History XUniverse / Tropes0ToF

* AintTooProudToBeg: [=NPCs=] will attempt to bail out their about-to-be-destroyed ship (only if they're in fighters and/or transports that are not of the TL-class) if you [[CherryTapping Cherry Tap]] them enough once their shields are out, in order to save their miserable hides after [[SmugSnake smugly]] [[TheComputerShallTauntYou taunting you however many times]] [[SuicidalOverconfidence and being so idiotically overconfident]] (though transport pilots are more timid than smug).

** [[spoiler:Supposedly the fate suffered by the Kha'ak homeworld care of a gamma ray burster, whose fragments form the Nividium asteroids scattered about.]]

** ''Albion Prelude'' provides a story example. The Argon and Paranids are traditional rivals, which goes back to the latter's refusal to help them in the First Xenon Conflict. The rivalry gets bloody frequently, and when the Second Terraformer War breaks out, the Paranids help out the Terrans. One of their top officers aids Lt. Col. Elena Kho in stopping the final attack on Earth, and is marooned in Sol after the gates shut down.

* ChainLightning: The Ion Disruptor will arc between multiple ships and deal shield damage to all of them, provided the ships are within a kilometer of each other and are somewhat lined up. Beware its ability to make the local police angry as hell with friendly fire, as it doesn't distinguish between friendly or enemy targets.

* FantasticDrug: Spaceweed is a Teladi plant that is smoked or ingested and amounts to marijuana [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE!]]-] Space fuel, on the other hand, is a street name or euphemism for Argon whiskey. Both are illegal in the Commonwealth[[note]]which is ironic in the case of space fuel, [[{{Hypocrite}} since you can see two distilleries in the Argon sector of Herron's Nebula, and you can actually buy their distilleries from Argon shipyards]]. Spaceweed is legal in Teladi space, however[[/note]], and both are highly prized by players for use as trade goods to pacify the SpacePirate population.

** ''Terran Conflict'' has two new types of enhanced drones, and a little squad of them (bought dirt-cheap) could easily kill the biggest ships in the game in less than a minute with almost no casualties, because it will overwhelm the game's AI, and cause the game to use more system resources. [[AIBreaker As more AIs are running, the game runs the AI routines less, making them fire less often and react slower]]. Also, because [=NPC=] capital ships are [[PointDefenseless rarely equipped with weapons capable of hitting them]], these drones (especially the Mark II variants) could turn even the most difficult of space battles into a cakewalk. Combined with the ability for almost any ship larger than a Scout to carry them, and you have basically a DiscOneNuke (it's since been a common misconception for players to assume that only TS and TM-class craft carry fighter drones and no other craft can carry it, presumably because the AI is only seen using these drones coming from these class of crafts, [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard and also since the information of the X3 wiki does not seem to properly value the use of these drones]]. Which is emphatically false); the only disadvantages being the one-use nature of the drones and the game not registering their kills for your reputation bonuses or for your combat rank.

** ''Terran Conflict'' has two new types of enhanced drones, and a little squad of them (bought dirt-cheap) could easily kill the biggest ships in the game in less than a minute with almost no casualties, because it will overwhelm the game's AI, and cause the game to use more system resources. [[AIBreaker As more AIs are running, the game runs the AI routines less, making them fire less often and react slower]]. Also, because [=NPC=] capital ships are [[PointDefenseless rarely equipped with weapons capable of hitting them]], these drones could turn even the most difficult of space battles into a cakewalk. Combined with the ability for almost any ship larger than a Scout to carry them, and you have basically a DiscOneNuke (it's since been a common misconception for players to assume that only TS and TM-class craft carry fighter drones and no other craft can carry it, presumably because the AI is only seen using these drones coming from these class of crafts, [[TheComputerIsALyingBastard and also since the information of the X3 wiki does not seem to properly value the use of these drones]]. Which is emphatically false.); the only disadvantages being the one-use nature of the drones and the game not registering their kills for your reputation bonuses or for your combat rank.

** ''Terran Conflict'' has two new types of enhanced drones, and a little squad of them (bought dirt-cheap) could easily kill the biggest ships in the game in less than a minute with almost no casualties, because it will overwhelm the game's AI, and cause the game to use more system resources. [[AIBreaker As more AIs are running, the game runs the AI routines less, making them fire less often and react slower]]. Also, because [=NPC=] capital ships are [[PointDefenseless rarely equipped with weapons capable of hitting them]], these drones could turn even the most difficult of space battles into a cakewalk. Combined with the ability for almost any ship larger than a Scout to carry them, and you have basically a DiscOneNuke, the only disadvantages being the one-use nature of the drones and the game not registering their kills for your reputation bonuses or for your combat rank.

** ''Terran Conflict'' has two new types of enhanced drones, and a little squad of them (bought dirt-cheap) could easily kill the biggest ships in the game in less than a minute with almost no casualties, because it will overwhelm the game's AI, and cause the game to use more system resources. [[AIBreaker As more AIs are running, the game runs the AI routines less, making them fire less often and react slower]]. Also because NPC capital ships are [[PointDefenseless rarely equipped with weapons capable of hitting them]]. Combined with the ability for almost any ship larger than a Scout to carry them, and you have basically a DiscOneNuke, the only disadvantages being the one-use nature of the drones and the game not registering their kills for your reputation bonuses or for your combat rank.

** The Motional Analysis Relay System (MARS) script for ''X3: Terran Conflict'' allows any capital ship with the MARS software suite installed to use the Goblin drone system. Goblins just use regular drones (MKI, MKII, Keris), but they are linked up to the ship's computer to form a comprehensive and intelligent offensive/defense system. Goblins will be catapulted from the controlling ship's fuselage towards their target, and will smartly execute a variety of orders - they can set up satellite arrays, pick up loot and bring it back to the ship, shoot down incoming missiles, attack enemies (or only keeping their shields down for [[BoardingParty boarding]]), and will even return to the ship to recharge their batteries & repair to prevent losses. The drones also [[WhatMeasureIsAMook have their own chatter, referring to the player as "Master", and present loot as "gifts"]]

** The Motional Analysis Relay System (MARS) script for ''X3: Terran Conflict'' allows any capital ship with the MARS software suite installed to use the Goblin drone system. Goblins just use regular drones (MKI, MKII, Keris), but they are linked up to the ships computer to form a comprehensive and intelligent offensive/defense system. Goblins will be catapulted from the controlling ship's fuselage towards their target, and will smartly execute a variety of orders - they can set up satellite arrays, pick up loot and bring it back to the ship, shoot down incoming missiles, attack enemies (or only keeping their shields down for [[BoardingParty boarding]]), and will even return to the ship to recharge their batteries & repair to prevent losses. The drones also [[WhatMeasureIsAMook have their own chatter, referring to the player as "Master", and present loot as "gifts"]]

** The Motional Analysis Relay System (MARS) script for ''X3: Terran Conflict'' allows any capital ship with the MARS software suite installed to use the Goblin drone system. Goblins just use regular drones (MKI, MKII, Keris), but their are linked up to the ships computer to form a comprehensive and intelligent offensive/defense system. Goblins will be catapulted from the controlling ship's fuselage towards their target, and will smartly execute a variety of orders - they can set up satellite arrays, pick up loot and bring it back to the ship, shoot down incoming missiles, attack enemies (or only keeping their shields down for [[BoardingParty boarding]]), and will even return to the ship to recharge their batteries & repair to prevent losses. The drones also [[WhatMeasureIsAMook have their own chatter, referring to the player as "Master", and present loot as "gifts"]]

** The actual commodity known as "space fuel", is, in fact, an illegal alcoholic drink. [[DamnYouMuscleMemory A new player may easily be stalked by the police for accidentally salvaging it from a destroyed pirate ship without knowing]]. Actual spaceship fuel is nowhere to be found; the series enforces this trope by giving all ships an unlimited fuel (matter/antimatter for Terran ships according to the literature, but left unspecified for Commonwealth ships).

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Players new to the series will try to pick up Space Fuel from destroyed Pirate craft, thinking it will serve as actual fuel for their ships, [[OhCrap only to find out later that it is actually an illegal alcoholic drink and will be fired upon Police craft in non-Pirate sectors]]. Actual spaceship fuel is nowhere to be found; the series averts this by giving all ships some [[EasyLogistics unlimited, unspecified source of fuel]] as well as using Energy Cells, which serve as fuel for your jumpdrive (as well as your turbo booster in the Bonus Pack of ''Terran Conflict''), besides being the main source of energy for most any factory.

* ActuallyFourMooks: Khaak Clusters read as a single M3 on gravidar but may contain anywhere between six and 26 ships. An attentive player learns to check any hostiles that come into sensor range on the sector map, which gives away the type of ship but not how many Khaak you're dealing with.
* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: [[AvertedTrope Do not rely on what a ship looks like as a measure of how dangerous it is.]] Terran ships, despite being the most advanced ships, [[http://i.imgur.com/SyPVb.jpg don't look much more advanced than the modern Space Shuttle]] -- just a lot more clean and streamlined. This becomes particularly egregious by the time the 2900s take place, since they should already have sleeker and more visually appealing designs by then to complement their [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly sufficiently advanced technology]]. The Paranid, the second-most advanced race, on the other hand, use [[http://i.imgur.com/VG130.jpg very high-tech looking ships]] with lots of curves and shiny hulls. The Split [[FollowTheLeader follow a similar pattern]] to the Paranid by both design and technology, [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_s_m3p.jpg only with more angular and spiky ends]]. Argon/[=OTAS=] ships look like sleek DieselPunk craft with rusty, scorch-filled marks in their design ([[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_otas_m3.jpg specifically their fighters when looking like the latter part]]), despite being bought fresh out of a shipyard. The Teladi, who buy or reverse engineer all their technology from the other races and use lower tech weaponry, have [[http://i.imgur.com/Z17s7.jpg cobbled-together ships]]; in other words, they're the ugliest ships aesthetically speaking (with a few exceptions: the Kea, Kestrel, and Peregrine look surprisingly sleek among the [[UsedFuture usual Teladi design philosophy]]), [[WhatAPieceOfJunk but don't judge them by their looks alone]]: they are usually just as effective as the other race's ships. The Pirates on the other hand, use scavenged and spot-repaired ships, with their capital ships cobbled together from the hulks of old transporter ships, and it shows when you look at their stats - almost all the Pirate ships have terrible stats compared to the original race's ships. Boron ships ''look'' like they ought to be superior to everything else, but really only excel as transports.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: [[AvertedTrope Do not rely on what a ship looks like as a measure of how dangerous it is.]] Terran ships, despite being the most advanced ships, [[http://i.imgur.com/SyPVb.jpg don't look much more advanced than the modern Space Shuttle]] -- just a lot more clean and streamlined. This becomes particularly egregious by the time the 2900s take place, since they should already have sleeker and more visually appealing designs by then to complement their [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly sufficiently advanced technology]]. The Paranid, the second-most advanced race, on the other hand, use [[http://i.imgur.com/VG130.jpg very high-tech looking ships]] with lots of curves and shiny hulls. The Split [[FollowTheLeader follow a similar pattern]] to the Paranid by both design and technology, [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_s_m3p.jpg only with more angular and spiky ends]]. Argon/[=OTAS=] ships look like sleek DieselPunk craft with rusty, scorch-filled marks in their design (mainly their fighters when looking like the latter part [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_otas_m3.jpg]]), despite being bought fresh out of a shipyard. The Teladi, who buy or reverse engineer all their technology from the other races and use lower tech weaponry, have [[http://i.imgur.com/Z17s7.jpg cobbled-together ships]]; in other words, they're the ugliest ships aesthetically speaking (with a few exceptions: the Kea, Kestrel, and Peregrine look surprisingly sleek among the [[UsedFuture usual Teladi design philosophy]]), [[WhatAPieceOfJunk but don't judge them by their looks alone]]: they are usually just as effective as the other race's ships. The Pirates on the other hand, use scavenged and spot-repaired ships, with their capital ships cobbled together from the hulks of old transporter ships, and it shows when you look at their stats - almost all the Pirate ships have terrible stats compared to the original race's ships. Boron ships ''look'' like they ought to be superior to everything else, but really only excel as transports.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: [[AvertedTrope Do not rely on what a ship looks like as a measure of how dangerous it is.]] Terran ships, despite being the most advanced ships, [[http://i.imgur.com/SyPVb.jpg don't look much more advanced than the modern Space Shuttle]] -- just a lot more clean and streamlined. This becomes particularly egregious by the time the 2900s take place, since they should already have sleeker and more visually appealing designs by then to complement their [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly sufficiently advanced technology]]. The Paranid, the second-most advanced race, on the other hand, use [[http://i.imgur.com/VG130.jpg very high-tech looking ships]] with lots of curves and shiny hulls. The Split [[FollowTheLeader follow a similar pattern]] to the Paranid by both design and technology, [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_s_m3p.jpg only with more angular and spiky ends]]. Argon ships look like sleek DieselPunk craft with rusty, scorch-filled marks in their design (mainly their fighters when looking like the latter part), despite being bought fresh out of a shipyard. The Teladi, who buy or reverse engineer all their technology from the other races and use lower tech weaponry, have [[http://i.imgur.com/Z17s7.jpg cobbled-together ships]]; in other words, they're the ugliest ships aesthetically speaking (with a few exceptions: the Kea, Kestrel, and Peregrine look surprisingly sleek among the [[UsedFuture usual Teladi design philosophy]]), [[WhatAPieceOfJunk but don't judge them by their looks alone]]: they are usually just as effective as the other race's ships. The Pirates on the other hand, use scavenged and spot-repaired ships, with their capital ships cobbled together from the hulks of old transporter ships, and it shows when you look at their stats - almost all the Pirate ships have terrible stats compared to the original race's ships. Boron ships ''look'' like they ought to be superior to everything else, but really only excel as transports.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: [[AvertedTrope Do not rely on what a ship looks like as a measure of how dangerous it is.]] Terran ships, despite being the most advanced ships, [[http://i.imgur.com/SyPVb.jpg don't look much more advanced than the modern Space Shuttle]] -- just a lot more clean and streamlined. This becomes particularly egregious by the time the 2900s take place, since they should already have sleeker and more visually appealing designs by then to complement their [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly sufficiently advanced technology]]. The Paranid, the second-most advanced race, on the other hand, use [[http://i.imgur.com/VG130.jpg very high-tech looking ships]] with lots of curves and shiny hulls. The Split [[FollowTheLeader follow a similar pattern]] to the Paranid by both design and technology, [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_s_m3p.jpg only with more angular and spiky ends]]. Argon ships look like sleek DieselPunk craft with rusty, scorch marks in their design (mainly their fighters when looking like the latter part), despite being bought fresh out of a shipyard. The Teladi, who buy or reverse engineer all their technology from the other races and use lower tech weaponry, have [[http://i.imgur.com/Z17s7.jpg cobbled-together ships]]; in other words, they're the ugliest ships aesthetically speaking (with a few exceptions: the Kea, Kestrel, and Peregrine look surprisingly sleek among the [[UsedFuture usual Teladi design philosophy]]), [[WhatAPieceOfJunk but don't judge them by their looks alone]]: they are usually just as effective as the other race's ships. The Pirates on the other hand, use scavenged and spot-repaired ships, with their capital ships cobbled together from the hulks of old transporter ships, and it shows when you look at their stats - almost all the Pirate ships have terrible stats compared to the original race's ships. Boron ships ''look'' like they ought to be superior to everything else, but really only excel as transports.

* TheAestheticsOfTechnology: [[AvertedTrope Do not rely on what a ship looks like as a measure of how dangerous it is.]] Terran ships, despite being the most advanced ships, [[http://i.imgur.com/SyPVb.jpg don't look much more advanced than the modern Space Shuttle]] -- just a lot more clean and streamlined. This becomes particularly egregious by the time the 2900s take place, since they should already have sleeker and more visually appealing designs by then to complement their [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly sufficiently advanced technology]]. The Paranid, the second-most advanced race, on the other hand, use [[http://i.imgur.com/VG130.jpg very high-tech looking ships]] with lots of curves and shiny hulls. The Split [[FollowTheLeader follow a similar pattern]] to the Paranid by both design and technology, [[http://www.elite-games.ru/images/x3tc/ships/ss_sh_s_m3p.jpg only with more angular and spiky ends]]. The Teladi, who buy or reverse engineer all their technology from the other races and use lower tech weaponry, have [[http://i.imgur.com/Z17s7.jpg cobbled-together ships]]; in other words, they're the ugliest ships aesthetically speaking (with a few exceptions: the Kea, Kestrel, and Peregrine look surprisingly sleek among the [[UsedFuture usual Teladi design philosophy]]), [[WhatAPieceOfJunk but don't judge them by their looks alone]]: they are usually just as effective as the other race's ships. The Pirates on the other hand, use scavenged and spot-repaired ships, with their capital ships cobbled together from the hulks of old transporter ships, and it shows when you look at their stats - almost all the Pirate ships have terrible stats compared to the original race's ships. Boron ships ''look'' like they ought to be superior to everything else, but really only excel as transports.

** The modern-day Xenon are descended from the Terraformers, originally built by the Terrans to terraform worlds. After a badly-written ''software update'' they begin to 'terraform' people, cities, and stations. Eventually they [[spoiler:gained true sentience]]. This is why you bug-check your changes before you implement them, people.

* FantasticRacism: The Paranid consider all other races to be lesser creatures because they have only two eyes. ''Xtended Terran Conflict'' really steps up the racism for several species; the Terrans consider themselves to be [[HumansAreSpecial special]] and are degrading to other races - a Terran study claims that the [[FishPeople Boron]] may be descendants of Terran aquatic life, which would therefor [[InsaneTrollLogic make the entire Boron Kingdom a Terran colony, and eligible for Terran taxes.]]

** The Teladi Kestrel is the fastest ship to be purchasable from its respective race's shipyards (in fact, it's the fourth fastest overall in the game). It's not recommended to use auto-pilot and SETA at the same time because it can barely control itself at such speeds and carries a high risk of colliding with another object. It's really only good at barging through sectors hopefully unscathed because like all M5s, it won't last long in even an M4 dogfight. Although in the hands of a good fighter-jock-type player it makes a decent GradualGrinder: having better guns than most M5s, coupled with the class's agility and speed, means it can handle itself against anything up to M3 if you keep to the side so you can attack from blind spots.

*** The [[SpacePirates Pirate]] version adds 30 more m/s than the standard version, making it the fastest pilotable armed ship and the third fastest overall in the game.

** The [[SpacePirates Pirate]] version adds 30 more m/s than the standard version, making it the fastest pilotable armed ship and the third fastest overall in the game.

** Scout craft, which while anywhere from two to several times faster than any other ship will explode with so much as a sneer from heavier fighters. Split ships as a whole also fit the type, as they concentrate on speed and firepower rather than heavy shielding. Boron ships also have weakened shields and higher speed, but not as extreme as the Split ships.