Update on Version 1.4 Progress: RELEASED

[The_Abyss]

1.4 is released


This is to keep everyone updated about what is going on with update 1.4, as we are aware that everyone is very keen for news

Beta testing has been going on extensively for a considerable time now - as has been suggested several times, with an expansion planned, work on updating X² must cease at some point and work on the expansion commence. We are currently testing build 3 of the 1.4 beta, and before you all ready anything into this message, it is by no means sure that this will be the final version, or that it is about to be released. For the reasons detailed above with the expansion, it is of course vital to make sure that everything possible is done to make 1.4 polished, and also contain everything that Egosoft and players want.

So, to give you a taste of what will be in update 1.4 (not a re-hash of "what is being fixed / looked at in 1.4), here goes. Enjoy

Game Fixes

Firstly, the 'boring but necessary' stuff. Various issues causing games to crash or freeze have been located and fixed - this is much improved. Some textures which were not loading into the game correctly have also been corrected. The universe is now more beautiful than ever before! Other graphical improvements include the capital ships view in thh warp tunnel now looking good.

Jon's thread in the Technical Support Forum lists most of the known issues. We can be a little more specific about these now, including the following confirmed fixes:

- some joystick throttles causing the cockpit to judder
- the game freezing when the player died
- Pressing H did not open the help menu
- Pressing Shift J twice no longer cancelled a jump (no flames please - this is the way it's supposed to be )
- Pirate 'hacks' now fixed and will hack all stations in range
- Various BBS missions updated, specifically no more negative rewards
- Player-owned ships will notleave their homebase jump range radius any longer
- Escort ships now have smoother, more consistent speed
- collission avoidance improved along with AI in general
- and of course, the now in-famous change of max cargo size for TP class ships from XL to L
- all 5 docking ports of the Xenon K are now fully operational

All good so far, but if Egosoft were just fixing bugs, 1.4 would be a patch. It's not - it's an update

Game Updates

Now for the great stuff. Every game has AI these days. In 1.4 you will also experience the Artificial Life Engine (AL). What does this do? Well, it adds some more atmosphere and life to the universe. Never seen a TP liner going about it's business, ferrying passengers to and fro? Well, you will now.

Every wondered why a race with whom you are best buddies stands by whilst your freighters and stations are attacked and destroyed? Meet the new policing in the X Universe, the race Sector Patrols. And without giving too much away (we all like nice surprises!) there are a couple of other new things going on around you as well - for these you'll have to wait and see . And because Egosoft is being especially nice to you, if you are crazy and don't like the AL plugin, you can turn it off as well.

Other little tweaks include less notifications about enemy attacks on your property. Police licences will not now be lost when that 'stray shot' (yes officer, it was accidental) hits a friendly ship. Don't push your luck too far though. And as mentioned before, the AI will now certainly put up more of a fight than before . Lasertowers now defend themselves against missiles, are stronger, turn faster and are generally offering more bang for your buck, which should hopefully put them on more player's shopping lists and also create a new threat in the universe.

Strangely, some players seem to have built up large empires in the X universe. Now, you can manage it more easily. Filters in the 'Property Owned' menu have been added as follows:

- optional hull/shields indicator
- optional additional ship activity details
- filtering by ship type
- filtering by action
- filtering by status (e.g. under attack)
- filtering by homebase setting

For the factory owners out there, we have some new features in the station menus:

Adjust Settings Menu

- information about average price for all products and resources
- information about jumps per product (nearest jump at which the product can be sold at the given price)
- information about the suggested minimum selling price of the product to make profit (this depends of course on the the current resource price settings) - this one is my favourite
- price and jump settings will now update immediately in the product / resource lines whilst you are moving the price selector bar

Station Information Menu

- information about required resources per production cycle now included

Other Cool Additions

Scripts

There are several new scripts in update 1.4 (and maybe some more to follow), including:

- you've already enjoyed the Sector Trader. Galaxy Trader will take your TS just that little bit further - a whole lot further in fact if you want!!!
- improved station accountancy tools

Anything Else?

There are of course lots of little other changes, too numerous to quote here. There are also a few things left out - Egosoft still want to suprise you sometimes - and there are still some larger changes which could be put in which are not yet certain. But for now, I hope you enjoy what will be coming up!

Thanks for being patient, and especially thanks to Egosoft for continually putting so much effort into improving the game!

EDIT - update mini interview with Apoch - here

EDIT 2 - update mini interview with BurnIt! - here

[Steel]

Steel

[carran]

Presumably savegames are forward compatible with the new patch?

[The_Abyss]

Yep - should be - they are compatable in testing.

[Skeeter]

Amazing alot of things i was hoping and asked for especially looking forward to the filters in the proprty window as i use that heavily.

[EDITED]

Whats happening to the Jump when u press ctrl J will that stay as instant jump or not as i like it

AL sounds nice but what is the benefit to you the player?

Will the police have there own corvette and own race specific police ships instead of using ships u can buy. Also will there be any siren lights on hehe or somit that they use when chasing u?

Fix the animation of astronaut suit 'death sequence' as it looks like a ship exploding.

Add ship debris that stays in space when ships explode as they dont just leave nothing SOMETHING always remains behind with any weapon.

[END EDITED SECTION]

If there was one thing missing it would be a charting system of sorts where it maps spacial anomolies (sp) like nebula and stuff. Also perhaps a khaak attack probability percentage display indicating what systems are safer than others perhaps. And a favourites list indicating favourite systems u like to visit and what favourite product u buy and sell and also favourite trading routes.

Still all them fixes are sweet and will love to get a hold on 1.4 patch. Btw whats the current size of the patch ur using for 1.4 testing atm so i can get a rough idea what it could be later, i know it will change but just nice to know as im on 56k u see.

Btw about patches do egosoft have to ask for permission from publisher to make them or do they have the ability to make them as and when there needed.

All in all good work egosoft

[Risky]

Thaat does sound pretty good. I'll look forward to the AL engine and the rest of it.

[Hengist]

Thanks for the update, it is appreciated.

[Gazzareth]

Flippin' 'Eck - that sounds great to me, although fingers crossed that remote freight transfer is one of the "surprises"......

.... I think that also explains why Beta testing is taking so long !!!

Thanks for the update ..

[pixel]

I love you Egosoft

[Uncle B]

Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

That sounds better than I hoped and I'm an optimist!

[XU Vagabond]

can wait for this update at least this will stop people from starting up "whats in 1.4 " theads.

[Timbuk2]

Well bugger me!

My oh my the Ego boys have been busy.

Love the sound of the Artificial Life Engine, specifically the Race Sector Patrols. Sounds fantastic!

Keep up the great work.

[Jha'dur]

Oh my. That's so much good stuff one might start to think it's some sort of cruel joke

Hooray hooray, for whenever it comes.

less notifications about enemy attacks on your property. hehe...

[dPM_HeMan]

[Whiplash]

I don't know if you can answser this yet.. I just wondered so I can prepare.. is the patch going to be all inclusive, or will it be an incremental patch from 1.3? I reinstalled windows a few days ago, and will be reinstalling the game when 1.4 comes out, so I just wondered if you knew.