X3: Terran Conflict

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) release of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

X
X: Beyond the Frontier	1999
X-Tension	2000
X2: The Threat	2003
X3: Reunion	2005
X3: Terran Conflict	2008
X Rebirth	2013
X Rebirth VR Edition	2017
X4: Foundations	2018

General information

Official website

Official forum

Argonopedia - A wiki for the X series

X³ Wiki

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		TAGES DRM. (removed in Patch 2.5).^[1] The Aldrin Missions use TAGES Solidshield DRM. The Gold Edition is DRM-free.
GamersGate
GOG.com		Includes Albion Prelude.
Mac App Store
Mac App Store		X3: Albion Prelude. Sold as a standalone app.
Steam

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Albion Prelude
Albion Prelude Bonus Package	Free.
Terran Conflict Bonus Package	Free.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Skip Intro^{[citation needed]}
Add `/skipintro` to launch options to disable the intro video. The option `/noabout` skips the launcher and starts the game directly.

Patches

Patches are available.

Remove menu background

Remove menu background^{[citation needed]}
To improve loading times, this mod replaces the default menu background with a simple star field.

Game data

This section may require cleanup to meet basic quality standards. The specific problem is: wrong formatting and complete nonsense. You can help by modifying the article. The discussion page may contain useful suggestions.

Launcher general settings.

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux	$HOME/.config/EgoSoft/X3TC/config.yaml

On Linux, the Albion Prelude configuration file is at $HOME/.config/EgoSoft/X3AP/config.yaml

It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EgoSoft\X3TC\save
macOS (OS X)
Linux	$HOME/.config/Egosoft/X3TC/save/

On Windows, Albion Prelude saves are in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EgoSoft\X3AP\save

On Linux, Albion Preludes saves are in $HOME/.config/EgoSoft/X3AP/saves/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud		^[2]

Video settings

Launcher video settings.

In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

In-game key/button map settings.

Launcher control settings.

In-game control settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Polish
Russian
Simplified Chinese
Spanish
Traditional Chinese

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod to improve 3D support.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D

Devices
TrackIR		X3: Albion Prelude only.

Issues fixed

Game crash to desktop

ffdshow, a DirectShow codec which can be installed as a standalone codec or alongside other DirectShow codecs in a codec pack, can cause a CTD (Crash to Desktop). To correct this, you need to add X3:TC's executable to ffdshow's blacklist. To do so:

Add X3:TC to ffdshow blacklist^[3]

Open ffdshow's configuration utility.
In the DirectShow control tab, there's a section called "Don't use ffdshow in:". Make sure the adjacent box is checked.
To the right of the checkbox is a button which says "Edit...". Click on it.
Add x3tc.exe to the list of blacklisted executable.

Notes

In certain versions of ffdshow, there is no "Edit..." button to the right of the "Don't use ffdshow in:" checkbox; instead, there is only a text box containing all the blacklisted executables. You'll need to manually type in x3tc.exe into the box, ensuring a semicolon is added immediately after the last executable in the list (before you add x3tc.exe).

Alt-Tab behavior

It may not be possible to re-enter the game after alt-tabbing out due to the "Run game in background" setting in the Gameplay Options menu being set to "No" by default. To correct this:

Enable "Run game in background" in Gameplay Options^{[citation needed]}
While in-game, hover over the Options button. From the menu which appears, select Gameplay. From the window which appears, set "Run game in background" to "Yes". Exit the window and resume gameplay as normal.

Linux Issues

Instructions^{[citation needed]}
For documentation and discussion of issues with the Linux ports of Terran Conflict and Albion Prelude, refer to this thread on the official EgoSoft forums.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
OpenGL	2.0	OS X and Linux only.

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP SP2	Vista SP1, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	3 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible Shader model 1.1 support	Shader model 3.0 support

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.7	10.8
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2620M	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	3 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	Intel HD Graphics 3000 256 MB of VRAM OpenGL 2.0 compatible	512 MB of VRAM OpenGL 3.0 compatible

Linux
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-2620M	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	1 GB	3 GB
Storage drive (HDD/SSD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	Mesa 9.0 256 MB of VRAM OpenGL 2.0 compatible	512 MB of VRAM OpenGL 3.0 compatible

References

[1] soft.com :: View topic - X3: Terran Conflict 2.5 has arrived!

[2] Steam Cloud Sync Enabled - Steam Community :: Group Announcements :: X3: Terran Conflict

[3] X3:TC Forums, "How to disable ffdshow"

[1]

[2]

[3]

Developers

	Egosoft
Publishers
	Deep Silver
	Interactive Gaming Software
Engines
	X³ Reality Engine
Release dates
Windows	October 16, 2008
macOS (OS X)	October 21, 2009
Linux	July 1, 2013