#07 The Systems Architect

In this episode of Inside Egosoft, Joey sits down with Michael and Ketraar. Michael has worked at Egosoft for 22 years across a wide range of responsibilities, but designing and programming X4: Foundation's simulated economy is one of his main focuses. Meanwhile, Ketraar handles many day-to-day support tasks, including conducting tests and taking measures to help balance the simulation.Throughout the episode, they discuss the challenges and complexities of working on X4's economy, the sweeping consequences of relatively minor changes, and how a perfect balance isn't always ideal in the X Universe.

In this episode, we sit down with Egosoft's Art Director, Lino. Lino oversees the X4: Foundations art team, ensuring that every ship, cockpit, and station module immerses players in the X Universe and communicates the unique identities of the game's numerous factions. He discusses the special rules behind each faction's designs, techniques he's learned from 14 years working on the X series, and hidden details players might not have noticed.

In this episode, we chat with Alexei Zakharov, Egosoft's composer and sound designer dating back to X2: The Threat. Alexei shares the story of his start at Egosoft, his inspirations, and his process when writing music for a vast space sandbox.

In this episode, we sit down with Matthias, one of Egosoft’s longest-serving gameplay programmers, to discuss nearly two decades of work shaping the systems behind the X Universe. From AI flight behavior to the 3D map, Matthias offers a rare look into the technical and creative challenges of building a living universe.

In this episode, our loremaster and novelist Helge Kautz goes into detail about his decades of work on the X Universe's rich lore.For a deep dive into much of Helge's work over the years, you can download the X Enclyopedia to learn everything there is to know about the X Universe.https://www.egosoft.com/download/superbox/bonus_en.php?list=114

In Episode #05 of the Inside Egosoft podcast, Greg talks to Lennart (a.k.a. Gimbutz), who is part of the mission team at Egosoft. In this conversation, Lennart provides some fascinating insights into his work. How are stories and missions created in X4? Which tasks provide the greatest challenges? What is the most helpful type of player feedback for the mission team? All this, and more, is answered in this new episode. Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe to Inside Egosoft using your favourite podcast app. If you don't want to use an audio app, then you can of course listen to the podcast in your browser (e.g. via https://anchor.fm/inside-egosoft) or find it on our YouTube channel. Music: Alexei Zakharov - Turquoise Sea (from the "X4: Split Vendetta" OST)

In Episode #04 of the Inside Egosoft podcast, Greg talks to Matthias (https://twitter.com/docace1138), who is currently working on some enhancements to the Station Editor feature in X4: Foundations. Matthias discusses the fact that he'd like to make the Station Editor more accessible, and talks about the new possibilities that will be opened up when constructing a station. The improvements he mentions are planned to be available in a forthcoming beta version of X4: Foundations 4.10. We hope you enjoy this new episode; don't forget to subscribe to Inside Egosoft using your favourite podcast app. If you don't want to use an audio app, then you can of course listen to the podcast in your browser (e.g. via https://anchor.fm/inside-egosoft) or find it on our YouTube channel. Music: Alexei Zakharov - Homesick (from the "X4: Cradle of Humanity" OST)

*This is a bonus episode, which is in German for a change.* In dieser deutschsprachigen Sonderfolge des Inside Egosoft-Podcasts besprechen wir eine umfangreiche Liste von Fragen, die die User im deutschsprachigen Teil des Egosoft-Forums zusammengetragen haben. Dabei geht es vor allem um X4: Foundations und mögliche Veränderungen bzw. Zukunftswünsche und Ideen der Community. An ein paar Stellen biegen wir aber auch etwas von diesem Hauptthema ab.  Vielen Dank an alle Fragensteller und viel Spaß beim Zuhören! Musik: Alexei Zakharov – Heretic's End (aus dem X4: Foundations Soundtrack)

Developed by a dedicated community team, the 1.2 update for X3: Farnham's Legacy is now available for download. It comes with numerous improvements and bug fixes, but also concludes our development work on this free community project. In Episode #03 of the Inside Egosoft podcast, Greg talks to Ketraar, who was part of the X3: Farnham's Legacy project team. Greg also gives you a quick overview on our recently started 4.10 Beta for X4: Foundations. The first beta version of the upcoming 4.10 update is now available on Steam and GOG. In response to your feedback on the 4.00 update, we are fixing, among other things, various issues associated with mining, trading and station management. Another improvement we have made is to our graphics engine’s asset management in X4: Foundations. This should result in better use of graphics memory, and help with things like asteroids popping in. Please find the full changelog for the first beta version of the 4.10 update, as well as all the information you will need if you want to join the beta, over at https://bit.ly/x4foundationsbeta Music: Daniel Finney - Farnham's Voyage (https://soundcloud.com/danieldfinney)

This time around, we will be filling you in on what we're doing with the upcoming "Custom Game Start" feature in X4: Foundations. The new Custom Game Start feature will enable players of X4: Foundations to change or adapt certain starting conditions for the game. Some limits are in place to help maintain a bit of game balance, particularly for those who want to play Multiverse Team Seasons (see Inside Egosoft podcast #01). To give you some examples, in a Custom Game Start it will be possible to influence things such as your available starting capital, sectors already explored, and your relations with other factions. In order to be able to make these changes, X4 players will, in future, accumulate budgets in specific Custom Game Start categories (including money, knowledge and relations) by making progress in various aspects of the game. For example: if a player has reached a certain relation level with a faction in their X4 game, this counts towards their relations budget and therefore allows the player to change their starting level of relations with one or more factions in a new Custom Game Start. In Episode #02 of the Inside Egosoft podcast, Greg talks to Owen (https://www.twitch.tv/xenon_slayer), who will be giving more practical examples and explanations of the new feature. Enjoy this new episode, and don't forget to subscribe to Inside Egosoft in your favourite podcast app. If you don't want to use an audio app, you can of course listen to the podcast in your browser (e.g. via https://anchor.fm/inside-egosoft) or find it on our YouTube channel. Music: Alexei Zakharov - Where the Ravine Leads (from the "X4: Split Vendetta" OST)