Compliments to SteveMill, the following is an overview of the X series. If your new, it's a good, balanced overview. If your a regular it's still a good read.
Cheers,
Steel
For latest news and press releases along with fan sites, go to the following which are continually updated.
X² Press and Links
X² FAQ
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About the X-Universe Game Series
First came Elite, then came Frontier and Privateer. Between them they defined the open-ended space-sim trade-em-up genre.
And since Privateer and Frontier, in the early nineties?
Almost nothing, commercial developers ceded the field. Open-ended space sims, based in a detailed, dynamic universe gave way to the combat mission based space operas along the lines of Wing Commander and the Star Wars series.
Good as these were, gripping as these could be, fine as were the story-lines, they were snacks, bare-boned imitations that failed to recapture that go-anywhere, do anything your skill and nerve let you, appeal of Elite.
Another combat mission no matter how intense could not replace sheer joy of sitting down for a long gaming session, looking at a universe that was your sandbox and deciding for yourself what you would do.
A few safe trade runs between corporate planets, or a long and hazardous battle through an anarchy system to make a big, illegal score? It was up to you.
This “About the X Series” document has two main components;
1. A comparison between the series and the expectations engendered by the Frontier/Privateer classics
2. A discussion of XBTF and XT.
It is a long and detailed discussion, the views of a long time fan of the series, but one that hopefully succeeds in giving an accurate expression of strengths and weaknesses for potential purchasers of the upcoming X2.
Read them in any order you like.
Part 1: Classic features and expectations.
Part Two looks in depth at the two published games in the series but taking Elite/Frontier/Privateer as templates, what are the bases a game in this genre needs to touch and how well does the X series do?
IMHO, there are seven.
Exploration
Players like a large, interesting universe to explore.
There are two approaches, each with strengths.
Elite and Frontier went for the full galaxy option. The playing areas were huge, with hundreds and hundreds of star systems, mostly computer generated and so relatively formulaic.
Privateer went for the ‘sectors linked by jump-gates’ approach. Less systems but more detail.
XT takes the Privateer approach, with 92 sectors. Most are controlled by one of the major races, the Xenon controls some and some are lawless. Almost all contain upwards of a dozen different space stations buying and selling a variety of goods.
The thrill of exploration in XT is discovering and mapping these sectors, with an eye out for profitable trading or manufacturing opportunities. It’s best done without downloading a map.
A significant part of the opening few hours of XT game-play will be spent mapping the universe you are in, and staying alive while doing so. Once this is complete exploration plays little part. Of course, this depends very much on how you play. You may decide to put off exploring until later.
There is no ability to land on planets.
Trade
A basic requirement is a dynamic economic system where changing prices challenge the business acumen. This is something XT does well. Each of hundreds of stations manufacture products. These products can in turn be required to make other products and purchasing and selling prices vary with demand.
As each factory must import the ingredients for its production from other factories, space is full of freighters fetching and carrying.
There is a practically unlimited opportunity here to exercise your commercial faculties, not only by buying low and selling high but also from setting up your own factories, or even whole vertically integrated supply chains to produce expensive items like 125MW shields for your own use.
Your own factories can be configured in a variety of ways; selling price, purchasing price for ingredients, freighter operational radius, amount of credits that can be spent, and more.
It is without doubt the most detailed and complete economic system in a space sim.
Factions
We expect the universe to be alive, to have different groups with different agendas which in turn generate game-play. Frontier did this well, generating a wide variety of random missions based on your standing with that particular military faction.
The XT universe has 5 major races, excluding the Xenon, and the player’s actions determine their attitude towards him.
In extreme cases this can lead to war or a withdrawal of docking rights at stations whose ships you have attacked.
The player rank with each race does not directly generate random missions though.
Each race has it’s own technological and production specialties which generates a lot of cross-border traffic and opens the door to economic opportunity to the astute player.
Fighting
Shooting at things! Yay!
There are plenty of things to shoot at. Anything that flies can be a target but the Xenon and the pirates are the main targets of opportunity.
Combat takes place at relatively slow speeds and close in, WW1 style. How challenging it is depends on what ship you are flying, what equipment it has, and what the odds are.
It is fair to say that the enemy AI is no better than average. A well-equipped player will have little difficulty taking on whole pirate convoys. That’s not to say it doesn’t become hairy at times or that the battles are not enjoyable, just that the AI needs improving.
The big innovation in this area is the ability to capture enemy ships by wearing down the shields and forcing the pilot to eject. Captured ships can be sold or re-equipped for your fleet or flown yourself. Profits on a captured Xenon Heavy fighter can be huge.
Acquisition
We’ve covered money-making but what’s the point if there’s nothing to spend it on?
XT never reaches that point. You can own as many ships and factories as you want and the big Transporters cost anything from 15-30 million credits. And each ship can be equipped in a variety of expensive ways. Having too much money is never a problem.
Even when flying as a lone trader in a freighter it’ll cost you millions to upgrade it to it’s full potential.
Again, without a doubt, XT stands alone in the depths of avarice it allows a player to plumb.
Dynamic and interactive universe
A key feature. Immersion in a game world is greatly facilitated by the environment. Do you feel you are part of a living, breathing world or are you the sole intelligent actor?
A large slice of dynamism comes from the economic system as changes in prices and stock levels trigger ship movements.
Voice clips are used sparingly but well when interacting with objects. Stations talk you through docking and ships reply when hailed in the distinctive style of that particular race.
Unfortunately there are few conversational options when hailing ships, you can’t order them to surrender or drop cargo for instance.
The back-story for the X Universe is provided by a novel, unfortunately available only in German, but some of it comes through in the game in the form of the distinctive styles of each race.
The Teladi can be relied upon to be greedy, the Split, surly and hostile. However this does not establish the same sort of reality Privateer had, with the whole Wing Commander series as back-story.
Graphically however, it is a different story. The X-universe looks so good it has to be real. Evocative theme music for different sectors also helps make travel in the X-Universe an almost serene experience.
Randomly generated missions help add variety but they are relatively limited in scope and quickly become repetitive. Having said that, they are more interesting and varied than the Freelancer, go-there-kill-that variations.
For me, XT has a great atmosphere and a distinct character. I am though, looking to see greater use of multi-media and greater characterisation of the different races in X2.
The X-Universe is a believable and interesting environment thanks to the economic system but the other relevant components can be improved and added to, as planned for X2.
Open-ended roleplaying
Last but not least, an open-ended sim demands open-ended career choices.
Players want to be pirates, assassins, miners, bounty-hunters, traders and warriors.
There are no official career paths or Guilds in XT but players can pursue any of the above activities profitably.
This is where XT excels. It gives you a large universe full of activities and possibilities and tells you to make your own adventure. The players who get the most from it are those that get pleasure from setting and achieving their own goals.
I have spent many happy hours just setting up a linked set of factories in a particular location to reap big profits from a scarce product in a particular location.
Or I might set a long term goal, such as building a strike fleet to attack a Xenon sector.
The game itself sets no challenges and rewards no victories, it’s up to you to go out and do things.
Some people don’t like this, preferring railroad plots like in Wing Commander.
X2 will combine the open-ended gameplay of XT with an Alien Attack story-line, satisfying, hopefully, everyone.
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Part Two: XBTF and XT reviews
X-Beyond the Frontier Back Story
XBTF told the story of Kyle Brennan, the test pilot of a small space shuttle fitted with an experimental jump-drive able to travel between star systems without the need for a linking jumpgate.
This was to be humanity’s return to the stars, hundreds of years after the only jumpgate linking the solar system to the rest of an ancient galactic network had been destroyed to prevent Earth’s complete destruction at the hand of a race of robotic killers that had developed from the malfunctioning AI controlled terra-former fleets Earth had sent out to prepare the way for colonies.
These Xenon had been stopped only by the leader of the last ditch defence fleet luring them through the Earth jumpgate into an unknown region of space and destroying the gate back. The human survivors of that battle made their way to an Earth type world and founded a new civilisation, the Argon, named after their leader, R Gunn.
Slowly at first, and then aided by a deliberate policy of suppression, the Argon forgot their origins and clawed their way back up the technological tree to achieve space flight.
They discovered they were living in a series of star systems linked together into a self-contained universe by jump-gates left over from an ancient civilisation, which, unbeknownst to most, were still extant and had closed off this segment of their network to contain the Xenon.
And they discovered space was not empty. Several alien races had already carved out their own empires in systems linked by jumpgates. The Argon joined them, expanding rapidly into adjacent sectors until all of the self-contained X-Universe was under the control of one species or another. The Xenon remained a constant threat, occupying several sectors including the one containing the shattered gate to Earth.
And it is into this section of the galaxy, the X-Universe, that Brennan, test pilot of the X-Shuttle, is catapulted when the test flight fails. He finds himself in a malfunctioning craft, in an unknown part of space, being hailed by an unknown, but very large cruiser.
Fans of the TV series, Farscape, will find the scenario very familiar, but XBTF pre-dates it.
Fortunately the Teladi captain of the vessel, a race of free enterprise worshipping reptiles, see Brennan as an opportunity for profit and equip his ship with some very basic systems in the expectation that she will be repaid thousands of credits at a later date. She also sets Brennan on the first steps to finding a way to Earth by vaguely indicating the existence of the Argon.
And that is the beginning of an epic tale, you, lost, alone, under-equipped and under-powered. From these humble beginnings Brennan would rise to become an economic power in his own right and unite the various races in an all-out assault on the Xenon occupied sector blocking his route home.
Along the way Brennan would explore and map the several dozen sectors comprising the X-Universe. He would discover several different races, each having filled their sectors with factories, knit into the rest of the economy by supply and demand.
And he would have upgraded the X-Shuttle with more and better weapons, shields, trading computers, engines, navigation aids etc. Initially credits would be scraped together by hauling commodities from one station to another, taking advantage of the dynamic economic system to buy low and sell high. Later his own factories would be buying raw materials and producing items for sale.
His business empire would be linked together by hired freighters and protected by hired fighters.
The follow-up to XBTF was an expansion pack called X-tension, later these were released as X-Gold.
X-tension
XT was basically a vastly improved and larger XBTF without the linked mission storyline. Not only was there a whole new interface for managing your business empire you could now own and fly as many ships as you wanted, up to and including the huge factory-deploying Transporters. The universe had also, in the wake of the Xenon defeat, doubled in sector number to over 60.
After a hundred hours play your economic empire might span every sector in the universe, all linked together by a network of navigation satellites that enabled you to monitor or control your own freighters as they sought out raw materials at specified prices, escorted by fighters you’d bought and equipped, for factories protected by the laser towers you built, bought and deployed.
Your own flagship would be one of the several Transporters available at a huge price, probably armed to the teeth with missiles and protected by numerous wings of fighters based on it.
Basically, the XT/X-Gold package provides a sand-box universe in which to go out and play.
Gameplay
There’s no getting away from it, XBTF starts slow.
You’re an alien, in an unknown sector of space with a near useless ship and a handful of credits, of course it’s slow to start with! XT offered more advanced starting positions but the opening three or four hours gameplay are not going to put the smile on the face of the First Person Shooter or the combat sim fanatic.
The X-series is not Wing Commander. You have to work at it and think. At this point the more shallow reviewers threw it on the discard file and sharpened their tongues.
Some of us though, as the Teladi cruiser pulled away, were left sitting in our cockpits, looking out at the stars and the distant outlines of unknown orbital facilities, clustered around a looming planet, listened to the gentle, atmospheric soundtrack, rubbed our hands in excited glee and got stuck in.
The most important thing to do with the X-Series is to throw away your pre-conceptions. We have come to expect space combat to be fast and furious, based on a modern jet-fighter metaphor. This is what the Wing Commander series delivered in spades.
X goes completely the other way. With ships speeds measured in metres per second rather than miles think of the Age of the Bi-Plane, think World War One, not Three, particularly in the early stages where your ship lacks all but the most basic instrumentation.
You want to see what that station over near the eastern jumpgate is? Fly over and take a look buddy!
The Mark One Eyeball, which the intelligent gamer would supplement with Zoom Scopes as soon as they earned a few thousand credits and discovered a factory selling them, remains an important navigational item throughout the game, even after a host of ship upgrades.
This gives the X-series a unique and, particularly in the opening hours, an almost serene atmosphere, reinforced by the luscious graphics and evocative musical score.
Hours later, when you’re flying a fully equipped Split Mamba heavy fighter, it’s engines finely tuned for maximum speed, X never completely loses that serenity, even in the middle of a 20 ship battle. It is a game that gives you plenty of time to smell the roses, to appreciate the vista’s as you explore, fight and trade.
Graphics
XT was, without doubt, one of the finest, if not THE finest looking space sim ever produced, with detailed models and spectacular views. X2 is going to raise that bar considerably.
The game is largely played from the cockpit of whatever ship you are flying, which in XT could be one of many types. This is a real 3D cockpit with the joystick hat (or keyboard) accessing L/R/U/D views.
Trading
The X-universe, by the time of XT, consisted of over 60 sectors, almost all owned by one of six races. Each sector would be filled with space-based factories, producing one product. These may be, like a 5MW shield, a complete item, or, like Argnu Beef, a component of a complete item. Each installation is linked to each other, across the universe by the laws of supply and demand, generating hundreds of ship movements as each station sends out freighters to buy the materials it needs with prices fluctuating according to supply levels.
The economic model underpins the whole game. Through Elite style personal trading and later, through factory ownership, it is one of the main ways for the player to make money. Just to emphasise, because it hasn’t been done before or since, the player could buy any factory they wanted and as many as they wanted. They could set the selling price to purchasers and specify the purchase price your automated freighters would pay for components. These factories take their place in the vast, invisible web of supply and demand permeating the universe, sinking or swimming on the wisdom of their location and your management of them.
Brilliant. Not flawless by any means, but brilliant nonetheless in the broad spectrum of role-playing gaming opportunities it opened.
Best of all, as you could own any amount of ships or factories, up to the multi-million credit Transporters, there was always something to buy, no matter how rich you became.
Combat
Of course we don’t want an alternate universe just to fleece critters that look different from us, we want to send them burning into the cold hearted vacuum of space as well.
With a vast array of ships and weaponry to choose from XT granted that wish. If the endless parade of pirate and xenon convoys were not enough players could take it upon themselves to persecute any or all of the races they encounter.
Combat tends to be close range knife-fighting like WW1 or 2, using energy weapons of various types and power. Missiles are present but are easily avoided as they have large turning circles. Battles take place at relatively slow speeds and can be drawn out affairs.
They can be challenging, particularly in the early stages or if you are heavily out-numbered. Long term though the enemy AI, like, sadly almost every other non-terrestrial flight-sim, was not up to challenging an experienced human player in a well-equipped ship so combat from mid-game onwards became something of a turkey-shoot.
X2 is expected to improve this area dramatically.
Ship Variety
There are over three dozen different ships the player could either buy or steal and each of these could be equipped in a variety of ways. Typically a player would have a number of ships stashed around the universe, configured for different roles.
Exploration
A major component of any elite-style game.
The X-Universe is composed of jumpgate linked sectors. Each sector is delineated by its jump-gates, up to four. All that is of interest takes place within these confines so the thrill of exploration comes from exploring new sectors rather than exploring whole solar systems.
Other Elements
There is so much I haven’t covered. Jump drives that can jump straight to any jumpgate in range if you have a Navigation Satellite in the sector.
Navigation satellites.
Teleporters.
Hijacking other ships.
Random and scripted missions.
Space-walking.
Race reputations and ranks.
More that I’ve forgotten.
Summary
Like all great games the X-Series transcends the sum of its parts to deliver a unique gaming experience. The combat could be improved, there could be more and bigger sectors, every player will have their own list but what matters is that when all the elements are combined they produce something gamers had not seen before, a space-sim that took you from a weak and penniless trader to the owner of a universe spanning business empire and a sky-darkening battle-fleet.
It gave you a sandbox in which your imagination could run riot, bounty hunter, pirate, miner, trader, tycoon, and megalomaniac destroyer of races. It was up to you.
The downside was, this required dedication and determination. XT was not a game you sucked dry in 20 hours and some people found the open-ended, undirected game-play to not be their style.
Some of us appreciated the value for money!
X2 will address both these issues by providing more advanced, optional start positions and a scripted storyline for the player to dip in and out of.
New to the X series? Read this.......
Moderator: Moderators for English X Forum
New to the X series? Read this.......
Last edited by Steel on Wed, 14. May 03, 15:42, edited 4 times in total.
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Steel Gets 10 thumbs for pasting it
Stevemill gets 3 for doing it.
Stevemill gets 3 for doing it.
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"If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot now."
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Kaiserdrache
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I'm sure it will, except for the concerns inherent in the sector based approach. Unless of course they adopt the Freelancer approach of having hidden bases way off the beaten path, where IMHO, Pirate and possibly Xenon bases should be. Several thousand klicks out, in nebula etc.The_Abyss wrote:Really good Steve.
An (almost) impartial view and background to the whole game.
Let's put our trust in X2 blowing all our concerns about it out of the water upon it's release.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, I was aiming for a style and tone that didn't scream fanboy. Learning from the Freelancer Reactor board that hiding and denying weaknesses both disappoints people and pisses them off, leading to multiplying bad word of mouth.
Perhaps when people are mentioning the X series on other boards they could put a link to this thread?
It might also be a good idea to add links at the bottom of the review to the IGN X2 preview page with Steel adding a short section on X2.
Very Good
I like that review also. I am a newbie that is starting to get imersed in this new universe. So far though my flight time is low as are my credits that are dwindling on buying nostrop oil and insurance.
My flight time will increase dramticly soon though.Hopefully my credits will also... or maybe I will be flying around in a space suit instead.
My flight time will increase dramticly soon though.Hopefully my credits will also... or maybe I will be flying around in a space suit instead.
wheres my pants...? ehh crap, I am out.
only in in-game movies.PixelFX wrote:Nice thread, brings back memoriesjust got x-btf and x-tension installed again
One thing I miss from frontier elite 2 was being able to land on planets, anything like that in x2?
"How very touching his meaningless death was. But this fight was never for mortals".
so sorta like a Earth and Beyond cut scene then? for the landing on planets?
when playing frontier elite two, one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in a game which I haven't seen repeated in a very long time, was being able to fly from space to a planetside space port.
I had always wished as technology had gotten better in game that this feature of a game could or would improve.
X2 looks awesome from what I've seen reguardless. I'd love to beta test it, and can't wait for retail.
when playing frontier elite two, one of the coolest things I'd ever seen in a game which I haven't seen repeated in a very long time, was being able to fly from space to a planetside space port.
I had always wished as technology had gotten better in game that this feature of a game could or would improve.
X2 looks awesome from what I've seen reguardless. I'd love to beta test it, and can't wait for retail.
I don't think you can land on planets AT ALL. There may be parts of various cut-scenes which show you wandering around on a planet, but I'm pretty sure your ship will still be parked in a hangar on a space station while you watch them.PixelFX wrote:so sorta like a Earth and Beyond cut scene then? for the landing on planets?
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