X4: Foundations

Still Good Space 4X Game in 2026 Ship Design： https://roguey.co.uk/x4/ https://www.qsna.eu/x4/efficiency DLC Guide: https://wiki.egosoft.com/X4%20Foundations%20Wiki/Manual%20and%20Guides/Tips%20and%20Walkthroughs%20%28Spoiler%29/

X4: Foundations zieht mich immer wieder in seinen Bann. Für mich ist X4 viel mehr als nur ein Weltraumspiel. Es ist eine riesige Wirtschafts- und Handelssimulation, in der man sich vom kleinen Piloten bis zum Besitzer eines ganzen Imperiums hocharbeiten kann. Man baut Stationen, organisiert Produktionsketten und Handelsflotten, beeinflusst ganze Wirtschaftsräume und kann irgendwann eigene Flotten in den Krieg schicken. Gleichzeitig gibt es politische Intrigen, verschiedene Fraktionen und Konflikte, bei denen die eigenen Entscheidungen durchaus Auswirkungen haben. Und wenn einem das ganze Management irgendwann zu viel wird, setzt man sich einfach selbst ins Cockpit und liefert sich Dogfights zwischen Asteroiden und Raumstationen. Was mich besonders begeistert: Das Universum fühlt sich nicht wie eine Kulisse an. Händler transportieren tatsächlich Waren, Stationen brauchen Ressourcen, Schiffe werden produziert und Kriege können ganze Wirtschaftskreisläufe verändern. X4 ist manchmal kompliziert, sperrig und verlangt Geduld – aber genau diese enorme Freiheit und Tiefe sorgen dafür, dass ich immer wieder zurückkomme. Wer Weltraum, Wirtschaftssimulationen, Strategie und große Sandbox-Spiele mag, kann hier erschreckend viele Stunden verlieren.

This is everything I wanted from star citizen minus a little bit less on the cool shapship interiors and the multiplayer. TBH if I could just play with like one or two friends i'd be over the moon with this. Private server too would be killer.

If there was ever a game that I would kill for proper Co-op on, its this. Honestly, one of the greats if you are looking for a cool space adventure.

I mean. It's amazing. There are some quality of life things that I really really want. How good are the pilots of all my ships (without digging)? The managers? I have a bajillion stations - which ones are starved for materials (without digging)? What ships are stalled and doing nothing (without digging)? But it's amazing.

This game has an incredible amount of potential, which is what will keep you playing. A space opera sandbox - basically mount & blade in space. But it's just too clunky and half baked in so many areas. The worst parts are the "story" missions with AI voiced dialogue, atrocious writing and lots of pointless flying around, the terribly designed crew system (but if you mod it to be easier it trivialises the game. this just needs a total rework) and Boso Ta, the most annoying NPC ever designed in a video game. If i could skip cutscenes and space that blue little ♥♥♥♥ out of the nearest airlock i might have left a positive review. Past a certain point i was forcing myself to push through despite my many annoyances because i thought it would get better, but it just gets more annoying and tedious. Every next game mechanic or storyline you are introduced to is just as half baked or cringe as the last one. Despite all of this it is still one of the most feature complete space sim games on the market, so if you can look past all of its flaws i think you can have a good time with it. But i can't. I'll just go play Starsector instead.