mcjomar
Sep 6 2005, 02:39 PM
okay so x2source is down, i figured i'd follow the link and come here. need a bit of info.
okay question one: when is x3 reunion coming out. release dates anyone?
two: who here playes either of these games fully and has news about either or the getonit forums.
three: chat at will. ideas thoughs POVs, and anything else but on topic. its my first post/ topic here and id like to stay outta trouble for a while.
anyway. all replies welcome (okay most, spams are debatable).
the flight and plot of freelancer is better, but the gameplay and amount of stuff you can have in x2 is a notch above. (although i agree with opinions about "shiny graphics" and slow gameplay. still both are good games and i like to have empires and stuff (x2) but the better combat and plotline in freelancer makes that one a good choice too. (sorry to fellow x2 fans but the physics, combat system, and plotline (including character graphics) is miles better in freelancer. trading isn't tho). okay thats the shortened version (i think).
thanx in advance.
Zniky
Sep 7 2005, 08:50 AM
RELEASE DATE: Q3 2005.
Seems to be scheduled for release in october 05.
mcjomar
Sep 7 2005, 09:35 AM
thanx.
ok october 5th. thats a bonus. from the system requirements looks like i just fit in.
anyway, how would you compare the two games?
or just ideas on x2 in the x2 thread.
nice to hear other opinions once in a while.
Zniky
Sep 7 2005, 09:56 AM
Dont really play space sims myself, just something about them that makes me never get involved with the story. Maybe because of the lack of cutscenes or interaction, dont know.
Did play Freelancer some though, but didnt really get involved with the story so didnt play it far.
mcjomar
Sep 7 2005, 10:01 AM
well if you continue the story, that at least improves. imo though, the missions are a bit repetitive. where in x2 they're a bit more varied. i see your point but with freelancer they did give you a good story line. the first few bits are a little bit boring but it does eventually pick up. its a conspiracy story with action and adventure basically. online is good though. as far as i know.
x2 story line does leave something to be desired.
havent tried star wars galaxies yet.
best one out of those i know for the story is freelancer
Dark0ne
Sep 7 2005, 10:57 AM
Taken from a previous post..
QUOTE
To me, Freelancer was so much better -- combat was better, the missions weren't, but X2 just plain sucked. I didn't like the "everything's shiney" look in X2, the voice acting was TERRIBLE and the economy that was meant to be the biggest selling point was the most flawed part of the game, with the only really worthwhile money maker being Solar Power Plants.
I'm looking forward to seeing if X3 can improve and the very large short-falls of X2.
I loved Freelancer. Completed it twice and found all the secret sectors and the best guns. X2 I couldn't get into, it's was boring, repetetive play with terrible combat and no incentive to carry on.
mcjomar
Sep 7 2005, 11:10 AM
okay dark one. i see your point. the story is bad, the combat is bad, the graphics are good but not good enough... theres a line, get in it. suffice it to say those are all salient (for the grammatically challenged of you that means "good" in this case)
points. but i find the trading building and thinking components of the game, more engaging.
the trading is good. the bbs is good. the amounts of ships you can own is better. in freelancer you only have one ship. in x2 you are still only one man, but you can have an empire of stations and ships and you arent restricted in types of missions. not just a few different styles of combat. there are reams of combat missions, all slightly different as you progress through the game. and there are actually trading missions of loads of different types, transport missions, and touring missions.
so much more scope than freelancer. and a bigger (yes it is) universe.
but the fighting, combat, physics and story line in x2 let the game down. this is where freelancer picks up. both have their advantages and disadvantages. more variety and you can own an empire in x2. but improved physics,combat, and graphics for freelancer, as well as the plot.
there much to be done to improve both but i really dont have the time to list it all in this post.
Switch
Sep 7 2005, 12:36 PM
I have to agree with Dark0ne really. I see your point mcjomar, but there is such a thing as too much depth. I don't like having to wrack my brain constantly, worry if this cargo's gunna make it past fleets of enemy ships, worry about paying this off and keeping that maintained in order to do this etc etc etc. I had to strike up a list of things to do sometimes and even then I got confused. Not to mention it's quite slow to get things done. I just don't find it that fun. Freelancer was simple, yes, but it was fun.

The storyline wasn't half bad either.
I haven't really read up on X3, I probably will once it's out.
mcjomar
Sep 8 2005, 08:30 AM
well. as has been said. october 5th. apparently. hope so.
anyway. i find the easiest way to make the moolah is to set targets.
e.g. the best way to start off is with a wheat farm in The Wall.
they don't have one there and need one to provide a resource that they dont have.
so that means easy money (or credits). after that just look in each sector for a station that is required for one resource or another that they just don't have. and make sure it is easy to maintain within that sector. buy low grade dolphins to start off with. cheap but the best cargo space. slow yes but useful.
all you have to do is automate every thing and leave it running. it will make money with no effort from you required. that just leaves you to fly about and have fun. blowing things up (if you can) or trading with an autopilot (if your lazy, like me). do missions to increase account size fast. assasination missions are the best and for any combat mission i use the nova.
thats the basics i use. it allows me to enjoy the game without over complicating things and i can make targets to aim for whenever i want to buy something, e.g. i need to save up 2-3 million credits to buy an L class nova. for example.
the enjoyment of x2 is the open endedness. it allows you to do what you want in that universe without too many guidelines.
i quite agree as i have already said, on the "shiny" graphics thing.
the way the humans move in the video sequences IS rather ridiculous, and the physics of the combat could be improved. "combat on rails" is a quote from FACTS.net that i remember.
yes it would be nice to speed things up in x2. that i understand. the idea of zooming around in combat, ducking and dodging ships weaving and cutting engines once in a while to flip and boost in an unexpected direction. all of that.
but thats why freelancer is better there. x2 has the advantage in size and capability.
the movies, combat, graphics, physics, and combat isn't great in x2 (prolly a slight understatement there but hey, whatever) but it's scope and size, not to mention capabilities for an empire are so much better that it brings it out on an even keel. if the freelancer designers got together with the designers of the x2 series they would be able to improve on both sreies AND come up with a new game that wipes the floor with any other space sim. but they are in competition so that wont happen for a long time. so in the meantime i just try to enjoy the seperate aspects of each of the games.
but like i said, thats my 2 cents.
my advice would be to search any game for something you might enjoy. if you still cant enjoy it. then sell the flippin thing for some moolah and find a new game. no point in having somthing you cant enjoy.
ahh whatever. still good to see a little healthy debate without the flaming. keep it up guys.
Dark0ne
Sep 8 2005, 10:16 AM
The size of the universe really doesn't have much to do with it. People need only remember Daggerfall, which was absolutely huge. The game is still boring by modern gaming standards.
Freelancer's universe was definately big enough. If the universe is too big then players simply get bored when they find themselves doing stupid transport missions from one side of the universe to the other.
mcjomar
Sep 8 2005, 01:58 PM
true but most missions i do only cover a few sectors and the trading missions (ie fetch enough of this commodity within the time given) depend on how far you search for that item.
combat you just have to search for the enemy or something and thats always within a sector or so from where you are.
so yeah true it doesn't HAVE to be massive. it's just nice to be able to explore once in a while. somewhere new. in freelancer i know roughly where every single system is. in x2 i've done the same but it's nice that theres more to explore when you get round to it. space exploration can be fun. (admittedly if you accidentally forget to save the game before you quit it can get boring covering the same turf but thats why your supposed to save.
also if i owned LOADs of ship in freelancer, yes it would be boring. but it would be nice to own more than one which is another PART of the reason i like x2.
plus, as i said before, the variety of missions is refreshingly decent for a space sim.
but yeah i will admit size doesn't always matter in computer games. but you gotta admit, its nice to have the option of having a large universe, being able to search around sometimes. possibly find something new, i.e. in x2 it's possible to find things like ufos from 50s style tv flying around, clocked at 450 mps.
Howlingoak
Sep 8 2005, 06:42 PM
Hmmm... Well I've played both and only barely got into X2 before getting discouraged and replaying freelancer. X2... even with the fast forward function I still took way too long for my attention span to do anything. The physics were cool in their own way (kinda) but the controls and ease of use (or lack there of) just kinda left me stranded in space. I got to this one mission where I was supposed to navigate through a minefield I couldn't see the mines and kept on getting killed. Thats when I called it quits on X2. Freelancer I played all the way through and loved it. Is there any news of a sequel to freelancer? I don't know if I'll get X3 but I would like to be nicely surprised. I'm a sucker for space combat sims and still play Tie Figther every once in a while (when I can get it to run from a dos boot disk :-P). Anyways, thats just my 2 cents and I read all the arguements in favor of each and just thought I'd throw in my thoughts.
mcjomar
Sep 9 2005, 09:15 AM
hmmmm. i understand getting bogged down by something like that. but i eventually get annoyed and go screaming back in to deal with it... so to speak.heh
anyhoo, basically eventually you might have got a message from brett. he tells you to fly some drones or missiles into the middle of it all cos they dont av a friend/foe recognition system. i.e. if they see something moving they blow up. so get some drones. i try to use as many as possible. then send a single drone against a targeted mine. you have to be withing 6 km and using your targeting system. keep switching targets with the pgup or pgdown buttons. eventually you get a lock on a squash mine. then you send the idiot drones to go attack that target. this blows up the mines and removes them. but you have to keep repeating it for each cluster you find. once you cant find any mines with the targeting system. then you should start trying to scan the gate. use shift+e to get out of the ship and explore, your looking to scan the narcells. it's always the second one you scan, no matter what. also use the salvage insurance when you need to. i.e before you start blowing mines up so you can be sure of getting them all.
hope that helps. when www.x2source.com comes back online you should be able to gain any help you might want from that site. egosoft is good too.
i agree on the speed of the game. but i find it nice to ba able to sit back and relax sometimes, and thats what the trading side of x2 allows me to do, whilst putting together some serious money to pay for ships and stuff.
x3 looks like it will improve some more.
but as for the controls, just ask around or (try to) use the manual for a guide.
Preacher
Oct 18 2005, 12:52 AM
Haven't played x2 but just finished single player on Freelancer and have not played since. Why you ask?
COS I TRADED MY ANUBIS FOR A HUMPBACK! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
It would be better if the trading thing was a little less repetitive, and had, I dunno like 'random encounters' other than being attacked.
Carting 250 luxury foods from new berlin to manhattan, without saving, only to be pwned just before the liberty jumpgate cos the humpback has the turning circle of the QE2 (apparently a cruiser can outmaneuver it!) kind of killed it for me...
Would try multiplayer but my uni won't let you play games online...
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