UFO Report

[Azanor]

I would like to share with you my finding about U.F.O . It might be a spoiler so if you want to figure it out all by yourself dont ready any further. Anybody who wants to use what I found for discovering more I am waiting your contributions.

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1. Unlike previous posts suggested, It doesn't appear and disappear. It uses gates for jumping and goes from one sector to another
2. It seems like it has a route. I followed it from Savage Spur to Mist of Elysium and then we started to went back.
3. It has a max speed of 300. It doesn't go faster if you catch it.
4. It has no shields, no weapons.
5. Its can be killed.
6. Its ship code starts with G? , but killing it doesn't cause any goner reputation decrease.
7. It doesn't leave any crates or items back if killed.
8. Pilot doesn't bail out. Tested with different weapons and different fire speeds.
9. If it takes hull damage all the way down its speed decreases 90 but it never stops . Max speed doesn't go below 90
10. If you get too close to it, you hear its flying sound effect.
11. If killed its pilot says Arrgghhh
12. It doesn't turn red on you even after it is attacked.

I followed it quite a bit to see if it would take me anywhere special but it didn't. I didn't find any purpose of it except perhaps adding some mystery to game. If you find more please share..

[Gothsheep]

There are three common theories about it. First I'll tell you the correct one, then the other two.

The correct theory is: It was added by the developers as an easter egg. It's there purely as something weird for the players to find. I believe when it enters a system it will randomly target a gate and fly though it, then when it enters the new system it will again pick a gate at random. There is no rhyme nor reason to these things.

Now the retconning theories I've heard. These may be made into the truth later via retconning. (That is, altering the story after the fact to change something in the past. It's common in comic books when you find out that, say, Batman didn't die, that was just a robot double!)

One major theory is that they're employed by the Kha'ak as scouts. They're non-hostile and nobody bugs them, so they basically just fly around mapping the galaxy for Kha'ak ships to actually blow up later.

Another popular theory is that they're used by the Old Ones to examine and maintain the gate network, and they basically keep the gates running.

[Azanor]

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Choosing of gate didn't seem random. At least after I started to follow. I saved the moment I saw it and from there we followed the same route everytime I re-load .

Yes an little easter egg you follow around sounds reasonable. But its that hope keep us going "Maybe one day, somewhere, I can find one more thing"

[Gothsheep]

Nothing a computer does is truly random. If all the variables are the same, than it will probably pick the same 'random' choices the second time around.

Just my guess, since I've never noticed any kind of pattern.

[strask412]

It's not random.

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I followed this thing for a whole round-trip several times once. I wrote down the sequence of sectors it travels through, survived following it through the xenon sectors, and when it returned to the sector I first found it in and started to repeat the pattern I gave up.

Later I found it in another sector, looked it up on my list, and sure enough it was following the same route yet again.

Edit: And yes, I did follow it for a whole circuit again the second time, plus some of a third circuit.

[eladan]

It's not random.

Actually, unless it's not using the job script that I'm pretty sure it is, it is random. I'm not sure what you're seeing, but it's supposed to pick a random sector and fly to it.

[Carl Sumner]

Nothing a computer does is truly random. If all the variables are the same, than it will probably pick the same 'random' choices the second time around.

Randomness is a resource, you have to get it somewhere.

Computer programs can have "Pseudo-Random" sequence generator code. Once it has a random "seed" number, it can generates a sequence of random numbers, as needed.

The random "seed" number is obtained from the time clock when the computer is started, and/or when the program is started, or just when keys are hit. It's not perfect, but it is very good.

It would take a super-computer to detect the difference from a true random number.

This appears to be what X3 does.

[Gothsheep]

I've played a lot of games that use a lot of random elements, and I know that there are two ways they can work.

The first has them actually random, and the second has them go the same way as long as everything happens the same way.

X3 has certain elements that work either way. Like Treasure Hunt mission are random, but if you save before accepting than it'll be a different -object- at the location, but the same location every time.

[nick the bubble]

what about the unknown drone? it looks like some king of transparent sea creature and makes a high pitched tone when you view it. what is it?

[eladan]

what about the unknown drone? it looks like some king of transparent sea creature and makes a high pitched tone when you view it. what is it?

Sounds like an XTM object. If so, ask the XTM folks.