Are we going to have new (and harder) game starts with 3.0?

[Warnoise]

I think it would be great for players who want a more challenging game. Like for example a HoP start where you start being at war with HoP enemies, in exchange you start with a decent reputation with HoP (enough to buy good weapons) and a Theseus or something.

[GCU Grey Area]

Agree that some harder game starts would be desirable, particularly if they have adverse starting rep with certain factions.

Thoroughly enjoyed such starts in previous X games (e.g. Khaak Invader, Enemy of the State, Lost Lar). However, not so sure about starting with enhanced HOP rep & free Theseus in your example. Starting out with a crappy ship with the initial objective of getting a better one is a key part of an X game for me. Skipping that bit would also make the game considerably easier, somewhat undermining the point of selecting a harder start.

If I'm playing a hard start would really prefer an even crappier starting ship (e.g. S miner with mining laser rather than a proper gun) & starting rep = barely tolerated even by my own people. Ideally starting in a distant sector from my own faction, surrounded by ships that are doing their best to kill me, with a long journey ahead of me through several hostile sectors. (e.g. Lost Lar - starting conditions were brutal but incredibly satisfying to overcome).

[radcapricorn]

Starting out with a crappy ship with the initial objective of getting a better one is a key part of an X game for me. Skipping that bit would also make the game considerably easier, somewhat undermining the point of selecting a harder start.

So long as you start with a gun, getting a new ship is a piece of cake in X4 (of course disregarding the freebies). Which is a shame. Gone are the times of assaulting a Demeter in a Buster with two IREs for 20 minutes, given chase by a swarm of combat drones, only to find out that the bugger won't even bail Or hunting for that lone Bayamon in pirate sectors (X2, I miss you so).

If I'm playing a hard start would really prefer an even crappier starting ship (e.g. S miner with mining laser rather than a proper gun) & starting rep = barely tolerated even by my own people.

That would probably work for half an hour or so

[Matthew94]

It'd be good to have scenarios like in Simcity which are only designed to be played for a few hours but have a direct objective. You could have some where you're locked to 1-2 ships and a single faction and you have to destroy base X, or deliver good Y within a certain time or before a certain sector is over-run.

[furirkeeper]

Why not have a custom start where you simply specify your initial relation with each faction yourself, as well as selecting starting ship in a drop down list or similar and can type in how much money you want. Seeing how all of this is parameterized in the game anyway it should not be harder than creating the interface itself. Some mechanism of where to start would also be needed.

With this you could have any game start you want.

[radcapricorn]

Yup, this kind of flexible start designer could be a huge boon, both for normal playthroughs and especially for betas, in cases when a clean start is desirable.

[mr.WHO]

I think it would be great for players who want a more challenging game. Like for example a HoP start where you start being at war with HoP enemies, in exchange you start with a decent reputation with HoP (enough to buy good weapons) and a Theseus or something.

HOP start would definetly be fun and maybe actually convince me to start new game (I play my current game since 1.0).
Pirate start as well.

[Pesanur]

Ah, I remember the mercenary start of X3, with the Mamba, not money, and not in very good relations with the factions.

[DavidGW]

I've never really bothered with the different starts, except "Poisoned Paranid" in X3TC to get the special Hyperion.

However, I think it would be interesting to have starts which permanently affect the game, like a HOP start that permanently locks your relations with PAR and ARG at some large negative value (e.g. they think you're a war criminal, etc.), or where ship mods are always cheaper/better (because you're an Engineer/Technician), etc.

[OneOfMany]

You want a harder game start

Try the new VRO beta mod for 3.0 beta. My new game is overrun with Xenon pushing into all sectors they are adjacent to and a the Argon are taking a pasting.

[Shepp]

Egosoft really needs to revamp the character creation process. You should be able to pick your race, your ship, and whatever system you start without it being tied to a specific start. If Egosoft doesn't want to make a custom character creator. You can select which of the default characters you want for your avatar. You can start out only being able to select a base ship and unlock more powerful ships, for future playthroughs, as you play. Finally, depending on the system you choose you will adopt the starting reps of that faction.

This way you can have your Paranid as a member of the HOP start or you can have something completely different. Like a human that is part of the Teladi company.