Introducing X TECH 5 and kicking off 6.00 Public Beta

[Gregory]

6.00 Public Beta 7 now available

New week, new beta - and one week closer to the finishing line! X4 6.00 Beta 7 is now available for you to check out. We'll add the complete list of changes to the end of this news, and would ask you to continue reporting any issues in our Public Beta Feedback Forum as usual. Thank you for your continued support during this public beta test cycle!

How do I take part in the Public Beta?
Every player who owns X4: Foundations has the opportunity to download the new 6.00 beta version. In order to ensure that beta participants are aware of the risks and rules involved, we ask all interested players to visit our forum, where they will find the rules and disclaimers, as well as practical instructions for participating in the beta. Follow this link to our forum (no registration required) to find the relevant information.

Note: If Steam displays an older Beta version rather than "public_beta - 6.00 Beta 7" in the beta drop-down menu, this is just a display error in the Steam client. You can correct this by re-entering the beta password (see forum), but even with the incorrect version displayed in the list, you will still be playing the latest version of the beta if you have selected the public_beta branch.

6.00 Beta 7 Changelog

• Added option to cancel multiple construction orders at once.
• Added low and medium settings for Reflection Probes (new feature in 6.00).
• Added random object selection to Live Stream view (new feature in 6.00).
• Added race-specific command consoles.
• Improved The Fate of the Yaki mission by spawning reward lockboxes in safer location.
• Improved lighting in reflections from stationary objects (new feature in 6.00).
• Improved thruster sound volume to be less obtrusive while maneuvering.
• Fixed False Sense Of Security signal leak mission not providing boarding target.
• Fixed guild missions not being offered if one was accepted from another guild.
• Fixed Collect Drops retaining ownership of abandoned cargo containers on order cancellation if one cargo container had earlier already been collected.
• Fixed escape pods sitting in space if there are no nearby stations to flee to.
• Fixed Explore and Update Trade Offers commands refusing to go through gates when directed at gate (problem introduced in 6.00).
• Fixed licence requirements for Habitat Modules to fit relation progression.
• Fixed collisions against stations not working after using highway (problem introduced in 6.00).
• Fixed some dock requests persisting indefinitely.
• Fixed construction vessels not honoring blacklists.
• Fixed some station entries in the encyclopedia not marked as read when using "Mark all as read" option (new feature in 6.00).
• Fixed gamestart description texts being cut-off under certain circumstances.
• Fixed being unable to select objects when sitting in pilot chair of Ides.
• Fixed fog sometimes disappearing briefly after loading.
• Fixed radar visuals with low quality FSR and small resolutions.
• Fixed muffled signal leak sounds (problem introduced in 6.00).
• Fixed several causes of crashes.

[Submarine]

I was very touched when egosoft gave me a testing credit for working on X3 beta testing. So I take my testing duties here seriously and really want to see the best outcomes for X4.

It is a cause for hope to see the beta fix lists and activity but if you will forgive me it needs to be directed at what makes the game playable, or not.

The truth is, it is my painful duty to try and get a few things through to the devs which have been ignored and really shouldn't be.

The truth is after over 900 hours playng and bug reporting on X4, I no longer play because core gameplay, as the user experiences it, is ergonomically unrefined and has not been addressed since X4 release and its just too painful to play on.

Not to put too fine a point on it, the game drives me crazy and I have had enough. Its just too clunky and raw.

Below are some things which I think deserve attention.

e.g. The booster default issue, most recently addressed here, is a prime example, of neglect, of us, the players.
viewtopic.php?f=146&t=452551

I would also be interested to know if any progress is being made with any of the interface functions requiring two clicks where one would do, which increases the workload on the player unecessarily and was discussed in the linked thread, in case egosoft devs would like suggestions for ways to improve the player experience. Some aspects of this are related to sub par screen integration which is so rough its not even beta standard, yet has been left for years. Not good enough.
viewtopic.php?f=146&t=449875&p=5147907#p5147023

Easily reordering order queues is another missing function which most quality game UIs would include as a basic necessity, as a matter of course. Unfortunately it is absent in X4 and again adds to the burden of using the UI so much, it sticks out a mile, again and again and again.
viewtopic.php?f=146&t=449829&p=5146708#p5146474

Will Jolt improve the issue of getting stuck inside other structures? Discussed here. Hope so.
viewtopic.php?f=146&t=449920&p=5147737#p5147550

I am glad you are working on it, I really am but you have to address the way the player interacts with the game, if you want the game to be pleasing to play.

[Admiral Kirk]

Hello,

...
- increase the range for scaning signal leaks, because due to new physics, many time is impossible to get into range of data leak on
station surfaces "that is i find so far"
...

I've the same problem with an ARG Smart-Chip factory in my case. The 3D model of the factory has some areas where clipping into is allowed (I assume that's intended and also true for other models), but the leaks are created inside the solid part of the model - interestingly, the leaks can be seen when inside the clipping area.
I managed to get inside the solid area unintentionally so many times (at least before 6.xx), but when I need to do it it's not possible

If needed I can provide a savegame.

Regards

[CBJ]

If you're having a problem, please use the Tech Support forum to report it, not a slightly outdated news thread. And yes, we'd need a savegame. See the forum rules at the top of the Tech Support forum for the other information we'd also need.