X Rebirth

[Arclight]

Would be happy to hear your thoughts, but as much as I appreciate the X series the change in direction means I'll not be pre-ordering, at least.

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by Arclight

Would be happy to hear your thoughts, but as much as I appreciate the X series the change in direction means I'll not be pre-ordering, at least.

Actually the only "change in direction" is the one ship part - and that is more of a "return to the original" as the X: Beyond the Frontier was a 1 ship and only one ship deal. I am not sure that there is much more "different" other than major additions - unless you could jump gates going away.

Still - your money and your choice and I totally respect it. I don't expect it to be perfect on release, but I know that there is NO doubt I would end up with this game in my library - so I might as well go ahead and have it ordered.

I look forward to sharing my thoughts about the game!

[NeonSamurai]

I have to say, despite being a big fan of the series, I am on the fence about this one too. One of the big pulls for me was that you could fly any single ship in the game.

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by NeonSamurai

One of the big pulls for me was that you could fly any single ship in the game.

Since the build tools will be released shortly after the game is, you can expect that the ship lock will be undone before too long.

[NeonSamurai]

Maybe... I use to mod the X3 series of games, and making all of the ships pilot-able may present a rather daunting task. Not saying it is impossible, but not easy to say the least, and it may be beyond the capability of the provided tools too. Particularly as I would bet money it will require extensive coding.

[danlisa]

It's a given that you can take the Recommended Specs to mean Minimum Reqs, same for any X title.

That said, I hope their engine has been tweaked to be a little more forgiving. I can see myself wanting this but even though I exceed the specs for Rebirth, I can't say I could run it to my liking, esp given how Albion Prelude chugs in places.

Let's hope it's not so CPU bias than previous X releases. Will be waiting on post-release feedback.

Edit - I have hope. Seems Rebirth is built with Multicore CPU use in mind. Just perhaps, maybe, my GPU will actually stretch its legs on this one.

[McBeck]

Its now on my whishlist

[CaptainHaplo]

Originally Posted by danlisa

Edit - I have hope. Seems Rebirth is built with Multicore CPU use in mind. Just perhaps, maybe, my GPU will actually stretch its legs on this one.

This is the best news! Thanks for sharing it! I could not find anything to tell me it was going to be able to use multiple CPU's / hyperthreading. I have 24 cores breathlessly waiting on it now!

[Skybird]

With a little luck the mail delivers my second christmas gift today.

And I just read that the company knowingly burnt an incomplete version onto the CD and that the files needing to complete it are up at Steam later today, and that people who bought the DVD to avoid long downloads now need to download 1.5 GB in speech and video data.

Bastards. This was not called a Beta, this is not an early access release. They seem to think they even demand praise for working until today - as they claim- to complete the game. I read this differently. They burnt and published a DVD weeks before they knew the code was ready to do so. Fairness and honest business principles would have demanded them to wait another two weeks, complete the code, and the do the DVDs.

Sop when I install, first it is 1-2 hours of downloading. Every time when I reinstall the game. Later patches not counted.

Great! The DVD version is slightly more expensive. People buy that to avoid having a GB-heavy download to do. I must say I feel betrayed.

The game also comes as a pure download version via Steam as well. Needless to say that such customers need to download it in full. The price is a little bit lower.

[Skybird]

So, three hours of first impressions.

It seems I belonged to the more lucky ones. After an installation that lasted 1 and a half hour, thanks to the incomplete DVD content), I thankfully was NOT playued by the many startup problems the forums are singing symphonies of currently. Many people seem to have immense troubles, not being able to start the game, haunted by low frame rates, and so much more. Cannot say whether there is a difference between those buying the DVD and those downloading it all from Steam. I had NONE of these issues so far. Frames are fluid, and absolutely playable, can't give a number, but I have no complaint there with graphics setting in the medium and upper range.

The visuals are - stunning. It gives me very plenty of Blade Runner feeling, it is the intense colours and neon-sort of looks all around, also, the police gliders remind of the flying cars in BR. The space station I checked out so far, was really big and complex in structure. Plenty of traffic all around, and some individual fights. However, the AI clearly finds its limits here and there, and the flights physics of individual fighters sometimes seem to "warp" a bit . I assume the game is not really fully optimized and that is why the AI lags at times. The handling of the ship is okay with mouse and keyboard, joystick and joypad I have not tried. The space around is very colourful and filled with sensations, from gas c louds over asteroid fields to things that i still have not figured out what to be. It does not necessariyl look like space in some sectors, but like the painted cover of a fantasy book, however, it is great fun watching it. The system of stellar "Autobahnen" works very well. I can imagine to have some nice fighting once I have upgraded my ship a bit, becoming faster and more agile. Gameplay is essentially a beefed up cloine of the old Elite, paired with Frontier and some more games like that. The sations can be docked with and wlaked around, however, here I see the chance that the walking inside can become repetitive quite soon, since there is not too much diversity in interiors and changes. People of many different functiosn and professions stand or walk around and can be hired, asked, or offer you jobs and contracts. What Elite did with simple text menus, is done via this boarding-the-station and meeting people. Sound and music adequate - nothing special and sensational, but okay. The world seems to be very big, every sector being done in a different visual style, probably.

The game offers very huge potential, if it is modding-friendly (what I do not know). But it is a porked release for many people, obviously, or see my DVD complaint above. The publisher rushed this out too early. But I see reason to stay optimistic that this turns into something really good and big. first the obvious bugs and problems need to be worked out. Then let the modding community embark on it. The world they are given to work with, looks stunning and is huge and probably filled with wonders.

There is nothing wrong with waiting some more time and watch things unfolding before buying. But to not leave it behind already completely - keep it on your radar. If the developer does his homework now and the modding scene springs to live, this has the potential to become something extraordinary.

Status: it got rushed out and shows that with its unneeded starting problems - but it also shows its tremendous potential. Outlook: positive and quite promising. If modding is supported, the galaxy is the limit.

[Skybird]

Having spent another 2-3 hours with the game now and going a bit deeper into the game mechanisms, I must say that my initial impression was a bit enthusiastic. The game is buggy like nothing I have experienced since Carrier Command. Missing speech files, and badly recorded speech files, even one character being spoken by two voices (German version). Missing computer data screens and holographic datasheets. And two critical errors now, freezing the system. My initial good mood has gone with the wind.

Also, the interface decisions they made, on more than just a few occasions are - well, they got bad advise on their ergonomics, let's put it this way. I assume you gte used to the handling, but their system is needlessly complicated, imo, I would have done it much more simple and more efficient.

Currently the game downloads the second patch - within 12 hours. Or is it already the third - I'm not sure.

Not only not finished, but very buggy, too. It's a rushed, badly tested release and customers now paying for it get abused as involuntary Beta-testers.

Considering how well the Beta of Assetto Corsa is runnign since one week, even labelling X Rebirth a Beta currently is more excuse than it deserves.

I advise to not let yourself getting blinded from the initial bells and whistles, the laser light show and great looks, but to not buy it right now, and wait some weeks, if not months, before checking back. Right now, the publisher's release policy is a mean and foul impertinence. The shine and promise is there. But they should have waited another 1-3 months before releasing this, completing it and repairing the many bugs during that time.

Let's hope this does not end like Carrier Command, which was also such a big disappointment. Egosoft certainly already have pissed the better part of their potential customer basis - within just the first 12 hours. If you want to ruin your reputation - well done, then!

Stupid.

[CaptainHaplo]

I am going to agree and disagree with you on some things Skybird. I have "played" about 15 hours so far.

I bought the game early on Steam and had preloaded. The game launched all of 3 minutes late. 3 minutes after launch Steam went from preloaded to downloading a ~450mb release pack. This, along with the preload, got the game ready to play. Basically, I was running within 10 minutes of the scheduled launch time.

It is worth noting that in the three minute delay of launch, a thread complaining about the "late launch" grew to nearly 7 pages....

Game launch and in I go. My first impression was not so good. Controls were horrible. I currently use a Logitech Extreme 3d pro. Most controls did not work out of the box, and what did was extremely sluggish. I probably spent an hour working on control configuration. Joystick control works well for me now, though CH and CFS users are having issues. It just took time to get it to work - something that should have been better documented. The sluggishness was actually part of the storyline and was resolved through the playthrough.

Next, I agree with Skybird on the visuals. You truly get a sense of scale in this game. You are no giant and the universe looks amazing.

Performance - well I have what most would consider a monster of a system. The game runs smooth under most circumstances, but there are times I get some hangs. Usually this centers around high traffic areas, which can be optimized with time. I don't believe it is using all cores however....

Speaking of - the game "requires" a x64 OS - but the EXE is a 32 bit app. NOT COOL! They need to build/release a 64 bit version of the exe. This alone would go far to fix performance issues. Egosoft gets a "Fail" on this.

Gameplay - For me, it plays just fine. The biggest thing is its just ... different. Being an old school X player, many things have changed. The "highway/superhighway" system is a bit hard to grasp in navigational terms. The different docking locations on city-stations is great, but the "walkabout" part does feel ... aged for lack of a better term. There is little to no challenge, the "talking" minigame just hurts (I have seen better in Leisure Suit Larry), and the process is overly repetitive. It is just too "dumbed down" to be immersive.

Next to last gripe - the UI. Sadly, this is probably the other big "Fail" in my mind for Egosoft. What used to be simple, is now convoluted. Its just too many keystrokes to get to anything. The lack of "previous", "next", and "closest" target shortcuts is just inexcusable. The inability to "lock" your target is also frustrating. Your cockpit has multiple "modes", which in theory is great - but it lacks a "combat" mode which makes combat in crowded areas really difficult. Information on other owned assets, like transport ships, is also hard to find and hard to manage.

Final gripe - the AI and mission scripting. Missions still have some bugs, and getting stuck in a storyline sucks. If you spot an enemy in a line of civvies and you attack, you would think that all the normal civilians would scatter - or at least react somehow. Nope, they chug along in their orderly flight lanes. Attack one of the civilians - and the rest ignore you as well. Then add in the occasional "cop" (complete with flashing lights and siren!) who is never to be found except right outside the bar dock - yet appears to have had one too many him/herself because all they do is move back and forth, siren blaring and lights blazing.

With all that said, it must be a pretty horrible game, huh?

Nope. Actually, its quite good. Like all of the X series, it has a learning curve that is more than just "follow da path to git bigger gunz". It has a depth. You are not Mr. Space Hero, ready to save the day. Your Mr. Joe Shmoe - and with the right breaks, the right skill and the right choices, you MIGHT just be Mr. Space Hero one day. The game does - at times - truly make you feel "small" in its universe.

Yes, its different. It is also good. It is not great. YET.

Egosoft released 2 hotfix/patches on day 1. More are coming. Egosoft/Deepsilver have always shown to have "Best in Class" product support over the long haul. There are problems, but they are already being addressed. Egosoft has acknowledged and verified that they intend to fix the UI, performance and other issues. X3 and its follow ups had the same teething issues. The came is called Rebirth - and with any birth there is some pain. But the reward is well worth it.

Its playable, deep, enjoyable, but sometimes frustrating. Its a simulation - meant to simulate real life in an alternate, future universe. Well, real life is frustrating at times. The good thing is, you can patch a simulation - and I see another Diamond in the Rough between the long term developer and mod community support.

Can I recommend the game? Yes. But only if you are willing to undergo the teething problems. Otherwise, wait 2 or 3 months, then get it. It will be much more polished by then.

Ultimately, the best endorsement I could ever give a game is that, after playing it, I don't regret the purchase. I can say that about X:Rebirth.

[CaptainHaplo]

For all of those who might go to the Steam forum for X:Rebirth and see all the complaints, keep in mind a couple of points.

About half of the posters (as of early this am when I decided to go check) that were complaining about bugs - did not own the game. Steam is the only legit way to own it - it has to be registered and played through that service. So either some people were complaining (and talking up star citizen) merely to do so - or many were voicing real concerns over pirated software.

Cracked software comes with lots of problems. So many of the complaints are suspect to start with.

Next, its about 100 - 200 people complaining that the game is "unplayable" because of everything from legit issues to "the women in the game are too ugly". There are usually between 12k and 13k users playing X at any one time. So less than 1% are really having issues, and many of them are having issues due to piracy and / or their own stupidity since X isn't "strip clubs in space".

Just trying to keep things in perspective.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Seeadler

You can be glad that Egosoft have not burned again a fingerprint on the retail DVDs like they did with the first release of X3

Well, that was an accident, I assume. That they burnt the new DVD with one third of the code missing, was intentional. At least the German versions. They announced one day before release that they will work until release day to finish the missing code. They knew. That's what is the difference between an accident, and a policy.

Anyhow: some holiday for the eyes.





That's a reminder of what it could be, one day. And then it's all glory, hopefully.

[Skybird]

It has been an uphill battle the last two days, but I fight myself back into liking XR more.

I quit on the official campaign, and this immediately gave some relief. Maybe this is the most important message to get put to potential customer: ignore the campaign. The campaign seems to be more seriously bugged, than the sandbox (=free) play, and its the free play you like more in these type of open world games anymore. Well, I certainly do.

With the related bugs gone, I had more willingness and time to focus on other aspects of the gameplay. These however are unfortunately badly documented, and so I had a lot of switching between gaming and forum search.

I discovered the versatility of drones in the game, which actually almost completely compensate for the fact that you fly only one ship - dogfighting with drones is fun, for example. Or spying, scouting, and more. I need to learn more about their options, however, and their automatic modes.

I am also approaching the point where I can buy my first additional ship. They have split trading into two classes now: small-item related trading which you do personally in the style you know from Elite-kind of games, and industrial mass transports, which you just organize, but do not fly yourself with your ship, you need your own fleet of trading ships for that. That actually is a clever feature. You do the desktop job only, but while the transaction goes on,. you can spend your own ship'S time doing something different, or watch your freighter getting loaded and unloaded from the cockpit of your own ship, if you are close by.

I also want to find out if I can buy me a second combat ship, having it escorting me. Or a whole squadron. Drones can be comm anded via communicated commands, orders can be given to your freighters. Why not ordering your other ships to follow you into a battle? Would be cool, with drones it seems to be possible.

I read that there is the option to not buy stations, but actually build them, piece by piece. You need to organize the needed money and resources in time. You seem to be able to watch it at scene.

The menu structure I still do not like, and I often have fired missiles by mistake when just wanting to do a scan, and some more mishaps of this kind. The way you interact with individuals on stations is time-consuming and repetitive, counteracting in a way the new trading scheme with industrial mass goods as outlined above.

Far fewer bugs in free play. That is the important message to get.

The game has had a very rough start, and they made some bad mistakes on the release procedure. The title already has so bad ratings that I currently cannot see it fully recovering from that first blow, it gets massacred everywhere. Well, their bad, they could have avoided that. However, they claim it is the top number one seller at Steam currently. They will need to fight hard to gain back terrain they mindlessly lost in just the first few hours o the release. The game needs time to get into it, yes, but it seems to be worth it. One needs to tame it, so to speak, but I find it increasingly rewarding. They promised patches and changes, and support going beyond just one or two hotfixes.

Don't let this title down too easily, guys. Plenty of detail and complexity under the hood and behind the superficial shine. The future looks bright!

P.S. Some bugs are confirmed to be linked to French and German releases only, especially sound-related bugs. It is also confirmed they are on these, and the others as well.