Atmosphere in X4 (Not Planetary)

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

I always took the English dialogue with a grain of salt. I always imagined it like how it was explained in the Green Lantern animated series: while the translators in the rings allow you to understand what others are saying, other things do not translate well, such as rhymes.

I don't expect there to be things like what was in Freelancer. I was just curious on if it was going to be different than the past, or the same. I also never played X2, so the comparisons are lost on me as well.

I also understand if you guys are too busy to do more voicework than is necessary. I'm sure many of us in the community would be happy to lend some voice talent (or lack of talent, in my case).

[BlackDog]

I dono, I still find the quirky voice work of the X series to be part of its charm, just like horrible looking yet hilarious glitches in Bethesda games.

Recently while playing Skyrim a horse just started flying around in the sky with a rider on it, flying in circles around a house, then flying off into the distance never to be seen again.

Much like the X Voices, you cant help but laugh and be happy when you see/hear them.

[spacecoyote99]

Yes same here. I don't mind if the English is a little clunky it's part of the game history for me. If Teladi spoke with a fluent American accent it'd just sound weird

[Seanchaidh]

I don't mind poor voice work that much, but when it's gratuitously flirty it gets extremely grating.

Especially when it's directed at a character who sounds about as suave as Newman from Seinfeld or Screech from Saved by the Bell.

[Cabrelbeuk]

Well the french acting in X3 Reunion was really hilarious.

Weirdly in a good way.

Like this black pilot answering you with an heavily racist CHINESE accent... Gold.

And Betty at this time was really smooth and relaxing.

I wouldn't mind some of the ideas to be implemented along the updates tho.

[mr.WHO]

One thing I really miss from Freelancer is radio chatter.
We should have radio chatter in X4!

[Tenlar Scarflame]

I never played X2,but what do you mean by X4 feels like X2?

I'm curious too. I mean, I have X2, but I just can't get over the weird control scheme that can't be altered.

Aesthetically speaking, IMO, X2 had the most, uh... charm, I guess? Like, X3 was a big leap forward in terms of graphics and taking itself seriously, but X2 had a vaguely-old-school-campy-sci-fi type feel to it.

There are a ton of examples I could think of but one of the big ones is the difference between how the interfaces in X2 and X3 are presented - functionally identical, but while X3's was aggressively utilitarian and minimalist, X2's was chirpy and Star-Trecky and (relatively) entertaining. The HUD, too - while X3's had plenty more features, like boxing in multiple targets and clickability and stuff like that, it just looked REALLY bare in comparison to X2's kind of quasi-holographic, unnecessary-zooming-circles-when-targeting-stuff goodness.

Round that out with blocky, chunky ship and station designs that were consistent across each faction and didn't have to look super "extreme" to be memorable. It was good stuff. I play it on my Surface Pro sometimes. (Definitely heard re: the control scheme, though. )

From the screenshots we're seeing, X4's HUD design, ship and station designs, general aesthetic choices... it's kind of like "X2 but taken a bit more seriously", in lieu of X3's "X2 didn't take itself seriously enough so we're going to go EXTREME this time"... if that makes sense.

[Cdaragorn]

I never played X2,but what do you mean by X4 feels like X2?

X2 is what got me into this series. I often return to it just because it definitely has a "feel" that I miss from the newer games even with their far improved graphics. I just wish I could describe what I mean by that even to myself.

One thing I definitely miss is station docking. In X2 you docked inside most stations which definitely gives a better feeling than hanging onto the outside somewhere IMHO.

Owning fleets of ships also felt a lot more real than it does in any future game. I don't know why but I have much fonder memories of fighting with a few dozen ships under my control then than I've ever been able to create since.

And of course there was the story, which played a much more foreground role in that game than anytime since. I'm intrigued by what they've described of having dynamic stories.

Hopefully that gives some idea of what differences we might see now. This description of it being "like X2" is a lot of what has me really excited for it.

[Tomonor]

I can explain X2's charm over X3's.

X2 was simply slower-paced, and as Tenlar explained, everything was flashy for a space sim. To sum it up in a clear sentence, it gave the most X-universe-y atmosphere/vibe, that no other X game managed to reproduce. The ships were also a lot more balanced, and you could actually know what to expect from a ship once you knew its owner race's role. You didn't feel the need for 500 more spaceships, because all the races specific ships did what it intended to do with the said race's profile.


Anecdotally however, there are a few things that stood out:

-Giant holo advert boards floating near stations
-The station sound
-The station interiors
-Ships that didn't lose their scale (unlike in X3, where everything felt small while the weapon projectiles were as big as your own ship)
-Dynamic nebulae (unlike in X3, where nebulae were simply uses as background effects), you could hide in them, use them to your advantage.
-Cockpits
-Sectors with actual planning and designs, supported by their lore (sector descriptions)
-The Split Dragon and the Argon Titan

There was also the story which is dated and poorly done by today's standards, but damn was it awesome back then.

[Skeeter]

Im so happy to see others also have fond memories and liked x2 the way i do and tho i dunno if its their fav it certainly was mine its what made x games er x games, not the economy model or station building or fleets but everything of the whole just worked well together to give it charm and a unique feel vs other games. When x3 came alot of it got lost and i dont know why.

[reanor]

Bernd said that it rather feels like playing X2.

And that's good, because I loved X2.

Can Berndt come here and explain what he meant? Then again, I like what the OP proposed. All those little chatters, station announcements, NPC comments, keeping in mind variety of available lines and certain situations, it all adds a lot of ambient face to the game. Shutting up NPCs and main character in X3 was one of the most popular mods because there was almost no variation and annoying repeating of the same line over and over again.

[BlackDog]

Im glad people have given their insight on what the X2/X4 feeling means as it does help me understand.

I am very much looking forward to X4 now more than before, though trying to refrain myself from being hyped.

A tempered hype is always better than a ravenous hype, as then even if what im excited for doesnt quite live up to expectations in full, i can still find much enjoyment in it as I can look past those flaws.

Sadly Rebirth had me in super hype mode and I just cant bring myself to play it for to long, to much excess hype disappointment that spoils my mood when I play it. So no such super mega ultra hype for X4, but its out of Love that i temper my hype

[Falcrack]

This thread caused me to install X2, which I have had in my library for years but never played. Maybe I'll give it a go while waiting for X4.

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

This thread caused me to install X2, which I have had in my library for years but never played. Maybe I'll give it a go while waiting for X4.

Go for it. You won't regret it. (I never played it myself, but from what everyone else is saying, it's great). Maybe you can even record it and put it on YouTube.

[Drakuel]

I can explain X2's charm over X3's.

X2 was simply slower-paced, and as Tenlar explained, everything was flashy for a space sim. To sum it up in a clear sentence, it gave the most X-universe-y atmosphere/vibe, that no other X game managed to reproduce. The ships were also a lot more balanced, and you could actually know what to expect from a ship once you knew its owner race's role. You didn't feel the need for 500 more spaceships, because all the races specific ships did what it intended to do with the said race's profile.


Anecdotally however, there are a few things that stood out:

-Giant holo advert boards floating near stations
-The station sound
-The station interiors
-Ships that didn't lose their scale (unlike in X3, where everything felt small while the weapon projectiles were as big as your own ship)
-Dynamic nebulae (unlike in X3, where nebulae were simply uses as background effects), you could hide in them, use them to your advantage.
-Cockpits
-Sectors with actual planning and designs, supported by their lore (sector descriptions)
-The Split Dragon and the Argon Titan

There was also the story which is dated and poorly done by today's standards, but damn was it awesome back then.

Agreed, when I think of atmosphere and to bring more depth of that, I always look at dynamic things like the nebulae or other natural forces, this type of game could utilize much better...

I was hoping not just gameplay mechanics improving all these year with the series and engine tech, but I think it is a lost opportunity if dev's do not expand on there atmosphere implementations.. Just having pretty background is just not going to achieve this, we should have alot of dynamic things in space that have danger and the feeling of life and mystery to draw you in to fly into to investigate....

The only danger should not just be another ship firing at you or you colliding with...

[ZombiePotatoSalad]

Well, I'm thinking that dynamic nebulae might make a return, at least in some form. Remember that big electron cloud in Teladi Outpost? Just take that, remove the electricity, make it thinker, and reduce scanner effective range. Perfect hiding spot.

Then we can have moments like this: https://youtu.be/2aodLBr0shc?t=1m35s

[Tomonor]

There's another thing that stood out in X2 now that I think about it: visibility range, especially of the ships.

I remember first entering a sector, but especially, a Boron sector that was pretty darned foggy inside a nebula (I think it was Queen's space), and all you could see were the engine lights of the passing ships in the distance, and the nav beacons blinking to guide you.

Or if you went to explore, you could easily rely on the engine lights, ships that were too far away were still blinking, and you could easily tell what race's ship was it because they had race specific thruster lens flare.

It's the little things like this made X2 so awesome. Also, the nostalgia factor boosts it up too.

[Tomonor]

Oh, sorry for the double post, but remembered something again. Zuran time. That was the sh*t.

Trying to translate 1 mazuras 3 mizuras and 55 sezuras back to our time system.

[BlackDog]

Oh, sorry for the double post, but remembered something again. Zuran time. That was the sh*t.

Trying to translate 1 mazuras 3 mizuras and 55 sezuras back to our time system.

God that stuff was beyond corny, i actualy cringed when i heard them say "YOU HAVE 10 MIZURAS TO SURRENDER!"

Its like a reverse General Scales, speaks an entirely different alien laguage, but will go "oota zolo at uah GENERAL SCALES!", screaming his own name and rank in english every time, but in X2 its "Pilot! Surrender now! You have 10 MIZUARAS before we open fire" saying at random nonsensical times random space words, the cheese and corn....ITS TO MUCH!

At least other random space words from other series have made a bit more sense to me:

Battlestar Galactica has Frak, which is similar to....well not sure if i can say it on these forums but we all know what it sounds like.

Warhammer 40k has Feth and Gak, which is are similar in sound and phraseing to exactly what your mind thinks they are when a guardsmen calls somone a "Fethin Gakhead"


So onwards into the mizarukar! for the X series shall floober their narglers....FLABOOOODINNN!

[Tomonor]

Oh, sorry for the double post, but remembered something again. Zuran time. That was the sh*t.

Trying to translate 1 mazuras 3 mizuras and 55 sezuras back to our time system.

God that stuff was beyond corny, i actualy cringed when i heard them say "YOU HAVE 10 MIZURAS TO SURRENDER!"

Its like a reverse General Scales, speaks an entirely different alien laguage, but will go "oota zolo at uah GENERAL SCALES!", screaming his own name and rank in english every time, but in X2 its "Pilot! Surrender now! You have 10 MIZUARAS before we open fire" saying at random nonsensical times random space words, the cheese and corn....ITS TO MUCH!

At least other random space words from other series have made a bit more sense to me:

Battlestar Galactica has Frak, which is similar to....well not sure if i can say it on these forums but we all know what it sounds like.

Warhammer 40k has Feth and Gak, which is are similar in sound and phraseing to exactly what your mind thinks they are when a guardsmen calls somone a "Fethin Gakhead"


So onwards into the mizarukar! for the X series shall floober their narglers....FLABOOOODINNN!

I actually cringe a lot more when I remember that Argons have translated the ship names to animals and gods that aren't recorded in any part of Argon history.

Zuran time might be goofy. But at least it made the universe a bit more believable.