Announcing X4: Split Vendetta and update 3.0

[CmdrUlukai]

I'm really looking forward to Split Vendetta but I really hope to see the Boron soon. I know they could be annoying at times but for me at least, they are an integral part of the X Universe; the race you have to meet before you get to find the Argon after dumped in Sizewell. Maybe have a very limited interior for Boron ships and stations, just tubes for air breathing aliens to get from A to B.

Personally, I would rather see the Boron before the Terrans because of the X:BTF nostalgia.

[Chris0132]

Larger space is probably the biggest addition I'd like for the game because a lot of the strategic stuff

I really can't imagine how to use more space. What it gives to you? Currently in vanilla there is like half of sectors, which you do not fly into after first exploration. And now with this DLS this number of "useless" or rare visited sectors will be even more.

My biggest gripe with the current universe is that it's all very occupied and largely centers around the highway loop. There's no big chains of sectors into the heart of an empire, such as you might enjoy in X3. There aren't really any "border" sectors or neutral sectors, or any remote reaches of the universe.

There's nopileus of course, but it's right off the main highway loop and isn't really on anyone's borders.

If the warring factions had larger webs of territory to fight over, expand into, lose, reclaim, rebuild, and lose again, the war system could be a lot more effective, I think. Currently all the factions are basically fighting over each other's core territories and for some reason have a big highway running directly through them?? I appreciate having the highway but it's a strange choice for some areas, especially the HOP. Why does the HOP keep their bit turned on?

So I am hopeful for the prospect of more areas perhaps like the eastern sectors of X3. Weird chains of sectors with a variety of levels of colonization, actual pirate branches on the edge of the gate network, pockets of rogue xenon that don't border directly onto a core sector. Space, essentially, that can be contested without signaling the collapse of an entire empire. Potentially a place for the player to position themselves between other factions, or hostile to them.

And the travel drive really makes the highway kind of unnecessary as well, so I'm hopeful that there will be more wide open sectors for conflict to occur in.

Especially with the removal of jump technology (though teleporting the player, I think, is an absolutely excellent addition, as it allows you to travel to wherever your attention is needed while preserving the difficulty of moving assets around) I would be very excited to have a universe more on the scale of the X3 one. I don't ever expect it to get quite that big in X4 of course, but that sense of distance was something I really liked in X3 and combined with things like actual sector contesting and ownership, I'd really like the chance to battle my way across a wider universe, or watch other factions do the same.

More ships, guns, modules etc would also be nice but if you added those to the current universe I think they would not reach their potential. If I had to pick one thing to add it would be sectors, because there are things the game can sort of do at the moment that feel very hampered by such a tightly packed universe map.

[DaMuncha]

Like i've said before. Adding new sectors would be easy. Its mostly empty space. All they need is a few stations here and there and a couple of gates. I realy dont see why they cant make the game vastly bigger than it is.

[Wehrwolf_10]

The answer about Borons seem like indication that they won't be the DLC2.
I'm fine with this as long as DLC2 will be Terran.

I can't wait for ATF fleet to destroy Argon Prime system. There must be retribution for a stab in the back

[spankahontis]

Like i've said before. Adding new sectors would be easy. Its mostly empty space. All they need is a few stations here and there and a couple of gates. I realy dont see why they cant make the game vastly bigger than it is.

More isn't always better.
They could add 100 more Sectors, but if they are just Copy and Paste with a change of shading/size/colour to planets? then it's just fluff; time better spent on new features and getting the Boron back in the game.

[alado]

i see many hype. Poor video, this time I will wait for opinions after the launch, I do not want to throw my money twice

[Slashman]

i see many hype. Poor video, this time I will wait for opinions after the launch, I do not want to throw my money twice

Why did you throw it the first time?

[AquilaRossa]

Could super highways be made optional? When I first took a ride on the main highway circuit it was fun, but now they are just a pain in the butt. They get in the way of combat. they are an extra item for the computer to draw and manage. They are not needed it seems. Travel mode gets ships where they need to be fast enough. An on/off switch so the player can choose would be good.

Performance. I am quite far into my first serious play through. I set out to block all the gates in sectors bordering Xenon. I do this with fleets and defence platforms that double as repair docks. Xenon do not get to wreak havoc as much. The universe is booming and most sectors have scores of new stations built by the factions. It just passed some kind of tipping point for performance. Yesterday I was getting around 50fps on average, so it was fairly smooth on a 2700X and RX590. Today it tanked and i am getting just over 20 fps and even 10fps at times. In battles involving over 20 ships the guns on my Nemesis has the sound crap out. Too many sound effects for the game. That's X though. Ambition has always been ahead of what hardware can deliver. I know Egosoft are looking for more optimizations. Just saying, just in case they forget

[DaMuncha]

I've noticed that I get horrible FPS on my old stations, like 5-10 fps, but on my new stations I've build this week I get around 30 fps. Of course thats still horrible frame rate but its playable. I wonder what the difference is?

[Vertigo 7]

why is 30fps horrible? dvds run at 25 or 30 fps. film is 24 fps, most tv shows are 24-30 digital, though some can go to 60

[Kaada]

I think X4 is a little to fast. As someone who began his X journey with X3 AP X4 feels like a highway on it's own. Not even a day in and I could build Carriers, if I could. This is unaccaptable. In Sandbox games the way is the goal, if you cna reach everything in a day, why even bother trying?
There are obviously a few ways to fix this problem. First increase the price of Ships by 1-100 Million. Or create more licenses.

"Wanna hire pilots for Trade Jobs? Do you have a Trading license which costs 100k? Oh you wanna create a Company? Well, where are the 500k credits for the license and the extra tax, depending how many Stations you own in which Faction Sector, each "ingame day" to support this? And have you considered that you have to pay your employees?" (The taxes and licenses have to be bought seperatly from each Faction....meaning an Argon license won't allow you to build Stations in Paranid controled Sectors, etc.) (Should be obvious)
"You want warships? You stupid? Private Companies never get any Warships. Unless you work directly and only for us. Than maybe..maaayyybeee, you'll get the *privilege* to *produce* your own."

The way up should be hard. Missions that easily give you all the starting money you need should be completely taken out, until you reach level 10 or 15 with a Faction because, you know, *noone trusts a stranger.*

And if you really want some Warships, Diplomacy would be a nice addition. For example:"" Hey I want warships, but the Faction doesn't want to give me any. WHAT. COULD. I. DO? Well, well,well. You could bribe some pirates that increase their attacks on your ships and stations, if you have any. You could plead and beg that the benevolent Faction should help your poor poor employees. But sadly even with an increase of Faction Warships in the pirated Sector your Ships are still being destroyed. Ohnooo, do you say, even with your help I loose profit, and the people of this Sector begin to hate you. If only someone could secure the sector for you "wink" "wink.""
Yep this is how I'd like it.

But despite the game speed, I think the game is fine. Could benefit from some more Border Sectors than can be taken and retaken by the waring Factions without worries, and maybe become the staging ground for further attacks on the core world. And for the Player completely empty Sectors to claim would be nice too.
Hopefully we get all that with the future. Egosoft, care for your core auidience, not the idea of a wider one. you won't reach it with a game like this. And if you change the formular you'll loose the Community you already have. I don't need to study to see that.

PS.: I do hope the Borons will appear. I hate the new design (though it is better than the face they had in X3), since you could have just make a subnautica style Squid that is able to "walk" upright with 4 Tentacles. Think of Thaddeus from Spongebob Squarepants, but cooler. Much much cooler. Or hell give them a "device, or Suit" that allows them to "swim" thrugh air. But whatever you do. Put the Borons back into the game. Their Ships are awesome. A new Split vs Boron warzone would be a cool thing.

PPS.: And could you give the different Factions a Weapon that fits their design? Seeing Split going all Laser and Plasma is so weird to look at. Paranids should like Plasma Weapons, Argon Lasers, Teladi....pretty much anything that is cheap. Split like to use Projectile Weapons (Nuclear Grenade firing, WW2 Style Cannon PLS) Borons, use Ion Cannons, which can disable Ships and turn them into drifting hulks for 5-10 minutes depending how many crewmemebers you have, and Terrans get their Antimatter Cannons back.

PPPS.: Speaking of cannons, you should overhaul them a little. When I have a Laser Turret with two Laser Cannons on it, I want to see it fire 2 Lasers at the same time and not 1. Little Fighters with 2 Lasers weapons can do it, a single turret with 2 Laser weapons should do it too.


Despite all this I like the game and I wish Egosoft best of luck and success for them and their game!

[DaMuncha]

Most games these days are finished in 6-8 hours. The game pace is as fast as you push it. That being said I think L and XL ships are WAY too cheap. I spend days doing missions and saving up enough money to buy an Osaka in X3, In X4 I jsut have to sit back for an hour and let my free trading ships get me the 20 mil I need

[BigBANGtheory]

looks like the explosion effects have had some love too which is good to see.

[Moonrat]

Could super highways be made optional? When I first took a ride on the main highway circuit it was fun, but now they are just a pain in the butt. They get in the way of combat. they are an extra item for the computer to draw and manage. They are not needed it seems. Travel mode gets ships where they need to be fast enough. An on/off switch so the player can choose would be good.

This mod does the job really great!

No Super Highways

[DaMuncha]

Thx @moonrat I didnt know about that

[radcapricorn]

Could super highways be made optional?

This mod does the job really great!
No Super Highways

Yeah... off-topic, but, you guys should really get up to speed on that terminology. Those are highways, not superhighways. Not a big deal, of course, but, well, that mod doesn't do what it says it's supposed to do.

[MakerLinux]

I think X4 is a little to fast. As someone who began his X journey with X3 AP X4 feels like a highway on it's own. Not even a day in and I could build Carriers, if I could. This is unaccaptable. In Sandbox games the way is the goal, if you cna reach everything in a day, why even bother trying?
There are obviously a few ways to fix this problem. First increase the price of Ships by 1-100 Million. Or create more licenses.

Nope.
Nope nope nope nope nope.
You might have all the time to play a game that takes 4 thousand hours. I don't. Most people don't. X4 is already a looooong game. The game must be accessible. You are complaining that you can build carriers in less than 24 hours playing the game? That's absurd. Use a mod to extend the time for you, but understand that most people just won't accept it that way. Unless you want Egosoft to get bankrupt because it will sell the game to half a dozen people only. The steam rating is already low enough, it doesn't need to decrease more.
It's long already the way it is. It does not need to be like X3 or X2 or anything. It should be its own game.

[Riccardoman]

I think X4 is a little to fast. As someone who began his X journey with X3 AP X4 feels like a highway on it's own. Not even a day in and I could build Carriers, if I could. This is unaccaptable. In Sandbox games the way is the goal, if you cna reach everything in a day, why even bother trying?
There are obviously a few ways to fix this problem. First increase the price of Ships by 1-100 Million. Or create more licenses.

Nope.
Nope nope nope nope nope.
You might have all the time to play a game that takes 4 thousand hours. I don't. Most people don't. X4 is already a looooong game. The game must be accessible. You are complaining that you can build carriers in less than 24 hours playing the game? That's absurd. Use a mod to extend the time for you, but understand that most people just won't accept it that way. Unless you want Egosoft to get bankrupt because it will sell the game to half a dozen people only. The steam rating is already low enough, it doesn't need to decrease more.
It's long already the way it is. It does not need to be like X3 or X2 or anything. It should be its own game.

That's the point, do you have thousands of hours to spend on a game? Lucky you, but how many have all this free time to spend?
You want a longer game? You have a lot of time so just modify the game yourself

[Chris0132]

If you want to extend X4's playtime I'd personally suggest adding larger endgame goals such as territorial conquest, not making it take longer to get access to stuff like station building and larger ships.

[surferx]

If an open ended sandbox exploration game is too long for you or you don't have the time, you really should stick to the cheesy arcade games. I bought this game as something in which to invest my playtime. If you reach the goals after a day or two of play it's not worth the price. None of the X games have historically been designed to be over after a few hundred hours. That is the reason X2 and the X3 variations were so successful; you got hundreds to thousands of hours of enjoyment. Don't try to make Egosoft change what they are just to fit your pinball millennial lifestyle.