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Egosoft have just released the next major expansion for X4: Foundations named X4: Kingdom End, plus a major free upgrade is also out now that brings full Steam Deck Verified support.

While the game had been given a Steam Deck Verified rating back in March, this was specifically for the Beta of the 6.00 update that only launched today. Confusing really, to have a public store page rating for something people would have to know about and manually opt into, a part of Deck Verified I hope Valve make clearer in future.

Enjoy a long-awaited reunion with the Boron in X4: Kingdom End, the fourth expansion for X4: Foundations, which completes the collection of the main factions in the X Universe. Discover the unique Boron ships, and fly them through distinctive systems, on a journey of discovery. Visit fascinating places, uncover old secrets and make new acquaintances. Embark on an immersive new chapter of X4!

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There's absolutely loads new in the game update including:

  • New Feature: Updated graphics engine, with Parallax Occlusion Mapping, Reflection Probes, enhanced lighting, improved shadows, and more.
  • New Feature: Jolt Physics engine.
  • New Feature: Live Stream camera mode.
  • New Feature: Position Defence for carrier-led fleets.
  • New Feature: New Construction Vessel designs for Paranid, Teladi, Split and Terran factions.
  • Added new bombardment assignment for subordinates.
  • Added command to order ships to attack surface elements on designated targets.
  • Added Salvage at Position and Deliver Salvage commands for use with repeat orders.
  • Added self-destruct command for player-owned satellites, resource probes, nav beacons, lasertowers and mines.
  • Added detection and penalty for theft from station build storage.
  • Added more gamestart information, indicating whether they are Tutorial, Guided, Assisted or Sandbox, and adjusted order.
  • Added option to edit Buccaneer relations in Custom Gamestart Editor under certain circumstances.
  • Added Custom Gamestart Editor story states for Tides of Avarice stories.
  • Added player HQ to Station Design Simulator.
  • Added Supervised Mining missions.

The list of changes goes on and on and on which you can read in full here.

You can buy X4 on GOG, Humble Store and Steam.

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22 comments
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beko Apr 12, 2023
that game. Just finished downloading my copy (after one failed attempt, thanks GoG!)


Also: Looking for Linux players interested in trying a modification I wrote specificity for Linux for stuff like companion apps. _No_ Proton players please. This is indeed platform depending.


Last edited by beko on 12 April 2023 at 6:32 pm UTC
beko Apr 12, 2023
Huh… the shipped openal.so failed to play nice with PipeWire. Chances are it also doesn't work on PulseAudio. It only offers default and Jack. I assume that's Alsa and Jack.

I removed `game/libs/libopenal.so.1` and now it picks up the system's lib and all is good:

Quoteldd X4
[...]
libopenal.so.1 => /lib64/libopenal.so.1 (0x00007fe66d25c000)
[...]
Jajcus Apr 12, 2023
Quoting: bekoHuh… the shipped openal.so failed to play nice with PipeWire. Chances are it also doesn't work on PulseAudio. It only offers default and Jack. I assume that's Alsa and Jack.

For me editing /etc/openal/alsoft.conf and setting drivers=pulse there is enough to make it behave properly. Without it it would use Jack interface, which works, but does not obey the system default output settings, which is annoying.
beko Apr 12, 2023
Perfect. I just figured that out too: https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?f=180&t=414524&p=5172395#p5172395

My default config is empty and the shipped lib seems to default to alsa. Setting this (or ALSOFT_DRIVERS=pulse) seems to do the trick
tgurr Apr 12, 2023
Looks like they ship with openal 1.21.1 which doesn't yet support pipewire (but pulse - trough pipewire of course).
Recent versions also "moved" system-wide settings /etc/openal/alsoft.conf to /etc/xdg/alsoft.conf (https://github.com/kcat/openal-soft/commit/a2d34e4c2a37931fda58d0a632140da3e2edd5b0) though the former is still checked for and works therefore as well.

It can also contain a priority list:
[general]
drivers=pipewire,pulse,alsa,oss



Last edited by tgurr on 12 April 2023 at 8:32 pm UTC
Grogan Apr 13, 2023
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Well, I'm not a fan of sims like this, but I'm going to give it a whirl just because it's on GoG and it's got a Linux native port. I love space stuff, even if I just mess about and fly some ships it'll be cool

P.S. Hah... for once, Linux users get a better experience. GoG is giving me the whole thing in a 17.5 Gb archive installer (one of those .sh files with shell script grafted on) instead of making me download the .exe and all the .bin files.

The DLC are SEPARATE offline installers, UNLIKE the Windows DLC, which are 1 Mb .exe files that download the content, too :-)


Last edited by Grogan on 13 April 2023 at 4:56 am UTC
Grogan Apr 13, 2023
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That's a real treat, a native Vulkan game that I can just install and run. (the installer is GoG's gtk+ graphical installer actually... doesn't like my styling, but it's navigable and functional)

It works out of the box, on my custom "from scratch" system. (pure 64 bit, so no steam or anything and no wine... it's a more serious system). Other than running some tests/benchmarks to see it work, this is the first actual Vulkan thing I have on this system.

The Ultra preset is fine, but I have to use cheaper antialiasing. MSAA 2x is OK, the game doesn't need much.

Pure Alsa audio here, so no problems with OpenAL for me

Now I just have to figure out how not to suck at flying a ship.


Last edited by Grogan on 13 April 2023 at 6:52 am UTC
TheSHEEEP Apr 13, 2023
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Quoting: GroganNow I just have to figure out how not to suck at flying a ship.
For me, I was completely unable to fly with keyboard + mouse (in any flight game, btw, I just can't).
But even a controller (like XBoxOne controller) makes it very comfortable for me.
Or a hotas for a bit more immersion, but that's IMO optional.

Since X4 is a lot more than just the "fly spaceship" part, controller + keyboard might be the best variant to me, as you'll need a lot of keys to do all the things you can do in the game - more keys than any controller and most hotas have.
beko Apr 13, 2023
The flying part is kinda optional and only really required at the beginning. It's a sandbox game where it happens that you can also fly every ship

…and I'm totally bonkers on this anyway.


(What's with the Accept & Show? Ain't setting no freakin cookies)

In motion: https://tube.tchncs.de/w/gAmZsfTun1Ppp4RS8Sa6FM


Last edited by beko on 13 April 2023 at 8:42 am UTC
Grogan Apr 13, 2023
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Quoting: TheSHEEEPFor me, I was completely unable to fly with keyboard + mouse (in any flight game, btw, I just can't).
But even a controller (like XBoxOne controller) makes it very comfortable for me.
Or a hotas for a bit more immersion, but that's IMO optional.

Since X4 is a lot more than just the "fly spaceship" part, controller + keyboard might be the best variant to me, as you'll need a lot of keys to do all the things you can do in the game - more keys than any controller and most hotas have.

I was having trouble with the tutorial with keyboard and mouse, so I tried it with my XBox 360 controller and it was pretty good. I haven't yet gotten into much besides basic control of the ship, but yes already I found myself using both.

Now that you mention it, I also have a flight stick sitting in the corner, collecting dust. It probably works, it's an older logitech. I can't even remember why I bought it or when or if I ever used it.
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