Not sure if any of you have followed this one, but Starbound is set to open up Beta access tomorrow via Steam Early Access.
http://playstarbound.com
PE
I'm stoked about it. Although, the first beta round is supposed to be intentionally terrible, buggy, and feature poor. They said it would be "short" and the second round would be feature rich, but they tend to be slower and less scheduled than many other developers.
How long has this thing been in development? I'd expect a fully featured release by now. If this thing comes out in a poor incomplete state, I'll be a little "WTF."
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 04, 2013, 06:50:01 AM
How long has this thing been in development? I'd expect a fully featured release by now. If this thing comes out in a poor incomplete state, I'll be a little "WTF."
From all the LPs showing up from YouTube, it looks to be in very playable shape.
PE
Appreciate the trailer PE....not one I have any interest in but to each his own.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on December 04, 2013, 06:50:01 AM
How long has this thing been in development? I'd expect a fully featured release by now. If this thing comes out in a poor incomplete state, I'll be a little "WTF."
The current "release" is just phase one of beta. They said that would be short and we would get a fully featured beta (round 2) soon, but with no main quest. Then they will release beta three, with the quest system online.
Starbound is finally getting its first major update in months! Check out the blog post and trailer (http://playstarbound.com/winter-update-trailer-is-here/). It looks amazing. Apparently the update will go into the testing branch imminently, with the hope that it hits the stable release in January. I will definitely go back for this. I enjoyed what I played of it last year but deliberately stopped playing until they add more content...looks like they've delivered!
Thanks for providing the update, Huw. I bought this months ago and have not played it in a while, knowing they intended to do some major updating to it. I figured I'd bury it and eventually it might turn into a gem. :)
My son loves this game and he was telling me about an update earlier. Hope it's a good one.
The update will be released today! Check the changelog! (http://steamcommunity.com/games/211820/announcements/detail/159085165359951726)
I've been hoping to play it this evening (UK) but it looks unlikely now as they're having some last-minute problems getting the stable build on Steam, but as soon as I get home from work tomorrow I'll be downloading it and sending wife/kids straight to bed. :D
Looks good. I'm impressed the devs have continued to support this for so long. I tried the 'unstable' version a month or so ago and liked what they did with the content, so this update should make things even more impressive.
What has changed for someone who played, say, 6 months ago?
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From my perspective, and I've not played that much/that often, there was a whole lot of nothing to do early in its development. There were a few quests initially but once you were done, it was pretty much an open world/universe for you to travel around in and endlessly mine/gather resources. There wasn't much point to that so it bored me quickly.
Check the changelog that Huw posted to get a good idea of what they've added to it.
Ah I overlooked the link. Sorry! And thanks for pointing it out.
Sounds like it needs a look again. The log does sound promising!
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Ysk if you only played the stable version 6 months ago, you were actually playing the last stable build since it went beta in late 2013, thus a lot has changed. I haven't tried the new version yet (just got in from work) but there's a lot of nice-sounding stuff in that changelog. I particularly like that travel between planets in the same system is now free, i.e. no fuel use. And apparently there's a major hub where you can get quests etc. which should really help to flesh it out. I can't wait to play later!
OK I've logged probably 12 hours or so this weekend so far (don't go by my Steam profile; I usually bypass Steam when I play). Starbound is very much a game now! I'm happy to report that, a couple of issues aside - which I'll mention later - Starbound is in a very good state at last.
There have been some fundamental changes which make it much more of a game. For example, you no longer need fuel for intra-system travel. One of the first tutorial quests has you fix the thrusters on your ship which allows you to travel to any planet in your starting system freely, thus giving you plenty of worlds to explore without ever needing to repair the FTL drive.
The quests lead you up to this nicely. You'll learn how to craft, how to survive and you'll gather some essentials, then off you go. I don't want to spoil too much, but once you can start flying around in your ship the game really opens up. Every planet is unique and has different biomes. If you want to make coffee, for example, you need to find a forest planet and some cocoa beans then stick 'em in a machine. The navigation panel will give you the various statistics of each planet you select, making it pretty easy to locate (roughly) what you need.
When down on a planet, you use your matter manipulator to dig and mine. You can craft dedicated tools like pickaxes but I find they're best used for quickly digging deeply, because they wear out so often you're constantly using ore to make more. There's a definite progression in tools and tech; first you'll be using easily-obtainable copper ore to make tools, then you'll progress through the ores to make much better stuff. It won't be long before you make your first set of armour which really makes a difference in the early stages.
You start the game with a "flashlight" which is extremely useful, but it's easy to craft armloads of torches which you'll be placing regularly as you explore. Speaking of exploration, there's loads to discover...caves, abandoned outposts, mines, etc. You can find some useful stuff in the abandoned outposts, as well as much-needed shelter. Also, as long as you have an unobstructed view of the sky, you can beam back to your ship at any time. The ship has a storage locker and enough room for you to store a couple of chests and various other things.
I'll write more later - there's loads more I could tell you - but suffice to say Starbound is finally the game I want it to be. There's an enormous amount to do; after the 12 or so hours I've played this weekend I have just barely scratched the surface. I know from reading forums that there's so much more to discover yet, and I believe there's some kind of persistence to the universe too. It's only £12 and has tons of gaming; I strongly recommend it, and if you already have it, now is definitely the time to take another look.
Oh, I'll mention those issues quickly. It seems that some configurations of hardware will result in occasional framerate drops. It hit me hard the first couple of times I played but there have already been two sizeable updates to the game since the mega update, and it's much better than it was. Hopefully you won't be affected at all. Also, and this is specific to Linux, many of us are having problems launching the game from within Steam. We're using workarounds at the moment, which don't affect the game at all, luckily.
Thanks for the update, Huw! Going to take a look.
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Huw, you mentioned pickaxes, but I think they did away with those in the update before this recent one. The matter manipulators can be upgraded, though you need precious metals to do so.
Speaking of "precious" metals...what's your experience with that, Huw? I'll be damned if I can find any metals. I can find PLENTY of coal but I've tried two games and in each one, I dig and dig and dig and frikkin' dig and find ONLY coal. No copper, no iron, nothing... ???
Quote from: Banzai_Cat on February 02, 2015, 09:10:54 AM
Huw, you mentioned pickaxes, but I think they did away with those in the update before this recent one. The matter manipulators can be upgraded, though you need precious metals to do so.
Speaking of "precious" metals...what's your experience with that, Huw? I'll be damned if I can find any metals. I can find PLENTY of coal but I've tried two games and in each one, I dig and dig and dig and frikkin' dig and find ONLY coal. No copper, no iron, nothing... ???
Big +1. Can't even find copper...
Kind of sucks since that's a quest early on, requiring loads of copper.
No, pickaxes are definitely in, I've crafted a few. However I think they removed the copper tier of tools, so the first pickaxe you can craft is iron.
I haven't had a great deal of trouble finding ores but you do have to dig around a fair bit. If all else fails, try digging around the perimeter of a cave; you nearly always find ores there in my experience. And don't forget to plant torches as you go; their radius of light will show up ores in the rock/dirt that you haven't dug.
If that fails, try running across the surface of the planet until you (hopefully) find some kind of abandoned settlement. They have all sorts of low-tier loot in their containers, so you may well find some copper there.
I've been playing this like a bugger. Finished all the available NPC quests and have a full set of steel armour and some very decent weapons, and now I have my first "mission", which I know from reading forums involves a mini-dungeon run and a big ol' boss at the end. There have been a lot of complaints that the boss is really tough to beat and there are no checkpoints so I'm a bit wary, but I shall be attempting it tonight!
Cool stuff! I have updated the game as well, so I'll be taking a look as well over the coming days, but CMBS is a strong contender for grabbing my time atm. :D
Actually copper pickaxes are in - I know because I just found one. :)
Just had my first stab at the mini-dungeon. The dungeon itself isn't difficult at all, at least with the weapons and armour I have, but unfortunately I died at the boss fight because I mistimed a jump and took too much fall damage. I have the double-jump tech too; I should've tried using it just before I hit the ground. Oh well.
it looks like most of the mobs in the dungeon can be bypassed so I'll have another crack at it soon. People are complaining about having to run the whole thing again when they get killed by the boss, but I dunno, I reckon you can run the whole dungeon in two minutes if you bypass all the mobs. I'm feeling pretty confident about my next attempt. After this, I'm pretty sure I'll be free to visit other systems. :)
Another huge update! (http://playstarbound.com/april-21st-stable-update-notes/)
This one adds some really nice stuff, like teleporters. Handily, there's now a teleporter at each system's outpost for easy access, and also teleporters at the beginning of dungeons which should please a lot of people. I'm going to have to play this again.
My daughter is delighted at this news! O0
Quote from: Boggit on April 21, 2015, 12:47:14 PM
My daughter is delighted at this news! O0
I assume the addition of pets is the best part of it for her? :)
Quote from: Huw the Poo on April 21, 2015, 02:28:19 PM
Quote from: Boggit on April 21, 2015, 12:47:14 PM
My daughter is delighted at this news! O0
I assume the addition of pets is the best part of it for her? :)
Pets and the teleporters! ::)
The next stable update has arrived! (http://playstarbound.com/stable-pleased-giraffe-is-here/#more-3670)
QuoteMajor changes
Colony System
Colonize your worlds! Create a home, decorate it nicely, then place a Colony Deed to attract a tenant!
The type of NPC who moves in will depend on the type and quality of the home's furniture and decorations. Decorating a room with several objects from the same theme (such as a biome or material tier) will attract a tenant themed to match!
Keep your tenants happy and they'll periodically offer you gifts, some cosmetic and some very useful
New Outpost Store: Frögg Furnishings
Sells Colony Deeds as well as a variety of furniture in many themes
The set of specialty furniture available will rotate each (out of game) day, so make sure you keep coming back to see the full selection
Each furniture set can be used to attract a particular tenant that fits its theme
Improvements to NPCs
NPCs will now interact with each other and with many different objects in the world. Depending on their personalities they might get sad, excited, fall in love or do all kinds of different things in different situations!
See who your tenants are and what they're thinking! (press Alt to activate)
Added many unique NPC dialogue options and updated some old ones
Further improved NPC movement and pathfinding
NPCs now switch between ranged and melee weapons in combat depending on their available energy, range, and whether they can reach the player
Groups of NPCs now coordinate in combat to attack from different positions and divide themselves between ranged and melee
Surface Biomes and Sub-Biomes (Tiers 1 – 4)
Major visual improvements to background parallaxes
All biomes have several types of unique critters (60+)
Added a huge number of biome-specific microdungeons (450+)
Added many new biome-specific cosmetic armors and other items
Randomly generated monsters will now have color palettes that generally match the biome they spawn in
Universe and Planet Generation
Redesigned terrain to be more interesting and varied across all world types
Reduced the number of open caves on the surface, improved cave blending
Greatly increased the number of dungeons that can spawn on worlds and prevented dungeons from overlapping each other
Added ores in the background layer
Improved the appearance of planets in the navigation screen to better indicate the biome and surface liquid, added some visual variety to gas giants
Challenge Rooms
You can now find portals underground that lead to small instanced challenges. Defeat enemies, navigate dangerous traps or solve puzzles to earn great rewards!
Challenge portals disappear shortly after you enter, so you won't be able to enter through the same portal twice.
Inventory and Merchants
You can now sell items to most merchants for a portion of their value
Added an ore merchant to the Outpost where you can purchase raw materials at an inflated price
Added a third inventory tab for objects (similar to the materials tab)
Added a sort button to the inventory window to sort items into their appropriate tabs
Items will not be automatically picked up into the hotbar and materials and objects won't be automatically picked up when their respective tabs are full
Added an indicator to inventory tabs when they contain new items
Added an animation to highlight newly picked up items when switching to a tab
Tools and Interface
Wire and Paint tools are now unlockable modes for the Matter Manipulator and have clearer icons to indicate their functions
Inspection tool can now examine liquids, indicates when something is too dark to inspect, and doesn't try to describe entities (such as monsters) that have no description set
Targeting will now prioritize monsters and NPCs at the cursor position, and won't target passive monsters such as critters
Combat Changes (WIP)
Rebalanced all damage and armor values for players, NPCs and monsters
Reduced the damage per level increase of weapons and added a bonus damage stat on all tiered armors, allowing weapons to stay viable for longer
All randomly generated melee weapons have fancy new sprites
Reworked monster skills and added a windup animation. These will be further expanded and rebalanced in the next update.
Reworked weapon projectiles, increased bullet speed, added elemental damage types. These will be further expanded in the next update.
Progression Changes
Reworked the materials used for crafting progression, greatly reducing the total amount of ore required to advance through the game
Added various upgrade items which can be found throughout the world or acquired from quests, either whole or in pieces
Tech Card – can be crafted from Tech Chips, used to unlock new tech
Manipulator Module – can be crafted from Matter Module Components, used to improve your Matter Manipulator
Upgrade Module – used to improve utility items such as light packs
Improved many progression quests, but these will change much more in the future
Farming Changes
Crops now require water to grow! Tilled soil will initially be dry and needs to be moistened by a watering can, rain, or by dropping water on it
At each stage of a crop's growth, it will consume the soil's moisture and need to be watered again to progress further
Keeping crops under too much water for too long will cause them to be washed away, so be gentle!
And More!
200+ new objects and materials that can be bought, crafted or found in the world
Many changes to the Floran mission – Including a new boss
Improved chest loot and added improved graphics for standard and weapon chests
Added multiple upgrades for the lantern stick back item to improve its brightness
Racial flags can now be bookmarked as teleport destinations (but won't enable you to teleport from underground)
Added particles and sounds to smashable objects and made many more objects (such as bushes and spikes) smashable
Reworked Status Pods to have more interesting and useful effects, including a chance to spawn ore or pixels
Added underground vines and more underground variety to several surface biomes
Experimental feature that shows NPC 'status' on occasion
Minor changes
New characters will once again start on randomized worlds instead of sharing a single starter world!
Weather effects deposit snow and sand on tiles where appropriate
Ocean liquids become finite when enclosed by background blocks, and removing background blocks under the ocean will let the liquid in
Codexes will be automatically opened when learned
Environmental protection techs include protection from lower tier hazards and will be automatically equipped when learned
Flash breath bar when drowning
Sort recipes in crafting interface
Various performance improvements
Renamed 'moon' biome to 'airless' to avoid confusion among the astronomically knowledgeable
Added a shipyard to the Outpost, which will be used to purchase additional ship upgrades in the future
Fixed a bug causing monsters to spawn in player-built structures underground
Fixed several bugs related to weapons and monster attacks across the world wrap line
Fixed a bug causing NPC weapons to be rerolled when unequipped
Fixed a bug causing dungeon NPCs to spawn partially underground
Fixed a bug causing players to be stuck firing after respawn
Fixed a bug causing pets to eat whole stacks of food on the ground
Fixed a bug causing UI sound volume to be reduced too far by SFX slider
Lots of other balance and bug fixes
Phwoar, eh?
I was just playing this a week or so ago...the game intrigues me, but it is pretty boring after a while. I never run into people or structures in any of the games I've started so I keep thinking I'm doing it wrong.
Started watching the trailers on Steam when I saw this is a side-scrolling game. Unfortunately, I have a inexplicable dislike for those games, just can't get into any of them.
Starbound is approaching 1.0 at last! (http://playstarbound.com/final-approach-to-1-0/)
Just look at that list of features. I can't believe how much the dev has crammed into each major update. This game is going to absolutely piss over Terraria (to my mind it does already). I hope a lot of people buy in at 1.0, the devs deserve a lot of success.
During a recent discussion on Reddit, one of the devs said they were hoping to release 1.0 by the end of July. I'm very excited; I've been holding back because I only want to play stable builds, and I know I've been missing out on all the fun features that have been added to the game. I'm hoping this one will keep me occupied for a long time. :)
I've had this one on my watch list for a long time. Looks like this year's sale will be my time to jump in and check the waters
I am re-aquainting myself with the game as we speak.
If there is any interest for it, I could even run a dedicated server for us Grogheads once 1.0 releases. C:-)
Pretty damn' good! O0
So, with the release out for a few weeks. What are your thoughts?
My son loves it. I have it but haven't installed it on this new rig of mine yet; I put in 34 hours with it on my old PC though. I'm installing it now to try later...my son told me I need to try it, it's greatly improved.
I enjoyed it over the weekend. Put more time into it than I ever did and made some real progress. It's an enjoyable game.