Next steps in the evolution of X4: Foundations

[Ketraar]

Recently we discovered a video about #X4Foundations by BlueDrake42. We have not influenced or sponsored his video, but we are definitely pleased he’s so excited about X4 and we wanted to share his review. It’s been a great joy for the entire team at Egosoft to hear all of his comments.

“There have definitely been a few problems with bugs, and the learning curve has always been a little bit high due to the massive giant economy… but I have to say X4 is the best version of all the X Games in my opinion - the UI is way better and easier to navigate, the controls are way more streamlined.” - BlueDrake42 Youtube

Check out his full review here: https://youtu.be/2ZHqid2t7vM

I want to use this opportunity to also update you all on our progress with 2.0 and our plans beyond:

X4: Foundations Milestones

Before 2.0, and between any of the coming major patches, there will also be minor steps. We try to release bug fixes as fast as we can once we feel they are safe (which is why there will also be lots of public betas). Right now you can participate in the public beta for 1.60 here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/392160/discussions/0/2521353993638016501/

Update 2.0

The next bigger update will bring, among other things, the ability to set up your own shipyards. Compete with the faction shipyards by selling ships to the war factions or build your own fleets.

Another focus for 2.0 is to make crew training a bit easier. Crew and pilots gain experience by doing their jobs; more so in some areas than others. However, while the first two stars are very easy to gain, the progress slows down after that. Getting from the 3rd to the 4th star takes a LOT more experience than from the 1st to the 2nd.

We aim to release 2.0 in February.

Update 2.50

• With 2.50 we aim to bring a new ship type: Resupply ships. In short, they will work like a flying equipment dock and can form the backbone of a large fleet.
  
• Linux version: We hope the Linux beta can start somewhere between 2.0 and 2.50 already but at the latest together with this update.
  
• TrackIR/Tobii support: We know lots of people are asking us to support these tools and while testing may start before it again we aim that 2.50 should bring support at the latest.
  
• Sector blacklists: This will allow you to set up sectors that your ships will avoid at all costs.
  
• Another thing that we hope to pack into 2.50 is a series of improvements around managing inventory items. This includes the ability to create and drop crates in space and possibly also to store them on stations.

Update 3.0

• As some of you may already have figured out, one cool feature of X4 is the ability to own entire sectors and even change their names. With 3.0 we aim to build upon this with a number of features to help you benefit from sector control. You can then basically become your own faction with your own set of rules.
  
• For all updates, we are working on better missions. At the latest for 3.0 we plan to have a number of new and improved combat missions in particular. An area we want to combine this with is improved research (in the player HQ) and the ability to potentially even move the player HQ to a different location.
  
• An early gameplay feature that 3.0 will improve is the ability to dock directly at station with a spacesuit and to get other NPC ships to transport you, by offering missions to them.
  
• With 3.0 at the latest, we want to have at least one new gamestart. There is a chance that this will have some interesting new features.

Online ventures

In December we released our very first online mode in an X game: Ventures. With the Updates 2.0 to 3.0 we will also continue work on more and better online ventures. So stay tuned for more exciting online missions.

Please click on the below links for a more detailed explanation of Online Ventures:
https://www.egosoft.com:8444/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=77791367

https://youtu.be/NuONlBUTuy0

First Expansion will introduce Split race

While all of the above (free) updates may also contain new assets, we will bundle a lot of new ships, station modules, missions and new sectors into the first big expansion. Our rough timeline is to have an expansion based on introducing the Split race, their ships, a new Split economy and of course a large new area of space shortly after releasing 3.0.

[Red Guard]

Can't wait!

[Blitz4]

+1 Joseph

[MaGicBush]

Very nice, but what about ship balancing? You guys have not even mentioned this..

[Http]

Hello, my graphics card has 2g video memory only.

Can you ensure that map menus and text can be displayed properly, by "reserving exclusive video memory area beforehand". when video memory overflow occurs (<3G) ?

If that, at least we can continue the game.(We can continue without some textures, but cannot without menus.)

Thank you very much for your hard work. believe X4 will surpass x3.

[Http]

and do I need to restart the game to use subsequent updates?

[Kanaro Min]

So no fixes to A.I., wings, or fleets at all. Until that's addressed, the game remains broken. AI Pilots still can't dock. Wingmen can't keep up with the player or each other. Fleets are largely useless. That doesn't even begin to mention how broken the economy is, and as a consequence wars between factions. None of it is mentioned in any of the planned patch notes.

I had to chuckle at the comments of "...a few problems with bugs", and "...X4 is the best version of all the X Games in my opinion". Neither are correct - the game is riddled with bugs, and any of the X3 games are far better at this point. Recent reviews on Steam more accurately reflect the state of the game, and quite possibly Egosoft's future.

Since I doubt we'll see 4.0 or 5.0 prior to April, this may well be a good time to bid Egosoft adieu. You never really had your eyes on the ball - just a working stable game with the current elements in it would have made people happy. Knowing that could take a year or more makes X4 a Rebirth repeat, and there's no arguing that. It's unfortunate that it took two titles and over $100 to figure that out, but I should probably say "thank you Egosoft, lesson learned".

You're adding in new features, when existing game features are still very broken. That clearly states the importance put on making the gaming experience an enjoyable one (very little).

-------------------

tl;dr:

Docking with a spacesuit? A new gamestart? Resupply ships? Easier inventory management? More / better Ventures?

Please - just give us a WORKING game as it was marketed, within six months after it was sold.

[Inixus]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kanaro Min:

So no fixes to A.I., wings, or fleets at all. Until that's addressed, the game remains broken. AI Pilots still can't dock. Wingmen can't keep up with the player or each other. Fleets are largely useless. That doesn't even begin to mention how broken the economy is, and as a consequence wars between factions. None of it is mentioned in any of the planned patch notes.

I had to chuckle at the comments of "...a few problems with bugs", and "...X4 is the best version of all the X Games in my opinion". Neither are correct - the game is riddled with bugs, and any of the X3 games are far better at this point. Recent reviews on Steam more accurately reflect the state of the game, and quite possibly Egosoft's future.

Since I doubt we'll see 4.0 or 5.0 prior to April, this may well be a good time to bid Egosoft adieu. You never really had your eyes on the ball - just a working stable game with the current elements in it would have made people happy. Knowing that could take a year or more makes X4 a Rebirth repeat, and there's no arguing that. It's unfortunate that it took two titles and over $100 to figure that out, but I should probably say "thank you Egosoft, lesson learned".

You're adding in new features, when existing game features are still very broken. That clearly states the importance put on making the gaming experience an enjoyable one (very little).

-------------------

tl;dr:

Docking with a spacesuit? A new gamestart? Resupply ships? Easier inventory management? More / better Ventures?

Please - just give us a WORKING game as it was marketed, within six months after it was sold.

+1

[Http]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Kanaro Min:

So no fixes to A.I., wings, or fleets at all. Until that's addressed, the game remains broken. AI Pilots still can't dock. Wingmen can't keep up with the player or each other. Fleets are largely useless. That doesn't even begin to mention how broken the economy is, and as a consequence wars between factions. None of it is mentioned in any of the planned patch notes.

I had to chuckle at the comments of "...a few problems with bugs", and "...X4 is the best version of all the X Games in my opinion". Neither are correct - the game is riddled with bugs, and any of the X3 games are far better at this point. Recent reviews on Steam more accurately reflect the state of the game, and quite possibly Egosoft's future.

Since I doubt we'll see 4.0 or 5.0 prior to April, this may well be a good time to bid Egosoft adieu. You never really had your eyes on the ball - just a working stable game with the current elements in it would have made people happy. Knowing that could take a year or more makes X4 a Rebirth repeat, and there's no arguing that. It's unfortunate that it took two titles and over $100 to figure that out, but I should probably say "thank you Egosoft, lesson learned".

You're adding in new features, when existing game features are still very broken. That clearly states the importance put on making the gaming experience an enjoyable one (very little).

-------------------

tl;dr:

Docking with a spacesuit? A new gamestart? Resupply ships? Easier inventory management? More / better Ventures?

Please - just give us a WORKING game as it was marketed, within six months after it was sold.

Mod support may be able to relieve current gameplay issues.

[d[-_-]b]

I'd rather have my $80 back please. I'm not interested in roadmaps when the launch title that I was sold was a total mess, and still is to a large degree.

[Devil Dog]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Crash Test Dummy:

I'd rather have my $80 back please. I'm not interested in roadmaps when the launch title that I was sold was a total mess, and still is to a large degree.

[phone]

[Blitz4]

It was stated for 2.0:
"Compete with the faction shipyards by selling ships to the war factions or build your own fleets."

Assumingly that mandates a fix for fleets for 2.0, because fleets don't work atm thus, logic. You can't build your own fleets if fleets don't work.

Also assumingly that a fleet fix will also fix some of the ai commands. What will be fixed, I don't know. I'm super happy to see this thread. This is the first roadmap update that I've seen in 6-7 weeks. After 1.5 dropped, I've been wondering what I could expect to see in 2.0.

I'm happy about 2.0, but not happy with the amount of assumptions that I had to make to get there. Hoping 2.0 doesn't dissapoint.

[Kozak]

Yay for Linux support! An improvement over XR would be some interesting and meaningful exploration, something like finding unique mods in ancient alien derelicts.

[|$m0k!n| - El Novato -]

About time you watched the video of BlueDrake42. Nice to see another people enjoying the game as he does and hoping for the best the way he does. That guy is full of positivism and amusement for it.

2.0 Shipyardssssssss !!. Currently saving because i don´t know if you will have to build different shipyards for diferent faction ships or you could do it all in one. Crew training revamped...

2.5 Yes ! a resupply ship! I think it was also hinted the model somewhere. Sector blacklist ! +1. And a better management of the inventory. Ejeje. At last ! I cannot wait to store the illegal items instead of being 24 hours smuggling them.

3.0 Sector rules, change of missions and improved research. Wait. Change of the phq location ? mmm maybe if it´s done via research also...Other npc ships to transport you. Ejejeje. i´ve been thinking that make a short gameplay right now with an npc transporting the player could be interesting, like blending with the crew, or something along the lines of The Tourist in the Terry pratchett novel... The first ever seen in the X Universe.

And a Split DLC. Nice, nice.

I´m gonna state my wish for one of the surprises with this game. Something about the outsiders, as a recon fleet to defeat or probes to destroy because they are testing this universe to see if it´s possible to extract again energy.

Fingers crossed !

[ImHelping]

I wonder if we can ban NPCs from buying at our shipyards, to prevent a loop of "I built my own shipyards to avoid shut down NPC stations, now I'm waiting in line at my own shipyards because NPCs avoided shutdown NPC stations"

I love the idea of a supply ship, but ships have enough trouble as it is docking at stationary locations even at 'high skill'. See also, nearly every thread talking about carriers... Wait a minute, carriers should be able to do this already. An entirely new ship dedicated to ressuply would only be good for L and XL ships unless carriers have been abandoned as a lost cause.

Will the supply ships basically cheat in resources I wonder? Given the NPCs can hardly keep a station based supply chain running, a mobile supply depot with an even smaller inventory and no productions seems premature even ignoring docking logics.

Lots of great ideas. But as usual the most important thing be implementation, for things both new and old.

[YoLolo69]

I'm badly stunned by some of the posts I read here! Hey, they talk about features! Obviously they continue to work in parallel on bug fixes and improvement!

Egosoft, I'm glad to read all features coming, keep the good work! :)