X3:TC I would argue is a fair bit better at this stage. I think X4 has a higher ceiling and may surpass it in time, but all those things you talked about the games prior to Rebirth have in spades. More weapons, more distinct ships, more distinction between the different races’ ships. It was like a Pokemon game where I just had to collect a ship of each type, especially the ridiculous Terran ones. And the mods that have been developed over the past several years…
One of the highlights in TC for me was pirating an M7 missile frigate. I swooped in with my agile corvette and was able to drop its shields and deploy my marines. You have to keep up the pressure while boarding because if those shields come back online, those marines get fried. So I’m cartwheeling around dodging missile volleys and trying to keep the pressure on while the boarding pods make their way over and eventually slam into the hull. After a firefight, the ship was mine!
The problem was, missiles were pretty pricey and this thing could fill a sector in just one or two volleys. So I set about building up a production chain just to supply this sucker with missiles. That provided at least 20 more hours of fun just right there.
Once all that was finished, I loaded up my M7 and programmed in target priorities for them. I then flew into Xenon space, poked my head through the gate, then Fire! Fire! Fire! I emptied every single missile I had, the radar looked like a blizzard of dots as the flew towards their targets. It was a minute or two of waiting and then the detonations started rolling in. Escort ships blown into dust, capital ships reeling and crippled as dozens of missiles overloaded their shields and destroying multiple component systems.
And then I ordered my fleet in.
Two capital ships flanked by Paranid flak frigates, fast attack corvettes, two wings of fighters… and my other M7 I had captured. The Xenon didn’t stand a chance, that entire system was reduced to dust. I wish recording software was more common then, I would have loved to have saved that battle!
That’s where the limits of X3 showed, though. The galaxy wasn’t truly dynamic in the way X4 is. The Argon didn’t move in to capture the system, their economy didn’t boom without the losses inflicted by the Xenon. Those things exist in X4 and can lead to the issues they’re having with the world economy stalling, but once they get that sorted I think it has the potential to be the better game. I really want to see more variety and distinction in ships and weaponry, though, and hopefully that is either addressed by Egosoft or the modders.
I hear you on these X games, though, they are such a joy if you can get through the learning curve. It’s what made Elite so frustrating for me. While the engine, flight model, and a bunch of other engineering stuff is far superior to X, the game design is just dry as burnt toast. There’s really no comparison between the two.