x3TC or x4?

[One_Lunch_Man]

So I'm debating which game is worth investing in.

I like space games and x3 has been on my radar for awhile. I was looking for opinions from anyone whos played both games. Then i found a newer game in x4.

I also use a lot of mods in games I play, so if one has better options there, thats a factor too.

[That guy with the Spoon]

I haven't played x4, but x rebirth i tried out and it was dreadful.
rebirth added so many things that I don't like. like walking around on stations looking for traders to trade with or using highways to travel greater distances in space.

for x4 they brought both mechanics back which makes me skeptical.
a game that's supposed to be about space exploration, fighting, trading and building your empire shouldn't get interrupted all the time by turning into a boring walking simulator or playing stupid slipstream minigames while traveling through a highway.

so i have to recommend x3tc and x3ap. those games offer many modpacks, which add a expanded universe, new ships, new missions and maybe new weapon balancing.

there might be people who do recommend x4 or rebirth, but I don't.

[Harrison]

If I had to choose, I'd go with X4. It's everything that Rebirth should have been (and wasn't) and a better successor to the X name in terms of actual sandbox gameplay. It's more likely to receive updates (the beta for patch 3.3 is currently underway) There's also a Star Wars mod in the works, I haven't been following it but I did see someone post an update on its development the other day. This is the bottom line, but it's not the end of the story.

Personally, I like X4. I even liked Rebirth (insert unpopular_puffin.jpg). I also like X3TC/AP.

X4 is in a tough spot because Egosoft made some design decisions that some members of their playerbase... umm... disagreed with (it's not polite to call it "entitled nerdrage"). Things like highways, space legs, and not using the ship models from X3 or X: Rebirth.

Most of the highways are optional since there are mods that remove them. Space legs though are currently unavoidable in a few cases; such as hand picking captains, turning in certain missions, using the inventory traders (and only the inventory traders), moving between ships, and going EVA.

The X3TC/AP most people are still playing and fondly remembering is the culmination of a decade worth of patches (a fact most choose to ignore) and mods. If I'm going to play either, it's going to be modded... it's as simple as that but they are still very playable without any mods. The Terran War bundle is currently (for about 90 more minutes at the time of posting) on sale for 70% off and I do recommend them, though not as strongly as X4. X3AP has a Star Wars mod that I've never used.

[Nautixx [GER]]

There's a lot of X3 "veterans". You won't get a straight answer on this question.
I played both and have to say that I prefer the X3 series (for now).
According the communities both are active but as X3 launched several years before X4 there are more mods for X3 right now. (And very, very good ones as well).

[Der Liebe Frankie]

I tried X4 and was immediately turned off by the UI. I would say before you buy X4 try to see all the tutorial videos you can to explain how the UI works, so you can try it quickly after purchasing to determine if you will be happy with it. I didn't even finish the tutorials and it felt pretty clunky - but honestly I didn't give the UI that much of a chance, but read other reviews of other players who said it only gets worse the longer you play X4.

Of course some people really like it. That's the kicker - figuring how how much time to allow a game break your heart or turn into the best thing you've played in a long time.

[Pathogenic]

I've moved on to X4, I much prefer it.

[Boris]

With a Gamepad like the X-Box 360 Controler X4 Foundations.
+ Nice Stations - Personal Management - ship upgrades-way to perform - also fun to fly - more reason to spent time ingame..more space feeling.

With a Gamepad with it's style like a Playstation 2 Controler X3TC.
+ better fleet management ? - weapons more different - better weapon and fly control with a old gamepad...better combat for me.

[PegasusJF]

I have more hours on the X3 games than X4. While the X3 games are very good I feel X4 is much more refined. Station Construction is more streamlined and better looking. The game feels much more alive. What was hinted in X4 Albion Prelude (war, conquering systems) is full blown in X4. The xenon are an actual threat and take over sectors, sometimes with frightening speed. You have to react. Sometimes other AI empires don't seem to do enough,though the Teladi took back Inamus Zura after the Xenon conquered it and took an adjacent Xenon sector so it balances out.

X4 is more a mission/factory station building sim for cash than a trader, though one can sitll do trading. I mostly did the mission/factory route.

I think you should get x4, though x3 is also a worthy game.

[FinaL]

in my humble opinion X3 is a more balanced and fun game then X4. Why?

Because in X3 you really start as a nobody but advance to a real force in the universe. If you use Litcube's and/or Mayhem you can FEEL the progression. You're proud of it, like in the early days of X the Frontiers as you bought your way with only 100cr.

X4 has many things people wanted for a sequel, like varied missions, explicit ship roles, crew and a good station builder. However, black market is trash, AI is even more trash, the ships are genuinely ugly compared to X3 and the space legs are good on paper, but Egosoft was never really good at modelling characters and bring interiors to live. Compare them with the ALPHA star citizen and you can just laugh about this.

I tried X4. I liked the Freelancer-feeling for mouse-flight and the steps between ships. However, you're a fool if you don't start with easy-peasy cristal mining. You're a fool if you don't invest in ship part's ASAP. You're a fool if you don't let the ACTUAL EMPIRES treat the Xenon's (you know, the guys with a REAL FLEET).

People defending the game like "these are trading opportunities" or "it's a real challenge!" or "the performance suck because you don't play on very low settings" or "the AI sucks so you don't automate everything" or "it's not a bug, it's a player fault" and "the UI is not so bad it's just different".

If you see so many threads about these you can be sure that the game is more a hussle then joy. Compare it to Anno 2205 vs Anno 1404 or Settlers 2 vs any other Settlers.

It's similar to it's origins but it's "verschlimmbessert" as we Germans like to say ^^

[Aurian]

X4 cut out basic races that have been part of the series from the start, and is re-releasing them as fully priced DLC. It also brought back some features from Rebirth that most players disliked, like the station scanning minigame and boring walking simulators on stations. Plus the universe is much smaller. And there are no capital ships.

Modded X3 TC/AP is probably the best game I've played all my life (apart from the original Master of Orion II), and I started gaming around 30 years ago. The mods are freaking fantastic, and even vanilla X3 TC kept me entertained for a loooong time. And I'll always prefer jump drives over highways.

I'll probably give X4 another look in the somewhat distant future when all the basic content (all races, capital ships, decently sized universe) have been included, and when there is a sale for the full package at a decent price. And when there are mods to eliminate the pointless minigames and bring back jump drives.

[Skyking]

X3 TC/AP is the best of the series. X3 has more of everything right now than X4.