Discussions beyond the frontier How do you cripple ship to steal them? Posted By: Kai Date: 14 Dec 2000, 17:51 For X-Tension. I got into a fight with a pirate, his ship exploded then I looked for new enemy targets and there was an EVA suit, I shot it got a reward and in my log it said that he left his ship and then it was mine. I just want to know what I have to do to make someone eject so I can get their ship. Thanks. Also does this work with teladi vultures? Re: oh yeah, can you sell ship aqquired this way? Posted By: Faze Date: 14 Dec 2000, 17:58 In Response To: oh yeah, can you sell ship aqquired this way? Thx (Kai) Yes take them to a shipyard to sell them. Faze If you search this forum for Ship capturing you will find some very good info. Yes you can capture Vultures but you rating will go down. HTH Faze In Response To: How do you cripple ship to steal them? (Kai) You just have to get their shields low (below 5%) and keep them there. Sometimes they'll bail as soon as their shields give out, which is what obviously happened in this case: however, you were merrily blasting away, so you destroyed your brand new ship! (Captured ships very rarely have shields or weapons still intact). There have been many other posts on the subject of capturing, if you have a hunt, but I'll just give this advice: when the ship you're shooting at is nearly destroyed, EASE UP ON THE TRIGGER!!! If you make sure you only have 1 laser bolt in the air at once you can't accidentally destroy your target. As for Vultures: you can capture any small ship of any race, but some are harder than others. (I don't think I've ever got a Split to abandon ship, for instance). The big TL transporters and the M2/M1/M0 battleships CANNOT be captured (and in the case of the battleships you'd have to be insane to try in the first place!). > For X-Tension. I got into a fight with a pirate, his > ship exploded then I looked for new enemy targets and > there was an EVA suit, I shot it got a reward and in > my log it said that he left his ship and then it was > mine. I just want to know what I have to do to make > someone eject so I can get their ship. Thanks. Also > does this work with teladi vultures? I've captured a quite a few split ships. If your persistent, in killing loads of the then they tend to learn that they are going to die if they stay in their ships so they bail out after a couple of shots. ;o) RANDY Re: xtension map Posted By: The Happy Idiot formerly known as Randy Dave Date: 14 Dec 2000, 20:32 In Response To: Re: xtension map (edd) www.the-commander.com Re: Um... Why am - I - Posted By: Erazor Date: 15 Dec 2000, 09:13 In Response To: Um... Why am - I - (Boris) > Em... Why am I an enemy to them in the first place? > what have - I - done wrong in the first place?!!! > 'Cause i'm new to the game(got X gold) just 2 days > ago, and the book in the box is nearly CRAP and when > you install it says that there is a PDF file ,but > nowhere to be found!!! > SO can some one tell me WHY I BECAME AN ENEMY WITHOUT > PROVOKING THEM? Two races... the Split (i hate these dudes) and the Paranid have to be won over by killing a few pirates in their respective sectors before they will let you in.. oh and the PDF file is on the CD search and ye shall find! ------======Erazor======------ Messages In This Thread paranid Posted By: edd Date: 14 Dec 2000, 17:17 the bastard paranids wont let me dock in xtension how many pirate do i need to kill *** Not to many - 15 to 20. If you want a lot of pirates to shot. Go to Priest Rings - I think. I should have a Pirate Base. Just shot at it, and a lot of bogies will come out. - Only recommended if you have at least 10MW shields. Conan > the bastard paranids wont let me dock in xtension how > many pirate do i need to kill Messages > the bastard paranids wont let me dock in xtension how > many pirate do i need to kill Unless you have been using the Paranid for target practice you should be able to get docking permission with only a few kills, say 3-5. One thign to note is that you can get docking permission even if you status still says enemy. AL What if you HAVE been using the paranid as target practice? Early on in the game (XT) I thought I might try out my capturing skills on some paranid transports. I ended up blowing away 3 of them before I gave up. Later on I decided it might be nice to have one of those speedy little pegasus ships, so I decided to be nice to the paranids and have since blown away at least 100 pirates in paranid space, but they still wont let me dock. How many pirates must one blow away to make up for the cold-blooded destruction of 3 of their transports? :) -rdx > Unless you have been using the Paranid for target > practice you should be able to get docking permission > with only a few kills, say 3-5. One thign to note is > that you can get docking permission even if you status > still says enemy. > AL > What if you HAVE been using the paranid as target > practice? > Early on in the game (XT) I thought I might try out my > capturing skills on some paranid transports. I ended > up blowing away 3 of them before I gave up. Later on I > decided it might be nice to have one of those speedy > little pegasus ships, so I decided to be nice to the > paranids and have since blown away at least 100 > pirates in paranid space, but they still wont let me > dock. > How many pirates must one blow away to make up for the > cold-blooded destruction of 3 of their transports? :) > -rdx Don't know the exact number but I did it to the Split in X-btf and it took me so many I lost count! I presume it will be the same in X-t but I'm not planning on making that mistake again!! Al > Don't know the exact number but I did it to the Split > in X-btf and it took me so many I lost count! I > presume it will be the same in X-t but I'm not > planning on making that mistake again!! > Al Yes...killing Split is often a Fatal mistake.... Messages > Yes...killing Split is often a Fatal mistake.... Yeah... for the Split...rofl Who'd wanna be friendly with the split??? ;) DAVE > Don't know the exact number but I did it to the Split > in X-btf and it took me so many I lost count! I > presume it will be the same in X-t but I'm not > planning on making that mistake again!! > Al So what exactly you saying here Al, you going to be docking at Split stations, eh?. not up for the challenge? or did you miss that?. remember Enforcers DO NOT TRADE WITH SPLIT, do they Al? I'm surprised you need me of all people to remind you about the ONE Enforcer rule, SPLIT DIE, no trade and no mercy, on the other hand if you've had enough of being an Enforcer we could do with some more recuits for the POP, ex Enforcers welcome, cleanse your soul and join up today!!! > So what exactly you saying here Al, you going to be > docking at Split stations, eh?. not up for the > challenge? or did you miss that?. remember Enforcers > DO NOT TRADE WITH SPLIT, do they Al? > I'm surprised you need me of all people to remind you > about the ONE Enforcer rule, SPLIT DIE, no trade and > no mercy, on the other hand if you've had enough of > being an Enforcer we could do with some more recuits > for the POP, ex Enforcers welcome, cleanse your soul > and join up today!!! If you could read you would see taht I said in X-BTF. Once I had my 25MW shields I killed every last one of the scumy Split! Al > If you could read you would see taht I said in X-BTF. > Once I had my 25MW shields I killed every last one of > the scumy Split! > Al I can read Al and you said " I'm not planning on making that mistake again!!" It was the AGAIN which led me to believe you wouldn't be attacking the Split again till after you got what you wanted, I did assume you were talking about X Tension V2 when you claimed you wouldn't make the same mistake again, so perhaps that was my mistake! LOTS. On perhaps the first game I played it took me around 30 pirate ships to get docking privileges, just because a Pegasus got in the way of the pirate I was shooting and ended up as space dust. At that rate I reckon you should go and kill another 100--they might just about be willing to talk to you then. Oh, BTW, you're not getting confused between "Enemy of Priest Duke" (cannot dock) and "Enemy of Priest" (can dock), are you? > What if you HAVE been using the paranid as target > practice? > Early on in the game (XT) I thought I might try out my > capturing skills on some paranid transports. I ended > up blowing away 3 of them before I gave up. Later on I > decided it might be nice to have one of those speedy > little pegasus ships, so I decided to be nice to the > paranids and have since blown away at least 100 > pirates in paranid space, but they still wont let me > dock. > How many pirates must one blow away to make up for the > cold-blooded destruction of 3 of their transports? :) > -rdx Nah, I definitely can't dock, I keep trying occasionally even though I am an 'enemy'. Oh well, time to take out that pirate base to see if it helps any.. Thanks, -rdx > Oh, BTW, you're not getting confused between > "Enemy of Priest Duke" (cannot dock) and > "Enemy of Priest" (can dock), are you? Kill only Pirate ships and leave the fighter alone and you should get docked quite quickly > the bastard paranids wont let me dock in xtension how > many pirate do i need to kill FAO: All of u x-ers....where are ur HQ's? Posted By: Adamskini Date: 14 Dec 2000, 15:09 so far ihavent had much time to play...only 26hrs so far i have one teladianium factory in Seizewell....with two laser towers protecting it...i did have a teladi transport with maxed engines and steering stocking it but then found out that it had benn desrtoyed :( i also mistakenly rammed a second of my own teladi transports :)))) wooopps a daisy!! i think ill just restart with the V2...i have a few good ideas of were to go to start and wher to put my first couple of factories... but ill keep my HQ in Seizewell....dont know y...just thats were i had it in X-BTF and thats were i know i can get good nrg cells...ohh yeah and it IS close to the Split! :) Adamskini In Response To: FAO: All of u x-ers....where are ur HQ's? (Adamskini) other advantages are that you can buy the spacefuel factory there.... + an ok ore or is it silicon mine check the asteroids... Personally i had several wheat farms in the wall (Loadsa ec's) and i had a lifter / Dolphin with a jumpdrive so i could pick up EC's and Wheat from one place... I also had Ranch's Rimes Facs Shield Plants and Hornet Missile Fac plants... but then i had been playing it for well over 100 hrs... pity i deleted that SG (doh!) not one of my better judgement calls that one! In Response To: Re: FAO: All of u x-ers....where are ur HQ's? (Erazor) there's 3 good asteroids for silicon just north and up from the shipyard > there's 3 good asteroids for silicon just north and up > from the shipyard been along while since i actually flew through Siezewell! what are the yeild ratings? ------======Erazor======------ 25-30 for siliocon. Roughly the same for Ore. Not wery impressing. I could have missed 1 or 2 though. Conan > 25-30 for siliocon. Roughly the same for Ore. > Not wery impressing. > I could have missed 1 or 2 though. > Conan you will find that in the whole galaxy there are only a few really good asteroids...the Ore belt has two Vgood asteroids and so do a few other places but usually they are around the 26 yield mark...the good ones are around 50 - 64 ------======Erazor======------ they rate 26 also near them are another 3 at 18,i cant rememeber if i ever found ore greater than 6...i know you can find a lot better in other sectors but i thought this was the handiest grouping and safest while i done some exploring > they rate 26 also near them are another 3 at 18,i cant > rememeber if i ever found ore greater than 6...i know > you can find a lot better in other sectors but i > thought this was the handiest grouping and safest > while i done some exploring actually the ore belt is prity safe once you Erase the Pirate base! *** You should use Argon Prime insteed - A lot fewer pirates. The Argon lifter is also the fastest of the transporters, which in turn makes it more difficult to shot down. If you really want to make money. Shoot all your competitors into atoms. I call it the "Microsoft" method. Conan > so far ihavent had much time to play...only 26hrs so > far > i have one teladianium factory in Seizewell....with > two laser towers protecting it...i did have a teladi > transport with maxed engines and steering stocking it > but then found out that it had benn desrtoyed :( i > also mistakenly rammed a second of my own teladi > transports :)))) wooopps a daisy!! > i think ill just restart with the V2...i have a few > good ideas of were to go to start and wher to put my > first couple of factories... > but ill keep my HQ in Seizewell....dont know y...just > thats were i had it in X-BTF and thats were i know i > can get good nrg cells...ohh yeah and it IS close to > the Split! :) > > Adamskini > > *** You should use Argon Prime insteed - A lot fewer > pirates. > The Argon lifter is also the fastest of the > transporters, which in turn makes it more difficult to > shot down. > If you really want to make money. Shoot all your > competitors into atoms. > I call it the "Microsoft" method. > Conan nah i dont like the argon sectors...i know the teladi ones better...but i will be buying the argon lifters when V2 comes out...i was gona go get them for the teladianium fact but couldnt be arsed really. i dont want to shot up the competition till later in the game...just incase they come in usefull ------======Adamskini======------ You will find that a Boron Dolphin comes in handy if fitted with a jump drive and is maxed... You will find that you can get all the factories maxed on resources alot quicker with one of these...you just have to put up with its slow speed when getting to stations within sectors. and I use maxed out Lifters for everything else and one or two of these also have jumpdrives... just so i can get more of what i need in a hurry! ;o) ------======Erazor======------ Can the freighters find out to supply themselves with energi-cells, or do you have to babysit them? Conan > Can the freighters find out to supply themselves with > energi-cells, or do you have to babysit them? > Conan No... you have to fly any ship fitted with a jumpdrive yourself if you want the jumpdrive to work... No computer-controlled ship will use a jumpdrive under any circumstances, regardless of whether they have enough energy cells to jump straight to the destination or not. > Can the freighters find out to supply themselves with > energi-cells, or do you have to babysit them? > Conan > so far ihavent had much time to play...only 26hrs so > far > i have one teladianium factory in Seizewell....with > two laser towers protecting it...i did have a teladi > transport with maxed engines and steering stocking it > but then found out that it had benn desrtoyed :( i > also mistakenly rammed a second of my own teladi > transports :)))) wooopps a daisy!! > i think ill just restart with the V2...i have a few > good ideas of were to go to start and wher to put my > first couple of factories... > but ill keep my HQ in Seizewell....dont know y...just > thats were i had it in X-BTF and thats were i know i > can get good nrg cells...ohh yeah and it IS close to > the Split! :) > > Adamskini > Cloudbase Southwest, Laser tower factory, being suplied by my own Ore, Soja Husk and Soja bean facts, those Laser towers sell real well at max price, and all the other facts sell all thier goods as well not just to my Laser fact. I have an Ore mine at Sizewell but its constantly losing frieghters! Moss In my last game my HQ was a Teladianium Foundry in Trinity Sanctum (Paranid). I already have a 5-hour save with a low-yield Ore Mine in Light of Heart which I intend to use as a basis for my V2 play (the Ore Mine chosen purely because it's cheap, rather than any intention to make a profit with it). > so far ihavent had much time to play...only 26hrs so > far > i have one teladianium factory in Seizewell....with > two laser towers protecting it...i did have a teladi > transport with maxed engines and steering stocking it > but then found out that it had benn desrtoyed :( i > also mistakenly rammed a second of my own teladi > transports :)))) wooopps a daisy!! > i think ill just restart with the V2...i have a few > good ideas of were to go to start and wher to put my > first couple of factories... > but ill keep my HQ in Seizewell....dont know y...just > thats were i had it in X-BTF and thats were i know i > can get good nrg cells...ohh yeah and it IS close to > the Split! :) > > Adamskini > > so far ihavent had much time to play...only 26hrs so > far > i have one teladianium factory in Seizewell....with > two laser towers protecting it...i did have a teladi > transport with maxed engines and steering stocking it > but then found out that it had benn desrtoyed :( i > also mistakenly rammed a second of my own teladi > transports :)))) wooopps a daisy!! > i think ill just restart with the V2...i have a few > good ideas of were to go to start and wher to put my > first couple of factories... > but ill keep my HQ in Seizewell....dont know y...just > thats were i had it in X-BTF and thats were i know i > can get good nrg cells...ohh yeah and it IS close to > the Split! :) > > Adamskini > My "HQ" is Atreus Clouds in Boron space. (near the scum teladi!) - I`m based there so I can kill teladi when I want.. and also theres a pirate base here with 14 laser towers protecting it. so I have fun destroying ships that leave the base :)) Stephen Thornber Messages In This Thread Re: Um... Why am - I - (Boris) Oh soz Borris i have the UK version which is two cd's X-BTF and X-T... As for spacefuel you can sell it yourself at pirate bases or build your own factory... Seizewell sell em my pdf Manual... funny enough is in the manual directory on my CD.. its about 6.5mb!! Erazor Strange things in Xenon sector Posted By: Solan Date: 14 Dec 2000, 03:58 Visited Xenon sector north of Black hole sun for the second time today. When i came in all carriers and destroyers were gone, and base was under attack from pirats. I started killing pirats and managed to get a couple of Orinoco pilots to jump. Surprisingly either me nor my Orinocos were attacced by Xenon ships, so I decided to try to dock them at base and shipyard, SUCCESS!! Has not got permission to dock myself, Wonder if that is possible? Has screenshots of ori docking at shipyard and owned ship list with my oris docked. Re: Strange things in Xenon sector Posted By: Northstar Date: 14 Dec 2000, 04:05 In Response To: Strange things in Xenon sector (Solan) Hmm, I must try this myself. Were you able to order the Orinocos to come back out of the Xenon station? Sounds interesting. You will not be able to get inside a Xenon station though. I don't think it is written into the game. Who knows though. the V2 patch might allow this. I hope so. The new patch has quite a few changes. All look good. NORTH*****TTS***** > Visited Xenon sector north of Black hole sun for the > second time today. When i came in all carriers and > destroyers were gone, and base was under attack from > pirats. I started killing pirats and managed to get a > couple of Orinoco pilots to jump. Surprisingly either > me nor my Orinocos were attacced by Xenon ships, so I > decided to try to dock them at base and shipyard, > SUCCESS!! Has not got permission to dock myself, > Wonder if that is possible? > Has screenshots of ori docking at shipyard and owned > ship list with my oris docked. > Hmm, I must try this myself. Were you able to order > the Orinocos to come back out of the Xenon station? > Sounds interesting. You will not be able to get inside > a Xenon station though. I don't think it is written > into the game. Who knows though. the V2 patch might > allow this. I hope so. The new patch has quite a few > changes. All look good. > > NORTH*****TTS***** No problem to get them out and land them again In Response To: Strange things in Xenon sector (Solan) It shouldn't be so easy for the Xenon to get wiped out by pirates in V2.0, so you're unlikely to get a chance to test this out! > Visited Xenon sector north of Black hole sun for the > second time today. When i came in all carriers and > destroyers were gone, and base was under attack from > pirats. I started killing pirats and managed to get a > couple of Orinoco pilots to jump. Surprisingly either > me nor my Orinocos were attacced by Xenon ships, so I > decided to try to dock them at base and shipyard, > SUCCESS!! Has not got permission to dock myself, > Wonder if that is possible? > Has screenshots of ori docking at shipyard and owned > ship list with my oris docked. Posted By: George Date: 14 Dec 2000, 14:35 In Response To: Re: Strange things in Xenon sector (Paul Knibbs) Big question. Were you allowed to buy things when docked at the Xenon station or ship yard? Messages In This Thread Strange things in Xenon sector - Solan - 14 Dec 2000, 03:58 Re: Strange things in Xenon sector - Northstar - 14 Dec 2000, 04:05 Re: Strange things in Xenon sector - Solan - 14 Dec 2000, 11:48 Re: Strange things in Xenon sector - Paul Knibbs - 14 Dec 2000, 07:15 Re: Strange things in Xenon sector - George - 14 Dec 2000, 14:35 In Response To: Killing Xenon Destroyers (CiaranO) > Is anyone still playing the old XBTF?? > As I've found to my cost (many, many times) the Xenon > destroyers are quite difficult to destroy. > Any useful tips would be apperciated. Xenon Destroyers in X-BTF are a bit tough not cos they are clever but cos they ram you bear this in mind when engaging. Use Gamma HEPTs when Xenone ship is at 1 to 1.5 km (cant remember exactly) start hosing him down when he gets to .5km 500m turn flank (side) to him hit afterburners to evade then as he passes spray again keep doing that it fries em... Avis Homepage http://website.lineone.net/~jersworld/ > When do I get the fabled 125MW shields? I thought you > got them when you killed the first Xenon destroyer. No you don't i will give you a clue you need to do a mission Go to the Goner Temple in Cloudbase SW they will give you a mission after the mission you will get the chance to get 125mw sheilds Good Trading The Captain You only get 125MW shields after completing the last mission in the game--if you've been following the plot, that is. > When do I get the fabled 125MW shields? I thought you > got them when you killed the first Xenon destroyer. Get GHEPTs mounted on your ship, then wait for the Xenon ship to get close and start firing. (It helps if you're not directly in front of it!). In X-BTF the XM2s only have 125MW shields, so you can JUST destroy them if you "empty" your GHEPTs into them and don't miss very often! (Heck, how can you MISS? The darn things are like flying barn doors ). > Is anyone still playing the old XBTF?? > As I've found to my cost (many, many times) the Xenon > destroyers are quite difficult to destroy. > Any useful tips would be apperciated. Selling Upgraded Ships Posted By: Spankstinator Date: 14 Dec 2000, 02:24 Hello, I have an upgraded Buster. SETA,Nav extension, Trade Extension, cargo, engine tuning, goggles etc... After lurking about this forum, I want to buy a Pirahna. However, the only components I can eject to pick up with my lifter seem to be my guns and shields. I don't want to lose my goggles and other upgrades. Also, when I sold my ship (in Boron space) I only got 99K. Finally, I tried to sell my goggles etc. back and couldn't. I have serious cash in Buster cargo and engine upgrades. Also, i don't want to lose my goggle and trade extension $$ so what are my options. Please help a poor X-tension forum lurker. Thanks. P.S. The HardWar patch has been out for awhile now and despite an lukewarm review on ATFW ( A Talent For War ) I think it rocks. Get HardWar for $5 from Interplay and upgrade it. It is so worth your time. Good grief thats an old version,there a new v2 coming out hopefully today which you can load from the download section ,but first you have upgrade to 1.5 re selling your ship ..unfortunately your upgrades stay with it.i found you get a better price for ships at there home shipyard (buster=argon) hth MadScot ps nice scottish name you got there > 1.1 english > Thanks for the reply. > BTW I'm Charles Stewart and I live in Dallas, TX ther are some big bad bug in 1.1 update to 1.5 asap! from www.egosoft.com/x/ like 1 of the bug are no 25Mw shild's are made! at all! never! 0 not 1 ! jest the 1's in eqip dock at start that all of 4 ! You should get more for the ship with upgrades than without. Try selling it at an Argon shipyard and see if they give you a better deal. Oh, and you CAN eject video enhancement goggles etc. (certainly on patch 1.5, anyway)--I'm not sure why you can't, unless it's because you're running an old version. > Hello, > I have an upgraded Buster. SETA,Nav extension, Trade > Extension, cargo, engine tuning, goggles etc... > After lurking about this forum, I want to buy a > Pirahna. However, the only components I can eject to > pick up with my lifter seem to be my guns and shields. > I don't want to lose my goggles and other upgrades. > Also, when I sold my ship (in Boron space) I only got > 99K. Finally, I tried to sell my goggles etc. back and > couldn't. > I have serious cash in Buster cargo and engine > upgrades. Also, i don't want to lose my goggle and > trade extension $$ so what are my options. > Please help a poor X-tension forum lurker. Thanks. > P.S. The HardWar patch has been out for awhile now and > despite an lukewarm review on ATFW ( A Talent For War > ) I think it rocks. Get HardWar for $5 from Interplay > and upgrade it. It is so worth your time. Posted By: Spankstinator Date: 14 Dec 2000, 16:56 In Response To: Selling Upgraded Ships (Spankstinator) Thanks for all your help. I'm at work now so I can't play but I did patch my game to 1.5. I'll definately check the game out tonight, I'm sure that was the problem. I can't wait for 2.0, the hype has been killing me. BTW this is the best game forum ever. clipped sounds Posted By: Hixson Date: 13 Dec 2000, 23:14 Since installing DirectX 8.0 & hearing the clipping problem, I’ve been trying to get a handle on what can be done about it. Here’s what I’ve found out: 1. There is absolutely no mention of the problem in the DirectX knowledge base. If this is a “widespread” problem, nobody else is aware of it. 2. Not one of the over twenty recent games and demos I’ve tested have any problems, what so ever, with DX8. All sound effects, voices, music, etc. are just fine. All direct play movies run without a hitch. 3. Microsoft is not only not working on a fix, I’d be very surprised if there actually is a problem with DX8. Here’s a reply from support regarding my inquiry about the situation: ------- Dear Paul, Thank you for contacting Microsoft Windows Online Support Service. My name is Hover and I will be working with you on this case. As I understand that after installing DirectX 8, the game X-tension made by Egosoft has problem playing the sound clip. However the clip plays fine in Media Player 7. If I’m off-base on that, let me know. This is a temporary issue, most games and device drivers working with DirectX 7.0 still works fine with DirectX 8.0. However, there is no 100% compatibility, a few of the programs or device drivers will not function properly due to many reasons, especially due to the special coding or engine they use. The best way to resolve the issue is to wait for a new driver or an upgraded version of the software. I believe as time goes by, the X-tension software will be compatible with DirectX 8. --- It’s obvious from both my research and MS’s response to my inquiry that the problem is neither wide spread nor MS’s. The question becomes – Is Egosoft going to step up & fix the problem or are we stuck with have the last fraction of a second clipped forever? And, if the later, (which I think it’s pretty safe to assume) are we missing any vital info in that fraction? There are also problems with the video using an ATI Radeon card. Specifically, the translucent “computer” screens have a serious band running from top to bottom the entire time they are up & there is an enormous amount of distortion around the edges of the screen. This makes XBTF completely unplayable, as one cannot read the screens well enough to trade or communicate with other ships. XT is better; playable, but still pretty annoying. Please spare me all of the “Microsoft is an evil empire” and “just reload your system from the ground up” posts. I know the game runs on old drivers for old video cards and old versions of DirectX. I have no intention of maintaining a separate computer to play this game, as much as I like it, and refuse to run on junk hardware and junk drivers for its sake. If anyone, especially any one at EgoSoft, has any thoughts on fixes or workarounds, or anything constructive to say about the situation, I love to hear from them. All The Best – Hixson Discussions beyond the frontier seriously Posted By: Avis Date: 13 Dec 2000, 23:26 In Response To: clipped sounds (Hixson) I understand it's easy when all the software you have tried works fine with DX8 but only X-BTF or X-T have the problem, but trust me here is my philosophy on Direct X and Picrosoft (and no it aint a I hate MS satan rant). Microsoft are one of if not THE biggest software developer in the world, with this scale of operation come quality (anyone owning Office, MS Mouse Joysticks Pads etc) will know, MS means quality period ok they have teething problems like anyone else but they are the best at what they do. As I mentioned MS have teething problems, and Direc X is always the one because of its nature ie thrashing hardware software (ie Games) it has no margin of error unfortuntely it does all to regular have probems I know... many re-installations of windows tracked my Bad copy of Direc X down to a few files Sin was dumping to me HD. In summary Don't install the latest DirectX untill you have a game that needs it (by then the bugs will be gone) (excluding GFX drivers get latest FULL RELEASE ONES!!) Im still on DX 7 no problems everything is sweet.. so why fix it if its not broke.... > Since installing DirectX 8.0 & hearing the > clipping problem, I’ve been trying to get a handle on > what can be done about it. Here’s what I’ve found out: > 1. There is absolutely no mention of the problem in > the DirectX knowledge base. If this is a “widespread” > problem, nobody else is aware of it. > 2. Not one of the over twenty recent games and demos > I’ve tested have any problems, what so ever, with DX8. > All sound effects, voices, music, etc. are just fine. > All direct play movies run without a hitch. > 3. Microsoft is not only not working on a fix, I’d be > very surprised if there actually is a problem with > DX8. Here’s a reply from support regarding my inquiry > about the situation: > ------- > Dear Paul, > Thank you for contacting Microsoft Windows Online > Support Service. My name is > Hover and I will be working with you on this case. > As I understand that after installing DirectX 8, the > game X-tension made by > Egosoft has problem playing the sound clip. However > the clip plays fine in > Media Player 7. If I’m off-base on that, let me know. > This is a temporary issue, most games and device > drivers working with DirectX > 7.0 still works fine with DirectX 8.0. However, there > is no 100% > compatibility, a few of the programs or device drivers > will not function > properly due to many reasons, especially due to the > special coding or engine > they use. The best way to resolve the issue is to wait > for a new driver or an upgraded version of the > software. I believe as time goes by, the X-tension > software will be compatible with DirectX 8. > --- > It’s obvious from both my research and MS’s response > to my inquiry that the problem is neither wide spread > nor MS’s. > The question becomes – Is Egosoft going to step up > & fix the problem or are we stuck with have the > last fraction of a second clipped forever? And, if the > later, (which I think it’s pretty safe to assume) are > we missing any vital info in that fraction? > There are also problems with the video using an ATI > Radeon card. Specifically, the translucent “computer” > screens have a serious band running from top to bottom > the entire time they are up & there is an enormous > amount of distortion around the edges of the screen. > This makes XBTF completely unplayable, as one cannot > read the screens well enough to trade or communicate > with other ships. XT is better; playable, but still > pretty annoying. > Please spare me all of the “Microsoft is an evil > empire” and “just reload your system from the ground > up” posts. I know the game runs on old drivers for old > video cards and old versions of DirectX. I have no > intention of maintaining a separate computer to play > this game, as much as I like it, and refuse to run on > junk hardware and junk drivers for its sake. > If anyone, especially any one at EgoSoft, has any > thoughts on fixes or workarounds, or anything > constructive to say about the situation, I love to > hear from them. > All The Best – > Hixson In Response To: seriously (Avis) Well, that's sound advice, Avis. As I mentioned in my original post, XBTF is completely unplayable & XT has major problems with the Radeon card. I know that the only reason MS is tweaking DX now is to take advantage of cutting edge hardware, the DX code base has been stable for some time now. I was installing DX8 in the hope that some of the problems with XT might be corrected by it (I've no hope of finishing XBTF now). I'll agree with you that, when MS first announced DirectX, and through the fisrt five releases, there were "teething pains" to be suffered. Some of these were do to trying to include too much old junk hardware in the spec, but most of them were do to programmers not being willing to write code to the API. It's very hard to teach an old dog new tricks, especially if that old dog's a C++ programmer. However, the gaming industry, on-the-whole, has now adopted DX as the prefered interface. And there is no reason, other than sloppy programming, that features should suddenly stop working between DX releases. MS just isn't changing the core DX code that much anymore. Egosoft needs to step up and fix the program, period. > I understand it's easy when all the software you have > tried works fine with DX8 but only X-BTF or X-T have > the problem, but trust me here is my philosophy on > Direct X and Picrosoft (and no it aint a I hate MS > satan rant). > Microsoft are one of if not THE biggest software > developer in the world, with this scale of operation > come quality (anyone owning Office, MS Mouse Joysticks > Pads etc) will know, MS means quality period ok they > have teething problems like anyone else but they are > the best at what they do. > As I mentioned MS have teething problems, and Direc X > is always the one because of its nature ie thrashing > hardware software (ie Games) it has no margin of error > unfortuntely it does all to regular have probems I > know... many re-installations of windows tracked my > Bad copy of Direc X down to a few files Sin was > dumping to me HD. > In summary Don't install the latest DirectX untill you > have a game that needs it (by then the bugs will be > gone) (excluding GFX drivers get latest FULL RELEASE > ONES!!) > Im still on DX 7 no problems everything is sweet.. so > why fix it if its not broke.... Posted By: Avis Date: 14 Dec 2000, 00:13 In Response To: Re: seriously (Hixson) Lets look at this did you have problems with Direct-X 7 with your other GFX card (before getting the raiden..? if so Im clueless as to what the problem could be, but as for DX is not changing thats not true really because the drivers that come with it change every time and as a rule before DX7 I forced my Creative AWE64 drivers in instead of the MS versions which caused no end of grief.. as fo the problems with the Raiden... this is niether Microsofts Fault or EgoSofts.. it the Cards Drivers, (the GFX Drivers are essentially seperate from all the other DX drivers)I had loads of problems when I 1st got a Voodoo3 3000 AGP but the last DX7 drivers for it work mint, (admitedly I dodn't have a problem with X but many many other games). So its not X-BTF that has a problem with the Raiden its the Raiden that has the problem look at it this way its a NEW card with new technology you can't expect it to work with the 1st drivers 100%!!.. Nividia took over a year to release decent drivers for the TNT 3DFx has just after about 2 to 3 years released decent Voodoo3 drivers..... So this is why I say your problems are not with the game entirely I know people he get crackles pops etc with games (not X) > Well, that's sound advice, Avis. > As I mentioned in my original post, XBTF is completely > unplayable & XT has major problems with the Radeon > card. I know that the only reason MS is tweaking DX > now is to take advantage of cutting edge hardware, the > DX code base has been stable for some time now. I was > installing DX8 in the hope that some of the problems > with XT might be corrected by it (I've no hope of > finishing XBTF now). > I'll agree with you that, when MS first announced > DirectX, and through the fisrt five releases, there > were "teething pains" to be suffered. Some > of these were do to trying to include too much old > junk hardware in the spec, but most of them were do to > programmers not being willing to write code to the > API. It's very hard to teach an old dog new tricks, > especially if that old dog's a C++ programmer. > However, the gaming industry, on-the-whole, has now > adopted DX as the prefered interface. And there is no > reason, other than sloppy programming, that features > should suddenly stop working between DX releases. MS > just isn't changing the core DX code that much > anymore. Egosoft needs to step up and fix the program, > period. Re: seriously Posted By: reljam Date: 14 Dec 2000, 10:07 In Response To: Re: seriously (Hixson) I have a little experience making games and demoes under DX. I think X-tension's problem is not DirectSound, but rather DXMedia's MP3 codec. Egosoft rely heavily on being able to precisely specify start and end points for the MP3 decoder. It is possible that this is a DX8 problem (maybe start/end points need to be second-aligned or something, but I doubt it), there are not many other games out there that I know of that heavily use MP3s for short sound clips bunched up in one big MP3, like X-tension does. HOWEVER, I've been hanging around DX8 developer's lists, and no one else posted a similar problem. I'm guessing this is Egosoft's problem, not Microsoft's. Anyway, even if it is what I described above, it would be easy to work around it. Look at it this way: 1) If Egosoft fix this problem in the patch, they'll look stupid for telling everyone it's an unfixable widespread MS problem and then they fix it v2. 2) If Egosoft don't fix the problem, and no other games exhibit anything similar, they will look, well, incompetent. It's just that I hate "It's an MS problem" replies from software developers. On the other hand, I may be wrong about the whole thing. reljam In Response To: seriously (Avis) Actually, I agree with Hixson. If this was a DX8 problem, why would it manifest itself on Windows 2000--which has DX7 installed "out of the box"? Before you say it, I KNOW everyone tells me I shouldn't use Win2K for games, but I refuse to stick with an antiquated bodge of an OS when I can use the best version of Windows ever! > Im still on DX 7 no problems everything is sweet.. so > why fix it if its not broke.... > The sound problem IS a DX issue, it also happens in > hidden and dangerous. Not only that, X worked fine > with the earler versions. So how can X be the problem? No, it's not. There is no such thing as a DX "issue". If there is something the programmers disagree with in DX, they should just work around it. Just like everybody else does, and just like they did when they wrote the rest of X-tension/XBTF. Alt-Tabbing is not a DX "issue", it's the way DX works, and you should provide support for it, and not have your game exit back to the desktop. Or switch APIs. In Response To: clipped sounds (Hixson) Since installing dx8 I get garbled sounds on XT AND slightly slower graphics. Microsoft is probably aware of it by now, but they won't admit it just like they won't admit that Windows ME is Windows 98 with added bugs and seroius networking problems! They will probably sneek in a fix for it eventually. In Response To: Re: clipped sounds (NickUK) Look I dont hate Microsoft or anything like that BUT there software is never perfect and often does require patches only Microsoft don't do patches they do service packs, and look it has happened before with Direct X so why can t it happen again.. MS set standards games developers should code to to be Direct X safe, then they go a nd change it cos they have figured what they believe to be a better way and chage the standard..... THEN WHOS FAULT IS IT !? I don't honestly know if this is the case, but because Microsoft aint posted any acnoledgments to the problem means sod all, My Sidewinder 3D pro stopped working a while back I thought bugger typical just after I upgraded me computer too... turns out the Sidewinder 3D Pro CAN'T work with a 100Mhz bus, I bothered MS they said this problem isn't know nor previously reported.. then 6 months down the line I accedentally discover a post on the MS site about a know problem with 100Mhz bus speeds and Sidewinder 3D Pros.. Basically MS would not admit there is a proble untill they have already fixed it and then they will say ohh look we fixed it... And another thing, X=BTF is not unique in its DX8 problems so it is not fair to say that is egosoft at fault, I have been told now of a number of friends (over ICQ) when asking about this.... quote 'HARK HARK, what you expected this to work?', 'Sure I've had this problem with Unreal, C&C and just about everything Microprose has ever done'. so come on I don't doubt that DX8 with some configurations works fine but with others the drivers appear to be either optermised to oblivion or there is a problem with Direct Media codec for playing MP3s. But look I don't know 100% either way, but trying to say oh Microsoft don't know about it and its only X-BTF is crap they will know about it and will be working on it and it happens on more han just X-BTF /TX. basically by what I've read there is no way Im installing DX8 untill Microsoft at leaste accnoledge there is a problem (even if it is to point the finger at egosoft and other software houses) Avis Homepage In Response To: Re: Um... Why am - I - (Boris) No probs.. glad to help... as for the Manual online i have no ideas where you can get it from...and i don't think EGOSOFT will send it to you either... this was a point on the forum when X-T was released... As for the floods... well i live on higher ground! ------======Erazor======------