X3: Farnham's Legacy is a new game in the X3 space game series. TRADE, FIGHT, BUILD, THINK in a living and breathing universe. It incorporates a new storyline and yet more additions to the open, free-form gameplay that forms the core of all X series games. X3: Farnham's Legacy is free to owners of X3: Albion Prelude and will be released on May 4th, 2021.

Over the next few weeks, as we build up to the release, we will be interviewing some of the project team members. Today we are kicking things off with Ketraar.

Q: Please briefly introduce yourself to the readers and tell us when, and how, you first came into contact with an X-game?
A: I am known as Ketraar in most places, both on and offline. I started out by playing X: Beyond the Frontier in 1999. I’ve always loved sci-fi, especially space themed - the likes of Stargate, Farscape and obviously Star Trek and Star Wars were a big part of my entertainment consumption. It was no surprise that I fell in love with XBTF as it provided the same type of escapism, but with me now ‘in control’ of at least parts of the narrative.

How did you end up on the team that has been working on X3: Farnham's Legacy for the past five years?
There are always things one could add or change in X games. I had been pitching some of them over the years, the ideas forum has a few examples. It was rather natural to jump on it when I was asked if I would like to pitch some of the ideas for a potential X3 expansion. I always had a soft spot for the THINK aspect of X games and this would be a great opportunity to give it some TLC. So, after a few emails and a Skype call things just started rolling as people were brought in to join the project.

What was your personal motivation to work on this project? What makes the X3 series so special for you?
I think, in the end, its the fact that X games allow you to express yourself when you play the games, but probably even more so when you modify them. The ability to change things and create new experiences is something I find very interesting and X games, especially X3, has allowed me to do just that.

We've already announced that X3: Farnham's Legacy will incorporate new exploration features that the player will need to use in order to find their way back to civilisation. Can you share some more details on that aspect of the game?
Exploration was always a sizeable part of any X game - you would need to visit systems to find the stations to trade, buy and equip ships. While this is still the case, a new tool is introduced that roughly points towards ‘interesting’ locations. This hopefully adds a more hands-on experience to exploring the galaxy, as it will uncover many things, from crates containing all sorts of things, to derelict ships that are not defined on static positions. Other locations, once found, will open up new sectors that contain who knows what! The Explorers Guild is another major portion of exploration (as the name obviously implies). Players will be able to interact with it and trade in their exploration ‘knowledge’ for many things - some very special.

Do you have a particular highlight from working on the project that you would like to share with readers?
One of the highlights during this project was in 2018 when I was allowed to visit Egosoft HQ. Not just meeting the people there, but also some of the X3FL team members - some I had known for many years, though only online. It was a great experience, several days talking about games with other people that liked games (almost) as much as I do. I felt like I belonged, almost normal. Yes that is the highlight I’d remember.

Any last message you'd like to give to X3 fans out there, with just under four weeks to go before the release of X3: Farnham's Legacy?
Well I hope they enjoy the game. It has many new features and additions - some may even throw the veterans and hopefully provide a new experience.

Thank you for the insights, dear Ketraar, and thank you for your work on X3: Farnham's Legacy!

Almost ten years ago, with the release of X3: Albion Prelude, Egosoft decided to bring development of titles based on the long-running X3 game engine to an end. However, a dedicated group of players from our DevNet community had other ideas!

The X3: Farnham's Legacy project kicked off in earnest in 2016 but, as with any community project, there were times when progress was faster than others. Five years on, and the team are now finally ready to show you their creation!

Set in the years after X3: Albion Prelude, as the chaos caused by the gate shutdown really takes hold, X3: Farnham's Legacy starts very differently to previous games in the X3 series. Trapped in an isolated area of space, you'll first need to make use of the new exploration features to find your way back to civilisation. Then, once you're there, you'll be able to use the new diplomacy options to help shape your relationships with the factions you find.

>> X3: Farnham's Legacy - Reveal Trailer <<

The new features don't end with the storyline, though. There are numerous other improvements, ranging from drone carriers, station-building services and an enhanced player headquarters, to a new ship browser and a hyperlinked encyclopedia. And of course, no new X3 game would be complete without new ships and stations!

X3: Farnham's Legacy will be released on May 4th, 2021. The best news of all, however, is that this new expansion will be FREE OF CHARGE to all owners of X3: Albion Prelude on Steam!

In the four weeks until the release, we will provide you with interviews of the team members to further fuel the anticipation. Please keep an eye on our usual news channels.

We're back with another hotfix for X4: Foundations 4.00 to deal with a couple of remaining issues, so that you can spend more time with the game over the Easter weekend.

Here's the changelog for X4: Foundations 4.00 Hotfix 3:

• Improved collision detection, especially at high speeds.
  
• Fixed re-tasked NPC traders sometimes holding on to reservations for trades they are not going to complete.
  
• Fixed not seeing assigned trainees on HQ after relocating it to sector without training capabilities.
  
• Fixed player being able to easily board ships they've just sold.
  
• Fixed missile launchers not being available to Terran and Pioneer factions.
  
• Fixed license requirements for missile launchers and turrets.
  
• Fixed automatic buy/sell threshold calculation for intermediate wares with manual storage allocation.
  
• Fixed blacklist entries for certain sectors not being loaded after saving.
  
• Fixed incorrect Torus airlock state if players teleports unexpectedly.
  
• Fixed cases of mission ship being stuck in hazardous region during Second Assistant mission.
  
• Fixed target ship in Mutually Assured Destruction mission stopping for no apparent reason.
  
• Fixed Advanced Satellite deployment not registering in The Meeting story mission.
  
• Fixed From the Ashes mission not accepting Terran ship fabrication modules.
  
• Fixed Save Them From Themselves mission not ending if important character is no longer available when objective is completed.
  
• Fixed Hatikvah mission getting stuck when interrupting Dal during Teladi meeting.
  
• Fixed Operation Hyena Station construction failing to complete.
  
• Fixed Falx asking for impossible equipment loadout in Terran Deliver Fleet missions.
  
• Fixed Oberth not accepting antimatter cells in specific circumstances.
  
• Fixed Final Debrief not continuing when defending Saman from Pirates under specific circumstances.
  
• Fixed issues with Undercover Trader in Zyarth's Coffin story mission.
  
• Fixed NPC in Treacherous Shallows mission getting killed if station is destroyed before player starts conversation.
  
• Fixed Moreya gained in Astronauts, Champions, Truth Seekers mission remaining locked from pilot assignment after end of plot.
  
• Fixed missing reputation reward for A Heart for Pirates mission.
  
• Fixed encyclopedia entry selection when opening sector entries.
  
• Fixed targeting capital ships not unlocking weapon and thruster information in Encyclopedia.
  
• Fixed missing option to resume production if production module is marked for recycling or is hacked.
  
• Fixed Yaki station sometimes having no icon.
  
• Fixed several causes of crashes.
  

If you're using an RTX 30x0 series card to play X4: Foundations, then please make sure you download NVIDIA's latest GeForce Game Ready driver, released on March 30th (Desktop | Notebook).

Just ten days after the release of our big update and the new expansion, we're pushing out another hotfix for X4: Foundations 4.00 to deal with a few leftover issues, especially in stories and missions.

Here's the full changelog for X4: Foundations 4.00 Hotfix 2:

• Fixed certain ship models not being claimable in person.
  
• Fixed population information from terraforming getting lost when loading savegame.
  
• Fixed missing description for Sealed Vacuum Tubes.
  
• Fixed Terran Fleet Delivery Missions requesting impossible ship setup.
  
• Fixed Defenders of Sol mission getting stuck on Approach: Erratic Miner objective under specific circumstances.
  
• Fixed Final Debrief mission issues with mission relevant characters potentially dying too soon.
  
• Fixed War of Intervention mission guidance breaking under specific circumstances.
  
• Fixed End of Terrorism objective pointing to station instead of signal leaks.
  
• Fixed various issues in Covert Operations mission.
  
• Fixed War of Intervention mission not containing reward.
  
• Fixed A Pirate's Trail mission getting stuck if enemy ships are defeated before player arrives.
  
• Fixed data leaks sometimes spawning in centre of station during Pioneer gamestart mission.
  
• Fixed target ship in Mutually Assured Destruction mission staying invincible after getting attacked by player.
  
• Fixed Astronauts, Champions, Truth Seekers mission getting stuck if hidden ship is captured before objective is set.
  
• Fixed objective guidance sometimes not appearing for The Meeting mission.
  
• Fixed player getting stuck inside Silverback during Defenders of Sol mission.
  
• Fixed Operation Hyena not progressing when player already owns station in specified Argon space.
  
• Fixed Wartime Economics mission getting stuck in Savage Spur II under specific circumstances.
  
• Fixed cases of Second Assistant mission getting stuck when placing Nav Beacons in hazardous region.
  
• Fixed story getting stuck when escaping out of conversations with Rick Feynman during Double Assistant mission.
  
• Fixed What is Best in Life achievement not being unlocked for players who completed Make War not Peace mission during beta.
  
• Fixed sector trade offer graph in Encyclopedia showing Sell instead of Buy for buy offers in mouse-over texts.
  
• Fixed broken shopping list in Ship Configuration menu after returning from Encyclopedia.
  
• Fixed broken mouse picking on Map after setting trade ware filter.
  
• Fixed Energy Cell production module efficiency claiming sunlight effect as workforce.
  
• Fixed ships of wrong size offered when requesting ships at ship consoles.
  
• Fixed covered ships not showing up in Undock menu.
  
• Fixed Crew Transfer menu for player-owned shipyards.
  
• Fixed dropdown selections appearing to reset to initial value after scrolling.
  
• Fixed main weapon on Asgard being destroyed.
  
• Fixed Terran medium turrets vanishing when destroyed.
  
• Fixed freeze when using Go To Ship on ship belonging to another faction that is docked at object also belonging to another faction.
  
• Fixed freeze when doing Long Range Scan near extremely complex station.
  
• Fixed several causes of crashes.
  

Note to GeForce RTX 30 Series GPU users
We'd also like to take this opportunity to remind you again about the GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 462.07 that was released by NVIDIA earlier this week. If can be found downloaded here, and addresses the "lost device" crashes some GeForce RTX 30 Series GPU users may have experienced.

Please use NVIDIA's Display Driver Feedback Form if you still experience issues after updating to the new hotfix driver.

One week after the release of the big 4.00 update for X4: Foundations and the new expansion X4: Cradle of Humanity, Egosoft founder and CEO Bernd Lehahn meets "SpaceGameJunkie" Brian and his team in a live podcast today (March 23rd, 2021) from 2pm CET (1pm GMT / 9am EDT / 6am PDT). In a relaxed setting, the group will talk about Egosoft, the X series, current development of X4: Foundations... and whatever else might come up.

Follow the whole thing live today from 2pm CET via:

• Twitch - twitch.tv/spacegamejunkie
  
• YouTube - youtube.com/Spacegamejunkie
  
• Facebook - facebook.com/groups/spacegamejunkie/
  

You will of course be able to listen to the recording at any time afterwards.

Have fun!

The X4: Foundations 4.00 update and our new expansion X4: Cradle of Humanity have now been out for almost 3 days, and we can't thank you enough for the massive support you've been showing us. Concurrent player numbers are at their highest level since the release of the base game in November 2018, and we've been receiving fantastic feedback on a wide variety of game features. Thank you!

Having said that... it turns out that a few screws were still a little loose, especially in some of the plot missions, and we've been tightening them as quickly as we can for a new hotfix. Check out the changelog while you download the update:

• Fixed sometimes not entering superhighways during travel mode.
  
• Fixed not being able to claim abandoned Rapier.
  
• Fixed Solborn Militia Outpost not respawning when destroyed.
  
• Fixed ship Silverback in Defenders of Sol mission getting stuck.
  
• Fixed Wartime Economics mission getting stuck in dialog cutscene when entering Savage Spur II with map open.
  
• Fixed ship delivery objective in Towards Distant Shores mission failing unintentionally.
  
• Fixed rescue ship in Terran gamestart Displaced mission sometimes being very far away.
  
• Fixed missing Argon dock blueprint for player during Displaced mission in Terran gamestarts.
  
• Fixed ship to escort in Escape Plan mission sometimes not moving to station.
  
• Fixed missions sometimes not continuing when saved and loaded during dialogue.
  
• Fixed Wartime Economics mission getting stuck if last Xenon flees instead of being destroyed.
  
• Fixed missing Preferred Build Method option for resupply ships.
  
• Fixed order icons in Object List and Property Owned menus not showing correct order when using Repeat Orders
  
• Fixed wrong station construction state in Station Build menu under certain circumstances.
  
• Fixed Encyclopedia errors if no engines are known.
  
• Fixed several causes of crashes.

To NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30xx Series GPU users
If you are using a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30xx Series GPU, please make sure that you read this news article about possible "lost device" crashes. The NVIDIA driver hotfix is not availabe just yet, unfortunately, but progress is being made and we'll update you in a seperate news article as soon as the driver hotfix is available.

Once again, thank you for making this an amazing week! We hope you enjoy X4: Cradle of Humanity and the new features in the 4.00 update.

PS: If you haven't already, please make sure to check out our current Steam Midweek Madness sale with heavy discounts on most X Universe products. The sale will end later today.

¡La espera ha terminado, y el siguiente capítulo de la simulación espacial X4: Foundations ha iniciado! Ahora pueden descargar la extensa actualización gratuita 4.00 del juego básico, la cual mejora el juego en múltiples formas. Los cambios en el juego incluyen opciones completamente nuevas como Terraformación, nuevas opciones para administrar hostilidades, mejoras en el control de flotillas, y la nueva opción de expulsión de emergencia. En el lado técnico, la actualización 4.00 trae consigo efectos volumétricos, mejora la aparición gráfica de asteroides, y añade un efecto visual en el impacto a escudos.

¡Pero eso no es todo! Hoy también celebramos el lanzamiento de X4:Cuna de la Humanidad, la segunda expansión de X4: Foundations. Esta expansión lleva a la serie de vuelta a la Tierra. Esta aumenta el tamaño del universo de forma significante con nuevos sectores, y da la bienvenida a dos facciones Terran junto con sus economías, naves, armas y estaciones. Nuevos inicios de juego introducen a los jugadores a las nuevas identidades y posiciones políticas de las facciones Terran, y ofrecen distintas perspectivas de los eventos y la historia de X4: Foundations. Nuevas historias, con escenas y nuevos modelos de personajes, les adentrarán al universo X y les mantendrán pegados a sus asientos.

Esperamos que se diviertan con X4: Cuna de la Humanidad, y estamos ansiosos por saber cómo están disfrutando la expansión. Tómense la libertad de dejar una reseña para X4: Foundations y X4: Cuna de la Humanidad - ¡las reseñas nos ayudan mucho!

En cuanto a nosotros, nos concentraremos en la siguiente ronda de mejoras para X4: Foundations. Estaremos en contacto, con más detalles sobre estos siguientes pasos, en el futuro cercano. Hasta entonces, ¡diviértanse con X4: Foundations y X4: Cuna de la Humanidad!

As you may have read or heard already, we are planning a major overhaul of our "ventures" asynchronous multiplayer feature in the not-too-distant future. We're not quite ready to share more details about this just yet, but we do have an important message about ventures, involving next week's release of the big 4.00 update for X4: Foundations.

When the 4.00 update is released on March 16th, 2021, ventures will be disabled. You will be unable to start any new ventures, or continue existing venture missions that have already started. Ships that are currently on ventures in your game will automatically return to the Venture Dock from which they started, and they will not bring back any venture rewards.

As we make further progress with the aforementioned venture overhaul in the next couple of weeks, we will update you with details of the upcoming changes.

We apologise for any inconvenience, and look forward to providing you with more details on the revised ventures soon.

La semana pasada les mostramos el trailer de lanzamiento de X4: Cuna de la Humanidad. Muchos de los comentarios recibidos sobre este se enfocaron en la maravillosa música que le acompaña. Para picar su apetito por X4: Cuna de la Humanidad un poco más, estaremos revelando hoy un poco más.

Dese el 2003, las bandas sonoras y el diseño de sonido de nuestra serie de juegos X ha estado a salvo en las manos de Alexei Zakharov, un nombre conocido para muchos de ustedes. Con la llegada de X4: Cuna de la Humanidad, Alexei se ha superado nuevamente, y nos ha traído una banda sonora mucho más melódica que las de los juegos de la serie X anteriores. Vocales en coro y temas Nórdicos les acompañarán durante sus viajes a través de los nuevos sistemas de X4: Cuna de la Humanidad.

El avance a continuación les dará una probada de la banda sonora de la expansión:

>> X4: Cradle of Humanity - Soundtrack Preview <<

La banda sonora de X4: Cuna de la Humanidad es parte de la Edición de Colección de X4: Foundations. Aquellos que ya tienen, o compren, la edición de colección tendrán acceso automáticamente a la banda sonora a través de Steam y GOG tras su lanzamiento el 16 de Marzo, 2021. O si no, la banda sonora puede ser comprada por separado.

La banda sonora también estará disponible a través de las plataformas de transmisión, incluyendo Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music etc. Por favor tomen en cuenta que nosotros no tenemos responsabilidad sobre el proceso de lanzamiento en esas plataformas, así que es posible que no esté disponible inmediatamente en todas ellas el 16 de Marzo. Mantengan un ojo abierto para que no se pierdan nada.

Si quieren más del fenomenal trabajo de Alexei, les recomendamos nuestro paquete "X Universe - Soundtrack Collection".

¡Relájense y escapen al universo de sonido de Alexei!