What do you expect from Egosoft? (next game)

[BigBANGtheory]

I really like the layout of TO space, but I don't want to scrap (non-super)highways completely. I definitely think they should be made less prominent. I'd like larger sectors to have a simple highway layout connecting two or three of the most active, civilized, and established zones, with 3+ "independent" zones spread out across open space.

That would make a lot of sense, highways for highly populated and developed systems then a more Babylon5 style system of jump gates, jump drives (on jump capable ships) and wake jumps for smaller or un-docked ships.


Going back quickly to Bernd's earlier post about features making the game and new/cool features on their way... I just wanted to point out that cool features do not in themselves make a good game they have to be blended into the gameplay and environment. Being able to walk off ship in first person is a cool feature as are highways but they both struggle to yield good gameplay and user experience in their current forms.

Game engine > environment & content > game features > gameplay > user experience

You can't afford to ignore or gloss over the higher points and imho that is where Egosoft need some assistance or collaboration with its player base.

[mr.WHO]

IMO I'd left the superhiways, but get rid of local highways and equip all ships except fighters with boosters.

Fighters would need to be carrier by ships, but since most fireighters looks like that can field hangarbay (Rahanas, Scaldis) it wouldn't be a problem.


Anyway the cool new features also need to be tested in terms of routine. Something might be cool and immersive when you do it one or a few times, but once you have todo it hundred of times it start to be a nightmare (e.g. highway mini-game, assigning fighters to squads, docking t ostation and talking to NPC when you wasn't able to call them from space).

[Nikola515]

I wouldn't mind seeing highways go in favour of boosters. But it would be a pre-requisite that they fix up the borders between zones, which are currently a bit screwy.

I want to see that too....ED did pretty good job with this. Also than we would need new map system becuse this one won't work anymore ( it wont be as efficient ).

[A5PECT]

I wouldn't mind seeing highways go in favour of boosters. But it would be a pre-requisite that they fix up the borders between zones, which are currently a bit screwy.

I want to see that too....ED did pretty good job with this. Also than we would need new map system becuse this one won't work anymore ( it wont be as efficient ).

How so? A vast majority of production resources are moved between stations via capital-class trade ships that don't utilize highways anyways. So I'm pretty sure the economy would still work just as well in a sector free of/less reliant on them. The things stopping TO from being economically functional is lack of stations, product/resource diversity and an overbearing pirate presence; not a lack of highways.

The only major users of highways outside of the playership are mass traffic ships, and they're mostly visual fluff (its only unique contribution to gameplay is as scan-fodder for smuggler hunting.) Highways are pretty much only there for benefit of the player and the fact that the Skunk is your only asset at the beginning of the game.

[UniTrader]

I wouldn't mind seeing highways go in favour of boosters. But it would be a pre-requisite that they fix up the borders between zones, which are currently a bit screwy.

I want to see that too....ED did pretty good job with this. Also than we would need new map system becuse this one won't work anymore ( it wont be as efficient ).

How so? A vast majority of production resources are moved between stations via capital-class trade ships that don't utilize highways anyways. So I'm pretty sure the economy would still work just as well in a sector free of/less reliant on them. The things stopping TO from being economically functional is lack of stations, product/resource diversity and an overbearing pirate presence; not a lack of highways.

The only major users of highways outside of the playership are mass traffic ships, and they're mostly visual fluff (its only unique contribution to gameplay is as scan-fodder for smuggler hunting.) Highways are pretty much only there for benefit of the player and the fact that the Skunk is your only asset at the beginning of the game.

you completely forget about the small Freighters - although not really prominent they still exist

[Nikola515]

Why can't they all have boosts ? If smal ship like skunk can use them why not small ships too ? Well what i want to actually see is something simular to freelancer mechanics. Ship needs to charge before using it (this way you cant use it in battle). I think this would work pretty good with size of star systems in XR.

[Santi]

Small ships have lots of issues regarding the highways and not always use them. I rather prefer boosters and the use fuel to limit their range of action.

[jkflipflop98]

I like the highways. There's no difference between taking a highway there quickly and pointing your nose at a "nav beacon" and holding down the booster button, except holding the button takes longer. the TO zones were only "cool" the first time I was there. Now everytime I go there without my cap ships I'm thinking "damn, i wish there was a highway to get me to the other end of this stupid zone already".

[Nikola515]

Small ships have lots of issues regarding the highways and not always use them. I rather prefer boosters and the use fuel to limit their range of action.

I agree..... But they need to balance that so we dont need to buy fuel every trip we make (it would start being annoying).

[Tamina]

Fuel? Really? Like as XR hasn't teached us anything.

Also booster shouldn't be too powerfull, ships in boosting mode have to be still attackable and if a ship gets hit it turns off boosting (like in the old X games with sinza) or else the whole remove highways part would be pointless imo.

[Nikola515]

Fuel is good for economy I think busters should one way only..... It cant move around until they stop. At this point highways limit system movement because they guide you where to go. With then gone we would be encouraged to go pretty much anywhere and explore. But for that we would need new map system (homeworld style wouldn't be bad for this )

[jkflipflop98]

That would be the dumbest thing ever. If they put a fuel gauge in the Skunk, I'm done. That would completely and utterly kill the game.

[Texhnolyzed]

Judging by what little we know they are probably taking steps in the right direction. I'm hoping they learned from X Rebirth.

[Nikola515]

That would be the dumbest thing ever. If they put a fuel gauge in the Skunk, I'm done. That would completely and utterly kill the game.

You should try to read what we are talking about on first place Nobody is talking about about changes to XR and Skunk here Many games have fuel system already (that works) even XR with capital ships and pretty much all X games (E-Cells for jump drive ) so there is nothing new there.... Just like we use jump drive to travel to jump beacons we can use boosts or warp drive to get there. Also if you are out of fuel you still fly but with slow speeds... This way you could go anywhere and build anywhere without need for jump beacon

[LV]

I want minigames and pay to skip access, platform game type running around stations where you spend an hour learning the exact timing for a gamepad button bashing configuration, less fighting more hugging, The ability not just to land on planets but to populate them with cute sporelike creatures, more steam integration where i'm not just forced to use the platform but swear an allegiance to them, daily updates to the game, a greek like economy model, hardcore gay alien sex scenes, more ED type fling for 20 mins for the sake of flying tactics, the old script editor reintroducing so i can fix the thing for them like i did pre RB , my enter key to start working

[mr.WHO]

@LV: Your comment would be funny if not that several of these ideas was actually used in some space related game in last years.

You forgot about XR invasion of hardcore space grannies that want to do anything for you and the do mean anything (show me you wares! show me you wares! show me you wares! . )

[HarpRe]

I have a couple Ideas for the next game / suggestions for develpopment from this this on. Some were very likely allready mentioned but I didn't read every post so..- lets start:

• - small ships
  • -- All small ships flyable with cockpit. @EGO release the Ships and ask the modders for help. You could give best ones a free game or a cupon for steam. I know that is allready planed but maybe the cockpit idea can help
    -- Small ships dockable at carriers. (mod existes but you could desgine the ships to look like it) It would also be more lore friendly. If a cap ship is on patroll the fighter pilots would avoid to be on duty 24/7
  - cap ships
  • -- just comandable. For balance reasons I gues it is not the best Idea to let the player fly them. (In x3 I killed doesneds of Xenon capships with on destroyer because of the use of WASD)
    -- give me a seat on the bridge after giving it a bridge (mod)
    -- maybe make the sourrounding like in the fighter cockbit as a big screen that you can activate to follow the battle (see what happens under the ship and behinde...). It is allways beatyfull.
    -- give easy command options to the crew during the battle
    -- If you like make a mini Game/quest to learn how to command sutch a ship -> flight school
    -- automate the crew thing. I pay for a good crew a Million if necessary but I don't like to fly arround for 2hours to find them
  - Flight commands and squad updates. X3ALbion was good there. You had several squads to use in battle and of corse you could tell a ship to move to a specific point. (make the mouse usable for that as an improvment) Hell I had to tell a freighter to move to a certain position by flying there and tell it to come to me. That must be able via commands
  
  - Better NPC managment. Yes the minigames are nice but if you want to outfit more than three ships it gets annoying as hell.
  • -- Make NPCs trainable in there positions. I think only Engineers and Specialist are. Give me the chance to train all the others as well (Manager Captian Defence)
    -- For the late game give it some automatic. (Example: Employ a special manager how hires the best people and trains them or somethink like it. Give him his own capship or station that you have to build and you can tell him to train 20 of each. -Or make it a longer quest where you need to requt and train some teachers ...)
    -- make the seminars easyer to optain. Maybe more expensive but easy to get some or just pay your employe to get them for himself (The text tells you that they are easy to duplecate and to buy. So everyone in the universe is able to get them just the player has to crawl someones ass up every time he/she wants one)
    -- make it automatical for ships to have a full crew. Specialy the freighters I do not realy care how the crew looks ... Just that the ship can survive / escape a fight automaticly without me having to tell it
  - better immersion for the player
  • -- let the player die when he jumps from platforms and so on (sounds funny but it helps. You try it one or two times and than let it go. At the moment you sometimes get frustrated by the boundarys pushed on you)
    -- option to shut off cutsence (With the skunk allow the player eather to wander the cockpit himselfe and sit down at his choosing or just sit him into the cair but the cutscene becomes anoying after the 50th time)
    -- allow manual or autopilot docking again. In the old games you had the docking computer too but nothing beats the thrill to have to transport a passanger to a station that is under siege and dock manually under fire to save time. (you can let the platforms as they are but let the player fly in by himselfe. should be easy enougth with the new flight mod)
    -- make a lore friendly hard game mode. Hell the Xenon should not attack a station if they can not destroy it.
    -- 3rd person view on character. There a people like me that get kind of motion sike if you have to play in 1st person for longer, don't know why but 3rd person I can play forever.
    -- station announsments (there is a mod for that)
    -- Maybe be able to start the converastion whith an NPC instat of wainting for them to speak?

Hope that helps and is in a readaple format for the developers. So fare I like all the games. XR is beatyfull but at places I feel not as deep in the univers as I did in X3.
Best of Luck to EGOSOFT.

[mojo99]

As someone who's played every X game, I like to say how truly awful the latest version is. There is simply nothing to redeem it.

So for the next version, lets please go back to the sort of gameplay we all know and love. It wasn't broken, so why did Egosoft try and 'fix' it?

[Getsune]

As someone who's played every X game, I like to say how truly awful the latest version is. There is simply nothing to redeem it.

So for the next version, lets please go back to the sort of gameplay we all know and love. It wasn't broken, so why did Egosoft try and 'fix' it?

Well, if you consider new features and a big pile of improvements 'awful', then you're absolutely right about that.

They didn't try to fix it, they wanted to start anew while also remembering where the strengths of X lies.
The initial release was indeed horrible, but the engine's performance is slowly getting better and there's much potential.
Superior graphics with an even wider range of well-conceived gameplay features - who would say no to that?

As someone who's played every X game, I like too say how awesome X Rebirth now is.
It's more of a BtF rather than a TC/AP, but I enjoy it just as much. It's fantastic!

[Cycrow]

I want minigames and pay to skip access, platform game type running around stations where you spend an hour learning the exact timing for a gamepad button bashing configuration, less fighting more hugging, The ability not just to land on planets but to populate them with cute sporelike creatures, more steam integration where i'm not just forced to use the platform but swear an allegiance to them, daily updates to the game, a greek like economy model, hardcore gay alien sex scenes, more ED type fling for 20 mins for the sake of flying tactics, the old script editor reintroducing so i can fix the thing for them like i did pre RB , my enter key to start working

So is that the next mod you are working on ?