X3: Reunion!

[Dukat]

Picked X3 up at the weekend for £6, I've heard a bit about the X series but didnt really know what to expect, half expected it to be trash and end up at the "shit end" of my games shelf alongside other unspeakably evil games such as "James Bond Nightfire" and "Real War". I only really bought it on a whim, as for £6 it doesnt really matter.

Pleasantly suprised would be putting it lightly!

I've been looking for a game like this for ages. It took about an hour to get into it, and at first I must say I wasnt impressed - the controls seemed difficult to get into until I'd used them abit, but after I'd got past that, and started fighting pirates, and bought my first frieghter, and really started getting into the game properly, I was really impressed.

The fighting so far has only been small skirmishes, but its pretty good, a little difficult against some of the tougher ships but still very enjoyable.

I've only done a couple of the proper missions as yet though, interested to see what happens later on in the game!

Has anyone else played this game? It must be fairly old now, but tbh it plays like a game thats just been released.

 

[Krait]

Aye, X3 is a great little game (actually it's goddamn huge) that i've been playing on and off since release.

It's got soooo much to do,whether it's trading,doing single missions,fighting,capping,building factories and massive fleets so you can invade khaak/zenon sectors or just flying around looking for secrets.

The plotline is pretty dire though,except for the Bali-Gi plotline,but thats not really what the games about ofc
It does get even better later when you can afford or able to cap the m3+'s or m1/m2 and the ultimate m7..............very satisfying to clear whole xenon sectors with your own armada.

 

[Levin]

I was looking to buy this game when it came out, what, 3 or 4 years ago?

But I was turned off by the guy in the store who said you need a joystick to play it properly. Can any of you guys who've played it give any comments on that? If the game is still fun with just keyboard controls, i'm definately going to pick this up.

 

[Yeke]

Plays fine without a joystick, been a while since I played it but it is a nice game however it does get a bit repetative after a while.

 

[Krait]

Although a joystick is more intuitive,it's still very playable without one.

 

[Levin]

Thanks a bunch guys, i'll try and find it and give it a spin then.

 

[Dukat]

I was looking to buy this game when it came out, what, 3 or 4 years ago?

But I was turned off by the guy in the store who said you need a joystick to play it properly. Can any of you guys who've played it give any comments on that? If the game is still fun with just keyboard controls, i'm definately going to pick this up.

This is the reason I always hate it when you get the talky talky blokes in the stores who mean well but really just dont have a clue half the time

Whoever that guy was levin, he needs to be attacked by someone wielding a blunt fish slice :touch:

My cyborg evo joystick has been playing up a bit lately (I can never be arsed to calibrate it properly), so I've played the game almost entirely with the mouse so far - infact I'd go so far as to say that its probably easier to play without the joystick - the only thing I missed was the throttle, so I've got mine plugged in just for that - using the throttle on the evo and the mouse to fly

 

[Levin]

This is the reason I always hate it when you get the talky talky blokes in the stores who mean well but really just dont have a clue half the time

Whoever that guy was levin, he needs to be attacked by someone wielding a blunt fish slice

My cyborg evo joystick has been playing up a bit lately (I can never be arsed to calibrate it properly), so I've played the game almost entirely with the mouse so far - infact I'd go so far as to say that its probably easier to play without the joystick - the only thing I missed was the throttle, so I've got mine plugged in just for that - using the throttle on the evo and the mouse to fly

Hehe aye, I agree.. I kind of feel cheated out of playing a good game now. Still, it's never too late to try it out, i guess.

 

[Takhasis]

Class game i luv it - still play it occasionally.

Got my own HQ in it, multiple stations producing and selling goods, couple of massive war frigates with support fighters, and about 100 mill in cash...

And thats peanuts compared to some peeps

 

[TdC]

I played a huge amount of X2 once apon a time. I learned that the best thing about the game is to totally ignore every bit of the plotline(s) unless playing along will get you a cool goodie that wouldn't be available otherwise.

 

[Dukat]

Well, I've only played a couple of missions so far, and I only really did those to see if the reward would be worth it, so far it hasnt seemed to be, but apparently you do get something at some point thats worth it

So far I've got three sector traders and my buster. My strategy so far has been to fight pirates until one of them bails, at which point I claim the ship and tell it to go to the nearest shipyard, after one or two of these are waiting for me I head back and sell them off, and try to get another trader.

Is there a better way of going about raising cash? So far the only BBS missions I've seen have offered 75k or less, which to me isnt worth the hassle. I cant take M3+'s yet, but I can kill any other fighter I come across.

So far the only way I've died is trying to see if I was good enough to take nova's yet (I wasnt! ), well, apart from the time I rammed a ship i was trying to claim whilst in my spacesuit lol, head on collisions hurt

Is there a secret I'm missing? some factory thats worth it? any tips much appreciated I want a centuar!!!

 

[Krait]

Universal traders and gaining ranks (which will get you higher payoffs esp when you can start Xenon Invasion missions)

The best sector to use a sector trader btw is Empires Edge,the one south of Paranid Prime,once you get it to lev10 start it as a universal trader and begin the next one.
Eventually the money will start rolling in with just UT's and ship capping. Also try factories that supply secondary goods to other races,boron/split factories in paranid/teladi etc.Esp a teladianium fac in Trinity Sanctum.

 

[Takhasis]

Keep doing the missions dude, if you've got the latest patch down, by the time you get to the end of the missions, you'll have your headquarters and at least 2 very impressive warships (not big cruisers) and a decent amount of cash.

The 1st few missions are a bit naff but keep at em

PS, agree with Krait - get a couple of sectors traders in Empires Edge, soon as they hit level 10, smack in a jumpdrive and set to Universe Trading.

Best factories to start with are energy ones btw, there is a bit of a lack of them if you look about. Build the station, stick 2 cheap ships in it, 1 to buy crystals to feed the station, 1 to sell the energy, oh and you'll also get traders docking and buying constantly if you set a reasonable price.

 

[TdC]

if you look about you'll find a huge amount of efficiency studies regarding what stations are best to run. in X2, the short of it was that energy fabs were the only ones worth while. when you get big enough you can start up fabs to feed your fabs if you know what I mean.

regarding capping ships, I found my Nova was best for that. After a while my main ship became an Argon Centaur, and I discovered that, not only could nothing kill me any more, but I had difficulty capping ships because of teh ridiculous guns I'd equipped it with. Meaning the prey would perish horribly before they'd realize keeping their ship was a lost cause

 

[Krait]

The m6's in X3 are real dogs to fly compared to X2,the turning circle is almost as bad as an M1.
If you get attacked by a khaak cluster,you're dead meat in no time.

The M3+'s are the new M6 now,especially the Xenon M3+,which is good for capping too with the right weapons loadout.

 

[TdC]

oh, sorry, I didn't know that in X2, the corvette class was pretty sweet imo. sure, the turning could have been a bit tighter, but it's a big ship, there you go

 

[crispy]

Tried it, but i felt it was horribly bugged

 

[Cylian]

only played the first part of the trilogy, but found that one to be more fun that X2. Nothing like putting some Battleship guns on your little shuttle-like X-Craft :]

Tip the trigger and the whole ship is shaken like there's no tomorrow <hrhrhr>

 

[Jeremiah]

Its fun building your own mini fleet of M5's and M4's, then taking on the pirates on their home ground =)

Ship-capping fun =)

 

[Takhasis]

egosoft.com :: View Forum - X-Universe

X3 forums - tons of info etc