X Rebirth Shows Off Its Gorgeous, Epic Space Battles

[IanDavis]

X Rebirth Shows Off Its Gorgeous, Epic Space Battles

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The latest trailer of the upcoming space sim demonstrates the scale of its colorful combat.

Space is big. You just won't believe how incredibly big it is, at least not until you play an X game without the time acceleration on. After five titles and a full expansion pack, Egosoft has decided to do some rethinking on its massive-scale space simulator. That's where X Rebirth comes in. While it's entirely possible to spend hundreds of hours of your life as a space trucker, it's the flashy combat that really catches the eye, and that's what Egosoft is showing off in its new trailer.

X Rebirth's combat seems to take advantage of the game's large scale. That means that ships don't simply fly around going pew pew. No, this means dogfights that weave in and out of massive space cities or between plasma-spewing capital ships. As per X dogma, you can take command of any part of these encounters, whether that's leading a fighter squadron, or running the show from a kilometer-long capital ship. It might even possible to lead squadrons of capital ships, assuming you have the funds for it.

Egosoft has been pretty open about the fundamental reworkings in X Rebirth. They've posted lengthy walkthroughs about the [a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXV34Py2fI]controls[/a], the [a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEbL1p5vZpw]scale[/a], and the [a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thnJTvXtkFs]trading and mining system[/a]. Besides the gorgeous new graphics, perhaps the most exciting new feature will be the ability to walk through both your ships and the stations. In fact, the level of detail is such that you can even crawl into the repair ducts on factories. Like previous X games, every bit of that is just a small slice in a larger, dynamic economy that's up for grabs. As impressive as Rebirth is, I'd be happy if it just changed the oddly-grating voice of the computer AI.

X Rebirth is set it launch on November 15th for the PC.

Source: [a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiYTmHDMjZg]Youtube[/a] via [a href=http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/21/4864964/x-rebirth-trailer-is-a-montage-of-epic-armadas-and-skilled-dogfighters]Polygon[/a]


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[Zaydin]

X Rebirth is set to launch on the 15th of November, not the 19th.

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=341133&sid=b83cf5ffdf0b4274f4f2c62174508350 Source.

"The action-loaded space simulation from Egosoft and Deep Silver will be released in Europe on the 15th of November 2013."

"There's also some good news for our fans in North America: Egosoft and Tri Synergy will be releasing X Rebirth on the 15th of November 2013 for the US market."

The Steam store page also says November 15th for the release date.

 

[Aeshi]

Damn, I want to play this so bad, even though I'm willing to bet my computer would spontaneously combust the moment a big battle starts.

 

[IanDavis]

X Rebirth is set to launch on the 15th of November, not the 19th.

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=341133&sid=b83cf5ffdf0b4274f4f2c62174508350 Source.

"The action-loaded space simulation from Egosoft and Deep Silver will be released in Europe on the 15th of November 2013."

"There's also some good news for our fans in North America: Egosoft and Tri Synergy will be releasing X Rebirth on the 15th of November 2013 for the US market."

The Steam store page also says November 15th for the release date.

I know the European date is the 15th, but previously I read that the US release date would be the 19th. Thanks for the update.

 

[aPod]

Very excited for this. Supposedly the X game is supposed to make a lot of the more bothersome (for me) mechanics of running a space empire a little smoother.

If only it had multiplayer. I hope this game sells a ton.

 

[Weresquirrel]

I must have this game now. *activates SETA drive to wait until the 15th of November*

I just hope my machine can run it in all its glory.

 

[GoaThief]

£40 is pretty steep and means I won't be getting it day one.

Glad controller support is there, the lack of it in previous instalments put me off.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

*reads more into X Rebirth*

Yep. I want this game now. Dunno how it flew past my radar until today.

 

[Zaydin]

*reads more into X Rebirth*

Yep. I want this game now. Dunno how it flew past my radar until today.

This flew under the radar for me, as well, until sometime in either late August or in September, when I saw it being advertised on Steam. I was curious, so I looked up a trailer they had posted there and watched it, and pretty much fell in love with the idea by the time the trailer was done.

Hard to say no to a sandbox space sim! The last good space sim I played was Tachyon: The Fringe. Fairly good game, but the real highlight was that Bruce Mother-f@%king Campbell voices the main character in Tachyon.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Considering they took away my ability to pilot any ship I want I have to say I am decidedly unimpressed with this game.

I remember hearing someone say they want the game to feel more like you are piloting the Millennium Falcon, a unique ship with more history then you know and with a personality of its own.

One of the reasons they chose to do it this way due to the very common practice of players settling on a ship as their "command" ship or player ship early on. Many players would often settle on Corvette class or Frigate class due to their general versatility. Fighters were rarely used after a point outside of Carrier loadouts and patrol fleets and the entirety of TS, TM, TL, TP and M8 classes were almost entirely ignored as player craft and left to AI to control.

As fun as it was to test drive all your new craft, the loss of this shouldn't hurt what made X great in the first place. Personally, I never considered it a necessary feature and only padded out the early game longer then necessary. They chose to cut out what they saw as fat around the meat. It's yet to be seen if the meat is still in good shape though.

That said, I recall the devs at one point in the forums say that, while they are confident that X fans old and new will like this newish approach, they will consider adding extra ships for player control if their expectations aren't met.

The new "player" ship is meant to accommodate all play styles, much the same as choosing a specific ship would in classic X, where choosing your loadout or wares determines your ships roles, not the fixed stats that a new ship would be limited to. You can still be the Heroic Fighter, the Devious Pirate, the Humble Trader or the Entrepreneurial Businessman.

The only downside for me is that, by the sounds of it, they hadn't considered aesthetic customisations for the ship. No paintjobs at least, no mention whether upgrades affect the ships appearance.

 

[Karadalis]

Considering they took away my ability to pilot any ship I want I have to say I am decidedly unimpressed with this game.

I remember hearing someone say they want the game to feel more like you are piloting the Millennium Falcon, a unique ship with more history then you know and with a personality of its own.

One of the reasons they chose to do it this way due to the very common practice of players settling on a ship as their "command" ship or player ship early on. Many players would often settle on Corvette class or Frigate class due to their general versatility. Fighters were rarely used after a point outside of Carrier loadouts and patrol fleets and the entirety of TS, TM, TL, TP and M8 classes were almost entirely ignored as player craft and left to AI to control.

As fun as it was to test drive all your new craft, the loss of this shouldn't hurt what made X great in the first place. Personally, I never considered it a necessary feature and only padded out the early game longer then necessary. They chose to cut out what they saw as fat around the meat. It's yet to be seen if the meat is still in good shape though.

That said, I recall the devs at one point in the forums say that, while they are confident that X fans old and new will like this newish approach, they will consider adding extra ships for player control if their expectations aren't met.

The new "player" ship is meant to accommodate all play styles, much the same as choosing a specific ship would in classic X, where choosing your loadout or wares determines your ships roles, not the fixed stats that a new ship would be limited to. You can still be the Heroic Fighter, the Devious Pirate, the Humble Trader or the Entrepreneurial Businessman.

The only downside for me is that, by the sounds of it, they hadn't considered aesthetic customisations for the ship. No paintjobs at least, no mention whether upgrades affect the ships appearance.

Yeah I know their lines, I just generally dont like it, but they have sceded that you will be able to land on capital ships and such to give commands if you want to, thats something at least. I generally settled on an M2 or TL myself, used some gun crews (from a mod) and acted like an admiral during combats.

I know they said they didnt want you being the helmsmen of a capital, but I never pictured it like that, I always imagined it was more like a captain telling the helmsmen what bearing to bring them to, ala the Helm 108 scene from Fifth element.

THough the last part of your post now that I think about it is what really gets to me.

I just cant stand how this ship looks. If it was in a previous x game I would have tossed it straight into a recycler or sold it for something that was more sleek and cool looking.

looking over some of their artwork; whatever is to the left of the carrier in this picture is

That would be a sleek and cool looking permanent ship instead of the one they are sticking us with. But hey, they are having modding in from day one so there is hope modders will give us a much better looking ship.

Taking away players freedom of choice is never a good option...

Especialy not since this isnt a console game but a full blown PC game. People who like economic simulators (and thats what the X series core was allways about) do not mind complexity.

What held previous X titles back was the shoddy space combat.. it just didnt felt engaging.. all the guns from light fighter guns to the photon cannons of capital ships all had this "pew pew pew" feeling to them.

I guess that was okay for the fighter weapons but when i fire the main gun of a capital ship i want it to be like the old WW2 era battleships.. you know.. have some friggin UNF to it.

The new game... well the player ship handles like duke nukem in space. You have only one weapon hardpoint and you switch through your weapons as if youre playing a run of the mill shooter.

Also the ship will only have a linear upgrade path at best with no visual changes to it.

Thing is... after all these X games that gave you all the freedom in the world... they now seem to have gotten the combat and traiding down to the point it feels just right between complexity and userfriendliness...

Just to take away your choice of player ship from you.

If atleast they gave you a couple of options in the beginning what type of craft you can use.. but you are stuck with that ugly thing throughout the entire game.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

£40 is pretty steep and means I won't be getting it day one.

Glad controller support is there, the lack of it in previous instalments put me off.

They've had controller support for as long as I can remember. Though I never played the first X, I've played every version from X2: The Threat on and always manually control the ships I'm flying with a controller. You have to map the buttons but they have all supported controllers.

Considering they took away my ability to pilot any ship I want I have to say I am decidedly unimpressed with this game.

Just to take away your choice of player ship from you.

If atleast they gave you a couple of options in the beginning what type of craft you can use.. but you are stuck with that ugly thing throughout the entire game.

Hold on a moment?? What!? Can't fly any other ship? What about capturing M3s by having the pilot eject? Or finding the Boron Baracuda abandoned in an asteroid field?

Seriously, I've not heard this at all. An X Universe game in which the player is unable to pilot different ships?

 

[Bertylicious]

Considering they took away my ability to pilot any ship I want I have to say I am decidedly unimpressed with this game.

I remember hearing someone say they want the game to feel more like you are piloting the Millennium Falcon, a unique ship with more history then you know and with a personality of its own.

I'm kind of hoping that the Skunk can be customised into different forms of corvette á la Darkstar 1, so either turreted or like a big fighter or something in between, but I have the horrid feeling they're trying to go back to the original X which was quite restrictive.

I'm also not sure about this whole "get bonuses from exploring stations to 100%" business. Seems a bit too much like forced neccesary busywork for my liking.

I worry about the whole game really but I am going to buy it because Egosoft are a good outfit. Hopefully it will be amazing?

If it isn't, at least we can rely on Egosoft to support the community with modding tools so we can put it right if the game is terribad.

 

[Aeshi]

*The whole debate about being limited to 1 ship*

If memory serves you'll still be able to pilot other ships, it's just that you either:

A) Control them remotely from the Albion for the smaller Drone ships (which I think replace Fighters in this game) and possibly the larger ones as well.

or

B) The Albion can "plug in" to the larger ships to take direct control of them (similar to the Capsules in EVE)


EDIT: I know you could do 'A' in X2 with any ship you owned, and you might be able to do it in some of the X3 games as well (haven't really tried it there), so I imagine Rebirth will still have that feature even if I was just misremembering 'B'

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

*The whole debate about being limited to 1 ship*

If memory serves you'll still be able to pilot other ships, it's just that you either:

A) Control them remotely from the Albion for the smaller Drone ships (which I think replace Fighters in this game)

or

B) The Albion can "plug in" to the larger ships to take direct control of them (similar to the Capsules in EVE)

Assuming A and/or B are true, then there is indeed little to worry about. The mechanic might be different but the result is the same. It's something to keep an eye on.

Your quote however is brilliant and you hereby win The Escapist today

 

[freedash22]

I'm a big fan of Egosoft and X2, X3:R and X3:TC. They are some of my all-time favorites! Can't wait to get my hands on this one. Running my empire will be complicated as hell but I LOVE IT JUST THE WAY IT IS. So please Egosoft, no dumbing down. Add more features and let me read the thesis-of-a-manual fans will write for this game. What a holiday Christmas will be!

 

[GoaThief]

£40 is pretty steep and means I won't be getting it day one.

Glad controller support is there, the lack of it in previous instalments put me off.

They've had controller support for as long as I can remember. Though I never played the first X, I've played every version from X2: The Threat on and always manually control the ships I'm flying with a controller. You have to map the buttons but they have all supported controllers.

Whenever I've asked on related forums I have gotten the usual "Why do you want to play with a controller noob?" and "Controllers cannot handle all the complex bindings", etc.

So you're saying the previous X games are completely playable from start to finish with a controller? Could you confirm it for me please? If so that's awesome, might pick up an older title whilst waiting for the price drop on the new one.