Jump to content

X3: Terran Conflict: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Digital rights management: More activations can be requested (though it's a pain)
Line 45: Line 45:


==Digital rights management==
==Digital rights management==
''X3: Terran Conflict'' uses the [[digital rights management]] (DRM) software [[Tagès]] as copy prevention. The Steam version may only be installed on a limited number of machines (5) without requiring the user to contact either Egosoft or Steam to request more activations.<ref>http://store.steampowered.com/app/2820/</ref>
''X3: Terran Conflict'' uses the [[digital rights management]] (DRM) software [[Tagès]] as copy prevention. The Steam version may only be installed on a limited number of machines (5) before requiring the user to contact either Egosoft or Steam to request more activations.<ref>http://store.steampowered.com/app/2820/</ref>


== Reception ==
== Reception ==

Revision as of 02:41, 22 February 2009

X3: Terran Conflict
Developer(s)Egosoft
Publisher(s)Deep Silver[3]
SeriesX
EngineX3 Reality
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release16 October, 2008 (EU)[1]
25 December, 2008 (RU)
7 April, 2009 (US)[2]
Genre(s)Space trading and combat simulator
Mode(s)Single-player

X³: Terran Conflict, also known as X3TC, is a space trading and combat simulator from German developer Egosoft and is the culmination of their X series of computer games.[4] The game was announced on February 3, 2008[5]. In the initial press release it was described as a stand alone game based in the X3: Reunion universe. It was released on October 17 2008. The game was also developed by several members of the X-Tended Mod team and features many assets from it. It complements the known story of previous games with the history of the solar system in the years after Kyle William Brennan's jump into the X-Universe and the events after the end of X3: Reunion.

Compared to X3: Reunion, Terran Conflict features a larger universe, more ships, and entirely new missions which were created though the new Mission Director system.[6] The flight control using a mouse was improved and the interface reworked to feature a new context menu system. The Terran faction was added with their own set of gigantic stations, powerful ships and technology. Many new weapons systems were developed such as smart swarm missiles and ships with multiple missile turrets.

Development

A pre-release image of X3: Terran Conflict.

X3: Terran Conflict is a standalone expansion of X3: Reunion, based in the same universe and on the same engine. X3: Reunion had several popular fan made mods, the most popular of which was named The X-Tended Mod. The Mod was created by a team of artists, musicians and modders and added new content and functionality to the game. XTM received attention from Egosoft who interviewed members of the team and hosted the mod for future downloads.[7] X3: Terran Conflict has several assets used by the XTM mod and several members of the XTM team worked closely with Egosoft to develop the game.

Following the announcement of the game, several screenshots and videos were made available, showing gameplay, new features and content. A teaser trailer for X3: Terran Conflict was made available one month after the game was announced[8]. It featured several new ships, stations, weapon systems and graphical effects. Terran ships, which were first seen in X3: Reunion's finale, made an appearance in this trailer.

A series of four informative gameplay videos were slowly released throughout the course of development. They were titled after each of the games main gameplay premises; Trade, Fight, Build and Think. These videos featured a narrative introducing several new features in Terran Conflict. The first video, entitled Build was made available on July 30, 2008[9]. Focusing on station construction and player progression, this video reveals the existence of new stations and ship classes, as well as a new gameplay feature to control large numbers of ships. This video confirms that the player headquarters, which was introduced in X3: Reunion version 2.0, is available in X3: Terran Conflict.

A developer blog was made available, documenting several experiences with the game development by several team members. An XTM and X3: Terran Conflict developer Bobby Wilkinson, known in the X3 community as Syklon, was the first to post, detailing some new aspects of the game.[10]

Release

The game was announced as having gone gold on September 10, 2008.[11] The release was then pushed back twice due to production delays, finally falling on October 17th, 2008; two weeks after the initial release date of October 3.[12][13]

Some copies of Terran Conflict had become available several days before the release date. The Steam version was activated on the 16th, to coincide with the release of the first update. The release version was 1.0.1. Egosoft later confirmed that a shipping error had caused this.[14]

Updates

On the 16th of October, Egosoft released the first update for X3: Terran Conflict.[15] Version 1.2 was available to Steam users as soon as the game was activated whereas several DVD users played with version 1.0.1 for several days before the update was available. The update added a new mission, improved several features and fixed various issues. The next update was described to be under development.

On the 4th of December, Egosoft released a second patch, updating the game to version 1.3. [16]

A third patch was released on the 22nd of December, which updated the game to version 1.4.

On the 19th of January, 2009, EGOSOFT announced an open beta for version 2.0 of Terran Conflict, which was available to forum members who have volunteered to be part of the 'Developer Network'.[17] 2.0 was described to contain 'a whole new mission, new stations and new sectors'. The release date for X3: Terran Conflict in the US which includes "Version 2.0 - The Aldrin Missions" has been stated as the 7th of April, 2009.[2]

Digital rights management

X3: Terran Conflict uses the digital rights management (DRM) software Tagès as copy prevention. The Steam version may only be installed on a limited number of machines (5) before requiring the user to contact either Egosoft or Steam to request more activations.[18]

Reception

On release, the game received mixed reviews, receiving a 79% on Game Rankings.[19] Criticism included slow frame rate on high settings, high learning curve, inconvenient controls, lack of multiplayer, bad voice acting, and poor story, although the critics mention that the severity of most of the frustrations were noticeably reduced when compared to previous games of the X series. [20][21]

References

  1. ^ "NEWS - GOLD! X3: Terran Conflict has gone gold!". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  2. ^ a b "'X3: Terran Conflict 2.0 - The Aldrin Missions' Announced for US". WorthPlaying.com. 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  3. ^ IGN (2008-02-04). "Deep Silver to Publish X3: Terran Conflict". IGN. IGN Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  4. ^ Purchese, Rob (2008-02-04). "Deep Silver reveals X3: Terran Conflict". EuroGamer. EuroGamer.com. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  5. ^ "X3: Terran Conflict announced". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-03-02. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  6. ^ Bishop, Stuart (2008-02-04). "X3 expanding in Terran Conflict". CVG. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  7. ^ "NEWS: XTM .7a now available for free download from Egosoft". Egosoft's forum. 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  8. ^ "First X3TC Teaser Video released". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-05-03. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
  9. ^ "X3:TC "Build" Video". Egosoft's forum. 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  10. ^ "XNews: Preview about X3: Terran Conflict". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-08-11. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  11. ^ "NEWS - GOLD! X3: Terran Conflict has gone gold!". Egosoft's forum. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  12. ^ "Egosoft September News Archive showing delay 1". Egosoft. 2008-09-18. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  13. ^ "Egosoft October News Archive showing delay 2". Egosoft. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  14. ^ "Terran Conflict Steam Group: Announcement "Welcome to the Terran Conflict!"". Steam Community. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  15. ^ "Update 1.2 now available for X3: Terran Conflict". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  16. ^ "NEWS: Update 1.3 for Terran Conflict and X-News". Egosoft's Forum. 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  17. ^ "Public Beta for X3TC 2.0 now available to Level 3 users". Egosoft's Forum. 2009-01-19. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  18. ^ http://store.steampowered.com/app/2820/
  19. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/944742.asp
  20. ^ http://pc.ign.com/articles/925/925197p1.html
  21. ^ http://www.gamingexcellence.com/pc/games/1410/review.shtml
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=X3:_Terran_Conflict&oldid=272403130"