Thoughts on: A matter of utmost gravity

[Despiser]

First of all, this mission is a mess and frustrating. I finished it the same way as everyone else
by trial and error (which explains the lack of useful walkthrough info). When I finally reached the choice of bombing or leaving, I chose to leave. This choice leads to a faster ending but tbh, the games are exceedingly long as it is and I was just happy to put that mission behind because the bombing option opened up another slew of dilemmas.
The one saving grace of x4 is the underlying physics engine that opens up possibilities of proceeding along multiple paths. It seems devs relied on this so players could power through bugs or holes in mission progression. It certainly forces the player to get creative, but I much prefer the sandbox elements to the storyline. No doubt, x4 is pretty unique in many ways. I'm looking forward to more refinement in x5 whenever that comes.

[Kitet]

I don't think no bombing marked the end of that quest chain. I didn't get any further that you, probably, with it cuz both paranid fighting each other is to my advantage for now, but the bald dude said we should do this and that with the situation. I don't like him, BTW.

[Despiser]

Originally posted by Kitet:

I don't think no bombing marked the end of that quest chain. I didn't get any further that you, probably, with it cuz both paranid fighting each other is to my advantage for now, but the bald dude said we should do this and that with the situation. I don't like him, BTW.

It’s the end of that segment of the chain at least, and I was really fed up with that mission. The thought of going back into that maze 😬Yeah, the bombing option is more profitable but I have a lot of cash streaming in so I’m in favour of getting to the end faster and starting a new game.

[EchoHeadache]

Originally posted by Despiser:

First of all, this mission is a mess and frustrating. I finished it the same way as everyone else
by trial and error (which explains the lack of useful walkthrough info).

Wait, you want a walkthrough for a mission? ...what?

Originally posted by Despiser:

When I finally reached the choice of bombing or leaving, I chose to leave. This choice leads to a faster ending but tbh, the games are exceedingly long as it is and I was just happy to put that mission behind because the bombing option opened up another slew of dilemmas.

Bro if you bought a sandbox game hoping to "beat" the game in record time, you ain't doing it right. Really though, what are your expectations? This isn't a linear story-driven-scifi-RPG, this is a sandbox game with tons of features and options that you can explore on your own at your own pace exactly as you like. You want to ignore all quests and become a pirate, boarding & pirating ships and selling them? Can do. You want to build a station to refine materials and sell to locals for moneys? Can do. Want to only sell to the Zyarth faction to bolster their economy because you think Patriarchy is a neat sexist option? Yup. Want to combine all these and claim a sector that you police with your own arbitrary ridiculous laws and hijack ships to sell to the Zyarth? sure. Want to command a roaming fleet that handles rando jobs & bounties and takes the cockpit of whatever class ship you want and dogfight? ya. Want to build a trade empire where you min/max trade options among the factions by causing data leaks to hack your way to permanent trade contracts and massive discounts/price fluctuations? you bet. Want to exaserbate the hostilities between two warring factions by blowing up their religious centerpiece so that a void is created in the war machine affording you the opportunity to take up contracts to build stations for both sides that you build that will only utilize teladianium which you have strategically set up refinement factories for so that you're the main supplier of the war effort for both parties? totally. want to become a superpower and whipe out the entire xenon threat, delete the godrealm, allow the holy order to expand across Argon territory, and save the yaki from extinction to take advantage of those sweet Moreya ships? mmhmm. Want to slave away for hours being incredibly efficient at mining? uhhhh sure. Want to do the main quest line(s) and pretend that this is the only thing the game has to offer, ignoring the immense scale and everything else it has to offer? I mean, yes. yes you can. it's pretty- no it's really, really stupid but if that's the sole thing you're after, yes you can!

Originally posted by Despiser:

The one saving grace of x4 is the underlying physics engine that opens up possibilities of proceeding along multiple paths.

Wait what?

No seriously, what? What are you even talking about? What does a physics engine (especially one that is practically non-existent) have to do with multiple storyline paths? In this particular quest, you had two options: blow the ♥♥♥♥ up, or don't. In order to blow it up, you need to expose the "weakpoints" mentioned point-blank when you entered the place. Yup, Busta mentioned the weakpoints, and they're even marked on your HUD when you arrive at the crossroads. To expose the weakpoints, you need to disable the protective cover, which Busta also mentions when you're finished collecting the coccoons. And to let you know you're doing something wrong, if you attach a bomb to a still-shielded weak point, the game will tell you "WARNING - bomb cannot penetrate this protective cover" or some crap like that. That's a lot of hints. That's a lot of hand holding by my standard which I don't particularly like, but it's still not enough for... your type I guess.

Originally posted by Despiser:

so I’m in favour of getting to the end faster and starting a new game

To double-down on one particular point, there is no "end" - the "end" is c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y arbitrary. You choose the end. The game does not dictate and end. You *can* set an "end goal" but i will tell you with great confidence, that "end" should NOT be to "complete" a "main" "questline". They're just there as content, options, flavor; not as omega

[=)]

Following that (blow it up) you can turn buccaneers in to an actual power with their own shipyards (it costs well over a billion to do this chain and you have to build the massive station for them)

Once they are up and running they rip into godrealm with a fury, meaning godrealm became my best customer for ships. pay me like 10m+ per Odysseus E as Im set to charge 150% for built ships. I have 6 advanced traders based in the buccaneer system supplying their stations so they fart out ships constantly to attack gofrealm with, while I actually sell ships to the other side (damn thats messed up)
Only shame is by this point, theres nothing really to do with that money. The stupidly expensive missions themselves are meant to be an end game money pit.