Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

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nielsw
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Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by nielsw » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 19:03

- I got a free copy of XBTF well after its original release with some gamer magazine.

At first, I thought it was horrible and that the flight model was completely incompetent. Since I had nothing else to play that night, I continued for long enough to realize, that the ship flew so poorly, because it was damaged and as I started to repair / upgrade things, the flight model turned out to be quite alright. Subsequently, I became more and more impressed, how Egosoft staged availability of upgrades and additional game features:
ONE: it made it easy to learn and get into.
TWO: there were always new functions and features popping up, keeping it interesting all the way through the story.
THREE: lacking a large team, they made a virtue out of the constraint, giving you cartoonish, endearing aliens, that added loads of charm and levity to the game. Starcraft Plus!
FOUR: They kept adding an endless stream of additional features, a lot of them requested by players throughout, at no charge (UBISoft could have made $50 worth of DLC's out of that)
FIVE: They added Xtension! If Egosoft's team could live on goodwill and adoration alone, they would have been set for eternity ;-)

Time moved forward and Egosoft wasn't lazy, releasing the new numbered X series and it was awesome and getting better with every update and every title. And they continued to add features that were relevant and useful in every way.
The one corny addition, I hated, was the 3D avatars, which I chalked down to a probable publisher requirement (publishers have these feature lists of what should/must be in a title in order to sell).

lots more time passed...

Rebirth I skipped simply based on Egosoft's own description and reading a few reviews.


X4 I did purchase again, but sadly, its been frustrating in numerous ways:

You can waste hours on nearly empty stations with NPCs rendered so poorly, they add nothing beyond consuming my time with interactions I completely fail to enjoy. The old text menu at stations was 1000% better and faster!
Highways - oh please... forcing me onto a labyrinth of arbitrary snaking tunnels in space, instead of allowing me to navigate according to my skills and my ship's drives? When and where did that sound like a good idea???
Best space flight system ever was in Independence War I and II

The story line - Its even more difficult to follow that without loosing the next quest you must do, as it is to get used those darned high-ways. They make space not really space, but more like a tron theme park.
For a long time Egosoft fan, I find it extremely difficult to get into this game - both from a perspective of playing the game as well as the matter of wanting to play the game enough to get past the incredible time wasting in stations.




If there's anyone who could and would explain to me why I'm wrong about X4, or if there's any way to avoid walking about stations for kilometers and talking to the most abysmal NPCs I've ever encountered, I'd greatly appreciate it!


I do understand that Egosoft doesn't have 500 devs to do this, but since they can't do good 3D NPCs, why not stick to adorable cartoon characters, that are much less resource intensive and yet add more to the game...

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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X Rebirth extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Rei Ayanami » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 20:00

About highways :
In X4 you don't really need to use highways since you have the travel drive. Most X4 sectors don't have many highways (if any at all), the only big one is the one going through all the main sectors, but even then you don't have to use it, just use your travel drive and go through the gates manually.

Usually i don't use the highways other than when i want to go there faster than the travel drive allows (which isn't very often the case).

As for the blue super highways... well, they act as "loading zones" between sectors that share the same background, just see them as a separate version of a gate to add more variety. :)
Lore-wise it's basically what the races invented to mimic gates... they can't build gates for instant teleportation between two fixed points, so they did the next best thing : Make things go superfast between fixed points.

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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Alan Phipps » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 20:05

Changed thread title to relate to X4 and moved from X Rebirth to X4 forum.
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Skeeter
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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Skeeter » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 20:30

Im the same. Been with x since 1999. Enjoyed xbtf and x2 but x3 changed things and couldnt get into it then rebirth which was boring and didnt like the skunk it was a boring ship to be in. X4 came i bought it got the collectors version cheap but not played it properly as rendering issues with tearing even in beta 5 on station like wharfs even tho freesync is suppose to get rid of it but doesnt only vsync on. The game doesnt feel like x its more of a empire only game as i just dont feel the game is geared to just flying ur ship and doing a plot and trading like the old games. I still hope later it might be fun but well see. I still jump in now and then just to try drivers to test performance or game updates but im not gona invest much time other than that till i see a plot come and more focus on the ship ur flying and not station of other ships being the focus. 3.0 is suppose to add missions with a plot but i dont think it will be what i hope/want.
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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Tamina » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 20:33

Honestly, it sounds more like you are speaking about X Rebirth instead of X4.

- You don't have to talk to anyone on stations. Most interactions can be done through the map.
Can you specify to whom you are talking to? Then we could tell you how to avoid that.

- There is also not much of a story in X4 besides a small mission chain. More story content is planned to be added soon.

- Highway labyrinth? Tron theme park? There is basically only one ring-highway. The other super highways work exactly like normal gates.

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Duncaroos
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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Duncaroos » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 21:00

Tamina wrote:
Sun, 26. Jan 20, 20:33
The other super highways work exactly like normal gates.
I would argue the superhighway works better than jumpgates because there is one pair per direction removing the hassle of colliding L/XL ships. :roll: :)
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Nort The Fragrent
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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Nort The Fragrent » Sun, 26. Jan 20, 22:09

Highways ! Just don’t use them! They spoil the flying around, and I think are intended for the younger generation who have no brain cells. Use your travel drive if you must.

The only talking I do is to tell my captain to be the station manager, or to fire him! The longest chat is when you have to listen to the Rank being bestowed upon you. And they are all the same so go put the kettle on !

X4 is not X3, sadly, but has some very cool new stuff, station building, Docking, Cockpits, and a smaller map to discover. Well not discover! That you can do in a couple of game sessions !!

What it has got is it’s Foundation. A good solid base for ES to start building a magnificent game onto. I as I am sure others are waiting for 3 to be released, then we shall see ES intentions as too if the game is going to be be as good as they say it will.

More Map, more ships, more content, and a restructured economy that stops shipbuilding being a river of inexhaustible cash. Sorry ! Tsunami that just keeps coming. It is way out of kilter !

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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Matthew94 » Mon, 27. Jan 20, 01:35

Nort The Fragrent wrote:
Sun, 26. Jan 20, 22:09
Highways ! Just don’t use them! They spoil the flying around, and I think are intended for the younger generation who have no brain cells. Use your travel drive if you must.
Agreed, everyone knows that subjecting yourself to tedium is the mark of an enlightened mind. It's why I crawl to work on my hands and knees rather than drive.

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Re: Played X from the first title - finding X4 extremely difficult to get into...

Post by Alan Phipps » Mon, 27. Jan 20, 11:18

Post your own opinions and comments and don't deride those of others, thank you.
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