Get rid of 'software' wares - add them to the research tree instead please!

[Vandragorax]

I'm in absolute agreement with ship blueprints. Hell, it seems like we're already going to be having something like that for stations in X4 why not extend it to ships too? Seems like a great idea.

I'd still rather have the ability to pop out a ship from a shipyard already containing all the software upgrades I know about/own already though, instead of sending them flying here and there (and however much time that takes) to get all the 'rare' MK3 versions of stuff

[vrod]

I actually don't mind flying around and discovering new software for my ship(s).

I agree that some software should be available when buying a new ship, but not necesarily everything.

It all seemed to work really well in X3.

[Seanchaidh]

Once you're at the point where you have your own shipyard and/or equipment installing capability, I should think you'd also have the capacity to save a standardized configuration that you can then apply to any of your ships of the same class assuming you have the necessary ingredients to make it happen (software, shields, weapons, and so on) and the correct station module to do it in.

Such saveable configurations could also be introduced before then, but still depend on local availability of resources (including the player's money) to apply.

[vrod]

Once you're at the point where you have your own shipyard and/or equipment installing capability, I should think you'd also have the capacity to save a standardized configuration that you can then apply to any of your ships of the same class assuming you have the necessary ingredients to make it happen (software, shields, weapons, and so on) and the correct station module to do it in.

Such saveable configurations could also be introduced before then, but still depend on local availability of resources (including the player's money) to apply.

I second that!

[CBJ]

It doesn't need seconding.

Will there be more tactical weapons? Like, weapons that are really effective against subsystems but useless against hull/shields or EMP missiles that makes it impossible for ships hit by it to target something and shoot missiles.
I can't give details about specific weapons, but you will be able to give your ships different loadouts, and you'll be able to save and re-use loadouts.

[Skeeter]

So weapon and or ship management profiles like in elite?

[Brandon123s]

So i've been working in IT for a few years now and i've become accustomed to how software and how licensing works.

What Egosoft should do about all 'software' is pretty simple. Allow companies to buy licenses to a type of software - say exploration, navigation, trade mk 1 / 2 /3 - whatever and assign them to individual or groups of ships. Make software deployment 'wireless' and not need any kind of docking - and if a ship dies you can even lose the license too. Think of windows... it's activated to the motherboard, if you replace the motherboard you have a new system. In a corporate environment you are even sometimes allowed to over-provision licenses so long as you buy enough seats within 30 days.

Once you get big enough you could just buy a 'company license' with unlimited licenses to software with or without a maintenance fee that is a portion of the purchase price per game day/week/month whatever.

Just get rid of the archaic manual physical installs of software and as many upgrades as possible. The cumbersome ship configuration of X3 and earlier is pretty terrible. Streamline it so that empire management isn't about microing ships to go to a dozen different docks to get all the softwares you want early on. Making a ship physically go from dock to dock for software might have made sense a little bit in 2003, but in 2018 technology doesn't work that way. 750+ years from now things will likely be even easier. Let the design evolve... and with this model you could even make a 'hardcore' mode with old school 'go everywhere to do anything' design.