On Thursday 28th and Saturday 30th April Bernd gave a presentation on X Rebirth to assembled journalists and sci-fi games enthusiasts. Bernd explained that one of the key design aims of X Rebirth, because of the vastness of space in general terms, is to bring the action closer to the surface of the massive space stations in the game. One good thing about this is that the player can enjoy the glorious detail of those space stations while flying around them.

KGN Interview with Bernd Lehahn at FedCon XX

At FedCon XX in Düsseldorf Egosoft boss, Bernd, was also interviewed by Krawall Gaming Network (KGN) website and gave some further hints and information above and beyond those in the FedCon presentation. Let's take a look at some of the key points from that interview.

The concept is being rebuilt from the ground up this time, what key issues will be dealt with in doing so? - The transportation system will be much different. Instead of just flying from one place to another through the lonely void of space, there will be closer interaction and proximity with other ships. While this interaction may seem like 'GTA in space', you wouldn't be dragging anyone out of their ship and beating them up. In previous games, players asked for more and more content, sometimes at the expense of quality. This time around quality is the watchword.

Will the player be able to leave the ship? - There won't be any FPS-style action, but interaction with Non-Playing Characters (NPC) is very important in X Rebirth. You will interact with your factory managers and other pilots, for example. The most important NPC is your female co-pilot.

So this is a reboot, right? - It's certainly not X4!

What features have been left out from previous series? - Things haven't been left out just because they're hard to develop, rather we've concentrated on bring in gameplay features that are 'cooler'. Previously, for example, it was possible to pilot a capital ship from its bridge. No more. It took many players a long time to get to the point where they would own one and it wasn't a huge amount of fun to fly. If we'd included this, it would have put us back a bit.

What's happened to the User Interface? Some are concerned it may be dumbed down and [the game] may even appear on console. - No, no console. The game will become less complicated, but no less complex.

Will it be multiplayer? - Nope. It's something we've had in mind and there have been some good ideas, nonetheless, it's just not feasible right now.

Will there be more action in the story? - The story is good and important for newcomers, but we want to ensure fun gameplay in all areas. 'Yes, the plot might only last 10-20 hours, but that's not why I buy the game,' say most X-fans, because there's at least another 100 hours of gameplay beyond that... once the story is over, the player is free to do as he likes in the universe. We're keeping the sandbox.

What can you say about the story? You're not breaking with the canon of the story, but everything is new. - In the future of the X Universe a lot has happened since the events of Terran Conflict, among which is the fact that the Ancients' gate network that binds the people of the X Universe together have shut down. Some say it started with a supernova, but the end result is that some regions are totally cut off from others and the universe has changed dramatically as a result of the isolation. This gives us a huge amount of design freedom and imagine the possibilities this gives the player!

In the video are lots of massive stations and modules with greenhouses etc. Are these interactive to the player? - Of course. Stations will be gigantic and much more detailed than in the past but it's not just about the visuals, there are many more ways to interact with them now and they are much more important to the economy.

What can one do there? - Loads. How trade is done is even different. There's no landing to pick up wares and take them elsewhere. You now overfly the station and see what's on offer. Scanning stations and ships (legal or otherwise) will be important in the game. It was the case before that it didn't matter where you fired. Now the player can identify critical systems and target them.

Will the game support modding? - Yes, we're not changing our philosophy. We'll open up the games to the fans and work with them. The foundations of this have long-since been established through our forums and its embedded 'DevNet'.