Wow didn't expect to see this on GOG, didn't really need to buy it again, but couldn't resist having it DRM free. X3 Terran Conflict and the excellent add on Albion Prelude are two games I hold in high regard. On Steam I have 500 hours in Terran Conflict, who knows how many I had on the box copy, and on Albion Prelude over 1300 hours. I'm not going to say it's better than Elite: Dangerous since I really like that one too, but it is a different experience. Unlike Elite, these games go to the next level with empire building. Play long enough and you'll be flying capital ships, commanding other capital ships, and eventually building your own ships. Imagine having a sector setup with a sprawling complex cranking out shields, weapons, drones, laser towers, with a fleet of transports taking those goods to a sector next door with your shipyard. There is no limit on the amount of ships you can own. There is something satisfying early in the game when the pilot you're attacking bails out, leaving a ship that's damaged but all yours. You can hit the CTRL key in your space suit to activate a repair laser which is more than enough to get smaller fighters up and running again. If you're new to the series and bought the whole pack with all the games then I recommend you just play the campaigns of all the earlier titles for the story. Save your sand boxing and empire building for Albion Prelude, that is the jewel of the series. Build that fleet, become a billionaire, train your marines, capture some ships. After a hundred hours or so you'll get bored, then you'll want to try the Poisoned Paranid start and see if you can get that Hyperion Vanguard before your character dies. After that do a search for the XRM mod and XTC mods which are two complete game conversions that will breath fresh life into Albion Prelude. Since these titles are older I'm able to get decent frame rates out of my travel laptop which is just a weak AMD A4 5000.
