Mark (Speedy3D):

Firstly can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?

Bernd (EgoSoft):

My name is Bernd Lehahn, and I'm the managing director of Egosoft. For a company of the size of Egosoft, that means I basically do a little bit of everything :) Project design, project planning, and a little bit of engine programming are part of that.

Mark (Speedy3D):

What inspired you to create 'X', was it StarWars, StarTrek or a game like Elite?

Bernd (EgoSoft):

Whenever you do something which is Sci-Fi related, it would somehow be inspired by StarWars and StarTrek one way or the other, unless you lived in a cage for the last decades :) But X-Beyond the Frontier does have it's own universe, and is not related to either of these universes. In the Sci-Fi department I'm personally a fan of the novels written by Isaac Assimov and Arthur C. Clarke. Elite is another story. Our game is not a copy or a sequel to Elite. Neither official nor unofficial. But whenever you make a space-game, which is more than just shooting down aliens, you will be compared with Elite. It's an all time classic, and yes we all like and played it :)

Mark (Speedy3D):

How would you describe 'X' as a game and compare it to the likes of Descent-Freespace and the Elite Series?

Bernd (EgoSoft):

X-Beyond the Frontier is a space sim with the main objective to allow the player as much freedom of gameplay as possible. You are thrown into a strange and unexplored universe and it's up to you to find ways to make a living there. The game doesn't dictate how you have to play it. It simply offers certain game elements like:

-trading (from station to station or from factory to factory)

-building (your own factories)

-exploring (different races territories, each with its own specialities, its own products etc.)

-fighting (against an always aggressive race called the Xenon, or as a Pirate) and more.

How you play it is up to you. Of course there is no way to avoid one element completely. Especially a beginner will probably have to trade for a while. Before you can build the first factory of your own it will require quite some time of trading.

You can also choose to get a police license from one race and get bounty money for every pirate and Xenon ship you shoot in that races territory. Once you have your own factories you can even buy ships to work for you. Transporters as well as fighter ships. Transporters help managing these factories, while the fighters defend them or accompany you as wingmen. And after all... yes X also has a plot like other games. A story that you can follow, and where you can reveal a couple of mysteries and accomplish a couple of missions. But that's in a completely free environment, and only one of many sides of the game.

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