Another thing you can do to make looking for crafting material easier:

1) Research Teleportation Technology.
2) When you get some disposable income, go buy a bunch of Elite Vanguards as they are relatively speedy and the cheapest ships (about 185k/ea, don't recall the exact amount).
3) Dock them in stations around the HQ or your prefered home base location.
4) Teleport from one station to the next and visit all the Trader Corners. With the basic teleport research complete you can teleport within the current system and up to +1 outside the current system. Finishing the research allows you to teleport anywhere in the gate network.

You can even daisy-chain a few ships early on to reach stations you want. I recommend the Teladi Trading Station near the PHQ as I think it has multiple Trader Corners (3-4?). I also try to leave a ship docked at each Black Market I unlock to quickly teleport to and search for components for EMP Bombs to make unlocking modules much easier. I know the traders roll their stocks over, but I don't know how often. I think it's once every half hour and only when you leave the current system.

Lockboxes can be good, but save before you open them. Some of them can contain a bunch of tracker mines instead of loot.

Happy it didn't happen the other way around for you. I found out the hard way!

No, not in X4 at least (unless you count the stupid ship teleportation gimmick the game uses to make long uneventful trips outside of inhabited zones more "fun" as popping-up).
Previous games, however, did pop ships out of thin (lack of) air. :( And in case of X3 and beyond, stations as well. :( :(
Don't be disappointed (or do, it depends on the POV :) ) as this NPC could not be hired (she/he is a "quest-giver" and upon offer would reply with "Sorry, I'm busy right now.").
Three-star crew must be trained with "seminars", not hired. Or, let's hope ES will (someday) fix the leveling-up system.
Not some. Only the 8-lock short cubic ones. They contain tracker mines with 100% probability chance; other types (spherical, damaged long, normal long, explosive long and single-lock small) are totally mine-safe (well, not totally in case of explosive ones, obviously :D ).
I usually blow up 8-lock ones on sight, making the Galaxy safer, in a way. ;)

I meant graphics. For some reason objects are not drawn at a single pixel but much closer, like when 9 pixels big or even closer. I hated this in early 3D games and was glad when games stopped doing that. Far Cry from 2004 did not have this if your graphics card was powerful enough.

I know the GOD engine of the earlier X games well wtih hundreds of hours in all three X3 games. Things were created out of vacuum and magic.

Thank you for reporting problems to Egosoft (seen your name in their forum).

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On-topic: The game could indeed use some improvements, like the UI and some problematic areas but then, this pilot could also use some improvements, like learning more how the game works.

Good to know, thank you very much for the info!
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On topic: I definitely hesitated to buy the game when it first released with 1.0 and even with 1.5 because I knew it was going to take work from Egosoft, and a lot of it. Rebirth gave me huge pause in jumping into their series after the major steps it took in the wrong direction.

After the 3.0 update for X4 and Split DLC, I've been having more fun with it and enjoying it way more than when I started playing it around the 2.0 update. So I think it's worth it now because I'd say most of the major game breaking bugs are gone (enemy stations that you can't destroy, wars and the economy just stopping; to name a few).

My biggest complaint is trying to level up the numerous pilots you need to field anything substantial to fight in any protracted battle. You can get some 3-4 star rank training stuff from grinding Trade Guild missions, but when I have swarms of fighters and a handful of capital ships I want very well trained, high morale, command crews -- I start to have some major issues with the current setup the game has for crew management and training.

We really need to have Naval Academies where we can purchase highly trained crew from. It would make sense to need a +20 faction to access them. Could even differentiate them a bit based on what each race is supposed to be good at. Teladi could for example have 5 star management officers for sale.

Thanks for your kind words! I like the game, actually, considering that currently I am on my third run (with previous ones on 2.50 and 2.60 versions).
The game is constantly getting better and better since its release (2.50, I do not consider everything prior Linux version to be a release), but it is a dynamic project, constantly adding things and… breaking things in the process. One should be fully aware of this fact.

Content-wise, well, that's a different aspect. I understand it severely lacks in content (ship variety, plots) compared to X3TC/X3AP, but at the same time: station building, crystal hunting…
And most importantly, it is a dynamic simulation with (most of the time) working economy and the ability to shift the scales, wipe out factions, control sectors and generally influence the Galaxy. All those destroyers frigates, fighters and carriers under your (and other factions') command are not just for show and can be used to achieve results!

Tried to play X3AP, on the other hand, got myself a Springblossom (in an Argon start!) and so what?
X3AP with its fake hollow "war" is extremely disappointing for me: no matter what you do, these red-blinking sectors will always be the same with factions playing pretend to be "at war". Xenon sectors will always stay Xenon. No point in actually trying to use your fleets beyond in parades.

So, I do not understand those "die hard" X3 fans who like to bash any X game for "not being X3" basically. X4 has potential to become way more than X3 could ever hope! But only the potential right now (hence, the "Foundations").

Reading these posts I'm going to wait for the next big expansion to drop and at least two or three more patches. I'm a patient gamer...

I think Alm's analysis is one of the more balanced ones I've read.

TBH, I think that most people pining for all the old days of X3 probably don't even remember vanilla X3. I think they are probably comparing X4 against TCMs, like LitCube's Universe or Mayhem, that represent years of additional development.

i dont like it so much it seems this game is to big for them to control.. i like the series x2- x3 and expanded x3 series but x4 seems to get a bit dull there is not much in it i really see they got so many bugs only because you need to micro manage everything that it doesnt feel anymore like the x series... with all the peeps you must have in the ships and such. to much hassle about stupid skills of the captains and people in the ships... you see with the titles before in the x series and im not talking about that poop x rebirth <- that isnt a x serie title like this number 4.. its a mess... they said it about x2 and x3 series too but i had np there.. i had actually fun. and damn awesome fights and there was really happening stuff... in this universe of the x4 its mostly empty like you are playing elite dangerous.. that is a big empty space too... too much hassle for little content.. its like its going from empire shape to build game only...

I will be buying exspansion if they come and hopefully it will get better but i dont think so.. still like to support them on the next game if there will be 1 and if they learn of there mistakes but after that 1 fails for me too.. its rip for me.. :)

ow yeah there are not amny different weapons and the ships arent many difference too... its prob because of all the mini things in the game, the real stuff like differetn weps and ships go down the drain.... and the ships and weapons from different factions arent really that different... its still a empty shell.

There's no doubt that X4 has a lot of ambition, but the rebirth style of overly-arduous micromanaging and almost no real AI control options for ships (at least early on) means that it's harder to get to any of it, combined with the unnecessary crafting mechanic makes for a lot less space opera stuff and a lot more time in menus.

Also, I think they should have really just had a load time between sectors. I've had some MESSY looking jumps before things pop back in.

I just wrote a subjective (of course) review:

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I have installed both, the base game and the extension. I am on Linux.

Ok, I have played it for a few days now and i must say I'm disppointed, will probably not touch it any time soon again. If you're into space shooters the game may be your thing, but if you go for building and and trade you're constantly under attack by overwhelming enemies (Xenon). The game forces too much into shooting, or giving up building because it will be destroyed anyway.

The UI is only in the way disguising important information, it displays dark blue on black which hurts the eye, information display and contents are not configurable, and what's displayed is mostly useless (outdated information from past visits to sectors). Also, the UI is very unintuitive, you give orders to something you have selected before with a left click, and you right click to give an order. But it is not always clear if you actually have something selected, meaning you send ships to places you didn't intend them to go. Like into the arms of an enemy. Also, several layers of informational translucid info windows overlap, and each has its functionality, so you might simply "click through" and give the wrong command, and still get a response.

Don't expect documentation, info like pruduction chains and figures must be searched on the web, don't expect to be told what a mission is about, you'll find out when it's too late. "Go find me some energy cells !". Ok, easy as pie, accepted. "Cool, pilot, i need 17,456 of them, asap !". Aww, so that's supposed to be the "think" part, lol ? Titles like Factorio have a much better balance and interface, and a more thoughtful gameplay.

Even X4's graphics are somewhat outdated, good old shadow maps it seems (with jagged edges), and partly distorted textures not clamped properly (on some ships), popping artefacts from LODing when closing in on things. Collisions detection doesn't work either, ships fly through each other, asteroids and stations. I'd expect PBR and path tracing from a 3D title of the genre these days, as well as proper collision resolving. Saving and loading takes a long time, and leaving the game is not possible without a segfault, leaving a stack of processes behind smeared in memory. Don't forget to clean up, pilot ! :-/

All in all, 1 star is more than enough. It would be better a game if the UI was configurable and less strenous to the eye, and if there'd be a peaceful mode or at least options to set enemy difficulties to something that can be managed. And if graphics had arrived in the 2020s and things wouldn't fly thorugh each other it would be worth the price. In the current form, I regret having bought it, as stated above.

But, of course, much of gaming is subjective and I understand the game has its fan base. But as you might realize I am not part of it.

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I would like to add, if by the term "simulation" one expects a space simulation like Orbiter or Kerbal Space Program, X4 is not such a hing. Ships fly on straight lines, they shoot bullets of different colours called beams, and a "system" is a few hundred by a few hundred km in size. That's what to expect (not necessarily bad for such a title, just sayin').

I have also put the game on hold as it is not that good yet.

There is a workaround for exiting the game on Linux: First exit to the menu, then out.

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Want a good game to fly and shoot things in? Hard but good: B5:I've Found Her

EDIT: The exiting the game bug in Linux has been fixed in v3.20.

I went back and forth on this game recently as it seemed that the xpac improved many things according to some videos. However, reading user reviews here and elsewhere made me remember the headaches of getting AI traders/miners/etc working in past X games. It seems it's still a potential cluster. I remember getting things to *almost* work back in the day with mods on X3, but due to limitations of the game there was still some jank that couldn't be fixed. Iirc there was a satellite warning system mod that would detect pirates in a system and keep your traders out (or maybe that was my hack to it? I remember making changes to something). Unfortunately more often than not they'd still enter the system and try to FTL out when attacked. Then they'd park themselves at the nearest station and you'd have to restart them. Anyways, tedious to say the least.

It's too bad they still have issues. It sounded like there were some good changes...

Sorry for the necro, but I'd be interested to know from those who have taken the leap of faith where the game is at now.

Is there a stable economy?

Are there micromanagement issues?

What are the bugs like at this point? I'd be interested to know who the bugs vary between personal control (i.e. piloting your own ship and travelling around) versus setting up a large empire and trying to automate a large fleet.

What kind of rate of improvement have you seen in the quality, are they letting it slide, or is it improving steadily with each patch?

Is it, in your opinion, ready for a casual X3 player to take the next xtep (that was originally a typo, but I quite liked it ;))?