X4 Foundations of X3 ?

[berzerkerz]

I play the X series from Réunion and I just bought x4, and I'm really disappointed compared to x3 ...

why not have kept the ship models x3, they were so much nicer with a lot more personality!
I also do not understand what they did with the names and icons of the ships ....
it is missing the historical factions and the map is so small ...
x4 gives the impression of going back and having been programmed 10 years before x3

but ... why ???

[graphicboy]

There are approximately 5323 threads, and 61029 posts, talking about exactly this.

[Tamina]

Because the questions you ask are based on a subjective viewpoint there is no way to give a satisfying answer to that.

x4 gives the impression of going back and having been programmed 10 years before x3

... basically denies the vast and apparent improvements and increased workload from X4 over X3 and makes any further discussion a waste of time. X3 might have had a greater quantity in ships and different backgrounds (aka ""size"") but comes nowhere near the quality of X4.

[Lazerath]

Imho I think X4 is visually more beautiful then X3 in many area’s including ships.

While I dislike some ship designs (that is to be expected as everyone has different tastes) there are still ships that look the same as X3 (Traders, capital ships too!)

I wish there was an actual difference between vanguard and sentinel models aside from the simple hull buff. That would be a nice addition to the game.

I also miss the personnel transport ships too. I liked doing passenger missions. More variety means more fun:)

Cheers!

[vrod]

Egosoft did a super good job with the station construction. Watching the stations getting built is cool. Also, adding in the modules is very good too.

I do miss that it took a long time (X3) to save up for your first new ship. I also liked in X3, that you could upgrade your ship's speed/cargo space and software suite. I know you can upgrade ship components in X4, but I do not upgrade much as I do not like to have negative trade-offs for a positive trait.

Not a fan of the highways. In there to appease the impatient players. Make Seta a little easier to get and that would help. Bring back the hyper-drive and only let ships with landing pads have it. This would make make carriers actually useable again.

[radcapricorn]

Not a fan of the highways. In there to appease the impatient players.

Yup, the highways in X4 really serve no purpose, or rather, they're redundant. They made some sense in Rebirth, but in X4, with every ship equipped with a travel drive, all the highways do is clog up the view.

[Scoob]

X Games always mature quite slowly I find. However, once you're playing the "final" (or at least very mature) version of any game, likely with mods, moving to the next game can feel quite underwhelming.

I.e. for me, going from a modified, mature version of X2 The Threat to X3: Reunion, the game felt really quite empty, but subsequent updates fleshed things out a lot - and mods added even more. Going from X3TC to Rebirth was really a shocker, I got the new engine tech and why it was needed, but it was jarring none the less. The game did improve a great deal with updates and mods, but tended to suffer from odd performance anomalies. Going from Rebirth to X4 was a mixed bag. Being able to fly multiple ships was great, the improvements on Rebirths station building was a huge step forward too. However, Capital ships in Rebirth - especially once updated (not to mention modded) were totally epic - X4's large ships are totally underwhelming by comparison. Mods have already helped there, to a degree, but it's very early days. I look forward to seeing what ES add to the game in this regard, as well as what modders can do.

Interestingly, while it's technically true that X4's universe is perhaps larger than that of any prior X game, it REALLY doesn't feel that way at all. I went back to X3TC - albeit modded - a few months back and that game felt HUGE. That's despite having jump drives and one Advanced Satellite revealing an entire sector. Why is that? Despite my ability to jump anywhere instantly (well, 10 seconds count down) in my ship, parts of the universe still felt so very distant. In an attempt to make things feel larger, I do not do the HQ mini-plot, so don't gain teleportation etc. However, X4 still feels small. In a fast ship - without using SETA - I can get places very VERY quickly indeed. Travel Drive is part of the cause, highways another.

I think what X4 needs, and doubtless what it will get over time, are far far more sectors to play in, more ships of ALL classes, and a good number of L and XL ships. More variety between similar ships would be good too. We seem to have pairs of very samey M-Class ships for each race with nothing really special about them. I'm sure ES and the work of modders will improve X4 no end. First though, ES needs to get the various bugs and quirks iron out, alongside bringing new content - as they've been doing.

Scoob.

[adeine]

I think what X4 needs, and doubtless what it will get over time, are far far more sectors to play in, more ships of ALL classes, and a good number of L and XL ships. More variety between similar ships would be good too. We seem to have pairs of very samey M-Class ships for each race with nothing really special about them. I'm sure ES and the work of modders will improve X4 no end. First though, ES needs to get the various bugs and quirks iron out, alongside bringing new content - as they've been doing.

Scoob.

The worry is that X4 can't handle the number of sectors it has currently, so it's difficult to see how they will expand the game world sufficiently. Imagine a map even just twice as big and what it would do to game, let alone map performance.

Unless they radically redo the map system with something simpler, I really can't see it happening. And unfortunately that's one of the questionable areas Egosoft have doubled down on the most.

[Lazerath]

I agree that highways in X4 make the game feel much smaller and the highways I have mixed feelings about.

Personally I would prefer the highways to leave the game and jump drives to return. Large and X-large ships get jump drives while M and S ships do not. Keep the transporter too and that would make the game a lot better.

But that’s just my opinion which isn’t worth two cents... lol!

Cheers!

[AleksMain]

I play the X series from Réunion and I just bought x4, and I'm really disappointed compared to x3 ...

why not have kept the ship models x3, they were so much nicer with a lot more personality!
I also do not understand what they did with the names and icons of the ships ....
it is missing the historical factions and the map is so small ...
x4 gives the impression of going back and having been programmed 10 years before x3

but ... why ???

Because

... X Rebirth is between X3 and X4 in term of story, of course X Rebirth features can be in X4 ...

Basically X4 is based on X Rebirth.

It has some features included from X3, but it is not X3.

-----------------------------

... basically denies the vast and apparent improvements and increased workload from X4 over X3 and makes any further discussion a waste of time. X3 might have had a greater quantity in ships and different backgrounds (aka ""size"") but comes nowhere near the quality of X4.

Quality of the X4:Foundations is debatable, since it require much more resources in comparison with other X games.

I'm afraid this is simply not the sort of game where a steady 60fps can be maintained at all times. Slowdowns in busy areas have little to do with the level of graphical detail, and a lot more to do with the amount of simulation required. In addition to the background universe simulation, for which "level of detail" has no meaning, the game also has to simulate the local environment of busy areas such as docking bays, including all the ships and characters that are nearby, their movements, the sounds they make and so on. It's this combination that makes these areas slower, not (or at least to a lesser extent) the level of graphical detail. Of course we work on improving this, throughout our development process, but we will never be able to guarantee a minimum framerate in all situations.
...

[Panos]

X4 is the first X game since X2 that I love.
If it had the X:R ability to walk fully on the stations it would have been perfect.

[surferx]

X4 is the first X game since X2 that I love.
If it had the X:R ability to walk fully on the stations it would have been perfect.

I loved XBTF, X:2, had reservations about X:3(no cockpits) but came to love it.

X:R - no love, never played it.

X:4 - Love it, love the new ships, especially the ones with articulating parts (if Egosoft had just loaded up the old ship models from X3 there would have been no end to the howls of displeasure.)

And it is only going to get better.

[Ezarkal]

And it is only going to get better.

True! X3 had 3 versions before it became the masterpiece everyone claims it is. (Played about 50 hours, but didn't really get hooked up, so I can't really comment myself.)
X4 has (in my opinion) a flying start so far. There are lots of complains about lack of content and broken or missing features, but I think people don't realize that the framework is there, is sturdy, and there's a lot more that can (and will, I have no doubt) be added to it.

I'm quite eager for the DLCs.

I wouldn't dismiss XR. Despite its limitations*, it was the game that taught me how the X universe works. Jumping straight into X3:AP was daunting to say the least, and it's probably why I never really got into it. XR took the time to guide you in and teach you the basics. You can thank the campaign for that.



*: I say "limitations" here because we are comparing XR to the rest of the X titles, but really, it was more a matter of the games having a different focus. XR was just really poor on the late-game macro-management, but it was excellent on the early game.

[z13l5ch31b3]

However, X4 still feels small. In a fast ship - without using SETA - I can get places very VERY quickly indeed. Travel Drive is part of the cause, highways another.

Maybe adding fuel for the travel drive would be a step in the right way ?