Quote: "First of all, and an important thing to me, I understand that Model Packs can be used in X10, all of them. Simply I just need the 1.09 update. Now, two things; is that the regular 1.09 update from the FPSC site? And, are there any little tweaks that need to be made to the Model Packs when I install them specifically for X10?"
No, there is no on-line link for v1.09. You have to update it through the editor, but its not that much of a hassle. To get the mature one, you first have to get v1.08 out of your order history then you'll have to update to v1.09. Direct x10.1 is needed.
The only pack (to my knowledge) that needs major modification is MP3. All others will work, but MP9 and MP10 might need some modification to the normal maps of the pickups.
Quote: "Secondly, I've been reading some of the threads on the X10 board here, and have been rather disappointed to hear the lack of faith many users seem to have in TGC, but what disturbed me more was that it appears that there have been literally no updates for X10."
I believe the most recent newsletter stated that work will either begin soon on v1.10, or has already in some way begun. Nevertheless, v1.09 fixed almost everything under the sun for X10. The only problem I've ever encountered was that a segement didn't appear in the test game once, but that was easily worked around.
Quote: " That is certainly something that could make me re-consider buying it, however I am still curious; even with some of the apparent bugs and glitches in X10, and gross lack of updates, overall what is the opinion of the masses? Is X10 worth it, or not right now. I personally think I could live with a few bugs, simply because having X10 over X9 would just been fun; messing around with new and better features. But, again: worth it to upgrade? Or am I like, 100% better to just stick with X9?"
I personally think x10 is worth it, although since I haven't really used x9 or its mods much, I can't judge. X10 is definitely the better product for the long run, as I believe that we will be getting more from the migration (I may be wrong though). Even if we don't, there are still many things you can do in x10 that you can't do in x9. First of being the obvious shader benefits (including segment shaders and relief mapping). Second, being Darkai as a better ai system.
Quote: "If there is anything else someone thinks may be beneficial for me to know, please speak up. I'd love to know everything I could before deciding on this purchase this weekend."
You can't make your own particles yet, or if you can we simply haven't figured out how yet. We're hoping that v1.10 will bring a ray of light on this matter, and fix it up.
You also can't directly make relief mapping work on segments. It's possible, however a work-around is needed. You'll have to talk to Jingle Fett for that (he's essentially the X10 expert).
Some custom media will also need to be worked around, because .tga's no longer work (at least for me) and all textures have to be .dds
Not much else to say, other than that I personally think that x10 is worth it right now, but that's simply my opinion. You'll certainly find that x10 will allow you to make large levels without frame-drop (I know mods can do that too)
With the amount of people asking about x10, there should probably be a chart with all the features of mods, stock x9, and x10 so people can compare without needed to start a new thread. *Goes off to begin work*
