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X4: Foundations
You can also now head down to the Kha'ak recycling plant
Spaceshipper X4: Foundations has just received an empire-scale overhaul known as the Empire Update, which is appropriate for a game that famously allows you to build your own aggressive spacefaring armada. Among the features planned for the expansion of X4 are a rebalancing of ship combat that developer Egosoft considers their most significant to date, along with practical additions such as the ability to recycle Kha'ak wrecks and issue priority orders that override all other communications to your forces.
Egosoft detailed all the new features in a Steam post announcing the full release of the Empire Update, following several months in beta. "We've made sweeping changes to every aspect of combat in X4: Foundations," they wrote at the start of the changelog. "This is the largest combat balancing update in X4's history. This update includes a full rebalancing of hundreds of weapons, turrets, shields, and ships to add tactical depth, make more options viable, and address inconsistencies. Additionally, turrets are more accurate, AI pilots behave more organically, capital ship movement has been reworked, and much more."
A few ship-focused additions have also been introduced. Kha'ak shipwrecks, for instance, can now be recycled to produce a versatile new resource called Allographyne. When you're not busy trading and converting what you've salvaged, you can construct a ship showroom module back at your base to display your own vessels. Appropriately, Egosoft noted a change they've made to integrate engines and shields into both S and M ship models, which should make the interstellar vehicles look more attractive, in addition to increasing the variety of modules you can attach to them.
Beyond the ship changes, the Empire Update introduces Priority Orders. These are "instantly responsive 'RTS'-style orders" issued by pressing control while right-clicking, which override all other previously given orders. Egosoft implemented these to "dramatically improve the flow of fast-paced strategic situations, eliminating the need to configure order lists and making ships act immediately".
Rounding out the changes are adjustments to make map screens more readable, enhancements to how NPC factions design their large space stations, and an overhaul of mining resource distribution. "Resources are now localised rather than spread across the entire region," Egosoft wrote about the latter. "Additionally, when a resource area is depleted, new resources may emerge at a different location within the region. This creates a new dynamic around mining operations, in which resource areas must be discovered before they can be exploited, leading to fluctuating resource availability as miners automatically seek efficient mining locations."
If you're thinking about picking up X4, it's worth checking out Nic's (RPS in peace) X4: Foundations review from 2018. No doubt much has changed in space since then, but the core structure is likely the same.