GrogHeads Forum

Cautiously optimistic.

They claim it should be a proper follow up on X3 and be a proper X-game this time around. With multiple ships to pilot and the ability to create an empire once again.
Definately on my radar.

Nice! Here's hoping.....

Like JH, I'm cautiously optimistic. I didn't think we'd ever see another X universe game.

My only hope is that its just as moddable as X3 is.

X3 still looks amazing. Perhaps I should restart a career in that game again to hold me over until X4.

^not only does it still look great, but its still actively being worked on and supported. Several significant patches have dropped over the last number of months.

They developers already said there will be no Boron which kind of sucks as they had some of the coolest ships in the X universe.  :( :(     Yet I am sill cautiously optimistic as well.

November 30th release date. Would love for them to do an early beta release for pre-orders...

One of my friends has been doing the translations, he believes they have got it right this time.

I'm excited. But then again I was excited for X-Rebirth... I may purchase this full price but not first day. I'm itching to start a game of X3 tonight.

I bounced off Terran Conflict and Albion Prime after a couple of tries with each.  Both just felt boring to me.  Will wait for reviews on this one before deciding.

I have X-rebirth and enjoy it. I'm truly hoping X4 knocks it out of the park and replace Elite Dangerous for me.

Quote from: mbar on October 03, 2018, 11:32:26 AM
I have X-rebirth and enjoy it. I'm truly hoping X4 knocks it out of the park and replace Elite Dangerous for me.

It is a totally different beast now than how it was at release, which was a bugged mess. Today, it is a good game in its own right, but very different from the other titles in the series, which is also why it remains a disappointment to some.

It took me a long, long, loooooong time to get into X3-Reunion. I had trouble with the open universe aspect and found it difficult to do any of the real basic stuff like making a living. However, once it clicked, I was in love.

X-Rebirth for me was not what I was looking for or hoping for. I'll be eagerly anticipating X4 reviews to see if it heads back to X3...which some of the things I've seen suggest so

I also had trouble getting into X3. It just requires you to sit through quite substantial amounts of 'sitting out the action', even at SETA max.
But then again a real time universe sim probably is like that anyway.
The fact that you can really create an empire in this game is super cool and frankly, no other games have done it on this scale afaik.

I really hope X4 is going to be great!

For me, the X3 hurdle had to do with the UI and working with AI scripts, etc. It was a very deep and complex game if you wanted to get the most out of it. Unfortunately for me, I could never do more than some light trading and combat. It was always a dream of mine to build up a great mercantile empire though...maybe my dream will come true in X4?

Okay, you guys have convinced me to give X3 another try. Which version should I install between "Reunion" and "Terran Conflict" or is there another version that I should track down?

Albion Prelude is supposed to be the latest version of X3

Quote from: mbar on October 04, 2018, 12:52:10 PM
Albion Prelude is supposed to be the latest version of X3

Thanks, I'll look around for "Albion Prelude" but is there a particular version of X3 that is preferred over all?

There have been fairly consistent updates for both Albion Prelude and Terran Conflict over the last year or two...although aging, they are still being supported.

My impression is that both AP and TC are considered pretty equivalent in quality, but just different in 'timeframe' settings.

Edited to add that AP is set later than TC (I think).

I'm very optimistic for this one.  Egosoft have a proven record and I don't think anyone else is better at creating huge, deep, immersive space sims.  Rebirth was just a blip; they wanted to do something different, and it wasn't what the audience wanted (not the vocal part anyway).  Personally I liked Rebirth.

With X4 they seem to be doing everything right - with the exception of excluding the Boron, what the hell?!

This might be a day one for me.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on October 05, 2018, 02:54:42 AM
This might be a day one for me.

Almost for me. I liked X-Rebirth just fine from the beginning of release. However I'm older now and I'm leery of a Friday release day.

Like Huw and mbar....I liked X-Rebirth. Had quite few fun hours playing it.

Release is tomorrow...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/)

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on November 29, 2018, 03:18:50 PM
Release is tomorrow...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/)

I'm all set.... ObsidianAnt has been streaming the game pre-launch.....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiq6FTXiFKQm-wqMuRijgA

I'm strongly tempted to watch good ol' ObsidianAnt play, but I want my first experience to be as surprising as possible.

This is awful timing as I'm right in the middle of my Christmas shopping and I want the collector's edition.  Maybe if I don't eat for a week....

Quote from: PanzersEast on November 29, 2018, 03:25:43 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on November 29, 2018, 03:18:50 PM
Release is tomorrow...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/)

I'm all set.... ObsidianAnt has been streaming the game pre-launch.....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiq6FTXiFKQm-wqMuRijgA

Any impressions from what you've seen streamed?

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on November 29, 2018, 03:34:14 PM

Quote from: PanzersEast on November 29, 2018, 03:25:43 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on November 29, 2018, 03:18:50 PM
Release is tomorrow...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/)

I'm all set.... ObsidianAnt has been streaming the game pre-launch.....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtiq6FTXiFKQm-wqMuRijgA

Any impressions from what you've seen streamed?

Very early on in the game, however I like what I have seen so far.  It appears to run smoothly with no noticeable bugs thus far.  Different ships with cockpits.... he landed on a capital ship and walked around the bridge.  He has also done some trading runs and it appears the menu system is a lot more refined this time around.  The component upgrade is nice as it shows your ship and the visual modular add.  Seems like a lot of the generic communication with the NPCs.  The small ships he has had are one cockpit with a teleporter on board, so you can teleport back to your ship anytime.  No minning thus far as he does not have a ship to do it.    Space travel is quicker, he also did a couple of space walks.....  I would say if you are on the fence I would recommend a wait and see, because the meat of the game is later on after you build up your capital fleet, stations etc.... and he is early in.  One thing I did hear is you will not be able to take over sectors in the game..... however I hope this is modded and believe it will be. 

So far it is looking good.....

He is still streaming on Youtube now, at the time of this post.

I so hope this release will be good and doesn't require us to wait for a year or so of patches like, well most X releases so far, lol.

Definately looking forward to building a new space empire in a new X game!
Let the credits flow!

Maybe it's just me, but looking at the videos and streams, the graphics seem a step down from X-Rebirth. The weapon effects looked....bad? Very "pew pew". The detail on the stations and ships...I don't know. Just not as good

The flashy shader and bloom effects of Rebirth were subject of much criticism. The overall look is more like X3 from what I see.

ObsidianAnt likes it.  He got a reviewer copy and posted his first thoughts after about 10-15 hours of play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onW160fisG8

Quote from: Geezer on November 30, 2018, 02:32:36 PM
ObsidianAnt likes it.  He got a reviewer copy and posted his first thoughts after about 10-15 hours of play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onW160fisG8

Nice video....quite enticing.  Wish I could afford it.   :-\

Played for a short hour.
Just dipped my toe in the water but here are some preliminary observations:

- The starter station feels very much alive with ships. It cool to see the various sized ships make their way to their platform and takeoff and land in real time while standing in first person behind the fences at the walkways.

-Every station and ship has a walkable interior. You can even visit landed ships!

-Density of people is very thin so far. Only a dozen or so people walking around.
And their animations are a bit like stick figures. Not too impressive.
Animations get stuck all the time as well; an npc marshalling a non existant ship for example.

-Flight physics are like X3. They feel flat (especially if you're used to Elite) and gamey, but they get the job done.

-The menu system is insanely deep. There are stats for just about everything that all get tracked. Lots of interactivity with objects and context menu.
Quite overwhelming and will take some time to figure it all out.

-3D map is nice! You can pan, slide and zoom, but more importantly you can interact with all objects from the map.

-Performance is great on max setting in 4K on my rig so far.

-It seems like a true X game to me. Blend of strategy, trade/transport sim and space sim (lite)!

Can't wait to spend more time with it!

I'm struggling with settings and controls. They did not design this with a HOTAS in mind. It is much more geared toward mouse and gamepad control. The settings and menus are not intuitive and the way tutorials are managed does not facilitate a smooth learning experience. I was hoping they would have put a lot of work into UI and lessening the learning curve based on their prior experience with the series.

I don't want to be a negative nelly, but my initial impression has not been overwhelmingly positive and I find myself thinking, why am I not playing Star Citizen. It looks much better and actually seems to run much better too. 

I was on the fence with this one, looks like best to side on the sidelines and wait for a future discount, if at all....

Impressions and tips from another guy with early access:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4GQXz3zhsc

I was just gifted this!  :D

Will spend my entire Saturday playing it!  :D

Gratz!  We want some impressions.   ;)

I think it is borderline crap in its present state. I'm very disappointed. There may be a good game to take shape in there eventually, but as of right now, its an unoptimized mess. It seriously runs like $hit on my rig, and this rig is powerful enough to run even the most demanding games on ultra settings. The controls are atrocious. The tutorials are a waste and I feel very little incentive to keep torturing myself at this point. It still has the same draw that all the X games have always had...a vibrant universe with space that feels active and alive and filled with potential, but my god, when are they going to figure out how to make a UI that doesn't make the player want to commit Japanese ritual suicide? When are they going to learn to seemlessly incorporate a basic tutorial into simple missions that serve as part of the beginning of a campaign to gently assist the player to getting started?

I'll follow this for awhile, see how it develops, see how others are getting on and then definitely revisit it, but I'm not going to waste anymore of my precious gaming time right now. If you're on the fence, my advice is to stay there....comfortably.   

^ Damn.  That's a gamer's review right there.

Quote from: Toonces on November 30, 2018, 08:37:49 PM
^ Damn.  That's a gamer's review right there.

A gamer's review of an X-game, too!  >:D

Thanks for the review Jarhead and for taking one for the team.

Saved me $40...thanks for the impressions....I am sure I'll find somewhere else to spend it:)

This sounds a lot like the fiasco that was X-Rebirth. Yikes.  :-\

I've watched a bunch of the streams and videos and some people are clearly enjoying it, but I simply cannot figure out how anyone can get past the controls and handling. They are simply abysmal. I spent well over an hour trying to get something that reasonably feels like actually piloting a space ship and everything I tried resulted in the same awkward and jerky movement. Joysticks, gamepads, keys...I can't figure out how someone developing the game could play this and think it felt sensible.

I finally got it setup with some tweaking, although it was frustrating at first... mainly reading the forum and adjusting the sensitivity, inverting and a tweak here and there etc...

Also gamepad mod setting i had to turn off because it caused drifting both while in space and while in map mode.  So far I am pretty happy with the controls.

Re controls: You need to rearrange the order of your controllers if you have plugged in several. For example my Warthog stick initially was placed at slot number three.
You need to swap your main controller you want to use to slot one.
Then set the throttle as controller 2, load the profile and everything worked as intended.
Not hard at all.

If you don't want to use a controller / joystick, but it keeps interfering with your controls just make all the slots empty in the manage controller menu.

This is actually a neat feature not many games offer (the in game reshuffling of controllers)

As for the tutorials: you need to start the first starting option.
Press H once loaded in and select a tutorial.
I've played five of them and found them pretty helpful so far. I am sorry to read JH's experience! Its definately not mine.

Also make sure to turn Autoroll and Adaptive Steering OFF when you want to use a joystick!

glad you guys are enjoying it. The controls are still trash. It's ridiculous. I shouldn't need to spend over an hour trying to figure out how to tweak basic control settings. The state of this area of the game needs extensive patching.

I barely got ten minutes in last night before passing out, but I did play enough to see that the tutorial is quite possibly the worst I've ever seen in a game, no exaggeration.

It won't put me off though; all X games launch in this kind of state, and I'm enough of a vet not to need a tutorial anyway.  I'm sure I'll be happily zipping around the universe today!

When you guys start talking about building stations, commanding fleets of freighters and warships and creating a trade empire, i'll Take a look at this again. Until then, I see absolutely no reason to struggle through this in its present state. Not when looking at what's available with the competition. It's infuriating egosoft NEVER learns from their past mistakes. I agree, that they will patch it and that eventually, someday, it might be a gem, but why not try to get it right at release and make a good first impression for a change?

Its like this company actually has an MO of releasing turds and then expending years of effort trying to polish them.

I just got accidentally kidnapped!

I had docked at a station and was pissing about with its teleporter.  After exploring the station for a bit I saw the option "bridge" so I clicked it, thinking I'd go to the control deck for the station.  After failing to get the commander's attention I wandered outside, and my first thought was "why is that planet revolving around us so quickly?"  It was only then that I realised I'd teleported to the bridge of a capital ship that was just launching from the station!

My only option was to detach from the hull, which I did, but I was already 5km from my ship (still docked at the station) and that's a huge distance for a spacesuit to cover, so I reloaded.  Lesson learned! :D

Anyway, some other random and very brief impressions.  I love the landing interface.  When you request docking permission you get green highlights in your HUD showing the exact path to follow to reach your assigned landing pad.  When nearby, you get a display slightly reminiscent of that in Elite: Dangerous showing you how to align your ship.  Another really nice touch is an actual person will be stationed at the pad, using arm waving to guide you in.  Your nose is usually pitched too high to see him, but it's a nice touch.

X4 has retained the scanning mechanic of X:Rebirth.  Your ship (initially) has three modes: travel, scan and long range scan.  The scan modes are straight out of Rebirth.  You can use the short range scan to gather knowledge of a station and also apparently this can be a source of missions and maybe other things.  The long range scan allows you to find objects up to 300km away.  I assume this will be a good way of finding debris and asteroid fields.

Travel mode, by the way, massively boosts your ship speed.  But bear in mind it takes as long to decelerate as it does to accelerate, so you need to take that into account when approaching your target!

There are still gates between sectors, however the map seems kind of integrated from what I can tell so far which makes planning easier.  You only get information on objects local to your sector though.

I don't have much else to report right now since I keep reloading to try various things.  I did have a fight and noted that even my beginning "baby's first laser gun" will auto-track your target within a certain radius of your boresight, which is nice for we keyboard-and-mouse gamers.

I'm planning to play an extended session this evening wherein I will actually try to accomplish some stuff, so more to follow.

Lol! Yeah I was visiting a landed ship where while the captain asked me what I wanted she took off from the platform! I ran to the ramp as it was closing and luckily clipped through.

It was only later during the station tutorial I found out that there is a shortcut to return to your ship (CTRL D or SHFT D. I can't remember). I wonder if that also still works when the kidnapping ship has left the station.

I agree that the tutorials are in need of work. I haven't had problems other than while doing the station one it tells you to find a trader at the current platform, which in my opinion, would mean the immediate area of your landed ship or otherwise the platform area at your side.
I couldn't find the guy I needed until I was gawking at all those magnificent ships coming in and out that on the opposite side of the entire docking bay I saw a structure with a supermarket cart icon.
Went over there and surely enough the trader was there.
But that doesnt qualify in my world as 'at the current platform'. Might be a translation issue? But there are many reports of people finding them useless. So clearly they need changing.

There are also many reports of performance getting worse over time. Where people at min spec are having issues earlier than those with more potent rigs. Might very well be a mem leak.

I hope to play some more later tonight.

I'd be interested in seeing how you guys have your control settings configured and what peripherals you are using.

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 01, 2018, 11:10:17 AM
I'd be interested in seeing how you guys have your control settings configured and what peripherals you are using.

I can shoot some screenshots for you when I get back.
I am using my TM Warthog.

I can also go through the controller swap thingy if you want.

I wonder if the warthog profile will work with a rhino?

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 01, 2018, 11:09:08 AM
Might very well be a mem leak.

I'm convinced there's a memory leak.  When I played earlier performance noticeably degraded with time, and was solved by reloading the game.

Saw this on Steam and though some of you might be interested.

QuotePerformance / AA settings / Removing SSAA (for now)
With todays patch (coming soon), we will remove the option to turn SSAA on. People are sometimes not aware as to how much memory this consumes and find the game to then be unstable or extremely slow.

We will therefore remove this feature today and re-introduce it ASAP but with a warning message regarding the total consumed memory.


Graphic settings + Performance (and stability)

Please be mindful of the memory consumption on your graphiccard when changing graphics settings. Running out of graphic card memory can be the cause of all of these symptoms:

- On GPUs barely meeting our min requirements: Instant crash on startup or on entering the game if setting are too high.

- The counter intuitive thing is that this warning applies for the minimum cards (3GB GPU memory) as well as for the top range with 12GB and more. If you run in 4k with SSAA (now removed) AND high texture quality, the game will even run into problems on those cards

- After longer time of playing: Graphical glitches or missing textures (like people without heads).


For mid range cards (those closer to our minimum spec of a GTX780 or 970), it may make sense to switch to MEDIUM or LOW settings or choose custom settings and especially reduce the texture quality.


Again: We are working on making the graphic settings more intuitive in this regard, with one of the next updates. Stay tuned.

I get the warning even with graphics set to low - for reference I have an R7 370, and I have no idea where that is with regard to the requirements, because the minimum stated is "Nvidia GTX 780/970 or AMD equivalent".  ::)

Nevertheless, I can play the game just fine.  And I've discovered a very interesting mission.  I probably shouldn't say too much just in case, but suffice to say it seems to be designed as a kind of short campaign/introduction, as it's taken me on a nice little tour of part of the galaxy and given me a nice big pile of cash - enough to buy a new ship apparently!

Also, I was very surprised to discover the superhighways from Rebirth have returned.  That's one feature of Rebirth I actually enjoyed, so I'm quite please about that. :)

First Container Ship purchased... now just have to find some good trading routes.

(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/950719629681417183/11B49C96EB6B2CA6F4F9C010A90D403F0B5E422D/)

^How many credits did that ship cost you?

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 01, 2018, 05:05:55 PM
^How many credits did that ship cost you?

I think the final total was 471,000 credits after I hired a captain, 20 crew, and all of the software and components where the base line.

Nice one, PE!

Huw, is that mission to be found around Argon Equipment Dock?

I have been playing with the tutorials and tweaking my controls. It's weird that the game doesn't allow an analog Yaw axis.
I've also made a custom Nvidia profile where I enable Nvidia's FXAA, disable Vsync and drop prerendered frames to 1.
I has made the game feel a lot more snappy, obviously less control input lag.
Might be a tip for you guys (or use AMD's equivalents ofc)

Jarhead, I have been trying to make screenshots, but the game's engine doesn't allow it with the printscreen option. I have browsed the controls menu but there's no screenshot hotkey listed so I am stuck there, man.
I wanted to show you my config, but I can only do it by describing it, or so it seems. Would that suffice? Or has anyone found a way to shoot screenshots?

Quote from: PanzersEast on December 01, 2018, 05:27:16 PM
I think the final total was 471,000 credits after I hired a captain, 20 crew, and all of the software and components where the base line.

Oh, must be a small one then?  I have 250K credits just from pissing about.

Ysk, aren't you playing via Steam?  Can't you just use Steam's screenshot functionality?

I can't remember where that mission was found but it was definitely in either Black Hole Sun IV or V.

OK I give up - where the hell can I buy a new ship?  I've been searching for ages.  In previous X games you could just ask someone where the nearest shipyard is...

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 01, 2018, 06:38:48 PM
OK I give up - where the hell can I buy a new ship?  I've been searching for ages.  In previous X games you could just ask someone where the nearest shipyard is...

You have to dock at a Wharf, I believe that is the only location that sales ships.

The container ship I purchased is a Medium ship.

Thanks, yeah I know I need a wharf, I just can't bloody find any!

Quote from: PanzersEast on December 01, 2018, 07:14:32 PM

You have to dock at a Wharf, I believe that is the only location that sales ships.
...

Wharf is for small and medium ships.  Shipyard is for large and extra large ships.  At least according to ObsidianAnt.  I'm still on the fence about buying the game.

This is pretty good for some basic starting tips. Huw...he describes the region where the shipyard and wharf near BHS are...

I've stopped fighting the controls. I'll give up on using my HOTAS and just play using the mouse and keyboard. Right now, I think it is the only acceptable way to play. Once I stopped struggling with this, I started to enjoy the game more. It still needs a lot of work, but the potential is certainly there.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 01, 2018, 07:46:50 PM
Thanks, yeah I know I need a wharf, I just can't bloody find any!

I bought mine at Black Hole Sun.....  :peace:

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 01, 2018, 09:02:55 PM
I've stopped fighting the controls. I'll give up on using my HOTAS and just play using the mouse and keyboard. Right now, I think it is the only acceptable way to play. Once I stopped struggling with this, I started to enjoy the game more. It still needs a lot of work, but the potential is certainly there.

I went down to my Extreme 3D Pro.  I don't know if my setup would help any, but will post it if needed. 

Downloadable Keyboard map here:


https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOXas_eDwzbazQrSaG7FhhcRvQe_GiSKYdcL4w4-nTrTQS37nGEIGXD-K_dlmunjQ?key=OFRxUXEwNmYwRHN2eDRyeno5UktaNnBTZlVNejJB

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 01, 2018, 07:57:44 PM
This is pretty good for some basic starting tips. Huw...he describes the region where the shipyard and wharf near BHS are...

Thanks for that mate.  I've since discovered that the maps are somewhat randomised apparently.  I'm convinced there are no wharfs in Black Hole Sun at least in my game, but I've read that Argon Prime will always have one.  I'll head there.  I did find one in Teladi space but I can't afford even a small scout!  Maybe I'll do a mission or two along the way.

It looks amazing, but seems to be getting mixed reviews.

Quote from: bob48 on December 02, 2018, 06:09:46 AM
It looks amazing, but seems to be getting mixed reviews.

Everything said in this thread so far is true.  Jarhead's complaints are not without merit and there are definitely bugs to be worked out.  On the other hand Yskonyn, PanzersEast and I have been having fun with it.  The X games are always this way - they launch in a technically finished state but receive loads of patches over time.  X4 is no different.  Nothing in the game is broken, and as players progress we'll start seeing all the cool empire building stuff.

Personally, I love the fact that they've taken all the good bits from Rebirth and mixed them with a more traditional X game.  Also the much-maligned UI has had a complete rework and is better than ever.

Thanks, Huw. I'll keep an eye on it and maybe wait until its a bit more settled (and maybe in a sale). Its a bit out of my price range at present :-(

Much of my hesitation right now is based on having a GTX 960 which is near the bottom of the system specs.  If I have to play the game in Medium or less and it looks like crap compared to the videos I've seen then that will be disappointing.  I could buy it on Steam and refund before 2 hours but that seems like a hassle.  Anyone playing it with a lower end graphics card?  If so how does it look and how is the framerate?

Edit - I'll be using mouse and keyboard so the HOTAS problems won't affect me.

Quote from: Geezer on December 02, 2018, 07:14:47 AM
Much of my hesitation right now is based on having a GTX 960 which is near the bottom of the system specs.  If I have to play the game in Medium or less and it looks like crap compared to the videos I've seen then that will be disappointing.  I could buy it on Steam and refund before 2 hours but that seems like a hassle.  Anyone playing it with a lower end graphics card?  If so how does it look and how is the framerate?

I have an R7 370 which from what I can tell is roughly equivalent to yours.  The devs have repeatedly said that your GPU needs 3GB RAM at a minimum; mine has 2.  Despite that I can play the game just fine, albeit on low settings.  I don't think I've tried high settings (but I can, and will report back, if you want me to).

Do I get 60FPS?  Absolutely not.  Is the game completely free of stutter?  Nope.  Is it playable?  Absolutely yes, at least in my experience.  I suppose it might change when I'm right in the thick of it with massive capital ships, I don't know.  However I've been flying in and around (and through) stations, and been in a few fights, with no noticeable performance hit.

Every now and again the framerate will absolutely tank for no discernible reason, which I suspect is either a memory leak or a symptom of not having enough GPU RAM.  However if I reload it's fine again.  This doesn't happen often, maybe 1 in 5 sessions so far.

I hope that helps - ask me any more specific questions if you like.

Thanks Huw.  My card has 4GB memory and I was hoping to be able to play on Medium, but maybe that won't work.  How does the game look on Low?

Dunno, maybe it will handle medium with that much RAM.  On low it looks pretty good in my opinion but then I've never been one to pay much attention to graphical fidelity if I'm honest.  I did look for a few things specifically - there are reflections for example, which I assumed wouldn't be present with low settings.  It could do with some FSAA when I'm in stations but 95% of the time I'm in my cockpit and don't care.

I'm fine with low settings really, but I must stress again that I don't care much about graphical quality - if you do, you should probably aim for at least medium settings.

OK, thanks.  I'm not a graphics hound either so as long as it looks decent I'm ok with that too.

Edit - I asked the same question in Steam and got this answer from one guy:

QuoteI used 960 4Gb variant slightly overclocked and it's runing on high presest with fxxa high at full hd. I from 30 fps when arround is more object and some bettwen 70-80 in space

Well that sounds great Geezer!  I say go for it!

Anybody know where to find a level 4 manager? I need to transport one to an argon station.

OK, I'm in.  Not sure how much time I have to play today, but you'll know when I start playing due to all the noob questions that will start popping up.

Edit - Started the game and made a few changes to Settings based on what I saw on Youtube earlier.  Graphics defaulted to High so I left it that way.  Looks great.  No idea about framerate but will have to figure that out at some point.  Felt fine just turning around and walking on the station.

Sounds like it might be almost time for me to get into X3!  :D

I don't understand it.  Sometimes I'll load the game and it's smooth as a baby's arse, even when flying around stations and stuff.  Then I'll load it later and get what must be 20FPS.

Anyway, I've got a much better idea of what I'm doing in the game now.  I have a question though: is station scanning really the only way of getting missions?

My observations about 12 hrs in......

First the issues:

Clipping - There is clipping issues around the stations, especially large ships clipping and going through sections of the station.  Also during landing, I have gone through the floor of the station.

Controls Setup - This was pretty frustrating at first and legit grip.  I don't understand while more profiles where not supplied at launch as many are common place.  It took a while, but I am finally happy with my setup... but should not have taken the time that it did. 

Pathfinding - The AI pathfinding needs some tuning.  You can not always put on autopilot and set back.  It's like the autonomous cars, you have to monitor the AI.  The ai ran me through an asteroid etc...  Also, I saw a ship underneath a station trying to get around to dock, it just kept crashing into it.... - Also, sometimes after I disable the AI, I have esc out and then back in to take control of the ship.

Optimization - this always takes time with the X games, but the game is not fully optimized and certain settings are game breaking.

NPC - ok, the same janky voice and look (although somewhat improved) is there.... talking to them still makes you cringe.

The good Stuff:

No major Crashes - have not suffered a major crash yet.

X3 and X Rebirth have a baby - looks like we will get the best of both worlds.  While it is not full on X3, with some added features and DLC, it will surpass.  The game has great atmosphere, and the piloting of different ships has been fun.

Menu System Fixed - The horrid X-Rebirth menu system is a thing of the past.  The new system is intuitive and easy to navigate.  You can easily control fleets, ships, stations.  The easy modular construction of stations, ships etc.... filtering goods, etc...  It has made the experience more stream-lined.

Gates - The gates have returned!

Missions - You can easily browse missions in a sector from a map.

The X games are complicated and have a lot gong one, so issues are expected at release..... with that being said, Overall I recommend it out of the box.  There are issues there, however they are minor and the good out-weights the bad.  I've been having a lot of fun and I feel the series is back on track..... finally.

I'm cooking with gas now!  I finally got the cash to buy a Teladi M hauler, who is now busily trading in Teladi space for me.  I'll leave him to it while I go exploring and finding more missions, I think.

I can't praise the new map enough.  I guess Egosoft finally realised that when you have an empire to manage you spend a lot of time looking at it!  You can do almost anything with it, and I love that you can see everywhere at once just by panning and zooming.

X4 is definitely easier to get into than any other game in the X series, with the possible exception of Rebirth.  Today is my first day of proper play and I already have a trader working for me.  That takes a fair bit of dedicated trading or mining in previous games.  There's also one other major boost you get, which I won't discuss here because I guess it's a spoiler.

On the other hand, your starting ship is a piece of shit. :D

I have enough money to buy a Mercury Transport with medium quality gear at the Argon  Prime wharf,  but I'm a little gun shy. How good is the AI at using these to trade, and how long will it take to make back the 430,000 credits that it costs to buy the ship? How about mining ships? Are those worth buying?

Will add this to my wishlist. I didn't play X3 much but I enjoyed what I did play and I was so disappointed by Rebirth. Glad to see this seems to be a step back in the right direction.

Jarhead I take it you dont need the controller setup guidance anymore? Happy to make some screenshots still (never knew Steam could do that, thanks Huw) if you need them.

About getting missions: does one need to fly around looking for those sparkly things as a sole means to getting missions?
I read reference to an easy overview of available missions somewhere in the menu of the mapview. Anyone found that out yet, cause I have not?

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 03, 2018, 05:18:16 AM
...About getting missions: does one need to fly around looking for those sparkly things as a sole means to getting missions?...

You can get missions at stations.  They appear as exclamation points.  See this video from 17:00 to 20:00 for long range scanning and finding a station with missions:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4CaThFepk

Edit - I can't tell from the video if those exclamation points on the station are NPC's or sparkly things but at least it shows where to find them.

Thanks Geezer.

I have accepted a mission from an alien which tells me to dock at Argo Equipment Dock, get some Industrial Components and fly towards some place.
So the first marker shows inside the docking bay of Argon Equipment Dock, easy enough I dock there and the first step of the mission updates, making step 2 active.
Pick up the components... ok. The marker now shows below my docking platform a little to the right, but no doors are there.
The alien also isn't around to meet me.
So I figure I need to make a walk toward the Trader and buy those components. Surely enough he has some in stock, but when I buy a set the mission doesn't update to step three.
Checking my inventory the item shows a yellow exclamation mark, meaning its a quest item, so that tells me I have the correct piece.
I also tried undocking again to see it the step would update once I left the docking bay, but no dice.
Do any of you know a fix? Might I be having a bug?

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 03, 2018, 05:18:16 AM
Jarhead I take it you dont need the controller setup guidance anymore? Happy to make some screenshots still (never knew Steam could do that, thanks Huw) if you need them.

About getting missions: does one need to fly around looking for those sparkly things as a sole means to getting missions?
I read reference to an easy overview of available missions somewhere in the menu of the mapview. Anyone found that out yet, cause I have not?

As you are flying around, hit the "M" key to bring up your map. On the left side menu bar there are two buttons, I think both have an exclamation point. One shows missions on offer and the other shows missions that you have accepted and are active or inactive. In the first one, missions will pop up as you fly around and approach different locations. So you can get on a highway and just fly around and watch the different missions that are available. They also come up as you approach stations in general. The point is, this is the interface that lets you view missions and accept them.

I'd still like any help with respect to using controllers like HOTAS and gamepads. For now, I've just given up and have been using mouse and keyboard. 

Any options starting out in X4 for a Combat Role? Such as Bounty Hunting, Mercenary. etc.? I'm not much into trading and such. Also, I played Rebirth with a XBOX Controller and that worked out great in lieu of a joystick as the dog fighting is not as fast and sim-like as in ED and SC. But, it sounds like that there is no default mapping to even that in-game as of yet?

Jut getting into the game and I'm already stuck on the second tutorial.  Flying around is fine but I'm supposed to shoot a couple of objects in space.  Can't fire my weapons at all even when right on top of an object.  Hitting Spacebar is supposed to fire weapons I think but that doesn't work.  Holding left moue and hitting right mouse is supposed to fire them but that doesn't work.  Just hitting right mouse opens up a menu but doesn't fire my weapons either.  I didn't change any weapons bindings AFAIK.  Is this tutorial bugged or am I missing something obvious?  Thanks.

Geezer, it's possible you've hit 1 to deselect your primary weapons group.  Try hitting 1 then firing.

Update 1.20 is up:

Quote• Added Korean localisation.
• Added "Keep Settings?" dialog when changing antialiasing option.
• Added user-submitted default profile for the Thrustmaster T16000m FCS HOTAS (thanks eisberg1977!).
• Changed default setting for gamepad mode to be "Only for controllers".
• Removed hull damage on collisions until the auto pilot has learned to fly around things!
• Fixed suspense music still playing even if all nearby enemies have been destroyed.
• Fixed player-owned ship icons that are underneath player-owned station icons getting selection priority.
• Fixed player ships assigned to stations not trading in some cases.
• Fixed the movement of newly assigned managers to the managers office.
• Fixed manager's office on player stations not being accessible if there is no manager.
• Fixed crew re-assignment in certain cases (e.g. from M ship to docked S ship).
• Fixed assigning of crew in the back of your ship.
• Fixed being able to assign crew as black marketeers.
• Fixed cash exploit involving hallucinogenics and hard drugs!
• Fixed too many Split characters appearing as pilots and managers.
• Fixed not being able to Comm managers of player-owned stations via the info menu.
• Fixed exploit allowing Comm with all known ships regardless of location (increased Comm range to compensate).
• Fixed repair prices being inversely proportional to the amount of damage.
• Fixed mass traffic being damaged in hazardous regions.
• Fixed Bring Item missions.
• Fixed some unlocalised text.
• Fixed excessively loud repair lasers.
• Fixed certain asteroids not displaying the correct name.
• Fixed mirrored logos on small argon fighters.
• Fixed highway adsigns clipping into opposite lane.
• Fixed high and medium graphics qualities being identical.
• Fixed graphics quality presets not changing texture quality and SSR option.
• Fixed black screen after setting controller sensitivity to zero.
• Fixed possible freeze involving ships repeatedly recalling subordinates who are unable to dock.
• Fixed several other causes of rare crashes.

Pressing 1 did the trick Huw.  Thanks.  I wold swear I never pressed 1 by itself to disable the group, but I must have.

Quote from: Geezer on December 03, 2018, 01:46:37 PM
Pressing 1 did the trick Huw.  Thanks.  I wold swear I never pressed 1 by itself to disable the group, but I must have.

Splendid!  How are you finding it graphically?  Both performance-wise and with regard to how it looks?

Looks great on High.  All I have been doing so far is flying around near the starter station scanning it and doing the tutorials.  A few times when in close proximity to the station the game freezes for a second or two and then goes back to normal.  Not sure if there is a way to display framerate or not but so far it feels fine with no stuttering other than the occasional freeze.

Edit - One thing that was annoying was when I could not kill the objects the tutorial would time out and it made me start over from scratch.  No idea why they felt the need to time out a tutorial?!

As you fly around, drop satellites by the wharfs and ship factories.  This will enable you to purchase ships remotely..... no need to fly back to that sector.

Quote from: PanzersEast on December 03, 2018, 02:49:00 PM
As you fly around, drop satellites by the wharfs and ship factories.  This will enable you to purchase ships remotely..... no need to fly back to that sector.

That's a pro-tip, right there.

Thanks!

So I completed a mission to repair the starter station and picked up a little over 100K credits.  But while I was getting the mission to help the chatty "woman" (or fish or whatever she is) I got a phone call, hit Esc to stop the game and when I came back to the game the little sparkly thing was gone and I don't see that mission in my list either.  The conversation was just getting started when I hit Esc.  So I guess I lost that mission, and hopefully that is not the main plot mission.

Got another mission to find silicon around the station using resource probes.  No idea how to launch probes and I don't see any tutorial for that either.

Could they have made this game any harder for new players?!   :(

Quote from: Geezer on December 03, 2018, 04:02:49 PM
So I completed a mission to repair the starter station and picked up a little over 100K credits.  But while I was getting the mission to help the chatty "woman" (or fish or whatever she is) I got a phone call, hit Esc to stop the game and when I came back to the game the little sparkly thing was gone and I don't see that mission in my list either.  The conversation was just getting started when I hit Esc.  So I guess I lost that mission, and hopefully that is not the main plot mission.

Got another mission to find silicon around the station using resource probes.  No idea how to launch probes and I don't see any tutorial for that either.

Could they have made this game any harder for new players?!   :(

Press, "Enter". In the menu pop-up on the left side, you'll see the pulldown boxes to deploy satellites and resource probes. Select what you want to probe and it will deploy in your present location. You start the game with 5 satellites, 5 probes and I believe 5 mines.

Good trade investment for making money, skip if you want to figure out on your own (not ground breaking).  Click on the spoiler link below to get the info.


[spoiler]
I started out building ships to trade, however quickly realized that initially this is not the best approach. 

Starting out one of the best investments you can make is mining.  Purchasing Mine ships will cost around 200K+ per however will yield you 50K+ per run depending on what you are mining and where....  within an hour/per you can accumulate 100K+.  This is an active revenue stream and you can continue to branch out from there.  Argon sectors are a good / safe place to start to auto mine.  Miners are a great why to start to build up both your bank account and rep.  Soon your rep will be high enough to open up for more options.
[/spoiler]

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 03, 2018, 04:09:42 PM
Press, "Enter". In the menu pop-up on the left side, you'll see the pulldown boxes to deploy satellites and resource probes. Select what you want to probe and it will deploy in your present location. You start the game with 5 satellites, 5 probes and I believe 5 mines.

Great, thanks!  I have also been trying to do long range scans near the starter station but I'm not finding anything.  I hit Shift+3 and then R.  I see the pulses go out but there are no question marks on the map for unknown station, and no resource hexes are showing up either.  Watched a guy do it on Youtube and he found all kinds of stuff.  Me, nothing.  Maybe I'm sending them out on the wrong axis?  The X,Y,Z mini map is hard for me to read and figure out how I'm aligned.

Very short helpful beginner guide here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6_b1op7I0g

You guys are probably all well past this info.  Sadly the first tip he gives is to do the story mission.  From the description it does sound like the mission I lost when hitting Esc is the story mission.  Will have to log in later and see if I can find it again.  If not then it's time to restart the game I guess.

although i prefer reviews from people i know like on these forums, but isn't it odd that no typical media reviews of the game yet unless i have missed them? most of the big names release a review on release day or before so seems different that nothing yet.

Geezer I do remember a turorial covering probe launching. But nevertheless you're not stuck anymore I see. :)

I did the mission where to scan the anomaly and get sucked into the 'unknown' sector where the alien wants to start conducting research (is that the main plot?)
Yesterday I posted I couldnt find the item, but it turns out buying it doesnt trigger the next stage of the mission. The item is literally left on the ground somewhere in the docking bay. Weird, but there you go.

Played along until I had to evacuate my ship in order to let Anti Matter cells (which Ipicked up earlier) trigger some kind of research test.
My ship, however, gets destroyed in the process and there I am floating in space at  max 7m/s velocity and no other owned assets to pick me up...
Yeah, that's a reload alright!

Oh, Yskipoos.  You aren't paying attention to what you're being told! :p

Yeah, that's the mission that appears to be gone just as I started it.  I asked on Steam if anyone knew whether it was possible to restart it somehow.  No answer yet.

One of the good things about X4 over its predecessors is that it is much easier to progress. I'm finding that it is relatively pain free to make a good living and therefore progress in the game. This makes playing rewarding and addictive. You always want to run just one more mission to make a quick 150,000 credits. I've bought several medium miners and have 1,000,000 credits in the bank, just from running several easy missions and then having my miners automine. It was much harder to advance in the prior games in the series and therefore I never stuck with them for long.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 03, 2018, 06:58:31 PM
Oh, Yskipoos.  You aren't paying attention to what you're being told! :p

Ha! Well I was being complacent! I heard fine that the alien told me that my ship would be consumed in the process. I just didnt think the game would leave me floating around like that.

Let't be honest: it doesnt make sense that I need to decrypt some floating comms signal first before he dan contact me while the comms stay fine all the way through jumping an anomaly!
He surely would be able to dispatch a pickup ship for me if he's that all seeing! :)

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 04, 2018, 06:08:00 AM
Ha! Well I was being complacent! I heard fine that the alien told me that my ship would be consumed in the process. I just didnt think the game would leave me floating around like that.

If you'd hired a captain for your main ship you could've asked him to come pick you up.  But hindsight is always 20/20 I guess!

Just read the details of the latest X4 Update and they've included a user's profile for the Thrustmaster T16000M FCS HOTAS. I just bought one of these a few weeks ago. So, I'm getting closer to buying the game. Still reading more reviews, impressions and new Youtube Vids for my decision.

Also they indicate some fix for the game recognizing controllers (Xbox, etc.)

Quote from: trek on December 04, 2018, 09:17:29 AM
Also they indicate some fix for the game recognizing controllers (Xbox, etc.)

If I remember correctly X Rebirth had major issues with some controllers and popular joysticks when it was just released.

Not the smartest move from Egosoft introducing the same technical problems in X4.

I'm ditching the autotraders for now.  I think you have to set up a satellite network for them to be aware of what and where is available for trade.

So what I've done instead is started to set up autominers!  I've placed a resource probe (no idea whether this helps) in an asteroid field, and a satellite near a nearby silicon ore refinery, then told my miners to mine silicon exclusively.  They make just over 20K per load, so once I've set up a number of them - and found more places that buy silicon - the credits should really start to roll in. :)

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 04, 2018, 11:26:30 AM
I'm ditching the autotraders for now.  I think you have to set up a satellite network for them to be aware of what and where is available for trade.

So what I've done instead is started to set up autominers!  I've placed a resource probe (no idea whether this helps) in an asteroid field, and a satellite near a nearby silicon ore refinery, then told my miners to mine silicon exclusively.  They make just over 20K per load, so once I've set up a number of them - and found more places that buy silicon - the credits should really start to roll in. :)

I'm making 60K per load in Argon Prime.  I have 5 miners running that sector now with silicon only runs.  I set to auto mine and silicon wares only..... no further instructions needed.

I'm tracking down some abandoned ships.......

Yeah that's exactly what I'm doing.  I only have two going at the moment but I'll add more shortly.

Christ I'm enjoying this game!

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 04, 2018, 07:57:21 AM

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 04, 2018, 06:08:00 AM
Ha! Well I was being complacent! I heard fine that the alien told me that my ship would be consumed in the process. I just didnt think the game would leave me floating around like that.

If you'd hired a captain for your main ship you could've asked him to come pick you up.  But hindsight is always 20/20 I guess!

The problem is that my 'Main' ship really is my only ship. Lol.
So if I had hired a Capt there would have been two people floating in the great dark!

So my savegame is the gamestate where I have loaded the antimatter cells onto the Elite and now I have to find a cheap 2nd ship somewhere.
I am at the big Teladi spaceyard but it only sells X and XL ships which I cant afford.
I now need to scout for a smaller shipyard.

Wooo, just figured out how to earn a couple of million credits easily...... not a cheat or a hack, just something I passed through without noticing.  Skip if you want to try and figure out on your own.


[spoiler]
Look at the asteroids in Argon Prime..... you will see crystals on some of the side of certain asteroids.  You can shot and gather them and will be put into your inventory.  You can tell which has them from a distance as they will twinkle or blink.... so far the white crystals have yielded the most.  After doing this, head over the the Wharf and go to the shopping cart (vendor) area and you can sell them. 

*Note - drop any Unstable crystals.....

[/spoiler]


Good Hunting!

Ysk, Shipyards sell L and XL ships while Wharfs sell S and M ships.

I'm hoping this will be in the Steam sale. Unlikely - but I think it's only proper that I wait and see

X4: Foundations 1.21 Update Released
X4: Foundations - Egosoft
• Improved automatic GPU selection to prioritise discrete GPUs.
• Fixed freeze when saving the game.
• Fixed some causes of freezes when starting the game.
• Fixed cause of a crash after loading savegame.
• Fixed upgrade orders becoming non-functional when loading a savegame.
• Fixed money not being refunded for cancelled upgrades.
• Fixed ships not being claimable from the space suit.
• Fixed a case that could result in AutoTraders sometimes trading at a loss.
• Fixed excessive delay between damage and start of repairs.
• Fixed several other causes of rare crashes.

Despite my initial frustrations, which were quite severe, I am enjoying the game. I've mentioned it before, but the biggest single factor in this, I believe, is the ability to make worthwhile money in a reasonable manner. In just a few simple missions, you can acquire enough credits to start buying some really significant upgrades and start expanding your own fleet. I have substantial assets and a burgeoning fleet of medium sized miners, and I've barely broken a sweat. I found the barrier much much harder to break through in past titles in the series. I really hope they do not nerf this in updates.

Quote from: Geezer on December 05, 2018, 10:07:25 AM
• Fixed a case that could result in AutoTraders sometimes trading at a loss.

Big if true!

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 05, 2018, 12:52:04 PM

Quote from: Geezer on December 05, 2018, 10:07:25 AM
• Fixed a case that could result in AutoTraders sometimes trading at a loss.

Big if true!

I thought those Ba$tards where skimming from me!  Hate I jettisoned them in space now  :D  oops, it was a software glitch.

Tough boss!  :o

I've spent my time exploring several sectors in my last two sessions while scouting for a wharf to buy my second ship to be able to continue the anomaly experiment with that alien.

Reading about you guys going the mining outfit way I think I'll just re align my short term plan to do the same; get a small mining squadron going to generate some cash flow while I then continue exploring a bit more.
I like the LRS mechanic and now that I've mapped the controls in a logical way (mimicking Elite where I can because that feels like a natural setup for me) to my HOTAS zipping about the universe is quite intuitive and painless.

JH, I'll put up a little guide tomorrow where (hopefully) I can share some screenshots (not at my gaming rig atm) regarding the hotas controls.

Still haven't found any game breaking bugs, just a few minor things:

-You can get stuck in the elevator if your body clips into the door while riding upwards.
-I always have to activate the pilot's seat twice before I actually sit down.
-The NPC ship chatter is absolutely horendous; childish lines of text and repeated into oblivion.
-Ships clipping through the structure of docking bays or yard doors.
-NPC humanoid models getting stuck in awkward poses.

Despite this, I am absolutely loving the way the world feels alive. Civilian and military ships scurry about stations, traffic is dense around the bigger object and the way you see ships coming and going around platforms as well as in the bigger hangars is just awesome!

The fact that you can outfit your objects with crew and manager positions just makes me feel like I am running a venture with purpose and I am eager to find out the little nuances that are there without a doubt concerning efficiency, etc in relation to staffing and traffic flow.

And that the game scales seamlessly in real time between the macro universe view and travel to the detailed goings on within a station is just mind blowing in my opinion! Looking forward VERY much to playing again tomorrow.

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 05, 2018, 05:03:17 PM
-You can get stuck in the elevator if your body clips into the door while riding upwards.

Press shift-D if this happens.  It will teleport you back to your ship from anywhere in the station.

QuoteThe fact that you can outfit your objects with crew and manager positions just makes me feel like I am running a venture with purpose and I am eager to find out the little nuances that are there without a doubt concerning efficiency, etc in relation to staffing and traffic flow.

Yeah, the X series has always been about this kind of thing ever since X2.  It's more of an economic strategy game really, which just happens to be played from the cockpit of a ship!  That's why I love the changes to the map so much, it's a hundred times easier to manage your empire now.

Has anyone seen the equivalent of an M6 from previous games yet?  That is, a ship that can carry a single, smaller ship inside it?

Also, when I'm buying a new ship is there any way I can guarantee I will get a captain of at least three stars?  I bought a ship to autotrade this evening, to test the latest patch that supposedly fixes it, but it came with a 2-star captain whereas you need 3 stars to autotrade.

Man, I'm going to have to stop reading this thread to have any hope of not buying in.....  :timeout:

Quote from: Barthheart on December 05, 2018, 06:41:57 PM
Man, I'm going to have to stop reading this thread to have any hope of not buying in.....  :timeout:

Apparently if you fly a capital ship, you can walk out into the docking area and watch your ships launch and dock....knowing you can jump in and pilot one any time.  Meanwhile you have a shield factory, or munitions factory, or solar cell factory somewhere each with its own fleet of haulers gathering components or distributing them to NPC factions for cash.  You can of course do this yourself too.

Perhaps if you're bored, you jump into your personal destroyer, summon up a wing of heavy fighters, send some interceptors ahead as a scouting party, and go looking for a fight.

Or maybe you'd like to build a personal modular station, planning it out, designing it, adding to it as you see fit, and assigning a squadron of destroyers to defend it?  Perhaps you jump into a heavy fighter to take out the smaller enemy ships while your destroyers pound away at the big guys?

;)

You... are not helping..... :buck2:

I'm glad to see so many enjoying this. Some of the stuff that people are enjoying were in Rebirth. But alas, so many could not power through that game in its initial (1st year!!) state

Quote from: Pete Dero on December 04, 2018, 10:24:03 AM

Quote from: trek on December 04, 2018, 09:17:29 AM
Also they indicate some fix for the game recognizing controllers (Xbox, etc.)

If I remember correctly X Rebirth had major issues with some controllers and popular joysticks when it was just released.

Not the smartest move from Egosoft introducing the same technical problems in X4.

I have no problems with my 4 CH sticks which is 4 physical devices and 6 logical. The configuration looks a little like how DCS World does it. It works great - no problems assigning axis and buttons.

My only problem is the mouse wheel sometimes take over the throttle control...



Looking forward to they enable TrackIR  ;)

I really really want X4 to be good. Is it ready to buy or does it need work?

Quote from: solops on December 06, 2018, 11:22:12 AM
I really really want X4 to be good. Is it ready to buy or does it need work?

Both really, lol.

But the serious answer is that the game still has bugs. Some are quite annoying, but I have yet to find game breaking ones. So yes, its ready to be bought and enjoyed as far as I am concerned.
I am about 10hrs in.

Well I have just bought my 2nd miner!
It does annoy me that they often seem to get stuck trying to dock at the Silicon Refinery though. I have had to manually override their approach several times now.

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 06, 2018, 11:31:09 AM
Well I have just bought my 2nd miner!
It does annoy me that they often seem to get stuck trying to dock at the Silicon Refinery though. I have had to manually override their approach several times now.

Are you equipping docking software? I always put in Level 2 docking software and with 4 miners operating, I haven't seen this issue.

Ah good point! I will have to check.
I've also made the screenshots. I'll upload them later tonight to show you my setup.  :bd:

Quote from: solops on December 06, 2018, 11:22:12 AM
I really really want X4 to be good. Is it ready to buy or does it need work?

Honestly both..... there is enough there to do and have fun with, but it still needs some refinement.  I posted some thoughts a couple pages back.  By the time the 1st DLC rolls out, the game will be the best in the series.

There still needs to be work done on the AI, ship battles (sometime one large Xenon ship would appear from a jump gate to get swarmed... this needs to be more coordinated).  The universe populates at first with ships, and then from there on out new ones have to be built.  I think the universe is a little sparse and could use some more population.

There is clipping issue, some other bugs, pathfinding on AI ships... but so far I am having a blast with this and is a lot easier to get into than X3.  They cleaned up the menu system which makes it very easy to control your empire.  Overall I give it a thumbs up and find it stable and acceptable given the complexity of the game and all the working parts.

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 06, 2018, 11:31:09 AM
Well I have just bought my 2nd miner!
It does annoy me that they often seem to get stuck trying to dock at the Silicon Refinery though. I have had to manually override their approach several times now.

I now have 7, mainly because I found an abandoned capital ship and sold it for 5 mil.  I've noticed the AI pathfinding needs a lot of work, and not just the miners.  I have seen several stations where ships have been stuck under the station trying to dock, or take weird angles and continually maneuver around.

Ysk and Panzers:

For your pathfinding issues...apparently it's worse when you're in the same sector as the AI ships.  Try going elsewhere and resist the temptation to babysit them.  For what it's worth, I haven't had any such issues.

Thanks Huw. That makes sense because I think the game will start to abstract things for performance reasons.
But I am busy farming those shiny crystals, so I am going to test if JH's help works out by outfitting them with a Mk2 docking computer.

Ok JH here goes:

(https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1sogbvF0i-kjaFvoLMiOIC9BYhIc_pFet)

Here you see the Controls menu.
Be mindful of the following options here:
-Joystick deadzone was set to 15% by default, but if you have a stick with Hall sensors like the Warthog something like 5 or 3 is a more decent setting.

-Bidirectional throttle is a personal preference. It means that your throttle will be 0 at the mid range, so you can go forward and backward by pushing or pulling the throttle handle or slider. I prefer to have full range control over my throttle and prefer to use a toggle switch to go backwards.

-Gamepad mode is off, because I don't use one for any of my controls and I don't want it to interfere somehow.

-Adaptive steering should be OFF (!) if you use a joystick and throttle. Otherwise the controls will be very awkward.

Now we go into the 'Manage Joysticks and Controllers' option:

(https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1Te5z4dfkZh_FdLfn7iR1EatDmwSfPHeG)

By default the game sorts this list by USB ID or something, so as you can see I have sorted my controllers into a logical order.
You do this by just selecting the correct controller from the dropdown list in the row you want to edit.
Also, you can let the game ignore controllers you dont want to use by only listing the ones you do want to use.

Now we go back to the Controls menu and open the General menu at the top to view my assignments:

(https://drive.google.com/uc?export=view&id=1jrzKhWkRkB56mkX_YMJsoN25basd7-Lc)

Primary Steering is your Yaw motion, so assign pedals to that at the top menu if you have them. Otherwise there's also a digital assignment in the lower menu if you want to use buttons or keys.

The rest should be fairly straight forward?
Hope this helps.

Good grief, Ysk, what resolution are you on? 4000??

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 06, 2018, 02:13:48 PM
Thanks Huw. That makes sense because I think the game will start to abstract things for performance reasons.

Yep.  OOS (out of sector) has always been a thing in the X Series for just this reason.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 05, 2018, 05:27:25 PM
Also, when I'm buying a new ship is there any way I can guarantee I will get a captain of at least three stars?  I bought a ship to autotrade this evening, to test the latest patch that supposedly fixes it, but it came with a 2-star captain whereas you need 3 stars to autotrade.

I solved this by landing on a capital ship and poaching one of its crew!  When you click hire you can see their skills before deciding where to put them.  So if you don't like what you can see you can just click cancel.

By the way, I strongly recommend the docking computer mk 2.  It saves so much time.

Quote from: JasonPratt on December 06, 2018, 02:17:17 PM
Good grief, Ysk, what resolution are you on? 4000??

Yea thats 4k right there! 😊

Sorry I don't know how to make the forum crop them.

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 06, 2018, 05:11:28 PM

Quote from: JasonPratt on December 06, 2018, 02:17:17 PM
Good grief, Ysk, what resolution are you on? 4000??

Yea thats 4k right there! 😊

Sorry I don't know how to make the forum crop them.

Use width with the img tag - like this:  {img width=500]image_link_goes_here[/img]
----- note, that first { should also be a [
----- note, you can change 500 to whatever width you want. Clicking on the image will expand it to full size

(https://doc-10-80-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/ha0ro937gcuc7l7deffksulhg5h7mbp1/017hdnnjogl972hhpupts31nj6tajj5p/1544133600000/15893728493639331388/*/1jrzKhWkRkB56mkX_YMJsoN25basd7-Lc?e=view)

^your BBCode-fu is strong, grasshopper.

Quote from: bbmike on December 06, 2018, 05:19:46 PM

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 06, 2018, 05:11:28 PM

Quote from: JasonPratt on December 06, 2018, 02:17:17 PM
Good grief, Ysk, what resolution are you on? 4000??

Yea thats 4k right there! 😊

Sorry I don't know how to make the forum crop them.

Use width with the img tag - like this:  {img width=500]image_link_goes_here[/img]
----- note, that first { should also be a [
----- note, you can change 500 to whatever width you want. Clicking on the image will expand it to full size

(https://doc-10-80-docs.googleusercontent.com/docs/securesc/ha0ro937gcuc7l7deffksulhg5h7mbp1/017hdnnjogl972hhpupts31nj6tajj5p/1544133600000/15893728493639331388/*/1jrzKhWkRkB56mkX_YMJsoN25basd7-Lc?e=view)

O0 I fixed my post

Anybody taken over a system yet?   :)

See this thread for details:  https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=146&t=405584

No I haven't and I don't think its a good idea yet in my game. From the reports of the 1.3 beta patch its going to be a lot more volatile once you update.
So I am laying low for now, generating cash and building up assets to rise to power over time.
If you own a sector you need to be able to defend a lot of space!

Fully equipping your vessels with support crew makes them do tasks more quickly by the way!
Especially once they have levelled a bit.
Surveying and Mining become more efficient on your miners.

And once you have owned stations and want to mine or trade for that station, be sure to have appointed a manager. Otherwise the flow of goods halts most of the time.

Yes! I've just discovered my player HQ!
The sector is constantly being raided by enemies however, so I don't feel my miners (which is now a small fleet of 5!) would be safe there.
So next point on the agenda is to keep mining in Argon prime to build up the funds for a small security squadron to patrol the PHQ perimeter.
Then I can move my miners into the sector to start delving resources for module contruction.

In the mean time I am going to buy a large Trader to feed high tech materials to my base.
Fun times!

Edited to never mind, BBmike already helped.  O0

I recommend 1024 as the width, personally. Most people have decent enough monitors to handle that nowadays.

So apparently poaching crewmen from capital ships was an exploit that has now been fixed. :(

1.30 patch notes:

Quote• Added graphics setting to show graphics card and screen separately on multi-GPU systems.
• Added option to restore all default settings.
• Added Nividium to items bought by Argon and Teladi trade stations.
• Added SSAA 2x and 4x options back in.
• Improved accuracy of turrets and gimballed weapons.
• Improved skill gain profile for NPCs.
• Improved station-based traders to sell products at at least the price set at their station.
• Improved options for selling illegal wares.
• Removed non-functional engine mod type.
• Removed mining turret compatibility from Sunder.
• Removed display of type icons for unknown objects on map.
• Removed mouse cursor emulation in start menu.
• Removed option to shuffle station construction plan for HQ.
• Fixed logbook showing oldest 1000 entries instead of newest.
• Fixed searching for ware names to use the correct trade filter.
• Fixed missing guidance information in Mission Manager
• Fixed invasions stalling and starving the war missions of suitable situations.
• Fixed illegal build plot for advanced gamestart "The Unworthy Entrepreneur".
• Fixed player-owned ships sometimes dropping cargo without the player telling them to.
• Fixed passengers or prisoners sometimes being promoted to captain thereby changing ship ownership.
• Fixed turrets on M-sized ships flown by the player and set to attack all enemies not engaging hostile XS-sized ships.
• Fixed case of patrolling ships failing to engage pirates pretending to belong to their faction.
• Fixed police ships penalising unpaid plots in locations where they do not have police authority.
• Fixed "Promote best crewmember" button not working if ship has no pilot and all crewmembers have 0 skills.
• Fixed being able to recruit crew from NPC-owned capital ships.
• Fixed another case of AutoTrade not functioning.
• Fixed AutoMiners not selling the resources that they gather.
• Fixed some player-owned ships not allowing you to dock.
• Fixed L-sized turret and shieldgenerator blueprints not being available to the player.
• Fixed certain collectables not being picked up when you fly over them.
• Fixed ships stuck while docked awaiting an invalid build to complete.
• Fixed characters being stuck in unhelpful places.
• Fixed being able to clone crew members.
• Fixed player logo being applied to HQ asteroid.
• Fixed player HQ information menu not working after adding a production to the HQ.
• Fixed missing dock areas on builder ships.
• Fixed incorrect type of mines near gate in Eighteen Billion.
• Fixed error incorrectly appearing if build is completed.
• Fixed asteroid scanning not being possible.
• Fixed missing text localization in several places.
• Fixed missing German station announcements and other voiced lines.
• Fixed a case of ships having no collision detection.
• Fixed ships skipping collision avoidance in certain situations.
• Fixed most cases of clipping through docking bay floors when docking.
• Fixed a case of the player ship warping to an invalid location on undocking.
• Fixed more cases of the player ship warping around (e.g. after taking control).
• Fixed crash when installing broken equipment mods.
• Fixed occasional unrecoverable freezes.
• Fixed several other causes of rare crashes.

Nice list!

I guess I need to gear up for war sooner now.

Check this out, diagram on modules that track all the way back to the intermediate..... to ingredients.

Direct Link: https://i.redd.it/0pd067dszt221.png

(https://i.redd.it/0pd067dszt221.png)

I liked it better when some people didn't like this game:)  Made it easier to stay away......but now I am thinking....

Grim...you need this game!  It's great now, it will be fucking awesome after some patches and DLCs.(not to mention mods).

I have to agree. It's a fantastic game. Despite my initial frustrations, which were and still are quite valid, I'm hooked. It's  very addictive and once they are done patching and building this it is most certainly going to be a classic. There is still a learning curve, but X4 is much more accessible than any of the prior titles in the X series. This one will catapult egosoft into the big leagues.

I am tempted for sure, but have to admit I am intimidated....seems like you have to learn a lot without much direction.  Maybe that's the fun part....seriously thinking.

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 07, 2018, 09:27:53 PM
I am tempted for sure, but have to admit I am intimidated....seems like you have to learn a lot without much direction.  Maybe that's the fun part....seriously thinking.

Egosoft have done precisely nothing to provide information for the player, for sure.  However we're all learning together here and can easily spread the knowledge!  I'm sure the community are working on a wiki too.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 08, 2018, 03:07:33 AM

Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 07, 2018, 09:27:53 PM
I am tempted for sure, but have to admit I am intimidated....seems like you have to learn a lot without much direction.  Maybe that's the fun part....seriously thinking.

Egosoft have done precisely nothing to provide information for the player, for sure.  However we're all learning together here and can easily spread the knowledge!  I'm sure the community are working on a wiki too.

I appreciate the assistance of the forum, but when I see 100's of questions (at the steam forum) and here on what appears to be the most basic tasks (how do you dock, how do you trade, how to you sell, how to you get from a to b, etc.), just seems like I will spend more time searching and looking for answers than actually playing the game.  Not at all trying to knock the game, just saying what is making me a little hesitant, especially for a $50 game.  There is no doubt I will pick up sometime, just a matter of now or on a good sale in the future.

Well I think all the answers on basic gameplay are easy to find now that lots of people have put out guides and pointers.
Also, you can take advantage of this thread. You'll get pretty close to realtime support here. 😊

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 08, 2018, 03:58:43 AM
Well I think all the answers on basic gameplay are easy to find now that lots of people have put out guides and pointers.
Also, you can take advantage of this thread. You'll get pretty close to realtime support here. 😊

I guess my point was that for basic easy gameplay stuff I shouldn't have to "find" :)

I'll certainly will be continually to monitor this thread....

I agree with you, Grim.  It's shocking how little actual documentation has been released, and it's a black mark against Egosoft to be honest.  It doesn't make it any worse of a game, of course, but the community shouldn't have to collectively figure out how to play the damn thing.

There are some in-game tutorials but they really suck.  I've just been figuring stuff out as I go along and grabbing little tips here and on Reddit/Steam.  It's far from ideal, but the way I see it, I only have to learn things once, then I can play a brilliant game for as long as I want to.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 08, 2018, 05:04:50 AM
I agree with you, Grim.  It's shocking how little actual documentation has been released, and it's a black mark against Egosoft to be honest.  It doesn't make it any worse of a game, of course, but the community shouldn't have to collectively figure out how to play the damn thing.

There are some in-game tutorials but they really suck.  I've just been figuring stuff out as I go along and grabbing little tips here and on Reddit/Steam.  It's far from ideal, but the way I see it, I only have to learn things once, then I can play a brilliant game for as long as I want to.

Thanks and it does seem like a good game hidden under the layers.  Maybe some people do like the mystery and trying to figure things out on their own.

What I still find shocking is that a mainstream game like this still does not have a review completed by a major review site after being out nine days.  I understand that some likely will say it is a complex game that takes time to learn, but other complex games have been released in the past with reviews before, on, or right after release.  Not sure what to make of that.  Or maybe not as mainstream as I thought:)

It isn't a mainstream game, in fact it's pretty niche even within the already-somewhat-niche space sim genre.  It's at least as much an economic strategy game as it is a space sim.  Frankly I'm glad there aren't any reviews yet, because even dedicated players are only just unravelling what the game is really capable of.  Any review released now would be unfairly skewed toward a negative score for that reason.

maybe mainstream was wrong word, but review sites certainly have reviewed less popular games than this:)

Well, I couldn't let you show me up for long, Jarhead!  I've got myself a frigate as well, an Argon-made Cerberus Vanguard.  I don't have a heavy fighter for it yet though; I'm still using the Elite Vanguard as its support ship.

I've got a few silicon miners on the go in particularly silicon-dense spots now, and the credits are absolutely flying in.  It won't be long before I have a wing of heavy fighters flying with me to kick some Xenon arse. :)

I've found that there are you tube videos galore that show you how to do anything you want. So don't guess and slog through...just watch the videos

Read'em and weep boys.... My new Corvette

Count em.... 5 forward Bolt Repeaters

(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497515136564/B5D0DAA40A1E756AB0A2CA8345F5892D3816959D/)

(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497515136819/47F33E05A4084C62DDCC0D842C39D244A8F611B9/)

(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497515136723/259B5CE0BE245BC258977E6CE55D43A01F9B70C2/)

Nice going!

Question: did the 1.3 patch require you to setup proper defenses for your PHQ already or do the enemies leave it alone?

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 10, 2018, 09:19:40 AM
Nice going!

Question: did the 1.3 patch require you to setup proper defenses for your PHQ already or do the enemies leave it alone?

Mine has not been attacked yet and space still seems pretty peaceful.

Honestly, I think I'm burning out. Its just too open sandbox for me. I wish there was more of a story line and more of a main plot to quest and follow. The initial quest that brings you to the PHQ was mildly engrossing, but ever since transporting that Boron to the PHQ and starting the research stuff, he's gone silent. Not sure if there is some trigger that brings those missions back, but I've researched everything and the mission line appears complete.

Seems like I've been left to my own devices at this point, and just making more money to buy and build more and bigger things does not hold my attention. I find myself loading the game up now and getting bored pretty quickly.

Did run into a problem..... I was hyper focusing on getting my New station build and up and going (Teladi space) that all my miners stopped brining in money.  I ignored over time and then went back and looked.  I have about 15 miners, some are gas and others are mineral.  So I set the majority to mine only Nividium and was racking in the cash.... and then there was no more demand.

So I had to go back and make them drop their loads, and switch all my miners to mine all wares.  Then they started mining again.  There are several issues here.  No visual feedback on this, they just mined, filled their hull, then set there.  I had to go and see why.
Also, with no full blown war, the wares are not being used as quickly or the need is very shallow.  Maybe once more stations are built or the war causes more ships to be made etc.... then the demand will rise again.... but until this, the market can become stagnate.

@JH
The biggest thing I am doing and ramping up to start taking over sectors.  I am trying to stay in with the Argon Fed and the Teladi's good graces for now......  I will eventually start Pirating the other factions and slowly try to take over their sectors.  Once that is done, then take on the big boys.

So for now, I am trying to profit as much as I can, build up a fleet (just about ready to purchase a Destroyer, and hope to comprise my first fleet with 1-2 Destroyers, 2-4 Frigates, and 4-5 Corvettes).  I think it is important in the game to have a goal in mind.  This one is a very looooong term goal.

Quote from: PanzersEast on December 10, 2018, 10:08:22 AM
Did run into a problem..... I was hyper focusing on getting my New station build and up and going (Teladi space) that all my miners stopped brining in money.  I ignored over time and then went back and looked.  I have about 15 miners, some are gas and others are mineral.  So I set the majority to mine only Nividium and was racking in the cash.... and then there was no more demand.

So I had to go back and make them drop their loads, and switch all my miners to mine all wares.  Then they started mining again.  There are several issues here.  No visual feedback on this, they just mined, filled their hull, then set there.  I had to go and see why.
Also, with no full blown war, the wares are not being used as quickly or the need is very shallow.  Maybe once more stations are built or the war causes more ships to be made etc.... then the demand will rise again.... but until this, the market can become stagnate.

@JH
The biggest thing I am doing and ramping up to start taking over sectors.  I am trying to stay in with the Argon Fed and the Teladi's good graces for now......  I will eventually start Pirating the other factions and slowly try to take over their sectors.  Once that is done, then take on the big boys.

So for now, I am trying to profit as much as I can, build up a fleet (just about ready to purchase a Destroyer, and hope to comprise my first fleet with 1-2 Destroyers, 2-4 Frigates, and 4-5 Corvettes).  I think it is important in the game to have a goal in mind.  This one is a very looooong term goal.

What is the reputation level required to get a capital ship license?

The RPS review is live. Its always hard to tell what their reviewer thinks, unless of course the game includes characters who are openly and obviously homosexual, transexual and hermaphrodite. Then they talk about it like its got game of the year potential.

I'm all for diversity in gaming, but I am really sick of this being the overwhelmingly most significant criteria upon which that website judges video games.

To my knowledge I think it is 20+ rep, however if it is not then the air just went out of my ballon.  I could be wrong and it is 30. 

I have a question about basic mechanics of the game. Is the universe the same for all players? Meaning if the Argon and Xenon go to war and a sector is a battlefield, is that occuring in everyone's game (via Steam update)? It wouldn't be exactly the same I suppose...but I saw a thread where players are talking about a war coming between several races and I'm wondering- since it's not an MMO, how that can be?

Of course, Elite Dangerous does it. There is one universe and you play in it. If you chose Solo mode however, you are invisible to other players and they are invisible to you basically

Quote from: mikeck on December 10, 2018, 08:36:19 PM
I have a question about basic mechanics of the game. Is the universe the same for all players? Meaning if the Argon and Xenon go to war and a sector is a battlefield, is that occuring in everyone's game (via Steam update)? It wouldn't be exactly the same I suppose...but I saw a thread where players are talking about a war coming between several races and I'm wondering- since it's not an MMO, how that can be?

Of course, Elite Dangerous does it. There is one universe and you play in it. If you chose Solo mode however, you are invisible to other players and they are invisible to you basically

The world is dynamic and the economy.  The sectors are all placed randomly, as well as station etc.... so it is never the same from one player to the next.... or even if you start a new game.  When the war starts and how I am not sure.  There is a persistent threat, however I have heard players HQ being attacked and I have not been.  But I have been jumped by Xenon rogue raiders in different sectors.  Also, as I believe it, all ships are generated at the start of the game and after that if ships are destroyed or new ones introduced, they have to come from the shipyards.... no generating.  This means the economy has to work to bring shipments of wares to create the ships, parts, etc.... this is where we are suppose to profit.

Level 20 is were you can purchase capital ships, and I did buy a basic carrier and destroyer just to try out.  I had my corvette land on my carrier!

Bridge of the Destroyer
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497519398720/B233D19CEE76BEF214B60B47629B6C2E38C91AF3/)

Bridge of the Carrier
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497519398511/BB9D4C8AAB32D9BB80BE84FD0B19B0939DEB079F/)

Looking out from the bridge of the carrier, you can see 8 landing pads for small craft, another four on the back for medium.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497519398635/4A45B1054F94F9C4D1E3BD9D48E2F8A172BB0D30/)

You can barley see it, but my corvette is docked on the back of the carrier.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/951846497519398414/AEBAC0213179C708D6C8163EBA63B5260AEB8C85/)

...I just peed a little.  :o

Quote from: JasonPratt on December 10, 2018, 10:05:02 PM
...I just peed a little.  :o

That's not Pee

Impressive. There is big jump in size from Frigate to Destroyer. I'm reputation level 18 in Argon space, so it won't be long now...However, I've heard capital ships are presently pretty useless in the game. There is still apparently no large scale combat taking place.

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 10:40:33 PM
Impressive. There is big jump in size from Frigate to Destroyer. I'm reputation level 18 in Argon space, so it won't be long now...However, I've heard capital ships are presently pretty useless in the game. There is still apparently no large scale combat taking place.

Hmmm. Is this something identified as an issue that will be addressed in an upcoming patch?

Quote from: mikeck on December 11, 2018, 08:49:21 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 10:40:33 PM
Impressive. There is big jump in size from Frigate to Destroyer. I'm reputation level 18 in Argon space, so it won't be long now...However, I've heard capital ships are presently pretty useless in the game. There is still apparently no large scale combat taking place.

Hmmm. Is this something identified as an issue that will be addressed in an upcoming patch?

It has apparently been addressed in today's patch.  Also the lead developer posted a video yesterday (which I haven't watched yet) in which I believe he says it's generally something they're addressing before Christmas.

Have no fear - Egosoft always deliver sooner or later.  I don't blame people for being cautious right now, but X4 is going to get better and better.

Finally got a SETA drive built....

Also

X4: Foundations 1.32 Update Released
DECEMBER 11

• Removed ability to assign trading/mining ships to invalid tasks and commanders.
• Fixed factions not building new ships.
• Fixed highway destinations not being displayed in target monitor.
• Fixed guild missions not correctly restarting if a mission was failed or aborted.
• Fixed player-owned ships formerly belonging to pirates sometimes attacking the player.
• Fixed getting stuck in trader areas on the Teladi trade station.
• Fixed being able to save game while Game Over is displayed.
• Fixed occasional menu crash when changing crew at a shipyard/wharf/equipment dock.
• Fixed Load Game menu breaking when trying to load an empty savegame slot.
• Fixed Confirm/Cancel buttons sometimes missing in ship or station configuration menus.
• Fixed top menu arrow not showing in Chinese/Korean localisations.
• Fixed another cause of rare crashes.

Quote from: Huw the Poo on December 11, 2018, 12:46:27 PM

Quote from: mikeck on December 11, 2018, 08:49:21 AM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 10:40:33 PM
Impressive. There is big jump in size from Frigate to Destroyer. I'm reputation level 18 in Argon space, so it won't be long now...However, I've heard capital ships are presently pretty useless in the game. There is still apparently no large scale combat taking place.

Hmmm. Is this something identified as an issue that will be addressed in an upcoming patch?

It has apparently been addressed in today's patch.  Also the lead developer posted a video yesterday (which I haven't watched yet) in which I believe he says it's generally something they're addressing before Christmas.

Have no fear - Egosoft always deliver sooner or later.  I don't blame people for being cautious right now, but X4 is going to get better and better.

Trust me, I'm not concerned about their willingness to fix it....I played Rebirth for years from releas !

I just didn't want to start a game if something like that wasn't working yet

Info about next updates from Egosoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hRC4pBl7qM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 09:31:03 AM
Honestly, I think I'm burning out. Its just too open sandbox for me. I wish there was more of a story line and more of a main plot to quest and follow.

JH, I'd be interested in your thoughts between this and Elite Dangerous. I know you were mad on Elite, but that didn't really have a story at all either and was VERY open sandbox. Also there wasn't anything in the way of empire building in Elite that I remember.

So is this better or worse than Elite and why?

Quote from: JudgeDredd on December 12, 2018, 03:26:53 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 09:31:03 AM
Honestly, I think I'm burning out. Its just too open sandbox for me. I wish there was more of a story line and more of a main plot to quest and follow.

JH, I'd be interested in your thoughts between this and Elite Dangerous. I know you were mad on Elite, but that didn't really have a story at all either and was VERY open sandbox. Also there wasn't anything in the way of empire building in Elite that I remember.

So is this better or worse than Elite and why?

That's a good question. Elite certainly has better production values. It looks better, it feels better and the ship to ship combat is vastly superior. However, X4 is much broader in terms of what you can do. I mean, you can build space stations and fleets. You can manufacture your own goods and parts. You can take control of whole sectors of space. Overall, X4 is going to be a much bigger game in terms of player activity, even though the universe in Elite is much, much, much larger than the one in X4.

Still, I think given our conversation about open world sandbox games and repetition, I can see you really digging X4 for about 20 to 30 hours and then simply getting bored. Without a main story plot or campaign to follow, activity unavoidably becomes repetitious and ultimately loses its excitement. I'm already feeling this in X4. 

This game sounds interesting.  I like the idea of starting off with very little and building an empire.  Military or business, both are fun.  I also like sandbox type games.  I've never played a space type game like this however.  The closest was probably Sid Meiers Alpha Centari.  :)

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 12, 2018, 04:09:38 PM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on December 12, 2018, 03:26:53 PM

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 10, 2018, 09:31:03 AM
Honestly, I think I'm burning out. Its just too open sandbox for me. I wish there was more of a story line and more of a main plot to quest and follow.

JH, I'd be interested in your thoughts between this and Elite Dangerous. I know you were mad on Elite, but that didn't really have a story at all either and was VERY open sandbox. Also there wasn't anything in the way of empire building in Elite that I remember.

So is this better or worse than Elite and why?

That's a good question. Elite certainly has better production values. It looks better, it feels better and the ship to ship combat is vastly superior. However, X4 is much broader in terms of what you can do. I mean, you can build space stations and fleets. You can manufacture your own goods and parts. You can take control of whole sectors of space. Overall, X4 is going to be a much bigger game in terms of player activity, even though the universe in Elite is much, much, much larger than the one in X4.

Still, I think given our conversation about open world sandbox games and repetition, I can see you really digging X4 for about 20 to 30 hours and then simply getting bored. Without a main story plot or campaign to follow, activity unavoidably becomes repetitious and ultimately loses its excitement. I'm already feeling this in X4.

Thanks.

I kind of expected that answer and particularly the bold bit...I do like stories to guide me. Left to my own devices, I end up wondering what my actually point of being there is.

I will very probably pick this up anyway - even though I know what I know and also that it looks more similar to Rebirth than X3 (me preferring X3 to Rebirth). Especially if it's on sale at Christmas. Less money wasted then  ;D

JD why do you prefer X3 over Rebirth?
X3 is notorious for being a slow burner and it takes a lot of time to get anywhere. There is much less direction in X3 than in Rebirth.

Rebirth on the other hand, with its patches and a few good mods, is more like X-lite, but with the benefit of being a much more compact and guided game.

From reading above I'd say Rebirth fits your playstyle best of all X games.

I preferred the look of X3 to rebirth.

X3 seemed to have a more professional look and feel to it and a music score that made it feel epic too.

There was something about the colour/shading/brightness/bloom (graphics in general?) in Rebirth that I didn't like AT ALL. On top of that, the off ship stuff was really, really naff. It was always something I had hoped for in the X universe but when it came out I was like "oh...no, no, no"

It just didn't click with me.

X3, you can fly any ship in the game.  Rebirth, you can fly one, count 'em, one ship.

Quote from: Geezer on December 13, 2018, 06:26:19 AM
X3, you can fly any ship in the game.  Rebirth, you can fly one, count 'em, one ship.

^Is that restriction still there? wow!  :o

Quote from: JudgeDredd on December 13, 2018, 07:34:55 AM

Quote from: Geezer on December 13, 2018, 06:26:19 AM
X3, you can fly any ship in the game.  Rebirth, you can fly one, count 'em, one ship.

^Is that restriction still there? wow!  :o

But not in X4 :

Freedom to personally fly all ships:

X4 will allow you to fly all ships personally. From small scouts over a wide range of ship classes up to the biggest carrier, everything can be piloted from the cockpit or an external view.

AFAIK, yes it's still the case in Rebirth as it is a core part of the game.  Not sure about mods.

Quote from: Geezer on December 13, 2018, 07:48:00 AM
AFAIK, yes it's still the case in Rebirth as it is a core part of the game.  Not sure about mods.

Personally, I never found the ability to pilot different ships in X that big of an attraction. They all felt the same with the exception of how quick they turned.

Quote from: mikeck on December 13, 2018, 09:08:29 PM

Quote from: Geezer on December 13, 2018, 07:48:00 AM
AFAIK, yes it's still the case in Rebirth as it is a core part of the game.  Not sure about mods.

Personally, I never found the ability to pilot different ships in X that big of an attraction. They all felt the same with the exception of how quick they turned.

Not much has changed in that regard with X4...its one of the criticisms.

Well at least all ships have their own interiors and cockpits now. In X3 you needed a mod to get cockpit sprites.

But yes, the flight dynamics in X4 are flat as a pancake. Especially if you're used to Elite Dangerous.

X4 Foundations Public Beta - Version: 1.50 Beta 1 (325288)

https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=192&t=405397  (you need to be registred to view this forum posts)
https://steamcommunity.com/app/392160/discussions/0/2806204039995510767/

Nice, that's a lot of fixes!  I'm particularly pleased with AMD optimisations. :)

So it's been 5 days since anyone posted here. Is that because the fixes/additions are so good?

Anyone still playing it?

I was hoping it would be on the Steam sale so I held off buying it...but it's not, so if I by it, it has to be worth the money.

I loved X3 and it's additions and couldn't get on with Rebirth at all - just so you know where I'm at.

Spent a couple of hours configuring my T1600 hotas until I had something that worked OK for me.

Installed one mod : Signal Leak Hunter light version  (https://www.nexusmods.com/x4foundations/mods/51?tab=description)

Helps you locate those pesky signal leaks by using mission waypoints, also gives the player info on how many leaks a station has. Allows player to search for Communication Signals or Data Signals, or both. Two versions, depending on how cheaty you want it.

Cheat Less Version:
Activating scan mode near a station displays info on how many leaks there are remaining on the station.  The leaks are not waypointed until the player is within 250m of the leak.  The audio for leaks starts at 200m, the reason the waypoints start at 200m is because script has a slight delay between distance checks, so when the player is moving the effective detection radius is reduced.

Now I feel ready to start the game for real this weekend.

What's the point of signal leaks? Are those missions? And what's the point of the cheat? Was there no way to identify the leaks before?

Quote from: JudgeDredd on December 21, 2018, 04:43:39 AM
What's the point of signal leaks? Are those missions? And what's the point of the cheat? Was there no way to identify the leaks before?

These leaks give you missions and sometimes other stuff (the main plot starts at a signal leak).

Without the 'cheat' you needed to get really close to find such a leak.  So you had to fly close around the whole station if you wanted to find one.
This mod only reduces the time needed to find them.

That's a great mod. The concept of the leaks is silly imo, tedious to pull off and feels like work most of the time to find them.
Not fun at all, so this mod is a great quality of life improvement.

I am still playing the game for sure, however I have been captivated by Red Dead Redemption 2's story and I need to keep up to speed with Huw in Warframe, so that leaves less time for X4.
But definately still playing. I think its a great game.

 

Quote from: Pete Dero on December 21, 2018, 05:07:59 AM

Quote from: JudgeDredd on December 21, 2018, 04:43:39 AM
What's the point of signal leaks? Are those missions? And what's the point of the cheat? Was there no way to identify the leaks before?

These leaks give you missions and sometimes other stuff (the main plot starts at a signal leak).

Without the 'cheat' you needed to get really close to find such a leak.  So you had to fly close around the whole station if you wanted to find one.
This mod only reduces the time needed to find them.

:notworthy:

Quote from: Yskonyn on December 21, 2018, 05:14:12 AM
That's a great mod. The concept of the leaks is silly imo, tedious to pull off and feels like work most of the time to find them.
Not fun at all, so this mod is a great quality of life improvement.

I am still playing the game for sure, however I have been captivated by Red Dead Redemption 2's story and I need to keep up to speed with Huw in Warframe, so that leaves less time for X4.
But definately still playing. I think its a great game.

O0
I think I might still hang out for a sale. I don't need another game just now (but then which one of us does?)!

His pre-launch stream has been mentioned before but this video by Obsidianant gives a decent overview of the game (including the confusion about what to do in some missions).

X4: Foundations Update 2.00 Released

https://steamcommunity.com/games/392160/announcements/detail/1768130575201859779

Player owned shipyards, wharfs and equipment docks:
    Players can now build and operate their own shipyards. This allows leaving an even deeper impact on the game's economy. Build ships for yourself or deliver them to the war factions. Participate in the faction wars on the highest possible level or just make a lot of profitsss.

Steam Workshop integration:
    Starting with version 2.00 X4: Foundations now also supports installing game mods via the Steam workshop. This will make it easier than ever for players to try out some of the already existing cool X4 mods!

Rebalancing of fight and economy:
    With Update 2.00 we changed a lot of parameters of the game economy and fight balancing. The goals include making crew gaining experience a bit easier, but also making a lot of changes to the turret and capital ship fight balancing.

Yeah!! Good times for the game.

Bearing in mind I did not like the move from X3 to X-Rebirth (like AT ALL), would anyone recommend this game? Steam review snapshot seems a bit on the low side - but it is Steam so I'm taking a huge pinch of salt with them.

Quote from: JudgeDredd on February 27, 2019, 04:16:19 AM
Bearing in mind I did not like the move from X3 to X-Rebirth (like AT ALL), would anyone recommend this game? Steam review snapshot seems a bit on the low side - but it is Steam so I'm taking a huge pinch of salt with them.

I had fun with it until bugs took the fun away. 

E.g. :
Deliver x to person y in the bar on station z but station z has no bar
Deliver x to person y in the bar on station z but station z has a bar that disappears when you leave the sector to buy product x
Economy not working as planned (e.g. no demand for products on the market because not enough ships got destroyed (lack of a war) so they don't have to be replaced)

But these are fixed with the updates so I should get back to it.

Thanks Pete.

Those sound like fundamental errors and perhaps the report says "they're fixed", but I can't honestly say I believe them.

I'm going to leave purchase for a while. It's still almost full price and sounds like there were some fundamentals broken. I'll pick it up later this year. I'm in no massive hurry for a game...I just stumbled upon this the other day and it reminded me I had wanted to buy in.

Thanks again.

Did anyone get time to test the new update?

Quote from: Yskonyn on February 28, 2019, 06:24:37 AM
Did anyone get time to test the new update?

I still have not been able to get to it, however in the next day or two I plan to..... I just got to feeling better after being sick for four weeks!

Saw it on offer on Steam for £30....still not tempted I'm afraid.

Quote from: JudgeDredd on March 06, 2019, 12:39:23 PM
Saw it on offer on Steam for £30....still not tempted I'm afraid.

OK.

So, I've been spending some serious time with the 2.5 beta branch these last three days.
Now 12 hours in I must say the game is in a very good spot.

Since I last played Carriers and Resupply ships have been introduced to the game and the player is now able to build and own shipyards and wharfs! That's an exciting outlook.
Also, the personal crafting profit margin has been nerfed; no more easy money by crafting medkits and selling them. It still is profitable as a side venture, but not nearly as much anymore as it was back in the 1.x version of the game.

So, instead I've gone the manual labour way of mining crystals first to get my first two miner ships going in order to let me focus on the wider things I want to accomplish. After about an hour or two of mining crystals I had roughly 2 million credits (you need to get a little lucky with the crystal types you find, purple is most common but has the least value, blue is a little less common but more valuable and then you have green, yellow and white respectively.). That was enough to create 2 properly fitted mining ships which both got a 3 star crew!
The competence of the crew is very important for the auto-orders you can give the ship. 3 star will enable Advanced  Auto Mining (as oposed to Sector Mining only) and if you fit them with a Resource and Trading extension software they will automatically sell to the highest bidder.

Nividium is a great early-game wealth kickstarter, but its profits will dampen rather abruptly after several hours into the game because demand will decrease as the resource is only needed in small amounts. At first, though, stations that need it will put out buy orders to get their stocks up to snuff and this is great for kickstarting your own financial position.

In a short time I was able to fund 6 auto-miners covering Ore, Silicon and Nividium.

Now it was time to open up the map a bit and start looking for the highway system. Each new game the placement of stations is randomized (within constraints as not to have a defunct economy gamestart) so even if the jumpgates and accelerators aren't (afaik) the systems feel different enough from my last saves.

A quick roundabout on the highway opened up 118 discovered stations without much effort, opening up quite a few profitable trade routes for my auto miners and funds started to roll in at a much higher pace.

I ran into an annoying issue where I had ordered one of my miners to retrofit at the wharf, but there weren't enough engine parts available to complete the upgrade. The game doesn't lock the ship bound for upgrades and I ordered it to go make some money in the mean time, but instead of canceling the upgrade order it remained at the top of the queue of the wharf's construction pad and now prevented any other ships from being produced... oops.
Normally with the ship docked you can delete the queued orders, but with it out in the black you cannot. So I ordered it back to the wharf but I was still unable to cancel the order. I decided to try to buy a transporter to haul the much needed engine parts to the warf, but as I couldn't produce any other ships at the Argon warf I had to scoot to Teladi space to the only other known warf at this point.
There I found out that the engine part deficiency was a galaxy wide issue, so I couldn't build the transporter here either. :(
Luckily my Elite Vanguard had cargo space for 8 engine parts and, while it took me considerable time, I was able to manually haul the parts to the Teladi warf and build the transporter.
This transporter then hauled more Engine parts in bulk to the Argon warf, but the issue of the stuck upgrade loop remained.

I filed a bug report, which got super quick reply, but unfortunately didn't come up with a solution.

Upon reloading my savegame I suddenly saw a lot of ships being built in the Argon Warf again. I reissued the upgrade order (now confirming the system doesn't tell me parts are missing) and it finally overwrote the other two pending requests! Fixed the stuck loop! Pfew!

Otherwise I haven't come across any issues so far. The galaxy seems alive, Xenon are harassing the borders of certain sectors, so the complaints of a much too peaceful galaxy of old seem to have been addressed.
Also the economy is going full steam ahead, so that looks good!

I've also bought a medium fighter as my personal ship for all round duty and relegated my vanguard to exploration duty with a 4.5 star (!) crew that are able to auto-explore sectors.
They will notify my when they find lockboxes and abandoned ships, so I can scoot over there and have my marines board the vessel to claim it.
None found yet, however.

I am now working towards setting up the player HQ. Fun times!

Excellent, thanks for the write-up Ysk.  It's good to hear the issues are slowly being addressed.  I'll wait until 2.5 hits stable then I may well play again.

Of course...post this literally a day after I delete the thing to free up some badly needed HD space.

Quote from: Jarhead0331 on May 08, 2019, 10:13:28 AM
Of course...post this literally a day after I delete the thing to free up some badly needed HD space.

That's for me deleting VTOL just prior to you posting an update, so touché mofo! :D

Meanwhile my player HQ's bare skeleton is being built, but Xenon patrols are infesting the area and I don't have a proper fleet yet.

The Engine Part and Shield Component shortage has reared its ugly head again preventing ship construction.
So I am going to reload, hold off building the HQ for now and instead setup an Engine Part and Shield Comp factory chain first.