Will there be fake traffic in highways?

[Crimsonraziel]

Curious how base level the AI will be. From simply a imaginary immortal faction "boss" that makes expasion / replacement descisions. To the insane idea that every pilot has their own motivat ion , bankroll, income, and is tracked and killable, to be replaced by some population generator.

Is there any indication for the latter?

[spankahontis]

Hope they remove everything fake, I wouldn'tt want to see ships that actually don't exist or serve a purpose in a highway or anywhere else.

It will feel more natural if less used highways have less traffic and so on, more inmersive. Like when you leave the city and get to smaller villages or towns. We must feel the difference.

So burn the fake! burn it!

But Highways are just that, highways.
Getting rid of them would be like cities tearing out the roads.

But I do agree that border systems need less highways, border towns need to be more Wild West and dangerous compared to the more civilized cities in the Core sectors.

[Nanook]

Hope they remove everything fake, I wouldn'tt want to see ships that actually don't exist or serve a purpose in a highway or anywhere else.

It will feel more natural if less used highways have less traffic and so on, more inmersive. Like when you leave the city and get to smaller villages or towns. We must feel the difference.

So burn the fake! burn it!

But Highways are just that, highways.
Getting rid of them would be like cities tearing out the roads....

Failed analogy. Automobiles require roads. Spaceships don't require 'highways'. They can fly anywhere. IMO, 'highways' in space are just plain silly. Controlled traffic corridors, sure, but not some 'tube in space'.

[ezra-r]

Hope they remove everything fake, I wouldn'tt want to see ships that actually don't exist or serve a purpose in a highway or anywhere else.

It will feel more natural if less used highways have less traffic and so on, more inmersive. Like when you leave the city and get to smaller villages or towns. We must feel the difference.

So burn the fake! burn it!

But Highways are just that, highways.
Getting rid of them would be like cities tearing out the roads.

But I do agree that border systems need less highways, border towns need to be more Wild West and dangerous compared to the more civilized cities in the Core sectors.

It seems you have read me but haven't understood a thing.

I have never said to remove highways, just fake "traffic" from highways.

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@NaNook highways make sense for space ships if they are a means for faster travel between points of interest, and that's precisely what they are.

[Morkonan]

... IMO, 'highways' in space are just plain silly. Controlled traffic corridors, sure, but not some 'tube in space'.

^--- This.

I don't understand the whole "highway" thing. Admittedly, I haven't played X:R, so there's that to consider.

It just reminds me too much of "Finding Nemo."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpV7NIJTxD0

[ezra-r]

... IMO, 'highways' in space are just plain silly. Controlled traffic corridors, sure, but not some 'tube in space'.

^--- This.

I don't understand the whole "highway" thing. Admittedly, I haven't played X:R, so there's that to consider.

It just reminds me too much of "Finding Nemo."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpV7NIJTxD0

As I see it, you add perma boost to ships or highways, there must be means for fast travel, it's just that Egosoft chose highways.

Before X:R was released I recall recommending Earth&Beyond warp method, that is, ship heats up warp engine and after a few seconds off you go at very fast speed in a straigh line, it allows for freedom, good special effects and not too cheaty.

Any option has its benefits I guess. Highways can be a good choice if made with sense, not Rebirth like one way mess, with that I agree.

[lyubarskiy]

You know, traffic that only spawns into existence the moment you enter a highway, and disappears when you leave it. I hope not. That was a big thing about Rebirth that bugged me. That, and the fact that in the highways, your ship always seemed to go faster than others, so it was a constant game of bumper cars trying to avoid other ships in the highway.

Egosoft, I hope you don't try and force the same bumper car mini game on us for X4!

Better then original. On release it was reverse. All things would be faster than you and you had to catch slip stream to go faster. And when you did, the other ship took up most of your screen because you were an inch from it. This way you at least fee llike you are going fast and avoiding traffic like on a highway.

[Astra]

I watched the video presentation and again these highways. It looks like instead of going X3+1, Egosoft decided to mix X3 and XR https://forum.egosoft.com/images/smiles/icon_evil.gif
for me it is a recipy for disaster. I do understand developers do not want to through away hours of work they done for XR but it is like mixing a good product with bad with the hope it will be best... It is like, oh my cream went bad but pancakes are good, let me serve them together.

Ok, hopefully some scripts will be written that replace the highways with jumpdrives. Will be waiting for the scripts. Teleportation sounds ackward, I do understand that you teleport TOGETHER with the ship you are in - and then it will be a jumpdrive. but taking you out of the pilot seat amd placing to another seat does not sound immersing. Though this type of teleportation existed in X3 (at least in scripts) and required a short distance between ships.

Also will be good to reduce the cockpit which takes about 20% of the screen. As I recall in X2 it was a cockpit which takes 40% of the screen (when you fly a capital shop, Paranid model you look through a small window - not a great experience). You would assume that if you are flying a capital ship, you have a big window without cockpit restricting the view.

[Toramo]

I agree, I'm not a big fan of higways.

The best example (IMO) about a good use of highways system was the one used in freelancer. It was discreet enough to forget it.

But the navigation system I prefer is the one used by Elite and his different scale of cruise.

I would have preferred different cruise method than the highway system, definitely. I just want my move to be free.


But well, if all the other contents is good enough in X4, it would be a minor point for me.

++

[MegaJohnny]

I agree, I'm not a big fan of higways.

The best example (IMO) about a good use of highways system was the one used in freelancer. It was discreet enough to forget it.

But the navigation system I prefer is the one used by Elite and his different scale of cruise.

I would have preferred different cruise method than the highway system, definitely. I just want my move to be free.


But well, if all the other contents is good enough in X4, it would be a minor point for me.

++

The boosters play the same role as cruise engines - I want to see how it plays out using boosters to move between zones. How quick they are, what ships have them, etc.

[Monkeyfister]

The highways are one of the stupidest, most off-putting things introduced into the X Universe, ever. They are terrible, useless, and force limits on the player. It's SPACE, why do I even want highways? I never needed them before. If egosoft thought they'd be a fun mini-game-- they were, and are utterly wrong.

[Cdaragorn]

The highways are one of the stupidest, most off-putting things introduced into the X Universe, ever. They are terrible, useless, and force limits on the player. It's SPACE, why do I even want highways? I never needed them before. If egosoft thought they'd be a fun mini-game-- they were, and are utterly wrong.

I understand hating how they were implemented, but there's nothing stupid about highways in space. They don't force anything on you. You're plenty free to fly wherever you want without them. See you there sometime next decade.

It makes a lot of sense to have a system that can propel your ship far faster than any engine you could reasonably install into it. I personally think having them gives a great sense of the VASTNESS of space.

The alternative, pretending your ship has some incredible alternate engine that can push it to insane speeds, is what I consider ridiculous and immersion breaking.

The entire reason you "never needed them before" was because the space you were allowed to fly around in wasn't vast. It was insanely tiny.. You were limited then, not now.

[Astra]

Clearly players need a mean of fast transportation through vast or not so vast universe. The question is what is more appropriate for such game.
One option will be super boost engines which consumes some fuel. I do not think it will be breaking immersion but contrary.
Another is jump drive to jump into another sector. It was well accepted in X3 and so far nobody complain about it. It was even a script to make a jump drive which bring your ship to certain coordinates.
The third was the highways first implemented in XR and it was a turn down point NOT to BUY the GAME just because of it for many players. Not too many liked it.
And there is one more I forgot - SAT? (speeding the time in the game).

The puzzle could be easily solved - just having an option to build the highways by the player, researching some technologies, building factories which manufacture components for construction, etc. Also it would be good to have an option with jumpdrive for those who like it (again it can be some research required, may be some missions to complete). In my opinion, jumpdrive does not spoil the view (you can use it or not, it is your choice, but highways running through the space, really spoil the view - make the traffic lights and parking spots, roundabouts and here we are - it is GTA X4.
I am more concern about the final product. The player world is waiting whether it will be a really new groundbreaking game or another lemon from Egosoft like XR.

[Astra]

Another point against the highways.
We all perceive the world based on our past experience. Our view of the Space is based on sci-fi movies, documentary cuts from austronauts, images from hubble telescope. And yes, we see the nice pictures of planets, nebulas, space ships. Anybody see the tubes (highways) out there?
One can easily imagine boost engines - you simply travel fast. As you know from physics it is not a matter of speed (it is relative) but acceleration.
The immersion does not break when you run your car and press overdrive.
The jump gates - more complicated but possible to imagine - fluctuations in space-tiime. A recent nobel price was awarded to physicists whose work related to this topic (ok, a bit far stretched but close enough).
Jump drive - many movies; past experience with X3.
SAT - this one is easiest - hybernation or partial one (take a pill and speed the time around you).
Highways - tubes? What is that? Particles, energy, plasma are moving at high speed? Then it will be shortage at one end and excess at another. Very illogical and most of all nobody has seen it.

[Riccardoman]

For REAL space traffic is a good implementation imo
Making the tubes transparent until you get close enough could make those highways much less annoying from an aestethical standpoint

[gbjbaanb]

The highways are one of the stupidest, most off-putting things introduced into the X Universe, ever. They are terrible, useless, and force limits on the player. It's SPACE, why do I even want highways? I never needed them before. If egosoft thought they'd be a fun mini-game-- they were, and are utterly wrong.

I understand hating how they were implemented, but there's nothing stupid about highways in space. They don't force anything on you. You're plenty free to fly wherever you want without them. See you there sometime next decade.

It makes a lot of sense to have a system that can propel your ship far faster than any engine you could reasonably install into it. I personally think having them gives a great sense of the VASTNESS of space.

The alternative, pretending your ship has some incredible alternate engine that can push it to insane speeds, is what I consider ridiculous and immersion breaking.

The entire reason you "never needed them before" was because the space you were allowed to fly around in wasn't vast. It was insanely tiny.. You were limited then, not now.

TBH every space engine has the capability to push it to insane speeds - there's nothing to stop you from constantly accelerating. Our old 70s tech Voyager is currently speeding away from us at 62,000 kph, with no engine at all!

But the point is that if you want realism, you have to understand space is bigger than you think. The nearest star to us is so far away it takes light 4 years to get here. The only way to deal with that is to either:
1. make everything closer in a reality-twisting manner
2. get jump drives going.

Now in reality, nobody will be placing a station far away from another just for fun - it'll be placed right next door to the next one, like shopping malls that congregate lots of shops in an area, or like a city that grow up in clumps around some historical reason for being.

So the only answer to this is to make it seem like things are far away, with the ability to skip the distance to avoid getting the player bored.

[schedarx]

I just hate the idea of highways

[Kevin2202]

I can hardly imagine a traffic jam unless military fleets full of big warships are temporarily using the highway to move from point A to B. The sheer size of the highway system is too big to jam. And because every ships in the highway flow like the river itself, I can't see traffic jams happening.