Which is better/more fun overall--Albion or XTC?

[Mr_Blastman]

I caved in on the Steam sale and bought the TC/Albion combo. I've never played TC--and always wanted to play XTC with all the neato additions over XTM... but I'm curious as the Track IR support is something I always wanted.

Which is more fun? XTC or Albion?

Is Albion as deep/rich/big as XTC or should I just start with XTC? I realize they aren't compatible which is a bummer so that's why I thought I'd ask before investing much time into either.

[SVB]

Play Albion first, because XTC 2.0 will be coming out in a few weeks, so it's not worth downloading 1.2 right now :)
Then compare.

[Ambientus]

having played a fair ammount of XTC ....Albion feels bland.

Still a good game on its own, but i need my XTC.
Once 2.0 comes out....good bye what little social life i had. Hello Profitsssssssssss.

[H-K]

Hello Mr_Blastman,

Enjoy TC and AP first sir, look at them like a BMW or Mercedes but XTC is a Roll Royce or Ferrari and when you've driven that every other car will look crappy compared to it :)

Ofcourse you can start with XTC right away but I fear you won't play Vanilla TC or AP for long when you do.

[Solitas]

Ofcourse you can start with XTC right away but I fear you won't play Vanilla TC or AP for long when you do.
I second that argument :)

[dctrjons]

I would definitely play Albion. But this is taking into consideration that my first X game was X3:TC and it took a long time to "learn" it. So not knowing your X experience I would play through Albion as much as possible just to get a feel for the universe and 'rules'. Much will change with 2.0 but not the important mechanics, just don't get attached to weapon systems / shield /ship configurations. You'll have to relearn that stuff.

[superdave]

id agree that playing albion first is the better way to go... especially with 2.0 still just on the horizon, also you may wish to just enjoy the vanilla X3:TC before installing the new XTC mod when it drops, as it overwrites the egosoft game with something sooooo much better.

[Thias]

I would play TC first, use some nice skripts, like Codea, Tortuga... Much fun. Then, I would consider to play Albion, just to dart through the tiny plot and try some of the new features, like Stock Exchage (imba money printing machine), fixed missile behavior, easier ship cap. I wouldn't invest too much time here, its not worth it. Because all the fun scripts dont work. And in the End, I would play XTC, this should be the most complete game, which is worth to build up a reasonable fleet/imperium.

I have played much of TC myself. Up to the point where my biggest Complex was 150+ Stations, I had 12 Arans captured, everything went too easy. Then I switched to XTC 1.0 - wow! What a change. M8s are actually using missiles! You really have to fight you way up. MUCH better!

..BUT I think it is only better, when you had the experience of TC lategame. If I had to start with XTC without having played TC/Reunion before, I would have thought it to be too hard.

[merclord]

I'm playing XTC 1.2r right now. Will I have to start over when 2.0 comes out? That would really suck considering how much time I put into this version.

[Eliah]

Will I have to start over when 2.0 comes out?Yes.

Edit: besides, that has been clearly said since the release of 1.0 - End of 'reinforcing' edit ^^

[merclord]

Yeah I remember reading that somewhere in the instructions. I was just starting to make some good progress in this version. I wonder if it would be worth keeping this game and just installing 2.0 into a different folder.

[stemardue]

I wonder if it would be worth keeping this game and just installing 2.0 into a different folder.

That is obviously up to you, but 2.0 will be as 1.2 with many bugs fixed and plenty of new stuff... so keeping 1.2 imo would be a waste of HD space after getting 2.0 ;)

PS: since this thread deals with a comparison between Albion Prelude and XTC, let's please stay on topic from now on.

[merclord]

PS: since this thread deals with a comparison between Albion Prelude and XTC, let's please stay on topic from now on.

Agreed. I have not seen Albion yet, but imo it really depends on where you are in the X Universe as to where to start. If I were just beginning and had no previous knowledge of the games, I would start with either vanilla TC. The learning curve is pretty steep in this game and I think that would be a good place to start. From there I would suggest moving on to Albion Prelude, and then playing XTC last. The reason I say play XTC last is because it adds so many things to the game as others have stated that you might not want to play any version that doesn't include the XTC features.

For experienced people I would suggest that it really doesn't matter if you have played XTC or not. I think you should still play Albion for 2 reasons: A) To support the original designers and B) To follow the plot.

[Eriodas]

After completing the Albion Plot, i can say that i expected a lot more... well maybe they will continue adding features in next patches because if that was the "link" between the X3 TC universe and the X rebirth one, there seems to be almost no difference at all, only the highway thing Jonferco is building. But there are many holes on the story yet.

Also since you have to play it vanila style (not much mods are compatible yet) there are a lot of unbalanced things, a lot of i-win ships and a lot of Friking missiles LOL.

[Admiral Scoobing]

well i played both as well and definatly like XTC alot more way more features and just much better gaming expirence looking forward to 2.0

[H-K]

I think you should still play Albion for 2 reasons: A) To support the original designers and B) To follow the plot.

I have to disagree with that, buying an X game to follow a plot is not what I want and buying this would not support the company imo because it would send the wrong message.

X3 always was about think/trade/build/fight in a sandbox and I will only support games that build on that so if this Albion is mostly to help us understand how we get from X3 to Rebirth i'd rather read a few pages in the manual.

Sorry if I sound harsh.

[S-P]

I agree with H-K, it's about the playablitily for me rather than the story. From what I've read Albion doesn't go in to that much detail and X:R will be going in a complete new direction to the other X games. I've not bothered even getting Albion and I will wait for X:R to feel me in on the story etc.:)

[merclord]

I have to disagree with that, buying an X game to follow a plot is not what I want and buying this would not support the company imo because it would send the wrong message.

Well we can all read about Albion and XR for that matter but unless you actually try it for yourself you will never really know if you like it or not. I just started AP and I'll decide for myself. If I'm wrong at least I have something to keep me occupied until XTC 2.0 is released.

[Vhyle]

Well, I had fired up Albion after I had gotten a new pc since my old one's vid card died (inherited my brothers old laptop which is totally awesome compared to my old computer) and I was expecting XTC stuff to be in there. The game felt bland, but I did like the UI better, the circle felt better than the square for XTC for mouse flying. I just much prefer XTC because it feels way more alive, and I like the setting.

I would just play XTC, and not be too attached to your assets and stuff, and just learn what it takes to be a good combat pilot if that is the route you are going, or learn the ropes for getting your feet wet in the economic side. That is experience that is very good to have because it makes you better at doing it later. In the Army, we trained countless times on the same **** during every training exercise, using different scenarios and learning new ways to beat, or try to beat, the scenario. Sometimes we got owned during the scenarios, we'd retool and do it again. During large campaign style scenarios for NTC, we'd get owned right out the gate, but later we'll have learned what we need to fix, where we were not doing so well, what we did well, and then moved on adapted the new strategy and would do much better against the OPFOR. Our OPFOR is better than most hostile governments military, and they are most of the time better than our own regular units. The OPFOR are very good at what they do at NTC, so if we can beat them, or come close, then we can pretty much pwnface against any other country.

Anyway I'm derailing, lol. TL;DR use 1.2a XTC as a training tool until 2.0 comes out, then go balls to the wall in 2.0 doing what you want to do. I'd plan out your strategy and tactics, practice and refine in 1.2a in preparation for 2.0. I can't stress how invaluable practice/training is for games like these. It only makes you better, and 2.0 has a **** ton of new stuff for us.

[Mangar]

IMHO I play everything from XR XTM TC to XTC, got in a slump, Thought I would fire up the old XR and TC new game. After about 3 days I found myself missing all the new things which XTC has, Ships, AIs, more open interactions of events and missions. LOL, playing TC having to repair each ship with a repair gun, putting a stone on the ctrl key with a wieght, 10 minutes later I come back, only to see I still have another 10% to go.

Yeah, I am very happy with XTC, IMO some of the mundan tasks are gone over the whole life of the game. Sure you will have to experiance many things in the begining, but things just seem to fall into place on there own as you progress. Without saying anything about details, but I can say the wait is well worth it.

[5ive100dred]

One sentence only. If you play XTC with activated scripts pirate guild, yaki armada, Military Base Revamp and some other little scripts, then you will never go back!!!
Greetings

[Neurotoxin]

Unfortunately Pirate Guild 3 is limited with regards to functionality in XTC. Its shipyards are lacking two ships (showing up as ***UNDEFINED***), its bases don't function with ADS as well as they do in Vanilla, the Pirate Guild Mobile HQ bugs and just sits still in a sector 90% of the time, and escort/mob boss frigates sometimes bug on patrols as well for whatever reason.

Still, agreed 100%. ;)

[Mangar]

Unfortunately Pirate Guild 3 is limited with regards to functionality in XTC. Its shipyards are lacking two ships (showing up as ***UNDEFINED***), its bases don't function with ADS as well as they do in Vanilla, the Pirate Guild Mobile HQ bugs and just sits still in a sector 90% of the time, and escort/mob boss frigates sometimes bug on patrols as well for whatever reason.

I would not be surprised after XTC next release there will be add-on script modifications into it. Just like there have been those for XR, XTM and TC. Just takes time when they follow afterwards.

[mtoomb]

No Leviathan or Ragnarok in Albion Prelude so there's your answer... But there are, you know... missions and all... (even if there's only like 10, lol)

Once 2.0 comes out it will blow A.P. away. I'd just like to play it before Rebirth drops and redefines our notion of X. :)

[cezarip]

I for one, would wait for XTC 2.0. But since the OP already bought AP, it would be a waste of money not to play it.

However keep your eyes open. Cause as soon as 2.0 is out and you start playin' it, there is no going back to AP. It would be like drinking water/eating bread after having tasted ambrosia...