Universe Characterization: XR>>>X4

[tomchk]

These are very good points. XR's atmosphere and "feel" of the design was frequently breathtaking. Perhaps we can get @linolafett to comment on whether we can expect to see XR's sectors imported so we can visit them in X4! It would also give me so much hope to see a hint that the atmosphere of X4 may see further work. Importing XR's sectors would be a great (and possibly easier?) way to placate us for now, though!

[csaba]

The 3 xenon sectors above Hatikvah's Choice and Silent Witness XII are the only sectors that seem to have had some complexity added to them. Maybe Atiya's as well, haven't been there yet.

[mr.WHO]

There is one (Teladi?) sector placed on low orbit of some moon with Neptune like planet in the background - this is the only memorable X4 background for me.

[SparvieroGed]

I want to say again that for me it's not about "memorable vision"....but...i can't associated what i'm seeing to his history, his owner....I need lore.

[ADMNtek]

I want to say again that for me it's not about "memorable vision"....but...i can't associated what i'm seeing to his history, his owner....I need lore.

the thing is X4 is very hard it add to the existing lore. lets just take argon prime the heart of argon territory. in the 20 years of the gate shutdown have they made no effort at all to expand in their home system? or did they just blow it all up after the gates reopened.

[DeFragMe]

I want to say again that for me it's not about "memorable vision"....but...i can't associated what i'm seeing to his history, his owner....I need lore.

the thing is X4 is very hard it add to the existing lore. lets just take argon prime the heart of argon territory. in the 20 years of the gate shutdown have they made no effort at all to expand in their home system? or did they just blow it all up after the gates reopened.

well.. i for one would have expected all sectors to have a instant economical crisis when the gate shut down happend, with alot of chaos for a long time ....

[Tomonor]

Well, we have probably gotten what could be achieved by them in the given timeframe. Yeah, it's a generic universe, but as long as its moddable I fail to see the problem.

If a dedicated group of coders, modellers and modders come together, they could recreate the X Universe once more. Think of this game as an open ended platform, a foundation so to say.

[ADMNtek]

I want to say again that for me it's not about "memorable vision"....but...i can't associated what i'm seeing to his history, his owner....I need lore.

the thing is X4 is very hard it add to the existing lore. lets just take argon prime the heart of argon territory. in the 20 years of the gate shutdown have they made no effort at all to expand in their home system? or did they just blow it all up after the gates reopened.

well.. i for one would have expected all sectors to have a instant economical crisis when the gate shut down happend, with alot of chaos for a long time ....

omicron lyre was a war zone and they got their shit together. Albion was a mining colony and even they have managed more wit a lot less.

[CaptainX4]

and here i am to disagree. I for one hope that they will never go back the xr way in visuals. the only thing ai agree with op is that the sectors on their own could tell a story, but i wish they were more like the x3 sectors. like presidents end or like kingdom end home of light, in x3 nearly all sectors held a little story or remark behind them. compared to this x4 is really shallow. i on the other hand wouldnt like to see blue foggy space or red/yellow space etc, space is dark and cold and mostly black, that makes it a space game... i like the current visual design because it makes it easier to get immersed into a space environment.

[DeFragMe]

the thing is X4 is very hard it add to the existing lore. lets just take argon prime the heart of argon territory. in the 20 years of the gate shutdown have they made no effort at all to expand in their home system? or did they just blow it all up after the gates reopened.

well.. i for one would have expected all sectors to have a instant economical crisis when the gate shut down happend, with alot of chaos for a long time ....

omicron lyre was a war zone and they got their shit together. Albion was a mining colony and even they have managed more wit a lot less.

well, you got a point there. But maybe it was because there was so much military there, that the military could size the control... well, i should recheck the X:R Lore, if it even is real part of X4..

[Killjaeden]

the core sectors of X from X2 (and earlier? X2 is the earliest i played) to X3:AP have a rhich history, lore, and nostalgia - and if you spent enough time in them where also very memorable. Presidents end with the wrecks, ore belt with the ... asteroids obviously, Split fire where you constantly where got warnings that you are about to to ram the planet... This is what differentiates them from X4. Its not only new, but also has no history whatsoever, and obviously no nostalgia bonus to anyone. That X4 doesnt have a linear story does not help the memorability of the systems (though i dont think linear stories where a good thing in X - i feel there are better ways to liven up the universe/tell a story without that linearity).

[ishmaeltheforsaken]

Rebirth had some really good area design. Nothing Egosoft have done, before or since, is as good as Radiant Heaven in Omicron Lyrae.

But they seem to have felt that their audience would prefer more numerous but more generic and less well-organized sectors.

[Chris0132]

There is one (Teladi?) sector placed on low orbit of some moon with Neptune like planet in the background - this is the only memorable X4 background for me.

That's Memory of Profit and yes it looks lovely. Though I also like Hatikvah's Choice with the giant grey wall on one side of the highway. The Void also has a nice background and I just discovered Company Regard which has a big green planet in it.

But yeah more giant planetscapes nearby! They look awesome. Similarly more cornoas! Devries is a gorgeous system as was Albion. I like a lot of the technical improvements for X4 but I miss the lovely art direction from Rebirth.

There's plenty of room for generic looking sectors especially as what I think would really help X4 is just more unclaimed space for factions to move into, but if you just got a level designer and told them to go nuts cranking out as many cool backgrounds as you could, that'd be nice.

[Benzin]

Yes i too think that XR had more "uniqueness" in its sectors. Each had its own feel and atmosphere to it. Even if (to me) some of its sectors felt a little too cluttered, specially albion. With those huge, moon sized rocks everywhere, and dust in most of it. Still i liked the way the universe "felt" and each part of it was unique.

My absolute favorite system is Torride, with its misterious patches of diamond shaped, misty rocks and anomalies. Not to mention frequent xenon patrols!

I know Egosoft is fully busy in its commitment to fix X4, but i cant tell you how much i hope that they find the time to add more stuff and improve XRebirth. They dont even have to do it "for free". I would gladly pay for a new Rebirth DLC if it adds more stuff, fixes the few remaining bugs, maybe improves the UI a bit. Like providing a quick access panel/weel to issue squad orders easily.

[Chris0132]

I would absolutely pay for an expansion that did nothing but add buckets of uninhabited sectors to the map so factions have room to grow and xenon have room to spread.

[Axeface]

I just hope that X4 systems can have lots of visuals added to them to make them more like XR systems, to really start telling them apart. Backdrops like in Albion, Devries and Omicron would really improve them. Systems like Grand Exchange that have a few sectors with superhighways could absolutely be improved, unless there is some performance reason why X4 just cant have as many visuals (that said, Grand Exchange already lags terribly... but I think that is a specific texture and it just needs someone to optimise it). The 'overlays' that Rebirth uses are also really effective and give each system its own vibe - ide like to see these added to X4 but in a much more subtle way, in XR they are sometimes quite overpowering and I understand why some might not like that. I think these overlays have virtually no performance impact too, right?

X4 seems to lack 'post' effects in general. can we get our OTT lens flares back for some systems please?







(holy cow that was hard to format).

It would also be nice if ego could find a way of adding at least some verticality to X4 systems, ive seen stations about 30km up or down from the ecliptic in X4, but I dont see why that cant be applied to highways and gates too.

[Benzin]

X4 seems to lack 'post' effects in general. can we get our OTT lens flares back for some systems please?

Overall, all the FX in X4 seem inferior to those in XR.

Remember in rebirth, how when you destroyed a surface element on a ship, first there was the element exploding, then a cool fire would break out in that part of the ship? Even from afar you could see the flames and smoke venting into space, as that part of the ship was clearly damaged and burning. I was Very impressed by this attention to detail when i started playing rebirth.

Just yesterday, in X4 i fought a Xenon I capital ship. When destroying its surface elements (turrets, shield generators, etc.) up close, i was very sad to see that all those rich visual details in Rebirth are not in X4.

I attacked a turret on the ship, it then "exploted" with an underwhelming explosion, and then nothihg. The original turret texture was replaced by one of a charred part, and thats it. No smoke, no fire, nothing. If you got a little far from it, you couldnt even tell there was something damaged there.

Shortly after, i destroyed that Xenon I (how is it possible to destroy the most powerfull ship in the universe using only a frigate and Behemoth destroyer!!?? but thats another story) and it exploted. It was a single "puff" of fire wich dint damage mi ship, it dint make it shake, no shockwave, nothing.
Remember those cool "2 stage" explosions from capital ships in Rebirth?
No more.

It seem obvious to me, that a lot more care and attention to detail went into the FX of Rebirth than on X4.

[Axeface]

Was just adding screenshots to my post with explodey shots ;p The contrast between the 2 games is really quite shocking.

[Aspen McNamara]

Say what you will about XR, but it is definitely a beautiful game. It may not have been a good X game (although currently it is a pretty good game overall) but it is very pretty and it feels both alive and lived in. Even if you cut out the storyline and just play it as a sandbox, the universe has character and depth. X4 meanwhile is missing that. X4 isn't an ugly game (barring a majority of the ship designs imo) but it has none of the soul of XR.

[myztkl-kev]

You guys are comparing Watermelon to Pineapples. XR had such a tiny play space in comparison and your speed was much slower than X4. This allowed them to make a smaller, more visually detailed game. X4 is actually very similar in art style when it comes to sectors, you just cover a lot more distance in a shorter time in X4. As an X3 fan, I love that X4 has X3's over-all sector feel with XR's aesthetics.