X3 Reunion, X3 Terran Conflict, X3 Albion Prelude- Where to start?

General discussions about the games by Egosoft including X-BTF, XT, X², X³: Reunion, X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

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professor00179
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X3 Reunion, X3 Terran Conflict, X3 Albion Prelude- Where to start?

Post by professor00179 » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 02:46

Ok, I'll start off by telling a little bit more about myself (I'm new to the forum and hopefully to the game). I quite a newbie in space sims genre, even though I played Eve for almost a year. I was aware of games like X or freelancer, but i could never get myself to play them. That is until last week, when I bought Galaxy on fire 2 on steam sale. I didnt have anything else to do and £2 or so didnt seem to be that expensive (at worst i just wont like it and forget it right?). I enjoyed it greatly and decided to look for something similar so I bought Darkstar One. Unfortunately both games became slightly boring after a while, which is why I decided to look for something more complicated. This is how I started to read more about X3 universe and this is also where is my problem.

I'm getting quite confused with how many versions the game has. When I wanted to order it from amazon, was flooded with around 5 different versions of the game. X3 Reunion, X3 Terran Conflict, X3 Albion Prelude, X3 game of the year edition, X3 Terran war pack, X3 gold edition, X3 Team Fortress hat an.. oh wait!

Which of these should I buy not to waste my money? Which of these are dlc or standalone expansions? I'm very confused with it indeed.

Also, before I buy, just a couple of questions related to the game:

1. Is there a TPP view? I looked at youtube gameplay videos and all of them feature FPP, which I'm not a fan of (to the point that I'd rather not buy the game if it is FPP). Also if there is one, how does it work in practise? Screenshots/videos would be nice.

2. I've heard that the game features building up a fleet at some point. Am I able to efficiently play the game having only one ship at a time? I'm fine with changing them in hangar, I just dont like the idea of commanding them at the same time lol.

WeaponisedCookie
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Post by WeaponisedCookie » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 02:58

1. Yes, though there's no aiming reticle and it's not really very good. At all. It's just there for you to look at your ship.

2. Yes, traders and factories can be automated and you'll only need a single combat ship. Or not, it's up to you. You'll never even have to fight if you don't want to. The plot requires combat but it's optional.

Now the latest games in the series are X3:TC and X3:AP, both are stand-alone and don't require anything beyond the game to be played. AP has a weaker plot but more purchasable ships and factories and general tweaks. It is the latest in the series. TC has a 'better' plot, though all the plot are bad if you ask me :D and fewer ships. Some ships you could buy in AP have to be captured in TC. Overall, I'd say go for AP. You can't transfer the progress from TC to AP and empire building takes time. You don't want to reset everything for minor differences.

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Kirlack
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Post by Kirlack » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:14

WeaponisedCookie wrote:Now the latest games in the series are X3:TC and X3:AP, both are stand-alone and don't require anything beyond the game to be played.
Unless something has changed significantly that's not right. AP requires TC to be installed as it uses several of the previous games files. Although AP is in effect a game in it's own right it still needs TC support.

professor00179
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Post by professor00179 » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:16

Ok so just going back to TPP view question- are there any mods that will make such camera useful? I really hate FPP games, even if they are shooters (I'm just weird that way lol), so I would like to have a view like in Freelancer.

WeaponisedCookie
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Post by WeaponisedCookie » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:17

Looks like I jumped the gun on that one, I bought the superbox on steam and could play AP without TC so I figured it wasn't necessary. Sorry about that.

@professor
Take a look at this. Short answer is no. Don't let that dissuade you though, it's a great game.

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Kirlack
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Post by Kirlack » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:22

professor00179 wrote:Ok so just going back to TPP view question- are there any mods that will make such camera useful? I really hate FPP games, even if they are shooters (I'm just weird that way lol), so I would like to have a view like in Freelancer.
There aren't any that I know of (and I play a fairly modded game, so I've perused the Community Mod/Script Library quite extensively), but if you're flying some of the bigger ships (M1/M2/maybe some M7), you don't need FPP anyway, you can let your ships turrets do all the work and pilot her in TPP. FPP is really something you need in a fighter though.

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StoneLegionYT
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Post by StoneLegionYT » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:23

If your using steam and have the package then yeah you can install AP but it actually also installs as far as I know all of TC but maybe the exe. Just install TC through steam and its like instant. They share a majority of the files.

professor00179
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Post by professor00179 » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:32

Out of curiosity, any of you knows if TPP camera will be featured in Rebirth? When do you expect Rebirth to come out anyway? I might end up buying X3 anyway but I gonna have to look through all of these versions to know what is good price first :lol:

EDIT: does the game (x3) feature mining asteroids too?

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Kirlack
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Post by Kirlack » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 03:44

Questions about Rebirth should be kept to the Rebirth forum. The mods will only end up locking this thread if it starts talking about Rebirth :p

Out of the X3 games I will always recommend TC to anyone. I haven't actually played AP yet, and I won't for sometime yet lol. TC has a huge amount of content, easy to get use to interface (as opposed to the one in Reunion which I always struggled with), and a wealth of tips and information available for new players. AP has some plots but not of the same caliber, a few interface upgrades and a few (20 or so?) new ships.

Or, I'll put it to you another way. I've been playing TC for 5 years. I expect to still be playing it in another 5 :p

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TTD
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Post by TTD » Thu, 29. Nov 12, 10:32

As you are on Steam,the most economical way is to purchase the Superbox.

This will give you all the main six versions of the series.

Titles like Gold and Game of the year etc are essentially the same game, as far as the plots and gameplay is concerned.
Although there are some players who collect all the versions,just for the boxes.

Once you have the set in Superbox form,as I said,there are really only six games which sort of link together to provide an epic story line.

If you want to just get into the game and learn the easiest way, start with TC and read up on the lore to fill your background knowledge of where you find yourself.

TC is the fullest game and the plots are numerous and form a sort of tutorial,introducing you to various aspects of the game.

There are many ways to play,but the best way is your way...the way YOU like to play.In other words,choose the style that suits your personality the best.

You can just be an explorer,help out here and there .
Or you can be a trader with a view to controlling the universal economics.
If being a Pirate is your style,you can do that or even build up a navy .
These are a few of the ways to play.

Essentially it is a sandbox game.
Once you have done the main missions,there are Corporation missions.
When these are complete,you still have a continual supply of generic missions.

You then either restart using maybe another scenario,or you continue to use your sandbox to do what you want to do in the game.

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