I'd like an XL battleship DLC

[Caedes91]

No need.
Terrans are supposed to be technologically superior. Instead, they were already nerfed hard for this game when compared to previous titles for the sake of "balance".
No more unique missiles, not only copy pasta turrets, but even then lacking any anti capital ones.
Worst fighters and worst civilian ships of all races.

It's enough. All other races already have the upper hand against Terrans. Don't devalue them any further by giving other races the only unique trait the Terrans have.

[Nerwesta]

A unique trait should be the most powerful main weapon from a battleship, not barring everyone else playing other races from accessing a ship category.
It's almost like the Split could have 2-3 types of fighters because they do love them.

Also Terrans are more than on a good shape on most of my games, why would you think otherwise ? They have a perfect economy.

[flywlyx]

So is, say, the Syn a battleship? And if not, why not? How would a battleship be different?

In my view, the battleship should be the cornerstone of the faction's tactics. For instance, since Asgard has the Death Beam, other TER ships should focus on protecting it during its cooldown by specializing in anti-air and anti-surface capabilities.

If I were to design a battleship for SPL, aside from its usual traits of high hull durability, low shields, high speed, and short range, its main weapon should have a unique effect that drains the target’s shield or hull while simultaneously restoring its own. This would allow it to absorb more damage, creating a frontline presence that enables its subordinates to close in on enemies more safely.

While fully realizing this concept would require significant AI improvements, even without them, it would still introduce diverse combat styles and encourage players to experiment with different strategies.

[LameFox]

Honest question: Why do you want a battleship for each race?

Is it not boring, if every race has the same ships?
No need for you to then adapt do different fleets or learn new approaches on how to roleplay as one?

I've never understood this angle, especially because it seems like it's only applied when people talk about battleships. I mean is it expected I should get bored because everyone has a carrier? A destroyer? A heavy fighter? Surely nobody really expects that we see a Barracuda and think "ugh, not THIS again, don't they know we have the Eclipse already?".

If you like battleships, it's nice having a wider variety of battleships to choose from (and fight against). That's all. It's the same as when you enjoy basically any other kind of ship.

[flywlyx]

If you like battleships, it's nice having a wider variety of battleships to choose from (and fight against). That's all. It's the same as when you enjoy basically any other kind of ship.

I get the sense that what I really want is a flashy, powerful flagship for every faction. While the game design seems to encourage using carriers in that role, the experience of flying a carrier—especially with fighters constantly ramming into the hull—is far from enjoyable. On the other hand, flying the ship with the biggest gun in the fleet is an entirely different and far more satisfying experience.

[LameFox]

For me it's mostly about recapturing the feeling of the destroyers in X3, which was almost totally lost in this game. Battleships have essentially taken on that role because they made destroyers do what frigates did and frigates... well, I feel sorry for frigates.

I do sometimes ride along on my carriers but flying one personally is certainly not particularly interesting. And I'm mostly just there to external view other members of my fleet, because I can rely on the carrier not to explode suddenly. I miss watching the big salvos of incoming and outgoing turret fire from a heavy ship, it had a very cinematic sort of feeling.

[linolafett]

Thank you all so much for your views on the battleship topic. The kind of "flagship" which distills the factions behaviour in one single very specialized ship makes sense to me.

I just asked the question, as i have heard it here in the office and wanted to hear your take on it.

[mr.WHO]

Everyone talk about VRO mod, which is good, but I'd also like to point Egosoft attention to X4:Reemergence (or X4:RE) mod as well - they are doing great job adding unique ships that are missing in vanilla X4.

[chew-ie]

Everyone talk about VRO mod, which is good, but I'd also like to point Egosoft attention to X4:Reemergence (or X4:RE) mod as well - they are doing great job adding unique ships that are missing in vanilla X4.

Good point. TBH I see those two as a whole. Installing VRO means installing Reemergence as well in my book

[linolafett]

Without having played these mods, what are stand out ships in there, which would fit into the vanilla game world and why?
Thank you for your time answering me here, it just takes a lot of time to play the mods to understand the entire structure and balancing of them.

[alt3rn1ty]

~ BOR need just more L turrets as the Ray is gimped in that regard -> mediocre battleship in the overall comparison, but lots of shields and more turrets than the Ray; ~

^ This would be my only request on the subject.

I hesitated to respond before now because the suggestion seems like an awful lot of work to add, and all additions would need the New Flight Model / Balancing.
But if Egosoft are willing/can afford to .. Thats my only preference request regarding battleships.

[mr.WHO]

Without having played these mods, what are stand out ships in there, which would fit into the vanilla game world and why?

In X4:RE they are adding more assets to SCA, VIG and Yaki, while in vanilla they are half baked at best - that adds pirate variety to the universe that X4 still lacks.

VRO and RE got rid of copy/paste/mk.1.2.3 equipment in favor of each each race having their own unique set of turrets and weapons.
Basically what we have with vanilla Borons, they applied it to everyone (while there is sitll some shared compactibility on basic commonwealth weapons/equipment, but more advance weapons are restricted to each faction, e.g. Argon advance weapon can be only used by argon ship).

X4:RE bring back missing content from X3 - battleships are just one of them, light carriers, proper L-size frigates (aka M7), missile frigates (aka M7M), bombers, TM, TP, bulk transports, drones, entire OTAS corporation.
They also add unique asymetric stuff, like huge XL freighters for PIO and Teladi, Repair ships, PIO/Terran Tug,

It would be best just to join X4:RE discord and take a look at "assets showroom" section - they are doing their ships in "tasteful" way that looks like organic expansion for X4.


In short VRO and RE is that "extral mile" that X4 vanilla was always missing to be trully perfect sucessor to X3.


Don't get me wrong, Egosoft is doing great job, but it's very frustrating to always see things lacking to get the perfect score.
It's like always hitting 9.5/10 on test and never ever see perfect 10/10.

[Kamiyoda]

The fact that almost the entire M2 - Destroyer class is absent in this game has puzzled me.

[flywlyx]

The fact that almost the entire M2 - Destroyer class is absent in this game has puzzled me.

I believe having fewer bullets improves performance, but I’m not sure if the physics engine update has addressed this issue.
This is the only explanation I can think of for why the current game has significantly fewer capital ships in the fleet.

[surferx]

Basically an XL battleship is an "I WIN" ship. which I would avoid because the game should be challenging. Make it too easy and there is no point in playing. There is a very good balance in all the different race's ship as it is.

[capitalduty]

Thank you all so much for your views on the battleship topic. The kind of "flagship" which distills the factions behaviour in one single very specialized ship makes sense to me.

I just asked the question, as i have heard it here in the office and wanted to hear your take on it.

Battleships represent the vision of warfare of each factions. Split would rather have firepower and speed in a battleship, Argon should have all round (plenty of everything but do not excel in any), Borons should have a massive shield tank and lots of support for its fleet, Paranid should have long range firepower and good speed and shield, Teladi should have a massive health pool, lots of shield and cargo space but impervious to small ship fire.

Battleships bring raw faction power and massive firepower, making space combat feel intense and strategic. Their imposing size and heavy armor would allow players to engage in thrilling tactical warfare, balancing offense and defense. Having a battleship lets you feel like a true space commander/faction leader, guiding your crew through dangerous galactic conflicts. They’d also create a sense of awe and intimidation, turning the tide of battles and adding depth to the game's lore.

What do you feel when you detect a xenon I near you. Especially I feel fear and respect, I need to prepare my fleet, my ship or my tactics...I cannot just engage without any strategy because I know would lose many assets, these vessels can and will get you in your toes. They will bring you joy when you destroy one. They represent a real challenge to overcome and big reward when you get one for your faction. Also looking at the strategic/diplomacy level, some story missions that are supposed to strengthen a faction should allow them to field this vessels into war, making faction conflicts more dynamic and rewarding when you are the puppeteer behind the galactic scene.

There is also the possibility to add new interesting weapons and mechanics for this kind of vessel, for example new weapons: maybe get a ship to have an XL siege turret, tractor beams, black hole generator gun (like the seismic weapon but bigger), XL turrets for missiles/torpedoes, for borons you could get a shield recharger support weapon....the possibilities are endless. Just add some imagination to any of this ships and be lore friendly and sure it will be a enormous success.

You could also do a missions/quest related to help some factions with your help get this kind of vessel to support their war effort (for example, split really need help to survive nowadays....a powerful Python with fleet support could help them a lot).

[Nanook]

So, after every faction copies the Terrans and builds a superpowerful battleship, wouldn't you expect the Terrans to respond with a deathstar-type vessel, to counter all those new battleships? After all, they are the recognized technology leader in the X Universe and they'd need to do something to regain their edge. And then there would be a demand for all the factions to have their own deathstar version. And so on and so on. Where does it end? I really don't think the game needs more big guns. What it does need is more territory for the player to play in. That's where Egosoft's time should be spent, IMO. A bigger game world instead of bigger ships.

[LameFox]

Realistically the Asgard is already capable of dealing with other battleships, precisely because it does operate as a deathstar type weapon. Its greatest flaws are probably a) beams being given priority in loadouts, and b) having L batteries that the AI uses to wreck its cooling. If you taught them to equip it properly and not waste their time using it as a big Osaka, it should kill any large single ship it encounters.

But I think that scenario is only fantasy anyway. There are already many ways in which the Terran 'edge' has eroded, and many ways in which they weren't that great to begin with. It seems pretty clear Egosoft is not inclined to balance them according to lore.

[vvvvvvvv]

Where does it end?

The final point would be turning planet Earth into one big flying gun capable of destroying stars, with a planetary jump drive installed. Maybe it'll shoot black holes?

That's the final point, because the next step would be "The Final Say", a weapon that triggers the end of the entire universe by disrupting fabric of reality and causing cascading cosmic cataclysm that ends all things.

[Nerwesta]

Good to know this thread is generating at least some debates and responses from the devs.

So, after every faction copies the Terrans and builds a superpowerful battleship, wouldn't you expect the Terrans to respond with a deathstar-type vessel, to counter all those new battleships? After all, they are the recognized technology leader in the X Universe and they'd need to do something to regain their edge. And then there would be a demand for all the factions to have their own deathstar version. And so on and so on. Where does it end? I really don't think the game needs more big guns. What it does need is more territory for the player to play in. That's where Egosoft's time should be spent, IMO. A bigger game world instead of bigger ships.

I still think Terrans should have the most powerful of those all if that's you're asking, by raw power from it's main gun I mean, but other factions shouldn't be barred on trying to get one of this category.
This is really the point here some including me are trying to make, those ships should define a faction's philosophy so they aren't copycats to each other, just like Destroyers

PS : I previously quoted LameFox, while I wanted to respond to Nanook, so just so you know if you get any sort of notification.