A comparison of ED vs X3

[foxpur]

One thing I didn't like was the limited map... it is basically a fixed grid and all planet graphics were decals.
Also X3 had no free flight plant landing planned. The game never had adapted stellar patterns. There was never a thought to applied realtime mapping of orbital mechanics.

I remember during a planning meeting at X3:TC someone said, "How about we do planet travel like the did in "Frontier: First Encounters"" and the reply was, "No, we can do a instance landing maybe"

 

[Ryder35]

Here's a comparison for you.

X3 been out and modded for many years

ED Still a Beta: buggy and feature incomplete.

Bit like comparing a completed Kia with a Ferrari still in CAD. I'd still take having the Ferrari on order myself!

 

[silten]

When playing ED, I try to avoid chasing the credits and immerse myself in the story of my life as a CMDR. When I ship 7 tonnes of badly needed supplies to a starving system, I'm thinking of the lives I'm saving, not how many more credits I need to upgrade my power distributor.

If all I do is concentrate on earning credits and grinding my way to a bigger boat, then yes, the game feels very simplistic and will not hold my attention for very long. Trying to make a difference in the galaxy will keep me coming back for more, but as yet, the game isn't really supplying the feedback I need to actually feel like I've made a difference. I'm hoping that will come in time.

 

[hunvagy]

For me it comes down to one really easy fact, what Egosoft said every time a new X game came out: Too difficult to make it multiplayer. Righty then, good bye X, hello Elite.

Even if I could create my own dynasty of little Imperial children ruling the galaxy as the Kwisatz Haderach, if I can't play it with my friends, it's useless.

 

[Dalkeith]

I think its early days X3 had its place and for many it will continue to have its place.

The really important thing for me has and continues to be that Elite designed and built the engine. The rapidity of development of updates gives me confidence that they are steadily building up their assets in the design and implementation of items in the universe. I think therefore that Elite can continue to develop the richness of the system. Procedural Generation is great but it still requires continual development the only difference between PG and non PG based stuff is with PG you create a family of assets non PG you create a single asset. PG still means you have to continually work on the different class types though. I am confident that if we give them time and they can remain financially viable they will keep adding scope and elements.

Combine this with the continued development of computers and of networking makes me think that we are just at the start of a journey and not at the end.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I think the X games are brilliant (not played rebirth).... however for me, with a job, house and wife, I just did not have the time to devote to it, and much like EVE I found it was more a learning cliff than a curve.... so those games - despite me buying both X1 and X2, were not really for me.

But not every game has to be for all (wo)men.

Now elite....... I am not sure if it is becasue of the 100s (1000s?) of hrs I put into the original games in my childhood, but it was just like putting on an old comfy shoe, but one which has been completely overhauled and made to look and feel even better.

right away I felt at home.

That being said, I think the OP makes some very good observations, but I am hoping a lot of these issues are due to the X games being old and very established, where as elite is still in beta and still having everything populated.

Come launch I am hoping it will have much more to fill our time in, and as we go down the road I am hoping for more and more content to be injected in.

DB has often compared elite to GTA in space (or more accurately GTA to be elite in a city) due to its sand boxy nature..... but the thing is, even in GTA, which you can play for hrs without actually doing anything to do with the story, there IS still a story. My biggest hope is that scripted optional stories will find there way into the game as we go down the road (and my biggest fear is this wont happen).

But iirc we had stories in 1st encounters so, I think we should be ok.

As for alien life, it is coming, we will get at least Thargoids, but I really hope down the road as we branch out into the unknown we will come accross others too...... Eventually I expect we will be able to set up our own mining operations on planets etc, whilst I know we wont be owning space stations, or vast fleets of AI ships I do think we may be able to have mines on different planets and asteroids which we can then fly to, picking up and dropping off supplies and helping them prosper.

Right now, we have imo a really really advanced version of Elite, with a few features from frontier in there too...... but I hope 12 months from now we will have much much more

 

[Skvid]

Elite is about flying a spaceship, hands on stick, in a Galaxy that feels huge and interesting..

Weird, to me the galaxy in elite feels like an empty canvas, or a canvas with a few broad strokes having been made.

Every system does feel the same though, they offer very little differences in the options you're presented with as a player. Try putting a few extra hours into the game because i feel like you are under this illusion that procedural generation tends to have on fresh set of eyes. Eventually you will see that its just variables with different values added to them, and while i agree that some systems might grow on you and give off a scent of character, it would be ludicrous to state that it extends beyond the core 7 or so systems.

 

[sneferu]

I'm sad to admit that right now I fully agree with the OP. I hope that events will offer a much richer universe and gameplay options.

 

[charognard]

well, i have may be 2000 hours on X3R and TC... And, you can't compare X3 and ED. X3 is about create your empire, fleet, when it's done, you can stop playing cause all become boring. In X3 have you ever take pleasure to make some trade directly ? Have u ever flying an super freigther ? Well, no you're making some figth, gain credits, and buy a MK3 trade module, or use a trader script, cause flying in X3 is just horribly boring...

In ED, i like flying in my space truck, make trade, i don't need a M4 figther to find any fun or pleasur... Ad to this the multiplayer layer, the danger, and all features Frontier will put in game, and definitely you'll have the greatest space sim ever...

Ps : I have SC too, and i really don't like it...

 

[Riedquat]

I played X3tc with some of the great mods to death. Had a great time playing it.

I tried to go back after playing ED and I just couldn't get into it.

One thing I LOVE about X3 is the cameras, I used to spend a lot of time just looking at everything, flyby cams were amazing.

 

[dognosh]

X-Rebirth has absolutely nothing to do with this thread. <Redacted>.



I hope so. I want this game to give me a reason to play it.

Many of your posts here are rude and confrontational, this is NOT how you go posting in a forum, you've been reported.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Ps : I have SC too, and i really don't like it...

to be honest I dont think anyone has SC yet.

Arena commander is just a tiny little module and (hopefully) bears little if any resemblance to the final game.

if in 18 months from now you/we feel the same way then there is cause for concern, but for now imo what we have now is just a very shiny tech demo.

 

[Elden]

In X3 you have a larger final goal to achive, but the means to do it are quite tedious. And flying... oh, I mean sailing around, It felt sooo slooow after FFE. Well, afer FFE the whole thing felt so much unnatural. The flight, the sectors(I mean tiles), planets(those wallpapers, yes) That all felt so dull to me. But, nevertheless I got into X3 allright, discovering a lot of nice features to it, like charecter NPCs, ship sub-models(like agressor and all), station building and so on. And those race ships felt reeeally fast in the generally slow X3 enviroment, yeah.

And now we have ED which virtually is a cross between original Elite and FE2/FFE. Why shold we expect it to have features from X3? Yeah, some would be good, but why expect them?

 

[charognard]

to be honest I dont think anyone has SC yet.

Arena commander is just a tiny little module and (hopefully) bears little if any resemblance to the final game.

if in 18 months from now you/we feel the same way then there is cause for concern, but for now imo what we have now is just a very shiny tech demo.

You re rigth, i don't like arena module if you prefer

 

[rootsrat]

IMHO: At this point in time some of your points are pretty accurate, although I don't agree with all of them, only some. However, ED is not a complete and released game, as opposed to X3. I suggest you re-do your comparison once ED is actually release and you've done 100 or so hours in it

 

[Scrat]

I love the x series but after thousands of hours I need something new and with elite I feel like getting home. I played elite 2 a lot when I was a kid and I get a similar feeling when playing ED. What the game still needs are more background story elements and more variance in missions. For example I would like to play a military campaign offered at the buletin board. But I am confident FD will do these things well.

 

[Snowdog]

Love Mac, he is funny and fun to listen to, Watch his streams on Twitch you will laugh with him and sometimes at him But always in fun.

Watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmcHLv7bAjQ&list=UUywBfpGBYhsczNuyyh6Cf6w

And this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxUx96-6-dw&list=TLtndjHSCQn7E

Thanks.

 

[Interstellar]

Hey I've got 160 hours in ED and counting. I've already burned the living daylights out of the X series and need something new and shiny. I definitely plan on revisiting my comparison and likely making a video review maybe a week or two after the official release. Heh I sound like such an X fanboy, though I played nearly every space sim out there. Think I got about 120 hours in SG2, another 500 hours in Freelancer (I could make an entire thread about this gem too), and about 20 hours in Darkstar One (hey it's not THAT bad, ok maybe it is).

I think it's important to get the fundamentals and groundwork as perfect as possible before adding features, and in this regard FD has done a similarly perfect job.

 

[Crystles]

TBH, I miss X3... That game was massive, there was always so ridiculously much stuff to do. I mean, you could build an empire and an armada, then besiege the universe for gods sake.

TBH, the one thing I've found disappointing about ED and SC is the fact that its not possible to allow the individual player to do that. It just wouldnt make a good MMO aspect. Multiplayer sure, but not MMO...

 

[freehotdawgs]

I have x2, x3, and the other versions of x3 and they are weak compared to ED. It doesn't feel like a real universe at all, just a bunch of rooms connected by some gates with a different sky box. I just couldn't get into it. It felt like I had to put in a ton of hours just to do basic stuff. They came out years ago when I was younger, maybe I should try them again, but now with ED and the DK2 and a HOTAS, nothing really compares to it anymore.