HARD COPY ,In A BOX WITH LOTS OF THINGS>>>

[christina one dash one]

I have , and still enjoy the X series... And i have x4 from GOG... BUT ...BUT PLEASE have a hard copy , boxed, with art books , how to start , hints and tips book,Ships book,, Ships stats book .. something BIg and FAT full of all sorts of stats and tables and art work and ,and, and , and ...lots more...
SO ...I can buy it place it on my book shelve along side the other X -'special ,gold editions,boxed, versions of previous X games....

THAT would Be the greatest..... except,, a VR version .. NOW that ....THAT would be the GREATEST!....

i wonder ......does the 'thereshallbewings' work with this game???

[Belgarath]

thereshallbewings isn't necessary. You can mod to you're heart's content. Check the Scripts and Modding forum.

To add a mod, just unzip the mod to the extensions folder (which you will need to create) in the game install folder. While some mods will work if put in the C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Egosoft\X4\<numbers>\extensions folder, some will not. It's best to just go ahead and put them in the G:\Steam\steamapps\common\X4 Foundations\extensions folder (or, whatever folder your game is installed in).

[CBJ]

As mentioned before release, a boxed version is now extremely unlikely.

[Socratatus]

I have , and still enjoy the X series... And i have x4 from GOG... BUT ...BUT PLEASE have a hard copy , boxed, with art books , how to start , hints and tips book,Ships book,, Ships stats book .. something BIg and FAT full of all sorts of stats and tables and art work and ,and, and , and ...lots more...
SO ...I can buy it place it on my book shelve along side the other X -'special ,gold editions,boxed, versions of previous X games....

I missed the days when I could stick a box on the shelf and have a nice, thick manual with it...

[darrund]

Its a bit off topic but I couldn't help it.
I was doing some cleaning yesterday and look what I found in a forgotten case
[https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... RWyWCsG3Di][/url]

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

SO ...I can buy it place it on my book shelve along side the other X -'special ,gold editions,boxed, versions of previous X games....

You could always make an off-line backup of the installation and print a suitable cover for it yourself.

If you prefer a hard-copy manual to a PDF then you can print that too.

Of course, this is assuming you have a printer and optical media writing capability - not a given in this day and age, unfortunately.

[otto_deluxe]

Boxed copies would drive the price up even further, so if not all editions, at least a boxed version would be at least another $20 on top of the digital price. Maybe even more for collector's stuff.
Printed media would have been a terrible idea, espeically with stats in mind. There is still so much changing about X4, the printed manual and stat book would be out of date on a weekly to bi-weekly basis. If people pick up the game half a year later, nothing they read holds true anymore and people get pissed about the obviously errors in the maual, and how such huge mistakes could slip by QA. No one would even bother to consider for a second things simply changed in the meantime.

I do get your point, you feel like you get more if you get something you can physically touch. But in the case of X4, I don't think it would be a wise idea.

[dwbennett]

I have , and still enjoy the X series... And i have x4 from GOG... BUT ...BUT PLEASE have a hard copy , boxed, with art books , how to start , hints and tips book,Ships book,, Ships stats book .. something BIg and FAT full of all sorts of stats and tables and art work and ,and, and , and ...lots more...
SO ...I can buy it place it on my book shelve along side the other X -'special ,gold editions,boxed, versions of previous X games....

THAT would Be the greatest..... except,, a VR version .. NOW that ....THAT would be the GREATEST!....

i wonder ......does the 'thereshallbewings' work with this game???

I'm with you Christina. I love a physical manual with lots of data appendices. Unfortunately, they seem to be a thing of the past. Yes, I understand that game updates make them out of date practically as they are printed but still love them.

Right now, I'd settle for a reasonably updated pdf manual. I've been able to figure out, poorly at times, how things work only by reading the forums. Yes, I know that a manual is a lot of work and I do appreciate the manual teams efforts, but really, there should be a manual where players new to the series (like me) can at least get an idea of how things work while they're starting out with the game.

Take care,

[ei8htx]

I would LOVE some VR.

[Shehriazad]

Maybe they'll make an Anthology box at some point?!?

That would be a nice thing...a big box with all X titles released thus far including all DLCs and community packs either on Disk or USB Stick/Card and some goodies.

If Ego wants a sort of security check to see if enough people are interested...make a small Crowdfunding campaign that covers just the production/distribution cost so even if it ends up failing it's just +-0 with the highest monetary supporter tier being the price of the Anthology Box and the reward obviously being the physical box.


I already know that I'd buy at least 3 of those physical boxes. 1 for myself and 2 for my mates who loved the old titles.

I still got the first one on a Disk ^^;

I'm not even a huge Disk collector, but I have about 5-6 IPs I love so much that I'll get the physical boxes if available. (Fallout being that unsure number....the next title will determine if it has finally died to me and no further titles will get added to my wall of "fame")

[Socratatus]

Boxed copies would drive the price up even further, so if not all editions, at least a boxed version would be at least another $20 on top of the digital price. Maybe even more for collector's stuff.

Wrong. Please stop writing that. You`ve been deceived.

Years ago, when they actually produced boxes and manuals for games they told us that if games were download- only they would be much, much cheaper to buy.

But that didn`t happen. Instead games stayed as expensive as ever and when there were boxed and download versions the download version were often more expensive than the boxed! All that happened is they made more money for themselves. They could drop the costs by $20 and still make great profits, but they never did and still don`t.

They`re there to make money out of you and will use half truthes and half lies to get it and hope you forget. The only way to stop them is don`t buy or possibly protest, but their marketing people work hard on psy-ops and it looks like it`s worked on you.

[otto_deluxe]

Boxed copies would drive the price up even further, so if not all editions, at least a boxed version would be at least another $20 on top of the digital price. Maybe even more for collector's stuff.

Wrong. Please stop writing that. You`ve been deceived.

I get your point, but I am afraid it is not as simple as you make it seem. I don't want to start a fight, I respect your opinion, but I would like to add my two cents.

Years ago, when they actually produced boxes and manuals for games they told us that if games were download- only they would be much, much cheaper to buy.

Years ago is now actually quite a while ago, judging from my own experience and my friends. Last time I or someone I know bought a boxed (PC) game was in the mid 2000's. The whole market was a different one back then, and a lot of games simply were not available digital, and people only warmed up to the idea of not getting any physical goods. Back then, indie was not such an established thing as it is now, and a "cheap" game, that was not quite AAA still was €50 instead of €60.

But that didn`t happen. Instead games stayed as expensive as ever and when there were boxed and download versions the download version were often more expensive than the boxed! All that happened is they made more money for themselves. They could drop the costs by $20 and still make great profits, but they never did and still don`t.

When you offer (essentially) the same product, in order to not ruin your prices, you will try and have it on sale for the same price everywhere. Unless you specifially want more customers in one sales vector, that is. Back then, most games were sold through retail. Marketing was aimed at retail sales, and companies expected most turnovers from retail sales. A lot of companies had deals already in place, securing them nice margins. Online, not so much. Steam had not yet exploded to be the powerhouse it now is, and companies were wary. They tried it, because it "might" be the future, but no one was really sold. Companies also had to negotiate new deals, and digital platforms would simply take a higher cut than retail, because they knew they could ask for it. Publishers wanted to make the same margins per copy sold, so any extra fees introduced in the digital business was simply added to the digital price. That is why they were/are more expensive. If you would go cheaper, even if you could, you would hurt your own retail business. If you get a bad digital deal and sell your product for the same price and less margin as retail, you should not have gone digital in the first place.

I hope I could shine some light on my reasoning why I think retail versions would increase the price.

They`re there to make money out of you and will use half truthes and half lies to get it and hope you forget. The only way to stop them is don`t buy or possibly protest, but their marketing people work hard on psy-ops and it looks like it`s worked on you.

I never, once in my life, heard a commercial say digital would be cheaper to buy. I don't know what psy-ops you are referring to, but what has worked on me is actually understanding how business works. Instead of calling them the devil himself and starting my personal crusade, I try to understand how they work and what makes them tick. You are free to have your opinion. If you think I'm a brainwashed doofus, so be it.

Pretty much all of the above applies to large (established) companies and publishers, only. How many indie titles have you seen in retail? How many manufacturers would take small volume deals from tiny studios? There are unit costs, costs you have to pay per sellable unit, and there are fix costs, costs you have to pay once, no matter how many units you sell. Divide your fix costs by the actual number of copies you ntedn to sell, add the unit costs and you have the base price per unit you have to charge to break even (ignoring tax and stuff). Add a nice margin for yourself, then add a nice margin for whoever sells it for you. Everyone in the chain does the same. Developer tries to make a profit, publisher tries to make a profit, manufacturer tries to make a profit, transport company tries to make a profit, wholeseller tries to make a profit, and then finally retail wants to make a profit, too. When you go digital, you only have the developer, maybe a publisher, and then the digital store(s) in the picture. You can leave out three middle men. So why are games not cheaper? Because developers finally get more of a cut they deserve. Why are so many indie games €20-30? Because they can offer them for that price, due to not having production costs, marketing costs etc. because Steam and other services provide it for them. If your average indie game hit the shelves, it would be €40, sell poorly, rapidly get discounted so it sells before it's old and will never sell, and the developer will likely be going under, or have to work with a publisher for their next title.
That is also the same reason most kickstarters are evven cheaper than early access on Steam later on. Kickstarter only takes a small cut, almost all of the money goes to the developer directly. A lot of people argue with the risk involved, but the risk is actually not a factor for the pricing. It is just something you have to consider independently from the pricing.

Boxed copies would drive the price up even further, so if not all editions, at least a boxed version would be at least another $20 on top of the digital price. Maybe even more for collector's stuff.

Back to my original point: ES probably does not have any ongoing deals with manufactureres or retail, given the last boxed game was X3 from way back. It is safe to assume Deep Silver also has a say in the matter, and does not want boxed copies due to extra concerns (DRM, keeping the game forcibly up-to-date for online features, out-of-date extras, added costs for production, shipping and storage, box design and translation for every single country they want to sell it in) and most direct sales already happened. Most people interested in the mage already bought it, so there is not much a new audience to reach through boxed. Back in the day, going digital would open up a new market to you, the market of people preferring convenience. But today, what market does going to retail open up to you? Digital has become the de facto standard (for PC) and going retail is mostly a thing for nostalgia. AAA Publishers still do it, since they can (ongoing deals etc) and now older gamers grew up with boxed copies (me included) and some just don't want to give it up (like the op). However, the gaming industry in retail has been frozen in time. No matter which store you go to, you see the sme 20-30 games on sale, changing slightly every couple of months. ~20 of those are the AAA titles of the past two years, plus some 10 random oddball titles that tried to go retail and end up in the €10 section three months after release. Meanwhile on digital, new releases pretty much daily, and more selection that you know what to do with.
Since retail now is not the norm anymore, instead of digital for the same price, retail *will* cost a premium, except for some AAA titles where the publisher simply does not give a flying duck. It is useless to compare 2019 with 2004, you won't get 2004's prices anywhere.

[ei8htx]

I think Otto proved his point...

It'll always be more expensive to print on silicon, wrap in cardboard and plastic, transport, and sell in a store that's paying rent and employees.

As Otto pointed out, there's a lot more factors going into the difference between game prices in the 90s and early 2ks. With Steam, with indy games, with the ever growing salary of software engineers (like myself ), it's apples and oranges now.