Hey guys, sorry to be a pain in the butt. Maybe I'm just getting old... but this game seems immensely complicated. I can't even find a simple manual or anything that tells me how to even bring up the main menu? I bought 4.3 off GOG. The game "seems" awesome. But I can't figure out how to land on anything, how to dock with anything, or even how to bring up the main menu.

In some YouTube videos, there seems to be a main menu on the left, but mine doesn't have that. I hit the "Y" key, and there's a round menu that comes up.

I'm not so concerned that there's no defined plot per say, but I just want to figure out how to do things. I've watched the videos that link from the game, but they all seem to make assumptions that I've already played the game before... or some older version of it.


Can someone help me figure out just how to get started? Shoot... I'm turning 40 next month, I must be getting old. I didn't have these problems in the 1990s and 2000s... hahah... Sim City, X-COM, Starflight... I could figure that out without pressing buttons. Maybe I'm just too impatient.


Thanks!!!

So X:Rebirth... You could have said as much but now I did.

Sorry I never played that game.

Ah, sorry... I didn't realize there were multiple, or that there was a difference.

I've figured out most of it.

"Enter" key brings up the menu... and so does "Y" in a weird form.


Seems like a really cool game, but, again... maybe I'm just too old.

It seems like the kind of game where you need to be an 11 year old, in the middle of Summer (not in school), with no friends, no responsibilities, and nothing to do... and the game is awesome. Just not at that point in my life. Super-cool game... but I just can't dedicate that kind of time. :( Maybe when I'm retired.

Playing in short spells (one, two hours with luck) becomes way different than playing for hours without end. Nowadays that is taken into account in game design, making games easier to pick up when possible. Think Bastion, but also X-COM and possibly most modern titles.

Then we have improved interfaces. Even Panzer General 2 feels a bit ackward nowadays when it does not do things that modern games do. Panzer Corps feels only natural now.

Another thrend in modern gaming is the substitution of simulation for gamification. That requires less investment on the side of the player, substituting incremental, quantitative progress in the game for quantum-like, qualitative progress, while feeling more like rewards that also work for hooking players (see X-COM, Civ 5 and later, etc). A pity since we cut our teeth in simulators that used the best of the available technology, not games that feel way too gamey sometimes.

Hopefully X:4 is a bit more friendly towards people new to the series... If veterans of i-War find trouble with the game, then something might be wrong... Like somene did not put enough effort into intuitive interfaces and control.

Now, for a very accessible modern space simulator/shooter, Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut fits the bill beautifully. Although it feels a tad too much simplified.

I played one of the really early X games way back. Then I tried X3 I think...

I never lasted long on them. Not because I didn`t like the realism of the ships and stuff but because it was too spreadsheety without the feel of actual people around. They never seemed to combine the maths with the `feel` of being a Human being among it all- Immersion- Why not have both?

X4 has finally hit that spot between being all spreadsheety and actually adding some `life` (people) into the game. Adding the ability to walk and explore as well has done the trick for me.

I don`t mind all the stats and that lot as long as I can feel like a Human Being walking about in a living world among other beings.

Agreed. This is what is great in Mount&Blade: Warband: it has lots of little things that make you feel "there".

The granddaddy of all space simulators is probably the original Elite. Following titles tried to improve on its shortcomings: like, lack of a story, lack of background, lack of information on the world, lack of people to talk with...

Dark Star One cut the deal for me. Accessible and there is a story but there is freedom as well.

Since you tried the X titles, did that include Rebirth? Wondering if it might be better than the preceding ones in what you mention about X4.