The Earth storyline is available in all starting positions except Custom Game and Aldryn Mercenary. In Custom, the plot is simply disabled, and when playing as the Aldryn Mercenary, the earth branch is automatically completed.

In two starting positions (Earth Defender and OKC Commander), the introductory part - the VIP escort - is bypassed. The plot, at the same time, begins almost immediately after the start, in the Uranus sector. In this case, read immediately from the "Earth Patrol" stage.

I remind you that, as I already wrote in the article about all the options for starting the game, no one forces you to complete the plot immediately. You can safely do other things, and start the story later. The only thing is, if you have already taken on some kind of mission, it’s better not to leave it halfway.
Also, I want to note that since the release of the game, quite a lot of errors have already been identified, sometimes quite critical, for which patches have been released. So, the update is necessary not only to open new storylines, but also for the normal functioning of the game. You can read about updating to the current version here.

When completing the mission, you will definitely need:

* Jump engine
* Life supporting system
* Communication navigation satellite or advanced satellite, 3 in total.
* A ship capable of taking on board a cargo of 1,000 units. (200 Teladianium);
* Cargo Scanner

Not required, but highly recommended:

* Transporter

The terrestrial storyline begins for all starts, except those described above, in the Omicron sector of Lyra upon receiving a message from Daryl Oneim that a group of terrestrial diplomats is going to the Land of Heretics and needs an escort. To receive a message, you must have an Argon rating of +1 (Member of the Federation) and a Terran rating of at least -2 (Renegade). After receiving it, the task to contact Daryl Oneim appears in the list of missions. A blue book icon (Earth storyline.) will appear above the station where he is located, as well as opposite Daryl himself in the communication menu with the station. If you are not ready to start an escort - just do not get in touch with him, and fly on your own business. After some time (800 - 900 seconds), a message will come from him that the earthly diplomats have already left, and he hopes that next time we will fit into such a case. The blue book icon above the station will disappear, but after some time (from 40 to 60 minutes of game time, randomly generated), the ability to take this mission will be activated again, and when entering Omicron Lyra, we will again receive an invitation to take part in this escort .

If we are mentally and physically ready for work and defense, we contact Daryl Oneim and accept the offer. We are tasked to follow the Argon Eclipse. The target designator of the mission now also points to it. It is he, with two Hunters, who will accompany us. We fly closer, and we get accelerations from Lieutenant Percy Jellet - the escort commander. He is quite unfriendly, but do not pay attention. Difficult childhood, wooden toys... He notifies us that xenon activity is growing, and finally turns off. Instead of his gloomy face, the blond muzzle of Erin Jovis soon appears, who pilots the earthly Scabbard with earthly diplomats. From now on, we need to accompany him. These two clowns will bicker almost all the way, which makes one think to advise them not to get up on the wrong foot in the morning, to tie her to the bed in the evening.

On the way to the Land of Heretics, we have to fight off two attacks. In the Circle of Labor we will be attacked by pirates, and already in the Land of Heretics - by xenons. Scabbard, fortunately, is a cheater, so you can not be afraid for him. Having knocked down the last of the attackers, we hear the good news from Erin: "This is the last one." Well alright...

Scabbard docking with Defense Orbiter. Finally, the dugout throws a bait on the subject of a joint fight against the xenons, but Jellet so pompously declares that "it is not in the nature of the Argonians to change allies", that from swollen patriotism, Eclipse almost tears him to pieces along with half of the sector.

The lieutenant and his comrades reel in the fishing rods, and we get the task to talk with Erin Jovis. We contact her and say that we are not averse to helping the earthlings. This concludes the introductory part. AOG rating increases to +2 (Asteroid Belt Access). To receive an invitation to the "continuation of the banquet", you need a reputation with earthlings of at least 0 (Citizen). So if you have not managed to reach such a rating with them until this moment, it's time to do it.
Earth Patrol.

Lieutenant Plinter contacts us, and we receive a task for patrol. First you need to talk with Plinter himself in the Uranus sector. I remind you that when you start as the Defender of the Earth and the Commander of the OKC, you will receive this task almost immediately after the start, without any additional gestures. To do this, it will be enough just to remove the target guidance from the ship of the flight school. With all the other starts, we fly to the Uranus sector. Yatagan flies there, accompanied by two Sabers. This is the patrol we must join. We talk with Plinter. He, unlike the bloke Jellet, is very friendly, slanders us a lot of compliments, and goes along with us on patrol. Along the way, he and the Saber pilots chirp about who thought what on the radar, but then someone else gets in touch and reports that a terraformer attack has been registered in the Neptune sector.

Attack on Neptune.

Jump beacon. To view in full size - click with the mouse. Plinter orders everyone to de-orbit and follow to Neptune. We hurry there as well, as the mission target no longer points to Plinter's Scimitar, but to Neptune. At the entrance to the sector, we watch a video, and we observe a group of xenon ships. Well, here is the action! Let's get into the fight. At the same time, earthlings also do not drag Vanka, but beat adversaries from the heart. After some time, the comms report that the xenons are apparently using a jump beacon to coordinate the attack. We get the task to scan enemy vehicles, to which the mission target indicator is shifted. To scan the beacon, you need to fly up to it at a distance of about 300 m. At the end of the scan, the task will be to destroy this beacon. Breaking is not building. We knock him down or stupidly ram.

Hello again! We are told that this is all just a red herring. Several drones managed to break through the barriers, steal important information from the Research Station, and are now heading into the Oort Cloud. We have to go there and see where these drones go. We take our legs in our hands and rush to fulfill.
Mysterious ship.

Arriving at the place, we get the task to follow the mail drone. The drone is very fast (350 m / s), it is difficult to compete with it in speed. If we miss it, we will get the task to wait for the next one. You can, of course, wait, or you can just follow approximately in the direction where he was flying. At the point with coordinates 2, 10, -30 km, we will find a jump beacon, and nearby - Nova without racial markings. We are on our way to them.

At some distance, we will see a video of how Nova destroys the beacon with a rocket and makes a jump in an unknown direction. Plinter reports that all the drones have been destroyed, and with our today's heroism, everyone is simply in a zoological delight. The only thing left to do is to destroy all the remaining AIS, as the earthlings call xenons. We rejoin Plinter to continue patrolling.

We are attached to him for a short time. Next, there are consecutive tasks to fly to Pluto, Neptune, Uranus and Saturn, which we can quite complete without Plinter. Upon arrival in the sector, we receive tasks for patrolling. Having found xenons, we simply destroy them until the earthlings themselves feed them with rockets.

Arriving in the Saturn sector, we again receive news from Plinter. He is again delighted, and instructs to arrive at the Saturn Research Station for further assignments. There is no need to hurry too much, as he says. they are still swamped with work there, gutting the black boxes of downed drones.

Well, boxes are boxes, but money loves the bill. After all, we shed blood in bags ... We fly for awards and medals. Docking with the Research Station, we get everything that we earned in the patrol, and we get the task to fly to the Patrol Orbital Base in the Land of Heretics. There we should contact Major General Rei Ishiyama. As they say, it seems that we managed to attract attention to ourselves.

Upon arrival at the Orbital Patrol Base, we contact Ishiyama. The General thanks us for our help and informs us that the activity of the AI ​​has reached unprecedented proportions. According to earthlings, someone is cooperating with xenons outside the solar system. This is what we have to find out. In the meantime, we have been granted access to the orbit of Mars. And this means that the AOG rating has increased to +2 (Mars Access).

Earth Command has also decided to give us possession of the Earth M5 Rapier. We must receive it upon arrival at the shipyard in the Mars sector, where our path now lies, until the general decides on a new task for us. As soon as we dock at the shipyard, we get control of the Rapier, and a new task: talk to Ishiyama.

We fly again to the Asteroid Belt, and contact the Major General. He notifies us that now we are participating in an operation to search for xenon accomplices. The Commonwealth doesn't welcome Earthlings who stick their noses into their affairs, but Earthlings are determined to investigate under any circumstances. And to help in this is our task. We should go to the Land of the Heretics and speak with Commander Mark Jackson there for further instructions. We fly to the indicated sector, to the Orbital base of patrols.

Jackson, when we contact him, rolls a huge barrel on the Commonwealth, aiding the xenons, especially the Argonians. Xenon attacks now, in his words, often involve non-Xenon ships. He asks to wait for further news from him, so that, in the event of a new attack, fly to the place of a new conflict, but not get stuck in it, but try to follow such a ship to its base in order to get more specific information. The news is not long in coming. Soon we receive an order to follow to the Green Scale, where the convoy was attacked.
Strange union.

We fly to the designated sector. There we see several Xenon L and a pirate Nova Raider. That's what we need to follow. Having approached, we receive a task for surveillance. The tactic is standard: do not move more than 20 km away, and do not approach less than 10 km. In such cases, we get the task to wait again for news from Jackson. The attack on the convoy will be generated again, and we will again start tracking from the Green Scale. If you act carefully, then the Nova Raider will proceed to the PTNI Headquarters, and from there, through the eastern gate, into the unknown sector. There she will proceed to the newly generated Pirate base. When it docks with it, we will see a video, and we will get the task to scan the base. To scan you need to approach it at 500 meters. First, we will have to fight a little with enemy fighters that have taken off immediately from it, or lure them aside if we are on a fast enough, but at the same time too weak ship. When the scan is completed, our path lies again in the Land of Heretics to report the results to Jackson.

We're coming, we're in touch. Jackson, oddly enough, does not react at all to the news of the scanned pirate base, but makes us happy with the assignment to a new patrol, this time of the Argon sectors. We now have not only a support group with pom-poms on two Sabers, but also three unmanned Rapiers. They need, first of all, to be combined into a link in order to receive further tasks. Yes, in fact, it is very likely that the Rapiers are given to us not so much so that they help us, but so that we dopetri that ships can be combined into links. So, we make up a link of these three Rapiers, and take them with you or not - decide for yourself. For me, it’s like this - send them to the vef, and sell them to fellow earthlings. Let the hamster choke.

Well, here we are flying patrol. We are sequentially driven into the Circle of Labor, Lyra's Omicron, where we have to shoot a little at the xenons, and then into the Treasure Chest. Along the way, our fellow travelers amuse themselves by looking at spaceflies and counting ravens in all sorts of other ways. I must say that they are unkillable, so they can. But in the Treasure Chest, instead of xenons, we come across terraformer Decks Def and Fade. Fellow travelers immediately raise screams that the galaxy is in danger, but, fortunately, they do not stop shooting. After the destruction of the terraformers, we get the task to fly to report to Jackson.

We fly, we report. From what he answers us, one gets the impression that earthlings and Argonians are more concerned not with the attacks of xenons and terraformers, but with how to give each other a good pendal. We are sent to escort the transport with the wreckage of the destroyed terraformers for their study on Venus. In order for us to get there, we increase the AOG rating to +4 (Venus Access). We receive an order to contact an old acquaintance - Lieutenant Plinter.

Plinter, on his Scimitar, accompanied by two Sabers, hangs around near Scabbard, who will need to be escorted. Let's get in touch with him. He reassures us that there are plenty of OKC ships around, so there is nothing to worry about. We get the task to accompany Skabbard, and proceed to the implementation.

On approaching the transorbital accelerator leading to the Mars sector, we hear the news of a new xenon attack. We continue the flight, ignoring the Xenon N, mentioned in the message and emerging not far from us. Trying to bring him down is useless, because he, a scoundrel, is immortal until he does his dirty work. Already in the orbit of Mars we see a video with a jump beacon abandoned in the sector. The next lady to contact us is calling on all AOG and OKC forces to counter the xenons and destroy this beacon. And next to him there are new and new enemies. The forces of AOG and OKK are really enough nearby. Therefore, there is no need to climb an aircraft carrier with a slingshot - they will counterbalance without us. Moreover, earthlings have rockets, like a fool - shag, and they never regret them. But slamming the jump beacon will be really useful. Scabbard will make it just fine without us. And the lighthouse, since it is not identified as an enemy, is not touched by earthlings, and even more so by their missiles. As long as it is intact, the adversaries will fly into the sector like flies to honey, and they can do incredible harm there. After the destruction of the jump beacon, the xenon attack, without reinforcements, quickly chokes. And we, soon, get the task to talk with the captain of Nejaya Bentami in the Venus sector.

We arrive there and contact the Orbital Protection Station. Nejaya praises us and gives us the Enhanced Explorer. It is located right next to it, in the sector. We have been ordered to wait.
rendezvous.

After a few minutes, we get the task to talk to Jackson again in order to find out the reasons for the appearance of new AIs. We fly to the Land of Heretics, to the Orbital Protection Station, and contact him. Jackson tells us that the AIs appear to be made from materials produced in the Commonwealth. We have to meet with Captain Robert Pirli, a kind of Stirlitz behind enemy lines. Passwords, ciphers, poisoned cigarettes. Thirty-eight irons in the window - turnout failed ... Trying not to laugh, we fly to Nathan's Journey to the Trading Station.

Having flown closer to the destination, we see a video with the Elite flying away from the Trading Station, and we hear very unflattering words addressed to us from some person who complains that we are late and urgently demands to follow her. In principle, the wind would be in her back, but now the mission target points to her, and the task is to follow this Elite. We fly after her to the outskirts of the sector. There we get the task to talk with Lieutenant Patricia Haywood (Elite pilot). Well, the language will not fall off, we get in touch.

She apologizes for being rude and tells us a heartbreaking story about how she and Pearly worked together under the guise of Argonians in their sectors (who said "Russian pianist" ?!) A couple of hours ago, Pearly hacked into Muller's safe data port at the trading station, and was arrested. Now he was sent to the Gestapo sector controlled by the Argonian military. We are trying to appeal to the voice of reason, but she bends her line in the spirit of "these are their spies, and we are intelligence officers" and "Russians do not surrender." As a result, we understand that there is no one to count on, and we will have to clear up this mess ourselves. Fortunately, the lady has an idea how to get into the closed sector. Some rogue-teladi should help with this. We get the task to fly to the Big Exchange to the Dream Factory.

Dream Factory. To view in full size - click with the mouse. We fly to the indicated sector, fly up to the desired station for 2 km, and the Teladi rogue himself gets in touch. First of all, he notifies us that he is terribly busy, but, of course, if it shines well to rise in terms of attendants, then he is at our service. Patricia starts talking to him about access to the M148 Argon sector. Heywood refuses to sell any of the technology immediately and flatly, but Teladi offers another option. His business was very annoyed by his competitor, who developed an illegal business with a pirate drug cartel. He offers us to eliminate a competitor, and in return promises to provide us with access to the dungeons of the Argon warlords. There is nothing to do, we have already agreed on everything. Our path lies in Tears of avarice. I will say in advance that there we will need to scan transports for illegal cargo, therefore, in order not to lose Teladi rating for illegal scanning, it will be very useful to acquire a Teladi Corporation Security License. Also, of course, you need a cargo scanner.

Arriving in Tears of Avarice, we watch a video, Patricia reports that she sees the target, and we get the task to stupidly slap a competitor. We overtake the bastard and send him to the forefathers. But Haywood believes that there are not enough corpses for today, and throws up the task of scanning three more suspicious vehicles, highlighting them in a separate group on our sector map. We fly, we scan, we get the task to destroy, we carry out (You are a butcher, Steinglitz!) In principle, you can try to make the pilots jump out to capture ships for profit, but I usually somehow didn’t trifle. Washing the blood from the shoulders, we hear the chirping of our companion, who does not find anything smarter than to say that she, in fact, does not like such methods. Ah, ah, ah! How gentle we are! Okay! It's time to swindle for payback.

The next episode is especially critical for updating the game. For a long time, the Russian licensed version of X3: Earth Conflict version 1.2.1 came with an insert warning about a problem known to developers and distributors that occurs when passing through the earthly branch of the plot. Be sure to update the game! If there is no way to download the patches - follow the advice on the insert, and take the task from the Liquidator in Lyra's Omicron. If there is no icon with a red sight next to this ship, check the rating with Argon and splits. The minimum rating to take this story from Argon is (+1) Member of the Federation, and from splits - (0) Thing. Also, for all starts, except for Patriot Argon, the combat rating is checked. It must be at least Veteran 42%. If these conditions are met, you will be able to start the Argonian (anti-Haak) storyline, and, after its first stage, the problem with entering the M148 sector will be solved. After that, the further passage of the earthly plot will become possible.
You can still try to use the advice of Evgenia, adjusted for the ship used.
Also, it doesn't hurt to save the game first. It actually never hurts.

We return to the Big Exchange. This time there is no need to fly close to the customer's station. The standard 25 km is enough to be able to get in touch with him. We say it's done. He conducts a short course of psychological rehabilitation, that, they say, the business was still bad, so you should not worry. He gives us all the consolation, but in the case he immediately reports that he has agreed for us on a contract for the supply of two hundred units of Teladiania to the sector we need.

We take a ship with a hold capable of holding 200 units at a time. teladianium (200 x 5 = 1 "000 units of volume). Teladianium can be bought right there, in the Big Exchange. If the factory warehouses are empty, try to buy elsewhere, or "feed" the factories with resources, and wait until they produce the desired quantity All 200 units must be brought at a time, and you must personally manage the ship in the hold of which the cargo is located.If these conditions are not met, you simply will not be allowed into the sector.
So, the cargo is in the hold, we jump (or fly) to the argon sector M148. Upon entering the sector, we are stopped by a warning shot to the head with a message, but after making sure that the Teladiani is in the hold, we are allowed to continue moving. Docking with the Military outpost. The Argonians happily receive their teladianiy, and we watch a video of Patricia Haywood rushing towards us, breaking the anchor chains. You can undock for a while to turn on the SUV, or you can be patient like that. The task is still the same - to wait until our satellite docks.

Finally, she docked with the station. Heywood sets out to find Pirli, telling him to wait for news. Literally soon, she reports that she found her partner, but the alarm was raised, and it was no longer their destiny to get to the ship. She asks us to undock and wait for her and Pearly near the station, because she has some idea. The wait is short. We are watching a video of both of them in spacesuits flying out of the station through the airlock. We get the task to pick up both astronauts (you need a life support system). You can do it manually, or you can - by giving the command "select an astronaut" in the "special commands" in the presence of a Special Program Module. Having picked up both, we get the task to return them to the Land of Heretics, to the Orbital Protection Station ..

In general, two ships can be used in this mission. One for delivering teladianium (TS), and the other for picking up and evacuating fugitives (something faster and more maneuverable). I personally prefer to use one. Specifically, Hyperion the Aggressor. It is up to you to decide, based on your capabilities and personal preferences.

We bring Heywood from Pearly to the destination station. Mission accomplished, you can rest a little before receiving the next task.

Orbital Patrol Base. To view in full size - click the mouse. Soon, Ishiyama calls us to him. We fly into the Asteroid Belt and dock with the Orbital Patrol Base. Ishiyama thanks us for saving Pirli and talks about the escalation of the conflict with the Argonians. At the same time, suspicions of aiding the AI ​​fall on the Splits. Pearly joins in the thanks and, in turn, also anathematizes Argon. A lovely family, these earthlings with the Argonians. The only thing missing is something like Bartholomew's night.

Attention! At this stage, Pirli moves to our hold. Naturally, a life support system is needed. On one of the previous versions of the game, when docking to this station on some ships with LSS installed, in particular - on one of the three Rapiers donated in the Argon patrol, a bug was noticed! When docking, Pearly not only did not end up in the hold, but also disappeared from the station without a trace, making further passage impossible. Be careful! Save before docking, and check for Pearly in the ship's hold after docking and changing missions. If Pearly is neither in the hold nor at the station, load the save before docking, and dock on another ship by installing LSS on it.

Now we have to go with Pirli in search of real manufacturers of counterfeit terraformers. To do this, we must hang satellites in the sectors of two Split families in order to monitor suspicious movements. The first sector is the Zirt Family. You can install either a regular navigation communications satellite or an improved satellite - it doesn't matter. Pearly must be in our hold. We arrive in the sector, catapult the satellite, we get guidance on the next sector. After the Zirth Family, we put satellites in the Raik Family and the Zirth Domain. When the satellites are posted in all three sectors, Pearly suggests waiting for the activity of the terraformers.
Capture.

Finally, the terraformers are spotted. They appeared in the Zirth Family, but almost immediately disappeared from there. Pearly thinks about it, and then announces that he has an idea. We get the task to fly to the Zirt Family. There, Pearly gives the task to scan several transports for parts for the manufacture of jump drives, which the splits, apparently, also produce along with counterfeit goods (a cargo scanner is required). In order not to scan them all, but immediately fly to the right one, you can use this tip. When the right vehicle is scanned, Pearly offers to play a game of "grab the truck". We are trying to get the pilot to jump out. Before that, you can save so that, in case of failure, you don’t have to wait for the activity to appear again, etc., but immediately load the save and try again. When the attempt is successful, we receive an instruction to capture this transport. We jump into space, intercept control - our ship. Now Pearly will give his instructions remotely. He gives the task to get into the captured transport, but you should not do it right away. This trough must live for at least a few seconds until we jump into another ship, or make a jump. To do this, as well as in order to increase the speed, we turn on the repair laser and patch its body.

Now you can sit in this capsule of death. Pearly's idea is to use a captured vehicle to get close to a ship that produces terraformers and put a "bug" on it, allowing you to track its movements. After installing the beacon, we will not be healthy, so transport alone is not a tenant. There are two options. In the first one, we transfer the jump drive and several jump batteries to the transport. In this case, after installing the bug, we give a tear by jumping to another sector (while not forgetting about the ship from Pearly). In the second - you need a conveyor. Then, after installation, we jump over to our other ship, and already on it we give a strekach or we fight with the pursuers. Then this ship, sitting in the captured transport, we give the command "follow me."

So, we are in transport, and we begin to look for the "big ship". We find the Split Elephant, and move towards it. Approximately 3.5 km from the target, we watch a short video and continue moving. Pearly warns that after installing the beacon, we will not be in trouble. Stirlitz has a hard time with an eye gauge, so when he says that we are close enough, it means that we need to fly up a little more ... The installation process is reflected below, in the service line. Finally, the beacon is set, Pearly commands: "Let's go!" It's time to oil your heels. Either we escape with the help of the jump drive, or we teleport to another ship. The deed is done, now our path lies in the Ocean of Fantasy. Arriving there, we get the task to fly to report to the aircraft carrier Odin. Pearly should be in our hold.

Flying up to 5 km, we see Ishiyama, who tells us that a confident signal is coming from the beacon. The bad guys are now in an unknown sector to the right of Zirth's Realm, and the earthlings are about to strike at the production of counterfeit AI. Pearly teleports to Odin, and says that he will now act in the capture team. We are also ordered to participate in the defeat of this Cherkizon. Nobody else tells us anything. And it should, because nearby, in the sector, is the Dagger that now belongs to us. We deal with our new property, and fly to an unknown sector.

Upon arrival in the sector, we watch the video again. We are shown Odin and the Split Elephant. Around a decent number of split fighters hostile to us. We get the task to guard the landing ships. Earthlings will take the Elephant on board themselves. Our task is to beat up their fighters. Soon Pirli reports that they have taken the ship. Apparently, this is a whole flying factory that produces counterfeit products on a huge scale. After some time, we are told that one of the scientists escaped, but his ship was shot down, and he catapulted into space. Our task is to pick it up (again, a life support system is needed).

We select the villain, not forgetting to look at what is next to him. And next to it is a damaged unmanned Improved Jaguar, from which it ejected. So do not hesitate to capture this boat. Shipyards don't sell them like that... Our task is to take them to the Orbital Supply Base of the OKC in the Luna sector. The AOG has been upgraded to +6 (Moon Access) on this occasion. We bring the "language" to the destination. Upon arrival, Ishiyama contacts us. He is grateful to the point of madness, but says that now there is a lot of work, and it takes time to interrogate the prisoner, so he advises admiring the views of the moon. This, he says, is not available to everyone. Howling at the Moon Admiring the Moon and swearing with admiration until another message arrives from Ishiyama asking him to come to him for further instructions.

The target designator leads us to the shipyard in the Mars sector. Upon arrival, we learn from Ishiyama and Pirli that the splits acquired the technologies for the production of terraformers from Martin Winters, a scientist who participated in the terraforming project many centuries ago. Subsequently, this Karabas-Barabas subjected himself to cryogenic freezing, and is now muddying the waters with his puppets from a forgotten earth colony called Aldrin. A jump beacon has now been abandoned there, and the Terrans are preparing to capture Winters, who is presumably on a capital ship. In order to practice boarding, we are given a Skabbard, fully equipped with paratroopers of various Commonwealth races, and given the task of capturing Vidar, hanging out nearby.

If you don't have much experience with airborne capture, this is a good way to "get your hand" in this matter. But, beforehand, it is better to save, because. unpumped paratroopers will damage the hull, and you will have to repair it later. If, after training, load the save before the capture and just wait a few minutes without doing anything, then Vidar will be given to us "for free and irrevocably, that is, for nothing." If you don’t need training for nothing, feel free to turn on the SUV, and wait for Pirli’s message that this is not really necessary. The Earth fleet is assembled in orbit around the moon, under the command of Jackson. To him we must now fly.

Arriving in the Luna sector, we watch the traditional video showing Tyr, where Commander Jackson is located. We contact him, we report on readiness. He loads the coordinates into our computer and commands the launch of the first wave of ships, then the second and, with the command of the third wave, jumps himself. Now we must jump too. Aldrin now appears on our map and we jump there.
Old territory.

Tyr in front of the planetoid in Aldrin. To view in full size - click with the mouse. Having jumped, we see a hefty planetoid. This is not decoration. Stations, asteroids and transorbital accelerators in this sector are located around it. We get the task to explore the stations. It is not necessary to immediately rush to fly around this whopper, this can be done later. So far, we are flying to where the mission designator shows. This is the Aldrinskaya energy base, a complete analogue of a solar power plant. In Aldrin, in general, the names of the stations are somewhat unusual, which is not surprising, because they have been cut off from both the Commonwealth and the Earth for hundreds of years. We fly to the station. Having flown closer, we hear that the earthlings spotted the Spring Flower taking off from it. The ship does not show aggression and after a while communicates in a wide range.

We are welcomed by Makato Takia - commander of the Aldrin Self-Defense Force. From the conversation, it turns out that Winters was here, but flew away to the CPU ship that builds and controls the terraformers. Before the arrival of Winters, these pieces of iron protected Aldrin and served people, but now they have fallen out of obedience. The earthlings promise to defeat Karabas-Barabas and build a new puppet theater for everyone, but ask for the Golden Key to provide them with the coordinates of the ship-CPU. Earthlings are establishing contacts with the local authorities, but for now we are ordered to protect the station.

Soon a group of xenons and hostile terraformers appear, whose unkind faces we have to make very sad. After repelling the attack, Jackson says that the coordinates have been received. The target designator is shifted to the flagship Tyr, and we are charged with the duty to do everything possible to capture the Decca-CPU, while leaving it safe and sound, because the Aldryns were promised so. I will say in advance that destroying Dekka will not work, because. she is a cheater. At the same time, another Skabbard comes into our possession, again with a full troop compartment, this time - without exception of earthlings.
Unity.

Following Tyr, we are approaching Decca. Being a hero makes no sense. The intestines of an unpumped landing force will be smeared along the walls of this barrel quickly enough, and if you launch pre-trained thugs, they will not be given back after being captured. Therefore, we peacefully gaze at how earthlings do everything themselves. We are calmly waiting for the surrender of the enemy, picking holes in the tunic for medals. If the wait is long and the Earth dropship is slow and hard, it's not a bad idea to jump into any sector and turn on the SUV there. As a rule, in the absence of a player in the sector, everything is solved almost instantly, and all that remains is to return when receiving the next task.

When Decca is captured, we get the task to destroy the xenon ships that unexpectedly appeared in the vicinity, but it almost immediately changes to "take the Aldrin dignitaries to Earth." Makato Takia contacts us and asks us to pick him up from the Aldrin power base, to which our mission target has now moved. For the sake of such a case, our AOG rating increases to +7 (Earth Access). In the future, the rating of the AOG will rise during the passage of the Aldrin storyline, but this no longer has any practical significance, because. we already have access to absolutely all terrestrial sectors, and this rating does not affect anything else. The Xenon ships, which actually appeared nearby, can be destroyed, or they can be left to the earthlings. As you wish. They do not matter, but they will not bring tangible harm - the earthlings themselves will quickly flip them. We dock at the station and the dignitaries move on board (requires a life support system and 24 units of free space in the hold). We fly to the Earth sector.

Upon entering the sector, we are greeted by Major General Rei Ishiyama. He orders to dock with Torus. There he will receive our report. We see a congratulatory video with fireworks, but the mission has not yet been completed. Still need to hook up.

Torus. Hangar #5. Landing Deimos. To view in full size - click with the mouse. It should be noted that the Torus model is very complex and cumbersome, so it is extremely difficult for the autopilot to bypass all these spiers, antennas and ledges. And Torus itself is guarded by laser towers, armed with lasers of such range and speed that it is absolutely impossible to dodge them. When leaving the landing corridor, the towers, after a warning, begin to shoot and shake out the remnants of life from any ship for a sweet soul. Therefore, do not take fishing rods, do not get off the bus.

Without turning on the autopilot, we fly strictly in a straight line. If there is a docking computer, we turn on the docking when the rangefinder shows 19 - 23 km. If it is not there, we dock manually to hangar No. 5 (Docking Bay 5). After docking, we receive well-deserved congratulations from Ishiyama. Winters, as it turned out, still managed to escape, but our efforts were not in vain. We now have access to the entire solar system and the Aldrin sector. Also, although it is not announced, we have an M8 Claymore at our disposal. He, like us, is docked to the Torus. Due to problems with the autopilot in this sector, it is better to get it out of there either with the help of a jump drive, or by remotely giving the order, flying out of the sector yourself. When you are not in the sector, the ships dock with Torus and fly away from it on autopilot without any problems.

X3: Terran Conflict # is not just an addition, but the last game in the history of the #X# universe. During the gaming events, several decades have passed, and in our time # only nine. Representatives of Egosoft said that they have reached the ceiling and it is no longer possible to make the game better. Let's see how their words correspond to the truth.

What are games in the #X# universe # spaceship simulators or complex economic strategies? Controversial question. Some players believe that building factories and trading # is just an appendage to the combat component, while others that ship combat is # an addition to the art of making a profit. And everyone will be right # everyone will find in the game exactly what he wants to do himself.

You can, sitting in the cockpit of a fighter, hang on the tail of an enemy ship and water it with all the guns. Or watch the battle progress from the bridge of an aircraft carrier, giving instructions to your destroyers and sending fighter squadrons to support them. But you might as well sit in the pilot's chair of a truck slowly crawling from station to station and give orders to your large merchant fleet.

Friendlier than ancestors

There are quite a few differences from X3: Reunion, mainly they relate to the convenience of the players. The first thing that catches your eye is the # new interface. For most pilots with experience, it will be unusual, up to statements #worse than old#, but lovers of old times can return the classic display through Shift+N. It's certainly not an ideal interface # it takes up to a dozen keystrokes to call a function. The mouse significantly reduces body movements, but it is superfluous in itself with a joystick.

One of the most interesting finds is # in-game encyclopedia. It replenishes as you explore the world. We met a ship # an article with its description appeared, met a new race # the same thing, found a factory with a new product # and they will fall into the treasury of knowledge. Another would be to add functionality, and it would turn out to be a wonderful tool. Developers do not seem to live in isolation and should know about window interfaces and hyperlinks, but there is nothing of this in the encyclopedia. Everyone in the old # looked at the ship, recorded the information, we are studying the next one.

The biggest breakthrough is # the quest system. Previously, as it was, # flew into the sector, got on a fighter, traveled around all the stations and re-read the bulletin boards. Doing it is boring, and few people have taken it seriously. Now potential missions are visible directly from space # they are indicated by large colored icons. It is enough to fly up and talk to the customer. Yes, there are more tasks.

For any mission from the list, you can enable guidance, the target will be highlighted with an orange cursor. And if you need to move to another sector, the color of the gate frame will change. Depending on the tasks, asteroids, ships and stations can be allocated.

Another nice little thing # after the destruction of the enemy, not the nearest object, but the enemy gets into the sight, so there is no need to urgently choose a new victim.

Universe News
A very serious change in the gameplay # the appearance of paratroopers and everything connected with them. Now ships can and should be captured, for which a new #product# # paratroopers and mercenaries have appeared, which, in principle, is the same thing, only they are recruited in different places.

You can board ships only from corvettes, passenger transports and some frigates. And capture # only medium and large warships (excluding fighters) and huge trucks.

The process is not simple # first you need to remove the shields from the victim ship and in no case let them recover even by a percentage of the maximum, then reduce its speed. We throw out paratroopers either one by one, or in a landing capsule, five fighters at a time. The second option is both faster and safer, they need to dig through the case once for everyone, and not for each individually. After opening the skin, our heroes get to the lower deck, and they will only have to go through all the bulkheads (from two to five, depending on the type of ship) to the command cabin. If they succeed, they begin to break the computer, and the successful completion of this procedure transfers the ship under our control. It remains to repair the broken bulkheads # and you can send the trophy to the shipyard or enter it into your squadron.

It also happens that the meeting committee is stronger than our paratroopers; so that they do not die, they can be recalled. Then they will try to return to the lifeboat, or they will leave the ship through the nearest airlock, and we will have to pick them up in space.

To increase efficiency, paratroopers can and should be trained # the success of actions and survival depend on their skills. We send the ship to the equipment dock, select a skill, pay money and fly about our business, and then they will send us an invitation to the prom.

In addition to such a global innovation, many small additions and changes have appeared.

A new race with their own ships and weapons # earthlings.
Several complex storylines. It is rather problematic to pass them with a swoop on the initial ship, as in previous games in the series.

You no longer need to turn off the shield to pick up containers # such a small simplification of the game. But there was another problem # objects thrown out of a standing ship immediately end up in the hold.
Enemies are now equipped no worse than you: if three shields of two hundred each should be, then they almost certainly will be, not like in Reunion, when their total power usually slightly exceeded half the face value. The same applies to the weapons # corvettes with particle accelerators no longer exist in nature, they are put on something more appropriate to their class.

The normal time measurement systems of #seconds, minutes, hours and days have returned to the game instead of the Teladiian time scale of stazur and mizur.

You can repair ships yourself. Small # with the repair laser in your space suit, and large # with its equivalent installed on a corvette or larger vessel.

# Fixed balance holes in the form of weird combinations of weapons and ships # such as medium yaqui fighters with overly thick shields.

Economy
Whichever path we choose, the game's economy will live on. Solar stations regularly produce batteries, mines # ore and silicon, simple goods are created from initial resources, then more complex ones, and at the end of the chain # the final product, weapons. Computer transports transport goods between factories and trading stations. All this is calculated throughout the universe at once, nothing is drawn when the player appears.

But the whole colossus is not very balanced (not a reproach, since it is so conceived): shields are produced somewhere, # heavy guns, and somewhere else # satellites. Yes, and significantly vulnerable # if some goods are missing, then there were reasons for that and there will be consequences. Perhaps the transport could not deliver him to the trading station. Or he did not bring resources due to high demand at other enterprises. Or maybe they're not around at all now # because the supplier station was blown up by xenons.

The initial task of the player is # to correctly integrate into the system so that they have something to supply their enterprises and where to sell the goods. Much later, when free money appears, it will be possible to build huge production complexes, set up trading stations to sell their products throughout the universe. Then it will be possible to say that the entire economy of the world is under our control.

Note: in truth, computer opponents are in a slightly better position than the player. Their solar power plant makes batteries out of vacuum, crystals # are just an additional resource that speeds up work. And for the player # the main one, without him, energy production will stop.

Races and factions
Earthlings. Relative newbies to the game, but not to the gaming universe. A millennium ago, their planetary terraforming project led to a catastrophe of truly cosmic proportions, its echoes are still felt today. They themselves found themselves in isolation, and only recently communication with the #X# world was restored. Earthlings # are paranoid, they have only one gate leading to the border sector, and in their territory they use special accelerators. Hundreds of years of loneliness have not passed without a trace # their weapons and missiles are not compatible with any of the races. Well, although the shields are universal, it makes life easier.

This is important: earth shipyards do not produce stations at all, and therefore their economy is very vulnerable. A factory that has disappeared from the map can deprive a player of equipment or completely paralyze the production of a nation. Yes, even without any excesses, earthlings have big supply problems # if you win back a native of our planet, you will have to wander around the solar system a lot in purchasing weapons for each of your ships.

Argonians. Descendants of the astronauts of the fleet of Admiral Nathan R. Gunn, who saved the Earth from final destruction, and the colonists of Alpha Centauri, who purposefully forgot about their roots. Now it is a prosperous republic, perhaps the most serious force in the universe. Perhaps the ships of other races are superior to the Argon ones in some respects, but no one else has been able to achieve such a balance of speed, protection and firepower.

Harrows. Formed thousands of years ago in the swamps of their home planet, the race is not at all inclined to war. It is very likely that the harrows would have even been destroyed by the splits if it were not for the help of long-time allies of # the Argonians. Despite their pacifist sentiments, they are not at all against returning the territories lost during that conflict and are actually at war. Formally Boron #kingdom, the inhabitants are very proud of their ruler, but in reality the parliament rules the empire.

Paranids. A strange and closed race lives according to its strict religious laws under the control of the Supreme Pontiff, but this does not mean complete isolation. At one time they were on the side of the splits in the Boron conflict. Their relations with the harrows and the Argonians are now more than lukewarm, but trade is going on with might and main.

Splits. Aggressive humanoids by the standards of other races are not distinguished by great intelligence # they are always the first to get into a fight. This brought them to a state of pre-war tension with all races # Argons and Borons have been cold to them since the conflict, they despise the Teladi dealers, and managed to squabble with their old allies the Paranid during the Xenon conflict. It may seem surprising that at the same time splits do not fight with xenons. But this is not the result of a conspiracy, as some representatives of other races believe, but the result of the same aggressiveness: this is nothing more than the neutrality of the parties aware of the mutual power.

X3: Terran Conflict is not just an add-on, but the last game in the history of the X universe. During the gaming events, several decades have passed, and in our time - only nine. Representatives of Egosoft said that they have reached the ceiling and it is no longer possible to make the game better. Let's see how their words correspond to the truth.

What are games in the "X" universe - spaceship simulators or complex economic strategies? Controversial question. Some players believe that building factories and trading is just an appendage to the combat component, while others believe that ship combat is an addition to the art of making a profit. And everyone will be right - everyone will find in the game exactly what he wants to do himself.

You can, sitting in the cockpit of a fighter, hang on the tail of an enemy ship and water it with all the guns. Or watch the battle progress from the bridge of an aircraft carrier, giving instructions to your destroyers and sending fighter squadrons to support them. But you might as well sit in the pilot's chair of a truck slowly crawling from station to station and give orders to your large merchant fleet.

Friendlier than ancestors

There are quite a few differences from X3: Reunion, mainly they relate to the convenience of the players. The first thing that catches your eye is the new interface. For most experienced pilots, it will be unusual, up to the statements "worse than the old one", but fans of the old days can return the classic display through Shift + N. It certainly cannot be called an ideal interface - it takes up to a dozen keystrokes to call a function. The mouse significantly reduces body movements, but it is superfluous in itself with a joystick.

One of the most interesting finds is the in-game encyclopedia. It replenishes as you explore the world. We met the ship - an article appeared with its description, got acquainted with a new race - the same thing, found a factory with a new product - and they will fall into the treasury of knowledge. Another would be to add functionality, and it would turn out to be a wonderful tool. Developers do not seem to live in isolation and should know about window interfaces and hyperlinks, but there is nothing of this in the encyclopedia. Everything is the old fashioned way - we looked at the ship, recorded the information, we are studying the next one.

The biggest breakthrough is the quest system. Before, as it was, he flew into the sector, got on a fighter jet, drove around all the stations and re-read the bulletin boards. Doing it is boring, and few people have taken it seriously. Now potential missions are visible directly from space - they are indicated by large colored icons. It is enough to fly up and talk to the customer. Yes, there are more tasks.

For any mission from the list, you can enable guidance, the target will be highlighted with an orange cursor. And if you need to move to another sector, the color of the gate frame will change. Depending on the tasks, asteroids, ships and stations can be allocated.

Another nice little thing - after the destruction of the enemy, it is not the nearest object that gets into the sight, but the enemy, so there is no need to urgently choose a new victim.

Universe News

A very serious change in the gameplay is the appearance of paratroopers and everything connected with them. Now ships can and should be captured, for which a new “product” has appeared - paratroopers and mercenaries, which, in principle, are one and the same, only they are recruited in different places.

You can board ships only from corvettes, passenger transports and some frigates. And to capture - only military vessels of medium and large size (with the exception of fighters) and huge trucks.

On the "Saber" you can try to bite the Xenon frigate "Q", but there will be no sense from this - the fish is too tough.

The process is not easy - first you need to remove the shields from the victim ship and in no case allow them to recover even by a percentage of the maximum, then reduce its speed. We throw out paratroopers either one by one, or in a landing capsule, five fighters at a time. The second option is both faster and safer, they need to dig through the case once for everyone, and not for each individually. After opening the plating, our heroes get to the lower deck, and "only" they will have to go through all the bulkheads (from two to five, depending on the type of ship) to the command cabin. If they succeed, they begin to break the computer, and the successful completion of this procedure transfers the ship under our control. It remains to repair the broken bulkheads - and you can send the trophy to the shipyard or enter it into your squadron.

It also happens that the meeting committee is stronger than our paratroopers; so that they do not die, they can be recalled. Then they will try to return to the lifeboat, or they will leave the ship through the nearest airlock, and we will have to pick them up in space.

Paratroopers can and should be trained to increase efficiency - the success of actions and survival depend on their skills. We send the ship to the equipment dock, select a skill, pay money and fly about our business, and then they will send us an invitation to the prom.

In addition to such a global innovation, many small additions and changes have appeared.

A new race with their ships and weapons - earthlings.

Several complex storylines. It is rather problematic to pass them with a swoop on the initial ship, as in previous games in the series.

You no longer need to turn off the shield to pick up containers - such a small relief of the game. But another problem appeared - objects thrown out of a standing ship immediately end up in the hold.

Enemies are now equipped no worse than you: if three shields of two hundred each should be, then they almost certainly will be, not like in Reunion, when their total power usually slightly exceeded half the face value. The same applies to weapons - corvettes with particle accelerators no longer exist in nature, they are put on something more appropriate to their class.

The normal time measurement systems returned to the game - seconds, minutes, hours and days instead of the Teladiian scale of stazur and mizur.

You can repair ships yourself. Small ones - with the help of a repair laser in their spacesuit, and large ones - with its analogue installed on a corvette or larger vessel.

Fixed balance holes that were present in the form of strange combinations of weapons and ships, such as medium yaqui fighters with excessively thick shields.

Magazine Award		Novelty 4 Addition (does not require original games)	Journal rating
	Addition			Addition

Economy

The picture is pleasing to the eye - my "Mercury" are going to dock with my own industrial complex.

Whichever path we choose, the game's economy will live on. Solar stations regularly produce batteries, mines - ore and silicon, simple goods are created from the initial resources, then more complex ones, and at the end of the chain - the final product, weapons. Computer transports transport goods between factories and trading stations. All this is calculated throughout the universe at once, nothing is drawn when the player appears.

But the whole colossus is not very balanced (not a reproach, because it is so conceived): shields are produced somewhere, heavy guns somewhere, and satellites somewhere else. Moreover, it is significantly vulnerable - if some goods are missing, then there were reasons for that and there will be consequences. Perhaps the transport could not deliver him to the trading station. Or he did not bring resources due to high demand at other enterprises. Or maybe they are not around at all now - because the supplier station was blown up by xenons.

The initial task of the player is to competently integrate into the system so that they have something to supply their enterprises and where to sell the goods. Much later, when free money appears, it will be possible to build huge production complexes, set up trading stations to sell their products throughout the universe. Then it will be possible to say that the entire economy of the world is under our control.

On a note: in truth, computer opponents are in a slightly better position than the player. Their solar power plant makes batteries out of vacuum, crystals are just an additional resource that speeds up work. And for the player - the main one, without it, energy production will stop.

Races and factions

Earthlings. Relative newbies to the game, but not to the gaming universe. A millennium ago, their planetary terraforming project led to a catastrophe of truly cosmic proportions, its echoes are still felt today. They themselves found themselves in isolation, and only recently communication with the world "X" was restored. Earthlings are paranoid, they have only one gate leading to the border sector, and on their territory they use special accelerators. Hundreds of years of loneliness did not pass without a trace - their weapons and missiles are not compatible with any of the races. Well, although the shields are universal, it makes life easier.

It is important: terrestrial shipyards do not produce stations at all, and therefore their economy is very vulnerable. A factory that has disappeared from the map can deprive a player of equipment or completely paralyze the production of a nation. And even without any excesses, earthlings have big supply problems - if you win back a native of our planet, you will have to wander around the solar system a lot in purchasing weapons for each of your ships.

Argonians. Descendants of the astronauts of the fleet of Admiral Nathan R. Gunn, who saved the Earth from final destruction, and the colonists of Alpha Centauri, who purposefully forgot about their roots. Now it is a prosperous republic, perhaps the most serious force in the universe. Perhaps the ships of other races are superior to the Argon ones in some respects, but no one else has been able to achieve such a balance of speed, protection and firepower.

Harrows. Formed thousands of years ago in the swamps of their home planet, the race is not at all inclined to war. It is very likely that the harrows would have even been destroyed by the Splits, if not for the help of long-time allies - the Argonians. Despite their pacifist sentiments, they are not at all against returning the territories lost during that conflict and are actually at war. Formally, Boron is a kingdom, the inhabitants are very proud of their ruler, but in reality the parliament rules the empire.

The strange ship was built by Teladi designers. One hit in the center - and there will already be two of them, one with a wheelhouse, and the second with engines.

Paranids. A strange and closed race lives according to its strict religious laws under the control of the Supreme Pontiff, but this does not mean complete isolation. At one time they were on the side of the splits in the Boron conflict. Their relations with the harrows and the Argonians are now more than lukewarm, but trade is going on with might and main.

Splits. Aggressive humanoids, by the standards of other races, are not distinguished by great intelligence - they are always the first to get into a fight. This brought them to a state of pre-war tension with all races - the Argonians and Borons have been cold to them since the conflict, they despise the Teladi dealers, and managed to squabble with their old allies the Paranid during the Xenon conflict. It may seem surprising that at the same time splits do not fight with xenons. But this is not the result of a conspiracy, as some representatives of other races believe, but the result of the same aggressiveness: this is nothing more than the neutrality of the parties aware of the mutual power.

Teladi. Cunning lizards are able to sell snow in winter and hot air in summer. For them, the most important thing in life is money and profit. It comes to the fact that the state directly determines the position of the Teladi in society: their government is organized according to the joint-stock principle. Because of such values, Teladi are simply not liked, although they tolerate their presence. It is no coincidence that they are suspected of conspiring with pirates, which does not add to their credibility.

xenons. Few people in the universe know that this is not a race at all, but the old earthly terraformers that have gained intelligence due to a software failure. It is useless to negotiate with them, because they know only one thing - to kill. According to scientists, their level of intelligence is constantly growing, but it is difficult to imagine what this will bring to the universe - new problems or an opportunity to get in touch.

Khaaki. As hostile as the xenons, but even less knowledge of them among sentient races. It is not known who they are and where they came from, but their appearance only means a hot space battle. Oddly shaped Kha'ak ships are more dangerous than their intelligent "classmates" - they ignore the laws of physics and are able to instantly change direction. But there are also vulnerabilities - they move in large clusters, and not one by one, and therefore are relatively easy to destroy even at the time of the group's collapse.

Pirates. It is difficult to call them even a stable faction - this is a gathering of representatives of all races, self-organizing into clans. The strongest build their own pirate bases with a powerful fleet, from where they attack the surrounding sectors.

Yaks. This is a real pirate empire on the outskirts of civilization, with a fleet of ships of its own design. In their thirty years of existence, they have become a threat not only to lone traders, but to the entire Argon fleet.

Goners. Nayana Gann, the admiral's great-granddaughter, found the records of her ancestor and, with like-minded people, began to search for a way to her homeland. They find the gates of the Earth and, with the help of the facts obtained, attract new supporters, and then publish the "Book of Truth", which sets out the facts about the history of mankind. Now it is a large organization, somewhat similar to a religious cult. The duty of the goners is to carry information about the Earth to other races. They deny the use of weapons.

Corporations

Corporate headquarters are cyclopean multi-kilometer structures.

In addition to the races in the game, you can meet eight corporations and work for them. One of them is known - Terracorp. The remaining seven are OTAS, JSDD (Jonferco), PTNI (Nividium Mining and Manufacturing Corporation), Plutarh Mining Corporation, Atreus Shipbuilding Currents, Split Strong Arms and Duke's Buccaneers.

Rating system

The player's relationship with races and corporations is determined by reputation. Initially, the locals are neutral - you don't touch us, we don't touch you. There are almost no rights either. If we start trading and completing tasks, the attitude towards us will improve, and piracy and mission failures will lead to the opposite effect. A high reputation with a race is an opportunity to acquire ships of a higher level and technological factories.

In addition to relationships, there are two ratings. The trading one grows with each purchase and sale; there was no particular sense in it. Much more important than combat - it, like in all games in the series, determines the strength of the enemy fleet. Where a medium fighter appears in an easy mission for a beginner, at least a corvette will be put up against a veteran pilot. But that's not all - the payment for almost all missions, with the exception of economic missions, depends on the combat rating.

Tasks

One of the most noticeable changes in the game is the quest system. If earlier they were issued on bulletin boards (BBS), and to view them it was necessary to fly around each station, now, in the age of high technology, everything happens by radio. Tasks are issued by the characters on board, and if they have something interesting for us, an icon will appear next to the contour in space or the name on the sector map. We fly up to twenty-five kilometers, contact and discuss the details.

On a note: the icon can be of only one type, and the tasks inside can be several different. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to view the list of visitors to the station.

Almost all non-story tasks must be completed in a limited time. Did not have time to do it in time - failure and loss of reputation with the race or corporation. For successful completion, the attitude towards the player will naturally improve.

For any of the tasks, you can turn on tracking - a kind of targeting. The gate or object we need on the map will be marked with an orange frame.

Combat missions

Marked with a red crosshair.

Convoy escort. Transports in space ask for help all the time. The task is to guide several TS-class ships, usually three, through the gate to the adjacent sector. As soon as we take the task, the xenon or khaak attack immediately begins. Transports, of course, are decently armed - they always have three shields for twenty-five megajoules, a stern turret, combat drones and rockets, but with a high combat rating of the player, all this is carried by enemies in a matter of seconds. So the mission can be done either as a beginner - and then our escorts will also serve as good fire support, or already having acquired a large fleet. But seriously, the main enemy here is the quirks of the autopilot, which, instead of jumping into the gate, can cut circles in the hope of getting “somehow more comfortable”, and the enemies circling around completely drive him crazy.

Escort. Unlike the previous one, it is issued at the stations and sounds a little different - fly to the specified sector and bring the specified ship from there. The probability of an attack is not one hundred percent. For some reason it is very rare.

Murder. Some tasks - a request to eliminate a thief or a criminal who escaped from prison. At first, everything is simple - we take the task, the letter indicates the model of the ship and the location of the victim in one of the surrounding sectors, we fly and kill. The target is blue, slow and not at all aggressive. Later, an escort of several pirate ships will begin to appear around the "peaceful" victim. Sometimes the mission becomes more complicated - first you need to meet with the agent, and already he will give information about the goal.

A simple patrol mission: one and a half hundred thousand for work and five times more - a bounty for destroyed ships.

On a note: the mission can be failed not only when the time runs out, but also if the target dies without our participation, for example, when attacking xenons.

Station protection. The best way to complete this mission is with up to the heaviest fighters - their firepower is better controlled than the larger ones, and two random hits on the station put it into the ranks of the enemy. The task is to destroy all pirate ships attacking the protected object. There will be no problems, because the mission is on the verge of a scam: space corsairs on fighter jets are hammering the station until we take them seriously. That is, they can be shot one at a time, recovering and even being repaired between single battles. With corvettes, it is somewhat more difficult - they generally fire at everything that moves within reach. But M6 should be killed only in the second place, in the first place - M8 torpedo bombers. The mission will become much more difficult with a decent battle rating, since small ships at the beginning of the game simply cannot destroy the station. In addition to the destruction of the protected object, the mission is also considered failed when leaving the sector.

Advice: turn off the turrets or switch them to defense against missiles so as not to hit the station.

Patrolling a sector or sectors. Oh yeah! Money-money-money-money... The price tag for the mission does not really matter, we are paid extra solid sums for each destroyed enemy. In fact, the battle is only in the first of the sectors that need to be patrolled, in the rest, if any, you just need to stay for a while. Interestingly, the mission has no time limits - as we do, so we will do. And it is very problematic to fail it - even if we do not destroy a single ship, they will still pay us the money, even if they quarrel about our insolvency. And you can easily leave without additional reward - sometimes there are too many assistants in the destruction of enemies. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the largest and most delicious goals, and then finish off the trifle.

It is important: if you fly twenty-five kilometers from the nearest of the ships, the completion of the task in the sector will be counted, even if there remains a huge enemy fleet, and money for their destruction will no longer be given.

On a note: do not cheat by taking several combat missions, there will be no gain in money. If a mission enemy ship attacks the station, then there will be no bounty for its head when patrolling the sector. But two patrol or defensive missions in the same sector will be useful on high difficulty - the enemies will begin to destroy each other.

Sector protection. It looks like a patrol, but it will be possible to take it only in sectors bordering on enemy ones. Therefore, it will not be pirates who will attack, but only khaakis or xenons. The reward, however, is exactly the same - the higher the class of the destroyed ship, the larger the amount will go to our bank account.

On a note: you can earn money for new ships and equipment by one combat missions, but for this you need to complete only the tasks of the last two types.

Research and reconnaissance assignments

The most voluminous group of tasks is marked with a white light bulb.

What to do? .. Time is running out, combat missions can be combined.

Sale of sector maps. Yes, oddly enough, sector maps are sold under the guise of a mission. And if you just press the same buttons to view the offer, you can easily give money for already known information. So you have to read what they write. Usually cards of three or four sectors are offered, you can take them all at once or just one. Two - it is no longer possible, the icon disappears. Buying in bulk is cheaper - all the information costs a little more than the most expensive of the single offers.

Return the abandoned ship. Somewhere in the surrounding sectors there is an abandoned shabby ship, you need to approach it and capture it, going out into outer space in a spacesuit. When taking on a mission, you need to look at the time - this is a good indicator of how far away the target is. At the very beginning, doing such tasks is a pleasure. The ships are small, they can be quickly repaired with a laser from a spacesuit and immediately sent to the desired station. Further - more difficult, as the ships become larger and slower, it is no longer possible to repair them for speed. But there is a way out here too - the presence of a hangar and a jump drive makes tasks easy to complete. If the time runs out, the ship will be put on the wanted list, soon a certain number of policemen will materialize around it and destroy it. If you really want to get it into your possession, you can hide it at the nearest station and kill the policemen who are thirsty for it. But this can only be done with a very high rating, since the fine will be huge.

Advice: if you feel like you're running out of time, it's best to just cancel the mission and the ship will disappear. For a failure in time will lead to a very large penalty to the race rating, otherwise you will get off with a small one.

Retrieve the stolen ship. The mission is very difficult, unlike the previous one. The ship does not stand still, but is very successfully piloted by some kind of enemy and flies away further and further. But this is a good way to train your paratroopers, you only need to knock the shields off the target, and you can hit a little to reduce speed. When the ship is captured, we repair it and send it or take it to the customer’s station. Under no circumstances should a ship be destroyed, it gives a huge rating loss.

Follow the ship. An easy mission, but requires patience. We move to the indicated point, find the target and keep from it at a distance of about three kilometers. Closer than two, the target becomes restless and, upon reaching the maximum, leaves on a jump drive. Goes further into the gate than five - a failure for the loss of the object will be counted. And the positive outcome of the mission is when the target docks with the station. For this mission, a very fast ship, such as the Teladian M5 Kestrel with its engine boosted to the maximum, is suitable.

Deliver the ship. Another similar mission, but this time we will need to buy a ship with our hard-earned money, and then send it to the customer. They can either ask for a specific model, or, which is simpler, there are only requirements for the nation and class - for example, the earthly M4. If the mission is of average or higher difficulty, then you need to put high-speed improvements on the ship right away, otherwise it will simply not have time to reach the goal. However, the option of transportation is also not excluded. A separate question is the amount of the reward, it must be very solid, because we are not paid the full cost of the ship, but only seventy percent of its price.

What a delicious system with an abundance of missions!

Passenger with documents (high-speed taxi). The customer needs to urgently take the documents, so he agrees to go as it will. There is only one requirement besides time - the ship must be equipped with a life support system. In general, these are very easy missions, and they bring good money.

Passenger-traveler (high-speed taxi). Unlike the previous mission, the client wants to be delivered to the desired point not in a cramped cockpit of a fighter, but in a comfortable cabin of a passenger transport. It is much more difficult to complete it - the time requirements are about the same, but TPs crawl much more slowly. And buying a bus for such missions is a controversial decision.

On a note: The countdown starts from the moment all the conditions for passenger boarding are met, that is, when the required ship docks with him at the station.

Scan asteroids. Now this occupation cannot be left at the mercy of your ships, only to be done personally. But now they pay for scanning. And for a potential industrialist, there is a double benefit - sometimes you can stumble upon very rich deposits of minerals in places where you would hardly have reached yourself. After scanning the last asteroid, we will always have nineteen minutes to return and transmit information.

On a note: missions of this type stack up nicely and point to the same asteroids very often.

Economic tasks

The orange euro-like icon is them.

Transportation of passengers. Unlike taxi driver missions, here you need to transport several characters. Therefore, the requirements must be appropriate - a life support system and sufficient space on board. On the last one, you can pierce - people and other humanoids need a lot of space. Everything else is the same.

Cargo delivery. It looks like a very simple mission - the station needs a certain amount of some kind of goods. We deliver it on time - we get a reward. But it is often difficult to find the required amount of products in the vicinity. Although with a developed own empire and an extensive satellite network, this will no longer be a problem, but there will be no need for such an occupation either.

courier mission. There is no need to look for goods for delivery. We arrive at the supplier, load the goods, bring them to the place.

Purchase of a ship. This is not a mission, but an offer, as is the case with maps. You can make money right out of a vacuum. At the stations or right in space, you can meet those who want to shake off their trough. And at the same time, we will be interested in ... the shabby ship, and the less strength it has left, the better for us. We repair it and sell it at the nearest shipyard. Ideal candidates for purchase are M4 fighters, M3s and transports TP and TS are suitable, they can all be repaired with a suit. With M5 - too little profit.

On a note: so you can buy only those ships that are available to us at the shipyard. If a nation does not have enough rating, then there will simply be no line in the conversation.

Construction tasks

At the end of the landing corridor, a blue book is waiting for us - this is a story mission.

They are indicated by green bricks and can only be of one type - build the indicated station at a given point. The payment is solid - two or three million plus the cost of the station (you still need to buy it with your own money), but it is almost impossible to complete the task on a hired supertransport. It was thanks to these tasks that it made sense to buy a TL-class ship for yourself - an expensive purchase will quickly pay off. Just make sure to find a jump drive in advance, otherwise most of the construction missions will fail.

Story missions

They are marked with a blue book symbol. They can be absolutely any type of the above. But they cannot be canceled and there are no execution time limits, and failure will not be punished, but a new attempt will be offered. Sometimes a decent amount of time passes between missions - up to several game hours. The way out is to hang next to the station on SETA.

It is important: see the icon of the story mission - save in separate cell, as well as at the end of the current one. Due to an error in the scripts, a decent part of the tasks may simply be impassable. And there is only one way out - to roll back to the save point and take the mission again so that the scripts restart and work normally.

Spaceships

Any ship is a complex device with many characteristics.

Home - hull strength. Measured in strength points, or simply hit points, dropping them to zero means destruction. But even a partially damaged ship cannot operate with full efficiency - it receives speed penalties. If damage is received, equipment can be destroyed, and okay, if it turns out to be some kind of scanner, there may be multi-million dollar losses. And the loss of the singular compactor of time will make the subsequent journey very, very boring.

But when it comes to the body, the first blow is taken by shields. They can be of different capacities - 1 megajoule, 5, 25, 200, 2 gigajoules. What to put and in what quantity is determined only by the design of the ship, but the dependence on the size is direct - not every M5 will fit five, but for M4 they are just right. Smaller ones can be put in large cells - although this is quite an extreme measure in the absence of the desired size.

Shields recover over time, is responsible for this shield generator with a capacity of hundreds of megawatts on the M5 to ten gigawatts on the M1. The higher it is, the faster the process goes.

Weapon also depends on the size of the ship. M5 fighters can be equipped with maximum particle accelerators, and they will all look ahead, while M3 fighters will have much more powerful plasma cannons. All major ships use turrets, the player cannot control them directly, only by issuing commands from the combat software package. The ship can carry only those types of weapons that are provided for by the design.

Weapon batteries are limited in the amount of stored energy and can drain heavily when firing with powerful guns. Responsible for their restoration laser charging generator. This is not as powerful a device as the one that serves the shields - from thirty to eight hundred megawatts.

For aircraft carriers, it is also given hangar size. The class of fighters does not matter, each takes exactly one place.

These were fixed parameters, and subsequent ones will be under the player's partial control - they can be improved in equipment docks and at trading stations. Speed ships is given in meters per second. Acceleration - in meters per second squared. Handling - in revolutions of the ship around its axis per minute. BUT hold capacity - in arbitrary units, but in addition, the maximum class of cargo is indicated - from the smallest to the largest: S, M, L, XL.

Some ships are found in several modifications. They may differ from their counterparts for the better in speed, shields or generator power, but in other respects they can be slightly worse.

Ship classes

The light fighter "Kestrel" has excellent characteristics for its class, and it just looks predatory.

M5 light fighter. The weakest class of ships - they are equipped with the least formidable weapons, and the total power of the shields does not reach even a dozen megajoules. But it won't come without benefits. The size of light fighters is small, which in itself provides decent protection - however, if the M5 is hit by the main caliber of a corvette or a ship of a higher class, it is unlikely that it will survive this. High speed also adds survivability - large victims simply do not have time to turn around. The price justifies the durability - a boat with full equipment will cost one and a half hundred thousand credits. At the initial stage of the game, an escort of several M5s will often help in battles. And then the boats will come in handy as sector explorers and when performing some missions, although their role will be significantly reduced.

M4, medium fighter. Stronger than a light fighter, better armed, but larger and slower. However, ignoring this class of ships is not very reasonable - they can face one-on-one ships of several classes, from their younger brothers to the corvettes of most races. You will have to fly the M4 anyway, heavy fighters are quite expensive and require a certain rank to purchase (although this is less of a problem). But even then they will find application - in ordinary trading. Although the hold capacity is not so hot, but for the transport of materials of medium size “M” with a long production time, they will be the best fit, transports on these routes will go almost empty.

M3, heavy fighter. The pinnacle of technical thought of all races and the pride of the fighter fleet - more power, higher protection and ... speed is half that of a light fighter. Yes, it will become the main means of combat, but it is unlikely to be the only ship. A well-equipped M3 successfully and quickly butchers corvettes, its classmates and average M4s, but problems begin with the M5 - they are too fast for the clumsy carcass. In addition to the usual M3, each race can be found with heavier samples, they are unofficially called M3 +. In X3: Reunion, these were unique ships given out as rewards for completing quests, but now they can be built at shipyards. They will cost about five times more than conventional heavy fighters. All M3+ are equipped with a stern turret, and most of them also have a bow turret. This makes it possible to continuously fire at large targets, maneuvering and avoiding shelling, or to protect the ship from missiles and small ships.

M8, torpedo bomber or bomber. The new class of ships that appeared in the add-on is somewhat surprising. Torpedo bombers are armed only with a stern turret, which makes the forward hemisphere extremely vulnerable to the enemy. There is also no ability to carry conventional missiles, only heavy torpedoes to destroy capital ships and stations. Well, low speed completely puts an end to survival. So far, one application is seen - the formation of units based on an aircraft carrier, but this is an expensive pleasure.

On a note: in missions to protect M8 stations, they often give up, and two or three million is a very significant amount at the initial stage.

Disassemble the corvette on the M4 fighter? Just five minutes of dancing with death!

M6, corvette. The corvette is a small step forward compared to the heavy fighter. He is much stronger and better armed, so he is able to fend off a crowd of light and medium fighters, but is so clumsy that his survival is a big question. However, with a jump drive, this would no longer be a problem. Subsequently, corvettes can serve as anti-fighter cover for destroyers and aircraft carriers. There is one more feature - you can drop troops from corvettes to capture enemy ships. This can be done with the help of transport, but they are incomparable in terms of survivability.

M7, frigate. Another relatively new ship class in the game, it occupies a place between the corvette and the destroyer in the fleet hierarchy. Relatively - because the Paranid M7 Hyperion, the Supreme Pontiff's stolen personal yacht, can be obtained in one of the side branches of X3: Reunion. A frigate costs about half as much as a destroyer and requires a significantly lower rating to purchase. Can carry two fighters of any class. Some nations are building missile frigates instead of conventional frigates, their unofficial marking is M7M. They are slightly weaker in terms of firepower, but they are capable of carrying heavy missiles and, most importantly, throwing drop pods.

M2 destroyer. The most heavily armed ship in the game, with maximum shields and weapon generators. Destroyers no longer carry frontal weapons - only turrets, but in the amount of four dozen. The price for everything is appropriate - about a hundred million, with a variation of a dozen or two depending on the race. Only ships of the same class and frigates pose a threat to him, here the equipment and number of sides affect the outcome of the battle, and you can simply crush all the little things like corvettes, with such shields this will not be a problem.

M1, aircraft carrier. Although she is number one in the list of ships, even with approximately the same armament as a destroyer, she is inferior to her in shields and a weapon generator. But it contains a hangar for two or three dozen fighters, which together gives much more firepower. There are no special frills in battle tactics either, timely maneuvering is of greater importance.

TS, freight transport. What's new about the truck? Banal things - a large hold, low speed and maneuverability. But only they can carry very large (XL) cargoes - this is silicon, ore and some others. For protection, they can be equipped with shields with a total power of 75 to 125 megajoules and a stern turret for one medium-power gun. You can add active protection - combat drones and missiles. There are differences within the class - tankers are the cheapest, but the hold is also relatively small, transports are about twice as spacious and much more expensive.

Argon military transport "Magnitar" with its own squadron of fighters for all occasions.

TP, passenger transport. It has a three times smaller than a tanker and non-expandable hold, but it is immediately equipped with life support and comfort systems. For some missions, this particular type of vessel is required - when you need to transport a passenger in comfort or those who want to travel do not fit in a fighter. It is poorly adapted for the transportation of goods, but it can take part in the war, landing troops.

TM, military transport. Another, now a full-fledged novelty of the game. The hold is relatively small, but this is not its merit - depending on the race, you can install from one to five shields of 200 megajoules on the ship and equip both turrets with serious guns, a pair for each. But the advantages are not limited to this - in a small ship there is a hangar for four fighters. I must say that the use of TM is still very limited - it is unlikely that it will be able to survive the passage through hostile sectors, and as an ordinary transporter capable of protecting itself, it is inefficient and expensive. Strange, but the ship was deprived of one purely military feature, available at the same time to ordinary passenger buses - although it can carry five paratroopers, it did not receive the “boarding” command.

TL, large transport. The only vehicle in the game capable of transporting stations from the shipyard to the deployment point. He can be hired - for a ridiculous amount of a thousand credits per gate, he will deliver anything and anywhere. Well, if not through the Xenon or Khaak sector, of course. But now there is a reason to buy a ship of this type - and it's not so much time spent searching for TL, but the ability to recoup your own acquisition by completing missions.

Weapon

Weapon modifications alpha, beta and gamma have disappeared from the game. But at the same time, it did not become smaller - new samples were added for the old races of the universe, earthlings with their uniqueness made a great contribution to the diversity.

Each type of weapon is characterized by range, damage to shields and hull, rate of fire, charge flight speed and energy consumption.

Energy weapons. This includes all sorts of laser and plasma weapons (including the legendary H.E.P.T - High Energy Plasma Thrower), from the simple old pulse gun to the super-powerful electroplasma gun. They hit not with beams, but with clots of energy of a diverse nature, they discharge batteries faster than others. The choice is simple - we are looking for the maximum that is put on our ship (often this means acquiring a ship with maximum equipment - L).

Weapon with ammunition. Consumes much less energy than energy weapons, but requires ammo to function. The battery drains more slowly - more total damage. This type includes a fragmentation bomber. The weapon is good, but in order to use it, it is highly desirable to own a factory that produces the required type of ammunition. Terrestrial weapons like the matter/antimatter bomber will require you to constantly collect ammo.

For a fraction of a second, a star lit up in the universe - a large ship was sprayed into atoms.

Automatic gun. The translation does not immediately recognize that this is another legendary weapon of the game series - Mass Driver. It fires ammunition, but, unlike the samples from the previous paragraph, it completely ignores the shield, immediately destroying the hull.

Ion emitter. He is Ion Disruptor in his English past. The exact opposite of an automatic gun - removes shields for being healthy. Necessary weapon for landing.

Ionic pulse generator. Weapon number two for locking onto a target using boarding - desynchronizes the propulsion systems of the target ship, and it significantly reduces speed.

Anti-aircraft complexes. Heavy gun systems for frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers, designed for barrage against missiles and fighters.

Singular point projector. The development of earthly scientists, available only to their heavy ships: breaks the ships, sending their fragments to unknown distances through the gate system.

Power beam. Allows you to move objects even very large mass. For example, move the station or tow the ship.

Mobile drilling rig. Installed on a transport or a larger ship, it can extract minerals from asteroids, storing them in the hold.

Repair laser. Can be installed on a ship of the corvette class and above, which makes it possible to patch holes in the plating of allied ships on your own, and not pay large sums to the owners of the shipyard. The process is not very fast, but certainly more fun than working with a soldering iron in a spacesuit.

rockets become angrier, but still do not pose a particular threat. Small and fast ones won't do much harm, and most of the big ones move at the speed of a heavy fighter - you can just leave. Unless the opponents try to push them into the cockpit on a collision course, it is difficult to dodge this, but you can manage to shoot it down. This is scary at the very beginning of the game, but over time, missile defense will no longer cause serious concern, but will become another combat mission. Only missiles containing several warheads in one charge at once, such as the earthly Poltergeist, pose a serious danger. Shooting down half a dozen targets is very problematic, only barrage fire can protect against this.

Drones

In addition to rockets, ships can use drones - small and cheap robots. The most obvious type is combat, there are three types in the game universe. If there are several dozen of them, they are able to dismantle even a small flock of M3 + fighters. It is a must to equip transports with them. But their use is not limited to war. Meet and cargo drones - with their help, you can arrange fast delivery of small goods. The last type is reconnaissance, capable of transmitting information.

Ship upgrade

Expansion of the cargo compartment. With the help of space compression technology, station vehicles increase the capacity of the ship's hold. But each subsequent unit is added with more and more difficulty, and therefore costs much more. The number of upgrades is finite, although for transports it can be very large (and the latter can cost more than the ship itself).

Forcing the engine. Increases the maximum speed of the ship, sometimes very significantly - up to more than three times when fully upgraded. The cost also increases with each subsequent step, and their number depends on the type of ship.

Manageability improvement. Everything is similar, but after installing the device, the ship will begin to turn much faster in all planes.

Equipment

An interesting design for earth orbital protective stations. Could it be the Death Star laser lenses?

Singular compactor of time. A special device that changes the subjective perception of time by the pilot up to a tenfold compression, which makes flights not so tiring. But any intervention in the control of the ship disables it, as well as external dangers - from the appearance of an enemy ship to approaching an asteroid.

Accelerators. Significantly reduce the time to gain speed to maximum, and the opposite is true - to stop. It is worth putting it on any of your ships - it will be possible to maneuver more actively in battle, and for vehicles controlled by an autopilot with its endless stops and turns at right angles, this will give a decent gain in time on each flight.

Trading system with advanced features. A mandatory upgrade for a ship that the player himself flies. Allows you to access detailed information about resources and goods at stations in sectors where there is any property, and trade if there is our docked ship. Without it, you can find out only the approximate quantity of goods.

Trading software modules. A ship without these software modules is not able to buy and sell anything on its own. You can drive by the handle, each time indicating what to do, but as the fleet of trucks grows, this becomes tedious. The first two programs, TPM-1 and TPM-2, operate on ships assigned to the station. With their help, you can order to buy and sell goods at certain points or in an arbitrary place, but at the best prices. The third, TMP-3, is an expensive pleasure, it costs more than half a million credits. But on the other hand, it allows you to start your transport in the sector trader mode. The ship itself will evaluate the potential profit from a particular transaction and make the purchase and sale of the selected product. Over time, the level of the ship's pilot will increase and it will be possible to transfer it to one of two new modes: a sector merchant, but with the ability to move around the surrounding sectors with a given number of gates from a central point, or a galactic merchant without reference to the location.

Advice: it is better not to bind sector and galactic merchants to the bases, they can cancel orders.

Best seller guide And best buyer determiner. Software modules show where it is more profitable to buy and sell which goods in the sector, thereby saving the player from the routine viewing of all information. They are not so cheap to start the game, for a pair you will have to pay for forty-five thousand credits, and subsequently the trade will fall on the shoulders of artificial intelligence under our command.

So, sitting in the pilot's seat, we manage our empire.

Combat software modules. These software packages are in charge of fleet management - commands to attack the target, protect, and so on. They are also necessary to set the parameters for the functioning of turrets, including on transports.

Special software module. An inexpensive upgrade is needed to clean up battlefields in automatic mode. Usually there is a considerable amount of missiles, and sometimes weapons, which take a long time to collect, but all this stuff costs a lot.

Navigation software module. It would be more correct to call it research. It gives ships three options - to enter the gate, which is important for sectors that have not yet been opened, to reconnoiter sectors and to set up a network of navigation satellites. A little more about the second - a point on the map is set, it must be the center of the map (to select it, you need to select the “ships” tab) or a stationary object, and then the research radius. The ship will spin around the sphere and fix all objects. With the growth of the given radius, the time spent on this grows exponentially. The task should be given to a fast ship equipped with a C-3 scanner - the process will go much faster. The last step is to create a network of satellites. Here, too, everything is simple, we load the desired relay devices into the ship and give the order. You will need to select a point, this, again, is a station in the starting sector or zero coordinates.

On a note: The Perfect Scout Ship is a new addition to Teladian shipbuilding, the Kestrel. M5 with a speed of more than six hundred meters per second and a class volume hold for class M cargo.

Advice: the plane of the ecliptic is not the best place for a satellite, you never know what happens and what kind of enemy wanders in. Therefore, the first satellite should be hung manually with an offset of thirty kilometers up or down from the center, and it should already be set as a coordinate point for placement.

Supply software module. A ship with such a module will work in the sector and provide the ships with the specified goods. For example, you can give out batteries or equip ships with guns.

Aircraft carrier software module. A very simple program that adds only two commands - attack or return. But, perhaps, this is the only action that is easier to perform with personal flight control, especially if there are different types of fighters on board.

Khaaki unsuccessfully chose the target for the attack, where are they against the Argon "Titan" ...

Patrol software module. Added the ability to set ships to patrol a sector. Very handy in potentially dangerous places where our transports roam. But combat missions must be issued in accordance with their own combat rating - it makes no sense to send an M3 group if a frigate can come.

Ore Collector. Allows you to extract minerals from asteroids without building a mine. But this is only one component of the system, software, the second is a mobile drilling rig installed in the weapon cell of some ships.

Jump engine. One of the best inventions in the universe - allows you to move to any known sector. Gives a huge time saving for the player, facilitates trading operations and the implementation of many missions, allows you to respond to attacks. Eats batteries, consumption depends on the number of gates between points.

It is important: you can’t jump into the earth sectors - they simply don’t have gates.

Docking computer. Another improvement that makes life easier for the player by eliminating routine procedures. After installation, there will be no need to perform a tedious landing procedure every time.

Scanner S-2,scanner S-3. Otherwise, duplex and triplex scanners give an increase in the viewing radius by two or three times compared to the base model.

cargo scanner. Allows you to see what the ships are carrying so interesting. Needed to complete missions, including story missions. If the ship is carrying smuggled goods, after scanning it blushes with shame and attacks us - you can safely destroy the pirate. It is worth remembering that this procedure will be considered illegal without a police license of the race - the owner of the sector and will hit the rating.

Mineral Scanner. From a distance of ten kilometers, it allows you to determine what kind of mineral and in what quantity is contained in the asteroid. It is necessary both for the development of one's own business and for the performance of geological exploration missions, which can be safely combined.

Bioscanner. Now, to determine the presence of passengers on board, a conventional scanner is not enough, if you please, buy another device. But it will show who is on the ship.

Drop capsule. Allows you to send paratroopers to the boarding in fives, and not one by one in space suits.

It is better to watch such a battle from afar and through video glasses, a fighter does not belong there.

Conveyor. A small portal that helps the pilot move between ships where it is installed. The only condition is that the distance should be no more than five kilometers. It is useful to keep this in both the merchant and the escort fighter.

Life supporting system. Transportation of passengers is possible on any ship, but they, with the exception of the TP class, need to be equipped with a life support system. In fact, it opens access to three types of missions.

Remote access system. Allows you to access abandoned enemy ships without having to go out into open space in a space suit. But all races have a very persistent prejudice.

Video Glasses. A system that allows multiple magnification of an image. With its help, you can see enemies a hundred kilometers away or just take beautiful screenshots.

Insurance. Allows you to save the game directly in space, and not just at stations. Pleasure costs quite affordable money - three thousand at a time, but you need to stock up on lucky X-fear tickets in advance.

Police licenses. Upon reaching a rating of plus three, you can purchase this inexpensive document. Firstly, it will provide an opportunity to scan ships with impunity. And secondly, for each enemy they pay a small reward.

On a note: earthlings do not have a police license or its equivalent. However, it is extremely rare for them to meet enemy ships, and if anyone wanders, local patrols have enough strength to destroy him.

Series X has always been focused on a special class of players. Those who dreamed of flying in free space back in the 80s and played . And those who came to the need for this only now, in the days of powerful computers and realistic graphics. Players who were not satisfied with the straightforwardness of most spacesims, and for whom it turned out to be a pathetic attempt to portray the degree of freedom that was not really there.

In the Universe X more freedom than you can use. You can buy a light fighter and go in search of trouble. Not satisfied with one ship? Acquire or capture an entire fleet, and be remembered and feared by all the pirates in the area. Or you can become a pirate yourself. Tired of fighting alone - complete missions for some race. Or start trading. Organize your personal star corporation. Build a factory, after all. Why is there a plant - a whole factory for processing sunlight and ore into spaceships.

And it is this permissiveness that frightens many. You can do everything, and the absence of the usual indicators "go there", "do this", "kill those" at first leaves one in a state of shock. Approximately the same as they used to confuse and. Instead of pulling a stubborn player by the ears, the main story shows a rough map of the area, goals, and with the words "well, I'm off to go", disappears. You have to turn around to understand at least something.

Extermination of pirates in a new space.

That is exactly what happened in the case. We were kicked out into outer space - say thank you for being in a ship, and not just through an airlock - and forced to think. For example, about how to complete the storyline task of destroying a bunch of enemies, having only a half-dead ship with weak weapons. Gradually, by methodically smearing yourself across the cosmos, the right decision came: first, get yourself something better, then move on with the story.

But in Terran Conflict things are a bit different. The developers did not dare to apply Newtonian physics in the game, instead projecting its principles onto the logic of plot construction. It's better to push the player a little at the beginning than to let him float freely, and only then "accelerate". In the early stages of the game, the story controls almost everything, although it is still easy to break its shackles. Then it disappears somewhere. And the timeline starts exactly where it ended in . At a meeting with earthlings. You didn’t think that everything would end with universal fraternization and reconciliation, did you? Several heterogeneous races, unable to properly establish relations with each other, met with the inhabitants of the Earth, who also never distinguished themselves by an excess of politeness. Hence the "conflict". However, things will not come to a serious brawl. In the end, earthlings are not Khaaki with their completely alien mind.

The improvements, meanwhile, are not limited to simply moving forward in chronology. Instead of one and a half scenarios from (the main story and Bala Gi missions), players will be offered a choice of as many as five campaigns. The main, that is, the most comfortable for the first passage, is for the United Earth Command, the navy. But far from the whole plot revolves around the Earth, despite the telling name of the add-on. All sectors from the original were included in the game, although some have undergone some changes. And in the list of new, in addition to the solar system, there are several more interesting places.

If we leave aside the plot intrigue, there will still be a lot of important innovations. By the way, a significant part of them was borrowed by developers from the creators of mods for, in particular, Xtended. In fact, Egosoft just hired a significant portion of the people who worked on this update. So now, for example, on some ships it is allowed to place a boarding team, with which you can even capture an aircraft carrier. True, the paratroopers in the process of assault are not too accurate, so then the captured giant will then have to be repaired for a long time and thoroughly. For a lot of money or manually, using a repair laser. This is also a novelty - the laser is attached to your spacesuit: if the ship is seriously battered in the last battle, but there is no money for repairs, you can go into outer space and patch up the trough with your own hands. Slow, but reliable. And on a cruiser or an aircraft carrier in this way you can crawl for more than one hour. Yes, by the way, there are more ships and weapons. A lot more. There are no exact figures, but there are many dozens of items. There is something to study at your leisure.

Busy, like a Hong Kong market.

And at this time, your opponents will not sleep. And it's not so much about fighting, but about the financial part of the universe. In the updated galaxy, "independent" corporations have bred, capable of not only harming the little things, but also completely blocking the player's trading operations at an early stage. Fighting slow-moving Rogue Traders is a thing of the past, now try to deal with these economic giants. Or you can not fight with them, instead, fulfilling their missions and receiving tangible rewards.

About the economy in the universe X3 you can talk for a long time, and even more time needs to be spent on its full study, so players should draw specific conclusions about changes in it on their own. In general, the new economic model looks even more interesting than the old one, although no really serious amendments were made to it. Still, you can build an entire financial empire on your own, only there are even more opportunities for this.

Bad moment: X known for the glorious tradition of "bringing to mind" after the release with the help of patches. Now, despite all the efforts of the developers, the game has enough unpleasant, albeit small, bugs. They are mainly related to story scripts, but there are different ones. There's nothing to make the story unplayable, but it does take away some of the fun.

Finally, a few words about management and interface. Many fans of the series rated the changes in it as unsuccessful, but this is most likely caused by the habit of the old version. Beginners should love it. The game's controls have always suffered from some simplification, but in the end, the non-arcade space sim is just a sham for now.

Light bulb in space? This alerts us to the availability of tasks at the base.

***

Not a game to skip if the words "free space" appeal to you. This is a rare opportunity to go into a world that is almost more alive than the world around us. Similar "unreal reality" simulators are rare, and the series X is one of the best, if not the best, example.

Several hours of play X3 make you remember the old childhood desire to become an astronaut. Probably not so bad if you compare it, for example, with the dream of being a successful businessman. And best of all - both at the same time. We load a full hold of silicon wafers, and forward to the stars. Most importantly, don't run into Teladi.

Pros: improved graphics; new ships, new territories and opportunities.
Minuses: plot disorientation; bugs.

X 3: Terran Conflict is not just an add-on, but the last game in the history of the X universe. During the gaming events, several decades have passed, and in our time - only nine. Representatives of Egosoft said that they have reached the ceiling and it is no longer possible to make the game better. Let's see how their words correspond to the truth.

What are games in the universe "X" - spaceship simulators or complex economic strategies? Controversial question. Some players believe that building factories and trading is just an appendage to the combat component, while others believe that ship combat is an addition to the art of making a profit. And everyone will be right - everyone will find in the game exactly what he wants to do himself.

You can, sitting in the cockpit of a fighter, hang on the tail of an enemy ship and water it with all the guns. Or watch the battle progress from the bridge of an aircraft carrier, giving instructions to your destroyers and sending fighter squadrons to support them. But you might as well sit in the pilot's chair of a truck slowly crawling from station to station and give orders to your large merchant fleet.

Friendlier than ancestors

There are quite a few differences from X 3: Reunion, mainly they relate to the convenience of the players. The first thing that catches your eye is the new interface. For most experienced pilots, it will be unusual, up to the statements "worse than the old one", but fans of the old days can return the classic display through Shift + N. It certainly cannot be called an ideal interface - it takes up to a dozen keystrokes to call a function. The mouse significantly reduces body movements, but it is superfluous in itself with a joystick.

One of the most interesting finds is the in-game encyclopedia. It replenishes as you explore the world. We met a ship - an article appeared with its description, got acquainted with a new race - the same thing, found a factory with a new product - and they will fall into the treasury of knowledge. Another would be to add functionality, and it would turn out to be a wonderful tool. Developers do not seem to live in isolation and should know about window interfaces and hyperlinks, but there is nothing of this in the encyclopedia. Everything is the old fashioned way - we looked at the ship, recorded the information, we are studying the next one.

The biggest breakthrough is the quest system. Before, as it was, he flew into the sector, got on a fighter jet, drove around all the stations and re-read the bulletin boards. Doing it is boring, and few people have taken it seriously. Now potential missions are visible directly from space - they are indicated by large colored icons. It is enough to fly up and talk to the customer. Yes, there are more tasks.

For any mission from the list, you can enable guidance, the target will be highlighted with an orange cursor. And if you need to move to another sector, the color of the gate frame will change. Depending on the tasks, asteroids, ships and stations can be allocated.

Another nice little thing - after the destruction of the enemy, not the nearest object, but the enemy gets into the sight, so there is no need to urgently choose a new victim.

Universe News

A very serious change in the gameplay is the appearance of paratroopers and everything connected with them. Now ships can and should be captured, for which a new “product” has appeared - paratroopers and mercenaries, which, in principle, are one and the same, only they are recruited in different places.

At the end of the landing corridor, a blue book is waiting for us - this is a story mission.

You can board ships only from corvettes, passenger transports and some frigates. And to capture - only military vessels of medium and large size (with the exception of fighters) and huge trucks.

The process is not simple - first you need to remove the shields from the victim ship and in no case allow them to recover even by a percentage of the maximum, then reduce its speed. We throw out paratroopers either one by one, or in a landing capsule, five fighters at a time. The second option is both faster and safer, they need to dig through the case once for everyone, and not for each individually. After opening the plating, our heroes get to the lower deck, and "only" they will have to go through all the bulkheads (from two to five, depending on the type of ship) to the command cabin. If they succeed, they begin to break the computer, and the successful completion of this procedure transfers the ship under our control. It remains to repair the broken bulkheads - and you can send the trophy to the shipyard or enter it into your squadron.

It also happens that the meeting committee is stronger than our paratroopers; so that they do not die, they can be recalled. Then they will try to return to the lifeboat, or they will leave the ship through the nearest airlock, and we will have to pick them up in space.

Paratroopers can and should be trained to increase efficiency - the success of actions and survival depend on their skills. We send the ship to the equipment dock, select a skill, pay money and fly about our business, and then they will send us an invitation to the prom.

In addition to such a global innovation, many small additions and changes have appeared.

• A new race with their ships and weapons - earthlings.
• Several complex storylines. It is rather problematic to pass them with a swoop on the initial ship, as in previous games in the series.
• Two new classes of ships have been added, and two more, which appeared in episodes in Reunion, have become "full inhabitants" of the universe.
• You no longer need to turn off the shield to pick up containers - such a small relief of the game. But another problem arose - objects thrown out of a standing ship immediately end up in the hold.
• Enemies are now equipped no worse than you: if three shields of two hundred each should be, then they almost certainly will be, not like in Reunion, when their total power usually slightly exceeded half the face value. The same applies to weapons - corvettes with particle accelerators no longer exist in nature, they are put on something more appropriate to their class.
• The normal time measurement systems returned to the game - seconds, minutes, hours and days instead of the Teladian scale of stazur and mizur.
• You can repair ships yourself. Small ones - with the help of a repair laser in their spacesuit, and large ones - with its analogue installed on a corvette or a larger vessel.
• Fixed balance holes that were present in the form of strange combinations of weapons and ships, such as medium yaqui fighters with overly thick shields.

Economy

Whichever path we choose, the game's economy will live on. Solar stations regularly produce batteries, mines - ore and silicon, simple goods are created from the initial resources, then more complex ones, and at the end of the chain - the final product, weapons. Computer transports transport goods between factories and trading stations. All this is calculated throughout the universe at once, nothing is drawn when the player appears.

But the whole colossus is not very balanced (not a reproach, since this is how it is conceived): shields are produced somewhere, heavy guns somewhere, and satellites somewhere else. Moreover, it is significantly vulnerable - if some goods are missing, then there were reasons for that and there will be consequences. Perhaps the transport could not deliver him to the trading station. Or he did not bring resources due to high demand at other enterprises. Or maybe they are not around at all now - because the supplier station was blown up by xenons.

The initial task of the player is to competently integrate into the system so that he has something to supply his enterprises and where to sell the goods. Much later, when free money appears, it will be possible to build huge production complexes, set up trading stations to sell their products throughout the universe. Then it will be possible to say that the entire economy of the world is under our control.

On a note: in truth, computer opponents are in a slightly better position than the player. Their solar power plant makes batteries out of vacuum, crystals are just an additional resource that speeds up work. And for the player - the main one, without it, energy production will stop.

Races and factions

• Earthlings. Relative newbies to the game, but not to the gaming universe. A millennium ago, their planetary terraforming project led to a catastrophe of truly cosmic proportions, its echoes are still felt today. They themselves found themselves in isolation, and only recently communication with the world "X" was restored. Earthlings are paranoid, they have only one gate leading to the border sector, and on their territory they use special accelerators. Hundreds of years of loneliness did not pass without a trace - their weapons and missiles are not compatible with any of the races. Well, although the shields are universal, it makes life easier.

It is important: terrestrial shipyards do not produce stations at all, and therefore their economy is very vulnerable. A factory that has disappeared from the map can deprive a player of equipment or completely paralyze the production of a nation. And even without any excesses, earthlings have big supply problems - if you win back a native of our planet, you will have to wander around the solar system a lot in purchasing weapons for each of your ships.

• Argonians. Descendants of the astronauts of the fleet of Admiral Nathan R. Gunn, who saved the Earth from final destruction, and the colonists of Alpha Centauri, who purposefully forgot about their roots. Now it is a prosperous republic, perhaps the most serious force in the universe. Perhaps the ships of other races are superior to the Argon ones in some respects, but no one else has been able to achieve such a balance of speed, protection and firepower.
• Harrows. Formed thousands of years ago in the swamps of their home planet, the race is not at all inclined to war. It is very likely that the harrows would even have been destroyed by the Splits, if not for the help of long-time allies - the Argonians. Despite their pacifist sentiments, they are not at all against returning the territories lost during that conflict and are actually at war. Formally, Boron is a kingdom, the inhabitants are very proud of their ruler, but in fact the parliament rules the empire.
• Paranids. A strange and closed race lives according to its strict religious laws under the control of the Supreme Pontiff, but this does not mean complete isolation. At one time they were on the side of the splits in the Boron conflict. Their relations with the harrows and the Argonians are now more than lukewarm, but trade is going on with might and main.
• Splits. Aggressive humanoids by the standards of other races are not very smart - they are always the first to get into a fight. This brought them to a state of pre-war tension with all races - the Argonians and Borons have been cold to them since the conflict, they despise the Teladi dealers, and managed to squabble with their old allies the Paranid during the Xenon conflict. It may seem surprising that at the same time splits do not fight with xenons. But this is not the result of a conspiracy, as some representatives of other races believe, but the result of the same aggressiveness: this is nothing more than the neutrality of the parties aware of the mutual power.
• Teladi. Cunning lizards are able to sell snow in winter and hot air in summer. For them, the most important thing in life is money and profit. It comes to the fact that the state directly determines the position of the Teladi in society: their government is organized according to the joint-stock principle. Because of such values, Teladi are simply not liked, although they tolerate their presence. It is no coincidence that they are suspected of conspiring with pirates, which does not add to their credibility.
• xenons. Few people in the universe know that this is not a race at all, but the old earthly terraformers that have gained intelligence due to a software failure. It is useless to negotiate with them, because they know only one thing - to kill. According to scientists, their level of intelligence is constantly growing, but it is difficult to imagine what this will bring to the universe - new problems or an opportunity to get in touch.
• Khaaki. As hostile as the xenons, but even less knowledge of them among sentient races. It is not known who they are and where they came from, but their appearance only means a hot space battle. Oddly shaped Khaak ships are more dangerous than their intelligent "classmates" - they ignore the laws of physics and are able to instantly change direction. But there are also vulnerabilities - they move in large clusters, and not one by one, and therefore are relatively easy to destroy even at the time of the group's collapse.
• Pirates. It is difficult to call them even a stable faction - this is a gathering of representatives of all races, self-organizing into clans. The strongest build their own pirate bases with a powerful fleet, from where they attack the surrounding sectors.
• Yaks. This is a real pirate empire on the outskirts of civilization, with a fleet of ships of its own design. In their thirty years of existence, they have become a threat not only to lone traders, but to the entire Argon fleet.
• Goners. Nayana Gann, the admiral's great-granddaughter, found the records of her ancestor and, with like-minded people, began to search for a way to her homeland. They find the gates of the Earth and, with the help of the facts obtained, attract new supporters, and then publish the "Book of Truth", which sets out the facts about the history of mankind. Now it is a large organization, somewhat similar to a religious cult. The duty of the goners is to carry information about the Earth to other races. They deny the use of weapons.

Corporations

In addition to the races in the game, you can meet eight corporations and work for them. One of them is known - Terracorp. The remaining seven are OTAS, JSDD (Jonferco), PTNI (Nividium Mining and Manufacturing Corporation), Plutarh Mining Corporation, Atreus Shipbuilding Currents, Split Strong Arms and Duke's Buccaneers.

Rating system

The player's relationship with races and corporations is determined by reputation. Initially, the locals are neutral - you don't touch us, we don't touch you. There are almost no rights either. If we start trading and completing tasks, the attitude towards us will improve, and piracy and mission failures will lead to the opposite effect. A high reputation with a race is an opportunity to acquire ships of a higher level and technological factories.

In addition to relationships, there are two ratings. The trading one grows with each purchase and sale; there was no particular sense in it. Much more important than combat - it, as in all games in the series, determines the strength of the enemy fleet. Where a medium fighter appears in an easy mission for a beginner, at least a corvette will be put up against a veteran pilot. But that's not all - the payment for almost all missions, with the exception of economic missions, depends on the combat rating.

Tasks

One of the most notable changes in the game is the quest system. If earlier they were issued on bulletin boards (BBS), and to view them it was necessary to fly around each station, now, in the age of high technology, everything happens by radio. Tasks are issued by the characters on board, and if they have something interesting for us, an icon will appear next to the outline in space or the name on the sector map. We fly up to twenty-five kilometers, contact and discuss the details.

On a note: the icon can only be of one type, and the tasks inside are several different. Therefore, it will not be superfluous to view the list of visitors to the station.

Almost all non-story tasks must be completed in a limited time. Did not have time to do it in time - failure and loss of reputation with the race or corporation. For successful completion, the attitude towards the player will naturally improve.

For any of the tasks, you can turn on tracking - a kind of targeting. The gate or object we need on the map will be marked with an orange frame.

Combat missions

Marked with a red crosshair.

• Convoy escort. Transports in space ask for help all the time. The task is to guide several TS-class ships, usually three, through the gate to the adjacent sector. As soon as we take the task, the xenon or khaak attack immediately begins. Transports, of course, are decently armed - they always have three shields for twenty-five megajoules, a stern turret, combat drones and rockets, but with a high combat rating of the player, all this is carried by enemies in a matter of seconds. So the mission can be done either as a beginner - and then our escorts will also serve as good fire support, or already having acquired a large fleet. But seriously, the main enemy here is the quirks of the autopilot, which, instead of jumping into the gate, can cut circles in the hope of getting “somehow more comfortable”, and the enemies circling around completely drive him crazy.
• Escort. Unlike the previous one, it is issued at the stations and sounds a little different - fly to the specified sector and bring the specified ship from there. The probability of an attack is not one hundred percent. For some reason it is very rare.
• Murder. Some tasks - a request to eliminate a thief or a criminal who has escaped from prison. At first, everything is simple - we take the task, the letter indicates the model of the ship and the location of the victim in one of the surrounding sectors, we fly and kill. The target is blue, slow and not at all aggressive. Later, an escort of several pirate ships will begin to appear around the "peaceful" victim. Sometimes the mission becomes more complicated - first you need to meet with the agent, and already he will give information about the goal.

On a note: the mission can be failed not only when the time runs out, but also if the target dies without our participation, for example, when attacking xenons.

• Station protection. It is best to complete this task with fighters up to the heaviest - their firepower is better controlled than that of larger ones, and two random hits on the station put it into the category of enemies. The task is to destroy all pirate ships attacking the protected object. There will be no problems, because the mission is on the verge of a scam: space corsairs on fighter jets are hammering the station until we take them seriously. That is, they can be shot one at a time, recovering and even being repaired between single battles. With corvettes it is somewhat more difficult - they generally fire at everything that moves within reach. But M6 should be killed only in the second place, in the first place - M8 torpedo bombers. The mission will become much more difficult with a decent battle rating, since small ships at the beginning of the game simply cannot destroy the station. In addition to the destruction of the protected object, the mission is also considered failed when leaving the sector.

Advice: turn off the turrets or switch them to defense against missiles so as not to hit the station.

• Patrolling a sector or sectors. Oh yeah! Money-money-money-money... The price tag for the mission does not really matter, we are paid extra solid sums for each destroyed enemy. In fact, the battle is only in the first of the sectors that need to be patrolled, in the rest, if any, you just need to stay for a while. Interestingly, the mission has no time limits - as we do, so we will do. And it is very problematic to fail it - even if we do not destroy a single ship, the money will still be paid to us, even if they will swear at our insolvency. And you can easily leave without additional reward - sometimes there are too many assistants in the destruction of enemies. Therefore, it is necessary to deal with the largest and most delicious goals, and then finish off the trifle.

It is important: if you fly twenty-five kilometers from the nearest of the ships, the completion of the task in the sector will be counted, even if there remains a huge enemy fleet, and money for their destruction will no longer be given.

On a note: do not cheat by taking several combat missions, there will be no gain in money. If a mission enemy ship attacks the station, then there will be no bounty for its head when patrolling the sector. But two patrol or defense missions in the same sector will be useful on high difficulty - the enemies will begin to destroy each other.

• Sector protection. It looks like a patrol, but it will be possible to take it only in sectors bordering on enemy ones. Therefore, it will not be pirates who will attack, but only khaakis or xenons. The reward, however, is exactly the same - the higher the class of the destroyed ship, the greater the amount will go to our bank account.

On a note: you can earn money for new ships and equipment by one combat missions, but for this you need to complete only the tasks of the last two types.

Research and reconnaissance assignments

The most voluminous group of tasks is marked with a white light bulb.

• Sale of sector maps. Yes, oddly enough, sector maps are sold under the guise of a mission. And if you just press the same buttons to view the offer, you can easily give money for already known information. So you have to read what they write. Usually cards of three or four sectors are offered, you can take them all at once or just one. Two - it is no longer possible, the icon disappears. Buying in bulk is cheaper - all information costs a little more than the most expensive of the single offers.
• Return the abandoned ship. Somewhere in the surrounding sectors there is an abandoned shabby ship, you need to approach it and capture it, going out into outer space in a spacesuit. When taking on a mission, you need to look at the time - this is a good indicator of how far away the target is. At the very beginning, doing such tasks is a pleasure. The ships are small, they can be quickly repaired with a laser from a spacesuit and immediately sent to the desired station. Further - more difficult, as the ships become larger and slower, it is no longer possible to repair them for speed. But there is a way out here too - the presence of a hangar and a jump drive makes tasks easy to complete. If the time runs out, the ship will be put on the wanted list, soon a certain number of policemen will materialize around it and destroy it. If you really want to get it into your possession, you can hide it at the nearest station and kill the policemen who are thirsty for it. But this can only be done with a very high rating, since the fine will be huge.

Advice: if you feel like you're running out of time, it's best to just cancel the mission and the ship will disappear. For a failure in time will lead to a very large penalty to the race rating, otherwise you will get off with a small one.

• Retrieve the stolen ship. The mission is very difficult, unlike the previous one. The ship does not stand still, but is very successfully piloted by some kind of enemy and flies away further and further. But this is a good way to train your paratroopers, you only need to knock the shields off the target, and you can hit a little to reduce speed. When the ship is captured, we repair it and send it or take it to the customer's station. Under no circumstances should a ship be destroyed, it gives a huge rating loss.
• Follow the ship. An easy mission, but requires patience. We move to the indicated point, find the target and keep from it at a distance of about three kilometers. Closer than two - the target becomes worried and, upon reaching the maximum, leaves on a jump drive. Goes into the gate further than five, - a failure for the loss of the object will be counted. And the positive outcome of the mission is when the target docks with the station. For this mission, a very fast ship, such as the Teladian M5 Kestrel with its engine boosted to the maximum, is suitable.
• Deliver the ship. Another similar mission, but this time we will need to buy a ship with our hard-earned money, and then send it to the customer. They can either ask for a specific model, or, which is simpler, there are only requirements for the nation and class - for example, the earthly M4. If the mission is of average or higher difficulty, then you need to put high-speed improvements on the ship right away, otherwise it will simply not have time to reach the goal. However, the option of transportation is also not excluded. A separate question is the amount of the reward, it must be very solid, because they pay us not the full cost of the ship, but only seventy percent of its price.
• Passenger with documents (high-speed taxi). The customer needs to urgently take the documents, so he agrees to go as it will. There is only one requirement besides time - the ship must be equipped with a life support system. In general, these are very easy missions, and they bring good money.
• Passenger-traveler (high-speed taxi). Unlike the previous mission, the client wants to be delivered to the desired point not in a cramped cockpit of a fighter, but in a comfortable cabin of a passenger transport. It is much more difficult to complete it - the time requirements are about the same, but TPs crawl much more slowly. Yes, and buying a bus for such missions is a controversial decision.

On a note: The countdown starts from the moment all the conditions for passenger boarding are met, that is, when the required ship docks with him at the station.

• Scan asteroids. Now this occupation cannot be left at the mercy of your ships, only to be done personally. But now they pay for scanning. And a potential industrialist has a double benefit - sometimes you can stumble upon very rich deposits of minerals in places where he would hardly have reached. After scanning the last asteroid, we will always have nineteen minutes to return and transmit information.

On a note: missions of this type stack up nicely and point to the same asteroids very often.

Economic tasks

What to do? .. Time is running out, combat missions can be combined.

The euro-like orange icon is them.

• Transportation of passengers. Unlike taxi driver missions, here you need to transport several characters. Therefore, the requirements must be appropriate - a life support system and sufficient space on board. On the last one, you can pierce - people and other humanoids need a lot of space. Everything else is the same.
• Cargo delivery. It looks like a very simple mission - the station needs a certain amount of some kind of goods. We deliver it on time - we get a reward. But it is often difficult to find the required amount of products in the vicinity. Although with a developed own empire and an extensive satellite network, this will no longer be a problem, but there will be no need for such an occupation either.
• courier mission. There is no need to look for goods for delivery. We arrive at the supplier, load the goods, bring them to the place.
• Purchase of a ship. This is not a mission, but an offer, as is the case with maps. You can make money right out of a vacuum. At the stations or right in space, you can meet those who want to shake off their trough. And at the same time, we will be interested in ... the shabby ship, and the less strength it has left, the better for us. We repair it and sell it at the nearest shipyard. Ideal candidates for purchase are M4 fighters, M3 and TP and TS transports are suitable, they can all be repaired with a suit. With M5 - too little profit.

On a note: so you can buy only those ships that are available to us at the shipyard. If a nation does not have enough rating, then there will simply be no line in the conversation.

Construction tasks

They are indicated by green bricks and can only be of one type - build the indicated station at a given point. The payment is solid - two or three million plus the cost of the station (you still need to buy it with your own money), but it is almost impossible to complete the task on a hired supertransport. It was thanks to these tasks that it made sense to buy a TL-class ship for yourself - an expensive purchase will quickly pay off. Just make sure to find a jump drive in advance, otherwise most of the construction missions will fail.

Story missions

They are marked with a blue book symbol. They can be absolutely any type of the above. But they cannot be canceled and there are no execution time limits, and failure will not be punished, but a new attempt will be offered. Sometimes a decent amount of time passes between missions - up to several game hours. Exit - hang next to the station on SETA.

It is important: you see the story mission icon - save to a separate cell, as well as at the end of the current one. Due to an error in the scripts, a decent part of the tasks may simply be impassable. And there is only one way out - to roll back to the save point and take the mission again so that the scripts restart and work normally.

Spaceships

Any ship is a complex device with many characteristics.

Home - hull strength. Measured in strength points, or simply hit points, dropping them to zero means destruction. But even a partially damaged ship cannot operate with full efficiency - it receives speed penalties. If damage is received, equipment can be destroyed, and okay, if it turns out to be some kind of scanner, there may be multi-million dollar losses. And the loss of the singular compactor of time will make the subsequent journey very, very boring.

But when it comes to the body, the first blow is taken by shields. They can be of different capacities - 1 megajoule, 5, 25, 200, 2 gigajoules. What to put and in what quantity is determined only by the design of the ship, but the dependence on the size is direct - not every M5 will fit five, but for M4 they are just right. Smaller ones can be placed in large cells - although this is quite an extreme measure in the absence of the desired size.

Shields recover over time, is responsible for this shield generator with a capacity of hundreds of megawatts on the M5 to ten gigawatts on the M1. The higher it is, the faster the process goes.

Weapon also depends on the size of the ship. On M5 fighters, you can put as many particle accelerators as possible, and they will all look ahead, and on M3 - already much more powerful plasma guns. All major ships use turrets, the player cannot control them directly, only by issuing commands from the combat software package. The ship can carry only those types of weapons that are provided for by the design.

Weapon batteries are limited in the amount of stored energy and can drain heavily when firing with powerful guns. Responsible for their restoration laser charging generator. This is not as powerful a device as the one that serves the shields - from thirty to eight hundred megawatts.

For aircraft carriers, it is also given hangar size. The class of fighters does not matter, each takes exactly one place.

These were fixed parameters, and subsequent ones will be under the partial control of the player - they can be improved in equipment docks and at trading stations. Speed ships is given in meters per second. Acceleration - in meters per second squared. Handling - in revolutions of the ship around its axis per minute. BUT hold capacity - in conventional units, but in addition, the maximum class of cargo is indicated - from the smallest to the largest: S, M, L, XL.

Some ships are found in several modifications. They may differ from their counterparts for the better in speed, shields or generator power, but in other respects they can be slightly worse.

Ship classes

• M5 light fighter. The weakest class of ships - they are equipped with the least formidable weapons, and the total power of the shields does not reach even a dozen megajoules. But it won't come without benefits. The size of light fighters is small, which in itself provides decent protection - however, if the M5 is hit by the main caliber of a corvette or a ship of a higher class, it is unlikely that it will survive this. High speed also adds survivability - large victims simply do not have time to turn around. The price justifies the durability - a boat with full equipment will cost one and a half hundred thousand credits. At the initial stage of the game, an escort of several M5s will often help in battles. And then the boats will come in handy as sector explorers and when performing some missions, although their role will be significantly reduced.
• M4, medium fighter. Stronger than a light fighter, better armed, but larger and slower. However, it is not very reasonable to ignore this class of ships - they can face one-on-one ships of several classes, from their younger brothers to the corvettes of most races. You will have to fly the M4 anyway, heavy fighters are quite expensive and require a certain rank to purchase (although this is less of a problem). But even then they will find application - in ordinary trade. Although the hold capacity is not so hot, but for the transport of materials of medium size “M” with a long production time, they will be the best fit, transports on these routes will go almost empty.
• M3, heavy fighter. The pinnacle of technical thought of all races and the pride of the fighter fleet - more power, higher protection and ... speed is half that of a light fighter. Yes, it will become the main means of combat, but it is unlikely to be the only ship. A well-equipped M3 successfully and quickly butchers corvettes, its classmates and average M4s, but problems begin with the M5 - they are too fast for a clumsy carcass. In addition to the usual M3, each race can be found with heavier samples, they are unofficially called M3 +. In X 3: Reunion, these were unique ships given out as rewards for completing quests, but now they can be built at shipyards. They will cost about five times more than conventional heavy fighters. All M3+ are equipped with a stern turret, and most are also equipped with a bow turret. This makes it possible to continuously fire at large targets, maneuvering and avoiding shelling, or to protect the ship from missiles and small ships.
• M8, torpedo bomber or bomber. The new class of ships that appeared in the add-on is somewhat surprising. Torpedo bombers are armed only with a stern turret, which makes the forward hemisphere extremely vulnerable to the enemy. There is also no ability to carry conventional missiles, only heavy torpedoes to destroy capital ships and stations. Well, low speed completely puts an end to survival. So far, one application is seen - the formation of units based on an aircraft carrier, but this is an expensive pleasure.

On a note: in missions to protect M8 stations, they often give up, and two or three million is a very significant amount at the initial stage.

• M6, corvette. The corvette is a small step up from the heavy fighter. He is much stronger and better armed, so he is able to fend off a crowd of light and medium fighters, but is so clumsy that his survival is a big question. However, with a jump drive, this would no longer be a problem. Subsequently, corvettes can serve as anti-fighter cover for destroyers and aircraft carriers. There is one more feature - you can drop troops from corvettes to capture enemy ships. This can be done with the help of transport, but they are incomparable in terms of survivability.
• M7, frigate. Another relatively new ship class in the game, it occupies a place between the corvette and the destroyer in the fleet hierarchy. Relatively - because the Paranid M7 Hyperion, the High Pontiff's stolen personal yacht, can be obtained in one of the side branches of X 3: Reunion. A frigate costs about half as much as a destroyer and requires a significantly lower rating to purchase. Can carry two fighters of any class. Some nations are building missile frigates instead of conventional frigates, their unofficial marking is M7M. They are slightly weaker in terms of firepower, but they are capable of carrying heavy missiles and, most importantly, throwing drop pods.
• M2 destroyer. The most heavily armed ship in the game, with maximum shields and weapon generators. Destroyers no longer carry frontal weapons - only turrets, but in the amount of four dozen. The price for everything is appropriate - about a hundred million, with a variation of a dozen or two depending on the race. Only ships of the same class and frigates pose a threat to him, here the equipment and number of sides affect the outcome of the battle, and you can simply crush all the little things like corvettes, with such shields this will not be a problem.
• M1, aircraft carrier. Although she is number one in the list of ships, even with approximately the same armament as a destroyer, she is inferior to her in shields and a weapon generator. But it contains a hangar for two or three dozen fighters, which together gives much more firepower. There are no special frills in battle tactics either, timely maneuvering is of greater importance.
• TS, freight transport. What's new about the truck? Banal things - a large hold, low speed and maneuverability. But only they can carry very large (XL) cargo - silicon, ore and some others. For protection, they can be equipped with shields with a total power of 75 to 125 megajoules and a stern turret for one medium-power gun. You can add active protection - combat drones and missiles. There are differences within the class - tankers are the cheapest, but the hold is also relatively small, transports are about twice as spacious and much more expensive.
• TP, passenger transport. It has a three times smaller than a tanker and non-expandable hold, but it is immediately equipped with life support and comfort systems. For some missions, this particular type of vessel is required - when you need to transport a passenger in comfort or those who want to travel do not fit in a fighter. It is poorly adapted for the transportation of goods, but it can take part in the war, landing troops.
• TM, military transport. Another, now a full-fledged novelty of the game. The hold is relatively small, but this is not its merit - depending on the race, you can install from one to five shields of 200 megajoules on a ship and equip both turrets with serious guns, a pair for each. But the advantages are not limited to this - in a small ship there is a hangar for four fighters. I must say that the use of TM is still very limited - it is unlikely that it will be able to survive the passage through hostile sectors, and as an ordinary transporter capable of protecting itself, it is inefficient and expensive. It is strange, but the ship was deprived of one purely military feature, which is available at the same time to ordinary passenger buses - although it can carry five paratroopers, it did not receive the “boarding” command.
• TL, large transport. The only vehicle in the game capable of transporting stations from the shipyard to the deployment point. He can be hired - for a ridiculous amount of a thousand credits per gate, he will deliver anything and anywhere. Well, if not through the Xenon or Khaak sector, of course. But now there is a reason to buy a ship of this type - and it's not so much time spent searching for TL, but the ability to recoup your own acquisition by completing missions.

Weapon

Weapon modifications alpha, beta and gamma have disappeared from the game. But at the same time, it did not become smaller - new samples were added for the old races of the universe, earthlings with their uniqueness made a great contribution to the diversity.

Each type of weapon is characterized by range, damage to shields and hull, rate of fire, charge flight speed and energy consumption.

• Energy weapons. This includes all sorts of laser and plasma weapons (including the legendary H.E.P.T - High Energy Plasma Thrower), from the old unpretentious impulse to the super-powerful electroplasma gun. They hit not with beams, but with clots of energy of a diverse nature, they discharge batteries faster than others. The choice is simple - we are looking for the maximum that is put on our ship (often this means acquiring a ship with maximum equipment - L).
• Weapon with ammunition. Consumes much less energy than energy weapons, but requires ammo to function. The battery drains more slowly - more total damage. This type includes a fragmentation bomber. The weapon is good, but in order to use it, it is highly desirable to own a factory that produces the required type of ammunition. Terrestrial weapons like the matter/antimatter bomber will require you to constantly collect ammo.
• Automatic gun. Translated immediately and do not admit that this is another legendary weapon of the game series - Mass Driver. It fires ammunition, but, unlike the samples from the previous paragraph, it completely ignores the shield, immediately destroying the hull.
• Ion emitter. He is Ion Disruptor in his English past. The exact opposite of an automatic gun - removes shields for being healthy. Necessary weapon for landing.
• Ionic pulse generator. Weapon number two for boarding a target - desynchronizes the propulsion systems of the target ship, and it significantly reduces speed.
• Anti-aircraft complexes. Heavy gun systems for frigates, destroyers and aircraft carriers, designed for barrage against missiles and fighters.
• Singular point projector. The development of earthly scientists, available only to their heavy ships: breaks the ships, sending their fragments to unknown distances through the gate system.
• Power beam. Allows you to move objects even very large mass. For example, move the station or tow the ship.
• Mobile drilling rig. Installed on a transport or a larger ship, it can extract minerals from asteroids, storing them in the hold.
• Repair laser. Can be installed on a ship of the corvette class and above, which makes it possible to patch holes in the plating of allied ships on your own, and not pay large sums to the owners of the shipyard. The process is not very fast, but certainly more fun than working with a soldering iron in a spacesuit.
• rockets become angrier, but still do not pose a particular threat. Small and fast ones won't do much harm, and most of the big ones move at the speed of a heavy fighter - you can just leave. Unless the opponents try to push them into the cockpit on a collision course, it is difficult to dodge this, but you can manage to shoot it down. This is scary at the very beginning of the game, but over time, missile defense will no longer cause serious concern, but will become another combat mission. Only missiles containing several warheads in one charge at once, such as the earthly Poltergeist, pose a serious danger. Shooting down half a dozen targets is very problematic, only barrage fire can protect against this.

Drones

In addition to missiles, ships can use drones - small and cheap robots. The most obvious type is combat, there are three types in the game universe. If there are several dozen of them, they are able to dismantle even a small flock of M3 + fighters. It is a must to equip transports with them. But their use is not limited to war. Meet and cargo drones - with their help, you can arrange fast delivery of small goods. The last type is reconnaissance, capable of transmitting information.

Ship upgrade

• Expansion of the cargo compartment. With the help of space compression technology, station vehicles increase the capacity of the ship's hold. But each subsequent unit is added with more and more difficulty, and therefore costs much more. The number of upgrades is finite, although for transports it can be very large (and the latter can cost more than the ship itself).
• Forcing the engine. Increases the maximum speed of the ship, sometimes very significantly - up to more than three times when fully upgraded. The cost also increases with each subsequent step, and their number depends on the type of ship.
• Manageability improvement. Everything is similar, but after installing the device, the ship will begin to turn much faster in all planes.

Equipment

• Singular compactor of time. A special device that changes the subjective perception of time by the pilot up to a tenfold compression, which makes flights not so tiring. But any intervention in the control of the ship turns it off, as well as external dangers - from the appearance of an enemy ship to approaching an asteroid.
• Accelerators. Significantly reduce the time for accelerating to maximum speed, and the opposite is also true - for stopping. It is worth putting it on any of your ships - it will be possible to maneuver more actively in battle, and for vehicles controlled by an autopilot with its endless stops and turns at right angles, this will give a decent gain in time on each flight.
• Trading system with advanced features. A mandatory upgrade for a ship that the player himself flies. Allows you to access detailed information about resources and goods at stations in sectors where there is any property, and trade if there is our docked ship. Without it, you can find out only the approximate quantity of goods.
• Trading software modules. A ship without these software modules is not able to buy and sell anything on its own. You can drive by the handle, each time indicating what to do, but as the fleet of trucks grows, this becomes tedious. The first two programs, TPM-1 and TPM-2, operate on ships assigned to the station. With their help, you can order to buy and sell goods at certain points or in an arbitrary place, but at the best prices. The third, TMP-3, is an expensive pleasure, it costs more than half a million credits. But on the other hand, it allows you to start your transport in the sector trader mode. The ship itself will evaluate the potential profit from a particular transaction and make the purchase and sale of the selected product. Over time, the level of the ship's pilot will increase and it will be possible to transfer it to one of two new modes: a sector merchant, but with the ability to move around the surrounding sectors with a given number of gates from a central point, or a galactic merchant without reference to the location.

Advice: it is better not to bind sector and galactic merchants to the bases, they can cancel orders.

• Best seller guide And best buyer determiner. Software modules show where it is more profitable to buy and sell which goods in the sector, thereby saving the player from the routine viewing of all information. They are not so cheap to start the game, for a pair you will have to pay for forty-five thousand credits, and subsequently the trade will fall on the shoulders of artificial intelligence under our command.
• Combat software modules. These software packages are in charge of fleet management - commands to attack targets, protect and so on. They are also necessary to set the parameters for the functioning of turrets, including on transports.
• Special software module. An inexpensive upgrade is needed to clean up battlefields in automatic mode. Usually there is a considerable amount of missiles, and sometimes weapons, which take a long time to collect, but all this stuff costs a lot.
• Navigation software module. It would be more correct to call it research. It gives ships three options - to enter the gate, which is important for sectors that have not yet been opened, to reconnoiter sectors and to set up a network of navigation satellites. A little more about the second - a point on the map is set, it must be the center of the map (to select, select the "ships" tab) or a stationary object, and then - the radius of study. The ship will spin around the sphere and fix all objects. With the growth of the given radius, the time spent on this grows exponentially. The task should be given to a fast ship equipped with a C-3 scanner - the process will go much faster. The last action is the creation of a network of satellites. Here, too, everything is simple, we load the desired relay devices into the ship and give the order. You will need to select a point, this, again, is a station in the starting sector or zero coordinates.

On a note: the ideal reconnaissance ship is a novelty of the Teladian shipbuilding "Kestrel". M5 with a speed of more than six hundred meters per second and a class volume hold for class M cargo.

Advice: the plane of the ecliptic is not the best place for a satellite, you never know what happens and what kind of enemy wanders in. Therefore, the first satellite should be hung manually with an offset of thirty kilometers up or down from the center, and it should already be set as a coordinate point for placement.

• Supply software module. A ship with such a module will work in the sector and provide the ships with the specified goods. For example, you can give out batteries or equip ships with guns.
• Aircraft carrier software module. A very simple program that adds only two commands - attack or return. But, perhaps, this is the only action that is easier to perform with personal flight control, especially if there are different types of fighters on board.
• Patrol software module. Added the ability to set ships to patrol a sector. Very handy in potentially dangerous places where our transports roam. But combat missions must be issued in accordance with their own combat rating - it makes no sense to send an M3 group if a frigate can come.
• Ore Collector. Allows you to extract minerals from asteroids without building a mine. But this is only one component of the system, software, the second is a mobile drilling rig installed in the weapon cell of some ships.
• Jump engine. One of the best inventions in the universe - allows you to move to any known sector. Gives a huge time saving for the player, facilitates trading operations and the implementation of many missions, allows you to respond to attacks. Eats batteries, consumption depends on the number of gates between points.

It is important: you cannot jump into the earth sectors - they simply do not have gates.

• Docking computer. Another improvement that makes life easier for the player by eliminating routine procedures. After installation, there will be no need to perform a tedious landing procedure every time.
• Scanner S-2,scanner S-3. Otherwise, duplex and triplex scanners give an increase in the viewing radius by two or three times compared to the base model.
• cargo scanner. Allows you to see what the ships are carrying so interesting. Needed to complete missions, including story missions. If the ship is carrying smuggled goods, after scanning it blushes with shame and attacks us - you can safely destroy the pirate. It is worth remembering that this procedure will be considered illegal without a police license of the race - the owner of the sector and will hit the rating.
• Mineral Scanner. From a distance of ten kilometers, it allows you to determine what kind of mineral and in what quantity is contained in the asteroid. It is necessary both for the development of one's own business and for the performance of geological exploration missions, which can be safely combined.
• Bioscanner. Now, to determine the presence of passengers on board, a conventional scanner is not enough, if you please, buy another device. But it will show who is on the ship.
• Drop capsule. Allows you to send paratroopers to the boarding in fives, and not one by one in space suits.
• Conveyor. A small portal that helps the pilot move between ships where it is installed. The only condition is that the distance should be no more than five kilometers. It is useful to keep this in both the merchant and the escort fighter.
• Life supporting system. Transportation of passengers is possible on any ship, but they, with the exception of the TP class, need to be equipped with a life support system. In fact, it opens access to three types of missions.
• Remote access system. Allows you to access abandoned enemy ships without having to go out into open space in a space suit. But all races have a very persistent prejudice.
• Video Glasses. A system that allows multiple magnification of an image. With its help, you can see enemies a hundred kilometers away or just take beautiful screenshots.
• Insurance. Allows you to save the game directly in space, and not just at stations. Pleasure costs quite affordable money - three thousand at a time, but you need to stock up on happy X-fear tickets in advance.
• Police licenses. Upon reaching a rating of plus three, you can purchase this inexpensive document. Firstly, it will provide an opportunity to scan ships with impunity. And secondly, for each enemy they pay a small reward.

On a note: earthlings do not have a police license or its equivalent. However, it is extremely rare for them to meet enemy ships, and if anyone wanders, local patrols have enough strength to destroy him.