I've Decided not to buy this game (aka: Cannot buy ships)

[reanor]

I have been using my roommates computer to play this game.

It was great until the updates came out. We started over and
now can't buy ships anywhere.

What's the point of a game when you can't get through the first
mission because there are no spaceships available in a spaceship
game?

Sorry. I've had enough. Money stays in my pocket until this is
fixed.

It's not really a big surprise that new people who try this game break their nails, while trying to figure out whats going on. The X games are known to have steep learning curve and require some understanding of what drives the universe. Some people fail to understand that this game simulates live universe in the background, which no other games do, well maybe very few, but I haven't seen any other game that does everything that X games do and on the same scale and level, the X4 especially. Keeping in mind that this is also pretty small team, the X4 is pretty much an indie game. I believe, if the X4 had more sophisticated tutorial that includes everything that can be done in the game, it would help majority of people to break into the game's pace and uniqueness. But then again, you can't really convince someone that the fact that some factories can run out of resources and stall production and that you can use other game mechanics to make money, buy trade ships and run a manual supply queues to fill the orders for missing resources to take the NPC factory out of the production stall.

For some, it's a broken feature, for others - it's an opportunity to have fun. For some, releasing a game full of bugs is preposterous, to others - it's fun to get it to play early and see how broken game can be fixed by using working features, then plug in mods and test even further, or even make mods to make the game playable. All parties have valid claims here. But the fact remains that new players want to try the game that's been released almost 4 months ago and still can't understand what the heck is going on. It's nobody's fault. THe X games always were a niche games, for devoted fans, who didn't care that games were released buggy and unfinished. Then again, we can't blame people, who never tried the X games before that they can't buy space ships to complete a mission...

[Olfrygt]

Build that factories?

With a 4h old save ? They don't even sell that blueprints to me? First i want an Teladi M6 because im tired of my weak Perseus it has only 2 weapons.

And even with some of that factories delivering 5k+ hullparts takes some time.

[SPiDER]

What I like about this thread is that its completely the opposite..of "This games too easy to make money lets go back to X3!!"

This game X4 like previous X games is not a 20-40 hour play through.

Youv'e played 1641 hours
net Worth 66796499530
Owned Ships 2665
Owned Stations 69

Long Haul Game

[Falcrack]

If we had dealerships, where players and NPCs could buy prebuilt ships "off the lot" so to speak, and NPCs were not allowed to buy the last copy or two of each ship, then some of these complaints would be addressed. You may not be able to immediately get the exact configuration you want, but you would be able to get a ship right away. It would provide extra buffer capacity in terms of ship availability when you or NPC factions need it.

[reanor]

If we had dealerships, where players and NPCs could buy prebuilt ships "off the lot" so to speak, and NPCs were not allowed to buy the last copy or two of each ship, then some of these complaints would be addressed. You may not be able to immediately get the exact configuration you want, but you would be able to get a ship right away. It would provide extra buffer capacity in terms of ship availability when you or NPC factions need it.

It's actually a good thought, to have 1-2 ships in a reserve buffer, that factions are not allowed to use... Now how this can be scripted in, that's another question... Does each faction and the player have their unique IDs in the game? Can ship purchase be conditioned to the specific ID of the buyer? This wouldn't be an issue though, if shipyards made enough ships, but then it wouldn't be a real time live economy because it's natural for factories to run out of resources and then good thing is that player has all the ways in the game to supply the materials to stalled shipyards and actually make good money on that, in result - buy all the ships they want. X4 teaches us to think, after all, it's one of the game's 4 pillars, but not everyone wants to do it .

[nickolaiproblem]

My friend bought the game and we sat down and played together.
I don't think this is piracy, is it? Sharing, I thought.

Anyway, my point is this game is quite a learning curve right from
the beginning. The "components unavailable" aspect, which was
added in one of the updates, makes it that much harder. My buddy
has played other Foundation games but is quite stumped at this one.
Games like Civilization have difficulty levels. This may have been
a good idea for this game as well.

I will hunt around and look for spare parts and try and get these
wharfs functional again. However it is a bit like going out and
buying milk for Walmart because they ran out.

Which is what your supposed to do in a game that basis is trading and making money.

[LameFox]

If by 'first mission' you mean for the HQ, where it wants you to buy and detonate a ship, I don't think you even need to do that at all: I used the money to upgrade my own ship, went and fought pirates for a bit, and when one of them bailed I took that ship and used it for the mission.

[Aven Valkyr]

Hey guys. No reason to hate this person for their opinion. OP, if you are having problems buying ships early on, I can help you. You are welcome to add me on steam. I can have you up and running within an hour. The problem is, you aren't going to get a lot of good ships for a long time. The big ships come later, and the combat ships are pointless early on.

The thing about X4 is you MUST set up a mining/trade network early on and get yourself to work building a satellite network. I can teach you how to supply shipyards with the things they need to get you the odd ship here and there and slowly build up your fleet iternerary. It's really quite easy, the stations at the beginning are actually quite well stocked, just not the shipyards. There's also a bazillion orders from everyone and their dog for ships to be built, so this process is slow going at first.

The thing you really need to get over with X4 is that's it's slow going at first. If you can handle not getting into instant action and doing what needs to be done in order to get the flow happening, this is the game for you. If you want instant action, well there's many games out there. I would recommend buying Descent Freespace 1 & 2 from Gog.com

[Tya]

He's right. It's unacceptable that you can start a game and be in a situation where you can't buy ships.

Sure there's reasons why that is the case, but reasons don't excuse the flaw.

[Nanook]

He's right. It's unacceptable that you can start a game and be in a situation where you can't buy ships.

Sure there's reasons why that is the case, but reasons don't excuse the flaw.

Nonsense! It's not a 'flaw'. If you've ever played past X games, you'll remember that they start out the same way. In those games, it was your lack of reputation that prevented early ship purchases. Either way, it's easy enough to advance in X4 if you work a little bit at it. There are plenty of pirates out there willing to give you their ships with the right persuasion. And the HOP will gift you transports and miners, if you ask them right.

[Falcrack]

They could solve this issue of "no ships to buy right now" by introducing dealerships. Basically, docks that order ships from shipyards with a preset configuration, which you or AI could purchase for immediate use. These dealerships aim to keep a certain stock level of ships on hand. It would act as a sort of buffer which allows ships to be purchasable immediately, to help cushion against sudden spikes in demand for ships. When the spike in demand is over, the dealerships would slowly fill up again with ships ordered from shipyards. Maybe the dealerships could charge a little premium extra beyond what the shipyard would charge.

[Lone_Wolf_3115]

However it is a bit like going out and buying milk for Walmart because they ran out.

Exactly. An enormous faction with needed resources within a jump or two shouldn't have any issue producing stuff.

You all are meowing at him for playing a friends copy (that is in no way pirating) and walking away cause the economy is wonky?

This is insane - there is no tutorial for why a station needs YOU the player, as the sole entity that has to supply stations in order for them to work.

Those of us veterans of egosoft games know we have to find a way, and to many that is a pleasurable experience.

However for new players to X, and even some vets, X4 isnt going to be their cup of tea. Everyone is different, and for many that is sadly hard to accept.

Very Well Said.
I Too was Hung Up over ships taking Forever to Build. After I Placed Orders, and Found Components Not Available, I went about Buying Components, and The Shipyards, or Warf's Would Not Buy Them from me, so I just went on Playing Elsewhere, and checked back some time later, one ship was a Week or More, and My Ship was waiting there for me to Pick it Up...
The NPC's seem to do the trades that are Necessary for things to get done, kind of in the Back Ground. The Player does not need to Hold Stations Hands to make them do their job.

[Shootist]

Good for you. Lets not try to find a solution to the problem, too much work. There are better games around.

didn't pay to find problems.

[dholmstr]

Good for you. Lets not try to find a solution to the problem, too much work. There are better games around.

didn't pay to find problems.

Eh, what? Good quote on me when I am answering another person, that has nothing to do with you.

[Nort The Fragrent]

Indeed a frustrating game to begin with, Little in the way of help as to why you can not do something.
Yet with persistence, yes lots of it! You will progress as you learn to walk first, then once you have made the mistakes we all have to make. You can then start running.
I now have hundreds of ships, Billions of credits, and ship yards popping more and more out all the time.

Get your self back into the game and start playing. Thats the point is to play the game.

Enjoy.

[Horux]

He's right. It's unacceptable that you can start a game and be in a situation where you can't buy ships.

Sure there's reasons why that is the case, but reasons don't excuse the flaw.

Nonsense! It's not a 'flaw'. If you've ever played past X games, you'll remember that they start out the same way. In those games, it was your lack of reputation that prevented early ship purchases. Either way, it's easy enough to advance in X4 if you work a little bit at it. There are plenty of pirates out there willing to give you their ships with the right persuasion. And the HOP will gift you transports and miners, if you ask them right.

You can not compare reputation barriers with a broken economy. Especially if the reputation barriers did not prevent you from buying low tier ships.
And saying do not buy the ships, capture them is not a solution for people who want to be traders.

[photomankc]

If we had dealerships, where players and NPCs could buy prebuilt ships "off the lot" so to speak, and NPCs were not allowed to buy the last copy or two of each ship, then some of these complaints would be addressed. You may not be able to immediately get the exact configuration you want, but you would be able to get a ship right away. It would provide extra buffer capacity in terms of ship availability when you or NPC factions need it.

That would be pretty helpful actually, even if it only offered low-end stuff. S scouts, miners, and transports and maybe one M transport. The big problem is early on you don't have a ship with cargo space to do anything about the shortage and you well... can't build one either. I got no problem with the early need to get things rolling, that's actually a lot of opportunity to trade for the player it's just when you get stuck in the chicken-egg problem that you can't really get out of except "just wait longer".

[Nanook]

He's right. It's unacceptable that you can start a game and be in a situation where you can't buy ships.

Sure there's reasons why that is the case, but reasons don't excuse the flaw.

Nonsense! It's not a 'flaw'. If you've ever played past X games, you'll remember that they start out the same way. In those games, it was your lack of reputation that prevented early ship purchases. Either way, it's easy enough to advance in X4 if you work a little bit at it. There are plenty of pirates out there willing to give you their ships with the right persuasion. And the HOP will gift you transports and miners, if you ask them right.

You can not compare reputation barriers with a broken economy. Especially if the reputation barriers did not prevent you from buying low tier ships.
And saying do not buy the ships, capture them is not a solution for people who want to be traders.

The economy isn't broken, IMO. If you give them a little bit of time, the NPC's will fulfill the necessary orders and ships will get built, even without player input. At least, that's how my current game has played out.

[Falcrack]

Just buy Star Citizen. There is no end of ways to buy ships in that game. You may end up spending thousands of real dollars though.