RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS - CON SEASON

[Keyrock]

Keyrock, are older X games playable with classic gamepads, or you need proper flight stick?

You can definitely map axes and functions to a gamepad and make it work but you will need to sit near a keyboard because a gamepad doesn't have nearly enough buttons to accommodate all the functions you will use regularly.  

[Fenixp]

IIRC X3: Albion Prelude is the first X game with official full gamepad support, including button combinations to (more or less) reasonably access all the stuff you need via the pad. Nonetheless, gamepad support in all X games that had it (including Rebirth) just felt really weird to me for some reason, and albeit I don't have one, I can imagine them being a lot more comfortably playable with a stick next to a keyboard on your desk. (I'm not sure Rebirth still supports sticks, then again, you don't really want to play Rebirth.)

 

As for me, I always played X games with mouse and keyboard and never had any issues with it. The mouse controls are actually fairly intelligent and they're not particularly combat-focused anyway - you're going to be navigating a lot of menus and menus are best navigated with mouse and keyboard.

[Keyrock]

Yeah, m&kb works really well in X games.  X:Rebirth was actually made, from the ground up, with gamepad in mind.  It didn't even have proper flightstick support at launch.  Everything was made to be controlled with a gamepad. They added flightstick support later. Like Fenixp, I would not recommend X:Rebirth, however. It was not good.

[melkathi]

Paradox newsletter just came in advertising their own new convention next year in Berlin:

 

PDXCON is ON!

We've got major news for you all: PDXCON, the biggest celebration of the year for all things strange and strategic, is going on the road. We're taking the show out of our hometown and inviting new fans from around the world to join us at the biggest PDXCON yet -- PDXCON 2019, happening in Berlin, Germany on October 19-20, 2019!

Tickets will go on sale for PDXCON 2019 early next year, so please make sure you've signed up on our PDXCON website for more information about what to expect at the event.

[Malcador]

Do they charge you for additional convention experiences once there ?

[Fenixp]

Pfff, you can just come for the PDXCON 2028 and get the GOTY ticket for the 2018 one.

 

Like Fenixp, I would not recommend X:Rebirth, however. It was not good.

Well there's an understatement. I really, really tried to like that game, but in name of being more action and character-oriented it gives you a lot less options than X3 did while at the same time it somehow managed to feel like much more of a chore. And, after it got announced and we got told what it'll be, I was really excited for an X game which falls outside of the X series and is more action and character oriented!

 

I swear, if I watch a gameplay video of X4 and I see someone flying around a station like a lunatic trying to "Scan" it, I'm not touching the game with a 10ft pole.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Fenixp

[Mamoulian War]

With all the X4 news flying around, I just got really big space sim itch, which was not satisfied good enough since Freelancer. GOG has a sale right now, and I do not want to jump right into 4th game. So I am thinking to start right from the beginning. Would you recommend me the 1st game as well? Can I finish it under 600 hours?

[melkathi]

Do they charge you for additional convention experiences once there ?

 

I think the basic convention is two hours and you can get 56 cheap 15 minute additional Convention packs that extend the Con to a full 2 days.

[Gfted1]

Do they charge you for additional convention experiences once there ?

Your post made this pop into my head; the Chicago Art Institute does the exact same thing! You pay to get into the museum but then you have to pay extra if you want to see the exhibits that are on tour from other museum. Now that I think of it, the Shedd Aquarium does it too...pay to get in but...*BAM*...extra if you want to see the dolphin show. Bastages.

[Fenixp]

I do not want to jump right into 4th game. So I am thinking to start right from the beginning. Would you recommend me the 1st game as well?

Well... Let's say that the only thing you'd be getting X1 and 2 would be for the story. X3 pretty much incorporates everything that was in the previous games and builds heaps unpon it, so if it's the freelance do whatever component you're interested in, just getting X3: Albion Prelude is all you really need (albeit I think there's more mods for Terran Conflict, which also seems to be a bit less buggy?) Edited November 30, 2018 by Fenixp

[Keyrock]

With all the X4 news flying around, I just got really big space sim itch, which was not satisfied good enough since Freelancer. GOG has a sale right now, and I do not want to jump right into 4th game. So I am thinking to start right from the beginning. Would you recommend me the 1st game as well? Can I finish it under 600 hours?

You can finish the story in these games in roughly 30 hours, but the story is kind of throwaway, with some HILARIOUSLY bad voice acting and character animations. (Egosoft make cool ships, stations, etc, but they can't model or animate a humanoid to save their lives) I usually just get the story out of the way to unlock all the sectors, it's not exactly compelling. The meat of the game is messing around in this giant universe sandbox and being whoever you want (pirate, merchant, fleet commander, etc.).  Like Fenixp wrote, if you don't care about the story, and there isn't really anything there to care about  then just get X3: Terran War Pack, it has X3: Terran Conflict and X3: Albion Prelude.  Play either one of those.

 

Word of caution, the X games have a pretty steep learning curve and they are slow.  It's not all action all the time, there's a lot of just flying to different sectors, exploring, buying and selling goods, etc.

Edited November 30, 2018 by Keyrock

[Mamoulian War]

My first sim was Elite on Commodore 64, so I am not afraid of steep learning curves )

[Mamoulian War]

BTW guys, does something like this exist for all X games?

 

http://www.nappefugl.dk/index/map.html

 

very detailed map of whole universe of the first game.

 

I was searching but no luck to find more than 1st game

[Tale]

I know one exists for X3 Reunion. I used the map a lot.

 

I just did a google search for "X2 The Threat Map" and "X3 Reunion Map" and found a few.

[Keyrock]

They have interactive maps like that for all the X games.

 

BTW, I watched a bit of a Twitch stream of X4 and the character models are still ugly as sin and move like robots.  Same ol' Egosoft. 

[Oner]

Bit of info on Obs's new game trickling in:

[Mamoulian War]

I know one exists for X3 Reunion. I used the map a lot.

 

I just did a google search for "X2 The Threat Map" and "X3 Reunion Map" and found a few.

I have found few as well, but not as detailed as the one, which I’ve linked before but I was lucky and found off-google with few crosslinks this:

 

https://roguey.co.uk

 

Maps on all games X2+ made from game files. Exactly what I was searching for

 

So maybe some other people might find this useful as much as I do

Edited November 30, 2018 by Mamoulian War

[Katphood]

 

Is this what they call...'poetic justice'?

 

[injurai]

Path of Exile coming to PS4. Good for them, if they can fund a second game I don't think I'd ever need Diablo again.

[Vitalis]

https://youtu.be/sSo3UJOIias

 

Is this what they call...'poetic justice'?

 

It's Bethesda finally getting the heat they've deserved for years.

[Cpl Halsbart]

Do you think we'll be smoked by a comet before Bannerlord releases?

[Vitalis]

Do you think we'll be smoked by a comet before Bannerlord releases?

Yes.

[Azdeus]

Do you think we'll be smoked by a comet before Bannerlord releases?

No, by then we will have moved to Alpha Centauri. Edited December 2, 2018 by Azdeus

[Humanoid]

And shortly after we colonise Alpha Centauri, we'll be able to fly there in Star Citizen as well.

[Mamoulian War]

And the Half-Life 3 will be still in development...