Is walking in station/ship/wherever required to play?

[eRe4s3r]

I got no problem with it if it's a single button press after docking to get not just -to- the chair but -into- the chair of the "parent" ship, I do have one if it's a confirmation dialog though. X Rebirth did that right, the cutscene notwithstanding. If there are interesting rewarding things to actually do on the ships, now that is another matter entirely. I would not mind walking in those situations at all And option to skip is good enough for me. Maybe even make it a setting we can toggle... but that can wait till later.

Let's be realistic here though, it won't be Mass Effect level of interactions right? Shooting ranges, armory, medical center, gunnery platform, map room, bridge, cap and 1st lt. quarters etc.... kinda don't see how you could even design that to be fun with no characters we care about (in a sandbox). So anyhow, good to know you think of us who consider walking a "hassle" no matter what, but just remember it won't be a hassle if there is a *reason* for it.

[DaMuncha]

Mind you, When Egosoft finally put the feature to talk to NPCs from your ship into XR I did use it, alot. To hell with navigating those stations looking for a dealer that sells drones that may or may not even be on that station. Station walking was neat for the first 5 mins. But not being able to find a NPC that could sell you trade software upgrades got realy frustrating realy fast.

[spankahontis]

Short of announcing that we're removing the entire walking on stations element of the game because you don't like it, Graaf, nothing I say is going to satisfy you, so I'm not even going to try.

It would help if you didn't force us to do something we don't want to do just to change ships. Like the logical approach to change ship with just 1 action instead of 3. But no, lets stick to the dubious design choice that a large portion of the player base doesn't like, and force them to use it.

It gets tiring listening to you go on about the same mundane things, with the same doom and gloom forecasts, followed by the same Parlour trick views that you are the voice of the Community and that Egosofts future falls upon your predictions and that you've assumed the mantel of our spokesperson.
Seriously, try sharing some impartiality, some constructive criticism instead of "NO GET RID OF IT!", reading CBJ's response to you speaks volumes, that's the personality you portray to people and even those that agree with you on some things are saying "Steady down Graaf!".

Fair enough you hate walking on stations, but it's not a good enough excuse to throw the Baby out with the Bathwater.
There are features of X3, X:Rebirth and highly likely X4 that I will hate! But there is a ton more features that I personally will like that make up for the wrong design decisions, your arguments just don't convince me personally that X4 is going to be a colossal failure, quite the opposite.
Time to evolve mate.

Just to stop some of the wilder speculation and rumours, while there will be some activities that require actual walking around, moving from one of your own ships to another is something we have indeed provided a shortcut for. You will need to get out of your chair to initiate it, and you'll need to sit down again when you get there, but the long bit involving actually walking across the dock area can be avoided if you want to. From my own experience, being able to do it on foot really helps with the immersion, but clearly if you are playing for many, many hours then it could get tedious, hence the provided shortcut.

Besides, there was Hotkeys where you could avoid walking around from ship to NPC and back. The argument of it being "too grindy" can be resolved.

When you look at it, it was the exact same argument for manually landing ships at a Station in X3, along came the Docking Software MK1 and those complaints vanished.

If there is no Hotkeys (Which I think I heard? I'm sure Egosoft can be persuaded to reintroduce them) I mean look at everything they said wasn't going to make it into X:Rebirth like SETA, the Unfocussed Jumpdrive Etc.
They listen if there is large enough demand for it.

[Alan Phipps]

… and we will leave all the analysis of other posters now and get back onto thread topic thank you.

[Graaf]

Besides, there was Hotkeys where you could avoid walking around from ship to NPC and back. The argument of it being "too grindy" can be resolved.

From what CBJ describes Walking is mandatory, even with hotkeys.

When you look at it, it was the exact same argument for manually landing ships at a Station in X3, along came the Docking Software MK1 and those complaints vanished.

I can assure you I didn't ask for that. I prefer the manual docking.

If there is no Hotkeys (Which I think I heard? I'm sure Egosoft can be persuaded to reintroduce them) I mean look at everything they said wasn't going to make it into X:Rebirth like SETA, the Unfocussed Jumpdrive Etc.
They listen if there is large enough demand for it.

But it's always in hindsight, even when discussed in their previous title.
And no, that doesn't include Multiplayer!

[DaMuncha]

I also prefered manual docking in X3 but only because the ships in X3 were so slow to dock and i could just jam straight to the docking point rather than having to float slowly along the docking lane.

[Alci]

From what CBJ describes Walking is mandatory, even with hotkeys.

I don't think that does count. He said it's part of some missions, but since X4 has no campaign and is more free driven I guess you don't need to do those missions, if you insist.

And as for changing ship.. two steps into teleporter and using a button (or whatever) doesn't really apply as "mandatory walking" to me.

I like walking (and looking for trash). I just didn't liked looking for NPC who are supposed to be found but were hiding somewhere instead. To my defense I don't like looking for people I'm supposed to meet in RL either. They are either at the spot or not.

[Sorkvild]

Will we be able to access all essential station services without leaving the ship? For example, I'm docked with a freighter and want to buy full cargo hold of Argnu beef from the ship menu, without going on foot like to some grocery s
store. Possible? Also would like to know what kind of things we will be able to do remotely, via drones (trading, mining?)

[Sao t'Lp]

There was this screenshot on Twitter where they've shown the station interface when you're docked. Under "Dock Interactions" there's a "Trade" option so I assume one can buy things while sitting in the cockpit.

[Alci]

Will we be able to access all essential station services without leaving the ship? For example, I'm docked with a freighter and want to buy full cargo hold of Argnu beef from the ship menu, without going on foot like to some grocery s
store. Possible? Also would like to know what kind of things we will be able to do remotely, via drones (trading, mining?)

And Bernd said something like that you can order pilots to fly somewhere, upgrade ship and everything if you don't want to do it on your own. Buying/selling is basic remote ability. Not sure what you mean with drones. But letting ship to mine/trade without you even there is in too.

[EmperorDragon]

Of course it's nice to have the option to do everything via comms but, I was hoping the walking around feature would be fleshed out more instead of being diminished, like having windows in the bars for some nice panoramic views whilst enjoying a drink, industrial sections where you could actually see industrial modules work, nice views of docking areas to watch freighters come and go, maybe even a customizable office at your HQ from where to run your empire, with screens that displays various details about your ships, stations, finances etc. Or a customizable player skin/outfit perhaps.

Ship interiors looks nice, I hope it's not limited to a single room or intentionally constrained. The capital ship bridge mod (with multiple interior sections) in Rebirth made a huge difference already and actually made capital ships feel flyable in a Star Trek Bridge Commander sort of way (not that that matters anymore).

More and more space sims attempt to make the player feel like an actual person instead of a faceless ship cockpit, the days of being permanently glued to a cockpit seat is gone. It's also nice to have the choice to go about your business in a more interactive manner instead of running through menu after menu like a spreadsheet game. What makes us any different than the Xenon if we are nothing but a non-physical intelligence permanently linked to a ship's computer?

[Gnorog]

From what CBJ describes Walking is mandatory, even with hotkeys.

I don't think that does count. He said it's part of some missions, but since X4 has no campaign and is more free driven I guess you don't need to do those missions, if you insist.

And as for changing ship.. two steps into teleporter and using a button (or whatever) doesn't really apply as "mandatory walking" to me.

I like walking (and looking for trash). I just didn't liked looking for NPC who are supposed to be found but were hiding somewhere instead. To my defense I don't like looking for people I'm supposed to meet in RL either. They are either at the spot or not.

In preparation for X4 I'm giving XR another try. It's already annoying to have a cutscene every time I take the pilots seat when I "Shift-D" from a station. If I do the same on one of my freighters the Skunk is playing pingpong in the hangar during that time.
Adds nothing to the game, is badly implemented and just needless.

[Fame]

So to sum it up, it looks like an option which we can use but its seldom required or forced
I can live with that.