This is to keep everyone updated about what is going on with update 1.4, as we are aware that everyone is very keen for news
Beta testing has been going on extensively for a considerable time now - as has been suggested several times, with an expansion planned, work on updating X² must cease at some point and work on the expansion commence. We are currently testing build 3 of the 1.4 beta, and before you all ready anything into this message, it is by no means sure that this will be the final version, or that it is about to be released. For the reasons detailed above with the expansion, it is of course vital to make sure that everything possible is done to make 1.4 polished, and also contain everything that Egosoft and players want.
So, to give you a taste of what will be in update 1.4 (not a re-hash of "what is being fixed / looked at in 1.4), here goes. Enjoy
Game Fixes
Firstly, the 'boring but necessary' stuff. Various issues causing games to crash or freeze have been located and fixed - this is much improved. Some textures which were not loading into the game correctly have also been corrected. The universe is now more beautiful than ever before! Other graphical improvements include the capital ships view in thh warp tunnel now looking good.
Jon's thread in the Technical Support Forum lists most of the known issues. We can be a little more specific about these now, including the following confirmed fixes:
- some joystick throttles causing the cockpit to judder
- the game freezing when the player died
- Pressing H did not open the help menu
- Pressing Shift J twice no longer cancelled a jump (no flames please - this is the way it's supposed to be
)- Pirate 'hacks' now fixed and will hack all stations in range
- Various BBS missions updated, specifically no more negative rewards
- Player-owned ships will notleave their homebase jump range radius any longer
- Escort ships now have smoother, more consistent speed
- collission avoidance improved along with AI in general
- and of course, the now in-famous change of max cargo size for TP class ships from XL to L
- all 5 docking ports of the Xenon K are now fully operational
All good so far, but if Egosoft were just fixing bugs, 1.4 would be a patch. It's not - it's an update
Game Updates
Now for the great stuff. Every game has AI these days. In 1.4 you will also experience the Artificial Life Engine (AL). What does this do? Well, it adds some more atmosphere and life to the universe. Never seen a TP liner going about it's business, ferrying passengers to and fro? Well, you will now.
Every wondered why a race with whom you are best buddies stands by whilst your freighters and stations are attacked and destroyed? Meet the new policing in the X Universe, the race Sector Patrols. And without giving too much away (we all like nice surprises!) there are a couple of other new things going on around you as well - for these you'll have to wait and see
. And because Egosoft is being especially nice to you, if you are crazy and don't like the AL plugin, you can turn it off as well.Other little tweaks include less notifications about enemy attacks on your property. Police licences will not now be lost when that 'stray shot' (yes officer, it was accidental) hits a friendly ship. Don't push your luck too far though. And as mentioned before, the AI will now certainly put up more of a fight than before
. Lasertowers now defend themselves against missiles, are stronger, turn faster and are generally offering more bang for your buck, which should hopefully put them on more player's shopping lists and also create a new threat in the universe.Strangely, some players seem to have built up large empires in the X universe. Now, you can manage it more easily. Filters in the 'Property Owned' menu have been added as follows:
- optional hull/shields indicator
- optional additional ship activity details
- filtering by ship type
- filtering by action
- filtering by status (e.g. under attack)
- filtering by homebase setting
For the factory owners out there, we have some new features in the station menus:
Adjust Settings Menu
- information about average price for all products and resources
- information about jumps per product (nearest jump at which the product can be sold at the given price)
- information about the suggested minimum selling price of the product to make profit (this depends of course on the the current resource price settings) - this one is my favourite
- price and jump settings will now update immediately in the product / resource lines whilst you are moving the price selector bar
Station Information Menu
- information about required resources per production cycle now included
Other Cool Additions
Scripts
There are several new scripts in update 1.4 (and maybe some more to follow), including:
- you've already enjoyed the Sector Trader. Galaxy Trader will take your TS just that little bit further - a whole lot further in fact if you want!!!
- improved station accountancy tools
Anything Else?
There are of course lots of little other changes, too numerous to quote here. There are also a few things left out - Egosoft still want to suprise you sometimes - and there are still some larger changes which could be put in which are not yet certain. But for now, I hope you enjoy what will be coming up!
Thanks for being patient, and especially thanks to Egosoft for continually putting so much effort into improving the game!
EDIT - update mini interview with Apoch - here
EDIT 2 - update mini interview with BurnIt! - here
