00:02It's full of stars
00:09We feel pretty confident to say that X4 Foundations is the space sim with the most possibilities of things to
00:15do in space.
00:16The biggest sandbox this side of the galaxy just got bigger, so to say.
00:20To enjoy X4, you don't need to know any of the previous games.
00:24Between 1999's X Beyond the Frontier to X3 Reunion and beyond,
00:29will have read any of Helke Kautz's books, also set in the X-Universe.
00:33That said, we have really focused on connecting X4 with that huge established universe,
00:38so everybody will get a sense of that deep universe with a lot of backstory.
00:43One key feature at the start, something that people missed from X Rebirth a lot.
00:48Yes, you can fly almost every ship in the universe, personally.
00:53From small fighters with a two-man crew with you as the pilot,
00:56to huge carriers that can be home to an entire fleet.
00:59You can walk around the bridge, give orders to ships via the map interface,
01:03and watch the crew develop better skills.
01:06Or you can simply go to the captain's console and steer the ship yourself.
01:10The biggest challenge with this is having a seamless transition between all these different scales.
01:15You walk on a station, climb a ladder into a ship cockpit, fly that onto a larger frigate,
01:21climb out and walk to the cockpit of that frigate, then land that ship on a carrier,
01:25only to get out and walk to the bridge.
01:28All seamless.
01:29Also, no loading pauses, ever.
01:32Not even when going through jump gates.
01:35X4 plays years after the previous X games.
01:38There have been a great number of incidents that have led to massive changes in the X universe over only
01:43a few decades.
01:44Entire civilizations disconnected from their home worlds.
01:47Past origins forgotten.
01:49A huge crisis for most.
01:50But from where X4 Foundation starts, you have a glimpse into a possibly brighter future.
01:56And you, the player, have the chance to shape it.
01:59That is because X4 features a completely dynamic universe.
02:03The economy as well as universe structure and political alliances are all dynamic.
02:08Instead of a pre-designed linear plot, the game even has a wider variety of procedurally adapted stories.
02:14This is the reason why we can comfortably say it is the biggest sandbox.
02:17Not just because of the literal size of the universe, but because of that level of influence that you as
02:23the player can have on that universe.
02:25Take the economy for example.
02:27Of course at the start of the game, you can do trading.
02:30It is one of the core activities in the X games.
02:32Not that you have to do it.
02:33There are plenty of other ways to get rich.
02:35But trading is usually involved.
02:37Even if you prefer to steal or plunder those wares in the first place.
02:41You can personally trade with the first ship you fly.
02:43Upgrade it, afford larger ships, jump into those or simply command them to trade remotely.
02:49You build a fleet of increasingly larger trade ships.
02:52All the way up to your own massive capital ships.
02:55They can transport huge amounts of wares all at once.
03:00Then you have building.
03:01Another core feature of the X games, but greatly evolved.
03:04Now, thanks to the new super powerful 3D map, you can create any kind of space station, factory or shipyard
03:12entirely from station blocks.
03:14This adds not just a lot of creative design, but also the ability to react to this dynamic economy and
03:20build the best self-sufficient factories that nobody has ever designed before.
03:26At the bottom end of such a self-sufficient factory would be raw resources, of course.
03:32Raw resources involve mining, but also collector ships and a variety of techniques to find the best yields.
03:38Again, everybody can choose whether to play any of this personally, or whether to send ships with your own crew
03:44to do it remotely.
03:46Or you simply bite the bullet and pay other factions for the finished goods.
03:50So again, total freedom.
03:51No need to play any of these aspects of the game.
03:55But if you do, even manual mining can be great fun.
03:58It can start with a small freighter, with limited freight space and equipped with mining lasers,
04:03all the way up to flying your own capital mining ship.
04:07Mining personally is made more lucrative by combining it with exploring our living universe.
04:12There are lots of things to be found.
04:14Whether procedurally generated or manually placed by level designers,
04:18we mix these two design philosophies to get the best result.
04:22A living, breathing universe.
04:24With X4, we have added a number of really cool things you can do to unlock those treasures, artifacts and
04:30super valuable resources.
04:32For example, your spacesuit.
04:35You can leave the safety of your ship and break into a secured ancient derelict station,
04:39or fly into the smallest folds of a huge asteroid in search of crystals.
04:44Like everything else in the game, your spacesuit can be upgraded and even be used in large battles to place
04:49bombs on stations,
04:50or during espionage, to scan for secrets.
04:54So no matter whether you prefer, trade, fight, build or the many mission chains,
05:00you will find something worth investing yourself in.
05:03If you want, you can cycle through the many playstyles.
05:07Do you build large fleets to launch your own wars instead of just participating in the war missions of the
05:12NPC factions?
05:13Or do you invest in creating an ever larger self-supporting economy,
05:18become a rich mogul and try to personally protect your empire from competition and enemies?
05:23Enemies which become more numerous should you choose a more pirate-focused style of gameplay.
05:28Or do you follow the mission chains and subscribe to more faction jobs,
05:32be it police activity or as a pirate?
05:34Be it a war mission or the story surrounding the very special player HQ?
05:41We'll show more about the player HQ later, but we can say that while there is no singular main plot,
05:46there is one very special story with some big rewards.
05:49Most players will probably want to play this in order to get a number of unique blueprints and technologies.
05:56The biggest design effort during the development of X4 Foundations definitely went into the user interface,
06:02especially the 3D map system.
06:03It opened up the possibility to make a game with this vast amount of features
06:07and still keep it controllable and easy to get into.
06:11X4 supports all models of controls, mouse, gamepad, HOTAS,
06:15and even adapts to very different physical models.
06:18Normally, the ship computer stabilizes your ship movements,
06:21but this can be turned off for advanced flight maneuvers
06:24and a more physically correct space experience.
06:28Of course, X4 Foundations will not be the end of this development.
06:32We have tried to bring as big a universe as possible for a release this year.
06:37Several factions of the Argon, Taladi, and Paranid race with multiple economies each.
06:42The Paranid, for example, a race with very deep religious beliefs,
06:46broke up into two competing empires and now fight a war against each other.
06:51Then there are, of course, also a lot of potential adversaries.
06:55Those where you have a choice, like the different pirate factions,
06:58and those where you don't, like the infamous Xenon.
07:00A race of advanced artificial general intelligence once built by mankind themselves to help colonize space.
07:08There will be expansions which will bring more races,
07:11their ships, stations, and lots of missions into the X4 universe.
07:15But that takes time and resources.
07:17Our goal is to bring the first big expansions within about one year.
07:21To be continued...
07:27To be continued...
07:30To be continued...
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