X3:Terran Conflict and... uhm.. stuff

Alright, today, I'll introduce you to a nice space sim. X3:TC, while you can't find it in stores in the states, you can find it instead on Steam, otherwise known as Valve. The game is amazing, if you ask me. It involves a balance of an economical system and fighting, and a storyline which can bolster you along on your way to creating an empire throughout the X Universe, as it is known.

Trading will certainly get you more money faster than gunning down pirate ships ever will. You can trade anything from energy cells, the in-game power source, to full-blown heavy weaponry. Of course, you have to have the necessary notoriety to be able to trade weapons. You can't just wonder into some new race's space and expect them to let you buy guns. They have to trust you.

And there's no better way to earn their trust than to shoot down some pirates or doing a mission. If you shoot down pirate ships in space controlled by a race, that race will trust you more on account of the favor you've done them. Additionally, ships you destroy will sometimes drop some of their cargo, allowing you to pick it up and use it or sell it.

Doing missions is another great way to gain notoriety. They can vary from finding ship x and returning it to station y, defending a station from incoming pirates, patrolling a sector for various dangerous faction activity, be it Kha'ak, Xenon, or pirate, tailing someone to a secret meeting, or hunting someone down, among other things. There are trading mission, combat missions, all sorts of missions.

So, I've been playing that game for a while. I've got a bit ol' Terran destroyer-class ship, which makes me a force to be reckoned with, and right now I'm searching for some sort of Boron (one of the races) mobile base or other, I dunno. I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be looking for it, really.

If you pick it up, though, make sure you have a joystick.