X4 - Timelines & 7.00 Patch - What we know already.

X4 - Timelines & 7.00 Patch - What we know already.
A quick look at the new expansion to hit X4, Timelines, along with the usual MASSIVE free patch to hit the game. Personally I am very excited to see how the new game mode will work and what it will bring to the game, along with the new Venture system they have been working on (Let's not forget this has been in beta for most of 6.00!)
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[@markhackett2302]

That ship with the rotating part in it, watch the opening cutscene for X:BtF. It is the original capital ship of the Terran Fleet that you started off beside in the "brand new Xperimental Shuttle". The first in the X franchise had you only able to pilot a single ship, the X Shuttle, no HQ, and no complexes, each station was a single station that was fully self sufficient, assigned a defence fleet of ships and some traders to do trading (independent trading was not a thing until X3 Reunion). It was a MUCH simpler game, the X Shuttle was as powerful as a destroyer, had two gamma hept, and gamma hepts were for capital ship turrets at the time, and could have 128MJ shields, those shields only being for capital class ships, not fighters, because only big ships produced enough power for them. There wasn't anything, you had light fighters/scouts (M5), medium fighters (M4), heavy fighters (M3), destroyers (M2) and carriers (M1). No corvettes, not M4+, no "Sentinel" class, not even "Raider", because those minor (IMO too minor, you'd just get the Vanguard version but a Nova Raider) variants were in X3:R. The UI was simple, because you were only a fighter pilot and you got a few stations that were singletons of a single size if you wanted to run a mogul game, you still had to do it all as a fighter pilot. IMO this is what it is about. Run a few "previously on X..." scenarios that are limited because that limits the UI you need to have with a map, XBtF just needs a map, nothing else, everything can be done with "Get Best Price In Sector" and Wingmen (also HAVE TO BE in fighters: you weren't commanding fleets headed by carriers or destroyers) Commands as hotkeys. Same for eXtension, it allowed you to get in "any ship" but no longer had any access to the X Shuttle because it was "being broken down" to learn how it worked. Now you COULD run in a carrier (but most ran in an Elephant), but you still had singleton stations and no fleet commands, except "Attack" orders. Still a simple UI. X2 brought a PHQ and the M6 corvette class. The UI got a little more complex because you had to do fighter duties AND be a big corporation head (because of your PHQ). X3 brougt in variants and the M7/M8 missile classes (because a mod brought in a missile boat for X2, and people loved it) but the M7, along with the jump drive, which wasn't working in XBtF and eXtension, made the M7 an "I win" button if you were willing to fire off missiles at something 100km away. It also brought in plain, Sentinel, Vanguard, Raider versions of most of the ships, meaning you "technically" had hundreds of ships to fly. It also brought in the spaghetti junction stations that each "part" was a station and its storage but also now had a count of connections at set angles and you had to rotate freely but had to also get it right to attach. And the UI had to get more complicated to match. I think that "Timelines" has events set up in a specific order from older X games that gave you access to those ships (the X Shuttle was as powerful as a capital class ship THEN, nowadays, merely a fast "all purpose" heavy fighter today, comparable to an Ares or Shih, but fast and containing a lot of storage space as a fighter, but not a huge amount compared to a courier merchantman). You get introduced to a UI that gets only what it needs at the time, and so is easier to learn, and gated to the needs of that particular storyline.

[@TheRuggedGamer]

Thanks for the extensive information, ive pinned for others, some great detail thank you!

[@Gneeznow]

With these mini-campaigns they are adding, the devs did something similar with Xcom2 when they added a DLC called the Tactical Legacy Pack, where you played 4 mini campaigns and each one unlocked stuff for your regular sandbox campaign, it was actually really well done in Xcom2, because the stuff you got was well worth it. Hoping for something similar here

[@dusk1947]

I'm glad you brought the Steam notes into the discussion, as the trailer is fairly sparse. And I agree this patch adds things the game has needed for a while. The new game modes seem interesting. I will likely only play it for the rewards, but I suspect that it's a positive addition for the game as a whole. I just hope those new ship models are included in the rewards to bring back to the sand box. I love that they keep adding updated ship models for older ships, and to hope they add additional ships. I'd love to see a wider array of "L" ships such as more of the light/fast carrier's that were introduced with the Boron. I also think we need a few more "XL" Battleships. And adding a few more non-combat ships such as racing ships would likely be a nice addition (which I suspect were in the trailer). However, my favorite additions are the changes to the enemy NPC's in the regular sand box. I love that they're adding more Xenon ships and including an end-game threat or crisis. That part of the game has also needed additional content for some time.

[@TheRuggedGamer]

Completely agree with you. I know the Teladi and Argon reworks are a part of the 7.00 Patch, much like the Paranid ships were for the 6.00. New ships I imagine will be split between buying the DLC and then extra rewards, like racers, fancier ships, back dated ships. I think the two new S (or M) ships in the trailer may be a "welcome to timelines, heres your new shiney ship" situation. When I get more info ill be sure to update!

[@markhackett2302]

@@TheRuggedGamer Those reworks will be like the Paranid E class. Instead of a plain cutnpaste of docking (ship has small docks? crib this. Hence destroyers and L traders got 40 fighters), but lots complained "why u nerf oddy and zeus?!?!?!?!" because it wasn't made merely more powerful or at least Just Reskinned so it remained the most powerful. Teladi doctrine is more defensive, and if you are letting the enemy fleet move to YOU, you don't need speed, but you do need to take a pounding. Argon are "technically" middle of the road, but in fact the setup is that the Argon are better off Zerg rushing cheap units, Mk1 lasers, engines, etc, maybe going to Mk2 in some things like Engines, because Mk3 is so expensive it doesn't matter that the frame is 30k cheaper, it costs 200k for a single Mk2 laser, or half a million for two Mk3 Engines, you can save more than 30k merely by waiting until there is more stuff in the station hold. However, to do that, you need a very large count of fighters. Paranid fighters are much more powerful and will beat up Argon fighters 1 on 1, and the Argon don't have twice the shield and twice the regen rate for those shields, that the Teladi get, so despite being a little faster, they aren't better armed but less shielded, so generally lose 1-on-1 against Teladi too. So Argons need cheaper ships, to take advantage of their cheap hulls, but they need to hold more fighters so it isn't 1-on-1 but 2-on-1 instead. However that may not be the change. Expect the Behemoth et al to get "only" a half dozen fighters, if that, and similar cuts to the L traders it has, because there isn't even room for 40 inside and no need for 40 either. The ZeusE is twice as fast, and unlike Teladi and Argon, get a Super Heavy Fighter in the form of a Nemesis, so its complement of 8 M craft is similar to 16 S craft, and given Paranid fighters are very fast, there isn't much of a need for a carrier, so one would be less used and more niche. Its speed is something many "forget" and merely want to complain it has only 16 small fighters, but that is a fault of the M class being poor for AI use. More complaints that the ZeusE is very much larger "so it should carry MORE!!!!", but "forget" that a bigger ship that is longer but has a smaller forward cross-section means less hits head on and further range for its frontal turrets mounted on that further forward nose. You can argue these advantages aren't worth as much as its losses, but the advantages, not just its disadvantages, still exist. IMO The Colossus needs to carry more ships so that it can be used to Zerg Rush. For players who can decide to spend massively on any race fighters they like, it might make the carrier OP, though. Really there is no way around that, though. Along with that, the Argon AI should cheap out on kit so that the frame cost matters more. Currently the AI maxes out, and therefore get no advantage to speak of, but all the long wait times and expense of those expensive weapons, shields and engines. Overall, fixing the AI so it "properly" handles the M class military will fix the Zeus E carry capacity, 8 more fighters that are even larger is a big change for it) while it also helps every single other race. It is just that the Argon and Teladi don't have a Corvette to be a "super heavy", so benefit from it less.

[@alexmin4752]

I agree it's better to take out some plotlines out of the sandbox mode. It's extremely immersion braking and janky when you get tasked to deal with a "big scary threat" - a wing of 7 pirate ships when you already have a fleet capable to wipe out entire factions.

[@jh5kl]

🙂