So, Lately after having been diving headfirst into X4 to get a feel for it, I begun wondering why the flight in X4 felt very similar to the flight in Star Citizen, even when comparing decoupled with flight assist off. Given that John Pritchett, the people's great flight model hero, went to work there and according to ChatGPT still is and his flight model (7.50+) is still in effect. First, let's get the raw facts on table. Bi-/Trichording is still managed in both games. There are speedcaps. Boosting will return to normal speed, when cancelled. Going FA Off will not allow you to go faster, keep the boosted speed or anything remotely similar. Now, I have been trying different things in X4. I have been in combat with Xenon K's in my Syn destroyer using FA Off a lot to keep a certain direction. I have tried to fly around normally with or without FA in a small scout, which usually are pretty fast. My conclusions are that while comparing X4, Star Citizen and even Elite Dangerous, I honestly don't find that much of a difference. They all work by the simple equation Force = K·(TargetVelocity − CurrentVelocity) − D·Velocity where D is dampening or a = ( v_desired − v_current ) ⋅ K − D ⋅ v where v_desired is the requested velocity vector, v_current is the current velocity vector, K is the spring constant, D is dampening and v is usually the same as v_current. What we can see from this is that the only real variables that X4, Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen change around are K and D. The rest are derived from control inputs and game variables. Mass is also present, but is hidden inside the constants K and D. This is how higher mass can give us ships more sluggish to react and slower to shop. We can also see that velocity is always capped and there are no real free acceleration vectors. So what happened from the previos model to master modes? Well, first of all, the basic control system is stlll the same. What was added was a vector normalization. So basically you calculate the acceleration vectors independently, sum them into a final vector and then make that vector adhere to the envelope we have all seen. But other than that, the physical calculations, the basic model, everything is pretty much the same. What really changed was 1: how much D was introduced. More dampening meant faster return to normal speed from boosting. We also had a reduction in our max speed (the limit on v_desired/target) and finally, the summed acceleration vector was normalized into adhering to a envelope. Everything else remains the same as it has always been. So, in essense. The physics is the same. The freedom is (basically) the same and all three games adhere to the same principles. Limit on max speed, reduction from boost and controlling bi-/trichording.