X4: Kingdom End - Egosoft reveals the Boron reunion

[Nulric]

To be frank, just being up front so people know what I really think, much as the return of the Boron seems like the addition of something missing from X4, I can see what is being done here, in that the Boron were omitted in the first place to make this DLC feasible and while devs are at liberty to market as they see fit, it is my perogative to decide whether I want to buy it.

As many others have already said, do I feel X4 does need UI qol and performance improvement as Tides left me disappointed because of these two issues, qol did not budge and performance went down and I really I did not want to play on. Logically there is no point buying something I dont want to play and I wont.

So the question for me is whether these are significant improvements and enough to make it playable.

If load times are not improved then that will be a deal breaker and I wont want to be lead up the garden path, schmoozed, soft soaped or played so I will be checking and researching the facts about this DLC before deciding whether its worth it.

No amount of bling, hype, immersion (was that a pun?) will change that. I dont want to reward the making of unplayable games, its just not in my interests.

Hopefully I'm not speaking out of turn here, but Zav42, an Egosoft Dev, made a Reddit comment, speaking to having made progress on performance issues, the challenges, and having made good progress. At least, this is referencing load times, though of course not your other concerns. Maybe this will make you feel at least a little optimistic about the upcoming release. Of course, you never know, but it sounds promising at least. I can't wait to play it, for one. Anyways, hopefully people will find the info in Zav's post informative.

https://www.reddit.com/r/X4Foundations/ ... t/j1eis1g/

[mr.WHO]

Connecting boron space via Heretic End will once again put them close to Split.

I hope we will have some cross content plot that will impact greater universe outside dlc space.

[M@ReK]

To be frank, just being up front so people know what I really think, much as the return of the Boron seems like the addition of something missing from X4, I can see what is being done here, in that the Boron were omitted in the first place to make this DLC feasible and while devs are at liberty to market as they see fit, it is my perogative to decide whether I want to buy it.

As many others have already said, do I feel X4 does need UI qol and performance improvement as Tides left me disappointed because of these two issues, qol did not budge and performance went down and I really I did not want to play on. Logically there is no point buying something I dont want to play and I wont.

So the question for me is whether these are significant improvements and enough to make it playable.

If load times are not improved then that will be a deal breaker and I wont want to be lead up the garden path, schmoozed, soft soaped or played so I will be checking and researching the facts about this DLC before deciding whether its worth it.

No amount of bling, hype, immersion (was that a pun?) will change that. I dont want to reward the making of unplayable games, its just not in my interests.

The first statement would be true if finished (or almost finished) Borons have been cut from the retail version of the game on premiere just to sell them separately as a paid DLC a moment later. This is what actually big studios are doing with tipple A titles... It have to be considered Ego is not a big player and provides a lot a free content even if one do not buy any DLC. Indeed they have chosen the expansion model for X4 however those are reasonably priced and thanks to that we get much more quality content with each expansion pack and I hope support for the title will be much longer. Back to Borons, just compare the state of the game on release and were we are now. I believe it was better to release it not 100% complete and consequently expand it with community cooperation rather than not release it for years just to have all races at the start. What is more, I think X4 would not be possible also without so much hated X Rebirth as it was probably a playground for a new technology X4 is based on. When I was buying it (X Rebirth) I knew it will not be a proper X game and I will not play it much, but bought it at full price to support them Again just my opinion and approach but I think we have to understand not all studios operate the same and this is the model I see unique on the market and appreciate much!

As for other improvements, yes those are needed but both performance and UI (qol) have been announced so lets just wait and see

[chew-ie]

Hear hear

[Submarine]

To be frank, just being up front so people know what I really think, much as the return of the Boron seems like the addition of something missing from X4, I can see what is being done here, in that the Boron were omitted in the first place to make this DLC feasible and while devs are at liberty to market as they see fit, it is my perogative to decide whether I want to buy it.

As many others have already said, do I feel X4 does need UI qol and performance improvement as Tides left me disappointed because of these two issues, qol did not budge and performance went down and I really I did not want to play on. Logically there is no point buying something I dont want to play and I wont.

So the question for me is whether these are significant improvements and enough to make it playable.

If load times are not improved then that will be a deal breaker and I wont want to be lead up the garden path, schmoozed, soft soaped or played so I will be checking and researching the facts about this DLC before deciding whether its worth it.

No amount of bling, hype, immersion (was that a pun?) will change that. I dont want to reward the making of unplayable games, its just not in my interests.

Hopefully I'm not speaking out of turn here, but Zav42, an Egosoft Dev, made a Reddit comment, speaking to having made progress on performance issues, the challenges, and having made good progress. At least, this is referencing load times, though of course not your other concerns. Maybe this will make you feel at least a little optimistic about the upcoming release. Of course, you never know, but it sounds promising at least. I can't wait to play it, for one. Anyways, hopefully people will find the info in Zav's post informative.

https://www.reddit.com/r/X4Foundations/ ... t/j1eis1g/

Thanks for replying and for the link. If there is an improvement in load times then logically that would make it more playable. On the philosophically sceptical basis of "Nullius In Verba" I will look for evidence indicating that is true.

Likewise for qol UI issues, the official text indicates these will be addressed but which issues? I will have to see what has actually been done and if the difficulties (per-ship boost settings and order list adjustment controls, are primary for me) are addressed then I would reconsider buying if load times are improved but based on the evidence of my experience with Tides I am not preordering/wishlisting.

My recommendation and expectation for egosoft based on past good outcomes, would be that performance and qol improvements along with the OOS sim and behaviour fixes (i.e. everything except content) are applied across all versions of X4 so that people like me can see the proof for themselves and can feel relaxed that adding more content will be worthwhile.

[AdrianWir]

To be frank, just being up front so people know what I really think, much as the return of the Boron seems like the addition of something missing from X4, I can see what is being done here, in that the Boron were omitted in the first place to make this DLC feasible and while devs are at liberty to market as they see fit, it is my perogative to decide whether I want to buy it.

As many others have already said, do I feel X4 does need UI qol and performance improvement as Tides left me disappointed because of these two issues, qol did not budge and performance went down and I really I did not want to play on. Logically there is no point buying something I dont want to play and I wont.

So the question for me is whether these are significant improvements and enough to make it playable.

If load times are not improved then that will be a deal breaker and I wont want to be lead up the garden path, schmoozed, soft soaped or played so I will be checking and researching the facts about this DLC before deciding whether its worth it.

No amount of bling, hype, immersion (was that a pun?) will change that. I dont want to reward the making of unplayable games, its just not in my interests.

Hopefully I'm not speaking out of turn here, but Zav42, an Egosoft Dev, made a Reddit comment, speaking to having made progress on performance issues, the challenges, and having made good progress. At least, this is referencing load times, though of course not your other concerns. Maybe this will make you feel at least a little optimistic about the upcoming release. Of course, you never know, but it sounds promising at least. I can't wait to play it, for one. Anyways, hopefully people will find the info in Zav's post informative.

https://www.reddit.com/r/X4Foundations/ ... t/j1eis1g/

Thanks for replying and for the link. If there is an improvement in load times then logically that would make it more playable. On the philosophically sceptical basis of "Nullius In Verba" I will look for evidence indicating that is true.

Likewise for qol UI issues, the official text indicates these will be addressed but which issues? I will have to see what has actually been done and if the difficulties (per-ship boost settings and order list adjustment controls, are primary for me) are addressed then I would reconsider buying if load times are improved but based on the evidence of my experience with Tides I am not preordering/wishlisting.

My recommendation and expectation for egosoft based on past good outcomes, would be that performance and qol improvements along with the OOS sim and behaviour fixes (i.e. everything except content) are applied across all versions of X4 so that people like me can see the proof for themselves and can feel relaxed that adding more content will be worthwhile.

Egosoft is still working on performance and interface. And every patch is available in free updates. And DCL is to add new content, new factions, ships, storylines. So don't worry, you'll be able to check patches yourself before buying DCL. Even if you like the fixes, Egosoft doesn't force you to buy DCL. That's why I believe that Egosoft is one of the few companies that is fair to players, constantly improving and improving the game for free. Maybe not as fast as you would like, but employees also want to live from something. Therefore, in addition to the fixes, additional content is created.

Also, don't be surprised if performance improves after you upgrade your game, but it drops again after launching the add-on. X4 doesn't release add-ons that are separate stories. The additions in X4 are tons of scripts, variables and data running in parallel with the base game and already enabled DCL. They are an extra burden that affects how the game works. This cannot be avoided.

[Dj_FRedy]

The evidence was put there by Owen ... for all mod makers to see.
Extracted from 'characters.xml':

Code: Select all

  <!-- Boron -->
  <!--TODO @Owen - set boron up correctly. Boron faction currently DLC based-->

he he he

[jmrc]

Fantastic news! Well done Egosoft for the effort of bringing the Borons into X4.

The ship models look really awesome (and the music too), so the expectation is high for the plots and the Boron economic model.

The Position Defence in the 6.0 improvements is very interesting and can give a new breath to the usage of carriers.

I wish Egosoft devs and all X community a fantastic year!

[Xenon_Slayer]

The evidence was put there by Owen ... for all mod makers to see.
Extracted from 'characters.xml':

Code: Select all

  <!-- Boron -->
  <!--TODO @Owen - set boron up correctly. Boron faction currently DLC based-->

he he he

Oi! Stop trying to get me in trouble!

I think that comment has existed since before X4 released and apparently before I felt anything needed to be hush-hush. There are Boron references here and there such as races.xml. Anyway, I'll add a TODO to remove that comment after the christmas break.

[Stoats not Goats]

The evidence was put there by Owen ... for all mod makers to see.
Extracted from 'characters.xml':

Code: Select all

  <!-- Boron -->
  <!--TODO @Owen - set boron up correctly. Boron faction currently DLC based-->

he he he

Oi! Stop trying to get me in trouble!

I think that comment has existed since before X4 released and apparently before I felt anything needed to be hush-hush. There are Boron references here and there such as races.xml. Anyway, I'll add a TODO to remove that comment after the christmas break.

What about the other 1052 TODO @Owens? (yes I checked how many times TODO @Owen appears in the games files) Sounds like you have a lot TODO

[|K.O.S.H.]

The evidence was put there by Owen ... for all mod makers to see.
Extracted from 'characters.xml':

Code: Select all

  <!-- Boron -->
  <!--TODO @Owen - set boron up correctly. Boron faction currently DLC based-->

he he he

Oi! Stop trying to get me in trouble!

I think that comment has existed since before X4 released and apparently before I felt anything needed to be hush-hush. There are Boron references here and there such as races.xml. Anyway, I'll add a TODO to remove that comment after the christmas break.

Add a fixme to remove the Todo and leave both in the code, as every good developer does

[chew-ie]

...or strip the code from comments when building the game. :>

[|K.O.S.H.]

...or strip the code from comments when building the game. :>

It's in the XML...

[chew-ie]

Same principle is possible.

[af_2017]

A piece of criticism here:
1. it is really not clear reasons to keep this DLC in secret for last half year.
2. we still don't know when it will be released; 1 January and 31 December are both in 2023.

I assume that keeping terms in secret could be explained by unexpected delays and underestimating. Saying "we plan to release it at Q2 2023; but can postpone in case of difficulties" is quite OK and understandable.
Keeping scope of features also can be kept in secret just for cases when development can stuck and thus plans could change.
I can accept this.

But adding new sectors/wares/ships/factions already was performed and not once. This is not new and the process is established already.

[mr.WHO]

Tides of Avarice was rather underwhelming in all content areas, but Borons give a hope to expect Split and Terran quality level.
Not to mention X4 area is still a bit too claustrophobic, so additional sectors will be welcome addition.

After Borons, we just need some corporations (e.g. possibly as ret-con X-Rebirth content?) and some more empty/remote/pirate/anarchy/Xenon/Khaak sectors (more pirate/xenon alleys please) to make X4 universe perfection.

[Submarine]

A piece of criticism here:
1. it is really not clear reasons to keep this DLC in secret for last half year.
2. we still don't know when it will be released; 1 January and 31 December are both in 2023.

I assume that keeping terms in secret could be explained by unexpected delays and underestimating. Saying "we plan to release it at Q2 2023; but can postpone in case of difficulties" is quite OK and understandable.
Keeping scope of features also can be kept in secret just for cases when development can stuck and thus plans could change.
I can accept this.

But adding new sectors/wares/ships/factions already was performed and not once. This is not new and the process is established already.

Fair points and I am neither condemning or defending egosoft but simply commenting in a conversational manner that although the X series have a unique niche and egosoft does not need to protect itself against copycat productions, which suggests secret keeping like this really only has one purpose, to raise curiosity and anticipation, which is on the one hand dramatisation and on the other, marketing... the flip side of that is that practically speaking, behind the scenes there are probably a lot of factors which have to be prepared before a DLC launch can proceed and those managing it won't want to look uncertain about their own production by changing their launch predictions as that might reflect on the perceived value of the product, so naturally they give themselves a long window. It seems likely we will only get a specific date when the code is ready to launch, which IMHO is fine.

My guess is its a bit of both. Marketing dramatisation can be a bit like pantomime, where the audience is getting excited shouting "its behind you" and enjoying themselves in a way that when they leave the theatre they will say they had fun, meaning others will want to come and see the show, though when the show is done its over, just a memory. Yet while a memory can sell its cause, it can also change a mind and through the mind a life and through a life the world.

With games marketing what matters to me as a player is that development addresses playability, which is also good marketing, because people will say it is worth playing if it satisfies their purpose in buying it rather than making them feel like victims of hype, which is worth nothing except as an object lesson in what not to buy.

My guess is that development managers know there is a balance to be struck between dramatisation with eyecatching content and the satisfaction of a well supported play experience, which they have to get right. The point I am trying to make is that I think Tides went too far into dramatisation without supporting the play experience which I dont think will work as a business model in the long run because its not "sustainable". Yes you can raid the audience for a quick return but in so doing you lose some of the audience.

IMHO there is another reason to care about the interface and that is the gift to posterity. This is the era of technological infancy, which is formative, like the ancient Greeks had massive influence on the development of philosophy due to the fact they were among the first recorded rationalists and the survival of their thoughts in written form became a guide to others, in the same way the development of software today is setting the precedent for the ages to come. Generations of software are built on the preceding generation. What egosoft creates now will have an influence in the future and I would encourage them to consider the long game and do their very best to get some satisfaction out of that for themselves. Its not all about the money.

[Raptor34]

A piece of criticism here:
1. it is really not clear reasons to keep this DLC in secret for last half year.
2. we still don't know when it will be released; 1 January and 31 December are both in 2023.

I assume that keeping terms in secret could be explained by unexpected delays and underestimating. Saying "we plan to release it at Q2 2023; but can postpone in case of difficulties" is quite OK and understandable.
Keeping scope of features also can be kept in secret just for cases when development can stuck and thus plans could change.
I can accept this.

But adding new sectors/wares/ships/factions already was performed and not once. This is not new and the process is established already.

So you're basically saying they should just say something but at the same time not really mean it either?
I'm not seeing any real issue here, we already know that something would be coming, or at least that it's not end of support/life for the game so is them announcing it earlier yet be unable to give anything concrete actually helpful to anyone? It just feels like a waste of time.

[Falcrack]

A piece of criticism here:
1. it is really not clear reasons to keep this DLC in secret for last half year.
2. we still don't know when it will be released; 1 January and 31 December are both in 2023.

I assume that keeping terms in secret could be explained by unexpected delays and underestimating. Saying "we plan to release it at Q2 2023; but can postpone in case of difficulties" is quite OK and understandable.
Keeping scope of features also can be kept in secret just for cases when development can stuck and thus plans could change.
I can accept this.

But adding new sectors/wares/ships/factions already was performed and not once. This is not new and the process is established already.

Split Vendetta was released 2020-03-31 (Saturday)
Cradle of Humanity was released on 2021-03-16 (Tuesday)
Tides of Avarice was released on 2022-03-14 (Monday)

My guess is Kingdom End DLC will release on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023. Anyone want to play this game?

[mr.WHO]

Split Vendetta was released 2020-03-31 (Saturday)
Cradle of Humanity was released on 2021-03-16 (Tuesday)
Tides of Avarice was released on 2022-03-14 (Monday)

My guess is Kingdom End DLC will release on Wednesday, March 22nd, 2023. Anyone want to play this game?

Well, that would be a nice early spring present.