The entire EGOSOFT team wishes you a joyful and relaxing holiday season and a Happy New Year. 2020 has been a particularly challenging year for everyone and we hope that you are all safe and well. In these difficult times we are pleased to be able to take your mind off things and transport you to another universe. We thank you for your support and loyalty over the past twelve months and look forward to a new year packed with exciting X4 developments.
To close out the year, you can catch a first glimpse of another new ship on this year's EGOSOFT Christmas card. You'll find this ship in the upcoming X4: Cradle of Humanity expansion. We hope you like the special Christmas-themed paint job!
We'll be back in January to talk more about the gameplay changes and new features that you’ll find in the 4.00 update. We have also recently updated the public beta for 4.00, so feel free to visit our forum to learn more about it and to find instructions on how to participate.
To celebrate today's second anniversary of X4: Foundations, we’re drawing back the curtain on a brand-new XL sized battleship that will be deployed for the first time in X4: Cradle of Humanity.
This beast of sheer firepower is one of the most heavily armed ships to be found so far in the X4 universe. Its ability to take on large targets is second to none. However, can it be undermined by a fleet of small ships?
Find out in the first quarter of 2021 when X4: Cradle of Humanity, the second expansion for X4: Foundations, will be released.
Whilst the name for this majestic piece of technology is being kept firmly under-wraps for now, take a guess at what we have christened this new battleship!
X4: Cradle of Humanity - The next chapter of X4 awaits you in the new year!
As announced at the beginning of October, the final release of the 4.00 update and the new X4: Cradle of Humanity expansion, has been postponed to the first quarter of 2021.
X4: Cradle of Humanity is the second expansion for X4: Foundations and will bring the X series back to Earth. It significantly expands the game universe with new sectors and welcomes two Terran factions along with their economy, ships, weapons and stations. New game-starts bring players closer to the identity and political stance of the Terran factions and offer alternative perspectives on events in the history of X4: Foundations.
We are far from finished with X4: Foundations and are appreciative of your support and feedback every day. The game is about to celebrate its second anniversary and just recently we started the 4.00 Beta for X4: Foundations (details in this news), where we give you a first insight into the next big chapter of X4. With X4: Cradle of Humanity, the story will also continue in the first quarter of 2021 and we are looking forward to welcoming the Terrans to X4!
Thanks for everything and keep on having fun in the X-Universe!
Have you had X4: Foundations on your wishlist for some time, but been waiting for the right moment?
As part of the Steam Autumn Sale we are currently offering a 30% discount on X4: Foundations. It truly is a great time to get into the game. Since releasing our latest big update (3.30) in July, we've been working hard on the next big step for X4: Foundations - the 4.00 update, that will arrive in the first quarter of 2021. If you own X4: Foundations, you can check out the current beta version of 4.00 already and experience new gameplay features like an improved fleet steering system or enjoy the new volumetric fog. Find out more about the 4.00 beta in this news.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/ Earlier this year we've also released the first expansion for the game, called X4: Split Vendetta, which was very well received by its players. In case you haven't gotten it yet, you can now save 10% on the purchase during the Steam Autumn Sale.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1133000/X4_Split_Vendetta/ You could also choose the X4: Collector's Edition bundle, which is also on sale. You won't just get the base game and the Split expansion, but also pre-purchase X4: Cradle of Humanity, the second expansion to X4, coming in the first quarter of 2021. In addition to the game and the expansions, you're also getting the soundtracks (MP3 and FLAC) and additional bonus material that is exclusively available in the Collector's Edition.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/14073/ We would be happy to welcome you to the X4: Foundations family! Thanks for your continued support, stay safe and enjoy your space adventure!
We announce, with great pleasure, that today is the start of the public beta phase for the much-anticipated 4.00 update of X4: Foundations. With the 4.00 beta version of X4: Foundations, you will get a first impression of our new developments and future vision for the game.
The 4.00 update is, without a doubt, the biggest free update so far to our space simulation X4: Foundations. This major update, which will be available to all owners of the game when it is released in the first quarter of 2021, enhances X4: Foundations in numerous ways, including completely new gameplay features and extensive technical improvements. For the full change log for the 4.00 beta update, please visit our forum.
Some of the most significant changes include:
Volumetric Fog
The 4.00 update to X4: Foundations will see the introduction of several wide-ranging visual improvements, first and foremost volumetric fog. For those of you with an interest in the technical side of things: most implementations of fog in games are calculated on the surface of an object by the shader used to render that surface; volumetric fog, however, is calculated at intervals in the empty space in front of the camera, independently of any surface.
In practice, this means that you will notice soft fog layers in our universe, inviting you to come closer and check them out. We also hope that you'll enjoy how the volumetric fog interacts with light, and how this technical improvement changes your sense of space in the X4 universe.
Improved Fleet Control
If you've ever commanded huge fleets through the X4: Foundations universe, then there's a good chance that you'll be excited about the following news: we've invested a considerable amount of time in improving fleet combat for the 4.00 update. This includes improved steering behavior and several important AI script changes.
There are a number of different elements to this feature, and we don't want to spoil all of them at once, but we'll start by giving you an overview of a new order called "Coordinate Attack". This tactical order is given to the fleet admiral when engaging a target fleet in battle. The admiral can subsequently give movement, escort and attack orders to all the subordinate ship groups, to coordinate positioning, formations and attacks against the enemy fleet. Once all the subordinate groups reach their positions, the new "Sync Point" feature is triggered. The admiral then moves on, to give orders to the groups of ships to attack specific targets.
This new Sync Point system allows the AI to synchronize orders to ships, but also gives you the freedom to manually trigger the release signal yourself, or let it be released automatically.
While a fleet battle is taking place, the groups of ships will dynamically receive new attack orders and will switch targets if the group configuration changes. This is especially useful once you have seen how the battle is progressing, and allows you to reconfigure your attacks with different group configurations.
Once you've had a look at this new feature and are feeling experimental, you can edit several of the order parameters. For example:
"Fleet aggressiveness" defines how aggressively the fleet should behave, as well as affecting the initial positioning of all ships and individual formation attacks.
"Weak targets first" determines whether to prioritize closer, weaker targets, or go for the larger, stronger ones.
"Ignore rally points" allows all ships to ignore Sync Points.
(click gif for full video)
This is just the first of several public beta updates for 4.00 which will lead up to the final release version of 4.00 in Q1 2021. These updates will introduce additional fixes and new features, including the Terraforming gameplay that was mentioned during our gamescom 2020 live-stream. Keep an eye on our news channels to avoid missing anything!
How do I take part in the Public Beta?
Every player who owns X4: Foundations has the opportunity to download the new 4.00 beta version. In order to ensure that beta participants are aware of the risks and rules involved, we ask all interested players to visit our forum where they will find both the rules and disclaimers, as well as practical instructions for participating in the beta. Follow this link to our forum (no registration required) to find the relevant information.
Please note the following important changes to X4: Foundations login and the Egosoft forums!
New login method, both in-game and on the Egosoft forums, from 4.00
Login no longer available in-game with modified clients
To date, if you wanted to get involved in online ventures in X4: Foundations, or decorate your ships with certain paint mods, you had to use your forum username to login. This will change with the release of the 4.00 update: from then, login, both in-game and on the forum, will only be possible using your e-mail address.
During the public beta of the 4.00 update, which starts today, you will still be able to log into the game with your forum username in the usual way. However, when the finished 4.00 update is publicly released in the first quarter of 2021, it will become mandatory to login using your e-mail address. Please note that those who use modified clients to play X4: Foundations will no longer have access to their online account in-game.
The reason for these changes is related to a major update to the X4: Foundations online gameplay planned for the near future. Before our plans can be implemented, these preparatory steps are unfortunately necessary. More information about these changes will be made available when the 4.00 update and the X4: Cradle of Humanity expansion are released, if not before.
X4: Cradle of Humanity - The next chapter of X4 awaits you in the new year!
As announced at the beginning of October, the final release of the 4.00 update and the new X4: Cradle of Humanity expansion, has been postponed to the first quarter of 2021.
X4: Cradle of Humanity is the second expansion for X4: Foundations and will bring the X series back to Earth. It significantly expands the game universe with new sectors and welcomes two Terran factions along with their economy, ships, weapons and stations. New game-starts bring players closer to the identity and political stance of the Terran factions and offer alternative perspectives on events in the history of X4: Foundations. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WWylkYpxmM You can already add X4: Cradle of Humanity to your wish lists on Steam. Owners of the X4: Foundations Collector's Edition will automatically find the second expansion in their game library when it is released.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1288460/ We would like to thank all beta testers for their contributions. We hope you enjoy trying out the 4.00 update and discovering its new features!
This classic fighter was first deployed in X3: Terran Conflict. Its design has recently been polished up and refreshed for its glorious return in X4: Cradle of Humanity, the second expansion for X4: Foundations, to be released in the first quarter of 2021.
But do you remember this ship's name?
X4: Cradle of Humanity is the second expansion for X4: Foundations and will be released for PC in the first quarter of 2021. We'll have more to share in the following weeks, including long awaited news on the public beta of the 4.0 update for X4: Foundations. Keep an eye on our news section to not miss a thing.
A new patch for the current 3.30 version of X4: Foundations is now available for download. This is purely a stability patch, which means that it does not include any gameplay changes or new features. "3.30 Hotfix 1", as the patch is officially called, fixes, among other things, a display corruption experienced by players with AMD Radeon™ RX 5600 XT graphics cards with the Glow option enabled.
More than a month has passed since we unveiled the next expansion for X4: Foundations at gamescom 2020. X4: Cradle of Humanity brings the X series back to Earth and expands the game's universe with new sectors and two Terran factions, including their economies, ships, weapons and stations. The expansion tells new stories and introduces the identity and political stance of the Terran factions, as well as giving an alternative perspective on existing story developments in X4: Foundations. https://youtu.be/bjqe_kaenEk
New release window – Q1 2021
We start with the not-so-good news. Although only about six weeks have passed since our unveiling of X4: Cradle of Humanity, it has become clear during that time that our originally announced goal of a release by the end of 2020 will not be achievable.
We are currently aiming for a release of X4: Cradle of Humanity in the first quarter of 2021. We apologize for this delay, but we are absolutely sure that this decision will be good for the expansion, and will improve the quality of X4: Cradle of Humanity to meet both your and our own expectations. We will, of course, keep you informed about the further development progress of X4: Cradle of Humanity and will provide you with further insights in the coming weeks.
To keep you excited for X4: Cradle of Humanity in spite of the postponement, we have decided to show you one of the new ships that will find its way into the game through the expansion.
Unusual, isn't it? We don't want to give too much away at this point - but you may already have an idea who this ship might belong to? We are looking forward to reading your theories in the forums, on Reddit or on our social media channels.
3.30 stability patch on the way
A new patch for the current 3.30 version of X4: Foundations will be available for download very soon. This is purely a stability patch, which means that it does not include any gameplay changes or new features. "3.30 Hotfix 1", as the patch is officially called, fixes, among other things, a display corruption experienced by players with AMD Radeon™ RX 5600 XT graphics cards with the Glow option enabled. This patch will go through a short Public Beta period before full release, and you are all invited to take part! Visit {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/x4foundationsbeta for details on how to do so.
New merchandise now available
We have added two new merch items to our shop at {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/x-merch in the past few weeks. In addition to our previously available Split and Teladi designs, you’ll now find a neutral motif with the X4: Foundations logo for t-shirts and hoodies. A cap with the X4 logo on the front is also new, and you can choose from eight different colors! Have a look at {LINK REMOVED}https://bit.ly/x-merch to see if there is something for you.
Thanks for your support. You'll hear from us again soon!
After yesterday's announcement of X4: Cradle of Humanity, the upcoming second expansion for X4: Foundations, the folks over at IGN premiered our teaser trailer as well as an extended teaser with developer commentary. In case you've missed it, here they are:
EGOSOFT unveils the next chapter in its long-standing space simulation franchise. X4: Cradle of Humanity is the second expansion for the latest game in the series, X4: Foundations, which was released for PC in November 2018.
The teaser trailer for X4: Cradle of Humanity will premiere today at 23:45 CEST / 10:45pm BST / 5:45pm EDT / 2:45pm PDT during the gamescom studio live show, produced by IGN, over at www.youtube.com/IGN. Later this year, X4: Cradle of Humanity will bring the X series back to Earth, significantly increasing the size of the game's universe with new sectors, and welcoming two Terran factions to X4: Foundations, along with their economy, ships, weapons and stations. New game-starts will introduce the identity and political stance of the Terran factions, as well as giving an alternative perspective on existing story developments in X4: Foundations.
X4: Cradle of Humanity will also shed light on what has happened to Earth in the decades since the jump-gate shutdown. Furthermore, a certain pirate faction that is well known to fans of the series will be making a dramatic comeback!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1288460/X4_Cradle_of_Humanity/ X4: Cradle of Humanity will be accompanied by the biggest free update to X4: Foundations yet. Update 4.0 will be made available to all owners of the base game and is set to further enhance X4: Foundations in a number of ways, including major new gameplay features (e.g. a new terraforming feature) and wide-ranging visual improvements (e.g. volumetric fog). Details of these, and on other new elements of the 4.0 update, will be disclosed at a later stage.
Join us for a livestream on Friday, August 28th, 2020 at 7pm CEST / 6pm BST / 1pm EDT / 10am PDT at https://www.twitch.tv/egosoftofficial to find out more about our plans for the future of X4: Foundations and X4: Cradle of Humanity.
X4: Cradle of Humanity is now listed on Steam and can be added to players' wish-lists. Alternatively, by purchasing the X4: Foundations Collector's Edition bundle, space adventurers can secure access to the expansion when it is released as well as benefitting from a discount over buying it separately.