Is there something missing from the Universe Layout?

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

All of the dangerous areas to the universe are at the edges. There are no equivalents to the old "pirate alley" around Loomankstraat's Legacy.

It would certainly provide something of a challenge if when adding new content there was a series of clusters / sectors that were full of anarchy. That these dangerous areas separated the existing universe from
any new race added. Having something of the flavour of De'Vries from Rebirth. Something that requires rebuilding/subduing. Possibly a place for people live the pirate life if they wanted.

[Tali$]

I believe Hatikvah's Choice is your "pirate alley". Where you can pirate with impunity.

That's about the best we're gonna get... For quite a long time it seems...

[ApoxNM]

I believe Hatikvah's Choice is your "pirate alley". Where you can pirate with impunity.

That's about the best we're gonna get... For quite a long time it seems...

Well.... modders, will as always.... make verything better or fix it.

[caltrop]

All of the dangerous areas to the universe are at the edges. There are no equivalents to the old "pirate alley" around Loomankstraat's Legacy.

It would certainly provide something of a challenge if when adding new content there was a series of clusters / sectors that were full of anarchy. That these dangerous areas separated the existing universe from
any new race added. Having something of the flavour of De'Vries from Rebirth. Something that requires rebuilding/subduing. Possibly a place for people live the pirate life if they wanted.

Agreed, a great feature of the the X3/TC/AP map was having multiple hostile sectors as routes between more civilised areas - not just pirate sectors like the example above or the corridor between Elena's Fortune and Aladna Hill, but also Xenon sectors e.g. between Black Hole sun & Thynn's Abyss, or Scale Plate Green & Eighteen Billion

- in the early game it provided a challenge to get through these sectors in one piece
- in the mid/late game they were good sectors to try to conquer or at least pacify so they could be used as trade routes, or a home base

Unfortunately Hatikvah's Choice doesn't quite cut it, as a) pirates are not really hostile (need a more frenzied reaver type enemy as well imo) and b) the ring highway there means that you can easily avoid any threats by speeding through it or going the other way round lol

[Tomonor]

There are quite a few environments missing that have been introduced in previous games:
-Pirate/Xenon/Unregulated tradelanes (as you've mentioned)
-Nebulae sector, that almost entirely consumes the whole of it (X2's Clouadbase SW, Rolk's Drift, X-R's Field of Opportunity)
-Dark systems (well, there technically is one, but I'm speaking of X2's Northern Xenon sector, which was said to be placed on the edge of the universe, where stars can barely form anymore)
-Star proximity sectors (sectors placed closer to sun(s) - DeVries, Xenon Hub)
-Beautiful sectors (X2's Akeela's Beacon, Getsu Fune)
-In-system varieties - This is where Rebirth was significantly better in my opinion. I'm speaking of the different environments in a single sector. For instance, Albion had a dedicated sector inside the shattered planet, around its very core. Then we had Omicron Lyrae, which had a black hole sector, a planetary orbit sector, a commerce sector... These were simply pleasing to the eyes. But in X4, even though there are Accelerators/Superhighways that take you to a different part of said system, it barely makes a difference. Not sure if it was done due to technical limitations or design direction (and I'm also sure it's too late to address it at this point), it still is such a bummer. This is exactly what I missed in X3 from X2 - with the absense of non-static nebulae sectors got a lot less unique.

[caltrop]

But in X4, even though there are Accelerators/Superhighways that take you to a different part of said system, it barely makes a difference. Not sure if it was done due to technical limitations or design direction (and I'm also sure it's too late to address it at this point), it still is such a bummer. This is exactly what I missed in X3 from X2 - with the absense of non-static nebulae sectors got a lot less unique.

I have noticed that and it does surprise me given that in Rebirth there were much bigger differences in locations within system e.g. inside/outside the shattered planet in Albion or to/from the star in DeVries and the nearby planets

[pref]

So true, i was wondering which xenon sector will be a crossroad between 2/4 far edges of the universe bit similarly to the hub plot - so it would make sense to own that sector and also increase xen threat.
Was a bit disappointed that all the dangerous sectors are completely isolated.

[theincrediblenick]

I miss proper unknown sectors as well. My favourite part used to be finding some Unknown Sector and turning it into my headquarters, preferably beyond a Xenon sector to make it even harder to get to.

[MegaJohnny]

-In-system varieties - This is where Rebirth was significantly better in my opinion. I'm speaking of the different environments in a single sector. For instance, Albion had a dedicated sector inside the shattered planet, around its very core. Then we had Omicron Lyrae, which had a black hole sector, a planetary orbit sector, a commerce sector... These were simply pleasing to the eyes. But in X4, even though there are Accelerators/Superhighways that take you to a different part of said system, it barely makes a difference. Not sure if it was done due to technical limitations or design direction (and I'm also sure it's too late to address it at this point), it still is such a bummer. This is exactly what I missed in X3 from X2 - with the absense of non-static nebulae sectors got a lot less unique.

This is the weird bit to me. I think Ego have had to please people who are neurotic about the number of *star systems* in X - so we have more clusters which are less spectacular.

But the superhighways seem like missed potential for X4? They used to cross huge distances and give you a fantastic view of planets moving before your eyes. But now they seem to cover tiny distances, and IMO the accelerators don't give the feel of being in the same star system at all.

If I could snap my fingers and make a mod, it would be to shift all star systems into one cluster each and have the sectors connected by superhighways instead of accelerators.