What is the most fustrating experience u constanty get by playing this game..

[TroubledRabbit]

these are angry ghosts of ships you have killed No one was able to reproduce this bug from a save, yet.

[xrogaan]

The turrets is what gets me. Mining in a L ship with turrets is extremely boring, since the player does nothing. Missile turrets, why? Missiles are supposed to be launched from the ship, orient themselves, then fly towards their target... As missiles wants to do. More over, as you can't control turrets, you can't tell your missiles which target(s) to hit. Surrendering control and firing the main guns is the job of the player, apparently.

[Socratatus]

I'll admit the ghost ships are a pain, but since Egosoft have never been able to fix it, I say they should just turn it into a ghost-lore and be done with it. Who says there can't be ghosts (or whatever paranormal activity it may be) in a sci-fi future?

[Alan Phipps]

... but then some player will mod in a proton beam weapon of the Ghostbusters type (the Astrid turret fire effect is a good choice for this) and demand to be able to freeze the 'ghosts' in place. Let's just hope they don't cross the beams or the X4 galaxy is doomed.

[Socratatus]

... but then some player will mod in a proton beam weapon of the Ghostbusters type (the Astrid turret fire effect is a good choice for this) and demand to be able to freeze the 'ghosts' in place. Let's just hope they don't cross the beams or the X4 galaxy is doomed.

[Berhg]

The most frustrating experience for me is that the commands you give your AI subordinates rarely work the way you expect. Furthermore, many commands are either completely useless or positively counter productive to the point that you should never use them.

For instance, the Patrol command. One might expect, from the meaning of the word "patrol", that a subordinate set to patrol a sector would respond to all enemies that are visible to your own assets within the patrolled sector. Instead, it seems that the patrolling vessel will fly in random directions and only engage with enemies that come within its own sensor range. The result is that a patrolling ship will almost never do what you would expect a "patrol" vessel to do. Worse, if there is a Kha'ak station in the sector a patrolling vessel will often run into it and be destroyed.

It takes time, effort, and enormous risk to learn how the commands actually work in game. And many of them don't work in a meaningful way. Its frustrating.

[Starlight_Corporation]

Scrolling my shiplist every time I need specific ships. I got a good naming policy, but it would make it so much easier if I could label ships into groups for overview purposes. Currently all ships not assigned to a station or fleet are all in the same list (autotraders / autominers / personal ships / combat & security ships / trophy ships / etc) and it gets tedious scrolling through them all to find specific ships.

[Alan Phipps]

@ Starlight_Corporation: A couple of useful things to do regarding naming ships:
1. Give the the few ships you want always to be at the top of the alphabetical name list one or two spaces at the front of their names.
2. Give some or all non-fleet/station ships a prefix that indicates usage type. Examples: I start with MML for Miner Mineral L size and MGM for Miner Gas M size. I use DD for destroyers, CS for Constructors, AUX for auxiliaries, CAR for carriers, FHB for fighter heavy missile bomber, ... you get the picture.

[TroubledRabbit]

sure, I suppose that everybody does such thing (or use autonaming/colouring mod). Still after a while something like AP-HPX-I-ST-03-I-[and there goes standard ship name] may be confusing (that was my coding for 'Argon Prime, Hull Parts complex I, Station Trader 03, Internal trade' with time it may get even more obscure).

After almost 5 years game emphasising its managerial muscle still is unable to deliver basic management interface functionalities (e.g. colouring the ship names, additional user edited tabs, filtering trades by faction (not just all/only mine/only not mine/[enemies enabled/disabled]) and such stuff. I mean: Egosoft still gets 'atrocious interface 2024 Grand Prix' just after Whatever Windows, because they always get 1st place.

[geldonyetich]

My most frustrating experience in X4: Foundation? Hmm, that's a tough one because I have been playing so long that I have learned to adapt to most frustrating problems. I would have to unlearn enough to remember which frustrated me the most.

But I think I have one: ordering ships to withdraw from combat but not fleeing that's something else that kind of doesn't work anyway.

Scenario: A ship of mine is under attack and I order it to dock somewhere where it is safe.

Here's what I want to happen:

1. Since boosting without flight assistance is beyond the skills of an NPC pilot, it will instead fly at top speed without boosting in a slow corkscrew trajectory that foils enemy projectiles towards the dock.
2. Upon requesting to dock, it will continue to evade enemy fire until a dock is available.
3. It will then immediately dock and place itself in internal storage where it should be safe.

Here's what will actually happen.

1. If it is shot, it will immediately ignore my orders, go into fight or flee mode, and be destroyed.
2. If it is set to ignore attacks and is shot, it will fly in a perfectly straight line at a constant speed, absorb every shot fired at that trajectory, and be destroyed.
3. If it is not destroyed, it will head towards the dock and then sit perfectly still waiting for its turn to dock, possibly getting shot at in the intermediate time, and be destroyed.
4. If it is allowed to dock, it will dock as slowly and painfully in combat as it would outside of combat, possibly getting shot at in the intermediate time, and be destroyed.
5. If it successfully docks, most NPCs will break off aggression, but some won't, and it will be destroyed sitting on the dock.

So basically it's a no win situation where I have nothing I can do to prevent it other than destroying or distracting the enemy first or hoping they don't destroy the ship I ordered out of combat first.

The fleeing behavior has been improved in 7.0, but it does little to address the overall problem. Because ships that are in the "flee" behavior have no concept of if fleeing is possible or what they want to do after fleeing, so it's sort of a garbage AI mode regardless. It exists as a punishment for a failed morale check and nothing more.

Workaround: Accept that your NPCs are doomed fools and design your empire to smoothly replace them when they inevitably snuff it.

Second most annoying: riding with an NPC pilot who keeps dropping in and out of travel drive, but you only asked for one.

[Mr.Killer]

Another very frustrating thing is awareness and cheating from within the game. Try to get those twins' ship, the Astrid, tha bitch keeps running away and even after I paid those VIC-a-fockers money, they keep getting on my nerves. On top of that, the program sees only me as a target, I was equipped with 3 Phoenix-E, 3 Behemoth-E, 1 Odysseus and all turrets 'shoot missiles first' doesn't get them even 10%, and listening to the leader is also a pain in the ass, I have to drag them all the time to me, they tend to keep 20 + kilometers away and if I try to destroy a station, to show my power? What do I need to bring along? This is so freaking frustrating. The VIC have suddenly over 200 or more of those little b*tches and an endless amount of torps.

What are the devs thinking here? Mission impossible? just to see us getting angry? These VIC should not be able to make such an amount of ships, totally out of balance, not even the xenon can produce that amount! I am on the brink of action! Yes, cheat and kill all those MF's That is what the devs created.

These are some of the things that make me put down the game for another year, you are close now....

[geldonyetich]

impossible? just to see us getting angry? These VIC should not be able to make such an amount of ships, totally out of balance, not even the xenon can produce that amount! I am on the brink of action! Yes, cheat and kill all those MF's That is what the devs created

Yeah this is a lot of people's first reaction to fighting VIG because nowhere else in the game are you likely to encounter so many fighters that you can't just soak them with enough capital ships.

The solution:

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bring something other than capital ships, whose surface element vulnerability makes them useless against that many fighters.

The easiest way?

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Drop a few hundred laser towers or so.

The more comprehensive way?

Spoiler

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Fighters rely on evasion to survive. Bring a lot of fast missiles, beams, and fast moving projectiles like TER forward pulse. Bring a carrier packed to the brim with fighters armed with Mk2 beams, wing set on "intercept" and watch the fireworks.

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[mediacenter]

Sometimes it just not register it or a tiny move of the mouse prevents it, it's just bothering at times.

Yeah, I get what you mean; I sometimes end up missing too and then the pilot starts turning around to get up.
BUT, even when that happens you still don't need to wait for the whole animation to finish -- simply aim at the chair again behind the pilot and click a second time and you'll get in right away regardless of where the NPC is in their animation.

if i do that sometime the pilot stays trapped in front of me and cant get away

meaning, i stare at his ass and have to stand up again

[Koizuki]

if i do that sometime the pilot stays trapped in front of me and cant get away

meaning, i stare at his ass and have to stand up again

I don't believe I've ever had that happen to me, as I doubleclick and I'm instantly in control of the ship with the HUD up and everything.
That said, I usually play with the "cockpit view" off (Ctrl+H as soon as I get into the game) so I'm not sure if that also hides the "NPC butt" if I've ever accidentally triggered it that way.

[Mr.Killer]

impossible? just to see us getting angry? These VIC should not be able to make such an amount of ships, totally out of balance, not even the xenon can produce that amount! I am on the brink of action! Yes, cheat and kill all those MF's That is what the devs created

Yeah this is a lot of people's first reaction to fighting VIG because nowhere else in the game are you likely to encounter so many fighters that you can't just soak them with enough capital ships.

The solution:

Spoiler

Show

bring something other than capital ships, whose surface element vulnerability makes them useless against that many fighters.

The easiest way?

Spoiler

Show

Drop a few hundred laser towers or so.

The more comprehensive way?

Spoiler

Show

Fighters rely on evasion to survive. Bring a lot of fast missiles, beams, and fast moving projectiles like TER forward pulse. Bring a carrier packed to the brim with fighters armed with Mk2 beams, wing set on "intercept" and watch the fireworks.

First spoiler, what do you suggest here? surface elements? what type of ship do you mean?

Second one, in X3 you could dump 100 lasertowers at once.... X4? No way...

But, because I was (more pissed than evil) I used the cheat provided in steam's workshop, and I went in, and all of a sudden the hundreds of fighters did not go towards me... strange. I had one balaur engulfed with VIC ships, his purpose was to defend a Phoenix or Behemoth at the time and because I had given all ships invulnerability through the cheat, I think that kept them occupied?

Next time I try the lasertower option, but it is a tedious mission...

[GCU Grey Area]

it is a tedious mission...

Not for me, it's one of my favourite battles in the game. Do however need an appropriate fleet for the task...

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Destroyers on their own are just torpedo bait. Including a carrier full of S fighters & M missile frigates (both on intercept role) in the fleet makes a huge difference. I used a Condor full of Moreyas (armed with Shard) & Ospreys (L.Smart missiles) last time I did this mission & had a hell of a lot of fun - flew one of the Moreyas myself. Most VIG fighters died long before they got anywhere near close enough to the fleet to even think of shooting or launching missiles at my destroyers.

[Mr.Killer]

it is a tedious mission...

Not for me, it's one of my favourite battles in the game. Do however need an appropriate fleet for the task...

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Destroyers on their own are just torpedo bait. Including a carrier full of S fighters & M missile frigates (both on intercept role) in the fleet makes a huge difference. I used a Condor full of Moreyas (armed with Shard) & Ospreys (L.Smart missiles) last time I did this mission & had a hell of a lot of fun - flew one of the Moreyas myself. Most VIG fighters died long before they got anywhere near close enough to the fleet to even think of shooting or launching missiles at my destroyers.

So you HAD destroyers in the battle? Did they show up afterwards to take out the station? because, as you said, torpedo-bait, a huge arsenal of little fighters, if they all listen to me, could take them out. Most VIC have torps, which I don't understand are expensive and not unlimited (they need to refill). Would love to see you handle this situation.... (youtube video?)

[GCU Grey Area]

So you HAD destroyers in the battle?

Yes. Whole fleet was present for the entire battle. This is standard practice for me, I don't like to leave my destroyers unprotected. I generally have one or more of the major factions as enemies & they frequently use torpedoes too (in some ways worse than VIG, they may not have fighters swarms on the same scale as VIG but they do have frigates that can carry 100 of them). By the way carrier was fleet command & ran Protect Position continuously - in order to move the fleet I drag the Protect Position zone around, rather than using fly & wait orders. This ensures there's always a source of automatic orders for it's subordinates for situations when I'm too busy to micromanage the battle (e.g. because I decide I want to fly one of the fighters personally). Sorry, no video of the battle.

[Mr.Killer]

Yes. Whole fleet was present for the entire battle. This is standard practice for me, I don't like to leave my destroyers unprotected. I generally have one or more of the major factions as enemies & they frequently use torpedoes too (in some ways worse than VIG, they may not have fighters swarms on the same scale as VIG but they do have frigates that can carry 100 of them). By the way carrier was fleet command & ran Protect Position continuously - in order to move the fleet I drag the Protect Position zone around, rather than using fly & wait orders. This ensures there's always a source of automatic orders for it's subordinates for situations when I'm too busy to micromanage the battle (e.g. because I decide I want to fly one of the fighters personally). Sorry, no video of the battle.

Could you give us/me a number of ships you had, did I had not enough what I summed up? So hard to find the right balance and the right time to get there.
I guess that 'defend' is not enough for the small fighters, or is it? I have my miners an freighters accompanied by 1 katana, but given the current problems, they storm forewards to the next sector and wait. Sometimes when it's protecting object is under harrasment, it will attack, but efficient? No way! Most of the time I pause the game and send in katana's from near cargo ships to help, and some fighters too, but they can't find the pedal and fly slowly... (frustrating)

Do the BUC in your game also kill off adv. satellites? all the time?

[GCU Grey Area]

Could you give us/me a number of ships you had, did I had not enough what I summed up? So hard to find the right balance and the right time to get there.

If I recall correctly (it was a year or so ago) fleet consisted of 1x Condor (fleet command), 10x Phoenix (bombardment), 40x Moreya (interception), 10x Osprey (interception), 1x Stork (supply fleet). Enjoyed the battle so much I reloaded the save I'd made just before it so I could fight it over & over again, in part to test different loadouts on the frigates, a relatively recent addition to the fleet at the time.

I guess that 'defend' is not enough for the small fighters, or is it?

Would not recommend it. Generally my carrier's fighters use interception. Means they launch as soon as an enemy S/M enters the carrier's radar range (usually 40km). Ships assigned to defend only go to work after the ship they're protecting has been hit - if that hit's the first torpedo (with several more following along behind) that may well be a bit too late...

Although not present in this particular case I often also have heavy S fighters assigned to bombardment on my carriers, to assist the destroyers during fleet battles. Essentially those heavy fighters harass & delay enemy capitals, while my destroyers blow them to bits from long range.

Only real use I have for defend role in my fleets is for non-combatants which are not intended to participate in the battle, but which I do want to be formally associated with the fleet so they're easy to find on the ship list, e.g. freighters full of missile parts, spare fighters or frigates stored on the auxiliary, etc. If they're S or M they generally have the docked status so they won't launch even if their superior is attacked.

Do the BUC in your game also kill off adv. satellites? all the time?

Not any more...

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if you side with the Duke during the Paranid plot they leave your stuff alone.