function, like a percentage change of intercepting you as you pass IF you happen to be 'wanted' by their faction? Even a simple conversation access point for directions or general small talk? Something. The prisons exist for a reason probably, and it just feels like half the assets and idea's for all that to be fleshed out into something is here. Those black market guys, why can not some of them be undercover cops (there is one skin that even has a police like badge on their uniform!) that could bust you (you need to pay a fine if caught be one of them) if you try to off load your illegal goods to them, or maybe you can't pay and need to spend time in prison (this would need work on to make it effective). I just see assets around not being used in the 'space legs' part of the game.

Let's take it further. We have various 'criminal' organisations in the game (No Limits, Sovereign Syndicate, Beryll) so how cool would it be to have them running the smuggling/illegal trade side of things. Have those factions status have a direct impact on the players options and choices. Trade in illegal goods and build rep with those factions etc. Have the authorities opposed to this pose sometimes as the black market guys, and able to catch and fine (or punish via prison) the player.

Maybe as a player you'd start to be more careful in this part of the game, making that legit 'No Limits' Black Market contact you have on Plutarch Exchange in the Big Empty your goto guy for off loading illegal goods?

We could have a very immersive expereince in the off ship (space legs) part of the game, and it feels like this is the least finshed part of the game overall. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that modding can maybe do some of the things above, or that Egosoft themselves did indeed have bigger plans for this and maybe have assets and code that might come out in future patches or DLC?

Modding makes it better than the current release state:
===========================================

I think we all know mods can make games better (even the devs will admit this!). I've been using and making mods for a long time and off course you can break a game as easily as improve it with mods, but overall most modded games just become better if done well with precision and balance. X:Rebirth is no different to Morrowind/Oblivion/Fallout 3/X2 or X3 here.

It is nearly always subjective on exactly what mods will improve a game for 'you', but in the case of X:Rebirth i've found ones that remove certain aspects of the mini-games have helped my game experience (and immersion) flow a little better than in the default official game version. And a few that 'fix' or 'improve' aspects of the default game. Stuff like:

Realistic Highways + No Highway Music
Show Skills
5km Scan Range + ISE (Improved Station Exploration)
Log Everything
Exploration Light
Stronger Ship Hulls L/XL
Now Shut Up, Yisha!
Navpath Fix
Titurel Engine Fix

Those are the core of a bunch of others i use, nothing over-powered, just tweaks to the current game that tone down aspects of the mini-games or fix certain issues that i've talked about.

So don't be afraid to look at the mods for X:Rebirth, they have certainly helped me become more immeresed in the game than i was expecting.

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I hope those that have stayed away from X:Rebirth (like i did) have been given some useful info in this rather long post of mine. Playing it as it is (v 4.30) it seems a complete shame that this game is as underappriciated as it is. There is a great game here, and especially with a few good mods you can really see the potential and maybe what Egosoft were aiming for here. It might become one of my all time favourite space games, and it might force me to take up making my own mods for it

[SirConnery]

Enjoyed reading that tbh.

[reanor]

XR now is amazing, that is if you haven't played X4 yet. I played XR for a few hundred hours after about 3 years it was out. Now I played X4 for about the same with 400 or so hours game running overall to make money in 3 different starts and I can't go back to XR or any other X game any more. The X4 is better in many visual as well as UI aspects. While it's not balanced/polished/bugfree yet, when it is, it will be superior to all the X games in all the aspects. The X4 is a lot more technologically advanced in graphics, economy, war logic than any other X game, X3 including. The problem is that X4 is still very buggy and quite unfinished, but it has a huge potential within it.

[Honved]

I picked up Rebirth on GOG recently, not expecting it to be X3.5, and trying to judge it on its own merits.

So far, I'm really struggling to control the ship, as well as the character while off the ship, with mouse and keyboard. Basically, everything I do is "all or nothing", and I can't seem to get the ship to point where I want it to go, instead of 30 degrees past that point, or to adjust the speed in increments of less than 40-50% of full power. I've put it aside twice, waited a few days, and tried again, but at this point, having made it to the first station and FINALLY docked in the standard campaign after a couple of hours of frustration (and numerous bumps into the surrounding structures, which seem to do no damage to the ship), I'm about to erase it from the drive and call it a mistake. X3, in spite of the "learning wall", was relatively easy to control as a basic space flight shooter, until you figured out all of the other options available. This game seems perhaps a bit easier to learn, but I have next to no control, and I can't imagine trying to fight in a ship I can't even get to point in the right direction.

If this is some early-game issue with the Skunk until it's repaired, it still shouldn't make it difficult for my character to walk around. If it's an example of how ships are supposed to fly in the game, then obviously, I bought the wrong game. If I'm just acting like a complete novice and have to set something to make it playable on mouse and keyboard, then I'm asking for help or advice.

[RainerPrem]

I picked up Rebirth on GOG recently, not expecting it to be X3.5, and trying to judge it on its own merits.

So far, I'm really struggling to control the ship, as well as the character while off the ship, with mouse and keyboard. Basically, everything I do is "all or nothing", and I can't seem to get the ship to point where I want it to go, instead of 30 degrees past that point, or to adjust the speed in increments of less than 40-50% of full power. I've put it aside twice, waited a few days, and tried again, but at this point, having made it to the first station and FINALLY docked in the standard campaign after a couple of hours of frustration (and numerous bumps into the surrounding structures, which seem to do no damage to the ship), I'm about to erase it from the drive and call it a mistake. X3, in spite of the "learning wall", was relatively easy to control as a basic space flight shooter, until you figured out all of the other options available. This game seems perhaps a bit easier to learn, but I have next to no control, and I can't imagine trying to fight in a ship I can't even get to point in the right direction.

If this is some early-game issue with the Skunk until it's repaired, it still shouldn't make it difficult for my character to walk around. If it's an example of how ships are supposed to fly in the game, then obviously, I bought the wrong game. If I'm just acting like a complete novice and have to set something to make it playable on mouse and keyboard, then I'm asking for help or advice.

While it is not easy to get the Skunk point exact the way you want, I never experienced that amount of bad control you describe. It was not worse than in X3. Do you have the chance to try out another keyboard? Maybe your arrow keys have aged due to heavy use?

[Honved]

While it is not easy to get the Skunk point exact the way you want, I never experienced that amount of bad control you describe. It was not worse than in X3. Do you have the chance to try out another keyboard? Maybe your arrow keys have aged due to heavy use?

I've got no problem steering a ship in X3, but I can't control either the ship or the character's walking direction to an acceptable degree in XR. When you keep making 30-50 degree turns instead of 10-15, and every attempt at movement either does nothing or way too much, it's really not very playable for me. Not only direction, but speed changes are affected as well, jumping from stop to more than 50% in one or two clicks. It's almost like having a 2-3 FPS stutter, but with otherwise smooth graphics except for whatever you're controlling. In X3, I had to hold the keys down for a second or two to get that result, because a single click produced only a trivial effect.