X4 - ten questions for developers

[Skeeter]

Also please bring back x2 bulletin board system. With the stories, some things actually happening and missions through it.

The only stuff in the BBS which had any relation to actual Gameplay were the Mission Offers, all the other stuf was, while interesting, just shown randomly without any relation to happenings in the Game... that was partially done in X3 afaik (there some BBS messages had a relation to stuff happening in the Game)

Any chance of space to planet transport ships like from x2 in x4?

when you mean geamepla-wise used like in X2 then i wonder why, because they were only used in Story Cutscenes and had never any relevance in Gameplay.

Also will modding be better in x4 as I've not seen a lot of modding with total conversions in x rebirth, with replacing art assets such ships, cockpits, textures etc.

Thats not a problem with the Modding Interface.

1. BB system as its implimentation, its visual style, its stories, some were suppose to be tied to the universe iirc, could we get this back and maybe expanded on, elite has done ok wise with its news system iirc so cant see why x4 cant and maybe beat.

2. it was used for story but why cant it be used for gameplay? link that ship to certain planets so when u go in u are say transported to a hanger/bar where you can deal with unique planetary resources. Actually involve planets for once without the need to fly direct onto planets, this would be a easier impliment of landing on planets with aid, any opening what a planet exports and imports instead of relying purely on space stations to trade.

3. So modding ships in say mesh and textures unique not reused assets will be possible so a mod can change all stations, ships, planets, asteroids etc to be something from star wars etcc? will that come with a 3ds plugin and documentation for things like texturing, setting up ships animations, joints, etc? instead of just a scipting tool and support as most mods seem to do just scripts to make more complex stuff in the game which i thought is because its limited to just that type of support. Otherwise i would have thought we would have a few decent big mods by now for rebirth changing the skunk or stations or npc ships to something else by now. Hopefully x4 can do more modding wise soa b5 or star wars total conversion can be possible like u see in sins or homeworld in x4.

Can a dev talk about if x4 will be more focused on x2 ui or more x3 ui, what are yoou guys going with with the ui. Personally i hope x2 style comes back.

[seePyou]

Cockpits, where the "windows" are screens, would be great, allowing for much better interaction and an explanation (practical) of why the "window" has ammo information, targeting reticle, speed gauge, gravidar etc...

In essence, it is Augmented Reality, showing the world (universe) around you but also the important information I need to do my work.

[UniTrader]

@Skeeter

Regarding1&2: your wording suggested that the way these points were done in X2 were enough and nothing more needed, which obviously is not the case (i think i stated earlier in this topic that the worst thing which can happen to ideas stated in a single sentence is that they get implemented exactly as posted, which certainly was not what you wanted )

regarding 3: not sure if something will com from EGO, but a mesh conversion tool between EGOs XR mesh formats and dae files has been available since early 2014. as fas as i know only 2 or 3 people ever published mods which used those. so even though there is no official support the possibilities exist ( the same as with X3 btw for this game there is also no official conversion tool.)

[mr.WHO]

Cockpits, where the "windows" are screens, would be great, allowing for much better interaction and an explanation (practical) of why the "window" has ammo information, targeting reticle, speed gauge, gravidar etc...

In essence, it is Augmented Reality, showing the world (universe) around you but also the important information I need to do my work.

I imagine something like mech powering-up sequence (from Mechwarrior series) where you jump into your fighters, the display screens start to activate and betty read status report like "engines on-line, shield on-line, navigation on-line, all systems nominal".

[Player]

Will be have class or even ship specific cokpits, interiors or bridges?

Each flyable ship chassis has its own cockpit.

Cockpits are modeled with a tight fit into the ship hull, therefore a modular approach is not simply possile.
Every cockpit therefore has a unique look.

WOW!

Great to Know that.

[Snafu_X3]

So IMO (player) mod production priorities seem to go as follows:

• Art (as that takes the longest time to get 'just right'), both for external & internal (NPC/station) models. Combine with below for suitable 'hidden stash' 1P, 2P & 3P placement spots as necessary
• AI, as it's the most often player encounter
• Scripting (tools/additions/modifications), as this allows modders to fine-tune their creations better. Possibly combined with AI above..
• Mapping/routing/pathfinding (possibly combined with 2 & 3 above)

Ofc playtesting & balancing take lots of time, but unless the tools are in place for the creative cognoscenti to take advantage of, there won't be any content to balance/playtest!

This is not meant as a generic list, simply a guideline/roadmap. Anyone care to add things I've missed..?

[UnknownObject]

You do realise that was a tongue-in-cheek comment, right? We're not ready to announce precise details of numbers, or even types, of ships, so please don't try to over-analyse this kind of thing.

But linolafett wrote that ships would still be classified as S/M/L/XL (source). It may be changed, mayn't it?

[CBJ]

Apparently you didn't read the last clause of that sentence.

[mr.WHO]

One more question on minor features:
Will we be able to do the spacewalk in space suit like in X3?

[linolafett]

Will we be able to do the spacewalk in space suit like in X3?

That is currently not planned. If any good gameplay reasons for this feature appear, this decision can be changed.

[mr.WHO]

Well this is rather forced idea, but what about walking on ship hull (via magnetic boots) to perform emergency subsystem repairs (kinda like nerfed repair laser)?

Other that that I'd just like to feel the size of the ships comparing to tiny astronaut.

[vkerinav]

Other that that I'd just like to feel the size of the ships comparing to tiny astronaut.

Worth having for this reason alone, presuming there aren't any technical challenges.

I can think of some other possibilities, too--a way to sneak onto hostile stations through the service airlock, for purposes of sabotage, or say, bribing a docking official to temporarily add your freighters to the friendly list, which would allow you to trade(or even a single freighter).

Exploring the inside of some wrecked station or ship that you come across, to recover some small item, or information.

Nothing must-have, of course. But spacewalking in a sandbox game is a definite should-have, in my humble(and extraordinarily representative of Egosoft's playerbase) opinion.

[mr.WHO]

I can think of some other possibilities, too--a way to sneak onto hostile stations through the service airlock, for purposes of sabotage, or say, bribing a docking official to temporarily add your freighters to the friendly list, which would allow you to trade(or even a single freighter).

Exploring the inside of some wrecked station or ship that you come across, to recover some small item, or information.

- Breaking into station avoiding police crafts and patrol drones
- Exploring wrecks

I think that in addition to my "manually repair subsystems" would actually make interesting spacewalk application.

Albeit all 3 could be done with remove control drone.

[UniTrader]

i dont think thats feasible because it would require a massive increase in the details of the Ships/Stations Hull. or do you think this is detailed enough: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdvg6sd47d5do ... 1.png?dl=0 (i turned a hull section into a walkable interior there)

[Skeeter]

A good reason to spacewalk in a suit is repairing ship/subsystems. Sabotage like place explosives to docked ships perhaps. Capping ships like in old days.

Scoop up dead bodies after ships blow and label it as black market meat lol.

[mr.WHO]

i dont think thats feasible because it would require a massive increase in the details of the Ships/Stations Hull. or do you think this is detailed enough: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdvg6sd47d5do ... 1.png?dl=0 (i turned a hull section into a walkable interior there)

Ship models in X2 and X3 were also not detailed much and yet it doesn't bother the spacewalk.
Also the Teladi Outpost from that distance would looks crap no matter if you are in suit or a ship. I assume devs never planned you let player so close to those 2D trees (ahh this brings the good ol' 90s memories back ).

[UniTrader]

i dont think thats feasible because it would require a massive increase in the details of the Ships/Stations Hull. or do you think this is detailed enough: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hdvg6sd47d5do ... 1.png?dl=0 (i turned a hull section into a walkable interior there)

Ship models in X2 and X3 were also not detailed much and yet it doesn't bother the spacewalk.
Also the Teladi Outpost from that distance would looks crap no matter if you are in suit or a ship. I assume devs never planned you let player so close to those 2D trees (ahh this brings the good ol' 90s memories back ).

i dont think many bothered spacewalking near caps, and those who did to repair them were masochistic anyway, so the low detail was not an issue for them But if being this close to Capships would turn into a regulary used feature i doubt this Level of Detail is enough. and upping the Level enough to be reasonable (not necessarily on par with the curent interiors) is an unreasonable amount of work imo (i think we would get only one or two capship types in that case) and has another downside: walking the distances of Ship Surfaces on foot is plain boring. i think to get to the border of the aforementoined interior ( here a screensho from its end overseeing the whole thing ) took about 5 minutes running, if not more. (and yes, it changes your position relative to the Ship/Station as whole)
so i think in practice it would be better to make multiple interiors for a Ship which are connected by a fast transport system and implement the repair/sabotage/spoinage functions in these interiors instead. Maybe add a few Outside Secttions, too. like Turrets and Shield Generators for example.

[vkerinav]

I was partly thinking modified interiors for exploring wrecks--battered, twisted corridors. Gaps through which you can see stars. No gravity. Ravenous alien parasites jumping at you from every shadow.( <-- Joke )

Anyway, they can advertise the spacesuit as a bonus ship.

[Snafu_X3]

A good reason to spacewalk in a suit is repairing ship/subsystems. Sabotage like place explosives to docked ships perhaps.

This is already implemented (altho naturally difficult) via the 'control screen' UI for neutral ships at least; perhaps expand upon that game mechanic to make it a possible strategy for hostiles?

Again (extrapolating) this would fall back to the X3 method of marine hacking skill; using the current mechanic of MO, perhaps increase their Mechanic/Science priority for a successful hack? (I'm trying to avoid FPS sim here..)

[patient zero]

On topic: X4 question for devs
Has it been decided how many CPU cores the X4 engine will need to run?
2 or 3 seems inadequate. 4 or 6 would be good. 8 or 10 would lock me out of the market unless the price comes way down before X4 is released.

Off topic comment:
I used spacewalking in X3 to measure CCK node locations so I could get perfect alignment between stations. I expect this will be useless in X4 but there might be other good uses for spacewalking and I vote in favor of it.