(WIP) Answered

• Linux support? - not decided yet, but there's a good chance.
• Will X4 support Virtual Reality ? - No, not at release. Virtual Reality requires major changes to the game interface as well as severe changes to ensure a proper framerate (read: performance). Thus, if there will be a VR version, it will be a standalone game.
• release date? - This is not decided yet, 2018 (maybe later).
• Does the map feature drag & drop? - Yes, it does.
• Regarding stations: can you build them wherever you want (X3) or is it limited like in XR? - You can build stations almost freely!
• Will this game be moddable? (to remove highways, create ship components?) What tools will be available?  - Modding is a huge part of every X game, so it will be possible in X4, too. However, at this moment we cannot say for sure what tools will be available.
• Are we forced to walk on stations or can we controll all aspects from cockpit? - Platform gameplay has been reduced in comparion to X Rebirth. However, there are new interaction possibilites on platforms, and walking will always have a real purpose, for example as part of missions.
• Will there be Early Access? - This is not decided yet.
• Will the fact we have a copilot mean that if we eject, the ship can continue to fight whilst I run away? - Once you leave a ship, your copilot will take the pilot seat and continue flying the ship.
• Will there be First person combat aboard ships or stations? - No, there won't.
• Will SETA be a part of X4? - Yes, SETA will be part of the game.
• I'm curious about the travel system how all that is gonna work? - Travel will be similar to XR, whereby the highways will be mostly in straight lines or single radius curves. Not all zones will have highways and you will be able to boost over longer distances. This is following the steps we did in the Home of Light DLC. Additionally, using a feature called "Teleportation" you will be able to teleport between your ships, to travel much more quickly. 
• Can you select multiple objects in the new map e.g. a group of ships either to order or attack? - Yes, you will be able to select multiple ships by drawing a box around them using your mouse cursor.
• Can your pilot be killed while you walk around? - No.
• Do you have to pay the crews? - You don't have to pay them a daily salary.
• How does the Story of X4 connects to X Rebirth or X3? - In X4 you play a new story, which is not directly connected to XR or X3. Lore-wise, however, it plays in the same universe. And time-wise after the events in X Rebirth.
• Can the stations be destroyed? - Stations (aside of special landmarks) will be destructible and will not reappear after leaving the zone. 
• So is there Research and Development aspects in the game or is it just scanning stations and making teleporters? - Research is part of the game, with teleportation being one of the features you can research.
• Will we be able to fly and command capital ships? with a bridge? - Yes, you will be able to fly all ships from their cockpit or bridge in case of Capital ships.
• Will players be able to create their own stories for others to download and play? - Modding will be supported. And with the dedicated scripting engine, people will be able to create their own stories.
• Will it be possible to place own pictures on player ships and Buildings much like a own Faction Logo? - Yes, Faction logos are a thing in X4.
• Will we be able to control ships directly via mouse? - The game is designed with mouse and keyboard being the primary controls in mind. 
• Can I play in X4 like RTS? - The new powerful map system allows you to manage many tasks over the map directly, which allows for an RTS-like interface. 
• What mission types do you currently have planned?  - There should be more happening in the universe which can than trigger missions based on those events. There will still be generic missions which may 'fabricate' the scenario as it was in previous games, but we do of course want these to have as little fakery as possible.
• Will there be a campaign in X4 ? - There will be different gamestarts with different personalities and different little storylines for each of them. Additionally, there will be a central plot everyone can play.
  
• Whats the purpose of "modules to live in" in factories? what are those "people" for? and what do they do? - You will need living modules for your employees working on your stations to live in.
• Will we be able to save station layouts, or sections of stations, like a default living space and storage or something we would want to use for future station designs? - You plan and design your station in a graphical editor and save the blueprints to build these stations later.
• Will crafting be a part of the game? - Yes, crafting will be included in X4 and will even be extended.
• Which improvements have been made to NPC AI ships (fighting, manuvering, docking)? - The AI has been improved in many parts and will be better than in X Rebirth. It's too early to talk about specifics.
• Are capital ships modular? - Not in the same extent as stations. However, there are numerous upgrades you can adjust and change (weapons, engines, turrets etc.). These will also be visually different. 
• Will ship roles be more strict? (Like frigates vs destroyers) - Ships will cover certain roles, but there will not be one ship that can do anything. This means only certain ships will be able to install shields, weapons and upgrades.
• Will we be able to shot from turrets directly? - No, this is currently not planned.
• Can we still fly freely in space suit? - This isn't possible right now. (But it's on our "maybe" list.)
• Is each map hex a sector as in previous X games? Sometimes it's a system, sometimes a sector. But the scale and system size can and will be different. 

(WIP) Not answered yet

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Page cleared ready for next Twitch session.  Previous Q&A are now in the Index here: https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=396292

Date/Time of Twitch session: 27 September 2017 20:00 CEST

Gameplay

will piracy be viable eg ship capturing

Do we still have to scan the entire station?

can we have landing pads IN ships like the carrier in rebirth you can fly in?

by the way sectors. will it be possible to populate and own player sectors?

Is it possible to go out into space in a spacesuit and walk around the ship and stations?

 Will the boost be tied to shields or there is a fuel for ships that player controls?

 is there any system in place to prevent collisions when exiting gates in large ships? or enter gates when large ships are exiting (aka splat)

In the absence of a hard ship classification system, can you talk a bit about how ships are represented on the map?

Will there be ressource collection with ships like Mining / Gas Collection or only with Stations like in X3 (Asteroid-Mines/Farms etc)

can we teleport to the ststions?

so even capitals are not able to jump, how do they navigate in a fast ways since highways are too small and the old boost did take quite a while, regarding the new sector size it could take very long to react to any capital threat

One thing that bugged me on all X games was the exploration. The universe is big but we never found super cool crazy things like black holes, interesting nebulas or artifacts of a long dead alien civilization. Will that change?

will we be able to get a unique HQ type structure like in X3

Will X4 introduce new ship classes? Titans/Battleships/Battlecruisers etc?

with the transporter can we pirate other ships like in X3 BP

mobile mining is nice but what about mobile production ?

 gibt es Ausrüstungsdocks für große Schiffe?

so the type of workforce will have different effects on the station parameters (productivity, umm "leakage", cost of personnel, etc)?

 in addition: can we have thrust forward/backwards as thrust impulse similar to strafe left/right? (without it overriding our set % thrust) (Elite-like)

for ship collectors, could the docking module be used simply as ship storage for the player if desired?

 Can we copy one layer and stack them in 3rd dimension?

 will there still be mass traffic trading (a really nice feature in my opinion, but i've never been able to recognize it very well)

 can we rearrange station parts after they have been built? Maybe for a certain price for sealing off, move and weld them on again?

will there be Fleet Buildings, Fighter Management, Pilot names?

 can player build shipyard?

regarding landing pads: do they have a shield-dome (since they're very open) or do we run around in a space-suit?

Can we barge into an inhabited system with a fleet and claim it (by force) to get plots for free?

can station build itself, or you always need conctruction vessel?

what about crew in stations built in sectors without any inhabitants (no planets / unsettled planets / etc)?

Will there be any sort of system claiming mechanic in vanilla X4? For example, to capture a system for free plots

 how do you call your ships onto the landing pad and how many ships (s, m) fit into one of these modules?

WIll it be able to use the menus and keybinds to reliably issue orders to specific ships via macro (IE Voice Attack)

Will there be multiple different ships for each role with racial flavor? What about within a race?

Will big Joysticks/Throttles with a lot of buttons be supported. And when yes, will it be possible to use more than one input device like the X Games before?

Will we see a variety of different ships to fill each role, outside of racial flavors? What about multiple sizes of capital ships (a range from X3's M7 to M0)

Universe Design

Any funktion to the new Planets apart from looking pretty

 are there any unconnected system you can find in someway, like a new frontier kind of stuff

can we fly from one sector to another one without using a gate since it's all seamless?

Economy / Trade / Build

User Interface

will we have keybinds like the previous x-games? IE can i order my ships around via voice attack?

Will there be a better financial UI? For example balance sheets for hired(?) traders, stations, sectors etc?

what are those blinking red things on the map? new sensor gameplay?

Combat / Flight

 you mentioned "Adaptive Steering" and you referenced the Elite steering model - will you rework the key mapping, so we may use shift/alt/ctrl as modifiers as well as key strokes?

How will you prevent collisions when exiting gates?

Other

 I noticed the style has changed a lot from X2-X3 and now X4, is there a specific reason for the stylistic change on the ships? 

 Will you be incorporating features from mods? Such as the ability to capture stations, some of the the ship software etc?

Will X4 be multithreaded? 

would there be an option in the settings to remove 99% of the advertisment that is usless for example the highways, they look horrible

 How are the modding capabilities compared to XR?

X3AP Stream - Friday the 15th Q&A

Twitch stream X3AP, questions and answers. Date 15th, time 19:00 CET.