No, no – this is not an oblique way to say I'm throwing in the towel: rather, this past week, I finished the content of X4: Timelines and the experience not only brought me back to my main save and sandbox gameplay in fine form, but also touched on the first article of this very blog.

From what I've read of Timelines reviews, the main criticisms leveled at the DLC seem to be its departure (or existence apart) from the core sandbox; the difficulty of its missions (which reviewers said make it unsuitable for new players); and a general lack of content. I won't argue the premise of Timelines isn't weird (or I wouldn't have written as much in my review), but I don't think the other two criticisms are fair or (for the most part) valid.

Form

X4 was released six years ago and my save state says I've been playing for 17 days and change (about 425 hours). Whenever I'm away from the game for any length of time, I feel like I need a refresher just to remember basic key bindings for how to do anything in the game – and I'm an existing player that's been active since, pretty much, day one.

Given the game's complexity – coupled with the fact it has changed drastically since the initial release – it's little wonder Egosoft thought an introductory module (rather than another straightforward content DLC) might be the thing to do, six years on.

Since the game allows for different starts (some of which come with their own little tutorials), it made more sense to isolate the experience from the core game than to try and cram it into the sandbox and have it account for all the possible differences between disparate save states.

In short, I think the overall design of Timelines is valid, for what it is (not that it's saying much, but I, at least, can't think of a better way it could have been handled).

Structure

The missions, on the other hand, are a mixed bag.

Since they are, essentially, linear, self-contained stories, I think a bit more effort could have been expended to make them memorable. As it stands, their overall quality is at the level of a competent, amateur modder, with choppy transitions, serviceable but disjointed writing and an overall lack of impact or investment. They're fine for what they are, but – even when you're supposedly reenacting events that shaped the X universe – they don't feel significant.

Another criticism I'd level is that, as tutorials, they don't really cover subjects new players will need immediate help with. Racing, for instance, constitutes a grand total 0% of sandbox gameplay; mining is largely automated (i.e. unless you really want to chafe your sanity, other captains will be doing it for you); and not a single mission in all six graphs dealt with station construction (arguably, the most complex aspect of the game).

So the missions' subject matter and design could have been better. Their difficulty, however, is a non-issue.

To get a sandbox reward, in most instances, you don't need to finish a mission successfully: you just need to clear the lowest-level, one-star point threshold. And you don't need to finish every single mission in a graph to complete it: just enough stars to unlock the final one of the set.

Substance

It has been mentioned more than once that Timelines is the "worst DLC so far" for X4. But judged in terms of actual content (hours of added gameplay, new ships and systems) it simply falls into the lesser of two categories of DLCs Egosoft has released to date.

The first (let's call them "Faction DLCs") are comprised of Split Vendetta, Cradle of Humanity and Kingdom End and add a new faction (with a full array of station modules), between 20 and 25 new ship models, between 9 and 15 new systems and a new plot spanning, perhaps, 15-20 hours (I'm estimating a lot here, because I couldn't find exact figures and it's been a while).

The second ("Sideline DLCs") so far consist of Tides of Avarice and Timelines and are simply smaller in scope (a partial set of new modules, 11 new ships, between seven and nine new systems). The gameplay length seems comparable to the Faction DLCs, though.

The neat and distinct thing about Timelines, however, is that it is the only DLC to date to further the core of the game (i.e. the plot line introduced in the original X4: Foundations). Played to conclusion (returning to the sandbox having completed all Timelines graphs), it will sorta close the loop started with the mysterious appearance of the player HQ in X4 (whereas the other DLCs resolve only the plots they themselves introduced).

Loop

So there you have it. Though the nature of Timelines structure and content is different, it's not really bad and – while on the smaller side – the DLC does fill-in the lore gaps of the core game, closing the loop started by Boso Ta's experiments with teleportation that brought the PHQ into real space.

And this article, on the other hand, brings us right back to pigabout.games' beginning, 93 articles ago, where I speculated on a dev business model that would extend the gameplay of a single player game and charge players for regular DLCs to further the game's development.

I wrote Egosoft an email broadly inquiring as to how their business model is working out in practice (if regular DLC releases are enough to keep the company afloat, or whether they have to supplement their income with side projects). Doubt they'll write back (let's face it: my credibility is nil), but if they do, I'll squee-in a comment in the next rumination.

Pig — out.