Archive for the ‘X³: Terran Conflict’ Category
‘Babylon 5: A Dream given Form’ is a modification for ‘X³: Terran Conflict’, a space-trading and combat simulator made by German developers Egosoft. Kasabian, Mod Realms’ resident B5 aficionado, talked to the mod leader, I_E_Maverick, about where B5X3TC is now – and where it’s going. There is also a German version of this interview available here.
MR: So to start this off, for those that unfortunately do not know, could you briefly tell us what ‘Babylon 5′ is?
B5X3TC: Babylon 5 is a TV series from the 90s. The name belongs to a space station in a neutral sector, which is also the main place for the series action. Special about the series is that all special effects were done with computer generated graphics, which was new in that time. It also had an epic plot, which was planned for 5 seasons from the beginning. That showed the way forward to different series now showing as well. Last but not least the series had very good actors and characters with believable turnarounds. To make it short, it was a perfect sci-fi series from start to end. That’s one of the reasons we are doing such a mod.
The Shadows and Vorlons fighting during the Shadow War
MR: ‘Babylon 5: A Dream Given Form’ is a modification for ‘X³: Terran Conflict’ – why did you choose this game in particular?
B5X3TC: There are not that much space-games out there anymore I am afraid. Nevertheless X³: Reunion, which we started with, and X³: Terran Conflict are great space-games, which are easy to mod as well. It offers a lot of options to change the game. Furthermore it offers a free gameplay from the start. You can do missions, trade, explore sectors or even build your own business empire. All these aspects fits a Babylon 5 universe very well and especially the way of
traveling the universe is very similar to they way it was in the B5 universe. Besides the graphics are fantastic and there is nothing similar out there. These are the main reasons for choosing such a game.
MR: You made the jump from ‘X³: Reunion’ to ‘X³: Terran Conflict’, why was this? And if there were to be a new engine released, would you make the jump again?
B5X3TC: The main reason for this was the change of some of the scripts and the mission director. There were also some tweaks to the graphics and a new interface. If something like that would happen again I think we wouldn’t change again though because we are too far along now for that. The change from X3 R to X3 TC was quite a big change, which brought a lot of new options to us but also was a lot of work. At a certain point it is just not worth it if you have to start from the beginning again.
Interstellar Alliance White Star
MR: Could you give us a description of your B5 mod and what your aim is?
B5X3TC: This is a tough question. In the beginning it was our idea or wish to bring in all the B5 ships from the series. Now we are working on a total conversion, that means we are changing every aspect of the game. We want to create the perfect B5 game. To do this we have created a complete new universe based on a semi canon map, so estimated 400 sectors including the hyperspace sectors though. Certainly we have built a lot of ships by now. Not only the canon ones but also a lot of our own designs to close the gaps which are necessary for the game. This applies especially to stations which were hardly seen in the series. I could tell you about a lot of other things we have changed, but this would go beyond the scope of this interview I guess. Let me tell you one thing though: We want that every player get the feeling at all times to be part of the series.
