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X3 -- I Have No Business Writing This OP
Drake Chambers
Lay out my formal shorts.Registered User regular
Lay out my formal shorts.Registered User regular
X3 Gold is available on Impulse right now for $6.25. Inspired by vague memories of previous threads devoted to this game, I'm downloading it now. I'm a total newb to the X series.
I recall that there are some strong opinions regarding which of the two versions in Gold (Reunion and Terran Conflict) should be played and how. I'd love to hear about those again. I couldn't find the old threads but I think there were some really helpful and info-dense OPs done in the past. I'd be happy to repost that info if anyone can link me to it.
I recall that there are some strong opinions regarding which of the two versions in Gold (Reunion and Terran Conflict) should be played and how. I'd love to hear about those again. I couldn't find the old threads but I think there were some really helpful and info-dense OPs done in the past. I'd be happy to repost that info if anyone can link me to it.
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Still, would like to contribute, even though I may not get around to it.
You should forum search, I think there was a recent X thread when that sale happened, although it wasn't very in-depth. I think the conclusion was that Terran Conflict is generally better and more accessible, while Reunion has a slightly more involved story/campaign.
It's about going out into space and trading and buying up super freighters. Then outfitting them with universal trader modules so they cruise the galaxy making money for you. You leave the game running overnight with time acceleration on so the money comes quicker. Eventually you buy up a battleship or two and they end up disappointing you with how underpowered they really are and you stop playing the game.
I mean roughly as grind heavy as say, fitting out 5 characters in wow with the best stuff you can get
I'm thinking I'll go ahead start with Terran Conflict given what I've heard so far. I don't think the story / campaign for either is really supposed to be stellar and I'm more in the mood for a giant galactic sandbox right now anyway.
I'd also love to hear people's thoughts on available mods. Looks like an X-Tended mod for Terran Conflict was actually just released last month. I was already excited to try the game so it came as an extra bonus surprise that it's still being actively modded.
[EDIT: I stand corrected. Many people say that TC is better in every way, but not all. I've never played X3:R, so I don't have any basis for comparison; I just leapt right into TC.]
One of our own - Sorenson - has the excellent Naval Shuffle mod which has, among other things, a starting fighter for the Terran campaign that doesn't suck!
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
I'm not saying TC is particularly worse than X3. They're both terrible games in their own right.
Uninstall them and go and look at screenshots on the internet.
So the sense I'm getting here is that you hated the crap out of these games and compulsively played them for hundreds of hours. Am I in the ballpark?
If you ask a recovering crack addict what the best way to take crack is, don't be suprised if he says "don't do crack. crack is horrible and has a shitty interface"
Start with the Terran Campaign. Do the campaign missions (book icons, I think, on the stations that have them) for awhile until you run into something you can't quite handle. Then, pause for a bit, do some other stuff (see below), and come back to it.
When Terran Command gives you a second fighter ship (the faster, recon fighter) sell it. They give it to you sans-guns, which are ridiculously expensive. Instead, if you want wingmen, go capture some pirate fighters by shooting them down until they have no shields and weakened hull, and then waiting - give them a chance to bail out. If they do, you can claim the ship. Eventually, Terran command will give you three more ships. By then, you might be able to outfit one or two of them and make them useful.
In ... Teladii? ... space, you'll often find Duke's Transport company ships, which are hostile by default and somewhat undergunned (but be careful; they can still kill you if you aren't careful). Try making one of *them* bail out, and you've got your first (really expensive!) trading ship. Slap some system upgrades on it, and have it do short trading runs. That'll make some money, which will let you (eventually) buy the software upgrades that will let the ship operate completely independently. I usually assign one or two of my spare fighters to fly escort on it, but as long as you stay in relatively safe sectors, that's not required.
At this point, you should have a general hang of how the game plays, and you can start working your way up the food chain.
Those're my tips, anyway.
EDIT:
Also, cocaine's a helluva drug.
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
Their forums have a ton of useful shit.
I am afraid to reinstall it. On one hand, I worry that I will never get the hang of it and be forced to give up in shame. On the other hand, I am terrified that it will gain some sort of hold over me and then my time as a semi-functional human being will be over. But the guilt and uncertainty of never knowing either way nags at me.
What do I do you guys.
Some say I am retarded for manually repairing shit, and I should mod the game. I say to them - yes, I probably am. But are achievements available in modded TC? I honestly don't know, and am afraid to find out.
If you're into this sort of thing, they are good. I pop into TC for a few hours every couple weeks just to increment my increments. Get a little bit richer, little bit cooler stuff. Then I get bored and play an actual game.
Edit: To the above post: I barely have touched the "economic" stuff. My Split TL is just a mobile base. I've hardly done any trading missions. That said, the most I've seen offered for a combat mission is maybe 4 mil or so. Usually of the type "Kill this guy 10 sectors away after you talk to this other guy 4 sectors in the wrong direction in the next 11 minutes type". There are also some convoy attack missions that pay well but they tank your species rep so I never bother.
I was reaaaaaalllly confused at first and spent nearly a day just reading about how to play the game.
I am maybe 15 hours in and have captured tons of ships, but have never left my Sabre. I finally feel comfortable about jumping into another ship and kitting it out. Any advice on weapons?
Also, I have a real hard time finding a trading opportunity that makes a profit. I find stations that need stuff but are buying it at a lower cost than the production place is selling it. Is there a way to find good trading opportunities outside of flying from sector to sector?
I found a really good cockpit mod as well as a few visual mods that seriously improve the game's feel. I would recommend modding as most of them really do fix the game in some much needed ways.
It's hard not to cackle as you spew waves of green death!
I like phased repeaters myself
Especially TC. Though getting to the part where you can have fun is a chore if you don't cheat (And I always cheat myself some basic amenities at the start of a game, that's it. No fucking way i'm going to grind for ten hours just so I can get my first factory and start actually making money at a decent pace.).
I've got myself my very own pirate empire. Thanks to the race wars, and conquerable sectors mod, we own the south-eastern section of the map. Everyone hates us with the exception of the Yaki, Terrans, and ATF.
But that's ok. Because with all of these Galleon carriers, fighters, and admirals to command my fleets that I have at my command, I can curb stomp anything I don't like that comes into my territory.
Also, apparently Xtended came out with a TC version of X-Tended. It adds alot of stuff and is very good from what I hear. Which isn't surprising, since the original X-Tended at least partially inspired TC.
Edit: Tokyo's are fucking awesome. My core carrier group, which I command, is comprised of three of them. Damn if it isn't hard to get one, but they're basically carriers that act as battleships and are damn near unstoppable.
You just have to keep them away from bombers. Which will wreck anything that is a cap class or higher, really.
Oh! Yeah I forgot about those, they rock too.
Just cruise some sectors adjacent to pirate sectors,and harvest the abandond ships.
fly them to a safe area, use your repair laser on them to make the hull 100%, then sell at the nearest shipyard. You can also equip your main craft for free by salvaging the equipment before selling
I've earned more money in the last day than I did in a few weeks leading up to this point.
I also just beat the Terran campaign. It may have been fixed in a patch but I have no idea what Tube is talking about with the grinding. I assume he's talking about training up marines, which is tedious yes but not necessary as the the missions where you have to capture something seem to proceed whether you actually attempt to capture anything or not.
If you don't care about being op use terran ships if you do don't.
If you decide to make yourself a big ass empire you are going to want to look up the logistics mods out there and learn how to use them. There's some fantastic mods that let you set up ships that do their job automatically. They sort of level up just like automatic traders, only they're a hell of a lot smarter.
I want to get back into this only I've forgotten what mods I used so when it comes to upgrading them for the new patch I'm going to have to sort through them one by one or I might mess up my save.
I installed way too many though. Don't install too many or you'll be in my shoes come patch time.
You ever build a hub son
No. There definitely is no quest that requires it in the Terran campaign (maybe the Goner stuff? I've mostly ignored the Goner stuff so far).
The idea of building factories and closed loops and devising trading circuits so far has just scared the crap out of me. I'm content at the moment jumping my fleet into a system and shooting things.
That's all I was picking up on. After having gotten through it so unceremoniously I know there is nothing special about the Terran campaign, other than outfitting you with some nice ships for free.
But I don't think anything is locked out for me either, unless earning money to afford them is what you mean.
Edit: Oh wait, maybe you mean your reputation? Yeah, that could take awhile... I just never noticed because I got pretty high with most everyone just by taking all of the combat missions I would have anyway.
Later in the game you get your own system. It's got gates that can be linked in between any other set of gates. For example, between argon prime and home of light. Ships going from argon prime to home of light will now have to travel through your little sector as well. Your personal sector doesn't move, you just insert your gates in between them.
It's not abig sector and has no asteroids, it's just a movable sector hub.
It takes roughly ten billion everything ever to build. If you do the normal requirements you could be doing this for six months + if you are a casual gamer. To do it at a reasonable speed you will need to drain the resources of several sectors simultaneously with fleets of transport ships moving resources to the hub from the huge ass factory complexes you will need to build.
So go and find a mod that'll make the requirements take as long as a cup of tea and a crumpet.
What the Christ? Why would anyone do that to themselves?
But no they decided to get the really cool building (Headquarters) you gotta do this infinite grind.
You could just do what the rest of us sane folk do, and cheat yourself a HQ.
In fact, if you get a HQ set up in a sector you own, that's large, and has been conquered, I recall it being quite easy.
Just attach a bunch of complexes to produce what it needs to build a ship, or ammunition, and you're good to go.
But yeah. TC is one of those games you either need to mod to make it really fun, or cheat at the start to get to the fun part. It's sort of like Mount and Blade, in regards to that.
Now, try finding the ultra secret HQ style ship/s without a guide. Most folk don't even know they exist. Nevermind actually get one of them.
Also, Lewie P's Stepdad, how many hours did you put into this game? I assume you hate the game because it sucked so much of your life away and didn't return the favor with gaming 'fun'?
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)