New Version - Fresh Start?

[thegreybetween]

Greetings,

I've been playing X4 since 1.0, but I have never managed to put more than 50 hours or so into any given save before I start fresh. Part of that is that I'm just too damn busy, but another big part is the deeply ingrained belief (from other, non-X games) that it is best to begin a new save when the game receives a major update, to make sure that all of the new content, AI behavior, and patches are fully integrated into the particular save. So, I've played the first 10-50 hours of each DLC (freshly started each time), then run out of play time before the next update, and start fresh all over again.

I know X4 is very meticulous about maintaining save-game compatibility with each new version (to the applause of many and the chagrin of some). But I'm curious to know: When a new version is released, is there any functional incentive to starting fresh? Will a save that was started in an earlier version carry into the new version with absolutely no loss of improvements/adjustments/content that was introduced in the new version? Or will a fresh start run "better" because all of the behaviors and such are "always" using the latest programming rather than a patched behavior?

I'm mostly just curious, but I do have a game I started in 6.2 that I'm really enjoying, but my brain is telling me "Bah, you're only 30 hours in, so it is better to start fresh with 7.0." How much does it actually matter?

Thanks!

[Koizuki]

The AI will generally undergo a transition period where they slowly build out newer ship types (the 'E' variants, etc,) and/or update/build out their stations according to any new rules/limits based on their jobs definitions, but the AI behavioral changes should be immediate.

Specifically for 7.0 though, the main difference would be the fact that the AI starts with defense platforms in specific areas that wouldn't just spawn in on an older save, so those would be 'missing' or not in the same place as if it was placed there at the start of a new 7.0 save.
There's also been a rebalance of drop rates of stuff from destroyed ships, so you'd technically be at an advantage if you did scavenging in 6.20, but all it really does is slow down the first few hours of moneymaking anyway.

The devs seem to take great pains in keeping save compatibility specifically so that you can play with whatever save you want and not miss out on too much, especially if you're still in the early/midgame in most of them.

[thegreybetween]

Thanks for that. That all syncs up with what I was expecting, but the old habits die hard and I've definitely played a few other games where maintaining a save from an older version was met with issues in later versions. I've never had much of a problem restarting X4 because I usually ed up taking such long breaks that I'm not invested in a particular save. But I'm really enjoying this 6.2 game and want to continue it. I mostly just wanted to make sure that I'm not missing any consequential opportunities if I do decide to build a hundreds-of-hours empire from it when I could just start fresh. Sounds like forging ahead is a safe bet, which is awesome. Cheers!