[Closed] X4: Foundations Official Poll - Which Boost mechanic do you prefer?

[Tomonor]

Dear X-fans,

Thank you for participating in this theoretical poll and sharing your valuable feedback! We received an impressive number of votes and comments on our various community platforms. Rest assured, your feedback has been tracked and is being taken into consideration.

As for the poll results, the New Boost Model (separate boost energy pool) emerged as the clear favorite, winning with 81% of the votes. Before its implementation, this new boost model will enter a testing phase, during which you'll be able to provide additional feedback and help shape it.

With this, we are concluding the poll. Once again, thank you for voting and voicing your opinions!



Hello X-fans,

Based on recurring feedback, our development team is currently investigating the possibility of detaching Boost from Shield energy, and introducing a separate boost energy pool.

Currently, ships trade shield energy for Boost. This model can lead to unnecessary frustration in certain situations, and presents a few quality-of-life drawbacks.

To clarify, we have outlined a few key differences between the two models:

• Old model: Boost uses shield energy
  • In combat situations, you must use boost more tactically, as using it leaves you more exposed to danger with reduced shields.
  • Situational awareness is crucial; if enemies catch you off guard and deplete your shields, you won't be able to rely on boost to escape.
  • Enemies may be easier to hunt down after they boost, as they often deplete their shields.
• New model: Boost uses separate boost energy
  • Boosting draws from its own energy pool that recharges again over time.
  • You have a better chance of escaping even when shields are down.
  • There will be more variation in the boost characteristics of each engine.
  • Boosting will become more widely employed by both players and the AI during dogfights.
  • A HUD element is introduced to display your ship's boost energy.

We invite you to vote on which boost model you would prefer to see in the game.
We also welcome your written feedback about this change.

Please click on the link below to Enter the Poll:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9PCNNHK

[RoverTX]

<meme>¿Por que no los dos?</meme>

Why not have a dedicated bar, but also drain a smaller amount of shield? Still makes it more strategic and allows you to chase down enemies, but doesn’t make it such a frustrating trade of.

I am afraid if NPCs can boost without shields that combat will turn into a very long and drawn out game of cat and mouse. Chasing down a Xenon T will be even more annoying.

The shield drawdown of L and XL ships could also then be capped really low to avoid all the AI boost related issues while still limiting boost via the dedicated boost resource.


The open source game Endless Space does this having boost drain shields, fuels and/or energy depending on which races boost you are using. Works pretty well and adds good customization options and immersion.

[Infector]

Why not add the new behaviour and make it a special feature of either the Travel or Combat engines?

[GCU Grey Area]

Very much prefer the current boost mechanic where there's an immediate cost to using boost. Have to think carefully about when it is optimal to use it; that tending to be in situations in which it can be used to reduce incoming damage (i.e. shields lost to boost < shields which would be lost to incoming fire if flying slower). Find that games which have a separate energy pool for boost removes any real need to think tactically about it - I tend to end up using it as frequently as possible because it's almost always better to be flying faster. Essentially it just becomes a cooldown mechanic & generally find small ship combat in such games much less satisfying as a consequence.

[mr.WHO]

Easiest poll ever!

New, AI friendly logic, new GUI elements, new balance mechanics - New boost!

<meme>¿Por que no los dos?</meme>

Why not have a dedicated bar, but also drain a smaller amount of shield? Still makes it more strategic and allows you to chase down enemies, but doesn’t make it such a frustrating trade of.

I am afraid if NPCs can boost without shields that combat will turn into a very long and drawn out game of cat and mouse. Chasing down a Xenon T will be even more annoying.

That's plain wrong thinking - boost will still be limited resource, just not limited on shield.

Last but not least, Xenon T is a scout - it suppose to be hard to catch like all scouts should be.

[euclid]

Very much prefer the current boost mechanic where there's an immediate cost to using boost....

Second that.

Cheers Euclid

[adeine]

Very easy vote for the new model (even just for fixing the issues with AI). That said, if you are contemplating this significant a change, please go the extra mile and include weapon and turret energy (a la X3).

It would be a phenomenal improvement for the game.

Yes, heat/cooldown functions as a similar mechanic for primary weapons but it doesn't make a lot of sense (e.g. why does disabling one weapon affect another when they're different, physically distant hardpoints; it's the same for all ships, etc.), and turrets are just... free, currently, meaning the number of hardpoints is everything and there is an optimal loadout. The only reason to ever disable turrets or turret groups is for friendly fire.

They could all draw from the same pool if you want to keep it simple (energy based on ship chassis & engines/generator) or it could be a separate pool for boost and weapons, but it would be a shame to not address this while overhauling this part of gameplay.

[capitalduty]

Yes, new one could be great. Please make it so that boosting have drawbacks, especially on heavier/larger ships (long cooldown or heating of weapons could be an option)

[jlehtone]

Very much prefer the current boost mechanic where there's an immediate cost to using boost...

This is the Way.

[chew-ie]

New boost mechanic here we come - hopefully

[-=SiR KiLLaLoT=-]

Undoubtedly new model.

[Alan Phipps]

I didn't vote this time because I don't mind either method - as long as:

1. It doesn't keep on changing in game updates or with engine types/marks, so that I can get used to using it or not by reflex.
2. It isn't used unnecessarily by the AI and so deplete the boost/shield energy when it really doesn't need to.
3. Boost energy recharge rate is reasonable or can be influenced, even if not rapid - ie boost should not be a one-time option during a lengthy engagement (the player can influence shield recharge rate).

[A5PECT]

I voted yes. It's more conducive to AI controlled ships, which greatly outnumber the player and define most of the player's gameplay experience.

I do hear and agree that boost costing shield is a more interesting gameplay decision when posed to the player, specifically. But again, I prioritize the functioning of the game universe and the overall experience in this case.

I think my ideal solution would be for "Boost separate from shields" to be the default system, and "boost using shields" would be an in-game engine modification the player can put on ships they choose.

[MegaJohnny]

Voted for separate bar

IMO the current system biases fights in favour of the winning side, because once a ship's shields go down, it also loses much of its "agility defense". It's not as bad as X3, where taking hull damage also decreased your speed and made you a sitting duck - but it follows the same theme, and reduces the prospects of a comeback victory.

I'm sure this change would be something of a can of worms for the game balance, but I'm all for it.

[surferx]

I think the Jump drive was eliminated for this reason also. If you find yourself losing in a dogfight you just jump out of sector. That's basically cheating. The best solution is to not get into a fight with unwinnable odds, that is part of learning strategy. Know when to fight and when to run away. I don't want an easy button, whether it's a jump drive or limitless boost. I want a game that challenges but is not so hard it's unwinnable. Another thing to consider is if you can boost away with full shields so can your adversary. Space battles would go on forever, if every time you had a Xenon's shields down, it just boosted away, but I'm sure some players would want the new boost solely for their own ships. Why not just fly an indestructible ship?" Same difference.

[mr.WHO]

I don't want an easy button, whether it's a jump drive or limitless boost.

Stop spewing nonsence about limitless boost - it will still be limited and balanced, just not in stupid way conneted to shields.
Enemy can boost away with full shields? Guess what, so can you! It's fair and even.

What is not fair and even, is that AI is too stupid to be effective with using shield related boost even after multiple attempts to fix it.
What is even more stupid is that connecting boost to shields is counte intuitive - when you have full shields, you have no need to boost, but when you need to boost you can't because you have depleted shields - there is no way to fix it for player nor AI.

Very easy vote for the new model (even just for fixing the issues with AI). That said, if you are contemplating this significant a change, please go the extra mile and include weapon and turret energy (a la X3).

It' would be very nice to have heat dissipation from X3 back again (and Terrans actually having better heat dissipation as their ship descriptions claim).

[GCU Grey Area]

when you have full shields, you have no need to boost

Not necessarily true, certainly not for me. I frequently use boost in exactly those circumstances. I use boost primarily to rapidly reposition in order to gain a tactical advantage. I'm a lot harder for the enemy to hit while boosting (which generally more than makes up for shields expended by the boost) & if I can boost into a position directly behind my current target the fact that my shields are somewhat depleted by the manoeuvre is a price well worth paying - in that position my enemy's main guns are pointed in entirely the wrong direction. Killing the enemy in a fast & efficient manner, while flying evasively at exceptionally high speeds, often means there's no need to use boost to run away. Being able to do all of that without shield drain would just make S/M ship combat far too easy & much less exciting.

[LameFox]

New model seems like a straight upgrade to me. No AI cheap enough to run in this game is ever going to have the situational awareness and forward thinking the current system needs. To a player it's easy to look around you and ahead and know if it will make things better or worse, we can do it in an instant, but the AI can't and won't and they are flying almost every ship in the game. The game *needs* to be designed in consideration of their limits, not with stuff that makes sense for PVP arenas.

And where people are getting the nightmare scenarios from I have no idea. This is not some new untested concept.

[Nanook]

The vast majority of complaints about the boost system have to do with the AI's usage, not the player's. AI pilots tend to use boost, with consequent shield depletion, excessively to their detriment. It makes them dead a lot sooner than they should be. The players have their brains to get out of bad situations, the AI really doesn't .

So I'd have to go with the new system simply to help keep the AI from setting themselves up as sitting ducks. Personally, I rarely use boost in combat anyway. I prefer to outmaneuver the opposition, not run from it. Or as others have pointed out, don't get into situations where boost is going to be the only way out.

In other words, the new system will benefit the AI a lot more than the player, as it should.

[mr.WHO]

Not necessarily true, certainly not for me. I frequently use boost in exactly those circumstances. I use boost primarily to rapidly reposition in order to gain a tactical advantage. I'm a lot harder for the enemy to hit while boosting (which generally more than makes up for shields expended by the boost) & if I can boost into a position directly behind my current target the fact that my shields are somewhat depleted by the manoeuvre is a price well worth paying - in that position my enemy's main guns are pointed in entirely the wrong direction. Killing the enemy in a fast & efficient manner, while flying evasively at exceptionally high speeds, often means there's no need to use boost to run away. Being able to do all of that without shield drain would just make S/M ship combat far too easy & much less exciting.

Still this would affect you much with new system - with proper capacitor and recharge rate you still need to be tacical in use.
The new system at least will make AI less handicaped with boost usage - in rare cases where AI use booster it's damn fun to fight them instead the usual braindead and predictable fight patterns.


Additionally there will be a lot of options to bala different boost engine for different races, e.g.:

Capacitor - for how many seconds can you use boost without a break --> Teladi speciality, as it's the cheapest and easiest part of boost engine and Teladi use long boost time to let their cargo heavy ships escape.
Acceleration - how fast boost will increase your speed --> Split speciality to maximize benefits with their high performance engines recovery from low to high speed.
Recharge cooldown - how many seconds after boost it starts to recharge --> Terran speciality, since theyir superior heat dissipation they can run everything all the time, so recharger kick off immediately with no cooldown.
Recharge rate - how fast recharge rate is --> Boron speciality
Max speed boost - how much the max speed limit increase when using boost --> Paranid speciality