And so it begins ...


November 30 , 2018!

Trailer:

and gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6s9sXjqCME

Today's the day! I can't seem to find a review, though, so I will not purchase for some time. Maybe not allowed to post them yet, but that could be a bad sign.

Here is an early stream of the gameplay:

Just played X4 for about 5 hours.

Awesome game. UI is really well done.

Spent most of my time riding around on capital ships Just taking it all in.

Too soon to review...but would buy again in a second.

Ok, so the funniest bit so far is that you can walk onto landed ships at stations.
And landed ships will take of even if you are still on board.
Soooo, I'm now getting a guided tour, though everything is named "Hello" so far.
And both the transporter and return to ship shortcuts only take you to the transporter room of the ship that is giving the tour

Prack wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 01, 2018 3:40 am

Ok, so the funniest bit so far is that you can walk onto landed ships at stations.
And landed ships will take of even if you are still on board.
Soooo, I'm now getting a guided tour, though everything is named "Hello" so far.
And both the transporter and return to ship shortcuts only take you to the transporter room of the ship that is giving the tour

Yes. AI abductions are a thing. You should be able to jump out in EVA, but it is a LONG SLOW flight back to your ship. When it happened to me I got out 800m from my dock.. Thankfully.

Also: So far so good. Haven't REALLY delved deep yet, but from what I can tell it's going to be a long awesome journey. (Bit buggy in some places, seriously missing polish in others, but it isn't Rebirth.)

Just played, finally got a hang of the game.
The UI is way better than Rebirth, but could still need more polish.

The atmosphere is great in the game. And the station-docks really add to it. (In Rebirth they where boring)
You could even play the whole game while staying at some random stations docking station, or even on the bridge of some poor fellows mining barge, or floating in space in the suit.
Basically any ship can not only be owned, but also entered by trespassing onto it (either by proper docking, or quickly jumping into it while they take a dump at the docking platform)

So any ship can be remotely given orders what to do or trade. (as in X3) But also with the ability to walk around the stations. I really enjoy that atmosphere.

The missions are fortunately mostly not time restricted. So the player can explore sectors, and pick up missions on the way, to do later.
The travel mode really works well. A good idea to allow huge locations without making ships travel too fast in normal mode. And the highways are not funneling the player, since they only cover a part of the normal travelling. (In Rebirth the player was much more forced to use them)
Have not missed SETA yet (wich has to be crafted, and is not available immediately)

The station characters are quite nice. They dont look very good, but they do add to the atmosphere. For example, when doing a passenger transport mission, you have to actually find the person on the station, who is then following you and climbing onto the ship. No more silly minigames fortunately.

Visually the best part of the game are the ships and stations. This is a part that Egosoft actually know how to do well. (not so much characters or the indoor sections of the station. Some planets, background nebulae and asteroids also dont look that well made.)

Soundeffects are great. The music is good, but they could have reused more of the X3 music tracks in my opinion.

When some of the bugs are squashed, and the menu gets more polish, the game has really good potential.

(Potential in the sense of getting way better. Egosoft is one of the few companies that takes long term support for released standalone titles seriously)

I came late to the whole X series. X3 with all its expansions had been out a few years, and I don't count Rebirth to be part of the 'main' series so I never checked it out. I also am of the type that if I get into a game, I prefer to have that experience from the previous games so that I'm not missing out on anything.

I ended up getting X-X3 in a humble bundle sale way back when, and figured it was a good way to get into the series.

Oh boy, that was a mistake. A learning curve on-par, if not higher than EVE was what greeted me when I opened up X1 in 2015 and trying the other games didn't fare me much better.

So I ask; for someone who wants to get into the series, but the barrier of entry was too steep with X1-X3, would I be able to hop into X4 without much issue? I'm hoping that the barrier of entry is much lower, but from those who are new to the series, as well as those who are veterans, what's your take on X4 vs the other ones? Do I need to worry about story? What would I be missing if I don't play the previous games?

Thanks in advance!

I have not encountered any plotline in X4 yet. There are supposed to be some longer storylines. But if there are, they are not immediately obvious. (I have not looked for it)
In contrast, the other games all started with a storyline right from the beginning, in a very tutorial fashion.
Maybe they know that most long term players dont value a plot that much, as its mainly a sandbox game. And giving out goodies too early by the story can destroy the normal progression of the player.

Story wise, X2 had the most cinematic approach. And while looking kinky nowadays, I somehow liked the plot.

Overall I dont care much for the background story of the universe. I even think some parts are quite silly (the alien races), and are just dragged along from plot decisions and technical limitations made over 20 years ago for X1.
Apart from the Split and Xenon, I dislike the presentation of the alien races. Too comedic.

X4 is not easy to get into. Its does offer some tutorials for the basic game mechanics. But its still quite crude and somehow buggy.
Alas its a very complex game. Kind of like EvE.
But when knowing X2 or X3, the player should have a good understanding how the universe works. Its then mainly getting used to the new UI, travel mechanics and structure of the sectors.

I realy want to buy this game, but X-Rebirth was not my Cup of tea and now here i am watching 8 hour long streams to figure out if i want this game or not :/.

(Ship AI seems to be weird and i havent seen big shipbattles yet.)

Die Game will get better over time (like a good cheese), as Egosoft is doing a long term support anyway.

So no rush purchasing it now, when the rough edged have to get sorted out first.

damn paranids with their mines.

after flying for half an hour through minefield-filled xenon systems (where the mines showed up dutifully all the time on radar) i encountered some non-targettable yellow glowing points in a paranid system (something revenge something named)
fly closer as slow as i can, in the frame where i recognise its a mine im already dead *facepalm*

had a laugh though

well, the responsiveness of the stategic AI feels already a lot better than before.

kha'ak fighter attacking some paranid transport, i fly there because easy bounty and favour with the paranids.
strike fleet dropping out of cruise drive all around the lone kha'ak fighter and blowing it to bits in pretty fireworks