I've had this game sitting in my library for years. I know it's regarded as one of the really good space games but I've never figured out what you're actually supposed to do or how to advance the gameplay.
I know how to get in my ship, fly my ship and shoot in the general direction of things but that's it. I've played the combat tutorial and have a customized keyboard control layout that I'm happy with.
Last time I gave it a try, it went like this. First, I landed on a space station and then walked all around looking for anything to do. I talked to an npc and found a store selling basic items like medkits and whatnot costing hundreds to thousands of credits. I didn't want to grind for pocket change trading medkits so I continued my search for anything else to do. After more searching, I found a second npc in an office that let me look at security camera footage but that's all I found.
So maybe all the stuff happens in space. So I got in my ship and flew around for a while. The travel mechanics make no sense. Switch to travel mode to go faster, I get it but theres additional mechanics involved. Why can I only go 287m/s in travel mode sometimes? Why does it randomly accelerate to several km/s sometimes and other times the ship accelerates slower than slow? So I look for salvage to steal. Nothing. Eventually I see a bunch of ships fighting so I go over there hoping for anything to happen at all. Boost stops working for some reason so it takes forever and then I get obliterated before getting a chance to shoot at anything.
What am I missing?
I haven't played X4, but I've played a lot of elite dangerous, and some of the problems you describe happened to me in ED as well. And like X4, ED did not explain it at all. I had to learn it from watching videos about the game, and other discussions in other forums. So maybe there are similarities in what I experienced
The speed limiting was due to being within close proximity to planets and stars who's gravitational field prevents you from accelleratin quickly. If you are in open space, you accelerate very quickly, and can go faster than if you are close to something large. So maybe it has something to do with where you are.
I've had boost disabled randomly for me and I didn't know why, but eventually I learned it was because I had been deploying my cargo scoop by accident and not realizing it before I got blown up. Maybe there is a ship module or function you are accidentally toggling that disables it?
That's an annoying aspect of these space sim games, but one I've come to appreciate as learning the complex intricacies of flying a spaceship feels rewarding in its own right. Like being able to describe what every little button and switch does in an airplane, or a recoding stuido's sound board. It makes you feel like you're really mastering a skill, instead of just playing a game.
It isn't anything like E:D
Well if my advice isn't relevant, they can ignore it and have had lost nothing. Maybe you can explain what thier issues are.
Lol calm down. I'm just letting you know, since you haven't played it.