Pilots, the wait is over! Today marks another major milestone for X4: Foundations with the release of:
🚀 The Flight Model Update - A complete overhaul of ship flight dynamics, making every manoeuvre smoother, more responsive, and more immersive than ever before.
🚀 The X4: Hyperion Pack - A new DLC introducing the legendary Hyperion Expeditionary Ship, a new gamestart, a new sector, and more.
The free 7.50 update further improves and enhances X4: Foundations, making it more dynamic and immersive than ever before. And for those who want to support the continued development of X4, purchasing the X4: Hyperion Pack helps us push forward with our ambitious plans for the future - even as we're on our way to X4's 7th anniversary in November!
The Flight Model Update revolutionises the way you pilot ships in X4: Foundations, featuring extensive changes to ship handling, and balance. Every ship feels smoother, more responsive, and more immersive than ever before.
Overhauled Flight Physics - Ship control and flight pathing have been completely revamped, making movement more natural and precise.
Boost Mechanic Revamp - Boosting now has its own dedicated energy pool, allowing for more strategic manoeuvring during combat and travel.
Enhanced Gravidar Display - Improved readability and functionality provides better situational awareness for navigation and combat.
New Behaviour Inspection Mode - A new tool to analyse and adjust ship behaviours, giving you the ability to diagnose and solve problems with the ships in your fleet.
Velocity Indicator - A visual speed display aids with precise navigation and in dogfights.
Wide Area Sensor Array Module - A new radar station module enhances detection capabilities, expanding your strategic awareness.
Graphical Enhancements - Major improvements to the graphics engine, including DLSS and FSR 3 support, making space more visually stunning.
Ship Rebalancing - Every ship in the game has been rebalanced, with refined engine, thruster, and component interactions.
New Sectors - Additional connections to Terran and Boron space, opening up fresh trade routes and exploration opportunities.
Economy Adjustments - Improvements to trade dynamics and resource flow, enhancing the in-game economy.
And this is just the beginning. Be sure to check out the full changelog for today's update, which you can find at the end of this news post.
For the Deep Dive Enthusiasts…
For those who want a deep-dive into the numbers behind these flight model changes, John Pritchett has provided an in-depth breakdown of the mathematical principles and calculations that drive this update. John's document provides information about the model, shows what makes it unique relative to other flight models, and provides examples of how the model is being used in X4. If you want to explore the mathematics behind the new flight model, you can check out his detailed and highly technical document on the subject here (.pdf, 12MB).
As a reminder, in case you haven't seen our news back when the Public Beta for this update started, we partnered with John Pritchett, a former Senior Physics Programmer from the Star Citizen development team, to rework ship handling for this Flight Model Update.
Alongside the Flight Model Update, we are proud to launch the X4: Hyperion Pack, a brand-new Mini DLC that introduces the legendary Hyperion Expeditionary Ship to X4: Foundations.
What's in the X4: Hyperion Pack? ✅ The Hyperion Expeditionary Ship - A legendary ship, reborn in X4 ✅ New mission chain - Earn the Hyperion through an exciting, story-driven experience ✅ New gamestart - Jump straight into the action aboard the Hyperion ✅ New sector - Uncharted space awaits your exploration ✅ New music - Fresh tracks to enrich your X4 soundtrack
Why the Hyperion? Veteran X players will remember the Hyperion from X3: Reunion's Bala Gi Missions, where it quickly became one of the most beloved ships in the franchise. Now, it's back with a brand-new classification - the Expeditionary class.
💥 Fast, agile, and powerful 💥 Six main gun mounts & M-sized turrets 💥 L-class shielding & engines for durability and speed 💥 Increased Hull Missile capacity 💥 Small docking bay for three S-class ships (repair & resupply capability)
The Hyperion is the perfect ship for those who love high-speed combat and deep-space adventuring, providing a great deal of flexibility. It's not just a ship; it's a statement.
Purchasing this DLC helps support the ongoing development of X4: Foundations - with many more updates planned for the future!
What's Next for X4?
With the Flight Model Update and the X4: Hyperion Pack now in your hands, it's time to look ahead at what's next for X4: Foundations. Our development roadmap is packed with exciting features, and here's what you can expect in the near future:
Diplomacy Update (Late 2025)
Prepare to engage in the intricate web of interstellar politics with our upcoming Diplomacy Update. This free base game expansion will introduce, among other things:
Diplomatic Headquarters - A new facility where faction representatives convene, offering strategic options.
Agent Missions - Deploy agents on independent missions to achieve diplomatic goals in the X universe.
This update will allow you to negotiate alliances, manipulate enemies, and engage in deep strategic gameplay on a whole new level.
Exploration Update (2026)
Uncharted territories await! The Exploration Update expands the horizons of X4: Foundations, featuring, among other things:
New Anomalies - Discover mysterious anomalies leading to hidden sectors filled with unique secrets and challenges.
Enhanced Scanning Mechanics - Improved Long-Range Scanner capabilities make deep-space exploration more rewarding.
Diverse Missions - A variety of new exploration-focused missions, rewarding curiosity and risk-taking.
This update caters to players who love the thrill of discovering the unknown, adding new layers of depth and adventure to the game.
Please check out our full Roadmap news from November 2024 for more details.
Thank You!
We hope you enjoy the new content coming your way today and as always, we appreciate your feedback as we shape the future of X4: Foundations together. Thank you for your support on this epic adventure that has taken us to a new X4 record of nearly 11,000 average daily active players in 2024 - wow!
Fly safe!
7.50 Changelog
New Feature: New flight model with corresponding rebalancing of ships.
New Feature: Boost now has its own energy pool.
New Feature: Lost ship replacement option.
New Feature: Behaviour Inspection Mode.
New Feature: Radar station module.
New Feature: Improved Gravidar display.
New Feature: Velocity indicator.
New Feature: Support for FSR3 and DLSS.
Added new images for base game gamestarts.
Added confirmation when aborting missions.
Added faction-specific text variants for various generic missions.
Added estimated minimum build cost information to Build Station mission briefing.
Added opposing faction information to Mission context menu.
Added option to Start Position Defence on stations with administration module and subordinates assigned to defend station.
Added option to Respond to Station Distress Calls for subordinates assigned to Position Defence.
Added mining ships assigned to NPC mineral and gas refinery stations.
Added player-only sell offers for remaining cargo of orphaned Build Storages.
Added possibility to reduce station plot sizes if constructed modules allow for it.
Added number suffix to station modules to help identify them in map and elevator travel destination list.
Added warning when building production modules that produce illegal wares.
Added order icon for station trade subordinates that have manually defined ware list.
Added orphaned Build Storages to Account Management section in Player Information menu.
Added limited ship statistics view in Ship configuration menus.
Added new entries to Ship Loadout Statistics.
Added alphabetic sorting for station modules in Object List and Property Owned menus in Map.
Added missing resource information to stalled ship build orders in Object List and Property Owned menus.
Added information about mod quality to ship selection dropdown in Ship Configuration menu.
Added additional options for ship name generation in Ship Build menu.
Added possibility to interact with interactive notifications while menus are open.
Added possibility to set Paint Modifications while building or upgrading ships.
Added paint mod preview to Inventory menu.
Added missing equipment blueprints to mouse-over text for unavailable loadout options.
Added limited Interact menu option in Manage Plots mode of Map menu.
Added option to remove Build Storages of removed Station plots immediately.
Added estimated price for station modules to Station Build menu.
Added list of wares in ware container to Selected Object section in Map.
Added Retrieve All and Deposit All options to Safe Deposit Storage menu.
Added separate icon for collectable asteroid chunks.
Added highlighting to interactive HUD elements.
Added various container icons to Map legend.
Added additional colour animation when targeting obstructed targets.
Added Display Settings menu.
Added stardust intensity setting for accessibility.
Added race-specific model for Paranid large shield generators.
Added new input control to temporarily disable Flight Assist while holding down button.
Added support for controller input modifiers.
Added option to invert joystick axes for radial menu selection.
Added OpenTrack UDP support for Head Tracking under Linux.
Added voice feedback when engines on player ship fail due to damage.
Added support for -nomods command line parameter.
Updated Egosoft intro video.
Changed production materials for Hull Parts and Claytronics production modules.
Changed default cargo drone mode to "Collect selected".
Changed Flight Assist to preserve state on exiting highways.
Removed temporary drone mode Trading from Cargo Drones settings.
Removed option to transfer wares with Construction Vessels that are busy.
Removed Apply button for Start Menu Background Scene option.
Improved racing AI in racing scenarios.
Improved equipment loadout and balancing of turrets for Timelines scenario Defanging the Defence.
Improved Defenders of Sol mission accessibility by offering it at lower relation threshold.
Improved Guild missions by no longer aborting whole chain if one sub-mission fails.
Improved Sabotage missions by adding information about required equipment to briefing.
Improved Sabotage missions by allowing partial success if targets aren't destroyed with spacesuit bombs.
Improved balancing of Station Patrol missions by more tightly controlling number of enemy destroyers involved.
Improved Yaki story by allowing player to keep cover ability after completing mission and activate/deactivate it at will.
Improved Split story by allowing player to control cover feature in Zyarth's Coffin mission.
Improved Unknown Structure and Displaced missions of HQ story.
Improved Supply Factory generic mission to filter out stations which don't have relevant wares to be stocked.
Improved Vigor Syndicate raider distribution over time.
Improved mineral resource gather rate of Saturn II.
Improved balancing of internal ship storage of all capital ships.
Improved fighter dogfighting behaviour when player not present.
Improved fidelity of fighters dogfighting when player not present compared to when player present.
Improved ships undocking from ships or stations with launch tubes to Attack or Attack targets in range.
Improved Local Automine where designated system has multiple sectors and some of those sectors have hazardous regions.
Improved long-distance movement to moving objects.
Improved behavior and balancing of cargo drones picking up crates.
Improved launching and docking of cargo drones sent to pick up containers.
Improved cargo drones catching up with ship that launched them.
Improved reliability of cargo drone launch and recovery.
Improved capital ship movement when attacking stations.
Improved initial target selection by capital ships when attacking stations.
Improved behaviour of capital ships attacking other capital ships.
Improved capital ship avoidance of other capital ships in combat.
Improved combat movement of capital ships with forward weapons far offset from front of ship.
Improved combat maneuvering of fighters.
Improved target acquisition reliability for attack subordinates.
Improved boost usage in dogfights.
Improved ships undocking from carriers at high speed.
Improved cohesion of fighter-led fleets when moving between gates.
Improved behaviour of complex fleets moving between sectors.
Improved movement between sectors when fleets are ordered to Coordinate Attack.
Improved travel mode usage of wingmen in player-led formations.
Improved police approach to suspects for investigation.
Improved autopilot behaviour when approaching highways after warping through gate.
Improved autopilot behaviour when guidance is set to ships.
Improved autopilot pathing when exiting local highways.
Improved coasting after boost with Flight Assist off.
Improved ship handling by reducing maximum acceleration impact of full cargo hold.
Improved hacking of station Security Control Panels to also prevent launch of defence drones.
Improved trade search for station-based trade subordinates that are further down command hierarchy.
Improved feedback when looped trade fails due to lack of trade offers matching price settings.
Improved feedback if player-owned ships ordered to attack without weapons or without ammunition.
Improved target monitor display for cargo containers and asteroid pieces that do not fit into ship's cargo bay.
Improved controller navigation in Ship configuration menus.
Improved trade loop context menu width to avoid truncated texts.
Improved zoom behaviour in External Static View.
Improved representation of undefined order parameters in Object Behaviour menus.
Improved colours of asteroid icons on map.
Improved trade menu layout.
Improved links to Global Orders menu from other menus to preselect correct trade rule, blacklist or alert.
Improved visuals for Logical Station Overview, Research and Terraforming menus.
Improved visuals of station response to attack.
Improved readability of Initialising message when starting or loading game.
Improved readability between collectable and non collectable crates in map and radar.
Improved rendering of checkbox, dropdown and flowchart UI elements.
Improved balancing of Chthonios E (Mineral), Chthonios E (Gas) and Helios E.
Improved wreck of Rattlesnake.
Improved collisions around Argon L housing spire.
Improved camera and sound behaviour in Live Stream View.
Improved alarm effect on stations under attack.
Improved reactivity of throttle increase and decrease buttons.
Improved Tobii support using Tobii Game Integration.
Fixed Timelines content being marked as recommended if you do not own Timelines.
Fixed game start description texts being cut-off under certain circumstances.
Fixed tutorials not completing when closing final dialog box without selecting option.
Fixed Custom Gamestart player station plot dimensions not encompassing station.
Fixed player-owned stations in Custom Gamestarts using descriptions as names.
Fixed Nila Ti sometimes spawning too far away from player during Boron story.
Fixed mission guidance sometimes breaking when pointing towards Astrid Brantlee Northriver's Competition mission of Avarice story.
Fixed freighter in Going Offensive mission potentially arriving at un-sabotaged dock.
Fixed XL Spire module blueprint reward for those that already had 20+ relation with Quettanauts.
Fixed Quettanauts offering Criminal Mass Traffic missions that cannot be completed.
Fixed Trading Lessons mission of Avarice story not completing.
Fixed ALI Expedition Ship sometimes wandering away from gate in combat during Making Connections mission of Boron story.
Fixed missing Dagobas Lahubasis Yorilos III in space suit during Trade Obstruction mission of Avarice story.
Fixed missing Fau t'Nnt during End of Terrorism mission of Split story.
Fixed Callisto in Hatikvah Trade Revolution story sometimes not coming equipped with Long Range Scanner.
Fixed case in which player-owned ship could be destroyed when docking after High-Tech Hold-Up mission of Pirate story.
Fixed Foundations of an Empire mission getting stuck if another station building mission is started in same location.
Fixed leader of Terran fleet in War of Intervention mission not moving to target sector if it has no useable weapons.
Fixed Boron-Terran relations not depending on states of Boron-Terran diplomatic mission, Boron-Argon alliance and Argon-Terran war.
Fixed incorrect mission briefing display in Item Delivery missions.
Fixed incorrect mission guidance text in message ticker when guidance target is nearby jump gate.
Fixed Shortcut to Success and Copy and Paste missions showing wrong objective.
Fixed Geometric Owl being able to fly through narrow tunnels in Torus during Torus Aeternal mission of Pioneer Terraforming story.
Fixed Gravimetric Studies mission not starting after being introduced by Rick Feynman in Terraforming story.
Fixed large supply missions being offered by factions which barter or have no trade offers.
Fixed upkeep missions to assign freighters not completing if station involves scrap refining.
Fixed NPCs offering missions on stations sometimes having unresponsive conversation option.
Fixed Basic Chassis Mods research mission not starting under rare circumstances.
Fixed HQ potentially selling resources needed for research under certain circumstances.
Fixed Kha'ak continuing to spawn after certain installations have been destroyed.
Fixed Duke's Buccaneers constructing factories before they become Duke's Tempest.
Fixed Argon Federation and Antigone Republic not fielding as many Elite Sentinels as intended.
Fixed incorrect ship in Tides of Avarice prelude cutscene.
Fixed Tides of Avarice factions building stations without using connection modules.
Fixed Turning the Tide achievement not always unlocking.
Fixed being able to warp HQ during Terraforming project.
Fixed Attack targets in range order repeatedly creating Attack orders for ships that do not have weapons.
Fixed fighters attacking large objects when player not present trying to apply damage while facing away from their target.
Fixed rare case of ship claiming to be on venture when it no longer is.
Fixed player-owned crew sometimes bailing into escape pods.
Fixed smugglers sometimes assuming Paranid or Holy Order ownership after those factions have stopped existing.
Fixed Terran solar power plants not being placed in Mercury sector.
Fixed Build Storages not sharing same relations towards other factions as corresponding Stations.
Fixed crew hiring by upgrading at equipment docks not accounting for passengers, prisoners, or unassigned crew.
Fixed some NPC traders or miners being erroneously sent to patrol.
Fixed Get Supplies sometimes not finding trades.
Fixed new sectors added to existing savegames having incorrect amount of resources.
Fixed inaccurate beam turrets and improved general weapon accuracy.
Fixed capital ships in fleets facing away from sector center after transiting through gates.
Fixed player flying in wrong direction after entering space suit near explorable wrecks.
Fixed player in space suit not being able to approach their ship in relative movement.
Fixed ships not remaining in relative movement after saving and loading.
Fixed patrolling ships sometimes inadvertently chasing enemies to other sectors.
Fixed police penalising player for owning ship that was once used by different faction to cause trouble.
Fixed police belonging to player faction chasing troublemakers to other sectors.
Fixed ships set to comply with police or pirate challenge sometimes not dropping wares if they have very small amounts.
Fixed Construction Vessels that abandon stalled build site sometimes leaving their drones behind.
Fixed Kha'ak defence platforms not being automatically aimed at when selected as target.
Fixed capital ships not being able to reliably hit Xenon Matrix Solar Panel.
Fixed Yaki Kuraokami not using turrets to disable non-capital ships they intend to capture.
Fixed weapons with slow rotation sometimes jumping to target while aiming.
Fixed turrets resuming fire on non-hostile targets if hostilities ceased while turrets were disarmed.
Fixed sync points of Coordinate Attack orders getting lost when loading save.
Fixed fleet members performing Coordinate Attack inconsistently honoring travel blacklists.
Fixed ships sometimes not rejoining formation if player gets close then moves away again.
Fixed ships failing to dock at covered dock areas under certain circumstances.
Fixed inconsistent creation of looped order under certain circumstances.
Fixed attack response override orders for ships using order loops being inserted at wrong position in loop.
Fixed combat subordinates sometimes becoming unresponsive to attacks.
Fixed subordinates not engaging targets in different sector but close to their commander.
Fixed subordinate group assignments being lost when subordinate is promoted under certain circumstances.
Fixed subordinate groups previously set to Defend but now with any other combat assignment only engaging targets close to their commander.
Fixed subordinates assigned to attack with commander not withdrawing for repairs when they should.
Fixed subordinates not following commander after sector transition if commander has order to dock.
Fixed subordinates of subordinates that are supposed to stay docked with commander undocking when commander changes assignments.
Fixed attack subordinates refusing to attack with commander if commander was given explicit order to attack target beyond radar range.
Fixed attack subordinates sometimes getting duplicate attack orders.
Fixed secondary subordinates repeatedly undocking and redocking at commanding carrier.
Fixed secondary subordinates docking with their direct commander when commander is already undocking.
Fixed secondary subordinates not docking with their direct commander when they should.
Fixed subordinates not acting according to assignments if player took over then later released their commander.
Fixed Fleet Auxiliary ships servicing capital ships that are also their subordinates sometimes becoming unresponsive indefinitely.
Fixed subordinates set to Intercept or Bombard not engaging objects marked as hostile while already in gravidar range.
Fixed carriers and other ships set to maintain distance while boarding trying to blow up their boarding target when moving in to launch pods.
Fixed ships supporting boarding operation constantly awaiting orders when there is no remaining task.
Fixed autopilot not exiting highways reliably in certain sectors.
Fixed autopilot not working when guidance target is a superhighway entry gate.
Fixed ships sometimes teleporting far away after traversing gates.
Fixed incorrect dock position when docking at certain launch tube docks in reverse.
Fixed various problems with ships undocking from launch tubes.
Fixed defence drones sometimes not undocking properly.
Fixed cargo drones from other ships launching to collect cargo when set to Collect selected.
Fixed ships sometimes leaving build module before construction drones have finished.
Fixed welder drones still launching after construction or repair has already been completed.
Fixed welder drones being destroyed by engine wash of ship they're repairing.
Fixed unresponsive ships in very busy locations under certain circumstances.
Fixed ships assigned to Position Defence or Protect Position not engaging hostile objects in protected area despite being able to see them.
Fixed objects within gravidar range not being detected under certain circumstances.
Fixed several cases of bad navigation around hazardous regions.
Fixed capital ships in combat moving far above or below their targets when they shouldn't.
Fixed trade ships stuck waiting for trade operation to complete.
Fixed Construction Vessels idling for several minutes between deployment jobs.
Fixed ships mimicking station-based traders or miners requiring skill threshold.
Fixed Teuta ships sometimes not finding salvage in scrap fields.
Fixed stations becoming hostile when collecting cargo dropped by docked player ships.
Fixed boost and travel mode acceleration stalling caused by activating throttle inputs.
Fixed being able to exceed top speed when matching speed.
Fixed not being able to enter superhighways at very high travel speeds.
Fixed Full Stop not leaving highway while map is open.
Fixed AI ships stuttering during flight.
Fixed AI-controlled spacesuits not detecting nearby ships.
