Well Managed To Squeeze 1029 Hours Out of X4

[EmperorDragon]

I dunno, I really love the game. Apart from all the bugs and issues, it's awesome! It's like a masterpiece dropped in a septic tank, Egosoft just needs to keep on cleaning off the sewage until it shines with brilliance. 1029 hours is a lot though, I'm not even halfway there yet.

I also stopped playing a week or so ago, I'm still eager to play but, I'd rather wait for all the fundamental bugs and issues to be fixed, so that I can enjoy the game in all it's glory instead of burning out on it in it's current state. Some bugs just spoil the game for me at this point. It's like a cool Early Access game nearing it's final release state, you'd rather wait for the final release before diving back into it.

The game does get rather monotonous in the late game. It plays more like a tycoon game or business management sim with combat feeling more like a complimentary filler feature. Once you've built everything you want to build and your empire runs smoothly, things start to get somewhat monotonous and boring. Combat is limited to large-scale fleet combat or nothing at all, mostly limited to Xenon sectors and it's surroundings. The game lacks proper pirate factions to fill the gaps, provide small-scale skirmishes and to give you that sense of danger when exploring border space and unclaimed sectors. There's no element of surprise, no unexpected encounters, no raiding parties or patrols that warrants the construction of defenses, the whole universe (beyond Xenon sectors) just become too static.

The random encounter script is a band-aid attempt to make up for this but, it's predictable and more of an annoyance in a game of this type. Factions (like SCA and HAT) don't spread out, they don't go on universe-wide patrols or reinforce their assets, the player has to fly around to spawn them, around the playership only. It just feels too scripted and wears off very early on. Doesn't matter anyway without proper pirates and/or "normal" (not alien/mechanical like Xenon and Khaak) outlaw factions to keep things interesting and dynamic for all types of playstyles.

Non-hostile AI exploration ships could add a nice touch too, like the Goner Rangers of X3 that you would often encounter in the most unlikely places.

[GCU Grey Area]

In my opinion every ship bigger than the nemesis is no fun. Slow big hit box and no firepower. Flying in a Frigate or Destroyer in X3 was fun...

Entirely the other way round for me. In previous X games really did not enjoy flying anything bigger than an M6 or TP (e.g. Angel). Capitals were just too damn slow for me to have fun with them. However in X4 have recently been thoroughly enjoying flying a Phoenix of all things - something I never thought would ever happen, based on preconceptions of Teladi capitals from previous games. Key difference for me has been the ship modification system, particularly since the update which permitted capital engines to be modified. As a consequence currently flying a Phoenix V which runs at 254m/s (over 8.6km/s in travel mode) & has main guns with a range of around 11km. It's made flying capitals MUCH more of a pleasant experience for me.

As for game duration, recently passed the 1,000 hour mark myself & still having a ton of fun.

[EmperorDragon]

In my opinion every ship bigger than the nemesis is no fun. Slow big hit box and no firepower. Flying in a Frigate or Destroyer in X3 was fun...

Entirely the other way round for me. In previous X games really did not enjoy flying anything bigger than an M6 or TP (e.g. Angel). Capitals were just too damn slow for me to have fun with them. However in X4 have recently been thoroughly enjoying flying a Phoenix of all things - something I never thought would ever happen, based on preconceptions of Teladi capitals from previous games. Key difference for me has been the ship modification system, particularly since the update which permitted capital engines to be modified. As a consequence currently flying a Phoenix V which runs at 254m/s (over 8.6km/s in travel mode) & has main guns with a range of around 11km. It's made flying capitals MUCH more of a pleasant experience for me.

As for game duration, recently passed the 1,000 hour mark myself & still having a ton of fun.

I have to agree. Combat apart, flying around in my Colossus in X4 is much more pleasant than it was in X3, even though it still travels at it's default 120m/s. I found a liking in the Behemoth as a playership as well. Travel mode also makes a difference in terms of the slow sector crossings we used to sit through in X3.

[photomankc]

In my opinion every ship bigger than the nemesis is no fun. Slow big hit box and no firepower. Flying in a Frigate or Destroyer in X3 was fun...

Entirely the other way round for me. In previous X games really did not enjoy flying anything bigger than an M6 or TP (e.g. Angel). Capitals were just too damn slow for me to have fun with them. However in X4 have recently been thoroughly enjoying flying a Phoenix of all things - something I never thought would ever happen, based on preconceptions of Teladi capitals from previous games. Key difference for me has been the ship modification system, particularly since the update which permitted capital engines to be modified. As a consequence currently flying a Phoenix V which runs at 254m/s (over 8.6km/s in travel mode) & has main guns with a range of around 11km. It's made flying capitals MUCH more of a pleasant experience for me.

As for game duration, recently passed the 1,000 hour mark myself & still having a ton of fun.

I have to agree. Combat apart, flying around in my Colossus in X4 is much more pleasant than it was in X3, even though it still travels at it's default 120m/s. I found a liking in the Behemoth as a playership as well. Travel mode also makes a difference in terms of the slow sector crossings we used to sit through in X3.

Same. Flying an Odysseus last night trying to save what's left of Ianamus Zura from 4 K's and an I. All I could do in the frigate I entered the sector in was help pin them down and keep the engines stripped off and the L turrets fried which helped the lone Teladi ship keep punching the I and strip it's turrets. Finally my Ody and her Behemoth travel companion arrived from across the map. After much turning, twisting and boosting in my frigate between the K's, I teleported over and really flew it for the first time. It was fun! Came screaming in to the fight with travel drive, used my 9KM reach to eat the shields off the K's and then hammered em with like 9 turrets of plasma cannon and It was a blast. Damn near got drilled by the 4th K that came sneaking in behind while I was working on the I. By the time I was able to slam the throttle and boost into motion my shields were hosed. Took some damage but got them all destroyed. There was good money in that fight. I now dearly love the Gorgon and my fat-assed Odysseus.

Too late for the Teladi trade representative I'm afraid. The trade station was all but completely smashed by the I. I think as of now the station can't rebuild either because of some bugs. Going to have to suck up to MIN some I guess.

Anyway this is much more fun and immersive to me than the old fullscreen view of nothing flying at such a plodding pace that just getting here to there was painful. I enjoyed last night quite a bit.

[sundernet]

i cannot seem to have a valid target in this game as i am growing really OLD OF THIS DAMN CONFUSION!!!!
Everything is managed throughout the MAP .... wtf!!!!!!!!!!!

right click, information, select behavior... and finally.!!! Stop and REPEAT!!!

EACH 30 Minutes i need to look for a workaround on every game stuck! Why does my manager doesn't wanna be assigned, why can't i convert the pilot into a manager, i got around 36h of gameplay and almost 75% it's all watch tuts, browse the net for solutions!!!

What satisfaction i have for playing this game?!?! if they made it so complex to access menus and such!

[Horux]

In my opinion every ship bigger than the nemesis is no fun. Slow big hit box and no firepower. Flying in a Frigate or Destroyer in X3 was fun...

Entirely the other way round for me. In previous X games really did not enjoy flying anything bigger than an M6 or TP (e.g. Angel). Capitals were just too damn slow for me to have fun with them. However in X4 have recently been thoroughly enjoying flying a Phoenix of all things - something I never thought would ever happen, based on preconceptions of Teladi capitals from previous games. Key difference for me has been the ship modification system, particularly since the update which permitted capital engines to be modified. As a consequence currently flying a Phoenix V which runs at 254m/s (over 8.6km/s in travel mode) & has main guns with a range of around 11km. It's made flying capitals MUCH more of a pleasant experience for me.

As for game duration, recently passed the 1,000 hour mark myself & still having a ton of fun.

Its cool that you have fun with the Phoenix. I understand that the speed in X3 was slower, but at least for me the firepower was better. A massive amount of turrets which are all able to kill in an Fighter class ship in seconds, if the right weapon is equiped. But here? The ships a faster but even the XL carrier, at least my newly accquired Zeus, have only 1 L turret and 18 M turrets which none of them is even close to be as deadly as the weapons were in X3TC/AP. Additional Plasma towers do not even hit, while moving.
If all L/XL would have Xenon weapons, then they had at least some power.

Same. Flying an Odysseus last night trying to save what's left of Ianamus Zura from 4 K's and an I. All I could do in the frigate I entered the sector in was help pin them down and keep the engines stripped off and the L turrets fried which helped the lone Teladi ship keep punching the I and strip it's turrets. Finally my Ody and her Behemoth travel companion arrived from across the map. After much turning, twisting and boosting in my frigate between the K's, I teleported over and really flew it for the first time. It was fun! Came screaming in to the fight with travel drive, used my 9KM reach to eat the shields off the K's and then hammered em with like 9 turrets of plasma cannon and It was a blast. Damn near got drilled by the 4th K that came sneaking in behind while I was working on the I. By the time I was able to slam the throttle and boost into motion my shields were hosed. Took some damage but got them all destroyed. There was good money in that fight. I now dearly love the Gorgon and my fat-assed Odysseus.

Too late for the Teladi trade representative I'm afraid. The trade station was all but completely smashed by the I. I think as of now the station can't rebuild either because of some bugs. Going to have to suck up to MIN some I guess.

Anyway this is much more fun and immersive to me than the old fullscreen view of nothing flying at such a plodding pace that just getting here to there was painful. I enjoyed last night quite a bit.

I am a little bit confused. Please correct me if I am wrong: First you destroyed engines and turrets with you frigate and when the ships? or only the I was crippled you came with your Oddy? Please don't get me wrong, the important thing for you is that you have fun. But crippling the K's and I first and then punching in, is not the way I would describe my ship as a bad ass damage dealer or fighting monster.

[photomankc]

Well if I gotta explain myself. Well really I don’t since as you said It was a fun moment for me in a ship that wasn’t a slowpoke There were 2 Ks that were loose I didn’t mess with after other stations,2 that were still fighting but dead in the water after I targeted the engines and I was running between keeping them that way, and an I that was engaged by a TEL destroyer but still moving that i was able to disable. Didn’t say I was a god of death.

The frigate was not practical for attacking the capitols just killing the subsystems. I needed the Ody to kill them without a rubber band on the trigger.