X (video game series)

X is a science fiction space trading and combat simulator series created by German developer Egosoft. The series is set in the X-Universe where several races populate a number of worlds connected by jumpgates.

Plot

Hundreds of millions of years before the plot of the X games, the Ancient races, who have transceded their physical form, built billions of jumpgates throughout the universe. Their purpose, as well as their effect, is to limit the development of faster-than-light transportation, creating a reliance on these jumpgates as human and alien species explore the universe. This enables the Ancients to act as shepherds of life, preventing wars between alien species, and monitoring the development of civilisations.

Unexpectedly for the Ancients, however, mankind would discover jumpgate technology themselves. Over the course of the 21st century, mankind experimented with wormhole technology and successfully built jumpgates in space between Earth and Mars paving the way for the colonization of the Solar System and interstellar transport. A jumpgate was shuttled to Alpha Centauri in an attempt to claim a foothold in interstellar space. However, in 2041, Earth lost contact with it, and while trying to re-establish the connection, instead locked onto Ancient-made ones, causing them to stumble into the X-Universe. In response, the Ancients rearranged some gates to isolate humans in a subnetwork devoid of other life. In 2045, humanity began to explore the jumpgate network, finding plenty of suitable planets for terraforming and colonisation. Self-replicating AI ships, the Terraformers, were sent out into the network to find and terraform planets, but in 2145, ships corrupted by a badly-made and sabotaged final update started targeting inhabited worlds, killing billions. Earth was saved by the exploits of Nathan Ridley Gunne, who lured the Terraformer fleet out of the Solar System before the human jumpgate was destroyed. Earth was saved, but the stranded colonists discovered the alien gates now led to a completely different network.

This part of humanity now separated from Earth survived and formed a new civilisation called the Argon Federation, a name coming from the corruption of "R. Gunne". The Argon gradually lost their cultural connection with Earth, even adopting a new year counting system—NT, for New Time—partly to prevent the remaining Terraformers from finding a new way back to the Solar System. The Goners, a fringe cult in Argon society, kept archives of "Old Earth" and hoped for an eventual reunion. The new configuration of this network did not leave humans alone however, and Argon first encountered an alien species, the Paranid, in 130 NT. The Boron followed in 323 NT, the Split in 324 NT, and the Teladi in 550 NT. Over the centuries, attacks from Terraformers, now known as the Xenon, would occasionally flare up, and the Argon formed the Community of Planets to try and maintain peace between the various alien factions.

Around 730 NT, during the buildup of a new war with the Xenon, a jumpship from Earth piloted by Kyle William Brennan suddenly appeared in the Teladi capital system Seizewell, kicking off the events of '.

• Boron: A pacifist, squid-like aquatic race led by a matriarchal monarchy. Their homeworld is Nishala, an ammonia-rich ocean planet in the Kingdom End system.
• Human: Divided into two main factions:
• Argon: Humans who are descended from the remains of the fleet that saved Earth in the Terraformer War, and the colonists trapped with them. They named themselves after their heroic captain Nathan R. Gunne, who lured the Terraformers away from the Earth and discovered what would be chosen as the new home system, Sonra IV (eventually renamed to Argon Prime). The Argon government decided centuries ago that the pain of separation with Earth was best dealt with by changing the official version of history so that humans in the X-Universe believed they evolved in their current location, which would also make it harder for the Terraformers to find Earth again.
• Argons who believed in Earth, despite it being officially just a myth, formed the Goner sect (also named after Gunne) to save as much information on it as they could; after it is reconnected to the X-Universe, they try to become a diplomatic intermediary between the two factions.
• Terran: Humans who still live in the Solar System. Due to their intense fear of a new Terraformer invasion, they are the most technologically-advanced faction after the Ancients, and much more militaristic than the Argon.
• Kha'ak: An insectoid race that started war with the Argon in ' by completely destroying the sector known as "President's End". They seem incapable of communicating with any other race, and are named after a parasitic monster from Split folklore. The Kha'ak can ignore the confines of the jumpgate network due to having a jumpdrive of their own design, as their homeworld in Kha'ak Sector 926 (which appears to have been destroyed) does not have any gate.
• Paranid: A large, three-eyed, flightless bird-like race that have a strict religion, ruled by the Xaar pontifex, that worships mathematics, especially dimensional ones. As such, they are the most scientifically-advanced race of the Community of Planets. They are in a stand-off with the Argon ever since the Paranid refused to form an alliance with them against the Xenon. Their homeworld is Eighth Eye, a desertic super-Earth in the Paranid Prime system, due to which they also possess immense strength and extreme environmental resistance.
• Split: A humanoid tribal race known to be strong, hot-headed, and loving fighting; they are ruled by the patriarch of the most powerful family. They only respect the Paranid, who are even stronger, and absolutely despise the Boron for their pacifism. They abandoned their homeworld after their wars made it uninhabitable.
• Teladi: A reptilian race that values trade and profits over everything else, they have a corporate government and are the biggest economic power of the Community of Planets. Their homeworld is Ianamus Zura, a swampy planet that was lost in the network configuration after the First Terraformer World, but was found again before the events of X2.
• Xenon: A self-replicating artificial intelligence evolved from the Terraformers created by the Terrans in an effort to colonise worlds. Now hostile to all life, they destroy anything. Named by the Argon as a contraction of the word "xenomorph", which was initially used as a codeword for unidentified alien ships.

The X series

The series, which was launched in 1999 on the Windows platform, consists of five base games: ', ', ', X Rebirth and '. The series games are expanded by sequels that both add features and extend the plot. A plot can be undertaken in all games except X-Tension where the player takes part in missions to unfold events.

In 2010, Egosoft released the X-Superbox, a pack containing all the X series games up to that date: ', X-Tension, , ', and '. Included in the pack was extra missions within Terran Conflict. Additionally, owners of the pack also obtained for free when it was released in 2011.