Jumpdrives got me into X3, highways just dropped me off XR, and we're legion

[Santi]

Space Highways are not an issue if you can use other methods to speed up your travelling times. With boosters, SETA, and autopilot, you can totally ignore highways if you want to do so. I am holding my thoughts in Teleportation till I know more about it.

This is one of the few cases where Egosoft has gone the extra mile and make how you travel around the Universe "an option".

You are happy with highways, you can use them, your are not, then do not use them as they are one of many options, it is a player choice.

[Honved]

I see the addition of "express travel lanes" in each direction as a potentially positive way of aiding navigation across large sectors. The ships should be able to gradually accelerate to higher "travel" speeds outside of the lanes as well, but the lanes would allow for automatic navigation and safer "hands free" operation than trying to cut directly across a sector to a remote destination. The inclusion of enclosed structures in space, as "tubes" that you have to fly through, was just silly. PLEASE, no tubes.

All it takes is either one simple string of markers between the lanes for each direction (green on the side you're heading, red on the opposite side, and everyone tries to stay well away from the oncoming traffic and the markers), or else well-spaced accelerator rings that you fly through to boost your speed in that direction, NOT a restrictive and insanely resource-intensive system of enclosed tubes. Think of how many stations they could have built for what was sunk into those "highways" in XR.

[sd_jasper]

I see the addition of "express travel lanes" in each direction as a potentially positive way of aiding navigation across large sectors. The ships should be able to gradually accelerate to higher "travel" speeds outside of the lanes as well, but the lanes would allow for automatic navigation and safer "hands free" operation than trying to cut directly across a sector to a remote destination. The inclusion of enclosed structures in space, as "tubes" that you have to fly through, was just silly. PLEASE, no tubes.

In X Rebirth (and presumably in X4) local highways are not enclosed. The "tube" is just a visual effect to show where the highway is and what direction it goes. Ships can enter and exit at any point along the local highway.

[Graaf]

Space Highways are not an issue if you can use other methods to speed up your travelling times. With boosters, SETA, and autopilot, you can totally ignore highways if you want to do so. I am holding my thoughts in Teleportation till I know more about it.

This is one of the few cases where Egosoft has gone the extra mile and make how you travel around the Universe "an option".

You are happy with highways, you can use them, your are not, then do not use them as they are one of many options, it is a player choice.

Well, since optionality is back, why not give us the option to use, or in your case, to not use, the jumpdrive?

[sd_jasper]

Well, since optionality is back, why not give us the option to use, or in your case, to not use, the jumpdrive?

Think about this for a minute. What happens in a game where factions can destroy enemy stations... and have the ability to move a whole fleet to the enemy's stronghold?

You get carnage. Just a total slug fest to see who can wipe the other as quickly as possible. Build up then roll the enemy (and hope they don't get bigger faster).

Now think about wha it means to not have that ability. The faction has to slowly expand out toward their enemy. They have to maintain supply lines, engage on multiple fronts, battle for borderland areas, protect their flank, and so on. This is a deeply more strategic game, all by just removing the Jump Drive.

[Fleabum]

Now think about wha it means to not have that ability. The faction has to slowly expand out toward their enemy. They have to maintain supply lines, engage on multiple fronts, battle for borderland areas, protect their flank, and so on. This is a deeply more strategic game, all by just removing the Jump Drive.

X3 LU had jumpdrives and the OCV still expanded sector by sector protecting their supply lines. It's all in the coding

Regards
Flea

[sd_jasper]

X3 LU had jumpdrives and the OCV still expanded sector by sector protecting their supply lines. It's all in the coding

Well I can't speak to LU, as I've never played it, but what is the point of supply lines when you can just instantly teleport supplies from where they are to where they need to be?

Unless it is just forced to act that way because Jump Drive, used logically, would be less strategic and less fun? That's all fine... you can make a game that way. All in the coding as you say. I just don't really go for that kinda of "ignore the man behind the curtain" design.

[Graaf]

Well, since optionality is back, why not give us the option to use, or in your case, to not use, the jumpdrive?

Think about this for a minute. What happens in a game where factions can destroy enemy stations... and have the ability to move a whole fleet to the enemy's stronghold?

You get carnage. Just a total slug fest to see who can wipe the other as quickly as possible. Build up then roll the enemy (and hope they don't get bigger faster).

Now think about wha it means to not have that ability. The faction has to slowly expand out toward their enemy. They have to maintain supply lines, engage on multiple fronts, battle for borderland areas, protect their flank, and so on. This is a deeply more strategic game, all by just removing the Jump Drive.

And all those deep strategies go into the bin when you place your fleets inside your friends territory before you make a surprise assault.

And then we still get carnage and a slug fest to see who can wipe out the other first. No matter what tactic you use. What else did you think would happen?

And what kind of supplies are we dependant of? Reinforcements? Always. Jumpfuel? Ahum... we need a jumpdrive for that. Other? Please enlighten me.

...engage on multiple fronts...

Only if you can support that, otherwise I advice you NOT to open multiple fronts.

[Santi]

Well, since optionality is back, why not give us the option to use, or in your case, to not use, the jumpdrive?

That already had a response from the devs, jumpdrive will be substituted by teleporting, how that will pan out, we will not know till the game is out.

[Assailer]

My main concern with static highways is that they pretty much define how sectors are designed optimal. If they would implement dynamic highway system where the highways get built based on traffic.... then just by looking at the zone map you would know where the real business/traffic is

[Graaf]

That already had a response from the devs, jumpdrive will be substituted by teleporting, how that will pan out, we will not know till the game is out.

My guess is: poorly.
And another guess: after a few times using it, people will start complaining about the extra action to take over the ship.

[sd_jasper]

And all those deep strategies go into the bin when you place your fleets inside your friends territory before you make a surprise assault

Not at all. Move your fleet deep into a target territory then attack, well you may win... but what about all the ships and stations between your friendly areas and where your fleet is now? You have to deal with them on the way back out... Or have a secondary fleet that moves in to help secure the areas between.

Or were you assuming that NPCs would park big fleets in one central area? If you can't just instantly move a fleet anywhere, it makes a lot more sense to have multiple smaller fleets and patrol your controlled areas.

[Assailer]

Besides the initial highway system, the player should be able to build those. Then highways should have some maintenance fee and tariff for providing faster, safer travel. This could be a business opportunity, like highway mogul

[Falcrack]

Space Highways are not an issue if you can use other methods to speed up your travelling times. With boosters, SETA, and autopilot, you can totally ignore highways if you want to do so. I am holding my thoughts in Teleportation till I know more about it.

This is one of the few cases where Egosoft has gone the extra mile and make how you travel around the Universe "an option".

You are happy with highways, you can use them, your are not, then do not use them as they are one of many options, it is a player choice.

There has to be an advantage to using highways over other forms of travel. Otherwise, there will be no reason to have them in the game at all.

Perhaps highways could have the advantage of being much faster than boosting for going between two points. Or it would use less fuel than boosting (maybe boosting would require e-cells). Boosting would have the advantage of versatility in terms of where you want to go.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

There has to be an advantage to using highways over other forms of travel. Otherwise, there will be no reason to have them in the game at all.

Perhaps highways could have the advantage of being much faster than boosting for going between two points. Or it would use less fuel than boosting (maybe boosting would require e-cells). Boosting would have the advantage of versatility in terms of where you want to go.

I'm sure this will be the case (A-to-B faster by highway, but with players probably wanting to go from A-to-C via B) since this is the Rebirth approach (with, I believe, adjustments in X4 to be more HoL DLC-like and having less windy highways).

[sd_jasper]

There has to be an advantage to using highways over other forms of travel. Otherwise, there will be no reason to have them in the game at all.

Perhaps highways could have the advantage of being much faster than boosting for going between two points. Or it would use less fuel than boosting (maybe boosting would require e-cells). Boosting would have the advantage of versatility in terms of where you want to go.

I'm sure this will be the case (A-to-B faster by highway, but with players probably wanting to go from A-to-C via B) since this is the Rebirth approach (with, I believe, adjustments in X4 to be more HoL DLC-like and having less windy highways).

Don't forget "Travel Drive" which I believe is much faster than "boosting". When I first heard of that I started to think that (local) highways could be done away with. But then reflecting on it more, I realized that a lot of NPC traffic could result in high speed collisions. A system where ships are moving in the same direction in a somewhat controlled area (like a highway) is actually very useful to prevent that sort of thing.

The question does remain though... does the player need to use highways?

[Santi]

@Falcrack

Yes, you will always have some methods of transport that are more efficient than others, but if Egosoft really implement what they said about highways, they will be present more in the core of the civilized Universe, but sparingly so on the outskirts of it.

So hopefully we have highly developed core sectors/zones/quadrants where travelling around can be achieved very quickly via highways, and distant sectors/zones/quadrants in deep space where you rely more on your ship components like boosters, SETA and ship speed.

Of course that is what will make sense to me regarding the issue.

[BugMeister]

if the visual effect of travelling via one of the "tubes" could be over-ridden, so that the transition from departure to destination were less time-consuming, guess that'd be cool..
like switching off the warp-tunnel effect in X3 in the game-settings..

X4's game engine is a mystery to me, so I have no knowledge of the coding requirements and restrictions - let alone how it deals with system RAM, etc..

- could such a mod be constructed?

[Alan Phipps]

@ BugMeister: Well there was this unintended 'bug' that was later fixed that cut out the in-zone travel between highways on long autopilot journeys. Not quite the same as what you wanted, but still travel-helpful - in some ways.

[sd_jasper]

if the visual effect of travelling via one of the "tubes" could be over-ridden, so that the transition from departure to destination were less time-consuming, guess that'd be cool..
like switching off the warp-tunnel effect in X3 in the game-settings..

X4's game engine is a mystery to me, so I have no knowledge of the coding requirements and restrictions - let alone how it deals with system RAM, etc..

- could such a mod be constructed?

I'm not sure I follow. The visual appearance of the highway has noting to do with the speed at which you fly through it...

Are you talking about Super Highways? Because it seems these are already out of the game and replaced with Orbital Accelerators.

If you are talking about local highways, then the whole point of them is that you can enter and exit at whatever point you want. It makes no sense to shorten the time to the "destination" because only you know where you want to exit.