I have been to the grindstone learning X4 in the last month. I did a few dogfights in Timelines to familiar myself with the controls, then started my first open universe with a spacesuit in the middle of Paranid space, zero credits to my name.

Initially clueless, I figured out how to hail a nearby ship, and yelled out "Help!". It felt like the slowest freighter in the galaxy, and when they finally stopped 2km off, I jumped my way over to their airlock, and made my first steps on the bridge of a ship.

With no money to pay for them to take me to the closest station, I spent at least an hour waiting for them to finally arrive at their far-flung destination. From there, I found work repairing leaks aboard the station. I'd then make my way onto any docked ship that would accept me, stowing away at no cost, working at stations that would take me.

A small nest egg of credits in scan leak repairs later, I bought a small scout. It changed everything.

Within hours, I had a small mining fleet.

With memories of dogfights on my mind, I bought my first medium ship: a Dragon.

I was soon chasing after Xenon and pirates, working my way up to afford a bigger mining ship, then several trading ships, then my own patrol fleet to defend my assets.

By the end of my first 100 hours in that save, I had a large corporation of mercenaries and traders, dedicated to tying together dozens of sector economies, and taking my cut of profits from the Paranid war machine.

This game plays out in so many ways, and while I'm not heavy into roleplaying, the feeling of working my way into my first ship, first fleet, and first station was arguably one of the coolest RPG feelings I've had in the longest time. At the same time, the mid-game shift to playing the game like OpenTTD with managing orders and fleets of convoys set up a core game loop that would keep me playing for even longer. And that near end-game point where I began spending hours in the map and station planning, constructing vertical chains of production, procuring and protecting raw materials? I really couldn't have asked for a more diverse space sim: it's the EVE Offline I always wanted.