Game Idea Suggestions

[vpelss]

I am loving X4.

The previous X games were good, but I find X$ has a better balance of interface improvements, training help files, etc...

I like that you have a fast travel mode.

The whole game seems better balanced for the more casual gamer (myself) and complex enough for those who like a more intense challenge.

A few ideas came to me that might be easy to implement and improve immersion and make the game even better.

Some areas could be more interesting if they contained mini games.

For example:

Hacking could be better accomplished with a mini game like the one used in Fallout 3. I believe it was a take on the codebreaking board game MasterMind. I found that most enjoyable.

Likewise satellite repair could be a minigame involving resistors and capacitors? Or some sort of slide 15 puzzle?

I only have 40 hours in the game, but I am sure I will encounter more places where mini games might spice up the game.

Same with decrypting signal leaks. Some sort of math puzzle, or maybe a game of 'Simon' (color sequence remembering)?

Maybe even scanning could be improved in this area.

The lock boxes already are their own coordination / timing mini game and I find that enjoyable.

Landing already is a mini game. It was nicely implemented.

If implemented, maybe they could be turned off in settings for those who don't want more fun in their games

Keep up the good work!

[Alan Phipps]

Just playing devil's advocate though, past implementations of X mini-games of various sorts have taken a serious bashing from a significant number of players, while some others just go to the spoilers or S&M forum and ask for hints and failproof solutions/methods/deactivations. I realise that quality of implementation and replayability (or perhaps replay tedium) are strong factors in their engagement and immersion, but do we really want the devs spending a lot of their scarce time on designing and coding cunning in-game mini-games?

(Psst, don't let CBJ see the 'make it optional' suggestion! )

[jlehtone]

Landing already is a mini game. It was nicely implemented.

But then you get the Mk2 Docking Computer and shift to approaching hot, in impossible orientation, phase through the deck into the "inside", and -- if lucky -- are pulled back to "properly landed" pose.


Have you encountered Data Vaults yet? Imagine being there, in spacesuit, doing a "mini-game" to access the datapod, when you do get an eerie feeling that you are not quite alone. Lo and behold, a Xenon I with its Xenon K buddies and host of smaller reds have just dropped out of travel drive at point blank distance. Oh, you did not see, because you were in the mini-game? Don't worry, the "THE END" will print loud and clear.

(I have been in that situation, sans the "mini-game puzzle" but was able to walk out, barely.)

[subidax]

Just playing devil's advocate though, past implementations of X mini-games of various sorts have taken a serious bashing from a significant number of players, while some others just go to the spoilers or S&M forum and ask for hints and failproof solutions/methods/deactivations. I realise that quality of implementation and replayability (or perhaps replay tedium) are strong factors in their engagement and immersion, but do we really want the devs spending a lot of their scarce time on designing and coding cunning in-game mini-games?

(Psst, don't let CBJ see the 'make it optional' suggestion! )

I think/wonder part of this is because people get into "production/grind" mindset and want to do a lot of X (as a variable...not the game) to get Y result like mats, money, ships, whatever. In an MMO this keeps balance and helps people who can farm 24/7 not get so far ahead but in X Games I guess it doesn't really matter... unleesss the rewards were significantly scaled to the presence/difficulty of the minigame.

[Imperial Good]

Hacking could be better accomplished with a mini game like the one used in Fallout 3. I believe it was a take on the codebreaking board game MasterMind. I found that most enjoyable.

Mingames were used in XR for various aspects and in my opinion it was not that fun. The issue is it becomes tedious as you progress.

Likewise satellite repair could be a minigame involving resistors and capacitors? Or some sort of slide 15 puzzle?

If this were added, the mission payout would need to be raised a lot.

Same with decrypting signal leaks. Some sort of math puzzle, or maybe a game of 'Simon' (color sequence remembering)?

Another one that could become very annoying given that the signal leaks and secret communications often do not give what you are looking for so you need to scan dozens.

The lock boxes already are their own coordination / timing mini game and I find that enjoyable.

This is actually one area I would not mind an alternative minigame for. I would rather have to do some 4x4 sliding puzzle from the safety of my M ship than try to shoot a box that is rotating at 180 RPM in my space suit because my M guns are not responsive enough.

[subidax]

The lock boxes already are their own coordination / timing mini game and I find that enjoyable.

This is actually one area I would not mind an alternative minigame for. I would rather have to do some 4x4 sliding puzzle from the safety of my M ship than try to shoot a box that is rotating at 180 RPM in my space suit because my M guns are not responsive enough.

More often than not when I actually stop for a lockbox its spinning too fast or on multiple axes. Also are we supposed to use spacesuit? No wonder I keep blowing them up with my gigantor cannon

[Alan Phipps]

There's a mini-game already associated with fast rotating lockboxes; work out how to ram it with your ship just right so as to really slow the various rotations down.

[jlehtone]

... on multiple axes.

I'd say that the rotation is around one axis (but someone is rotating that axis).

[Imperial Good]

It used to be fine back in XR and early X4. But recently in X4, as of 5.00, some of the lockboxes are absolutely bonkers making multiple revolutions per second with 1 wrong shot causing them to explode, killing everything nearby.