Now let me list a few projects we are currently working on, and which will be released in some form over the coming months. Note that this is FAR from a complete list. The following are a few examples of the different areas being worked on, and they are vaguely sorted in the order they may be released:
- Support for Steam Workshop integration: We will soon start releasing a number of tools on Steam to help modders work on X Rebirth. We are also working on full support for the Steam Workshop in order to make it possible for everybody to easily install mods by merely subscribing to them, and by making it easy for mod developers to distribute their work through Steam.
- Map on event monitor: This was already mentioned before. The first step will be to enable the map rendering on the event monitor whenever it currently shows no signal. We will then introduce some configuration options so the player can decide whether to view the map zone map on the monitor or the current text information.
- Improved support for joysticks and other input devices: We are working on improving the input mapping menu and the general support for input devices. There have been numerous individual requests in this area, and we are trying to keep this as flexible as possible so X Rebirth can be configured to make best use of all kinds of input devices.
- Improvements to menus: Improving our menu system is a big task, but some features that we've heard requested often could materialize within the next one or two months. A good example of this is a more powerful text based filtering system for menus akin to the trade menu. After we have added text input menus for renaming your ship, the next step will be to enable this functionality in live menus allowing the player to filter quickly with their keyboard.
- 64bit EXE: Right now X Rebirth only runs on 64bit Windows because of the amount of memory required, but it is still a 32bit executable. We are experimenting with a new 64bit executable that could potentially improve several issues. Rolling out the 64bit EXE will probably happen as a beta in parallel to the 32bit EXE. Depending on the feedback, we will then gradually move away from a 32bit EXE.
- Providing interaction functionality with NPCs from space to minimize forced landing: I know many people do not like being forced to land on stations for frequently repeated tasks. The first step to address this will be to have a list of all NPCs on a station available from the station info menu, and to then make some activities possible remotely. You will still probably need to be in the vicinity of the station - so that drones can take over the transport of acquired goods for example - but you only have to land to play missions and to pick up or deliver people.
- Highway redesign: We've heard a lot of criticism on the way the highways behaves, so we are experimenting with radically different gameplay inside the highways. It's still too early to provide details, but as soon as we have a prototype, we will probably make this available as a beta. How soon this will then be rolled out for public release will then depend on feedback we receive.
harlock wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 19:32:
egosoft is dead in the water.. there are plenty of other, much bigger much better space sims on the way - and its very unlikely any of them will be even close to being as broken as xrebirth, let alone every x release ever at launch
say bye to these guys
its ok, x3ap with a bunch of mods is still pretty awesome for now
jdreyer wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 18:42:
Don't be so quick to blame the testers. For all we know there's a backlog of 1000 known bugs in their system that they never got to before release. Given that they released on Nov 15, obviously they were trying to make the winter buying season. So, there was a decision to push on that date, ready or not. Not sure the testers, or even the devs, had anything to do with that.
Creston wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:31:
I still have a pretty sour taste in my mouth over X-Stillbirth, but I will again give credit to Egosoft, at least they're working on it. Not just bugfixes, of which there have been hundreds (it has again been incredible just how utterly fucking USELESS Ego's testers are. And there have been complaints about the shitty shitty shitty testing they do with every single product, and yet Ego continues to use them...) but also actively changing gameplay such as the mind-numbingly boring highway 'gameplay.'
But it'll take at least another 6 months, and probably more like 12, before this is even remotely the game it was pretending to be.
:-shrug-:
Slashman wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 14:36:
If those are the only things making you fell Rome 2 is useless, that's a pretty weak list.
dj LiTh wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 14:44:
Ok now you lost me completely, because i've not once seen egosoft say just how horrible their game is to date. They say they are adding features that are requested, instead of fixing broken interfaces. Not once have i heard the egosoft devs man up to just how broken and unplayable Xrebirth was or even still is.
Mikus_Aurelius wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:36:dj LiTh wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 10:59:
Are you joking? Cause i played Rome2 last month and its vastly improved. Infact i finally feel good about it now. As for Rebirth its still in an absolutely awful state.
I think the point wasn't that CA doesn't fix mistakes. It was that CA doesn't admit mistakes. Often they'll pretend that very common bugs are in fact isolated and rare (siege AI). Rome 2's political system was gutted in the months before release, but CA PR still pretends that it's a finished and meaningful part of the game.
Task wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 12:34:dj LiTh wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 10:59:
Are you joking? Cause i played Rome2 last month and its vastly improved. Infact i finally feel good about it now. As for Rebirth its still in an absolutely awful state.
Why would I be joking?
Do my copy-paste Generals in Rome 2 still teleport MAGICALLY to my standing armies in Rome 2? Yup.
Do my Generals have Families? **** if I know!
Do my armies magically create boats when stepping on water? Sure do.
Are the RPG city building mechanics and character progression non-existent? Sure are.
Dumb Design ideas are still Dumb Design ideas. IE just like Egosoft's Rebirth "highway" minigame = dumb.
fiftykyu wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:24:
Curious if anyone has anyone played this lately. According to steam I haven't touched it since November...
Backlog keeps growing with each bundle or steam sale, so realistically I may not come back to X: Rebirth until it's a classic and I'm reinstalling for nostalgia's sake.
dj LiTh wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 10:59:
Are you joking? Cause i played Rome2 last month and its vastly improved. Infact i finally feel good about it now. As for Rebirth its still in an absolutely awful state.
nin wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:50:Cutter wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:43:nin wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 09:38:
They should name a patch "Creston's Disappointment".
The industry should adopt the Creston standard for QAing products. It will be like what they're doing with Starbound, 'Furious Creston', 'Enranged Creston', 'Amazed Creston', etc.
I second this!!!
Creston's lament!, Creston's scorn!, etc, etc...
Cutter wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 11:43:nin wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 09:38:
They should name a patch "Creston's Disappointment".
The industry should adopt the Creston standard for QAing products. It will be like what they're doing with Starbound, 'Furious Creston', 'Enranged Creston', 'Amazed Creston', etc.
nin wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 09:38:
They should name a patch "Creston's Disappointment".
dj LiTh wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 10:59:
Are you joking? Cause i played Rome2 last month and its vastly improved. Infact i finally feel good about it now. As for Rebirth its still in an absolutely awful state.
InBlack wrote on Feb 26, 2014, 10:13:
Considering how fubared Rebirth was, maybe just scrapping it and starting over from scratch would be the wiser course of action...