X4: Foundations 9.00 Empire Update is Out Now!

[CBJ]

Yeah am a bit disappointed as well, took half a day off to play the new update but since I bought it on GOG, it seems us Linux users are out of luck.
I am interested to know why GOG did have the patch on Windows, and Steam got a Linux native update, but GOG support for Linux has been forgotten?

No. We sent GOG the Linux install data over a week ago. They assured us that their process had been streamlined.

[BitByte]

GOG offline installers for Windows and Linux (atleast english) are already available. Windows was already 5+ hours ago and linux less than 4h.
So now I can make my first game installation on Kubuntu platform and see how things there works.

Even it takes longer from GOG to get offline installers I still prefer them as I don't want rent games like it's with Steam. Thanks Egosoft that you offer GOG as option to buy your games!

[TheOnlyJoey]

Yeah am a bit disappointed as well, took half a day off to play the new update but since I bought it on GOG, it seems us Linux users are out of luck.
I am interested to know why GOG did have the patch on Windows, and Steam got a Linux native update, but GOG support for Linux has been forgotten?

No. We sent GOG the Linux install data over a week ago. They assured us that their process had been streamlined.

Glad to hear that Linux is being thought off!

The binaries seem to have arrived on GOG a couple of hours ago! Just started a new play-through.
Also good to reiterate that he Windows binaries on the GOG website were also missing yesterday, So maybe someone at GOG set the 9.0 launch in their calendar a day too late xD.

Loving the update so far! Also no single issue so far on Debian+Nvidia+Wayland! <3

[alt3rn1ty]

Captain Collins has done a very good review video of 9.0 release ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG6vKaAs7iU

[Ysas]

Hi,

I would like to update, too. But so far no offline installers on GOG.
I do not use Galaxy.

and related:

No Update GOG Linux Native

Unfortunately for those of us that are antsy to try the New Hotness, GOG's offline and Linux installers are custom creations. It takes them a while to push them out for us lowly plebs that won't or can't (no client for Linux) use Galaxy. We just gotta wait.

Also a bit annoying, but for those like Ysas and myself who don't use Windows any more, GOG's Linux support tends to leave something to be desired. We either have to put up with Steam and the possibility of arbitrarily losing permanent access to games we've paid for, or wait for GOG to push updates out the door (as full installers rather than incremental patch sets like with Galaxy) to maintain our independence from centralized services like Steam.

Don't get me wrong, Valve is doing a *ton* of good for the Linux gaming experience and environment. But I stick with GOG because the long term trust factor is an issue. GOG's customers don't need permission to reinstall a game they've already downloaded, you do with Steam.

I'm really looking forward to not needing to use the X.org session in Linux any more. X4 has been the blocker game keeping me from using Wayland. There are other problems, but X4 is the only game blocking Wayland that I regularly play.

GOG was a little late. Version 9.0 is available for Windows and Linux.

What's your problem with Wayland ? I tried the Linux native and the windows version with Wayland on CachyOS and have no issues.

The only issue I have with GOG is that they native Linux Galaxy Client is still not available. They are working on it but no news for months
Heroic Game Launcher is ok but I would prefer a Galaxy Client

[BitByte]

Kubuntu 26.04 and GOG linux installers for X4 - no issues during the installation and game started without any additional tricks.
Copied just handful of config / userfiles from Windows side so I got keymaps, construction plans and game progress (Timelines content unlocked).

For sure there's things I dislike / which takes time to get used to but will see. Atleast I can continue old 7.10HF3 on Windows and new 9.00 on Linux.

[update]
2 first days game worked fine, yesterday evening it didn't start in fullscreen mode (no signal to external screen before Egosoft intro starts running) but was able to continue playing when managed via desktop side uncheck fullscreen.
Today started game and again it works without issues. Linux is weird platform as you can close system fully functional and next time when boot it up something is broken.

[macross]

i had the beta, and have now switched to the public branch on steam, but when I load the game I still see the Timelines title screen - is there not one for Empires? The version shows I'm on 9...

[BitByte]

9.0 was update to game not new DLC so that's why no new splash screen to startup.

[mr.WHO]

I love that with 9.0 Medium ships controlled by AI stopped sucking.

More, they are fun to see in action - torp and missile boats lob missiles (mostly) at long range, Mass Drivers shoot from afar, escorts gunships hunt down eneymy fighters with the nice selection of different turrets.
They even, for most of the time, competently avoid getting shot by large turrets.

Legacy of X3 M6s is back baby!

[Rastuasi]

Hi,

I would like to update, too. But so far no offline installers on GOG.
I do not use Galaxy.

and related:

No Update GOG Linux Native

Unfortunately for those of us that are antsy to try the New Hotness, GOG's offline and Linux installers are custom creations. It takes them a while to push them out for us lowly plebs that won't or can't (no client for Linux) use Galaxy. We just gotta wait.

Also a bit annoying, but for those like Ysas and myself who don't use Windows any more, GOG's Linux support tends to leave something to be desired. We either have to put up with Steam and the possibility of arbitrarily losing permanent access to games we've paid for, or wait for GOG to push updates out the door (as full installers rather than incremental patch sets like with Galaxy) to maintain our independence from centralized services like Steam.

Don't get me wrong, Valve is doing a *ton* of good for the Linux gaming experience and environment. But I stick with GOG because the long term trust factor is an issue. GOG's customers don't need permission to reinstall a game they've already downloaded, you do with Steam.

I'm really looking forward to not needing to use the X.org session in Linux any more. X4 has been the blocker game keeping me from using Wayland. There are other problems, but X4 is the only game blocking Wayland that I regularly play.

Eh I purposely uninstalled Wayland for X11. Wayland has way too many issues to keep it installed. I'll test it every once in awhile, but their idea of development is unintelligible.

[jlehtone]

I'm really looking forward to not needing to use the X.org session in Linux any more. X4 has been the blocker game keeping me from using Wayland. There are other problems, but X4 is the only game blocking Wayland that I regularly play.

Eh I purposely uninstalled Wayland for X11. Wayland has way too many issues to keep it installed. I'll test it every once in awhile, but their idea of development is unintelligible.

I have not used Linux for games yet. Work has RHEL-like distro. RHEL itself includes only Gnome DE.
For some major versions RHEL had both Xorg and Wayland; user could choose either for next Gnome session.
I have disabled Wayland support, so can start only Xorg-based session -- brief tests of Wayland were always foul.

In latest, RHEL 10, there is only Wayland. There are commercial graphical applications that support RHEL 10,
but they instruct to set environment variable that forces the application to act as X11 client, i.e. to use XWayland.
I have not used DE on RHEL 10 yet, not even installed one, so cannot comment on how fragile that is.

[hammer59]

Update 9.0 needs a lot more work. Main quest lines are broken because of poor path finding. Ships carrying a quest critical mission get stuck on many items and create an unplayable game. Path finding needs major rework.

[vpelss]

reusing the Shift key has messed up a lot of stuff. Seta, targeting multiple targets using a rubber band box. How do I turn this abomination off?

[jlehtone]

reusing the Shift key has messed up a lot of stuff. Seta, targeting multiple targets using a rubber band box. How do I turn this abomination off?

'Default Order Behavior' (between Velocity Indicator and Head Movement Intensity ?) on the Game Settings page.
The "Clear" is the new, the "Queue" should be the legacy.

[alt3rn1ty]

Update 9.0 needs a lot more work. Main quest lines are broken because of poor path finding. Ships carrying a quest critical mission get stuck on many items and create an unplayable game. Path finding needs major rework.

Where were you during the beta testing period?. Sorry I dont wish to hold your feet to the flame, but this is why the more participants the merrier is important.
I participated, but honestly couldn't be arsed going through every mission path again, so I guess things like this were missed by everyone (or maybe there is a bug report or two in the beta forum which just have not been prioritised yet .. maybe next beta).
I focussed on the sticky topics in the beta forum that Egosoft asked us to test.

[vpelss]

reusing the Shift key has messed up a lot of stuff. Seta, targeting multiple targets using a rubber band box. How do I turn this abomination off?

'Default Order Behavior' (between Velocity Indicator and Head Movement Intensity ?) on the Game Settings page.
The "Clear" is the new, the "Queue" should be the legacy.

Thanks! Trying now. But it doesn't seem to disable the new Shift key functionality which breaks some old shift key functionality.

Where is there documentation?

[alt3rn1ty]

reusing the Shift key has messed up a lot of stuff. Seta, targeting multiple targets using a rubber band box. How do I turn this abomination off?

'Default Order Behavior' (between Velocity Indicator and Head Movement Intensity ?) on the Game Settings page.
The "Clear" is the new, the "Queue" should be the legacy.

Thanks! Trying now. But it doesn't seem to disable the new Shift key functionality which breaks some old shift key functionality.

Where is there documentation?

Not sure if there is documentation, have you looked in the games encyclopedia, if it has been documented it should be in there somewhere.
Otherwise the pinned UI Improvements topic mentions "Priority Orders" in the first post ..
viewtopic.php?t=474214
.. And other people discussing how it worked for them during the beta testing.

[6whoami6]

I found a bug in version 9.0 related to the diplomacy system's agents. As shown in the screenshot, after I teleported to an S-class ship that had just picked up a drop from a Xenon ship, the agent lost his ship and rank. I've encountered this twice now. It's not a display error, because when I save and reload, the agent has permanently lost his ship and rank. I have sent the screenshot to the email address jian@egosoft.com provided by killerdj.

[CBJ]

I found a bug in version 9.0 related to the diplomacy system's agents. As shown in the screenshot, after I teleported to an S-class ship that had just picked up a drop from a Xenon ship, the agent lost his ship and rank. I've encountered this twice now. It's not a display error, because when I save and reload, the agent has permanently lost his ship and rank. I have sent the screenshot to the email address jian@egosoft.com provided by killerdj.

This is not the place to report bugs; they won't be seen here. Please use the Tech Support Forum and make sure you provide the information requested in that forum's rules, including a link to a savegame. We can't diagnose what's happening from a screenshot.

[chew-ie]

Rather busy in RL the past few months so haven't enough time to check out the 9.0 release (and parts of the new things in beta). Still: congratulations for finally shipping that little monster. From what I had the chance to test that's a good step into the right direction and I especially love that you guys touched a lot of stuff which never really worked well (hello missile concept). I like the new race weapons and the integrated missile launchers. Feels like the not-so-old X games again (mostly refering to X³:Reunion / X³:TC here)

tl;dr: Keep up the good work