X4 - ten questions for developers

spankahontis · Post by **spankahontis** » Thu, 20. Jul 17, 18:44

Zetoss wrote:
Maybe this has been covered already at some point a while ago but if so it still wouldn't hurt with an update, right? Information and vegetable are best served fresh.

That was a feature I liked in Frontier: Elite II.
If you wanted to trade Slaves and live animals? you needed life support in your cargo bay or they would become fertilizer the moment you left the station.

I'd like to see Capital Ships return with Equipment Dock Upgrades like in X3.
Universal Ships are cool, but I'd prefer greater customization incase I wanted ships that dealt specially in livestock, or a ship that needs special facilities to carry volatile chemicals.
That's where all X Games have failed for me in that matter is there being a complex list of items and resources that make the economy more self-reliant rather than every Ware making/breaking the functionality of the economy.

Assailer · Post by **Assailer** » Fri, 21. Jul 17, 19:17

Devs if you haven't yet check on Avorion, it's amazing what they managed to take from X (and other) games to their and in many aspect improve on it.

It's so addictive i can't have a break to other games since i picked it up last summer sales.

Hope, X4 will impress me as much as Avorion does! Rooting for it and make sure you won't rush it out like X:RB.

GageDragon · Post by **GageDragon** » Sun, 23. Jul 17, 18:17

Hoping there will be claimable derelicts and npc bailing.

Already missing not being able to eject and repair.

UnknownObject · Post by **UnknownObject** » Mon, 24. Jul 17, 11:24

Dear Linolafett! I don't understand German as well as I wish, so could you explain me.
Did you say
"I don't remember where Paranids in X4 were confirmed"
(hinting that "Paranids in X4" was a wrong speculation)
or
"I don't remember where Paranids in X4 were disproved"
(hinting that "Paranids in X4" was a right speculation)
?
Thank you very much!

Commander_K · Post by **Commander_K** » Mon, 24. Jul 17, 12:05

The last one. Only Borons have definitely been ruled out.

mr.WHO · Post by **mr.WHO** » Mon, 24. Jul 17, 17:14

Commander_K wrote:The last one. Only Borons have definitely been ruled out.

Do you have Egosoft quote on Borons beign rule out? If this would be confirmed then the Paranid are the only option...unless we count Sol Terrans as separate race from Torride/Canterans. As much as I'd love to see Sol again I think Paranids are more likely.

Post by **UniTrader** » Mon, 24. Jul 17, 17:20

mr.WHO wrote:
Commander_K wrote:The last one. Only Borons have definitely been ruled out.
Do you have Egosoft quote on Borons beign rule out? If this would be confirmed then the Paranid are the only option...unless we count Sol Terrans as separate race from Torride/Canterans. As much as I'd love to see Sol again I think Paranids are more likely.

i dont remember where exactly it was, but i can confirm that lino stated somewhere that there wont be borons in X4

Commander_K · Post by **Commander_K** » Mon, 24. Jul 17, 17:41

mr.WHO wrote:
Commander_K wrote:The last one. Only Borons have definitely been ruled out.
Do you have Egosoft quote on Borons beign rule out? If this would be confirmed then the Paranid are the only option...unless we count Sol Terrans as separate race from Torride/Canterans. As much as I'd love to see Sol again I think Paranids are more likely.

For example here.

gbjbaanb · Post by **gbjbaanb** » Fri, 28. Jul 17, 18:01

UniTrader wrote:
mr.WHO wrote:
UniTrader wrote: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.

Though I remember going up to the Aran and zapping it with a repair laser to make it boardable... didn't seem so shabby IIRC.

I think the problem here is that we expect X4 to be better than X3, not worse. And if ship interiors are a thing, you're in danger of biting off more than is chewable just like Rebirth did. Scrap the idea of ship interiors, have external ship textures like in X3 even, and add the interior stuff in as a DLC once the main game is properly complete.

And a repair laser, with a bit of "walking" on the exterior welding a plate over a hole to patch a ship up enough to get it to base, is a good bit of immersive gameplay.

Mailo · Post by **Mailo** » Sat, 29. Jul 17, 22:35

Can I ask why the new game was named "X4" and not "X-Rebirth 2"?

I pretty much stopped following the X-Universe after X-Rebirth came out, so this is actually the first I've heard of X4 ... yet from all the answers in this thread I get the impression that maybe it is more than X-Rebirth, yet still far less than X3 ... less races, ship options, less game options (some of my most memorable game experiences in X3 were in a space suit ... that you cannot think of good gameplay reasons yourself speaks volumes) ...

Post by **Alan Phipps** » Sat, 29. Jul 17, 22:44

@ Mailo: X4 is a type of shorthand for a type of game expected to be closer than Rebirth to the basis of the X3 themes and playstyles but using the XR engine and its better capabilities.

Besides some hints from devs, we have relatively little firm knowledge of what is to be added or dropped to/from the known X universe gameplay but naturally we can expect some major differences and innovations too. It is very much a wait-and-see period.

Post by **Sparky Sparkycorp** » Sat, 29. Jul 17, 22:46

My personal impression is that they're steering the X Rebirth game engine more in the direction of X3 gameplay. So mechanically, there's iteration on X Rebirth, but philosophically, the next game heads more in the direction of a successor to X3.

Here's an announcement from Bernd that touched this topic last year:

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=392987

Mailo · Post by **Mailo** » Sat, 29. Jul 17, 23:15

Sparky Sparkycorp wrote:My personal impression is that they're stearing the X Rebirth game engine more in the direction of X3 gameplay. So mechanically, there's iteration on X Rebirth, but philosophically, the next game heads more in the direction of a successor to X3.

Here's an announcement from Bernd that touched this topic last year:

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=392987

Keep in mind, I am totally clueless about X4 so far, I've only read this thread on it. And from the posts in it, I got the impression that the gameplay and philosophy is more aligned with X-Rebirth than X3. I have no clue about the engine that will be used.
I know my impression might be (probably is) wrong, but that's what I got from the info here.

I'll wait for the release to form a final opinion of course, but not necessarily with anything more than mild interest.

Thanks for the link, though forgive me if I don't place much trust in Bernd concerning upcoming games.

Post by **Sparky Sparkycorp** » Sat, 29. Jul 17, 23:44

Mailo wrote: Thanks for the link, though forgive me if I don't place much trust in Bernd concerning upcoming games.

You're welcome but please keep in mind this is a thread where questions have been posed in a civil manner and Devs decided to take the time, and risk, to reply candidly. It's really not the place for dredging up these kinds of sentiments. All that is likely to do is discourage future interaction to the detriment of other forum users.

Mailo wrote: Keep in mind, I am totally clueless about X4 so far, I've only read this thread on it. And from the posts in it, I got the impression that the gameplay and philosophy is more aligned with X-Rebirth than X3. I have no clue about the engine that will be used.
I know my impression might be (probably is) wrong, but that's what I got from the info here.

No problem. All I can really say (due to available info rather than any secrecy) is that that announcement wasn't the first statement on the topic and it was in line with earlier ones:

CBJ in March, 2015

Bernd in September, 2015

mr.WHO · Post by **mr.WHO** » Sun, 30. Jul 17, 10:06

According to XR VR announcement they will share some more info about X4 on August 13th.

EDIT: Awww shit, I misread. August 13th is the registration deadline for actual event on 26th or 27th where they will learn more info on X4.

birdtable · Post by **birdtable** » Sun, 30. Jul 17, 10:27

Let us hope it is more than " soon ",,, and not ambiguous

... another month to wait .....

Sorkvild · Post by **Sorkvild** » Mon, 31. Jul 17, 13:06

Has anyone heard about the use of low level API (Dx12, Vulkan) for X4

Devs/Ego people can you shed some light on the subject, pls.

Skeeter · Post by **Skeeter** » Mon, 31. Jul 17, 21:32

Pretty sure they will use vulkan api as they have done for xrvr.

Post by **X2-Illuminatus** » Mon, 31. Jul 17, 21:44

Sorkvild wrote:Has anyone heard about the use of low level API (Dx12, Vulkan) for X4
Devs/Ego people can you shed some light on the subject, pls.

XR VR EA FAQ wrote:The new Vulkan-based high performance graphics engine is still relatively early in development. This engine is designed particularly for our next big project: X4. The Early Access phase of XR VR Edition allows us to test this new technology on a wide range of different hardware.

mr.WHO · Post by **mr.WHO** » Mon, 31. Jul 17, 22:05

What does high-performace part mean?

Can I expect better FPS than X-Rebirth or just better graphic, but same FPS?