The X games have never been a true astronomical space simulator. At best , combat and base building in localized space in a 2D array of compass direction interconnected sectors. However they've excelled at being a great illusion of outer space civilizations in their overall aesthetic and interconnected trading gameplay. Kind of like a working anthill-like thriving enclosed system where every npc ship and entity does their own thing in their interconnected universe where the player can build an "empire" of stations and run a basic npc fleet. True about the overwhelming unwieldy interface. I usually just learned the main shortcut keys needed, and rarely bothered directly clicking on the overlapping menu-field clicking interface for X2 & X3.
Game Discussions X4 this looks Very good
- Thread starter Vistitor010100
- Start date
https://www.youtube.com/user/Xuniversechannel
This game has so much to offer, It will use Vulcan rendering so big plus for AMD users..
really excited for this
VR
Looks promising too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM3TYjWfjgw
Nice voice over review..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F84NzOg9GV0
If you do not have a universe with 400 billion stars you fail
Remember when us Elite fans were still holding out hope of a new Elite game, and then X turned up? It looked amazing in the magazine screenshots (i think this was before the 'internet' or certainly youtube) but for many Elite fans, while looking good that was not enough to pull us away for long.
X2 was eventually an improvement (with the official and then fan mods etc), and that paved the way for X3 that is kind of like the overall 'best' version of the X games (especially with the various mods). Still these games always start out slow and grindy and that is not for everyone.
For my money one of the best things the X series has given to games is the music! I copy those music files over into just about any sci-fi themed game and it nearly always improves the immersion and enjoyment i get out of a space game. Fantastic music.
I've currently been revisiting the games (in part due to the recent GOG sale), and i did not last long on the first one, just too slow imho. X2 feels pretty good, i worked out how to use DxWnd to get the screen resolution as i want it, and i have X3 and X-Rebirth to try eventually. I figure by the time i'm through with those X4 should be patched into a decent enough game
X2 was eventually an improvement (with the official and then fan mods etc), and that paved the way for X3 that is kind of like the overall 'best' version of the X games (especially with the various mods). Still these games always start out slow and grindy and that is not for everyone.
For my money one of the best things the X series has given to games is the music! I copy those music files over into just about any sci-fi themed game and it nearly always improves the immersion and enjoyment i get out of a space game. Fantastic music.
I've currently been revisiting the games (in part due to the recent GOG sale), and i did not last long on the first one, just too slow imho. X2 feels pretty good, i worked out how to use DxWnd to get the screen resolution as i want it, and i have X3 and X-Rebirth to try eventually. I figure by the time i'm through with those X4 should be patched into a decent enough game
Remember when us Elite fans were still holding out hope of a new Elite game, and then X turned up? It looked amazing in the magazine screenshots (i think this was before the 'internet' or certainly youtube) but for many Elite fans, while looking good that was not enough to pull us away for long.
X2 was eventually an improvement (with the official and then fan mods etc), and that paved the way for X3 that is kind of like the overall 'best' version of the X games (especially with the various mods). Still these games always start out slow and grindy and that is not for everyone.
For my money one of the best things the X series has given to games is the music! I copy those music files over into just about any sci-fi themed game and it nearly always improves the immersion and enjoyment i get out of a space game. Fantastic music.
I've currently been revisiting the games (in part due to the recent GOG sale), and i did not last long on the first one, just too slow imho. X2 feels pretty good, i worked out how to use DxWnd to get the screen resolution as i want it, and i have X3 and X-Rebirth to try eventually. I figure by the time i'm through with those X4 should be patched into a decent enough game
parhaps I should try x4
Definitely keeping an eye on this one.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Xuniversechannel
This game has so much to offer, It will use Vulcan rendering so big plus for AMD users..
really excited for this
VR
Looks promising too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM3TYjWfjgw
Nice voice over review..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F84NzOg9GV0
Whenever EGOSOFT sells a new game i take a step back knowing it will be a nightmare of bugs and be a nice playable game a year after release.
I was sad to see the return of space high ways.
I think that is an abominable concept.
I do love the incredible detail on those space stations in X4.
I watched a video about modular space station construction in X4.
I love the low orbit of those stations which make the planets feel really big as they dominate the entire view.
It looks exactly like the awesome pictures and videos you see of ISS.
In ED planets look far too small as stations have very high orbits.
X4 will be mostly a spacetycoon game. I never liked that aspect about the X games,
I think that is an abominable concept.
I do love the incredible detail on those space stations in X4.
I watched a video about modular space station construction in X4.
I love the low orbit of those stations which make the planets feel really big as they dominate the entire view.
It looks exactly like the awesome pictures and videos you see of ISS.
In ED planets look far too small as stations have very high orbits.
X4 will be mostly a spacetycoon game. I never liked that aspect about the X games,
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Jenner
I wish I was English like my hero Tj.
Me too. "Cautiously optimistic."
This is one I'll definitely wait a bit to see how it pans out before I buy it.
To be fair, Bernd does explain in the livestreams they've done so far that the highways are necessary otherwise you'd spend hours trying to get across a single sector. I like the huge sectors from Rebirth and concede that the highways, while not exactly done the best way, are necessary.
Ugh, highways? With the mobile game mechanics again?
oh, its still that guy in charge is it?.
I liked the gates they had in the previous games, they were great if you wanted to play a pirate, just wait near one and scan the cargo of everything that comes through.
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The persisting grudge against "higways" continues to baffle me. Freelancer had it first (and was it the first?), no one batted an eye. The problem has never been the concept of "highways in space", but the way these have been used. And in the first iteration of Rebirth, they have been used appallingly bad. Don't even get me started on the first version of the "highway minigame", that was...ok, I won't get me started.
As they are now (and have been for some years), they are just a tube you can go in and out of at any given moment while keeping free flight inside of them. Bad to see? Subjective but I agree, those ugly convoluted spaghetti laying around space aren't a great view, a thing even they recognised and later "corrected" in the HoL dlc, where the Home Of Light system has just a single main highway laid out in a large ring crossing through the various adjacent sectors, so no more yarn balls in the distance.
I'm still not a fan of their visual appearance in the Alpha footage they showed so far, to the point I liked the translucent yellow tube of Rebirth more than the light-distorting ones they have now, making all rings and other structures behind them appearing wierdly warped, but that has nothing to do with their gameplay implications. And as far as these are concerned with the current way of moving around space they are implementing, space highways are just another way to move around faster and another variable for the player to consider for movements in general. Almost exactly as in Freelancer. (highways to go straight from point to point, "cruise engine" to do the same, a bit slower, while free roaming around. Sounds familiar, indeed...)
oh, its still that guy in charge is it?.
"That guy" *is* Egosoft. Deal with it, like it or not.
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The persisting grudge against "higways" continues to baffle me. Freelancer had it first (and was it the first?), no one batted an eye. The problem has never been the concept of "highways in space", but the way these have been used. And in the first iteration of Rebirth, they have been used appallingly bad. Don't even get me started on the first version of the "highway minigame", that was...ok, I won't get me started.
As they are now (and have been for some years), they are just a tube you can go in and out of at any given moment while keeping free flight inside of them. Bad to see? Subjective but I agree, those ugly convoluted spaghetti laying around space aren't a great view, a thing even they recognised and later "corrected" in the HoL dlc, where the Home Of Light system has just a single main highway laid out in a large ring crossing through the various adjacent sectors, so no more yarn balls in the distance.
I'm still not a fan of their visual appearance in the Alpha footage they showed so far, to the point I liked the translucent yellow tube of Rebirth more than the light-distorting ones they have now, making all rings and other structures behind them appearing wierdly warped, but that has nothing to do with their gameplay implications. And as far as these are concerned with the current way of moving around space they are implementing, space highways are just another way to move around faster and another variable for the player to consider for movements in general. Almost exactly as in Freelancer. (highways to go straight from point to point, "cruise engine" to do the same, a bit slower, while free roaming around. Sounds familiar, indeed...)
"That guy" *is* Egosoft. Deal with it, like it or not.
So only tube? No stupid minigame? I could suspend my disbelief for that.
I got X Rebirth Complete during the winter sale for 18 € and I like it so far being a few hours in. I learned to hate multi player, procedural generation/rng and grind in space games and X seems to feature none of that. Instead I see a campaign serving as slow-burning tutorial, where you can stray from the path and do whatever you want.
The colorful visuals with stations sprawling over kilometers are great and it runs without an issue on my dated rig. I also find the revamped highway mechanic way more immersive than hyper-space loading screens and jump drive mechanics dropping you somewhere else.
The space legs is a mixed bag. While I like to disembark from my vessel from time to time (menus are boring), searching boxes and vents seems to be out of place. I would like to see a complete overhaul of that feature with a few some well designed station interiors and meaningful things to do. A bit like the original Mass Effect, but without turning it into a FPS.
I didn't play any of the previous games, despite owning them all for some (Humble) reason, I never got into those.
The colorful visuals with stations sprawling over kilometers are great and it runs without an issue on my dated rig. I also find the revamped highway mechanic way more immersive than hyper-space loading screens and jump drive mechanics dropping you somewhere else.
The space legs is a mixed bag. While I like to disembark from my vessel from time to time (menus are boring), searching boxes and vents seems to be out of place. I would like to see a complete overhaul of that feature with a few some well designed station interiors and meaningful things to do. A bit like the original Mass Effect, but without turning it into a FPS.
I didn't play any of the previous games, despite owning them all for some (Humble) reason, I never got into those.
If you refer to the minigame where the highways had fixed lanes inside and you had to trail the traffic ships to gain speed, that didn't even make it to v2.0 as far as I remember; then they more or less "inverted" the minigame having to dodge ships instead of trailing them and then completely removed lanes and left them just as tubes where you could freely float around and leave at any place just by moving to the edges.
That first version, that was a proper game design brainfart, and as it appears it marked highways as "root of all evil" for the time being for lots of people.
A small footnote: my previous post is not to be read as a "highways are good and you're all wrong", opinions are what they are and any is good as the other, what baffles me is not that people don't like them, but that many seem to give no reason outside of "Rebirth bad, game bad, everyone say it's bad", like the idea of highways in space wasn't ever implemented in one way or the other in other games. Opinions are subjective by definition, but a bit of reasoning behind them rarely hurts.
If you refer to the minigame where the highways had fixed lanes inside and you had to trail the traffic ships to gain speed, that didn't even make it to v2.0 as far as I remember; then they more or less "inverted" the minigame having to dodge ships instead of trailing them and then completely removed lanes and left them just as tubes where you could freely float around and leave at any place just by moving to the edges.
That first version, that was a proper game design brainfart, and as it appears it marked highways as "root of all evil" for the time being for lots of people.
A small footnote: my previous post is not to be read as a "highways are good and you're all wrong", opinions are what they are and any is good as the other, what baffles me is not that people don't like them, but that many seem to give no reason outside of "Rebirth bad, game bad, everyone say it's bad", like the idea of highways in space wasn't ever implemented in one way or the other in other games. Opinions are subjective by definition, but a bit of reasoning behind them rarely hurts.
I just remember looking at some pitch when they had these highways and some stuff that was like some QTE and I immediately struck it off my watchlist back then.
I'm going to buy X4 at release even though I know by past experience (X2 up to X Rebirth) that it's going to be a disaster at launch - thinking of it as a kind of early access game.
From past experience given 6 months to a year the major bugs will be squashed and the gameplay problems that Egosoft are being flamed the hardest for will be addressed.
It's a bit of a shame that some posters have given up on previous versions of the X series after being exposed to the original versions. The developers do seem to listen to their users (see comments from Bernd in some of the videos linked above) and their forum mods don't try and suppress any and all criticism.
X has always been complex with too many menus and a steep learning curve but there is some pretty good engaging gamely in the series if empire building and owning vast fleets are your thing. After a while you learn what hotkeys to press by muscle memory and the menus are not really an issue.
The flight model in the games has been pretty much non-existent - think of it as keyboard and mouse control only and forget about using your HOTAS since that will just lead to frustration. This is one thing that Elite gets really right - the feel of flying a ship is fantastic on a HOTAS.
If one of the previous X games are on sale I recommend taking a look. A lot of the original complaints have been solved and the best 3rd party mods have been adopted by Egosoft and made available as easy to install officially sanctioned add-ons.
In conclusion: X is a kind of a love it or hate it series. From what I've seen of the X4 videos so far I'm optimistic, but buyer beware - it seems like if you weren't a fan of previous X games you probably won't like the new one.
From past experience given 6 months to a year the major bugs will be squashed and the gameplay problems that Egosoft are being flamed the hardest for will be addressed.
It's a bit of a shame that some posters have given up on previous versions of the X series after being exposed to the original versions. The developers do seem to listen to their users (see comments from Bernd in some of the videos linked above) and their forum mods don't try and suppress any and all criticism.
X has always been complex with too many menus and a steep learning curve but there is some pretty good engaging gamely in the series if empire building and owning vast fleets are your thing. After a while you learn what hotkeys to press by muscle memory and the menus are not really an issue.
The flight model in the games has been pretty much non-existent - think of it as keyboard and mouse control only and forget about using your HOTAS since that will just lead to frustration. This is one thing that Elite gets really right - the feel of flying a ship is fantastic on a HOTAS.
If one of the previous X games are on sale I recommend taking a look. A lot of the original complaints have been solved and the best 3rd party mods have been adopted by Egosoft and made available as easy to install officially sanctioned add-ons.
In conclusion: X is a kind of a love it or hate it series. From what I've seen of the X4 videos so far I'm optimistic, but buyer beware - it seems like if you weren't a fan of previous X games you probably won't like the new one.
Thats is what I'm most impressed by: The free of charge post-release support is incredible for the current era.
I don't know, the "highways" seem to be an annoying restrictive to-linear-rails-like framework perhaps to keep their expanding space anthill tycoon game in line and not have too many outliers moving about. I'd preferred using "SETI" mode to whisk along from gate to gate seeing all the other npc ships making their way in their formed "lanes". What happened to the 'SETI' time speedup anyways? I guess if they are going multiplayer, it wouldn't work anymore. ED had a similar problem but it worked out with an ok version of "warp speed" travel in real time instead of the old stardreamer time-speedup function of FFE.
The X-games were fun particularly X1 to X3 for me, more like a substitute station and asset running economic game with the illusion of star system space travel freedom helped by colorful space fantasy graphics and backdrops. A decent substitute while waiting for the next Elite game at the time..
The X-games were fun particularly X1 to X3 for me, more like a substitute station and asset running economic game with the illusion of star system space travel freedom helped by colorful space fantasy graphics and backdrops. A decent substitute while waiting for the next Elite game at the time..
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Yes and doesn't sell skins in item shop when unfinished...