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A Few Words from the Editor...
Welcome to the 58th edition of the X-Universe News. After five months of silence we’re back with a new update for X Rebirth, the OS X alpha test version as well as an outlook on the future of X Rebirth by Bernd Lehahn, Managing Director of Egosoft. Additionally, we have tested our games on Windows 10 and are eager to share the result, we will present the winner of the great X Rebirth video competition and have a look at some X-Universe inspired science fiction novels.
Happy reading! - X2-Illuminatus
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What's new in X Rebirth?
We are very pleased to be able to annouce the release of Version 3.60 for X Rebirth for Windows, as well as the open beta for MAC OS X and Linux. I would like to take this opportunity to explain what Version 3.60 brings, what we are working on at Egosoft right now and what you can expect from us in the next months and years.
EGOSOFT has a tradition for releasing big new features in free updates for our games, even years after the game's original release.
Are more DLCs coming for X Rebirth?
In the future we will of course continue to bring many new exciting features to X Rebirth, but parallel to that, there could also be DLCs or even new games from us.
We would consider making a DLC if we wanted to add a large amount of additional content into the universe. For example, this might include new systems with many stations and ships or weapons etc. Only then would such a DLC package be worthwhile. All new gameplay features in the game, such as improvements to the UI or new AI commands, that could also be added to such a DLC, would instead be put into a free update alongside but separate to a DLC.
Is there a completely new X Game coming?
Yes. At some point there will be a new game, because we want to improve a lot of things that we unfortunately cannot improve using a DLC or update. These are things that would cause massive changes to balancing or completely change the structure of the economy.
Because of this, we are working exactly as we did in the X3 times: In parallel working on a new project and improvements to the games already released. This won't just include making improvements to X Rebirth and The Teladi Outpost, but maybe also further updates for X3: Terran Conflict or Albion Prelude.
What are the features that are only possible in a new game?
At the very top of our list is the biggest and most popular wish of X3 fans: The ability to actively fly all ships yourself and also actively command from the bridges of capital ships. Additionally, we are working on massive changes to the structure of the universe and, with that, much improved maps and entirely new UI systems for commanding groups of ships through lists of orders to be executed in the future.
And what has all of that got to do with Version 3.60?
A very important change that we would like to test for future games, and something on which we would like your opinion. Actually it is the ability to turn off a feature: You can now turn off the flight-assist on the Albion Skunk - and with this try out flight controls that are a little more difficult, but far more realistic. Here is a small demo:
Additional features of Update 3.60 are improvements to the User interface allowing you to set targets from the map directly, and the possibility to talk to Ship Dealers and buy/sell ships remotely via the station's communication conversation. Of course, a number of bug fixes and performance improvements has found their way into the new update as well.
As usual, you can find the full changelog in our forums here. Steam will have updated your game to the latest version already, unless it has been configured otherwise. - Bernd Lehahn
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Compatibility with the X-series games
Only a month ago the new Microsoft Operating System, Windows 10, has been released. As usual with such a release, the question arises whether all the X games still work. Therefore we have tested all our games from X: Beyond the Frontier to X Rebirth and can confirm the good news: they all work under Windows 10.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of small problems, especially with the first games X: Beyond the frontier, X-Tension and X2: The Threat. This is why we created a support topic in our technical forum to help with bugs or problems you may encounter.
We will look further into problems that may arise, and possible workarounds and fixes. For now, however, we wish you lots of fun with the X games on Windows 10.
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Alpha test started
In our last issue we announced the start of the Linux alpha test. Meanwhile also the alpha test for our in-house Mac OS X port has been started. Since X Rebirth is a Steam Play title, this OS X port is available to everyone who owns X Rebirth on Steam already.
To enter the OS X alpha version, please do the following:
- If you don't already have it, download and install the Steam Client for Mac.
- Log in with your Steam account and install X Rebirth from your game library.
- When the download is complete, right-click on X Rebirth and select Properties. In the dropdown menu of the Betas tab select the "macosx" branch and start the game. When being asked, download the update.
Please be aware that this is still an early test version, so expect the possibility of unforeseen crashes and bugs. If you're interested in testing this version, then please visit our Support topic in the X Rebirth Technical forum, where you can find further information.
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A winner has been found
In our last edition we announced the start of the great X Rebirth video competition. The task was to create a video showing us how you influence the X Rebirth universe. Thanks to many entries the decision wasn’t easy for us, but finally we were able to determine a winner entry:
Congratulations to Aken_Bosch, who will find his name being immortalized in X Rebirth now.
We would also like to thank all other participants for their entries. If you haven’t watched them yet, head over to the competition announcement topic in the Creative forum, where they are all listed.
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Science fiction novels inspired by the X-Universe
The X-Universe has always inspired people to write their own stories. Thousands of topics posted in our Creative forums are the best proof for that. However, it’s still a rare occasion that we see the release of stories in (e)book form.
Those of you, who have played the X3 games, will surely recognize the name apricotslice, who is known among our forums for his many X3 mods and his X3 handbook – a compilation of useful tutorials and guides about X3: Reunion, X3: Terran Conflict and X3: Albion Prelude – which newest version has just been released as a Kindle ebook. What you probably didn’t know about him, is that apricotslice aka Timothy Ellis is also a passionate writer of Science Fiction novels, namely the Hunter Legacy Series.
The Hunter Legacy is a series of Space Opera books following the adventures of young Jonathon Hunter in a blending of space opera science fiction with a spiritual main character, who is a cat lover. It's a mixture of life in the 27th century, space combat, and romance, with some spiritual concepts added in.
Being a big fan of X-Universe series, it should be no surprise that the space combat parts of the Hunter Legacy series were heavily inspired by Timothy Ellis‘ own experiences of playing the X games from X2: The Threat to the latest X3: Albion Prelude. But also the old Wing Commander series was a source of inspiration. Additionally, you will surely recognize the cover art of the books as being taken from the latest X3 games and some names will sound familiar as well. Nevertheless, Jonathan Hunter experiences his stories in an independent fictional universe, which you can discover yourself when reading the Hunter Legacy Series.
The first four books of the Hunter Legacy Series, Hero At Large, Hunted Hero Hunting, Send in the Hero and Make or Break the Hero, are already released as Kindle ebooks on Amazon. For more information, please visit the official Hunter Legacy website or the official facebook page.
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