X-Rebirth

Post by **DaveK** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:26 am

From post: 174825, Topic: tid=11220, author=Ohsirus wrote:Can't believe there are still PC Gamers who don't use Steam.

Well, we silver surfers can take a while to play catch up with yoo yoofs. I've only just got a smart phone and tablet!!

:P

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:04 pm

From post: 174830, Topic: tid=11220, author=DaveK wrote:EDIT: Yeah - Kindle model for games or data storage sure does NOT work for me.

It didn't work too well for me either ... until my daughter showed me how to DL everything from my kindle into my PC.

Ohsirus · Post by **Ohsirus** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:49 pm

From post: 174830, Topic: tid=11220, author=DaveK wrote:
From post: 174814, Topic: tid=11220, author=Nigel_Strange wrote:I'm not sure whether Steam is required to play, but Steam Workshop is how the updates are automatically installed.

Here is the Egosoft website for more information: http://www.egosoft.com/games/x_rebirth/info_en.php

Thanks Nigel. All the buy it options (and there are a handful) provide/require a steam key. It says 'Online Activation via Steam required' but I wonder if any Steam players know whether that means just once or each time you play or even whether you need to be connected to play!

Could be a deal breaker!

Activation is just once, which is basically once you download it and run it's activated (you can play off-line now). Steam is a multi-billion dollar company that is not going anywhere soon and even then I'm sure they will be enough lead time to allow everyone to backup their library. Best definition is:

Steam is first and foremost an anti-piracy tool that has probably saved PC gaming from complete collapse. Obviously, it is also a software store.
Third it is an Internet community dedicated to gaming and lastly it is an app updater and launcher.
It's the Swiss Army Knife of PC gaming.

Post by **Marvin** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:45 pm

From post: 174845, Topic: tid=11220, author=Ohsirus wrote:It's the Swiss Army Knife of PC gaming.

Too bad the Swiss army knife doesn't like Windows XP very much ... must be one of the tools they didn't have enough room for.

Nigel_Strange · Post by **Nigel_Strange** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 10:45 pm

It's right next to the left-handed corkscrew.

Post by **DaveK** » Mon Jan 05, 2015 11:27 pm

From post: 174845, Topic: tid=11220, author=Ohsirus wrote:Steam is a multi-billion dollar company that is not going anywhere soon and even then I'm sure they will be enough lead time to allow everyone to backup their library.

Hmmm . . . I quote;

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, a sprawling global bank, in September 2008 almost brought down the world's financial system. It took huge taxpayer-financed bail-outs to shore up the industry. Even so, the ensuing credit crunch turned what was already a nasty downturn into the worst recession in 80 years

I retired around the start of that recession and my much reduced savings are still earning much less than 1% today so forgive me if I am a little cynical about the stability of big businesses.

Minuteman · Post by **Minuteman** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 3:13 pm

I do know you can play some games on Steam offline. I went for quite sometime without an internet connection when I was deployed, and was still able to play most of my Steam games without it having to "check in". But for updates Steam AND internet is required. And I do know SOME games require the constant connection.

However...I don't think X:Rebirth is one of them. I think you'd need Steam to keep it updated, but I think you can still play it with Steam in "offline" mode. I'll experiment with it sometime this week.

To me this essentially means that if Steam ever goes down, I'll still be able to play as long as I don't uninstall it or the client. Still not ownership on my part by any means, but a compromise I'm comfortable with the get the pricing I want on games.

Anyways - not to derail the thread. I've played X: Rebirth off and on since the abysmal release. In it's current state it is quite fun. There are some excellent mods (including a bridge mod) that help the experience.

That said, X: Terran Conflict or X: Albion Prelude with mods (including a cockpit/bridge mod) are superior to Rebirth still in my opinion. Sorry for the long post!

Nigel_Strange · Post by **Nigel_Strange** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 4:32 pm

I think the X games went south after X2. They removed the cockpits and that, for me, is a deal-breaker. There had been mods to put them back in, but the ones I tried were never quite up to snuff.

Going back to the online registration thing, it is a disturbing development. It's not just Steam, though: any company that requires online activation is putting players on notice to the effect that if the company ceases to exist at some point, their games will no longer be installable.

Ohsirus · Post by **Ohsirus** » Tue Jan 06, 2015 6:15 pm

From post: 174877, Topic: tid=11220, author=Nigel_Strange wrote:I think the X games went south after X2. They removed the cockpits and that, for me, is a deal-breaker. There had been mods to put them back in, but the ones I tried were never quite up to snuff.

Going back to the online registration thing, it is a disturbing development. It's not just Steam, though: any company that requires online activation is putting players on notice to the effect that if the company ceases to exist at some point, their games will no longer be installable.

Us old gamers can remember the smell of a newly opened gameCD and marvel at the artwork in the instructions, but that time has long past and the main gaming demographic age-range barely had a chance to see that. Reminds of how people felt when Itunes launched and now look at it. Can't even find a mortar/brick CDshop anymore.