Game Discussions X4 this looks Very good

[Astaran]

I need to watch that video to see how it all works. AFAIK mods prevent partaking in Ventures (thought you yourself said this), and I really like my mods. I don't have any "Star Destroyer" mods, but I do have a couple rebalancing mods.

Even if I was running a vanilla save, I'm not sure I'd be interested in Ventures. But that's okay, as long as the single-player game isn't sacrificed for the multiplayer components (cough Elite cough) then I'll be happy!

At the end of the video there's a segment where Bernd talks about mods and ventures (there's a time stamp for it). In a nutshell: mods like total conversions, mods that change ship stats or mods that add billions of credits, free ships etc. won't work due to balancing concerns*. Popular quality of life mods (e.g. mods that make using the interface easier) will be "signed" by Egosoft and are good to go.

*) Although I do have to wonder how they consider savegames that are hundreds of hours old "balanced". I mean, I have 1.2 billion in the bank, make a few hundred million credits every hour, own some 70+ factory complexes and have enough firepower and production capacity at my hands to wipe out the entire galaxy. At last count I had some 40k employees in my ranks That's hardly "balanced" when compared to someone who makes a fresh start and it's not that much "less powerful" than someone using a creative mode game start or "cheat mods".

 

[Old Duck]

I'm watching the video now (well, more "listening" while I do chores), and I'm still not fully understanding exactly what is going on. It's intriguing enough to me to perhaps consider trying it out on the Beta. I dunno. The "start the Beta at the beginning to earn a cool unique ship" is definitely a juicy worm on a hook!

I do look forward to Captain Collin's video on the topic, as he does a great job at simplifying the more complex topics in X4.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

To be honest, I have no idea what you're talking about It's really just filling progress bars with running ventures and the Coalition that wins receives the most loot. The share of the loot is automatically distributed in accordance to the accumulated Team Points



It's an optional side activity that does not interfere with the singleplayer part of the game. You can still play the game as normal, but you're free to send ships out on ventures (or not, your choice). That being said, it's still a Beta and Bernd Lehan was very clear that all things are still subject to change. What we've got now is not what the final version of the ventures will look like.

Egosoft wants to "allow" certain QoL mods for the Venture Mode, but that's still a "to be done" thing. So no Imperial Star Destroyers suddenly emerging in your galaxy

--

All that being said: I totally failed the internet again. Stupid little me managed to link my Steam Account with X4 to my very old and very obscure Egosoft Account from 2002 (last login 2012 lol). There's no real support function that I could use to ask them if they can manually link my Steam Account with the appropriate new Egosoft account (with the "current" Username and not the old one I used as a juvenile some 20 years ago lol)

I think ED Cgs had it too. It was like voting which content comes out first.

And the account thing - yeah-that email adress I registered with doesnt exits anymore either.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

At the end of the video there's a segment where Bernd talks about mods and ventures (there's a time stamp for it). In a nutshell: mods like total conversions, mods that change ship stats or mods that add billions of credits, free ships etc. won't work due to balancing concerns*. Popular quality of life mods (e.g. mods that make using the interface easier) will be "signed" by Egosoft and are good to go.

*) Although I do have to wonder how they consider savegames that are hundreds of hours old "balanced". I mean, I have 1.2 billion in the bank, make a few hundred million credits every hour, own some 70+ factory complexes and have enough firepower and production capacity at my hands to wipe out the entire galaxy. At last count I had some 40k employees in my ranks That's hardly "balanced" when compared to someone who makes a fresh start and it's not that much "less powerful" than someone using a creative mode game start or "cheat mods".

Divide assets by hours played. You earned your OPness. And it's different doing it all vanilla, belueve me - I tried custom game - ut doesnt work out for everyone. X4 is a grind - but a meaningful one. There is some truth to pride and accompliishhment, but only if you built it yourself. And when you cant be harsed, just play the game - there is no real gate to gameplay - just possibilities. Just sometumes it's more fun when you worked foor them.
Long Dark is similar - it just kills you, but you can defy it. It's all about the journey. As long it's a good one the destination dont matter so much.

 

[Old Duck]

Well I finished the video on Ventures, and I'm more confused now than before. I obviously lack the necessary "brain" fuel

I do plan to opt-out of this Beta, because this seems to be a long-term team-based game, and I would be a terrible teammate right now due to my schedule. That's one of the things I love of pure single-player games - I can pick it up, play a bit, save, put it down, attend to IRL, and then resume where I left off as time allows. Not that online games like MMOs don't allow this, but a seasonal team game implies a certain amount of commitment. I also would have to commit mental resources to learn this new game mechanic, and TBH I'm more interested in learning about the "new modding tools" that were mentioned in the video. If I have spare time, I'd love to dig in and do my own modding and rebalancing of the game!

 

[Agony_Aunt]

So, ventures are a bit like NMS fleet expeditions?

 

[Astaran]

So, ventures are a bit like NMS fleet expeditions?

Yep, pretty much. Although there are additional venture missions that you can play within your "own" universe like ordinary missions

 

[Old Duck]

Sometimes I just like to hop on someone else's ship and go for a ride, wherever they may take me. These Split were kind enough to give a hitchhiker (of the galaxy, LOL) a lift to a previously unmapped sector for me. It was a nice, chill experience.

Now if only I could find a faction of Space Babes to hitch a ride with

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

When I play this game I tend to entangle myself with the plot lines and not much with the standard gameplay. This playthrough I have barely done normal missions. Bread and butter was uncovering stations, doing sattellite drops in juicy sectors, adapting to new ressource distributions, plot missions and coasting zero balance to get the HQ running.
I even turned to cheese one of the Terran missions I couldn't do in my Kukri - best ship in my arsenal. Did only get the Gladius that was abandoned (but I find it too slow as player ship). I did set up 3 autominers for silicon. Might try to find a place for a Nividium autominer

 

[Old Duck]

I've been enjoying:

Spoiler: Borons

... watching the Borons slowly spread throughout the commonwealth (or whatever it's called). Right now they're mostly in the systems close to Heretic's End, but I expect to at least see their ships push further and further out over time, which I enjoy watching unfold.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Couple day now playtime. My progress is slower than my 1st Terran. Findings - my M miners were all killed by Kaak. Only Niv-miners still alive. Xenon active. An I parked next to HAT trade station. It might die - couldnt kill it with story Syn and retreated it.
Still havrnt figured boarding. Next goal is get foothold im Avarice and try salvage Terran synergies.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Herold mission chain is bugged for me. Vital Bofu delivery does not resolve and my game freezes when doing the final dialogue. This hasn't happened during my Boron start and no idea why it locks up. I did not deliver personally but by NPC proxy. Be wary here. I have reported it at the forum and maybe there be some light shed on it.
With the trouble of M ships at Avarice I feel tempted to suspend for the next patch.

Edit:
Or I play catch-up. Watched some tips about boarding and could try that with my Syn. Xenon I still was next to HAT dock when I finished the HAT plot.

 

[Old Duck]

Once you're at war with a faction (in my case, the HOP), is it possible to ever reach peace, or am I stuck forever at war? I'm ready for "peace talks", but I can't undeclare war, nor can I do the typical "shoot criminals to earn points" method of improving reputation, because HOP stations automatically fire on me when I'm in range.

 

[Astaran]

Once you're at war with a faction (in my case, the HOP), is it possible to ever reach peace, or am I stuck forever at war? I'm ready for "peace talks", but I can't undeclare war, nor can I do the typical "shoot criminals to earn points" method of improving reputation, because HOP stations automatically fire on me when I'm in range.

It's going to take a lot of time, but you can try shooting down enemies of HOP (Kha'ak, Xenon) until you can approach their stations again. "Easiest" way to do this is by flying to the "borders" of a HOP sector until a bunch of mining ships spawn. Those ships (of a random faction) are frequently attacked by Pirates, Xenon or Kha'ak that you can then shoot down.

 

[Old Duck]

It's going to take a lot of time, but you can try shooting down enemies of HOP (Kha'ak, Xenon) until you can approach their stations again. "Easiest" way to do this is by flying to the "borders" of a HOP sector until a bunch of mining ships spawn. Those ships (of a random faction) are frequently attacked by Pirates, Xenon or Kha'ak that you can then shoot down.

There's a Boron mission requiring me to have rep with HOP, who I just whooped big time in a major war...

 

[EUS]

From day 1, I made it a point to be friends with everyone (Kha'ak and xenon aside), even if they are enemies with other factions. Helped me to get all kinds of blueprints.

 

[Old Duck]

From day 1, I made it a point to be friends with everyone (Kha'ak and xenon aside), even if they are enemies with other factions. Helped me to get all kinds of blueprints.

More enemies means more booms, LOL. That and the robots are kinda boring - the Paranid are much better at launching insults, a much more entertaining weapon!

 

[xzanfr]

I've been hapily tinkering about filling in gaps in the market (and lining my pockets!) with limited interaction with the xenon.
It turns out that they've been busy taking every system north of Heretics end the arrival of the boron's has really upset them - time for me to build up a fleet and take heretics for myself.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I gound out that Heretic's End has a major boost in population. Viable spot for shipyard - my old save asteroid belt had trouble crewing ships at one point. Also good for production. And since I aim for Boron carriers and weapons it might be my choice to build. Zyarth is near, too - might be good enemy later.
For now I used my Syn for "inspections" - doing Kyushu drive-by boarding in Pioneer space. Bailed 2 Katanas with my Moreya and kept the best. From a measly 11 million to 70 in one session.
I think I'm gonna have a look at the Erlking - always loved the poem anyway.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I think I blew up my fair share of capitals but I think they explode now more vigorously? Also hearing quite a couple "explosion imminent warnings". The older X games made much more use of missiles - they were cause to many reloads. In X4 that doesn't happen as much.

News from HAT: The Xenon I blew the trade station up.