Things from X Rebirth I would like kept for use in X4

[specialsymbol]

The Highway-System. I totally love the idea of huge sectors that can barely be traveled with regular means, but that still can be traveled by regular means. It just adds to the vastness of space.
Having highways connect points of interests to make travel faster yet having that vastness is awesome.

[ezra-r]

...
As a fan of X from back in the day and a dev of the new, I'm happy that we have the sub-components on Capships and Stations. The turrets, shields e.t.c. It allows more realistic situations like bombers crippling a capship's systems instead of having to kill it outright. And stations in X3 with only a few laser towers for defence wouldn't last long when under attack. Not really news, but we are keeping the sub-component system.

Indeed subcomponents and station defences were a great addition, and glad you guys are keeping them.

To that add possible station destruction and factions being able to build their own factories based on needs and from a scratch and voilá, it will be magnificent.

[Nikola515]

theorhetically the amount you can mine in a Zone is limited. well, not the amount itself, but the amount you can mine in a certain time. (and yes, it actually reduces the amount of Rocks, and if you script it down to 0 you will notice how the now removed rocks slowly come back)
problem with the Vanilla definitions is that a single Zone regenerates enough Resources to keep the Economy of the whole Cluster running... (iirc the regeneration time of a typical Asteroid Field is 7 IG-Days- that is if its mined down to 0 it will need 7 Days to regenerate back to fulll if its not touched during that time. For Gas Fields its i think 3 IG-Days)

I did notice that too but it is also imposible to deplete ore/gass no matter how hard we try. It is just destroying immersion of mining gameplay and making it seem unlimited(it is not realistic in my opinion). I currently have 14 Metalworks Yards and around 10 NPC's Metalworks Yards.... At same time I have 3 warehouses that are mining and selling ore all the time (thanks to mods I have unlimited sink when it comes to production). Plus there are other stations like Construction Shops that mine as well. Anyway with all that heavy mining I can't even make dent before it respwns. It just don't seem right and mining ships always stay in one zone to mine almost unlimited ore.... I think that mining should be based more on zones rather than sectors. For example if I run out of ore in one zone they need to move to other zone where they need to travel to get. It is more like one zone gets mined and other appear in its place. Maps are pretty big in XR so it would increase scale of universe as well as make economy little bit more challenging. Also it would give purpose to that empty space....


@Xenon_Slayer

I personally find escort missions boring.... But I think it would be fun if there are capital ships escort missions. For example civilian capital ship (without boosters) needs to be escorted to X stations. Or military escort where we need to escort ship and protect it against enemy(we act more like wing man in patrol missions and ship is target).

[UniTrader]

I did notice that too but it is also imposible to deplete ore/gass no matter how hard we try. It is just destroying immersion of mining gameplay and making it seem unlimited(it is not realistic in my opinion). I currently have 14 Metalworks Yards and around 10 NPC's Metalworks Yards.... At same time I have 3 warehouses that are mining and selling ore all the time (thanks to mods I have unlimited sink when it comes to production). Plus there are other stations like Construction Shops that mine as well. Anyway with all that heavy mining I can't even make dent before it respwns. It just don't seem right and mining ships always stay in one zone to mine almost unlimited ore.... I think that mining should be based more on zones rather than sectors. For example if I run out of ore in one zone they need to move to other zone where they need to travel to get. It is more like one zone gets mined and other appear in its place. Maps are pretty big in XR so it would increase scale of universe as well as make economy little bit more challenging. Also it would give purpose to that empty space....

the definitions for the Ressource Fields are actually made on the Cluster-level. from there its assigned to the Zones based on how much of the field is inside a Zone and what Density the Field has there (for the Ressource Amount in a Zone the Formula has about a Dozen factors if not far more, not sure if i found them all..)

also i dislike the idea of moving the Ressources around randomly. you might end up with Ice Asteroids in Darned Hot Air. or other non-fitting stuff.. i think the current System is basically good enough, but the parameters for it need some tuning. like multiplying the regen time for everything by 50 to 500 so you can actually mine down the Fields and have to move somewhere else eventually..

i would turn this into a mod (its actually pretty easy to do) but i dont want to start this kind of project if i dont get any feedback about the values. (i cannt do long-time-observations because i regulary restart my game for testing my own main project)

[birdtable]

My statement regarding " Escort Missions" was two fold...
1. It allows for events to occur on fixed routes .
2. A far more enjoyable way to view the comings and goings of station life and the design of those stations which was lost looking for the scan points,, the eye was forced to focus away from all that was on display.
Close up examination of the escorted ships was also a bonus,,

Nearly forgot .. the "Walking on Deck" was not about plodding around but the ability to openly view events as you pass through or participate.
Neither walking the decks or escorting are mandatory but add greatly to the overall experience .... well in my opinion they do.

[RAVEN.myst]

..."Walking on Deck" ... the ability to openly view events as you pass through or participate.

I also like this, the ability to stand on the deck and watch stuff happening overhead (if this is what you mean) - it's quite immersive to watch weapons fire streaking around, and fighters (friendly or otherwise) zooming past or in, blowing up overhead, and so forth. Also, gates do look quite imposing as one approaches them and watches from the deck (though, as I described in another post in considerable detail, I'd like to see the graphic of that improved VASTLY - for one thing, I'd like it to act as a window to what's on the other side, visually, which might look quite eerie as one, say, circles the view around a gate.) Also, it can be quite pleasing to view forklift drones going about their business (in cases where one can stand somewhere with a view of this.)

[Ezarkal]

There's a lot of points that's already been mentioned here, so I won't dwell on them.

I like the way the stations are built. There are a lot of ways to improve upon the feature, of course. But I love the idea of having a ship going somewhere to build/expand a station from scratch, with the resources and drones it has on board.

What I'd like to see for this feature is the ship actually being transformed into the first station hub. I'd also like to have more choice in term of possible expansions. I mean, don't give us a fix list of what can be build for this model, but instead allow to choose, say fill 10 "expansions slots" out of a list of 30 possible modules. It would add a lot of flexibility for empire building. Of course, I have no idea how this would turn out in terms of station geometry. There might be a limit there.

[birdtable]

Diplomatic missions and the Xenon Invasion were pretty enjoyable when the timing of enemy craft was accurate... let down by enemies arriving during/after departure from zone .... When the timing was accurate ..very engrossing, like boarding,, 90% there. just needed more time to develop/tweak ...... Hopefully these will be fleshed out in X4...

[Santi]

Hacking, either with drones or by finding (could be improved) the necessary stuff in Stations.

Like easily happens when trying to find some kind of balance, it went from being a exploit to be a chore for some cases. Sabotaging stations by hacking storage components to create trade offers works fine, but if you want to steal the stuff it become a bit too convoluted to be enjoyable.

Overall it added a lot of posibilites to the game, also you can do it on ships and stations, myself, spent many hours hacking a shipyard storage and selling the stuff back and creating demand for my drone factory.

[Nikola515]

Hacking, either with drones or by finding (could be improved) the necessary stuff in Stations.

Like easily happens when trying to find some kind of balance, it went from being a exploit to be a chore for some cases. Sabotaging stations by hacking storage components to create trade offers works fine, but if you want to steal the stuff it become a bit too convoluted to be enjoyable.

Overall it added a lot of posibilites to the game, also you can do it on ships and stations, myself, spent many hours hacking a shipyard storage and selling the stuff back and creating demand for my drone factory.

+1

I agree with you 100%. I find hacking huge chore without almost any reword (so I just ignore it). It would be good feature if they could balance it properly.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

regarding Docking i think this can be done better than per keypress: wihout keypress

i played a Game long ago which had a nice system for Docking. basically you have two red rectangles "floating" in space and when you slowly fly through them in order the Autodocking sequence is initiated.

here a Video showing this mechanic: https://youtu.be/Q0ua16IHn5k?t=139

(yep, for that game only one docking port was ever relevant, but it should also work for multiple Ports)

That whe want for X4, docking by do it yourself

...and the Auto docking for the softies

Ha, and also for people wanting a more-active co-pilot since it is the main thing Yisha does at present

[arragon0815]

That whe want for X4, docking by do it yourself

...and the Auto docking for the softies

Ha, and also for people wanting a more-active co-pilot since it is the main thing Yisha does at present

Yes, and the ship is flying by the co-pilot, not by the Computer.
By mistakes whe want an human to shout at...

[RAVEN.myst]

That whe want for X4, docking by do it yourself

...and the Auto docking for the softies

Ha, and also for people wanting a more-active co-pilot since it is the main thing Yisha does at present

Yes, and the ship is flying by the co-pilot, not by the Computer.
By mistakes whe want an human to shout at...

LOL!! (Though, in that case, the game then really needs to be 2-player co-op with one player assuming the role of copilot... hehehhe)

[arragon0815]

LOL!! (Though, in that case, the game then really needs to be 2-player co-op with one player assuming the role of copilot... hehehhe)

No, EGOSOFT put cortana in the game...

Cortana with:

more-active co-pilot since it is the main thing Yisha does at present

2-player co-op: My Hands are hurt from beat of the 2.-players head, if he is not correct ...

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

I see no reason not to keep pretty much all the features from X-Rebirth...

Just drop the single pilotable ship and the general restrictions on limited fleet control.

Modular stations/ships should be expanded upon.

The general concept of hierarchical fleet organisation could be improved.

As for walking about, I see no reason to not keep the feature even if the range of station/ship interiors and NPC looks is limited. The bridge's could be made to look more immersive and appropriate.

As for additions... I hope Egosoft leave the multi-player aspect alone and do not touch it with an almost infinitely long barge poll.

[Rei Ayanami]

Here are a few things that i love about X:R and that i'd like to have in the new game, with some notes how they could be expanded upon:

Weapon Mod Upgrades:
I love the weapon mod upgrade aspect, it gives me alot of joy to look for better weapon mods which potentially change the entire gameplay feeling of a weapon. This should definitely be kept and even expanded (like shield/armor/scanner/engine mods)
Suggestions how to expand it : The RNG aspect for dropping those is a bit 'meh'. I'd like AI ships to have weapon mods too and they should drop them when being defeated , that would give combat a bit more variety during combat and would give the player a reason to scan ships for upgrades that the player wants. Heck, you could even make it so each race has different priorities for upgrades : Teladi has alot of armor/cargo mod upgrades, split have alot of weapon mods upgrades, borons have alot of engine mods, so it'll give the player a reason to look up (and blow up ) ships of different races.

Xenons having civil ships/economy :
Its a wierd thing, but i love the fact that in X:R Xenons finally have some sort of fake mini economy going on, with xenon mining ships flying around and mining asteroids. While the player can't trade with them it still makes the Xenons far more believable than in previous titles where Xenons just had unlimited ressources.
Suggestions how to expand it : Destroying Xenon stations or disrupting their mining process could have affect on their ship production at their shipyards.

Staff on capital ships :
I think having staff on capital ships is a neat idea that makes ships a bit more personalized. For the first few ten or so capital ships it's entertaining to gather a good crew for them and do some missions to get locations of good crew members
What could be improved : While this is interesting and new when you are just starting out a new empire, doing this for the 200th time can be annoying. Allowing your manager to equip new bought ships with better staff and default commands would be a nice option.

Capital ship subsystems :
I really enjoy X:Rs capital ships having separately destroyable subsystems. It reminds me of Freespace 2s subsystems and makes combat against capitals quite more strategic.
What could be improved : I think having a ship scanner equipment that, after scanning a ship, highlights the scanned ships subsystems in a brighter color or outline would be nice. Also the selection should get improved, quite often i try leftclicking for selecting the subsystems but the target system instead selects the main hull and going through all subsystems via "select next subsystem" takes quite long. Some kind of "select targets subsystem on screen closest to the mouse cursor"-key would be nice.

No loading times during gameplay :
This is more of a technical thing, but should be mentioned : I like that Egosoft made this game have no loading screen (except for loading a save game/starting a new game) and barely any noticeable loading interruptions (unlike E:D or No Mans Sky, which have loading screens disguised as "warping animation"). Kudos for that!

Optional missions
I like the variety optional missions give. While i barely do the "build a station" missions i think the other ones are often a neat way to get some quick cash or do to some stuff when you are bored while waiting for your ships to build a station.
What i'd like to have improved : i think missions like "defend the station" need to be a bit less obvious when spawning enemy ships. For example, it is a bit immersion breaking when just after you accepted the mission out of nowhere 3 Xenon Ks show up... what a "coincidence". Have it the other way around : Spawn the enemy ships far away and let them fly towards the zone and only then, after they spawned, offer the mission while these ships are alive. Would make far more sense.

[arragon0815]

As for additions... I hope Egosoft leave the multi-player aspect alone and do not touch it with an almost infinitely long barge poll.

Multi-Player and the Features from X are not compatible, i think.

X-Multi-Player is there, it´s called "Elite Dangerous" ...
No building-part, no fleet-controll...

...and a bunch of young puberty amokers...

(I hope you unterstand my english write... )

[ezra-r]

Forgot to mention, and this one is really on-topic

Keep the long range scanner, maybe so it just echoes relevant signals when there are any instead of every little object, but the long range scanner is an idea worth keeping, extending and improving. It's basic for exploration if made well.

[Sam L.R. Griffiths]

As for additions... I hope Egosoft leave the multi-player aspect alone and do not touch it with an almost infinitely long barge poll.

Multi-Player and the Features from X are not compatible, i think.

I agree... though those that love the EvE formulae would disagree with our perspective.

X-Multi-Player is there, it´s called "Elite Dangerous" ...
No building-part, no fleet-controll...

Actually, from what I hear EvE is more like X-MMO... space based empire building MMO. I will never touch it with a bargepole for two main reasons... subscription model, and the attitudes/perspectives of players I know that do or have played EvE (and their reports on the nature of the gameplay).

ED is Elite MMO... some are campaigning for the addition of empire building aspects but I hope FD don't capitulate to their wants and desires (at least not too far).

IMO Empire building and MMOs do not mix well.

Anyway, I thought this thread was about porting X-Rebirth features to the forthcoming X4 (which we know little or nothing about yet).

[DocQuixotic]

As for walking about, I see no reason to not keep the feature even if the range of station/ship interiors and NPC looks is limited. The bridge's could be made to look more immersive and appropriate.

That would require the investment of time and resources that would be much better spent on improvements to the core gameplay loop. X unfortunately has an uphill battle to fight, and really needs to carve out a niche if it wants to survive. "Walking in stations" is not the feature of X that will win that battle. Your suggestion of more modular ships and stations is far more likely to be of benefit to the game.