Where is the combat/enemy?

[HateDread]

At the start it felt like a few Xenon or other reds were around the starting area, but now that I'm ~12 hours in and looking to test my latest purchases, I really can't find more than a single fighter on its own. Why purchase a fleet if I never fight another one?

Are there missions like in X3 that spawn enemies? (station defence, convoy escort, assassination, etc) All of my non-faction missions are repairs and lockbox hunts, and the faction ones are crazy, deep-Xenon stuff in the sector that kills you slowly.

Trigger finger getting itchy!

[ravisoul]

There is xenon space...

Also if you get some rep with a faction there are other quests that open up. Also quests about them vs another

You can do a lot of fighting on these quests I promise

After enough rep there are sub factions that want you to join them I got some nice fighting quests there as well

If that takes to long just start shooting some 1 and they will come for you

[Unkrautvernichter]

I have the same problem. At the start, nearly every system had raiders, xenons, khaaks. Now after 12 hours nothing. Not an single enemy. Even the Xenonsectors are totally empty. Must be a bug or a new feature?

[mr.WHO]

This is a feature.
At the begining systems are full of Xenon/Khaak raider because they were spawned then.
However this is one time even, so after these are destroyed then Khaak/Xenon have to "Build" them in their shipyards deep in their territory.
This means you will not see Xenon/Khaak in core systems, but you will see some raids in systems bordering their terrioty, like Hatikvah Choice.

[Studders]

Yep same here, no enemies and pirates don't attack me either even after they say they want my cargo. I went to a Xenon sector, started shooting the drones at a station and nothing attacked me whatsoever.

[Beniguma]

Same here. At the beginning i found a few enemy in Sectors. But Sinice i killed them i found no more Xeneon or other enemys. There are only enemeys in a Xeneon Sector.

[Lymark]

This is a feature.
At the begining systems are full of Xenon/Khaak raider because they were spawned then.
However this is one time even, so after these are destroyed then Khaak/Xenon have to "Build" them in their shipyards deep in their territory.
This means you will not see Xenon/Khaak in core systems, but you will see some raids in systems bordering their terrioty, like Hatikvah Choice.

This makes sense and I very much enjoy such feature. However, I wonder how long would it take before nations start to fight the war they've declared? I'm 50 hours in, and I haven't spotted any aggressive action yet. I have fully supplied every single building in Argon Prime for my ally, but nothing is being built in both shipyards nor any new building. I'm starting to believe that my save is somehow bugged.

[mr.WHO]

50h? I'm starting to afraid that this is no longer a feature, but broken game mechanics. Maybe Egosoft made universe too peaceful?

[Scoob]

I noticed that, early game, I'd often be hassled by Pirates wanting me to drop my wares - which were only random loot I'd picked up. This was quite fun as I got to practise largely 1v1 combat against a slightly superior ship - my Elite vs. their Kestrels. I even captured a few Kestrels to add to my fleet. Nice.

Now however, I simply don't see these ships any more. Perhaps NPC's are taking them out before I see them, though they tend to show as neutral when they scan you, only going hostile if you rebuff their demands. I had hoped to capture a few more ships to add to my little fleet, but that's not happening.

I think that everything being "real" and properly manufactured rather than just spawned in with no care for resources is good. However, the factions in question can't have had their production crippled already surely?

I suspect this might be an on-going balance thing as the game is updated.

Scoob.

[Taramafor]

I'll just quote some of what I said in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=146&t=403214&start=60

Basically all the devs need to do is 1: ADD MORE COMBAT (seriously, it's so lacking. We had this in TC). 2: Do a bit more of what TC and AP did. And THEN we can add the new stuff like more sectors and what not. Which I hope would include A XENON SECTOR WITH A HUNDRED SHIPS LIKE IN TC. Was amazing. I seen little more then 7 in a XENON sector in X4 so far. Pretty sure they're supposed to be swarming. I don't care if "very slowly building a fleet" is a "feature". It's a nice addition but without missions spawning at least ten fighters with a big ship (mid level missions from TC) it's just not fun. And NONE of these missions in X4 seem to be focused on defending a station or going on patrol where you have to get into a fight. There's simply no excuse for the lack of this content when it's been present in past games.

I rest my case.

[Revenant342]

I noticed that, early game, I'd often be hassled by Pirates wanting me to drop my wares - which were only random loot I'd picked up. This was quite fun as I got to practise largely 1v1 combat against a slightly superior ship - my Elite vs. their Kestrels. I even captured a few Kestrels to add to my fleet. Nice.

Now however, I simply don't see these ships any more. Perhaps NPC's are taking them out before I see them, though they tend to show as neutral when they scan you, only going hostile if you rebuff their demands. I had hoped to capture a few more ships to add to my little fleet, but that's not happening.

I think that everything being "real" and properly manufactured rather than just spawned in with no care for resources is good. However, the factions in question can't have had their production crippled already surely?

I suspect this might be an on-going balance thing as the game is updated.

Scoob.

The thing that annoys me the most about this is that the ships that harass me like this don't belong to a pirate faction, generally. They're "Marauder" ships from the main factions like Argon and Teladi... so even when they aggro and try to kill me, you take a full rep hit with the parent faction as if you'd attacked them unprovoked, and I've even had faction Navy or defense forces aggro me after this. Rep hit for self-defense ought to be removed or vastly lowered.

[comieodor]

The thing that annoys me the most about this is that the ships that harass me like this don't belong to a pirate faction, generally. They're "Marauder" ships from the main factions like Argon and Teladi... so even when they aggro and try to kill me, you take a full rep hit with the parent faction as if you'd attacked them unprovoked, and I've even had faction Navy or defense forces aggro me after this. Rep hit for self-defense ought to be removed or vastly lowered.

This for me was particularly annoying during the "sacrifice a ship" part of the PHQ quest - I ended up sacrificing a pilot as well as it was impractical for me to try and fly the ship myself - evidently 3 x antimatter is the most valuable commodity in the universe as half of Grand Exchange turned on me the second I left port. Put a zero-star pilot on board and suddenly nobody cares.

[AN7AG0NIS7]

Even if there was non-stop combat, it wouldn't feel fun because of the lack of weapon/ship variety. It felt more like a chore when I helped an Argon fleet fight off a bunch of Xenons congregated (3 Xenon P and a bunch of smaller ones) near a highway somewhere.

[xenoncore123]

I don't want spawns, i want smart ai that strategically decide to build up fleets and stations. Developing their economy in an effort to overtake their enemies. But all that seems to happen is nothing lol

[Lymark]

50h? I'm starting to afraid that this is no longer a feature, but broken game mechanics. Maybe Egosoft made universe too peaceful?

To be fair, someone on the steam forum claims to see massive actions after speeding up the time to an equivalent of 200hrs. He says it just takes a lot more time for AI to build up since everyone pretty much starts at the same pace. https://steamcommunity.com/app/392160/d ... 4094634662

I will find that out once I have found the last needed piece for the SETA. If it really is a feature, then IT'S AWESOME! Otherwise, I'd have to wait for mods.

[zerogodlike]

50h? I'm starting to afraid that this is no longer a feature, but broken game mechanics. Maybe Egosoft made universe too peaceful?

To be fair, someone on the steam forum claims to see massive actions after speeding up the time to an equivalent of 200hrs. He says it just takes a lot more time for AI to build up since everyone pretty much starts at the same pace. https://steamcommunity.com/app/392160/d ... 4094634662

I will find that out once I have found the last needed piece for the SETA. If it really is a feature, then IT'S AWESOME! Otherwise, I'd have to wait for mods.

I highly doubt that is true i have about 65 hours right now and ive been running seta and no real changes. Also once you start buying capital ships you can see that shipyards will Very quickly run out of resources after first 2 or so they really cannot wage Any real war against each other because they run out of resources to quickly due to a lack of storage space.

[EmperorDragon]

What if you destroy the pirate shipyard(s)? What then? Will pirates be removed from the game altogether? What if the Argon goes to war and steamrolls over the Paranid? Would that be an entire faction being cut from the game?

A simulated universe where everyone produce ships is really cool but, can be gamebreaking if not balanced properly. Failsafes needs to be in place to prevent the game from breaking itself over time, like factions becoming less aggressive the more territory they control and vice versa, or pirate factions and Xenon getting a boost in production if their numbers grows too thin. Exceptions regarding spawn mechanics can also be made to replace stations that the owner would not be able to rebuild normally. It's nice to be able to conquer the universe but conquered/destroyed factions should always be able to make a comback in some way or another.

X games are not games that you can merely start over if the game world screws up. We all wanted a simulated universe but, exceptions can be made for the sake of gameplay and lasting appeal, I don't think people would mind that.

[Lymark]

I highly doubt that is true i have about 65 hours right now and ive been running seta and no real changes. Also once you start buying capital ships you can see that shipyards will Very quickly run out of resources after first 2 or so they really cannot wage Any real war against each other because they run out of resources to quickly due to a lack of storage space.

Oh well, I just started a new game completely and the 'initial hours' are really the best and feel alive. Xenon invading both Hatikvah and Holy Order, as well as conflicts in the Pious Mists border with a few decades ships/fighters enough to cause FPS drop. So, It seems like combat and war are there, but it's just that the AI have no idea how to keep the resources and production going for the effort of the war(Bug?). But, it's weird though, as I've mentioned earlier that even though I supplied Argon Prime everything they needed, they still wouldn't build anything. If there's indeed some game issues, then It must have happened and corrupted the game in between that period.

What if you destroy the pirate shipyard(s)? What then? Will pirates be removed from the game altogether?

Thus far, pirate in X4 is the weakest faction just like in X3, they will go 'extinct' after some hours(which already did in my main save). X3 had mods to make them stronger and last longer.

What if the Argon goes to war and steamrolls over the Paranid? Would that be an entire faction being cut from the game?

A simulated universe where everyone produce ships is really cool but, can be gamebreaking if not balanced properly. Failsafes needs to be in place to prevent the game from breaking itself over time, like factions becoming less aggressive the more territory they control and vice versa, or pirate factions and Xenon getting a boost in production if their numbers grows too thin. Exceptions regarding spawn mechanics can also be made to replace stations that the owner would not be able to rebuild normally. It's nice to be able to conquer the universe but conquered/destroyed factions should always be able to make a comback in some way or another.

IMO, having a faction completely wiped out isn't a game breaking issue though. It actually adds more dynamic and living to the universe. In a modded X3 AP, one could unify the universe given enough time and patient. If there should be a failsafe, maybe do what X3 AP did, by limiting which sectors can be captured. I understand that some people prefer to play a peaceful life, simply adding different game start where everyone starts in peace will do. Granted, wiping them will hurt my game in the long run because there will be no one else to fight against, but we're talking about hundreds of game play hours here, which I think is well worth it.

It's sandbox game afterall, and people can do whatever they're pleased. But not having a core mechanic(in this case, War) working properly is really limiting the ways we could potentially play.

[Taramafor]

I don't want spawns, i want smart ai that strategically decide to build up fleets and stations. Developing their economy in an effort to overtake their enemies. But all that seems to happen is nothing lol

Guess what. X3 had BOTH.

Why don't we have both here? Let alone one or the other.

[jedensuscg]

The war aspects from my understanding are currently borked right now and not turned on. I can't find a reference but I have heard it spoke of, and players with lots of hours are also not reporting any hostilities going on outside of a few pirates.

In fact, lots is borked as no one is really building anything. From reading players with lots of hours is, they are losing places to trade to because the storage capacity of pretty much every station is maxed because there is no mass building of anything. I think this is due to the lack of war happening, as nothing is being destroyed. Hell, I hav elike 5 hours in, and to sell my stash of energy cells my autotrader bought, I had to hit up THIRTY different stations, selling about 80 to 360 at a time, and every station had about 90 - 99% capacity for total storage filled.

Hopefully we will get a fix soon.