[Space Sim] X3: Reunion

[TimberWolf]

Got myself a Split Dragon tonight. Was about to procure a 125 MW shield for it (from pirating) and went about getting weapons from my stock piles from around the Universe, then went to various equipment docks to get software upgrades along with other things. I then took the thing out on a spin to find some Pandora crates. The first one had Engine tunings which took its 145 m/s speed to 221 m/s. The second one contained Rudder Optimizations which brought the turning speed up to 9% over the original max of 6%. I was unable to locate the third one that was hinted to me in Loomakes. Instead I ended up doing a lot of capping and manually picking up goods. The dumb thing is the pirates timed their arrival just right to ambush my captures before they jumped out of the sector. Out of 6 ships claimed, 2 made it out and both were harriers.

Over all this night, before and after getting the Dragon, has netted me over 10 million credits to my account. With the upgrades the Dragon flies very similar to my Pirate Nova Raider, except that it still can't corner as good and I still don't know how far out the nose sticks out as I see enemy fighters burst into flames against it.

The next time I play I have to return to Pirate alley and finish claiming my new ships and picking up a butt load of missiles and weapons floating around. Can't believe some of the things these Pirates leave behind! Its a gold mine.

*EDIT*

Thought I would post some pictures of things I have done or seen in this game.


My Pirate Nova Raider verses a Boron Laser tower


I've really started liking the looks of the Paranid capital ships as I have spent a lot of time in their sectors recently.


This is my nice new Dragon, still working on giving it a good name. The big explosion in the background is its first mission ending. Later on when I was in Pirate ally I took hull damage and have yet to get it repaired. Need to switch out some of its PBE's to HEPT's.

I have run into one problem with respect to getting the ships I want. Apparently the Paranid and Split M3+ are not available until you complete the corresponding Bala Gi mission. In other words I either have to capture a Xenon LX or Argon Eclipse if I want a M3+. Either that or make friendly with the Boron, build a factory, complete the Bala Gi missions, build the Player head quarters, and then return to war with the Boron. If I go that way I will only use the M7 to patrol Pirate Ally to protect my Player Head Quarters, which I intend to put in Moo-kye's Revenge or Mi Ton's Refuge. Yeah, I want a challenge.

So far in the game I have only purchased 2 ships, the Paranid Demeter Miner and the Split Dragon. I have been working on docking rights with the Argon and once that is done I will be able to put up Miners in a couple of their sectors. As for the Boron, they would rather see me dead right now and I return the through. I maybe be daring enough in my Dragon to take out their capital ships now. It would be better if I had a Paranid Nemesis with Phased Shock Generators. But before I start making friendly with the fish, I need to make billions off of them so I can buy a M1 or M2 along with all the equipment needed to arm them completely.

*EDIT 2*

Some pics from tonights play


Attacked a Weapons dealer.... his cargo was over a hundred Fighter Drones.


View of my Dragon getting its butt kicked around by Fighter Drones.


The last of the collected ships from Pirate Alley that didn't get destroyed on the way out.


Destroyed a Boron M1

The left overs from the M1 was worth millions. The problem was I didn't have the cargo capacity to handle even a fraction of it (mainly because I carry hundreds of energy cells and had a load of missiles already picked up). I ended up capping a Boron Super Freighter but it had so little hull left it could only go up to 13 m/s. So I transported over my cargo and proceeded to pick up all I could and take it over to it. There were 12 GPPC's laying there, each worth over 900,000 credits, and I could only pick up 5, destroying the other 7 in the attempt. The BPPC's faired worst as none made it into my bay.

So I now know a new way to make money, just need to get some good freighters into the area, such as the one's I have in Split Space, to clean up after me when I take out a capital ship. Granted later on when I took out a Boron M2 it only left me with a single missile. But Either way it helps my combat rank and pocket book, in one way or another. I still have to be careful as I was later destroyed by an M2 with one missile hit while I was hovering just next to it doing hull damage. Thought the missile was going to his the M2, and for all I know I only got destroyed by the blast area effect.

Well, thats it for this round of game play.

[TimberWolf]

Since Monday is a Holiday, I decided to play again last night and here are the Highlights:

1. Destroyed 16 Boron Hydra's along with their four fighter escorts. Out of that I was able to collect several A/BHEPT's, A/BPBE's, and countless missiles.

2. Picked up the Buster Sentinel in Treasure Chest and the Free Nova in the Unknown Sector. Brought them both into the Southern Paranid Sectors to join up with another Nova I had collected from Pirate Alley. Jumped to a captured ship that was being used as storage near by, removed all its weapons and shields in its hold (which was a lot), sold it, and then came back to equip the three fighters waiting at the Paranid Equipment Dock.

3. During the time that I was doing part two I had also gotten a very good stream of assassination missions. Received one in Teladi space after doing the cargo transfer, then received another five when I returned to Paranid space. I kept playing until the assassination missions stopped showing up and then got my nearly completely armed fighters past the Boron sectors on their way up to Paranid Prime.

4. I now have over 30 million credits in my pocket with the only 'regular' economic income being from my one Miner in Seizewell. Beyond that all of my income is from the spoils of war. I am in the position to buy more M6 ships, including the Nemesis now. There are several PSG's sitting in the hold of one of my older fighters waiting for a Nemesis to be added into the fold for use. I have also picked up a few Concussion generators, which I have never used before as they were added about the same time as the Bala-Gi missions. I have yet another Nova waiting in Paranid Prime for its fate to be decided.

Off the top of my head, my combat fleet is:
1 Dragon
4 Nova's (1 Pirate Raider, 1 Vanguard, 2 Normal [1 needs repairs and equipment])
1 Falcon
2 Buster Sentinels
2 Pirate Buster (1 needs repairs and equipment)
1 Jaguar
1 Buzzard
1 Harrier

On the support side... I don't really have a clue to all the freighters I have laying around the universe. I tend to strip them and sell them so I know that I don't have many. There are at least five currently docked at a Split Trading station in their core space, and another waiting for stripping at a Split equipment dock near the top right region. Beyond that there maybe a couple in transit to the nearest shipyard for sale.

I am in dire need of Jump Drives as I only have the one on my Dragon. It has been transfered around to move some freighters or weakened ships out of harms way, as my Dragon is the second fastest ship I own. The fire power of the Dragon has been used to destroy a Drone Production Plant in Boron Space, which netted me some quantum tubes, 1 GJ shield, and about 900 energy cells. I may return to Boron space with my full fleet and supporting freighters to clear it of all space stations and maybe push it further into a core sector.

Well, thats it for this weekend, now onto writing up a lab report and studying for two tests this week.

[XMEN Gambit]

Saw you playin' on XFire! Looks like you're playing Falcon now, tho.

[TimberWolf]

My room-mate and I play together on Falcon. We also play with two other people on Joint Operations as a squad. But my main game is still X3.

*EDIT*



Taking a Cruise through Xenon space. Can't handle the heavy combat in the Dragon, at least for now.



A look at the Bridge of the Dragon from a spacesuit, was out claiming a ship.



Sending off the Freebie Nova to safety using my only jump drive.



Waiting and watching for the next victim.



The strangest cargo I have ever found on a captured ship, to date.



Thought this was funny, a good joke about how bright reporters are.

[TimberWolf]

As of this morning/last night, I am the proud owner of a Paranid Nemesis. It is currently undergoing final fitting of equipment and moving to its patrol rout in Thuruk's Beard. Joining it will be two Nova's and two Buster Sentinels. This location was chosen so that they would intercept all the Pirates currently flooding out of Teladi space heading back into Pirate Alley. I have also relocated the Mobile Miner and its breakers to Family Rhonkar to further help my relations with the Split and to help clear the sector so larger ships don't have to swerve to avoid the asteroid belt in it. I may add another one or two miners to accelerate this, which would also mean adding more breakers. But then again just adding breakers might be enough.

I am currently sitting on about 25 Million credits and enough 1 GJ shields to fill out the Raptor. All I need to to get up to 80.1 Million credits to buy it but also the proper relation level to be allowed to buy it. Currently one rank below it, and need to see how far along I am. Hence the new Patrol going into the Split/Pirate junction. I will be doing another pass through Pirate alley to ensure a good flow of Pirate ships heading back. Later on I can take the patrol on a rampage through the Universe, escorting my freighters as I run ahead and kill capital ships to collect their weapons for my own use.

I have been trying to destroy Xenon capital ships in the Dragon and can't seem to live long enough. They either ram me, or their escorts seem to still be able to hit me as I huge the capital ships hull. So the Nemesis may get some Pandora tunings and a helping of PSG's, then taken on a tour of some un-explored sectors. I have the location of 2 tunings, one that I tried to find but was unable to (which led to the clearing of Pirate alley and the current state of the Universe), and the other one was recently given to me via the BBS. I'm also still in dire need of more Jump Drives as there is only one to share between all of my ships. At least I have 2 transporters, just need to pull the second one off an old capture.

To give you a sense of what life has been like in my universe:
1. My Dragon has a hard time flying between Priest Pity to Thuruk's Beard without being destroyed or damaged.
2. My Dragon with 2 Nova's, 1 Buster Sentinel, and 1 Pirate Buster still had troubles passing through but no damage was sustained.
3. Nearly all the stations in Pirate Sectors have been destroyed (sadly the stations I regularly stop at along this flight path to save are gone)
4. I witnessed a Split Python get destroyed by several Pirate Fighter Groups.
5. The Boron are rare outside a 3 sector radius around their own sectors.
6. Xenon are rare outside of their own sectors.
7. Gonors list me as a heretic.
8. Several sectors have been "killed" as Pirates have destroyed every Freighter passing through them for prolonged period of time.
9. There seems to be a shortage of freighters in the universe.
10. More ships are dropping weapons when destroyed then ever before.

[XMEN Gambit]

7. Gonors list me as a heretic.

ROFL. Sounds like an interesting universe. Though it sounds like trade is tough; prices for stuff a sector can't generate on its own are probably high.

I'm still playing through the storyline.

[TimberWolf]

Well, in this game I'm not doing much in trading. Been entertaining the idea of maybe going to war with everyone but the Split after I get my M1 fully equipped. Or get friendly with everyone so I can get the Bala Gi missions and get the PHQ, then go to war with everyone but the Split and Paranid.

If I get the PHQ then it will be interesting to see how I'm going to get the materials to build my own ships. May end up building a complex to supply it a bit, so I may end up having some trading going eventually. Going to have to see how my playing style develops through out this game.

*EDIT*

Just did some playing. Decided it was time to return to my original game. When I picked it up I had just finished arming 3 LX's. When I finished playing a few hours later I had my First Capital ship, a Mammoth, and doubled the size of my Argon Prime Complex. Didn't have the time to let it run long before having to return to studying for finals. My Mammoth is on its way to collecting the free ships that came with the M7, oh so long ago. While its off doing that I will return to Xenon space looking for donations to upgrade its weapons and begin to stock pile for future military expansions.

*EDIT 2*

Did some playing to relieve some stress. When my Mammoth got over to the station to pick up the damaged free ships I noticed it didn't have enough hanger space, only has 5 spots that were already taken. So I had it join my in my Xenon invasion. After rotating between the M7 and my personal LX I got Sector 472 cleared. Brought in the Mammoth and piloted it to collect all the PPC's floating around and had my Eclipse and LX collect everything else. Granted the Eclipse got to a stack of PPC's first and lost most of them but I still picked up over 20 of them. There are also about 6 ships floating around that need to be claimed.

When I was in the process of claiming the first batch a Xenon J and escorts spawned near the east gate. They started after my Mammoth soon after. I recalled my fighters onto the M7 and had the Mammoth jump out. Quickly destroyed them and began back to the floating ships when a Xenon K and its escorts spawned. Damn, that is where I left off when I stopped. I can't bring the Mammoth in with its weak shields and lower than par weapons (didn't spend a dime on getting it proper weapons, just using what I have stolen off of the enemy). Once I get this fleet taken care off, I hope it stays clear enough for the Mammoth to pickup the ships and get out. I know its cargo hold is about 1/8 full of weapons and missiles from my storage lockers across the universe and from my current invasion.

[TimberWolf]

Have you ever wished for more missions or had an idea for one? There is now a Mission Director that gives players the ability to craft their own missions. Unlike the script editor in the game, this allows for more flexibility and more complex missions then ever before.

The files are saved as XML format and are edited outside of the game. More info can be found at:
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=196971

I'm thinking about downloading the needed programs to create some missions. It would be interesting to create a mission where the Xenon attempt to invade a core system or where Pirates conduct raids on outlined systems or in some systems conduct full assaults on military defenses.

[XMEN Ashaman DTM]

Can you say... give the Xenon a nice big fleet and have that and support elements transit into a system so that you can keep it coming AND start with a fast tempo right away?

Just curious.

[TimberWolf]

To my understanding, Yes.

The next time I have any free time I may install the software and give it a try.

[TimberWolf]

I haven't been able to play as the last patch requires having the first install disk, which I don't have with me at college.

BUT!!!!!!!! THERE IS GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!

X3: Terran Conflict was officially announced yesterday. Read the link and ponder. It is a stand alone expansion that brings in the Terran system and point of view of the war.
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=199077

[XMEN Gambit]

Will keep an eye out, thanks!

[TimberWolf]

Got the patch finally installed, needed the game CD's brought from home. So got some hours of play last night. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Loaded up a save where I was in a Xenon sector in the process of clearing it and conducting salvage operations when a K and two wings of fighters jump in.

2. Kept getting killed in my already weakened M7, and my Personal LX had troubles as well (guess I was too rusty at the controls). Ended up leaving the system for a bit and trying some different tactics. Equipped my personal LX with 4 APBE's and gave them a try, which I liked for lighter fighters and taking out shields, and good for capping.

3. Re-cleared the sector and began collecting dropped weapons and ships. A Xenon P patrol spawned in the middle of these operations next to my Mammoth. Beamed over to my M7 and cleared it out again.

4. No more Xenon capital ships spawn in that sector now. Added a few more stations to my Ore Belt complex. Tried to figure out why some of my CR's were not leveling.

5. Got my first Xenon Invasion Mission in many game days, strangely its next to the sector I just cleared. Killed 194 Xenon ships for about 32 million credits. There were two J's jumping in, and the K was destroyed by an asteroid when I entered. I jumped into my personal LX and was destroying fighters left and right, set my M7 to attack all enemies and deployed my Eclipse to defend the M7. When my LX shields got low I would dock it with the M7 for a bit before relaunching. Later I brought in my Mammoth with its 5 LX's that are stationed aboard. It was interesting to watch the battle, weaving through PPC fire from the AI capital ship, BHEPT from my own ships and enemy fights, and dumb xenon ships that kept getting into my way. The J's were jumping in nearly every 5 minutes to replenish the fighters, but one of the J's jumped too close to me and was destroyed by my fire power. Didn't get any real salvage from this battle as most things got destroyed by the massive streams of crossfire from every which direction. Some how early on a station got destroyed by stray fire, don't understand how or anything as the battle was still fresh.

*EDIT*

I should get my fleet together for a family shot again like I did before, but now it will be even harder to see the fighters.

Off the top of my head here is what I have active, letter denotes that it is docked at that ship:
1. Hyperion (Command Cruiser, M7)
1.a Eclipse
1.b LX Guard
2. Flying Mammoth (Mammoth, TL)
2.a LX 1
2.b LX 2
2.c LX 3
2.d LX 4
2.e LX 5
3. Nemesis (Nemesis, M6)
4. White Night (Nova, M3)
5. Red Night (Pirate Raider Nova, M3)
6. Quick Strike (Buster, M4)
7. Speed Star (Pirate Buster, M4)
8. Sentinel 1 (Buster Sentinel, M4)
9. Sentinel 2 (Buster Sentinel, M4)
10. Nova 1 (Nova, M3)
11. Nova 2 (Nova, M3)
12. Falcon 1 (Falcon Vanguard, M3)
13. Falcon 2 (Falcon Vanguard, M3)
14. Perseus 1 (Perseus, M3)

The last 5 were repaired and refitted just this last game time. They were either claimed or captured during the Bala gi mission for the Yacht. So now I have a fleet of 18 Fighters, 2 Cruisers, and 1 Large ship (not exactly a capital ship since its meant for cargo and station building). I'm currently working on getting the funds to buy a real capital ship. Haven't decided to get a Carrier first or to get a Destroyer, but with ever increasing number of fighters laying around I'm leaning towards getting a Carrier first. Have to find my list of ships I had posted as one's that I was looking at some where in this thread, oh so long ago. My Nemesis and 4 fighters have been patrolling Ore Belt, but they haven't really had any attacks in there so I will probably pull them off that and have them run around with my Mammoth and its 5 LX escorts, which trails behind me in my Command Cruiser and its two escorts. Oh, what a fleet I have now.

[TimberWolf]

Teaser Video of X3: Terran Conflict has been released:

http://www.egosoft.com/news/current_en.php

[TimberWolf]

Before:



After:



They even left me a total of 10 ships in this sector alone before I brought in backup to conduct salvage operations.

The pic below is of my Mammoth while its fighters were getting some upgrades in a near by equipment dock along with two more captured Nova's. The little thing above its back is the M7 Hyperion.



The next two shots are of the ship inventory for my Character:





An update to the list from two posts ago:

1. Hyperion (Command Cruiser, M7)
1.a Eclipse
1.b LX Guard
2. Flying Mammoth (Mammoth, TL)
2.a LX 1
2.b LX 2
2.c LX 3
2.d LX 4
2.e LX 5
3. Nemesis (Nemesis, M6)
4. White Night (Nova, M3)
5. Red Night (Pirate Raider Nova, M3)
6. Quick Strike (Buster, M4)
7. Speed Star (Pirate Buster, M4)
8. Sentinel 1 (Buster Sentinel, M4)
9. Sentinel 2 (Buster Sentinel, M4)
10. Nova 1 (Nova, M3)
11. Nova 2 (Nova, M3)
12. Nova 3 (Nova, M3)
13. Nova 4 (Nova, M3)
14. Falcon 1 (Falcon Vanguard, M3)
15. Falcon 2 (Falcon Vanguard, M3)
16. Perseus 1 (Perseus, M3)

Now all I need is a Carrier for all those fighters, but sadly I'm only halfway to affording even the cheapest with only about 30 million in my pocket.