Correction: I SCRATCHED the surface, not SCRAPPED lol... anyways: X4 does almost everything but nothing perfect. It's rough around the edges and sometimes even feels like it doesn't want to be played - but it also is charming in its own way. What do you think? //edit March 27th: giveaway is over, happy winner has been notified and is ... happy. :)
I think that, If there is one aspect were X4 shine above any other, is carrier gameplay. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but X4 devs created one of the most enjoyable and satisfying carrier gameplay experience from all the games in the sci-fi space simulation genre (at least from what I've seen). Just stay near the landing pads of a Raptor, while it sends its 100 fighters to spread death all around, its like you are inside of a movie. And after, use the camera to watch in close up, as each of those 100 fighters, fight for survival while trying to turn the enemies to shreds. 🤓
@@ragnos28 Although something to keep in mind is that the Zeus doesn't best play like the other carriers, as your video recently showed, trying just leads to a lesser experience.
A very important thing about this game is that it demands some serious time. It's a long, complex game. If you've got the time to spend learning its systems, it will reward you for it.
So I watched this video and picked it up with all the DLC during the Spring Steam sale for like $45 all together, and God damn this is exactly the space game I've been wanting for a long time. Working as a fighter escort for a bunch of capital ships and ending up in a massive fleet battle felt like something out of Babylon 5.
@@vadimnimarov8796 it doesn't. It's an economic/strategic sandbox that runs on your PC. It's in space, too, but that's mostly it. Combat is more fleet focused than dog fighting.
@Vadim Nimarov Okay, I say this as someone who's played Star Citizen recently, like in the past week, so keep that in mind. Unlike Star Citizen, this game actually functions. Star Citizen is great when it works correctly and you're up against other players with your friends, but their AI for NPCs is, even for an Alpha release, absolutely pathetic. Add to it that all the missions within the same are all basically the same and the novelty of the graphics wears off pretty fast. Star Citizen is a game that does a few things at a mediocre level. You want great space combat? Other games, like X4, do it better. You want a good FPS? There's plenty of dedicated shooters that do it better. With 10 years worth of development and a $500,000,000 budget, the excuse of "its still in alpha" doesn't work for me anymore. They push out half-baked features and never fix them in favor of the next half-baked feature with the promise that it'll all work out eventually. They're either lazy, incompetent, or both. I can't recommend spending any money getting into Star Citizen, graphically it's amazing but it falls flat in every other category, especially from a technical aspect. There are plenty of other space games out there, and though they aren't promising you the last game you'll ever need to play, it's still far better than empty promises and faked demos.
One of the oldest memories I have is "this is the story of a dream. Man's dream of freedom in their own universe". The intro to X - Beyond The Frontier, closer to 30 years ago now than I'd like. X4 is a wonderful title if you like the style of game and for a team of that size, it's fantastic what they managed to accomplish.
Talking about old memories. I was introduced to the X series by a guy that i haven't seen in so many years and years. He did that for many other cultural things that i was ignorant of. And i tried to do the same to him. It was a kind of a trade of interests. I must say that i grew in what some would call a "culturally centered" (even eclectic) family. So was taught to respect all knowledge and cultures. But only much latter did i understood how much he truly helped in the growing of my world view. I wonder how he is doing now... My first X series game must have been X2 or X3 reunion? It was around that time. I really can't remember much of the details. I would have to replay it to be sure. But i do remember spending countless sleepness night hours upon night hours just trying to do trading, expanding my fleet and its tech, etc. The travel were so slow that it made me constantly "stressed" because i had to go to work in the day time🙂 But it was so good. It is still one of my happiest time playing a game. I had almost forgotten it. Now i think it would be impossible for me to spend much time in any game whatsoever. Times and people change. But I am glad to hear that the series still goes on and is creating more and better content. Long live the X series.
Yeah, i'm a noob in the franchise but not new to X4... i can say safetly that this is the game that make me consider to upload my mind into a computer only to play X4 for a long time... Since this won't happen for X4, i can only hope to be alive when X5 comes out, then i will upload my mind into a computer and play it forever!
The Argon are descendants of Terran soldiers, not colonists. They were the fleet that lured the original Xenon fleet through the earth gate before destroying it to save Earth from invasion.
@@WatchMysh Er... sorry if that came across as like, assholey. Sometimes I forget to put the right words in my sentences to make it sound like I'm not angry or whatever.
but how did they "forget " about earth then? given the state of technology, are you really telling me that the planet earth was an unbelievable myth to following generations? since the gates still existed, how was it that in X2 only the goners believed earth even existed?
The appeal of X is the Dwarf Fortress-like world sim and the scale jumping - from 4X style management, to commanding fleets, to piloting individual fighters.
With all due Respect, is the other way around. The appeal of Dwarf Fortress is X-like world sim _without_ the scale jumping. X: Beyond the Frontier is from 1999, more than *7 years older* than the Dwarf Fortress Alpha. - Dwarf Fortress is an extraordinary Game ! But correct History of Games matters ! - Wow, we reached that time ... History of PC games ! Who would have thought some 40 years ago that we (gaming industry) will become the greatest, most profitable and the fastest growing Industry in World's economy ! Mind-blowing ! And is just the beginning ... - Thus: Game History = IMPORTANT ! 🍻🧐
@@krixpop X's world sim isn't even close to DF's world simulation. It's not even close. You couldn't fit DF in this game if these graphics scaled to the same level.
@@ItIsYouAreNotYour Agree, but is not about what game is bigger. is about that X was 1st. And Is game history. That is all i pointed out. Is the same as saying that a TGV is faster than a steam train,. Yes, but the steam train was 1st. And history should be known and respected. imho.
One of the best games I've got in my library, love playing it during the winter months. Progressing from a one manned ship to building a massive space empire and going to war with other factions, nothing like it! Egosoft deserve more recognition for what they've achieved here. It took me 3 attempts to get into this mainly because of the learning curve. Thanks for all the tutorial series from those who do them.
And in those 5 years it got realy expensive with the 3 dlcs and the trend is going up because there is the next dlc in the line, creating a bloody mess of poop as a Game and then need half a dekade to fix it and charge the players for their mistakes? Sorry im not hooked and ive played every entry The Original up until Albion Prelude (and even have 3 saves in Farnham's Legacy) And these were always in a bad state on release but learning from mistakes is not something this Developer is capable of... it doesn't matter how much Money you throw at them...
Honestly if you love Homeworld/Freelancer/Stellaris , this game is for you... And I mentioned a few rts for a reason ... Do you like stealing ships? Building stations? Do you want multiple storylines for various factions like in TESIV ? Do you like running 100+ ship fleets? Would you like to customize every weapon/ shield/ engine or skin on your ships? Do you like to trade? Do you want an enemy reminding Reapers from Mass Effect?
So is it possible to play this like freelancer with just oen combat spacecraft? I don't want to get into trading and economics, just dogfights, missions and improve my spaceship.
@@Mixail747 No, the controls are fine, you can save your own, all that "messy control" are from peolpe who get the (admittedly confusing) pitch/roll the opposite way round, and from Star Citizen fanbois who complain that docking in X4 sux. The UI is not bloated, it merely does a lot.
Sure. But not much beyond that. Perhaps I should have worded it differently. They have the tech but are not that threatening because they don't build big ships or large fleets.
@@WatchMysh They have the technology, just not the resources. There was a whole plotline in X3 about crushing the Kha'ak and their mega fleets with super heavy destroyers and carriers.
Yeah - I was thinking: "They haven't gone and nerfed the Khaak again have they?!" when he said that! In X2, encountering a Khaak M3 in anything less than an M6 or without Strafe Drive Extension pretty much meant death!
Thanks - but be careful: it still is an X game. I wouldn't consider this as a review. It's more like a "state of the game" and my biased opinion. I didn't like the game at release but now I'm having a blast.
Saw this video a few weeks ago and decided to finally take the plunge and buy the game, tough to get into at first but i've lost hours upon hours to it now, absolutely loving it
I've enjoyed building my empire 4x style in this game a lot. Also if you're a star wars fan there is a great overhaul mod called Interworlds, highly recommend it. The team behind it did one for X3 as well and that got me into the X series.
Nice job breaking down X4 for people who never played it or are on the fence about purchasing it. I started playing X4 about 3 years ago, best game ever in my opinion. Every game start is totally different for sure. In my most recent one a branch 9 destroyer I (the bad one) completely annihilated all the stations in Argon Prime just 6 hours into the game. Never saw anything like that happen before, especially so early in the game. I like to build stations and get a strong economy going, eventually building my own shipyards. I pay attention to which wares are in short supply and build stations to produce those first. I produce everything I need to build ships myself and I trade with all of the factions. Combat is a lot of fun in X4 as well. Even though I keep on good terms with all the major factions in the game there are plenty of Xenon, Khaak and pirates to kill. The pirates especially need to be dealt with if you have a lot of trade ships flying about. I love the fact that you can take control of practically every ship in the game. You can't get a hold of the Xenon or Khaak ships, but there are like a hundred ships that you can fly, and they all feel different as well.
Seems a silly thing to do, but it's something I like to do. You start off on an "S" class ship as a passenger that's docked on a station. You also have one "M" class ship on the same station and one "XL" ship some distance away. First thing you do is to tell your "M" class ship to land on the "XL" ship. Once they've taken off, you command your "S" class ship to land on the "M" class ship. Then you sit back, go into 3rd person mode outside your "S" class ship and watch it all unfold as your "S" class ship lands on your "M" class ship that then lands on your "XL" ship. Once done, you get out of your "S" class ship and go into the "M" class ship and then onto the "XL" ship and to the bridge where you take the controls 8-))... And watching stations and ships being built is fun too. Seeing the little builder drones flying to and throw from the builder ship to the station as you watch the station slowly getting built, almost pixel by pixel. Same applies when you've ordered a ship too. Especially if it's an "S" or "M" class ship where you can stand right next to it and watch it slowly come to life. But the Egosoft "X" series are great games to play. If you have the time and patience. I started way back with X2. That's twenty years ago now! _How time flies when you're having fun eh?_
Thank you so much for explaining so much about X4. I've been interested in X4 because I loved playing X3, but I had no idea about the seed universes and how different each playthrough can be due to the factions behaving differently.
Thanks :) It's not always such a black and white scenario as I described but it can happen ofc. In my momentary play through I have an ultra strong teladi empire and shit blew up in Getsu Fune right from the start.
@@WatchMysh I just love the teladi back from older x games, its just a shame that some of their combat ships, especially the phoenix is so awful. Love their tanky faction theme though.
@@IIIJG52 I have the impression that X Rebirth is kind of more good looking ... I may be wrong, but imho, the ships are just awesome in X Rebirth. edit: yet excitedly looking forward for X4: Kingdom End ...
@@krixpop That's why the X:Rebirth Ship pack is a must have mod for myself. Hoping they fix it after 6.0 dropped so that I can bring those beautiful ships back in.
All right I'm sold. I've never thought about buying this game because while I like space sims, the X series never caught my eye. Tried X2 back in the day, X3 just didn't look interesting. You've gone over all the shining points that sound like a damn good time.
Great video, thank you. Let me add the fact, that the studio behind it, only has 20 employees compared to the hundrets of employees in other game studios. Also the next version 6 (which is currently in open beta) will optimize a lot in terms of physics, performance and overall playability, so it may be worth to look into that. I for myself did not play 100s of hours yet, but still love the game for it's complexity.
I can see the poor little studio's commitment to the 50 euro pricetag, along with 15 euros per DLC, 4 years after game release, and this game plays like Early Access title for 20 euros. Just saying.
@@marcinrzu You're aware X4 is a PC only production? This comes with some economic challenges especially for small studios. Also full price after 4 years is common practice. There are sales every few weeks, that's how today's video game market functions. You can still buy Witcher 3 for full price if you want - 8 years after release.
@@WatchMysh yes, I am aware, I guess most early access titles are PC only, aren't they? just checked, you can buy Witcher 3 on GOG for 10 euros, DLCs inluded, Most of games after 4 years do not retain the same pricetag, and the ones that do, include all DLCs in the price. So, Witcher 3 - I think it was a bit more originally, so this makes you a liar :) of course I might add that Witcher 3 was a finished product upon its release. I might also add it was considered among the best in its genre, and neither of those things can be said about X4. I'm very sorry but you come across as dishonest, so either you are sponsored by Egosoft (which it very much looks like you are) and just misleading potential customers into buying this game, or just very very biased fanboy. Except the game giveaway sort of gave you away. Don't bother responding. I've no time for salespeople.
@@marcinrzu now you're trolling me. There's an 80% sale going on at gog atm which also contains the Witcher series. The Witcher also was developed by an established studio financed by a Publisher namely Bandai Namco. It had lots of performance problems at release & was critiqued because of a graphics downgrade. I asked for the game key to give away after the video script was finished. Asked for Vanilla, they gave me the 2022 bundle without having seen a word of the script. I'm a hobby RUclipsr, dude. No conspiracy here. X4 isn't finished by the way and will very likely receive an "ultimate edition" after it's done. Like most games receive as you said. It's okay to not to like a game I might add.
Oh Lord, I spent so much time playing the X3 saga... Thanks for bringing it again to my attention! I spent the last 3 years in Elite dangerous and Star Citizen. 🙂
I have bought all the DLC but still haven’t played it since the original release period although, if I don’t do so before, I know the Boron update will drag me back in. Thanks for reminding me what I’m missing.
You're welcome. X4 is really cool, but you have to get used to it. It does almost everything but nothing of it perfectly. So I can completely understand if some people don't like it at all. It's rough and sometimes even feels like it doesn't want to be played - but it also is charming in its own way.
@@WatchMysh It is also complex, and there are a lot of complaints about the UI, "unintuitive" or "a mess", but it is like people who use a lot of Adobe Photoship claiming "GIMP has a TERRIBLE UI", because they didn't want to learn how GIMP solved the problem, but GIMP owners not understanding the problem with the UI, after all GIMP is a multi-home document, there is one window for file operations, one window for editing the image, and another window for images, any number, because that is what UNIX does with its window manage, whilst Photoshop, being built only on Windows paradigms, may have separable tabs, but it is an MDI, it is "one window" for all file operations, editing and every image. AFTER you learn how the UI in X4 does it, you can say "Oh, that makes sense!", but there are many ways it COULD have made sense, and many complainers are wanting the UI to do what THEY want it to do in the way THEY want it done. Whether that works or not.
@@markhackett2302 I understand where you're coming from but still have to disagree. Yes, the X4 UI follows its own logic. Sadly this doesn't help much when far superior ways of interaction were developed in the meantime. Spent half of my career developing interfaces and the X4 UI experience is just sub par no matter how you get accustomed to its flaws. I could do a 10 Minute video alone on how to send ships around the map and how dynamic & intelligent UI systems could help you to coordinate your efforts. Especially a deep and complex game like X could profit incredibly from a modern UI. But you have to integrate it as a basic principle within the early stages. So there's no fixing now because you'd basically re-develop all interactions. Can't comment on GIMP. My last contact was in 2008 or so.
@@WatchMysh That's kinda the point, though. Some really can work with the Photoshop UI and call it wonderful and GIMP BAD. They aren't WRONG, just personal opinion. The example of parallax occlusion is apt here: that is a graphical technique developed and written a decade ago. But FS22 and Unreal Engine 5 only just get it. "While UE 4" was written, not "being written", BEFORE that, when it was complete, that better option of Parallax Occlusion existed. Because even for AAA teams that REALLY know their onions, adding in tech takes time, and probably even a new engine to do it. See RT1.0 vs RT2.0 and later. The map is a lot like the stragegy game Harpoon. And the popup menu, on a right click, is from UNIXland. IMO those are well done, just not the ONLY way it COULD have been done. Where the UI is "cluttered" is how it places elements on the map as popups. It is a lot better, you can get Info in a left hand pane or a right hand one, but if you have a pane open in both, there isn't much map screen left. And you can find you have an M trader and "the best price" is a station that doesn't have docking for it (or more commonly an L trader but no pier). No way to filter other than zoom in and try to scan round. Those are how I see it, and only a small selection of what I think, not the exhaustive list, so the UI does get in the way in places, but not sure that it can't help but do that (for example, to have readable text you HAVE to hide a fair chunk of map behind popups). But a lot of complains are "It isn't the way I want it done", and if someone wants THAT, feel free to make their own game. DETAIL matters, even if "Nah, I, Egosoft, decided to do it THIS way", detail of WHAT is to be done and WHY that way not a different way, still is helpful, but "do it this way" may cause problems elsewhere, rose tinted glasses and all that. But detail of what to do gives an opportunity to DO that, "It doesn't work" doesn't.
@@markhackett2302 Well... just: yes. Most criticism on UI is very subjective. That's why there's the best practice to not comment on UI changes until you worked at least two months with them. God I'm so glad I switched professions lol ... What I'm most irritated of (besides its structure sometimes) by the X UI is its lack of responsiveness. It's not "snappy" in as there's not a lot or not enough feedback on what's below or around your cursor. Improving that alone would be a big step forward.
After many, many hours in ED - I'm looking for something else - there aren't many choices out there but you've pretty much convinced me that this might be my alternative. Excellent video and very informative. Thank you...!
The nice thing is that X4 isn't anything like ED. The focus lies in strategy/economics so there are no expectations to be shattered. Thanks for the nice words - and have fun!
Dual Universe isn´t that bad either, but you have to like building, crafting, designing own ships and so on. Space Bourne 2 is fresh in EA, seems ok so far.
There's a reason reviews are mixed. Like I said it's not for everyone and sometimes the UI stands between you and what you want to do. But if you can get used to that there's hundreds of hours of fun to be found in building an empire step by step.
X4 was a game I took a gamble on when I saw it had mixed reviews. It was well before any Expacs had released, and I thought for such a low price, worst case scenero I am out like $20. I am QUITE happy I took that gamble because it feels like such a unique title. It scratches many itches and the available mods add an increadable amount of extra play time.
The entire X series was/is awesome. X3 Reunions being the 1st "modern" so to speak, with X3 Terran Conflict / X3 Albion Prelude, two absolutely gorgeous and complex games plus for those owning the X3 Albion Prelude the FREE X3: Farnham's Legacy, a complete new game; a cooperation between Egosoft & Gamers. - Fun fact and the TRUTH : Early 2006 I wrote a Letter (paper in envelope, lol) to Egosoft asking if I could share my X3: Reunion DVD with my friend. They answered that is not necessary, and included in their response envelope an X3: Reunion DVD with a key for FREE ! Egosoft: love them forever !
Haven't played this in around 2 years. Watching this make me want to get back into it. Great video which sums up this underrated game. Love the X series, great replayability!
Thanks :) But don't expect too much! It still is an X game after all. A bit clunky, a bit broken, but very fun and rewarding once you look beyond that and get the hang of it. But the game's foundation is a lot better than X3's. Better physics engine now with 6.0 and the economic simulation beneath the gameplay layer doesn't cheat.
x series seems like its finally gaining traction so glad to see this series getting the recognition it deserves have been playing off and on for about 15 years it truly is the best space sim
Per Steam I played 1.2 thousand hours (granted a fair bit of the time is likely due to keeping the game on overnight to gather cash from my stations and independent traders/miners) and I've (apparently) completed only the Boron and Avarice story-lines. I treat the plot as something to do in between galactic empire building. I spend a fair bit of time just watching ships land and launch on my stations.
I just purchased the XL Shipyard station part. I'm about 300-400 million away from building my first Asgard 😎👿. I almost worry the game might be too easy when I get that, but given that I am playing a Terran I am strongly favorable to role-play someone who was utterly outraged by the destruction of the Torus AEternal (see the intro to X3: Albion Prelude for that tragedy) that I might eventually live by this Warhammer 40k tinged phrase: SUFFER NOT THE ARGON TO LIVE! However, having got and apparently finished the X4: Kingdom End DLC I have grown rather fond of Queen Polypheides, and going to war with the Argon would almost certainly mean fighting the Boron...maybe my fondness for the queen will cool my role-played anger.
What I do not like about the new X Games since Rebirth is that the universe does not feel big anymore. There are Highways and you can just get of them somewhere. It does not feel big anymore. In Rebirth you could find esome disconnected region of space and when you used the highway to get there, there were freaking space taxis using the same highway. Everything feels just three minutes away. Space should be BIG and not filled with tons of stuff.
I have owned this game and have wanted to get into it forever, but I remember trying way back in the day and just gave up. I am really looking forward to giving it another whirl.
It seems after more then 20 years of development Egosoft has finally realized how to converge gun shot in the center of the aiming reticle, true professionals :)))))
I am a long time X player like pre X-tension Beyond the frontier long and initially x4 was quite a let down but as a long time user I knew they would get to making it what they promised. As a lifeform that is organic and alive, I appreciate that you updated this review.
Really good video. Well shot and edited as well. I bought the game and all dlc’s. I’ve waited years for the AI to be “better” than they were at launch before I bought the game. I know they are still “ok” but it’s now more enjoyable for me. Appreciate you, cheers.
Thanks :) I put a lot of effort into my videos. Yes, the AI is okay-ish now. Still a lot of room to improve. Especially the autopilot really tested my patience today lol
If AI is the problem for you, Egosoft recently hired a modder who had supposedly done a lot of work on the AI that people liked. I would expect to continue to see improvements based on that fact.
Descendants not from colonists, but from earth military that lured terraformer fleet into gate network after they attacked earth for the first time. Earth gate was destroyed and usc fleet colonized Argon, named after admiral Nathan R. Gunne
That was a really nice, and straight forward display of all the new additions over the years. I will give it another go when 6.0 is out. Thank the vid mate
For a new player the hours is likely much much greater, since you have to gather large amounts of resources for many of them, find your way around, earn a bunch of credits to buy certain ship classes.
I said I wouldnt play X4 until they added Boron...ABOUT TIME!! I LOVE X3:TC, making a dozen little BofuKing stations (2-3 modules), building bunkers around Paranid space to keep them in if they got hostile, using the Xenon sector to connect both boron space areas, all the while slowboating around in a Split Elephant, passing through systems and loosing trade drones as I casually command armies from my cockpit. Oh, and accidentally finding the Aran(?) having no idea what it is and accidentally blowing it up. so MANY memories from that game. Until X4 can give me that again....I just cant....now that the Boron are back, I will have a much harder time resisting.
Large ships enter from BEHIND the gates now. This means thankfully no more fighters splatting on the windshield as the carrier goes through, that was the major reason capital classes were eschewed in X3. "Aaaghhhh. Boom. Reputation lost 1 point" every time you drove a big ship through a gate....
Oooh! Explains a lot.Thanks. I thought the wayfinding was broken again. Well, it still is though. I had enough other video snippets prepared but used the wrong one here - because I didn't know it was a feature.
@@WatchMysh Large/Extra Large ships also teleport so no longer have to fly physically through the gate, that speeds up capital class ships getting through the gates. If you see a bright light (like in the Terminator movies, at the start, when the Terminator first appears). Pathing is STILL a problem, but there are more roles and commands, to alleviate it somewhat (see, for example, Ragnos28). You will see that in destroyers trying to take out a station. It works, but if it blows up a part of a station and the bit it decides to shoot at next is BEHIND a blown up part, well they will beeline for that target, taking them right over the blown up bit and into range of EVERY TURRET ON THE STATION. Big bada boom. Surrounding a station helps there. By the time one bit of the station goes boom, the other bits are about to go boom too. Pathing being "make a bee line" is the problem. If the destroyer engaged a larger curve "great circle" path to keep out of range of the station guns, then reoriented, you'd not see any problem. More roles and more commands make that less of a problem, and those changes are part of the base game, so you get the "Bombard" role when 6.0 releases for the base game, you don't have to buy the Boron DLC too.
@@markhackett2302 Could this problem not be resolved with just bigger gates or adding a "capital gate" to each smaller one in the first place? I know it would break the lore of only being a single gate between jump points ... but I guess the community would accept that as less immersion breaking than any workaround. And yes, EgoSoft's integration of anything included in DLC besides content into the base game is outstanding practice. Love them for that. The footage for this video was recorded with Beta 6.0 revision 4 by the way. Didn't try out the new roles yet, though.
@@WatchMysh Not really solved by "bigger gates" because the player always ignores safety, but also gates no longer face the other end so you are at most 45 degrees off straight through, like happened with XBtF/eXtension (it wasn't a square any more in X2, but can't remember if the gates were any random direction from some other. 90 degrees off, and even an infinite gate is just a straight line that you will bounce off. Making a more realistic non-square sector led to this. I am glad they put fewer rocks in. X3 improved pathing for capital ships massively, but they then made the capitals even bigger, and they spent all their time in-system "trying to thread between rocks" and getting nowhere, negating any improved pathing. Dagnabit.
@@markhackett2302ell I'd let the capitals pass through the top portion of the gate, mark this area with flashing beacons, and let the players learn safety by themselves. I'd really love to see prettier gate effects btw. They look kinda out of place within all the other visual improvements.
What about planets? Are they still a picture in the background or objects now, that you can fly around? Aside that they need to improve space scenery (less gas scattering light in space, as it's not realistic), better lighting (move to Vulkan or D3D12 with ray tracing), textures. And planets should be explorable, liveable, with rich economy.
I just wanted to thank you for this video. It helped me take the plunge to buy it, and with the Steam sale currently going on at time of writing this comment, I managed to get a good deal on the whole bundle.
Have fun! The game is rough around the edges but a real gem if you get used to it. :) Make sure to join the beta program to play with the 6.0 update. It improves things a lot esp AI and loading times.
I'll wait until there is an Romantic and Sexmod. But seriously i love X4. What you forgot, is to mention the struggle with your first hours. It became better but the handling and learning to make your first automatic miner is not easy and you see yourself quickly watching YT videos or read Wiki's for help. But after all it is very satisfying and every start is exciting and feels fresh. Thank you for your hard work making this Video. Kepp it up.
Yes the first hours are the worst. But they got a lot better with the new dlc starts, especially the terran one. Wouldn't recommend the Split one, though, for new players
Have they fixed the issue where the performance of ships, AI and battle outcomes is significantly different depeding on whether you are personally in the sector, or just watching on the map? This was the main game breaker for me. The outcomes of the simulation shouldn't change depending on whether I'm on board a ship (just watching, not flying of course).
Glad I wasn't the only one that experienced this. I stopped playing for this very reason. Do the ships still spin around on the map if you aren't present?
Short answer is "No". That's a requirement of being able to DO that, however, because there can be scores of sectors with battles going on, but only one sector YOU are in. So it cuts CPU demands by making OOS simpler, a game of numbers, not based on AI, collision detection, damage, regen, etc. What IMO they need to do is make it so you'd make much the same CHOICES OOS as IS, so you don't fit Plasmas to your OOS fleet because they will miss almost all the time if they are against a fighter. They're fiddling with the maths, but it still isn't there for the CHOICE being similar, better, but not fixed.
Man it is one of the few games that not only they have workshop but i dont even bother to download mods because the game is so awesome as it is. For guys who have no idea what x4 is i will tell you this. Last night i was standing from my window on my new build HQ station in a system of my choice. Admiring my fleet of the hard earned (stolen lol) ships. Watching on my map a massive battle between argon antigone and xenon going down. Using my spy satelaties that i placed on each warp gate because ladies and gentlemen....informations are gold. Waiting the right moment to cut in help to turn the tie and grab all the loot and gtfu of there before more mad xenon warp in. Bring back all the loot sell them and invest on production modules so i can grow more rich more powerful. So one day....everybody will crawl on my feet under my supreme leadership! Hail Argons!
I pre-ordered but didn't even launch the game. I knew it was Egosoft and it would take them a couple of years to really finish it. Looks like they haven't done it yet. Ok, I'll wait. I hope I can play before I die.
I picked up a few years back and it has been sitting collecting dust in my steam library. I wanted to feel like a part of a vibrant galaxy with a rogue / opportunistic / entrepeneur vibe. I expected there to be opportunities that would emerge from the dynamics between factions. Embargos, wars, etc would provide opportunities to trade, snatch or plunder. That you could find vulnerable trade routes, wounded ships or smuggling opportunities. Try to be opportunistic, but avoid too much interest by the big actors. The small fish in a big pond. However, I found that things were static and nothing in motion. It felt more like a static backdrop. Granted, I didn't spend triple digit hours on the game, but I could not figure out how to understand what the galactic political/strategic/economic situation was or what the next step was with my newly found ring station. I would happily buy the DLC's if they provided the experience I was originally looking for.
That's also one of my main points of critique. You're kinda forced to play the "big economics" game because it's hard to get a clear picture what's happening besides interpreting market data. But things got a bit better: you now have some kind of newsfeed going on about where each faction is mounting defenses. You also need to place a satellite network and use your "global alarms" list. I also read that Egosoft hired an AI modder/specialist recently.
Mebbe I was just lucky with my Split (DLC) game seed but that was one of the most fun plays ever. The conflict between the Free Families and the Patriarchy could be grasped very good IMHO. The ZYA were killing off any military vessel in FRF space and thanks to missing hull parts it was looking really bad for FRF until I intervened. Took hours of getting the economy going for FRF again and battling back ZYA (and XEN alike) but in the end I was able to tackle down every ZYA ship entering FRF sectors and I made millions from my production facilities for hull parts n stuff.
@@BekoPharm I'm doing exactly this at the moment. The Split game start is very strong in conveying an ongoing conflict/occupation on and of FRF space. I'm at war with the Patriarchy so I have to build a fleet first and then establish a beachhead in FRF space to support their economy.
X4 plays like if someone took a chunk out of endless space and let you play it in first person. Its a wonderful sandbox. Flight model and ship customisation isn't as deep(or grindy) as elite, but there is so much more to do.
The game is still basically unplayable due to the stupid "ship information" panel that pops up in the center of the map screen EVERY TIME you select a ship and it cannot be disabled, not even with mods afaik. Since this pointless "feature" is around since i think 4.0, it says a lot about the competence level of the company creating this game. I would love to love this game but every time a come back to it for a couple of days i hit similar walls like the "ship information" panel. Since years... UI borked, missions broken etc...
I remember when the very first version came out, I did buy a copy and played it for a while but didn’t stick with it, think I got into another game at the time called Tachyon - The Fringe, another space fighter sim, this was back in the early 2000’s. Think I still have those copies laying around somewhere?
If you can't put 20 hours merely to throw it away as "learning", if you aren't going to put hundreds of hours in the game, because "I have a job" or "I have kids" or "I have a life outside gaming" or even "I have OTHER GAMES", then even if you loved this game, it isn't for you because you cannot AFFORD to put hundreds of hours in. It may well be that you played and expected an old-school playstyle where things went quicker, but because it revolved around you. X4, even more than any game in the X series before, doesn't care about you, but it also, unlike any MMO, allows you to take over the entire galaxy or anything between "trucker in space" and "Global Power".
i have 2k h in this game and i really love it , no other game like this, but not a game for everyone i can say that, very good video, keep the good work!
Actually the Kha'ak ARE technologically advanced, probably even more than the Terrans: the Kha'ak are the only faction that has a WARP Drive; They don't use Jumpgates and can jump everywhere; Kha'ak stations are not build in a sector, but instead warped from other sectors. They are a Hive Mind and their weakness right now is the lack of capital ships because they were decimated by the operation final fury in x3; still they are dangerous, their kyon blasters instantly hits and when they swarm in masses, they are very dangerous to anything smaller than an L class ship or even an L class destroyer.
I played X3 when I was a kid, I didn't really understand the game. I just thought the space ships were cool, and I had never seen anything like it. I completely forgot about this game though. I remember seeing a trailer for it a long time ago, but I was already pretty burned out on impossibly large space games that will never be completed. It's nice to see that there is something here though.
Well, there actually is a similar game, also from a German developer (I think it were some students) it´s called Avorion and is pretty much a less complex X in Voxel graphics. And you can build your own ships. Anyways, love the X series. I never understood how so many people were missing this gem.
I dumped hundreds of hours into X3 back in the day. I bought X4 when it first came out and wasn't quickly hooked. I didn't like landing on the stations (they seemed simple and pointless) and I didn't like how most of the X3 races were missing and there didn't seem to much in the way of missions/plot. I stopped and meant to get back to it, but never did. It looks like it has come a long way, I will give it another shot one of these days when I can dedicate a significant chunk of time to it. Thanks for the informative video!
Same here. I really started playing with the Terran DLC. Game didn't hook me at release. Thanks for saying thanks! :) appreciate that. And hf! Maybe you'll like it this time.
I own X4 foundations and stopped playing over a year ago when it became clear that I couldn't have a meaningful experience without building stations and owning fleets of ships. I wanted solo orientated gameplay. Am I correct in this assumption or have things changed. I currently play Elite Dangerous Odyssey.
Nah, didn't change. X4 always was about economics and building an empire. Everything else is like "well you CAN do that but we wouldn't recommend it". If you're more interested in just piloting a ship then other games like Elite are still the better choice in my opinion. Personally I couldn't play Elite more than like 50h because I didn't find anything meaningful to do there expect grinding endlessly to get the best ship(s) and mods possible. So I'm like you just inverted lol :)
IMHO you can have better experience as Pirate player now - with last DLC. Without building automated fleets and stations you will be be bored after some time - there are generated misasions but they are the same same just with different rewards. But you can still help some race to defeat Xenons for example. Also some plot missions are good - plot missions are unique and done by developers, not like generated boring missions like goto here and kill that ship, or transfer cargo there ....
@@nalim27 You could be a pirate before. Just shoot with Ion cannons (they ARE expensive, though). Small hull damage massive shield damage give the AI lots of chances to bail.
Don't remember if it was the first or second game, but I HAVE played a X game, remember little, other than that I bought/built? spacestations, put my own designed flag on it and set up trade routes.
I love the X-Series. Especially the fact that EVERYTHING has some sort of reason to be the way it is with an explanation that makes sense within this universe. The books and overall story of this series are awesome too and make these games even better!
@@WatchMysh Farnhams Legend - thats the first Book. X2 - Nopileos is the seccond book and my favourite of the series because the cultures and history my two favourite Races, Teladi and Split play a big role in that book. The whole history of Argons/Terrans in the whole Book-Series is also very nice! I love the Lore of the X-Universe and it is way deeper than i originaly thought it would be. Edit: i don't know how good the english translations are tho.
I've tried so many times over the years to get into this series. I remember X2 getting rave reviews in magazines back in the day, then X3 released, so I took the plunge. I could feel the scope of the game, but the tutorial was so poor I eventually ran out of patience. I've sunk thousands of hours into Stellaris which is also notorious for having a poor tutorial, so I'll give X another shot.
I struggled to get into X4 because of the learning curve and ended up going through some tutorial series from the rugged gamer. It took me maybe a few weeks just playing a couple of hours each night to really get to grips with it. Absolutely worth it, very rewarding game especially when you start creating station monopolies and end up at war with other factions.
X4 is a lot of fun... I bought it early and have periodically jumped back in. I've always felt the game could be a great platform for storytelling, Egosoft just doesn't build enough of them. I wish they'd make the game modable so users could create/share storylines.
Correction: I SCRATCHED the surface, not SCRAPPED lol... anyways: X4 does almost everything but nothing perfect. It's rough around the edges and sometimes even feels like it doesn't want to be played - but it also is charming in its own way. What do you think? //edit March 27th: giveaway is over, happy winner has been notified and is ... happy. :)
Sounds pretty realistic 🤪
I think that, If there is one aspect were X4 shine above any other, is carrier gameplay. I'm not sure if that was the intention, but X4 devs created one of the most enjoyable and satisfying carrier gameplay experience from all the games in the sci-fi space simulation genre (at least from what I've seen). Just stay near the landing pads of a Raptor, while it sends its 100 fighters to spread death all around, its like you are inside of a movie. And after, use the camera to watch in close up, as each of those 100 fighters, fight for survival while trying to turn the enemies to shreds. 🤓
@@ragnos28 can't argue with that. It's a sight to behold.
@@WatchMysh Plus, you can kick a fighter pilot from the seat, take the "stick" and show him/her how is done. 😅
@@ragnos28 Although something to keep in mind is that the Zeus doesn't best play like the other carriers, as your video recently showed, trying just leads to a lesser experience.
A very important thing about this game is that it demands some serious time. It's a long, complex game. If you've got the time to spend learning its systems, it will reward you for it.
Yes. But the nice thing is: the game itself gives you a lot of time to do so. No need to rush anything.
@@WatchMysh That's my favorite part. I have never played the storylines.
@@cnewtonc I really like some of them. Just playing the Split story as a Split.
@@WatchMysh Yep, it sure does that. And it even says so in the missions sometimes!
How taxing is it in time compared to E:D?
So I watched this video and picked it up with all the DLC during the Spring Steam sale for like $45 all together, and God damn this is exactly the space game I've been wanting for a long time. Working as a fighter escort for a bunch of capital ships and ending up in a massive fleet battle felt like something out of Babylon 5.
Nice! :) And B5 is one of the best shows ever. Aren't they rebooting it?
@@WatchMysh Yeah, apparently there's supposed to be an announcement about it at the San Diego Comic Con this year.
how does this game compare with Star Citizen?
@@vadimnimarov8796 it doesn't. It's an economic/strategic sandbox that runs on your PC. It's in space, too, but that's mostly it. Combat is more fleet focused than dog fighting.
@Vadim Nimarov Okay, I say this as someone who's played Star Citizen recently, like in the past week, so keep that in mind. Unlike Star Citizen, this game actually functions. Star Citizen is great when it works correctly and you're up against other players with your friends, but their AI for NPCs is, even for an Alpha release, absolutely pathetic. Add to it that all the missions within the same are all basically the same and the novelty of the graphics wears off pretty fast.
Star Citizen is a game that does a few things at a mediocre level. You want great space combat? Other games, like X4, do it better. You want a good FPS? There's plenty of dedicated shooters that do it better.
With 10 years worth of development and a $500,000,000 budget, the excuse of "its still in alpha" doesn't work for me anymore. They push out half-baked features and never fix them in favor of the next half-baked feature with the promise that it'll all work out eventually. They're either lazy, incompetent, or both.
I can't recommend spending any money getting into Star Citizen, graphically it's amazing but it falls flat in every other category, especially from a technical aspect. There are plenty of other space games out there, and though they aren't promising you the last game you'll ever need to play, it's still far better than empty promises and faked demos.
One of the oldest memories I have is "this is the story of a dream. Man's dream of freedom in their own universe". The intro to X - Beyond The Frontier, closer to 30 years ago now than I'd like. X4 is a wonderful title if you like the style of game and for a team of that size, it's fantastic what they managed to accomplish.
The X1 intro was beautiful. That song + kingdoms end are some of the best game music ever.
Same :) X1 was glorious
Talking about old memories.
I was introduced to the X series by a guy that i haven't seen in so many years and years. He did that for many other cultural things that i was ignorant of. And i tried to do the same to him. It was a kind of a trade of interests.
I must say that i grew in what some would call a "culturally centered" (even eclectic) family. So was taught to respect all knowledge and cultures. But only much latter did i understood how much he truly helped in the growing of my world view. I wonder how he is doing now...
My first X series game must have been X2 or X3 reunion? It was around that time. I really can't remember much of the details. I would have to replay it to be sure. But i do remember spending countless sleepness night hours upon night hours just trying to do trading, expanding my fleet and its tech, etc. The travel were so slow that it made me constantly "stressed" because i had to go to work in the day time🙂
But it was so good. It is still one of my happiest time playing a game.
I had almost forgotten it. Now i think it would be impossible for me to spend much time in any game whatsoever. Times and people change. But I am glad to hear that the series still goes on and is creating more and better content.
Long live the X series.
@@estranhokonsta that s a really very interesting comment to read 🙂👍
Yeah, i'm a noob in the franchise but not new to X4... i can say safetly that this is the game that make me consider to upload my mind into a computer only to play X4 for a long time...
Since this won't happen for X4, i can only hope to be alive when X5 comes out, then i will upload my mind into a computer and play it forever!
The Argon are descendants of Terran soldiers, not colonists. They were the fleet that lured the original Xenon fleet through the earth gate before destroying it to save Earth from invasion.
Lore! Is king!
Yep, remembered that wrong
@@WatchMysh Er... sorry if that came across as like, assholey. Sometimes I forget to put the right words in my sentences to make it sound like I'm not angry or whatever.
@@YumLemmingKebabs Everything is fine. :) I don't give a heart to a comment if I don't mean it.
but how did they "forget " about earth then? given the state of technology, are you really telling me that the planet earth was an unbelievable myth to following generations? since the gates still existed, how was it that in X2 only the goners believed earth even existed?
The appeal of X is the Dwarf Fortress-like world sim and the scale jumping - from 4X style management, to commanding fleets, to piloting individual fighters.
The UI definitely feels a lot like Dwarf Fortress. (Which I say affectionately.)
With all due Respect, is the other way around.
The appeal of Dwarf Fortress is X-like world sim _without_ the scale jumping.
X: Beyond the Frontier is from 1999, more than *7 years older* than the Dwarf Fortress Alpha.
-
Dwarf Fortress is an extraordinary Game !
But correct History of Games matters !
-
Wow, we reached that time ... History of PC games !
Who would have thought some 40 years ago that we (gaming industry) will become the greatest, most profitable and the fastest growing Industry in World's economy ! Mind-blowing !
And is just the beginning ...
-
Thus: Game History = IMPORTANT !
🍻🧐
I always thought more of Mount & Blade
@@krixpop X's world sim isn't even close to DF's world simulation. It's not even close. You couldn't fit DF in this game if these graphics scaled to the same level.
@@ItIsYouAreNotYour
Agree, but is not about what game is bigger. is about that X was 1st.
And Is game history.
That is all i pointed out.
Is the same as saying that a TGV is faster than a steam train,.
Yes, but the steam train was 1st.
And history should be known and respected.
imho.
One of the best games I've got in my library, love playing it during the winter months. Progressing from a one manned ship to building a massive space empire and going to war with other factions, nothing like it! Egosoft deserve more recognition for what they've achieved here. It took me 3 attempts to get into this mainly because of the learning curve. Thanks for all the tutorial series from those who do them.
It took me 4-5 years after the game was released but it's in really good shape right now and on its way to becoming one of my all-time favorite games.
Same here
it took me 4-5 years to load my save, but on the upside it was the only 4-5 years I haven't encountered any bugs in this game
@@marcinrzu LOL XD
And in those 5 years it got realy expensive with the 3 dlcs and the trend is going up because there is the next dlc in the line, creating a bloody mess of poop as a Game and then need half a dekade to fix it and charge the players for their mistakes? Sorry im not hooked and ive played every entry The Original up until Albion Prelude (and even have 3 saves in Farnham's Legacy) And these were always in a bad state on release but learning from mistakes is not something this Developer is capable of... it doesn't matter how much Money you throw at them...
Same, The labor of love is real..
Honestly if you love Homeworld/Freelancer/Stellaris , this game is for you... And I mentioned a few rts for a reason ... Do you like stealing ships? Building stations? Do you want multiple storylines for various factions like in TESIV ? Do you like running 100+ ship fleets? Would you like to customize every weapon/ shield/ engine or skin on your ships? Do you like to trade? Do you want an enemy reminding Reapers from Mass Effect?
To get to all that you need to battle through messy controls and bloated UI.
So is it possible to play this like freelancer with just oen combat spacecraft? I don't want to get into trading and economics, just dogfights, missions and improve my spaceship.
I have the same question
@@5tahlin Yes.
@@Mixail747 No, the controls are fine, you can save your own, all that "messy control" are from peolpe who get the (admittedly confusing) pitch/roll the opposite way round, and from Star Citizen fanbois who complain that docking in X4 sux. The UI is not bloated, it merely does a lot.
The Kha'ak are in fact very technogically advanced. They are the only ones that still have point to point jumpdrive tech.
Sure. But not much beyond that. Perhaps I should have worded it differently. They have the tech but are not that threatening because they don't build big ships or large fleets.
@@WatchMysh They have the technology, just not the resources. There was a whole plotline in X3 about crushing the Kha'ak and their mega fleets with super heavy destroyers and carriers.
@@Avatarbee ooh I didn't play X3 this thoroughly - must have missed it. Thanks :)
The Ka’ak have high levels of tech-
They can warp!
They can travel sectors without using gates!
Yeah - I was thinking: "They haven't gone and nerfed the Khaak again have they?!" when he said that! In X2, encountering a Khaak M3 in anything less than an M6 or without Strafe Drive Extension pretty much meant death!
Finally, a good review that actually persuaded me to try out the game
Thanks - but be careful: it still is an X game. I wouldn't consider this as a review. It's more like a "state of the game" and my biased opinion. I didn't like the game at release but now I'm having a blast.
Saw this video a few weeks ago and decided to finally take the plunge and buy the game, tough to get into at first but i've lost hours upon hours to it now, absolutely loving it
same
I’m at 1,444 hours and not even close to being done with it.
I've enjoyed building my empire 4x style in this game a lot. Also if you're a star wars fan there is a great overhaul mod called Interworlds, highly recommend it. The team behind it did one for X3 as well and that got me into the X series.
Yes, interworlds is awesome and absurdly well made :)
Nice job breaking down X4 for people who never played it or are on the fence about purchasing it. I started playing X4 about 3 years ago, best game ever in my opinion. Every game start is totally different for sure. In my most recent one a branch 9 destroyer I (the bad one) completely annihilated all the stations in Argon Prime just 6 hours into the game. Never saw anything like that happen before, especially so early in the game. I like to build stations and get a strong economy going, eventually building my own shipyards. I pay attention to which wares are in short supply and build stations to produce those first. I produce everything I need to build ships myself and I trade with all of the factions. Combat is a lot of fun in X4 as well. Even though I keep on good terms with all the major factions in the game there are plenty of Xenon, Khaak and pirates to kill. The pirates especially need to be dealt with if you have a lot of trade ships flying about. I love the fact that you can take control of practically every ship in the game. You can't get a hold of the Xenon or Khaak ships, but there are like a hundred ships that you can fly, and they all feel different as well.
Seems a silly thing to do, but it's something I like to do.
You start off on an "S" class ship as a passenger that's docked on a station. You also have one "M" class ship on the same station and one "XL" ship some distance away.
First thing you do is to tell your "M" class ship to land on the "XL" ship.
Once they've taken off, you command your "S" class ship to land on the "M" class ship.
Then you sit back, go into 3rd person mode outside your "S" class ship and watch it all unfold as your "S" class ship lands on your "M" class ship that then lands on your "XL" ship.
Once done, you get out of your "S" class ship and go into the "M" class ship and then onto the "XL" ship and to the bridge where you take the controls 8-))...
And watching stations and ships being built is fun too. Seeing the little builder drones flying to and throw from the builder ship to the station as you watch the station slowly getting built, almost pixel by pixel. Same applies when you've ordered a ship too. Especially if it's an "S" or "M" class ship where you can stand right next to it and watch it slowly come to life.
But the Egosoft "X" series are great games to play. If you have the time and patience. I started way back with X2. That's twenty years ago now! _How time flies when you're having fun eh?_
Thank you so much for explaining so much about X4. I've been interested in X4 because I loved playing X3, but I had no idea about the seed universes and how different each playthrough can be due to the factions behaving differently.
Thanks :) It's not always such a black and white scenario as I described but it can happen ofc. In my momentary play through I have an ultra strong teladi empire and shit blew up in Getsu Fune right from the start.
@@WatchMysh I just love the teladi back from older x games, its just a shame that some of their combat ships, especially the phoenix is so awful.
Love their tanky faction theme though.
@@IIIJG52 yes the Phoenix is really bad. But love their shields. :)
@@IIIJG52
I have the impression that X Rebirth is kind of more good looking ...
I may be wrong, but imho, the ships are just awesome in X Rebirth.
edit: yet excitedly looking forward for X4: Kingdom End ...
@@krixpop That's why the X:Rebirth Ship pack is a must have mod for myself. Hoping they fix it after 6.0 dropped so that I can bring those beautiful ships back in.
All right I'm sold. I've never thought about buying this game because while I like space sims, the X series never caught my eye. Tried X2 back in the day, X3 just didn't look interesting. You've gone over all the shining points that sound like a damn good time.
Be warned that X4 still is an X game. It's better than 3 now in my opinion but if you didn't like 2 and 3 chances are you don't like 4 either.
Great video, thank you. Let me add the fact, that the studio behind it, only has 20 employees compared to the hundrets of employees in other game studios. Also the next version 6 (which is currently in open beta) will optimize a lot in terms of physics, performance and overall playability, so it may be worth to look into that. I for myself did not play 100s of hours yet, but still love the game for it's complexity.
Yes they are only 20 people. That's why things take a bit longer but you can feel the commitment to everything they do. :)
I can see the poor little studio's commitment to the 50 euro pricetag, along with 15 euros per DLC, 4 years after game release, and this game plays like Early Access title for 20 euros. Just saying.
@@marcinrzu You're aware X4 is a PC only production? This comes with some economic challenges especially for small studios. Also full price after 4 years is common practice. There are sales every few weeks, that's how today's video game market functions. You can still buy Witcher 3 for full price if you want - 8 years after release.
@@WatchMysh yes, I am aware, I guess most early access titles are PC only, aren't they?
just checked, you can buy Witcher 3 on GOG for 10 euros, DLCs inluded, Most of games after 4 years do not retain the same pricetag, and the ones that do, include all DLCs in the price. So, Witcher 3 - I think it was a bit more originally, so this makes you a liar :) of course I might add that Witcher 3 was a finished product upon its release. I might also add it was considered among the best in its genre, and neither of those things can be said about X4. I'm very sorry but you come across as dishonest, so either you are sponsored by Egosoft (which it very much looks like you are) and just misleading potential customers into buying this game, or just very very biased fanboy. Except the game giveaway sort of gave you away. Don't bother responding. I've no time for salespeople.
@@marcinrzu now you're trolling me. There's an 80% sale going on at gog atm which also contains the Witcher series. The Witcher also was developed by an established studio financed by a Publisher namely Bandai Namco. It had lots of performance problems at release & was critiqued because of a graphics downgrade.
I asked for the game key to give away after the video script was finished. Asked for Vanilla, they gave me the 2022 bundle without having seen a word of the script. I'm a hobby RUclipsr, dude. No conspiracy here. X4 isn't finished by the way and will very likely receive an "ultimate edition" after it's done. Like most games receive as you said.
It's okay to not to like a game I might add.
i just got the game and without your “how to” videos i’d be lost thank you so much and i hope to see more of x4 videos in the future
Thanks for taking the time to appreciate what I do! Means a lot to me. More X4 videos are coming up with the new dlc on the horizon. :)
Oh Lord, I spent so much time playing the X3 saga... Thanks for bringing it again to my attention! I spent the last 3 years in Elite dangerous and Star Citizen. 🙂
You're welcome :) X4 wasn't that good at release but imho is in a very playable state right now.
According to the audio book the argon are the survivers of the fleet that lured the xenon away from earth into a jump gate.
Yes, remembered that wrong
I have bought all the DLC but still haven’t played it since the original release period although, if I don’t do so before, I know the Boron update will drag me back in. Thanks for reminding me what I’m missing.
You're welcome :) The Boron update also dragged me back to the game.
Oh wow this is actually cool now. I remember playing the og x-beyond the frontier as a teen, good times.
The og X completely blew me away. Was a teen too back then. :)
my first space game was Freelancer. After that i was looking for another space game and stumbled on X2 the threat. Loved the series ever since.
I really liked you narrating the whole thing, insightfull, funny, informative. all the good qualities
keep it up man
Thanks for the supporting words :) I'm giving my best.
Thanks for the video! I had no idea this game existed. It looks really, REALLY cool.
You're welcome. X4 is really cool, but you have to get used to it. It does almost everything but nothing of it perfectly. So I can completely understand if some people don't like it at all. It's rough and sometimes even feels like it doesn't want to be played - but it also is charming in its own way.
@@WatchMysh It is also complex, and there are a lot of complaints about the UI, "unintuitive" or "a mess", but it is like people who use a lot of Adobe Photoship claiming "GIMP has a TERRIBLE UI", because they didn't want to learn how GIMP solved the problem, but GIMP owners not understanding the problem with the UI, after all GIMP is a multi-home document, there is one window for file operations, one window for editing the image, and another window for images, any number, because that is what UNIX does with its window manage, whilst Photoshop, being built only on Windows paradigms, may have separable tabs, but it is an MDI, it is "one window" for all file operations, editing and every image. AFTER you learn how the UI in X4 does it, you can say "Oh, that makes sense!", but there are many ways it COULD have made sense, and many complainers are wanting the UI to do what THEY want it to do in the way THEY want it done. Whether that works or not.
@@markhackett2302 I understand where you're coming from but still have to disagree. Yes, the X4 UI follows its own logic. Sadly this doesn't help much when far superior ways of interaction were developed in the meantime. Spent half of my career developing interfaces and the X4 UI experience is just sub par no matter how you get accustomed to its flaws. I could do a 10 Minute video alone on how to send ships around the map and how dynamic & intelligent UI systems could help you to coordinate your efforts. Especially a deep and complex game like X could profit incredibly from a modern UI. But you have to integrate it as a basic principle within the early stages. So there's no fixing now because you'd basically re-develop all interactions.
Can't comment on GIMP. My last contact was in 2008 or so.
@@WatchMysh That's kinda the point, though. Some really can work with the Photoshop UI and call it wonderful and GIMP BAD. They aren't WRONG, just personal opinion. The example of parallax occlusion is apt here: that is a graphical technique developed and written a decade ago. But FS22 and Unreal Engine 5 only just get it. "While UE 4" was written, not "being written", BEFORE that, when it was complete, that better option of Parallax Occlusion existed. Because even for AAA teams that REALLY know their onions, adding in tech takes time, and probably even a new engine to do it. See RT1.0 vs RT2.0 and later.
The map is a lot like the stragegy game Harpoon. And the popup menu, on a right click, is from UNIXland. IMO those are well done, just not the ONLY way it COULD have been done.
Where the UI is "cluttered" is how it places elements on the map as popups. It is a lot better, you can get Info in a left hand pane or a right hand one, but if you have a pane open in both, there isn't much map screen left. And you can find you have an M trader and "the best price" is a station that doesn't have docking for it (or more commonly an L trader but no pier). No way to filter other than zoom in and try to scan round.
Those are how I see it, and only a small selection of what I think, not the exhaustive list, so the UI does get in the way in places, but not sure that it can't help but do that (for example, to have readable text you HAVE to hide a fair chunk of map behind popups). But a lot of complains are "It isn't the way I want it done", and if someone wants THAT, feel free to make their own game. DETAIL matters, even if "Nah, I, Egosoft, decided to do it THIS way", detail of WHAT is to be done and WHY that way not a different way, still is helpful, but "do it this way" may cause problems elsewhere, rose tinted glasses and all that. But detail of what to do gives an opportunity to DO that, "It doesn't work" doesn't.
@@markhackett2302 Well... just: yes. Most criticism on UI is very subjective. That's why there's the best practice to not comment on UI changes until you worked at least two months with them. God I'm so glad I switched professions lol ...
What I'm most irritated of (besides its structure sometimes) by the X UI is its lack of responsiveness. It's not "snappy" in as there's not a lot or not enough feedback on what's below or around your cursor. Improving that alone would be a big step forward.
After many, many hours in ED - I'm looking for something else - there aren't many choices out there but you've pretty much convinced me that this might be my alternative. Excellent video and very informative. Thank you...!
The nice thing is that X4 isn't anything like ED. The focus lies in strategy/economics so there are no expectations to be shattered. Thanks for the nice words - and have fun!
Dual Universe isn´t that bad either, but you have to like building, crafting, designing own ships and so on. Space Bourne 2 is fresh in EA, seems ok so far.
What X4 needs is co-op mode to play together with friends. Then i would pickup the game again
Would be amazing
I've had this on my wishlist for years, but mixed reviews always kept me from playing. Maybe now is the time! Great video
There's a reason reviews are mixed. Like I said it's not for everyone and sometimes the UI stands between you and what you want to do. But if you can get used to that there's hundreds of hours of fun to be found in building an empire step by step.
Between this video and Captain Collins’ channel, you will hopefully be persuaded to grab it on sale 👍🏾
X4 was a game I took a gamble on when I saw it had mixed reviews. It was well before any Expacs had released, and I thought for such a low price, worst case scenero I am out like $20. I am QUITE happy I took that gamble because it feels like such a unique title. It scratches many itches and the available mods add an increadable amount of extra play time.
New mod tools are on the way which means mods will get even better :)
The entire X series was/is awesome.
X3 Reunions being the 1st "modern" so to speak, with X3 Terran Conflict / X3 Albion Prelude, two absolutely gorgeous and complex games plus for those owning the X3 Albion Prelude the FREE X3: Farnham's Legacy, a complete new game; a cooperation between Egosoft & Gamers.
-
Fun fact and the TRUTH :
Early 2006 I wrote a Letter (paper in envelope, lol) to Egosoft asking if I could share my X3: Reunion DVD with my friend.
They answered that is not necessary, and included in their response envelope an X3: Reunion DVD with a key for FREE !
Egosoft: love them forever !
x4 Is fine, but what's really awesome is the Star Wars mod for it. Literally an experience you can't get anywhere else.
Truth
Haven't played this in around 2 years. Watching this make me want to get back into it.
Great video which sums up this underrated game. Love the X series, great replayability!
I have never even watched a single X4 video before. I have played X3 briefly and it didn't vibe. This video is fantastic, it makes me want to play X4.
Thanks :) But don't expect too much! It still is an X game after all. A bit clunky, a bit broken, but very fun and rewarding once you look beyond that and get the hang of it. But the game's foundation is a lot better than X3's. Better physics engine now with 6.0 and the economic simulation beneath the gameplay layer doesn't cheat.
Don't remember when I subbed, but glad this showed up in my feed, thanks!!!!
x series seems like its finally gaining traction so glad to see this series getting the recognition it deserves have been playing off and on for about 15 years it truly is the best space sim
Per Steam I played 1.2 thousand hours (granted a fair bit of the time is likely due to keeping the game on overnight to gather cash from my stations and independent traders/miners) and I've (apparently) completed only the Boron and Avarice story-lines. I treat the plot as something to do in between galactic empire building. I spend a fair bit of time just watching ships land and launch on my stations.
Same. I mostly do some plot missions if I have to wait for sth else to get built or a fleet to move from one side of the map to the other.
I just purchased the XL Shipyard station part. I'm about 300-400 million away from building my first Asgard 😎👿. I almost worry the game might be too easy when I get that, but given that I am playing a Terran I am strongly favorable to role-play someone who was utterly outraged by the destruction of the Torus AEternal (see the intro to X3: Albion Prelude for that tragedy) that I might eventually live by this Warhammer 40k tinged phrase: SUFFER NOT THE ARGON TO LIVE! However, having got and apparently finished the X4: Kingdom End DLC I have grown rather fond of Queen Polypheides, and going to war with the Argon would almost certainly mean fighting the Boron...maybe my fondness for the queen will cool my role-played anger.
@@creedrichards137 At some point the game gets too easy when you get too powerful. But I guess that's the fate of any sandbox :D
@@WatchMysh I believe 7.0 should provide some worthy competition for the overpowered.
@@creedrichards137 The "endgame crisis"? I'm curious how this plays out in the end.
What I do not like about the new X Games since Rebirth is that the universe does not feel big anymore. There are Highways and you can just get of them somewhere. It does not feel big anymore. In Rebirth you could find esome disconnected region of space and when you used the highway to get there, there were freaking space taxis using the same highway. Everything feels just three minutes away. Space should be BIG and not filled with tons of stuff.
You can mod them out :)
There is also Avorion. Quite a little gem that flies under the radar too.
There's an entire Star Wars overhaul of this game and its F A N T A S T I C
This looks awesome, TY for showing it all. It looks very overwhelming.
"How to X4" incoming soon™
I have owned this game and have wanted to get into it forever, but I remember trying way back in the day and just gave up. I am really looking forward to giving it another whirl.
It seems after more then 20 years of development Egosoft has finally realized how to converge gun shot in the center of the aiming reticle, true professionals :)))))
Fun fact: the 4 in X4 means its the fourth entry in a series, to know more about the previous 3 google XXX!
Lol
I am a long time X player like pre X-tension Beyond the frontier long and initially x4 was quite a let down but as a long time user I knew they would get to making it what they promised. As a lifeform that is organic and alive, I appreciate that you updated this review.
You're welcome :)
I used to own X1 back in the day (probably disk is still around somewhere). It's amazing how the game evolved.
Think I will give it a go
Really good video. Well shot and edited as well. I bought the game and all dlc’s. I’ve waited years for the AI to be “better” than they were at launch before I bought the game. I know they are still “ok” but it’s now more enjoyable for me. Appreciate you, cheers.
Thanks :) I put a lot of effort into my videos. Yes, the AI is okay-ish now. Still a lot of room to improve. Especially the autopilot really tested my patience today lol
If AI is the problem for you, Egosoft recently hired a modder who had supposedly done a lot of work on the AI that people liked. I would expect to continue to see improvements based on that fact.
@@Erduk thats really good news
@@AuxxiliaryATC
Yeah and the great part is it only took ...... How many years for EgoSoft to get round to it? (wink)
@@Blowfeld20k exactly, which is why i waited all those years before i bought the game
Descendants not from colonists, but from earth military that lured terraformer fleet into gate network after they attacked earth for the first time. Earth gate was destroyed and usc fleet colonized Argon, named after admiral Nathan R. Gunne
You're right, thanks. Remembered this one wrong.
That was a really nice, and straight forward display of all the new additions over the years.
I will give it another go when 6.0 is out.
Thank the vid mate
For a new player the hours is likely much much greater, since you have to gather large amounts of resources for many of them, find your way around, earn a bunch of credits to buy certain ship classes.
I said I wouldnt play X4 until they added Boron...ABOUT TIME!!
I LOVE X3:TC, making a dozen little BofuKing stations (2-3 modules), building bunkers around Paranid space to keep them in if they got hostile, using the Xenon sector to connect both boron space areas, all the while slowboating around in a Split Elephant, passing through systems and loosing trade drones as I casually command armies from my cockpit. Oh, and accidentally finding the Aran(?) having no idea what it is and accidentally blowing it up. so MANY memories from that game.
Until X4 can give me that again....I just cant....now that the Boron are back, I will have a much harder time resisting.
Bofu King lol
I'm intrigued, I'd like to try this.
Large ships enter from BEHIND the gates now. This means thankfully no more fighters splatting on the windshield as the carrier goes through, that was the major reason capital classes were eschewed in X3. "Aaaghhhh. Boom. Reputation lost 1 point" every time you drove a big ship through a gate....
Oooh! Explains a lot.Thanks. I thought the wayfinding was broken again. Well, it still is though. I had enough other video snippets prepared but used the wrong one here - because I didn't know it was a feature.
@@WatchMysh Large/Extra Large ships also teleport so no longer have to fly physically through the gate, that speeds up capital class ships getting through the gates. If you see a bright light (like in the Terminator movies, at the start, when the Terminator first appears). Pathing is STILL a problem, but there are more roles and commands, to alleviate it somewhat (see, for example, Ragnos28). You will see that in destroyers trying to take out a station. It works, but if it blows up a part of a station and the bit it decides to shoot at next is BEHIND a blown up part, well they will beeline for that target, taking them right over the blown up bit and into range of EVERY TURRET ON THE STATION. Big bada boom. Surrounding a station helps there. By the time one bit of the station goes boom, the other bits are about to go boom too. Pathing being "make a bee line" is the problem. If the destroyer engaged a larger curve "great circle" path to keep out of range of the station guns, then reoriented, you'd not see any problem. More roles and more commands make that less of a problem, and those changes are part of the base game, so you get the "Bombard" role when 6.0 releases for the base game, you don't have to buy the Boron DLC too.
@@markhackett2302 Could this problem not be resolved with just bigger gates or adding a "capital gate" to each smaller one in the first place? I know it would break the lore of only being a single gate between jump points ... but I guess the community would accept that as less immersion breaking than any workaround.
And yes, EgoSoft's integration of anything included in DLC besides content into the base game is outstanding practice. Love them for that. The footage for this video was recorded with Beta 6.0 revision 4 by the way. Didn't try out the new roles yet, though.
@@WatchMysh Not really solved by "bigger gates" because the player always ignores safety, but also gates no longer face the other end so you are at most 45 degrees off straight through, like happened with XBtF/eXtension (it wasn't a square any more in X2, but can't remember if the gates were any random direction from some other. 90 degrees off, and even an infinite gate is just a straight line that you will bounce off. Making a more realistic non-square sector led to this.
I am glad they put fewer rocks in. X3 improved pathing for capital ships massively, but they then made the capitals even bigger, and they spent all their time in-system "trying to thread between rocks" and getting nowhere, negating any improved pathing. Dagnabit.
@@markhackett2302ell I'd let the capitals pass through the top portion of the gate, mark this area with flashing beacons, and let the players learn safety by themselves.
I'd really love to see prettier gate effects btw. They look kinda out of place within all the other visual improvements.
What about planets? Are they still a picture in the background or objects now, that you can fly around? Aside that they need to improve space scenery (less gas scattering light in space, as it's not realistic), better lighting (move to Vulkan or D3D12 with ray tracing), textures. And planets should be explorable, liveable, with rich economy.
Picture in background you can terraform.
Great video! Thanks. I've always had my eye on X4 but I've never had the pleasure of trying it.
Thank you :)
So it's finally at actual Release quality, and it only took them 5 years after it was released as a completed game. Do you feel screwed?
No. I've had a better time in X4 than other space games that were 'good to go' when released. 3 titles come to mind here.
@@agoosecalledxaro6679Seconded I felt the game was lacking but it was better then half the space games out atm
This is one of my favorite games for Single player
Same :)
I just wanted to thank you for this video. It helped me take the plunge to buy it, and with the Steam sale currently going on at time of writing this comment, I managed to get a good deal on the whole bundle.
Have fun! The game is rough around the edges but a real gem if you get used to it. :) Make sure to join the beta program to play with the 6.0 update. It improves things a lot esp AI and loading times.
I'll wait until there is an Romantic and Sexmod.
But seriously i love X4. What you forgot, is to mention the struggle with your first hours. It became better but the handling and learning to make your first automatic miner is not easy and you see yourself quickly watching YT videos or read Wiki's for help. But after all it is very satisfying and every start is exciting and feels fresh.
Thank you for your hard work making this Video. Kepp it up.
Yes the first hours are the worst. But they got a lot better with the new dlc starts, especially the terran one. Wouldn't recommend the Split one, though, for new players
Subbed and commented singularly cos of the mobile company comment haha.
Looks like a good game will look into it.
Cheers for a great vid.
Thanks :)
Have they fixed the issue where the performance of ships, AI and battle outcomes is significantly different depeding on whether you are personally in the sector, or just watching on the map? This was the main game breaker for me. The outcomes of the simulation shouldn't change depending on whether I'm on board a ship (just watching, not flying of course).
It got better but still is a problem. 6.0 will add more fixes but I couldn't try it out yet in the beta.
Glad I wasn't the only one that experienced this. I stopped playing for this very reason. Do the ships still spin around on the map if you aren't present?
Short answer is "No". That's a requirement of being able to DO that, however, because there can be scores of sectors with battles going on, but only one sector YOU are in. So it cuts CPU demands by making OOS simpler, a game of numbers, not based on AI, collision detection, damage, regen, etc. What IMO they need to do is make it so you'd make much the same CHOICES OOS as IS, so you don't fit Plasmas to your OOS fleet because they will miss almost all the time if they are against a fighter. They're fiddling with the maths, but it still isn't there for the CHOICE being similar, better, but not fixed.
The best way I've explained the X games is they start off as a first person flight sim and end as a Sins of a Solar Empire/Stellaris style RTS
Man it is one of the few games that not only they have workshop but i dont even bother to download mods because the game is so awesome as it is. For guys who have no idea what x4 is i will tell you this. Last night i was standing from my window on my new build HQ station in a system of my choice. Admiring my fleet of the hard earned (stolen lol) ships. Watching on my map a massive battle between argon antigone and xenon going down. Using my spy satelaties that i placed on each warp gate because ladies and gentlemen....informations are gold. Waiting the right moment to cut in help to turn the tie and grab all the loot and gtfu of there before more mad xenon warp in. Bring back all the loot sell them and invest on production modules so i can grow more rich more powerful. So one day....everybody will crawl on my feet under my supreme leadership! Hail Argons!
I pre-ordered but didn't even launch the game. I knew it was Egosoft and it would take them a couple of years to really finish it. Looks like they haven't done it yet. Ok, I'll wait. I hope I can play before I die.
I still fondly remember the hundreds of hours I had put into X3 Terran Conflict. What a fantastic and deep game series.
Same dude, same. I think that's the closest to space I ever got.
I've been playing X2 and X3.. Your video has motivated me to give X4 a try :)
I picked up a few years back and it has been sitting collecting dust in my steam library. I wanted to feel like a part of a vibrant galaxy with a rogue / opportunistic / entrepeneur vibe. I expected there to be opportunities that would emerge from the dynamics between factions. Embargos, wars, etc would provide opportunities to trade, snatch or plunder. That you could find vulnerable trade routes, wounded ships or smuggling opportunities. Try to be opportunistic, but avoid too much interest by the big actors. The small fish in a big pond.
However, I found that things were static and nothing in motion. It felt more like a static backdrop.
Granted, I didn't spend triple digit hours on the game, but I could not figure out how to understand what the galactic political/strategic/economic situation was or what the next step was with my newly found ring station.
I would happily buy the DLC's if they provided the experience I was originally looking for.
That's also one of my main points of critique. You're kinda forced to play the "big economics" game because it's hard to get a clear picture what's happening besides interpreting market data. But things got a bit better: you now have some kind of newsfeed going on about where each faction is mounting defenses. You also need to place a satellite network and use your "global alarms" list.
I also read that Egosoft hired an AI modder/specialist recently.
Mebbe I was just lucky with my Split (DLC) game seed but that was one of the most fun plays ever. The conflict between the Free Families and the Patriarchy could be grasped very good IMHO. The ZYA were killing off any military vessel in FRF space and thanks to missing hull parts it was looking really bad for FRF until I intervened. Took hours of getting the economy going for FRF again and battling back ZYA (and XEN alike) but in the end I was able to tackle down every ZYA ship entering FRF sectors and I made millions from my production facilities for hull parts n stuff.
@@BekoPharm I'm doing exactly this at the moment. The Split game start is very strong in conveying an ongoing conflict/occupation on and of FRF space. I'm at war with the Patriarchy so I have to build a fleet first and then establish a beachhead in FRF space to support their economy.
@@WatchMysh haha awesome👌What a coincidence.
You are just bad and lazy
Excellent video. I had no idea this game existed. I will look into it.
I played x-beyond-the-frontier as a kid and it was a masterpiece in my opinion. And so is x4 today.
I've never even heard of this game but it looks really cool. Definitely right up my alley
New DLC is coming up also. 7.0 patches more of the performance problems, adds a ton of nice stuff and the whole series will probably go on sale.
X4 plays like if someone took a chunk out of endless space and let you play it in first person. Its a wonderful sandbox. Flight model and ship customisation isn't as deep(or grindy) as elite, but there is so much more to do.
Nicely worded
Added content = what came with x3 at launch. 😊
The game is still basically unplayable due to the stupid "ship information" panel that pops up in the center of the map screen EVERY TIME you select a ship and it cannot be disabled, not even with mods afaik. Since this pointless "feature" is around since i think 4.0, it says a lot about the competence level of the company creating this game. I would love to love this game but every time a come back to it for a couple of days i hit similar walls like the "ship information" panel. Since years... UI borked, missions broken etc...
Easy pass on Egosoft for the X Rebirth stunt they pulled.
Thank you for this! I'd been playing the X series since the original game but gave up over Rebirth. Your video convinced me to take another look.
I remember when the very first version came out, I did buy a copy and played it for a while but didn’t stick with it, think I got into another game at the time called Tachyon - The Fringe, another space fighter sim, this was back in the early 2000’s. Think I still have those copies laying around somewhere?
I have Tachyon on GOG. :) It's been a great game back then. Very unique, too.
If you can't put 20 hours merely to throw it away as "learning", if you aren't going to put hundreds of hours in the game, because "I have a job" or "I have kids" or "I have a life outside gaming" or even "I have OTHER GAMES", then even if you loved this game, it isn't for you because you cannot AFFORD to put hundreds of hours in. It may well be that you played and expected an old-school playstyle where things went quicker, but because it revolved around you. X4, even more than any game in the X series before, doesn't care about you, but it also, unlike any MMO, allows you to take over the entire galaxy or anything between "trucker in space" and "Global Power".
i have 2k h in this game and i really love it , no other game like this, but not a game for everyone i can say that, very good video, keep the good work!
Thanks :) I don't have 2k hours, maybe "just" 300. Still one of my favorite games - but tough to get into.
Actually the Kha'ak ARE technologically advanced, probably even more than the Terrans: the Kha'ak are the only faction that has a WARP Drive; They don't use Jumpgates and can jump everywhere; Kha'ak stations are not build in a sector, but instead warped from other sectors. They are a Hive Mind and their weakness right now is the lack of capital ships because they were decimated by the operation final fury in x3; still they are dangerous, their kyon blasters instantly hits and when they swarm in masses, they are very dangerous to anything smaller than an L class ship or even an L class destroyer.
Yep, badly worded from my side. Thanks for pointing that out.
Not satisfied till x4 adds khaak queen.
Nice video! Always nice to hear people talking up the X series.
Thanks. :) love this game despite its obvious flaws
I played X3 when I was a kid, I didn't really understand the game. I just thought the space ships were cool, and I had never seen anything like it. I completely forgot about this game though. I remember seeing a trailer for it a long time ago, but I was already pretty burned out on impossibly large space games that will never be completed. It's nice to see that there is something here though.
I have around 140 hours in htis game and barely scratched the surface. I just redownloaded it to give it a test.
Well, there actually is a similar game, also from a German developer (I think it were some students) it´s called Avorion and is pretty much a less complex X in Voxel graphics.
And you can build your own ships. Anyways, love the X series. I never understood how so many people were missing this gem.
Avorion sits in my library since I don't know how long... So many games to play and so few time. Didn't know it was German. There more you know...
I dumped hundreds of hours into X3 back in the day. I bought X4 when it first came out and wasn't quickly hooked. I didn't like landing on the stations (they seemed simple and pointless) and I didn't like how most of the X3 races were missing and there didn't seem to much in the way of missions/plot. I stopped and meant to get back to it, but never did. It looks like it has come a long way, I will give it another shot one of these days when I can dedicate a significant chunk of time to it. Thanks for the informative video!
Same here. I really started playing with the Terran DLC. Game didn't hook me at release. Thanks for saying thanks! :) appreciate that. And hf! Maybe you'll like it this time.
I own X4 foundations and stopped playing over a year ago when it became clear that I couldn't have a meaningful experience without building stations and owning fleets of ships. I wanted solo orientated gameplay.
Am I correct in this assumption or have things changed.
I currently play Elite Dangerous Odyssey.
Nah, didn't change. X4 always was about economics and building an empire. Everything else is like "well you CAN do that but we wouldn't recommend it". If you're more interested in just piloting a ship then other games like Elite are still the better choice in my opinion. Personally I couldn't play Elite more than like 50h because I didn't find anything meaningful to do there expect grinding endlessly to get the best ship(s) and mods possible. So I'm like you just inverted lol :)
"I couldn't have a meaningful experience"
Incorrect. You just insist that it MUST ONLY be meaningful to build fleets and building stations.
IMHO you can have better experience as Pirate player now - with last DLC.
Without building automated fleets and stations you will be be bored after some time - there are generated misasions but they are the same same just with different rewards. But you can still help some race to defeat Xenons for example.
Also some plot missions are good - plot missions are unique and done by developers, not like generated boring missions like goto here and kill that ship, or transfer cargo there ....
@@nalim27 You could be a pirate before. Just shoot with Ion cannons (they ARE expensive, though). Small hull damage massive shield damage give the AI lots of chances to bail.
Never heard of X4 until coming across this video. Thank you
They increased the Story-Content so much? ... Guess I'll have to install it again. :)
They did. You now have 3 DLC Plots, the Paranid Plot and other shorter stories. Like some side branches or overlapping plots.
"Subscribe, or not" - and for that alone, I absolutely have subscribed. Good content doesn't need to beg.
so like mount and blade in space?
Yes... somewhat.
Great summary of this complex monster of a game. Thank you.
Good summary of X4!
Thanks :)
Don't remember if it was the first or second game, but I HAVE played a X game, remember little, other than that I bought/built? spacestations, put my own designed flag on it and set up trade routes.
You could already buy stations in the first game.
I love the X-Series. Especially the fact that EVERYTHING has some sort of reason to be the way it is with an explanation that makes sense within this universe.
The books and overall story of this series are awesome too and make these games even better!
I just have one book from the early days. Brennan's Legend or so. Guess it came with a CE back then? Can't remember anymore.
@@WatchMysh Farnhams Legend - thats the first Book. X2 - Nopileos is the seccond book and my favourite of the series because the cultures and history my two favourite Races, Teladi and Split play a big role in that book.
The whole history of Argons/Terrans in the whole Book-Series is also very nice!
I love the Lore of the X-Universe and it is way deeper than i originaly thought it would be.
Edit: i don't know how good the english translations are tho.
@@SuperStevieye Oooh then I have the first two books. And I've read them in German - so I don't know either. :)
I have also read somewhere about some multiplayer options coming up. This would be a fucking treat in Co-Op.
Would be great. But I guess it's just that the expeditions feature finds its way back into the game.
Great game. Closest thing to EVE Offline
The X franchise, AKA Eve Offline.
Never heard of the x4 before a few days ago, found it on 60% sale, and i love it (btw the game is on sale on steam right now!)
Nice! Hf! :)
Thank you for this informativ and really well made video :) had x4 lost from my radar a while now but maybe i should look into it
I've tried so many times over the years to get into this series. I remember X2 getting rave reviews in magazines back in the day, then X3 released, so I took the plunge. I could feel the scope of the game, but the tutorial was so poor I eventually ran out of patience. I've sunk thousands of hours into Stellaris which is also notorious for having a poor tutorial, so I'll give X another shot.
I just started with Stellaris. So - let's switch places. ^^
The X4 tutorials aren't too bad, at least they're ingame now as opposed to links to youtube when the game launched iirc.
@@asmosisyup2557 yes... lol. Completely forgot about that.
I struggled to get into X4 because of the learning curve and ended up going through some tutorial series from the rugged gamer. It took me maybe a few weeks just playing a couple of hours each night to really get to grips with it. Absolutely worth it, very rewarding game especially when you start creating station monopolies and end up at war with other factions.
I like to say that X4 is 'a 4X where you start as a basic unit and end up as a ruler of an NGO Superpower'.
X4 is a lot of fun... I bought it early and have periodically jumped back in. I've always felt the game could be a great platform for storytelling, Egosoft just doesn't build enough of them. I wish they'd make the game modable so users could create/share storylines.
The visual quality isn't quite AAA level? Coulda fooled me.