After playing No Mans Sky I started looking at thr X3 games since they seem to be closer at that vision. But these games looks very complicated. I'd like to know more about them. Any recommendations on what one to start with. Rebirth is either awesome or terrible depending on who you ask. I know I'm humping into the deep end here but any help would be appreciated.

I do not quite get what kind of experience you are looking for. Endless exploration? Lots of cool combat? Can you compare to other games?

Well the X series looks complex. I guess I'm after a space RPG were you can do anything you want and go to different places.

I'm going to try to keep this to the point.

The X series wasn't always that complex. The first two X games were more accessible some say (I haven't played any of them though), but with the introduction of X2, a space-sim with some empire-building elements turned into a full-fledged empire-building game with space-sim elements.

X3:Reunion, X3:TC and X3:AP have all in turn refined and added complexity but also depth, making the game harder and harder to pick up for new players, but also more fun and rewarding for veterans of the series.

I'm quite used to it now, though even now after years of playing there still are some aspects of the game left for me to explore. From what I remember when I first started to play X2, I can definitely see a rookie's point about the steep learning curve. It's more of a ravine climb, but if you ask me it's well worth the effort.

Rebirth on the other hand broke this chain of complexity and in-game depth and returned the series to simpler times, with an increased focus on the player and his actions. This is why you'll see people complaining about it in the first place - some feel that this oversimplification betrays the direction the series has taken so far.

Personally, I see their point. I don't see myself playing Rebirth, and I'm much happier to stick to X3:AP for now. But if I had never played any of the X games, I guess Rebirth would be a good place to start. From what I've read it's not a bad game at all in itself, it's just not what us, X series veterans, are used to.

Still, if you want an open-world sandbox where you can do whatever you like, earn money, build factories and fleets, explore, board ships, grow yourself from a single starting ship to a massive empire that can overpower the all-mighty Xenon - I think X3:AP is what you're looking for. Expect it to be hard - and it should be - you'll get as much out of it as you put into it.

Thanks that was very helpful. See I've also been writing scripts for Linux and I figured if I can do that I can play a game like this right. It was No Mans Sky that got me interested in these games. Because the actual NMS was very simple I was thinking maybe the X series is what NMS was trying to be.

Ok, then you should be fine regardless of what you pick :).

I'm a programmer myself and I think it's helped me a lot to figure out stuff in the game, though you don't necessarily need any tech skills to pick it up. All I can say is that if you like complexity, you'll feel right at home in any of the X3 games. X3:AP is of course the crown jewel of the series.

Themken, Hardrada and I all keep gaming logs of what we're playing at the moment - they're in this X series forum and may also help you figure out the full capabilities of the game. Themken is playing X3:TC, while Hardrada and I are both playing X3:AP.

Doesn't AP come with TC?

Albion Prelude is an expansion for Terran Conflict, so you need both to play AP. GOG sells them together as the Terran War Pack, but I think Steam sells them separately.

I'm just trying a bit of rebirth. I've had very little experience with space games and I'm just jumping into the deep end lol,

Sorry was away from internet enjoying a bit of real life. Too tired now to add anything but:

Also on Steam you would need to have X3:Terran Conflict, that is on Steam too, in order to play the add-on X3:Albion Prelude.