The Linux beta of X4: Foundations has been running nicely, a new update is now out

In times of proton developing a native Linux version? This earned my full-price support!
Germans keep their promises... Rockfishgames did, and Egosoft as well :)

edit: bought via the humble affiliate link ;)


Last edited by Corben on 18 March 2019 at 2:49 pm UTC

I will say this, it's definitely not a user friendly game. The tutorials were a bit naff but once you get into the swing of it, there's a lot of details to appreciate in it.

X had always a rather simple tutorials and you still felt lost on the beginning, but it's really an awesome game. When I first saw X4 trailer I was like: "Wow, is this even true?"

I plan to buy it when it's ready, X3 linux ports worked really nice, so I think the X4 will be no exception.

It is a great game and runs flawlessly on an R7 2700 with Vega 56 (radv) and Ultra settings.
It deserves way better reviews than it actually gets.

My first our in X4 was a bit strange. They'll certainly manage to confuse every new player. The tutorial system is a candidate for the worst tutorial of the year award.

After a few youtube videos to get the basic I set off again. This time with some basic, but essential knowledge. Picked up one of those secret mission and set off while exploring and getting the hang of it. A little later I had finished two parts of the mission and had moved through a few sectors. "A little" turned out to be four hours. :D

The X series is famous for having terrible tutorials and a very steep learning curve. It's worth sticking it out, though, as the games have fantastic amounts of depth.

I'll be picking this one up very soon.

I will say this, it's definitely not a user friendly game.

Yeah, standard procedure for people new to the X series is to go to the forums (https://forum.egosoft.com) and reading the beginners guide for the game you're on.

I've tried to get into X³ and the tutorial is after all these years still terrible.

Another issue that I experience with it (GOG version, Terran War Pack, English) is that the video volumes are all wrong. I think what's happening is that the music that plays during the video is supposed to play at a low level but instead blasts at maximum volume, totally drowning the narrator's voice. Any idea on how to fix that?

I'll hold off on X⁴ until it's officially out on Linux and on some store other than Steam (GOG currently has the Windows version only).

And besides, proton as it is currently is probably a very bad choice to sell games since the whitelist is tiny. So your game will never be officially advertised and there is also no customer service.
Being a Linux user does not imply that we all use steam beta and activate proton for all titles ...

From an economic point of view, games that run on Linux only via Proton do not exist.


Last edited by aristorias on 18 March 2019 at 8:05 pm UTC

For some reason their engine doesn't run well (or at all) in Wine. It was true for X Rebirth (I am the maintainer of the winehq appdb page for it), and it is true for X4. So either they ported to Linux or they made their windows engine wine-friendly, if they wanted the linux crowd as players. They chose the best solution, methinks.

I'm not 100% sure, but I remember reading elsewhere that Egosoft basically wrote their own Wine-esque wrapper to get things to run (apparently a good one). It's not a 100% bespoke Linux engine, but their usual engine with their own wrapper. I'll see if I can track down the source. Performance is excellent for me though, however they've done it.

It is a great game and runs flawlessly on an R7 2700 with Vega 56 (radv) and Ultra settings.
It deserves way better reviews than it actually gets.

Do you mind defining "flawlessly" for me?

It is a great game and runs flawlessly on an R7 2700 with Vega 56 (radv) and Ultra settings.
It deserves way better reviews than it actually gets.

Do you mind defining "flawlessly" for me?

It runs smooth as butter without any stuttering or issues. I have constant high framerates except rarely a little on the map when too much is going on. And there's nothing negative that could be traced back to the linux port. If there is an issue it's probably rather the game itself.

So pretty much like that:

adverb: flawlessly

in a manner free from imperfections or defects; perfectly.
"the system works flawlessly"

It is a great game and runs flawlessly on an R7 2700 with Vega 56 (radv) and Ultra settings.
It deserves way better reviews than it actually gets.

Do you mind defining "flawlessly" for me?

It runs smooth as butter without any stuttering or issues. I have constant high framerates except rarely a little on the map when too much is going on. And there's nothing negative that could be traced back to the linux port. If there is an issue it's probably rather the game itself.

So pretty much like that:

adverb: flawlessly

in a manner free from imperfections or defects; perfectly.
"the system works flawlessly"

I appreciate the dictionary definition at the end. lol I just know some people's idea of "flawlessly" means a steady 30 fps (i.e. Ubisoft "Cinematic" speed), which would not be mine. I was just curious about specifics. I'll definitely check this game out. I liked the previous ones.


Last edited by melkemind on 18 March 2019 at 10:55 pm UTC

I have constant high framerates except rarely a little on the map when too much is going on. And there's nothing negative that could be traced back to the linux port.

Having watched streamers, that's definitely true on the Windows version as well...

Game runs fine on my Main pc , having issues on the secondary pc . (AMD vega 64 - hardlocks when launching game )

From what i understand this is a full Native port to Linux like X-Rebirth was. No bits running in wine / proton.

Going to wait for a sale, not in the habbit of paying $70aud for games these days. And I hear this one still needs polish and endgame content?

Wow, totally missed the release of the Linux beta of it.
I will get this for sure.

The only thing I remember of the X series is the huge amount of things you have to learn. It's probably the only reason I did not play any of it, although they are all in my collection \0/ .
I remember flying with X2 through a few portals but then I got lost into what my mission actually was, and I think I ended up flying a long time through a red cosmos.

Joystick hotplug was the main reason X4 does not run on steamos... When you start the game and the steam controller switches to xbox mode, it crashes, while it starts when you configure the steam controller as an MKB.
So I need to test that \0/

I love it so far. The learning curve isn't an issue if you are used to older games without hand holding, use google and take it slow and just try stuff out. Time is money, so you can easily mine crystals and/or do easy taxi missions to get some cash to buy new ships. Just make sure to buy a freighter early on so you can trade parts to the stations you want to build more ships on. If the shipyard is out of engine parts and what not you're in for a wait. Trying to use the starter ship as a freighter is like moving one sand particle at a time to build a beach :P

The game isn't perfect but I'm def having fun with it and it's a great time sink.

where do you get the linux installer? is it released yet? In Steam?