Visually, very like ED...

It comes close! Elite still has the visual edge though IMO. X4 has better style and variety IMO.
For gameplay, they begin similar, but then diverge in major ways. Elite is a very detailed cockpit experience, but lacks depth (or breadth?) in gameplay. X4 lacks in the cockpit but has immense depth. It can play more as a strategy game instead of a cockpit game after a while if you so choose.

I wish ED would have a different office layout for each ship. Having the same panels for all ships breaks the "simulator" feel for me, other wise both are neat games. Waiting for X4F to go on sale someday, XRebirth left a sour taste on me so unless X4F goes on sale, no space dust from me. I have all the rest of the saga

I heard the Star Wars mod maker is working on it for X4. That will be the time to hit it really hard. No idea how long that takes though.

Yeap, there on it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWSpol3rkSg&t=153s

I finally decided to buy X4-Foundations today at GOG. It´s on version 2.5 and plenty of gameplay so yeah, though it´s worth the price now, and "Split Vendetta" should be out soon so might as well start getting the feel for X4-F.

BTW, Starpoint Gemini 3 is at GOG now, it´s in EA but if you buy it before Oct. 5th. you get Starpoint Gemini 2 for free...
Startpoint Gemini 3 GOG store

With SPG 3, your now on a fighter and have a first person cockpit view. So far I havent found any mayor bugs. Game looks real nice and it´s sort of like X-3 AP but easier to get into. Starpoint Gemini series games are fun games and with this bundle you get SPG 2 which is well worth the price just for that alone.


A better explanation of what we will get with the Vendetta DLC...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nevfq157Jts

Comms: End of transmission. . .

Red

I'm not crazy about the one ship and mod it thing in SPG3, seems too X Rebirth to me. However, I really enjoyed Starpoint Gemini Warlords. I think I have around 100 hours in it and should probably go back to it for a while.
I saw that on XPG's channel, it's a good one. I can't wait for that SW mod. Great game to begin with and it will be 10x even better with that. I haven't checked in a while since I'm not playing it at the moment, but I hope there will be a mod that populates the stations. They always seemed so devoid of life it was creepy. LOL More happening outside than inside.

Not to hijack a thread, but what I really want is Rebel Galaxy Outlaw. If only it weren't Epic exclusive...

@Mr_Blastman

Same reason I don´t have Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, that is the Epic store issue. Although they are good at giving away games, like there giving the "Batman Arkham Collection" for free till the 26th now. Also, Iam not to sure how good Epic works off-line. Personally, Iam trying to stay away from all the DRM that stores like Steam and Epic, among others (Ubisoft / Origins etc.) have. Iam not for needing a internet connection in order to play/use something that I bought, regardless of what some say and/or think on the subject.

So basically Iam buying from GOG as of lately.

@Raw Kryptonite

Well, considering SPG3´s price, that it´s on EA for now and many things can change, and that Little Green Men (devs) do listen to there community and deliver, and the fact that you get SPG2 for free was enough for me to buy it. SPG2 is about $30 on it´s own and it has some DLC´s for future buys, so it all add´s up to a good deal for €16 IMHO. Considering it´s DRM free is a plus too. All this is in the case that one does not have SPG2 and/or has never played any of the Starpoint Gemini games.

I had the feeling you would mention Starpoint Gemini Warlords LOL. Because that game is the one I really wanted, but it´s $30 at GOG so it was that, or spend a bit more and go for X4-F, which I did. Either way I´ll buy it someday!

With regards to stations on X4, yes I agree with you, big as hell but with just a few NPC´s walking around. Oh well, X-Rebirth had more NPC´s but dumb as hell too, so I guess we are better off this way. Other then that Iam having a great time with just the tutorials on X4-F, aside from that I spent the first hour just flying around the starter station and drooling over how cool everything looks/feels. Yeah, Iam a happy "rocket man" now

Red

I'm sure I got it on sale, but it was worth it. I doubt it's much different than SPG2 though, so I wouldn't worry about it.
X4 is a lot of fun, but I need to start over. I made the mistake of building too many stations and it became an RTS. I think I had 30 fleets running around, 20+ stations and spent all of my time issuing orders on the map screen. LOL
Fun, but not quite what I want to do. Next time, I'll build up about 3-4 stations and make them really large with a lot of factories. I want it to be with the SW mod though.

Get that nvidium while you can, it's the early game big bucks. Then the market drops off completely!

Thanks for the tip Raw Kryptonite, will try that for sure.

Yeah, for now I´ll stick with SPG2 and X4-F

Well, maybe a bit of Infinity Battlescape too See thread for details.

Red

I wish that one was going to be SP.

Is there a mod anywhere that lets you play X4 /like/ an RTS, with overhead map control where you bandbox select groups, then add them to a hotkey, then using the mouse still, point and click where they shall go and then use the mouse further to direct their attacks and movements in battle, all with the fluidity of a true RTS without sub menu hell that was X3?

You can add them to fleets in the “map screen” and issue orders, default behaviors etc. On the left side of the screen you have a listing of fleets, stations, individual ships to issue orders to. No way to assign to “group 1” using 1 as a shortcut. Too many fleets to do that, but it plays pretty well as an rts. You can set routes, areas to explore and chain a good number of specific orders.

GOG has the "Interstelar Sale" going on with good prices on the X series among other good space games. It´s also giving away free copies of "Freelspace 2". You also have in the "midweek sale", Starpoint Gemini Warlords and Between the Stars among others on sale too!

I picked up, Starpoint Gemini Warlords and Between the Stars, and of course Freespace 2.

I guess they must have seen us talk/post about these games yesterday

Red

Clearly! FS2 is really good with the FSopen mod pack. Haven't messed with it in a while, but it holds up well. Recently saw a youtube channel that's currently running FS2 all month, various mods I think. Looks really good with all of the work people have put into it. The FS Open Solaris mod looks amazing, I may have to give that a go.

This is what I saw, but today's installment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1_Lv9Zidqc

I installed FS2 and the Knossos app today, then installed Solaris from the Knossos app, and yes it sure looks awesome!

Knossos:
Knossos mod app

The above has a bunch of mods, some already install by default, like FSO (Freespace Open - engine), just choose Solaris and launch it from Knossos.

Red

The Gog free giveaway for FS 2 wasn't long enough. I missed it by two hours.

I own FS 2 already, but I'm having trouble finding my #%&*$# CDs.

That´s a bummer! Hope you can find those CD´s. The freebe was only for 48hrs. so yeah it went under the radar for some.

X4: Foundations 3.0 Beta...



Red

Is this worth playing yet?

Split Vendetta has been released...



X4 Foundations is on sale at GOG.

Red

Already grabbed this one. Now all I need to do is find some time to play it. Yes,even under isolation,finding time to play this and work on 2 World of Warship accounts and Subnautica etc etc leaves me struggling.

Yeah I would think so. Two games is my max now, trying to choose the second one.

My verdict on this game? 'Janky as Hell'.

Nothing about it feels polished in any way. It's clunky,unintuitive and I really don't want to spend any more time on it.

What are you having issues with? Maybe I can help?
It isn't perfect. For me, the auto pilot needs work, it keeps wanting to take the superhighways when it doesn't need to.
I restarted a few days ago and I've gotten to enjoy it more than the first time since I'm cutting back on stations. Just 2 for now.
I tend to play it as a command/strategy game rather than a piloting experience. I like managing fleets and working on the stations. I typically get up and let my backup pilot make the runs for me. They tend to be a little better than the autopilot for some unknown reason.
I rarely run missions, mostly just doing my own thing for now.

I was only doing the flight tutorial. On numerous occasions the tutorial wouldn't proceed,waiting for me to do something and I wasn't always sure what that was.

The explanations about the systems didn't always make sense. At one point I had to enter a derelict ship but first I had to 'repair' the access panel. How to equip and use the repair tool? At first I just quit in frustration but later went back to it and figured it out. But now I can't enter the ship,there seems to be an invisible wall and I just keep bouncing off it or clipping inside the ship. A bug? There were many other things that I thought 'wtf'? I don't like the UI but that's just me.

The game seems complicated so I feel I have to do the tutorials or I will get lost or overwhelmed.

Maybe I'm too used to E:D and SC. I know that X games have their own way of doing things and I just think it's not for me.

It isn't you, the tutorials are clunky and often leave off one simple bit of direction.
On claiming a ship, scan the ship (short range) until you find the radio signal spot. Enter space suit, repair laser (not weapon/laser) it, then click/target the ship and request to dock. The panel will open and fly in.
It's easier later on, you have a marine onboard and you can claim the ship by launching the marine at it. Later, there are large boarding actions to take a large ship that involve a system of commands before executing with a bunch of marines.
IMO, youtube is a better tutor than the game.
I'm happy to help if I can.

Thanks Raw. It's a great game looking at reviews etc,I just need to get past (imo) the steep learning curve.

It doesn't take too long. It's just that there's a lot you can do. It was a little daunting restarting the game because I knew how far you could go and that I'd barely scratched the surface in well over 200 hours. LOL
Give it a go. Once you have a couple of ships, a trader and a miner working for you, which doesn't take long, it begins to partially run itself. I'd say the hard part is learning to get around the menus quickly and issuing default orders.

I'm going in again without the tutorials.

It seems more fun just blundering around discovering things like I did in E:D,and then referring to YT videos if I get really stumped.

The starting point I've used is the explorer one so I hope to get an easier life away from combat if that's possible.

That's my approach, just go at it. Once you get started, just experimenting with commands and looking up a quick YT video is far better than the tutorials. On the main story, there's a free station, but you still have to build it into usefulness and it's in a HORRIBLE location, so if you don't do that one, you aren't missing out. They're all just starting places anyway. I don't know how research goes with the other starts? You do want the ability to research getting blueprints on habitation modules etc. for stations with spacesuit EMP bombs.

My usual start:
-Find crystals on asteroids, shoot them, hit "O" to drag them in. The whiter the crystal the more you can sell for.
-Go to trading station, find the trader/store and sell them.
-Get a cheap medium miner, set him in motion on whatever sells the best, usually nividium in early game
-Find some missions in sectors by watching the menu on the map, stir up some cash
-Buy a medium trader and get them selling whatever looks good to you, but don't just enable them to sell all wares.
---On map, up by the search box, to the left, there's an eye(?) button. Click that and the best wares for buying/selling display over sectors. Click on what you want to check out and it will point to the station selling/buying it.
---Send your trader to a region that has shipyards and wharfs. See what they need by doing that on the map.
---Once there, go into orders for the trader and set up the wares the shipyard/wharf needs, set the "buy" range to max (it will be low with a new pilot) and the sell range to 0. That way they go out to buy but come back to the shipyard/wharf sector to sell.
--Get the fastest scout ship you can find, load him up with satellites and string his orders out to explore sectors, drop satellites near clusters of stations. You can chain a LOT of orders. Then just let him go. As he finds areas, you add on more satellite drops. You can also chain in an order to go to a shipyard/equipment dock to pick up more satellites and send him out scouting even more.

Eventually you'll want to build a station. Offers will come up in missions that pay you millions to build a factory or defense station. ONLY take the ones that are located where you want to build. They tell you a sector and once you accept the mission, you'll see a yellow sphere marker showing you where you have to build. Usually it's a terrible location. Be picky or just ignore those missions. Think in terms of a few huge stations rather than a ton of specialized ones scattered all over. They cost a lot to build up, it takes forever and require a lot more resources to set up than you expect at first.
Antigone has some of the best fighters, Argon has them cheaper with fewer hardpoints but might have more hull. Those are where I start.

From there, you'll know what you'll want to do. Good luck!

X4 Cradle of Humanity DLC...




---

New DLC Inbound 1Q 2020.


Red

and some tips...





Red

Just follow the rest of tutorials on the side bar.

Red

Thanks Red. I've lost how many times I've tried to get into this game. Always beaten back by my lack of understanding how the game works.

Same here... I got all the stuff in past sales etc but just can't get into it.

I would love to play X4 if I knew they had finally given the game a decent interface.

I have tons of hours in X3 but my issue was always when fleets got to a certain size the game turned into submenu hotkey diving warrior and was annoying as heck to give orders to anything.

I want a simple band box select with mouse interface on a map and one click orders like a real time strategy game.

No more menu diving. Please.

Did they fix this?

I doubt you could have one click orders with all the stuff you can do In the X series. It´s always been like that even way back In the X3 Albion Prelude days you had menus, pull downs and pop ups. There wasn't that much options as now, but you still had the same agency In-game.

I guess It´s the nature of the beast, but we all know that It´s not the only game like that, especially when we look at simulators. When we have to many options, we complain that there´s to many, and when we have less options, we complain that we have less options

I know It´s not the most friendly UI In the world, but neither Is ArmA III, Panzer Elite, DCS, Enemy Engaged, Iron Warrior T-72, or FSX just to name a few.

and @Trooper117...

I understand what both of you mean. I have this BAD habit of going through some tutorial videos (or text) that will give me a basic understanding of a game and have it pretty much down, play a bit with the game In question (maybe an hour or three), and then get distracted with some other game that just came out or whatever, drop it for a couple of days or more, and then try to come back to it without really remembering what I learned from my research on learning the darn game! Which In turn Is a waste of time, money and effort! This not only happens to me In my PC gaming, it also happens to me with wargames that I buy and need to learn, which can be very dense!

I have now learnt to stick with it, and even take notes, and re-read, rinse and repeat If needed. It´s the only way, at least for me. Once your Into it, keep at it and play, and play more till It sinks In, and In the end you will feel that It wasn't that hard to do.

You get your moneys worth and you have fun, you just need that extra push/effort.

Red

X4 is good so far.

X4 Star Wars Interworlds total conversion is even better.