X3 Terran Conflict Intro Movie [ENGLISH HQ]

*WATCH IN HIGH DEFINITION!!!*
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Almost a millenium has passed since the last great plague of human kind had been wiped out from the solar system and its precious blue pearl planet Earth.

It was a plague so dangerous, a threat so grave, that it spread throughout the infinity of space and eternity of time almost effortlessly to infest the stars. It spread its pestilence to civilizations unknown, devastated the galaxy as if it was just an ordinary body made of flesh and bone falling prey to a mindless virus.

And in a sense it was really a virus, a virus created by humankind. One made with the best of intentions, but a virus nevertheless.

Von Neumann probes, self-replicating machines, Terraformers, Xenon, even the enemy of God. But at its core, it was really only one thing.

Artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Mechanical minds capable of making themselves even more intelligent, and then again, and again. Recursively forever. The greatest threat to biological life that ever existed throughout the whole universe. The Terraformers were cast out of the solar system by sheer luck, just barely, with billions upon billions dead in their wake. The Earth Jumpgate was dismantled, legislation was put in place never to allow AGI to be created again, ever.

Human kind never forgot the lesson of AGI, never ventured to try out this concept once more, not in a thousand years, but then it was discovered that species from outside the solar system thought differently. The plague of AGI was being released on the universe once more. Again perhaps with the best of intentions and again however, with the deadliest of results. The government of Earth had to intervene, even if it meant cold war, even if it meant a cold war between brothers, and intervene Earth did.

This escalating conflict would be given a name by historians. Terran Conflict.
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X3: Terran Conflict and the X-Universe is owned by Egosoft and Deep Silver. Available on Steam, the Egosoft website and other retailers.

[Alpharius]

The part at 2:22, when the huge AI starship passes by with the music, is just gorgeous.

[repatomonor]

Actually, the Xenon don't think in a whole either. Every pieces of the xenon fleet are controlled by the xenon cpu stations, and those are controlled by the 2 Xenon CPU ships (#EFAA and #DEFF). The one that the Terrans captured at the end of the terran plot in Aldrin was the third CPU ship called #DECA, howerer, it had no connections to the other 2 in the X universe.

[AegisShroud]

This game, and the whole series, looks amazing. Where has this been all my life!? Time to get it.

[Thermite_]

@CKtheFat "The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do." – B.F. Skinner

[DevilDog]

@reddog22000 True, I did exaggerate there... Taking into account the immense levels of security that would accompany such a project, any truly dangerous failures or deviations will be eliminated instantly.

But you know the saying - "the one who expects the worst is, in the end, the best prepared". All possibilities have to be taken into account, especially when you're dealing with the creation of an entity that can be hostile - and on top, can replicate itself at a potentially exponential rate.

[herobetty]

Back in 2008 and before, I'm not sure if others thought this was X4 (or was it just me?) but it turned out to be a continuation of X3 instead. Anyone else remember?

[DarkTemplark]

At least the will remember the Humans for ever, as those wo made the virus that is spreading trough the whole galaxy and even further. :D

[DevilDog]

I'm not talking strictly about intelligence. In the last Terminator, for example, the T's were not fully autonomous, they were given a certain range of functions - algorythmic "freedom", call it so - but their actions were controlled by a central computers who monitors and issues out orders to the T's, and builds more T's in the foundry. I'm talking about a computer that has the capacity to replicate itself and rush enemies with swarms of drones.

[reddog]

@DevilDog016 "One wrong code, even just one mistake in the programming, and this will happen."
Uh, no. Chances are that one mistake will result in a benign failure such as the machine's OS crashing.

[DevilDog]

It doesn't have to be too much, just one central, highly capable machine. If you give it the necessary subsystems it will eventually become self-sustained. The second most important thing is the database - blueprints, schematics, etc. - so it can create what it needs to complete its set of objectives. Skynet's objective was to remove humans, all it needed was an army of T's, and humans for further testing of T models.

[reddog]

@DevilDog016 Definitely. That's dangerous stuff to be tinkering with for sure. I'd be nervous about flipping the switch even after quadruple checking that every conceivable precaution been taken.

[DevilDog]

What is really unnerving is that this WILL happen. As the saying is, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". ANd it will happen due to human error. One wrong code, even just one mistake in the programming, and this will happen. That's why operations on such a massive scale must run perfectly. But they won't, because if the creator isn't perfect then the creation isn't perfect either. Let's just hope we won't go through this...

[DevilDog]

@reddog22000 How can you know? When you're programming a computer to be as intelligent and capable as a human brain, how can you know one wrong line of code won't do more than just crash the OS? What if, let's say, the programmers of the Terraformers forgot to set a data storage capacity limit? Or maybe, one wrong line of code in the IFF Recognition modules?

Then you either have a swarm of machines that know too much for our own good, and are emotionless, indiscriminate extermination machines.

[plasm]

so is this like the 2nd part of x3 reunion?

[blacksheepwall]

It's not about new technology, it's about the limitations of the medium. No machine. No computer, no matter how advanced, or how many Star Trek or Terminator movies you watch, will ever have the facility of human intelligence. The human mind does not function solely via algorythms. There is an X factor that cannot be codified. Trying to make a machine that's creative is like trying to make a dog that meows. Sure, you can make the bark 'sound' meow-like, but that's not a bark..

[DevilDog]

Ah, so you think we will stay in our place and try not to develop newer technologies? The army already has semi-autonomous unmannned vehicles. And once someone removes human interference - the only limit to these machines - and gives freedom of choice to the AI counterpart, then noone can know what will happen next.

[Selvec]

Um, no. There's a lot to the story the intro does not give a way, a lot of variables that will never come to pass due to certain choices made. Particulary the "other species" earth is attacking. The previous games give insight into a lot.

[Garrus]

@AegisShroud im downloading it through impulse now O.O

[GeneralAjaxus]

This was a great intro, but the story in the game sucked. Bad mission, no explanations, and it left open tons of questions. It just sent you from mission to mission without explaining what was even going on.