X4 - ten questions for developers

This forum is the ideal place for all discussion relating to X4. You will also find additional information from developers here.

Moderator: Moderators for English X Forum

linolafett
EGOSOFT
EGOSOFT
Posts: 3321
Joined: Mon, 26. Mar 12, 14:57
x4

Post by linolafett » Mon, 7. Aug 17, 15:53

I hope we can stream something, but nothing is confirmed yet. Please dont get your hopes up too much.
People will be able to film freely though, i think that there will be some videos about how a ship docks avaliable after the xcon.
01001100 01101001 01101110 01100101 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 01110011 00101110 00101110 00101110

My art stuff

thrangar
Posts: 1628
Joined: Wed, 6. Nov 02, 20:31
x4

Post by thrangar » Mon, 7. Aug 17, 16:07

Yes almost all the answers I ve seen so far sound good to me and the fact that docking is being revisited is just icing on the cake!

User avatar
mr.WHO
Posts: 8549
Joined: Thu, 12. Oct 06, 17:19
x4

Post by mr.WHO » Mon, 7. Aug 17, 16:47

Now we just need to sit and wait for 31st August (and maybe +1 day till people will upload the stuff).

Greenhorn
Posts: 150
Joined: Thu, 11. Aug 05, 02:40
x3ap

Post by Greenhorn » Mon, 7. Aug 17, 23:39

Hopefully egosoft will give pc specs for x4 during xcon on aug 31st, because im buying a new computer in 4 months .and I need to know what to get.ok .
Running latest Steam X3: Albion Prelude .v 3.1 + bonus pack.favorite single music :Coldplay - Something just like this.Muse - Supermassive blackhole.Audiomachine - Sol Invictus,Cinematic.And finally, Florent Zunino - Foundation - Titles.

User avatar
X2-Illuminatus
Moderator (Deutsch)
Moderator (Deutsch)
Posts: 24950
Joined: Sun, 2. Apr 06, 16:38
x4

Post by X2-Illuminatus » Mon, 7. Aug 17, 23:43

That's rather unlikely. According to CBJ, X4 hasn't reached the testing phase yet. System requirements will usually not be released until the end of the testing phase, i.e. shortly before release.

By the way, the XCon will take place on August 26th or 27th, not on August 31st. ;)
Nun verfügbar! X3: Farnham's Legacy - Ein neues Kapitel für einen alten Favoriten

Die komplette X-Roman-Reihe jetzt als Kindle E-Books! (Farnhams Legende, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko, X3: Hüter der Tore, X3: Wächter der Erde)

Neuauflage der fünf X-Romane als Taschenbuch

The official X-novels Farnham's Legend, Nopileos, X3: Yoshiko as Kindle e-books!

Skeeter
Posts: 3665
Joined: Thu, 9. Jan 03, 19:47
x3

Post by Skeeter » Tue, 8. Aug 17, 00:31

So is x4 more than likely coming next year as can't see them releasing this year if what devs have said so far.
[ external image ]
7600x cpu 5.4ghz 32gb DDR5 5600mhz 6700XT 32" 1440p mon

User avatar
Nikola515
Posts: 3187
Joined: Fri, 4. May 12, 07:40
x4

Post by Nikola515 » Tue, 8. Aug 17, 08:45

It probably will take two years to complete it. That also depends if it is going to be early access.... Main focus is probably going to be XR VR until it is finished... It took them 4 years to complete XR after they announced it and showed first trailer(I wouldn't get my hopes up) ;)
It's not world hunger because we can't feed poor,it's because there will never be enough to feed the rich .....

User avatar
ezra-r
Posts: 3420
Joined: Fri, 14. Oct 05, 21:04
x4

Post by ezra-r » Tue, 8. Aug 17, 12:49

Nikola515 wrote:It probably will take two years to complete it. That also depends if it is going to be early access.... Main focus is probably going to be XR VR until it is finished... It took them 4 years to complete XR after they announced it and showed first trailer(I wouldn't get my hopes up) ;)
Rebirth was made over a completely new engine.
X4 is the same? Will it use the new vulkan technology engine? But that one is based on the rebirth engine right?

My guess is a shorter time frame but the diagnostic the same, don't get hopes up.

User avatar
Nikola515
Posts: 3187
Joined: Fri, 4. May 12, 07:40
x4

Post by Nikola515 » Tue, 8. Aug 17, 21:29

We thought same thing with XR(that it will come out in a year) but there was delay after delay. It also depends what is going to be scale of X4 (how many features are going to be in it ). Hopefully we will know more after 8.27.17....
It's not world hunger because we can't feed poor,it's because there will never be enough to feed the rich .....

LTerSlash
Posts: 1367
Joined: Mon, 27. Oct 08, 02:19
x4

Post by LTerSlash » Wed, 9. Aug 17, 16:09

Well X4 could be the easier game of all time, the only thing it needs to succeed is to go back to X3 and improve it. Thats the most risk-free thing ive see in software development ever.

User avatar
Ketraar
EGOSOFT
EGOSOFT
Posts: 11741
Joined: Fri, 21. May 04, 17:15
x4

Post by Ketraar » Wed, 9. Aug 17, 16:39

LTerSlash wrote:Well X4 could be the easier game of all time, the only thing it needs to succeed is to go back to X3 and improve it. Thats the most risk-free thing ive see in software development ever.
Again with the oversimplifications. Assuming it would be something that was aimed for, would it not still require to redo 15+ years worth of additions? Or they magically appear in a new engine and assets over night?

Pretty sure reality requires people to put effort into creating anything. Basic law of thermodynamics, you require energy (pizza) to decrease entropy (less chaos).

MFG

Ketraar

LTerSlash
Posts: 1367
Joined: Mon, 27. Oct 08, 02:19
x4

Post by LTerSlash » Wed, 9. Aug 17, 18:27

Ketraar wrote:
LTerSlash wrote:Well X4 could be the easier game of all time, the only thing it needs to succeed is to go back to X3 and improve it. Thats the most risk-free thing ive see in software development ever.
Again with the oversimplifications. Assuming it would be something that was aimed for, would it not still require to redo 15+ years worth of additions? Or they magically appear in a new engine and assets over night?

Pretty sure reality requires people to put effort into creating anything. Basic law of thermodynamics, you require energy (pizza) to decrease entropy (less chaos).

MFG

Ketraar
Yes, as my old c programming professor whould say, it needs a lot of "ass-chair" hours. But how many software companies can say they already know the winning formula?, if they make a better X3 that game cant fail.

A5PECT
Posts: 6078
Joined: Sun, 3. Sep 06, 02:31
x4

Post by A5PECT » Wed, 9. Aug 17, 18:40

ezra-r wrote:Rebirth was made over a completely new engine.
X4 is the same? Will it use the new vulkan technology engine? But that one is based on the rebirth engine right?
From what I understand, yes. Vulkan is just the graphical API, which is a component of the game engine.

The original X-series games changed DirectX versions between major releases, so changing graphical APIs isn't a new thing for Egosoft. Though moving between different versions of a single API was probably easier than moving from one API to a completely different one.
Admitting you have a problem is the first step in figuring out how to make it worse.

Xenon_Slayer
EGOSOFT
EGOSOFT
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat, 9. Nov 02, 11:45
x4

Post by Xenon_Slayer » Thu, 10. Aug 17, 10:25

The engine used in X4 is based on the one used in Rebirth but with the Vulkan renderer. So no, it won't be using aspects of the X3 engine which ultimately dates back to the pre 2000's.

User avatar
Sandalpocalypse
Posts: 4447
Joined: Tue, 2. Dec 03, 22:28
x4

Post by Sandalpocalypse » Fri, 11. Aug 17, 10:13

i'm glad to hear docking will be more interesting. For a game focused on physicality and really immersing you into your ship, it was disappointing that docking was just pressing a button and appearing in a docking bay. Elite Dangerous really showed up XR in this regard. To some degree it was required by the design decision to have the multiple dock areas with different purposes on each station though; I don't believe there's enough M docks in the station geometry to support all the designed docking types.

The XR Arawn shows how cool docking could be in x4, with its huge hanger and dedicated launch tube separate from the main entrance.
Irrational factors are clearly at work.

User avatar
mr.WHO
Posts: 8549
Joined: Thu, 12. Oct 06, 17:19
x4

Post by mr.WHO » Sun, 20. Aug 17, 14:16

What will be the relation of X-Rebirth universe/storyline to X4?

You mentioned that X4 will be in completely diffrent region of Universe, but will reuse the ships from X-Rebirth - most of them were region specific (e.g Omicron Lyrae ships, many Albion ships).

If X-Rebirth story will be canon in X4 this will create many contradictions (e.g. how OL, Albion ships end up in diffrent region that was isolated from them?), so I assume the easiest solution would be to consider X-Rebirth not hapened and rewrite encyclopedia descriptions for most of the ships in X4.

User avatar
Sandalpocalypse
Posts: 4447
Joined: Tue, 2. Dec 03, 22:28
x4

Post by Sandalpocalypse » Mon, 21. Aug 17, 01:36

IIRC a lot of the capital ship designs predate the jump gates going down. if not most. I think only the Heavy Sul and the OL ships are specifically post-gate designs. The Light Sul is, arguably, but its just a Rahanas conversion so eh.

It's worth noting that the Sanahar and Condor are both modeled with M-class docks, even though those cant be used in XR and they are post-release ships.

i imagine x4 will have some degree of post-rebirth political unification among various factions though, such that some are contiguous across jumpgates - it would simplify and reduce how many ships they have to make sense.
Irrational factors are clearly at work.

UniTrader
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Moderator (Script&Mod)
Posts: 14571
Joined: Sun, 20. Nov 05, 22:45
x4

Post by UniTrader » Mon, 21. Aug 17, 17:52

Sandalpocalypse wrote:It's worth noting that the Sanahar and Condor are both modeled with M-class docks, even though those cant be used in XR and they are post-release ships.
Do you maybe refer to the Masstraffic Docks which are present on all big Ships? because i am pretty sure the Sahanar has no Fighter dock Port. About the condor i dont know, but i am pretty sure its the same. The only Ship which has dock Ports i am aware of is the Arawn and technically these Docks work, there is usualy no circumstate in which a ship would dock or undock there though.
if not stated otherwise everything i post is licensed under WTFPL

Ich mache keine S&M-Auftragsarbeiten, aber wenn es fragen gibt wie man etwas umsetzen kann helfe ich gerne weiter ;)

I wont do Script&Mod Request work, but if there are questions how to do something i will GLaDly help ;)

User avatar
JSDD
Posts: 1378
Joined: Fri, 21. Mar 14, 20:51
x3tc

Post by JSDD » Tue, 22. Aug 17, 00:55

Xenon_Slayer wrote:I'll try and cover a few of the questions Lino couldn't answer. But yes, vague is the word of the day :roll:
mr.WHO wrote: 9) Are there any plans to replace "spawn out of thin air" system for NPC and hostiles (like pirate/Xenons) with something more physical that player can impact?
For the majority of ships, yes. We do want the ships to come from a source such as a shipyard. Some missions may be a special case, but far less than before.
some people like to fight, so much that they dont care about the relation to other (KI) races, so they start to "conquer" other sectors / areas occupied by any KI race ...

PROBLEM:
in x3 the "jobs" engine spawned ships also "out of thin air", in some cases the spawn sector was fix, that meant you could never really conquer a sector because the frequent respawn of (enemy) KI in your conquered sector

SOLUTION:
"out of thin air" is not the problem, but make ships spawn only in their sectors, of create them at shipyards in their sectors, IF any race wants to "expand" their area of influence, then by starting from their own sectors
IF they dont posess any area / sector (anymore), THEN pause for a while and spawn them in "unknown area" (unknown means not occupied by any race, the universe is large !! so make use of it ..)
IF nothing helps, then start big invasion (spawning) but in random places against random races, NOT PLAYER-FIXATED !!


Xenon_Slayer wrote:
mr.WHO wrote: 10) Will you improve generic mission variety and review their logic?
There should be more happening in the universe which can than trigger missions based on those events. There will still be generic missions which may 'fabricate' the scenario as it was in previous games, but we do of course want these to have as little fakery as possible.
on of the worst decisions, imho, is to fabricate the scenario, that means the player finally controlls what happens, instead of reacting to its "environment" (like in the real world)

why not just create a certain job ID, give them the task to plunder ships and randomly attack stations etc, and create fight missions, find a suitable ship to kill (jobID = ..., class = dependent on player fight rank etc), that's better and doesnt "feel" like the player somehow "controls" its environment :)

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

build missions:
for each sector cluster / area:
--> count all the stations that produce wares, and utilize wares
--> check what wares are rare / needed
--> select stations to build dependent on the most needed wares, NOT randomly

the check can take place every hour or so, but it's much better than selecting station types randomly

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

who offers a mission ?
selecting a random character, of even creating a random character ? why ?

once a ship gets attacked by a pirate / outlawed guy, start a script on that ship, if it successfully flees, and if the attack happened recently, and if the ship is in the players current sector, then use the NPC to create an "bounty hunter" offer.

in case the ship was destroyed, maybe a "recon" has spotted the incident, that recon could the offer the mission

AND:
who is the offer actor that she / he can (as if by magic) detect wheater the victim got killed ? jesus ? buddah ? who ?
add step 2: collect dropped shipID plate or anything else that identified the enemy somehow, collect that, bring it back to the offer giver, THEN reward the player. thats how it worked in the wild west back in the 1800s.

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

who gets paid, who was the killer ?
the guy that fired the last bullet? why ?

why not check wheater the player (or player owned ship) attacked that guy, count the damage, give the player at least some credits if she / he took part in the bounty hunt ... that would be only "fair", and there isnt a problem in implementing that.

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

there ary many things to improve ...

another question:
can the player build stuff on planets / moons ? building doesnt necessarily mean that the player actually is on the planet

and please do away with the kind of "toon-shaded" models, physically-based rendering would make things look better, discard npc characters completely since they just look awful, try to keep only the "good" things from XR .. somehow ..

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

jumpdrive IDEA:

add 1 (static) gimbal in the middle of the sector, every time a ship wants to leave the sector, fly into the gimbal, set the course / target, and wait ...

the gimbal starts to rotate randomly, blocks any other ships from entering, and >booom< make a warp effect and move the player to its target sector .. EXACTLY in the sector center .. no gates needed .. no jumpdrive needed ..

the only thing that needs energy is that gimbal, NOT the ship that wants to travel, with increasing time the energy level of that gimbal reduces, and reduces the possible "jump range" ...

imho better that "space-autobahn" ^^

if one wants to fly to a neighbour sector, then accelerate for a while (there is no air friction or so that prevents a space ship from increasing its velocity when using actio<-->reatio jet propulsion, and mini asteroids are rare in space, so ..), and maybe make use of gravity, do a swingby on a small moon to increase velocity / change direction

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

but the bnext problem: how to find travel paths then ?
--> by using 3D coordinates instead of the old .. XY-grid in the universe map

current sector:
dvec3 universelocation (in astronomical units)

target sector
dvec3 anotheruniverselocation (in astronomical units)

in case the gimbal is too weak to jump from A to B:
find any location in between A and B, jump there first, then make another jump to reach your goal

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

another possible solution for bounty hunt:
make a "list of most wanted", a global value, each time a bad guy violates the x-laws, append him / her to that list, depending on how much damage the guy does, the higher the reward for capturing him / her (dead or alive)

the "list of most wanted" can be a local list, meaning that its validity depends on if you stil are in the same sector cluster/ planetary system, only the worst of those guys will be appended to a x-universal (FBI / federal) "list of most wanted" which is valid for all sectors / areas controlled by a certain race (a bad boron is not necessarily bad for split ^^)
To err is human. To really foul things up you need a computer.
Irren ist menschlich. Aber wenn man richtig Fehler machen will, braucht man einen Computer.


Mission Director Beispiele

RodentofDoom
Posts: 406
Joined: Sat, 27. Feb 16, 09:37
x4

Post by RodentofDoom » Tue, 22. Aug 17, 15:14

JSDD wrote: AND:
who is the offer actor that she / he can (as if by magic) detect wheater the victim got killed ? jesus ? buddah ? who ?
Modern earth based Technology
- Transponder

Look it up, see what it does.

Now add many iterations of technical improvements to it.
It's not unreasonable to assume that in the distant future a device like that would also be able to monitor crew/passenger health as a base function.

Post Reply

Return to “X4: Foundations”