Starbound Beta release (4th december)

[Sarudak]

Maybe it just seems so completely obvious to me because of all the BTW I've played...

[kregoth]

Recent patch notes: Anyone else pissed at this?

You can now turn 10 unrefined wood into coal in the furnace

I liked being stuck on a planet because i've used all my coal for Steel bars, damnit stop making it easy! whats the point of a planet if I never am going to be stuck there?

[FlowerChild]

You could burn wood as fuel for your spaceship before Kregoth, so while I agree with what your saying, it wasn't gameplay previously either :)

[finite8]

Recent patch notes: Anyone else pissed at this?

You can now turn 10 unrefined wood into coal in the furnace

I liked being stuck on a planet because i've used all my coal for Steel bars, damnit stop making it easy! whats the point of a planet if I never am going to be stuck there?

This hasn't really given me any benefits. The world i started on is scarce of both Trees and mine-able minerals. Shepard (gotta be a red head) is having a bit of a hard time getting prepped for an interstellar journey.

[kregoth]

You could burn wood as fuel for your spaceship before Kregoth, so while I agree with what your saying, it wasn't gameplay previously either :)

Its more of an annoyance because they keep making it easier for me to not care about planets, I'd rather have each one really provide more than just being a place for resources. It a bit early to tell the direction they are taking this game, but it just the same thing i did in Terraria. :( was hoping for more new things that aren't terraria.

Gather minerals and ore, make better armor and weapons, than kill boss, rinse and repeat!

[FlowerChild]

Its more of an annoyance because they keep making it easier for me to not care about planets

Yes, but again, while I agree with what you're saying in theory, the change you're talking about doesn't actually affect it.

[finite8]

Its more of an annoyance because they keep making it easier for me to not care about planets, I'd rather have each one really provide more than just being a place for resources. It a bit early to tell the direction they are taking this game, but it just the same thing i did in Terraria. :( was hoping for more new things that aren't terraria.

Gather minerals and ore, make better armor and weapons, than kill boss, rinse and repeat!

Yeah, I'm kinda hoping they do more than guide players towards putting all their crafting stuff on their ship. I'm hoping they do something that forces you to have to build infrastructure on a planet to progress or something. What i liked doing in terraria is creating a kind of pipe network with lava and water but all you could do with it is make obsidian. I'm really wanting them to take the Sci-Fi element and really go with encouraging players to craft elaborate designs with a purpose (thats why we love BTW isn't it?).

[kregoth]

Its more of an annoyance because they keep making it easier for me to not care about planets

Yes, but again, while I agree with what you're saying in theory, the change you're talking about doesn't actually affect it.

Oh I know that, I was referring to my own game as I had a hell of a time getting off that planet (until this last update) it made the planet challenging.

Also I been having a rough past few months, sorry if I seem overly negative and harsh :(

[FlowerChild]

Oh I know that, I was referring to my own game as I had a hell of a time getting off that planet (until this last update) it made the planet challenging.

Also I been having a rough past few months, sorry if I seem overly negative and harsh :(

Not at all man. It's good to see you active again :)

I've just got a running thing going with the accuracy (or non) of statements on the forums as of late, especially now that I'm modding KSP some. There's a ton of myths going around about that game, and I'm probably being particularly anal about it as a result.

[Nazara]

As someone who hangs about in their IRC a lot and gets to see a great deal of dev chat about changes and plans, Tiy_ didn't cave to any whining or popular opinion about the leveling system or changes that were made to armor and weapon balance. He straight up said he hated it now that he got to see it in full swing. It wasn't as intuitive and elegant as he wanted, and it made balancing a nightmare across 100 levels of gameplay.

He has never struck me as the sort of man that let whiners and detractors sway him, and he seems to be as openly antagonistic to those parts of his user-base as Mollygos, the PR manager, will allow him to be (She has to restrain herself a great deal, as well, what with all the creepers and horny wierdos being lewd and unsavory to her constantly in streams and emails).

Edit: Ah, almost forgot. When you have a chance, take a look around the assets for some glimpses at things they have in the works. As I understand it, they have an entire logic wiring system for some manner of mechanical automation and trap management in place, just not implemented at the moment.

Oh, and if you think surviving on a snow planet is super easy now, get yourself up to the asteroid fields in orbit high up. Full snow gear and campfires are just barely enough to keep you from freezing to death in a matter of 5 seconds. Word is acid rain is on the way for toxic and volcanic biomes, as well as gravity and heat as soon as they get things a little more stable.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah...I'm sure they're lovely people, but I don't see how that's relevant to this conversation.

I'm simply observing what I'm seeing from play, and I see the game design getting dumbed down and made easier in response to community whining on multiple fronts.

Personally, I'll trust my own observations about gameplay over a second hand account of someone's character any day.

[murillokb]

Hm people keep swimming against the flow with the "planets being disposable" thing.

It's not Terraria or Minecraft guys. It's a game about exploring hundreds of planets. And you need to explore to get to the point where you can afford to have a home.

If you can't leave your "comfort planet" it's just not the game for you.

[FlowerChild]

I think I'm going to make being a fan boy a bannable offense.

[murillokb]

I'm just being a normal forum member. That's what people say to the ones who whine about BTW. We say "you are thinking wrong" or "this game is not for you" i don't see the harm here.

[Gilberreke]

I'm just being a normal forum member. That's what people say to the ones who whine about BTW. We say "you are thinking wrong" or "this game is not for you" i don't see the harm here.

I don't think he was talking to you :p

[FlowerChild]

I don't think he was talking to you :p

Yeah, I was, and to the other guy too :)

I'm just being a normal forum member. That's what people say to the ones who whine about BTW. We say "you are thinking wrong" or "this game is not for you" i don't see the harm here.

Uh huh. Hence why you were getting aggressive previously and making sarcastic remarks about how I was describing BTW's design. Also: these aren't the Starbound forums. In fact, I wouldn't want to post an honest evaluation of how I perceive the game to be over there, because the onslaught of these kinds of reactions that I inevitably get when I do stuff like that is exceedingly tiresome. No actual counter argument involved, just dismissal.

Seems we can't discuss other games on these forums without someone getting their panties in a bunch, and feeling they need to go all fan-boy defensive without actually making a point other than "I LIKE! STOP BEING NEGATIVE ABOUT WHAT I LIKE!". Same thing happened with KSP last time. Not sure if dude's month long vacation is over yet for that one, but I think I'm just going to start perma-banning as it feels incredibly annoying when this happens.

If you have positive points to make that counter our own, by all means, make them. If you just can't stand anything negative being said about your precious, then I suggest you keep that to yourself.

To make something clear: I like Starbound. I've made many positive statements about the things I like about it in this thread. However, that in no way means I should put blinders on about what I see as its design issues.

[murillokb]

I always have this feeling that you are missing my point

Sorry if i can't make my point clear and this makes me look like an aggressive sarcastic fan boy.

I don't get it why i am almost being punished.

I don't know if it's because of my English, if my posts are lacking something more substantial or if i'm a blind fan boy who can't see why it is so bad not to be encouraged to build a base in early game... again, not being sarcastic here.

[FlowerChild]

It's not a language thing man. My point is that you aren't actually making a point :)

So far, this thread has largely consisted of people making observations about their gameplay experiences, and what they feel works well and what doesn't.

You pop in with what amounts to "if you don't like it, don't play it". You are also trying to justify that with how people talk about BTW on these forums, when how we talk about other games on these forums is obviously a very different thing.

Not sure how to take that other than to think "ok, here's a fan boy that just doesn't like to hear anything negative about his precious".

Nobody is slamming the game or its creators. In fact, it sounds like most people here, myself included, really like it, but are expressing concern about how some of it will turn out based on current trends. We're not even doing that on the official forums, but rather here, within this heavily moderated context in which we feel comfortable speaking our minds about these things.

Can you thus see why I'd take offense at someone saying what boils down to "put up or shut up"? Again man, I get enough of that when I make the mistake of posting these kinds of observations on the official boards for other games. I see no reason why I'd put up with it here.

[kregoth]

There are several design falls in this game so far, it can change I get that.... but right now the game is not enjoyable.

The problem with the current trend that the team is doing is that they are devaluing the gameplay of majority of their game. The Armor pen did 1 thing right, made you explore worlds and search more. It help gate the player and give more attainable goals, like a level 10 jungle was far better than a level 1 jungle.. It diversified more of the random generation.... now it generate whatever the fuck you want and it doesn't make a damn bit of a difference.

The other problem now is the game is too fast as well, you can see almost all of the current content. You can increase gameplay longevity in players by slowing them down on what they can generate, that level 10 planet with a base isn't possible until you got the right equipment, but you better believe they will work for it!

So yes the game is going down the route of "Do what the community wants, even though 90% are morons" I don't want that at all for this game.

[FlowerChild]

Yup agreed, I played with the new release the other night and the "sameified" ratings on all the planets in a sector in combination with the new easier ore generation really takes away from the motivation to go explore other ones, at least in alpha sector. The higher resolution of threat level in the past gave more of the impression that you were visiting different (and potentially more dangerous) locations in the individual sector.

I basically went through all of alpha tech, plopped down my distress beacon, then left for beta sector, all from my starting planet. On the bright side, this meant I developed my base there a bit more than I might have otherwise. On the down side, I just tore the whole thing down when I went on to beta and now have my entire base/closet floating in orbit.

Now granted, I only have experience with the one planet in the new release as a result, but man, ore is much MUCH easier to come by now.

Oh, and I also played with farming a bit whereas previously I had only been eating meat. Makes things rather trivially easy IMO, especially since my character started with some wheat seeds in their inv, which as far as I can tell, is all you ever really need.

[Gilberreke]

I was thinking about giving this a try. Should I wait a bit more until it settles?

[WeedFather]

From what I can tell, if you have to ask yourself if you really want to buy it or not, I would suggest not buying it yet, unless you really want to support its development, and feel optimistic about its future and your enjoyment of the game. Otherwise, I would see where this goes, first.

Me personally, I'm trying to resist temptation, and wait until the Closed Beta ends, when there will hopefully be no character wipes.

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, I'd say wait. It's not really valuable except as a design study right now, and I honestly wouldn't place any bets on how it's going to turn out given the last couple of updates.

[Gilberreke]

Yeah, I'd say wait. It's not really valuable except as a design study right now, and I honestly wouldn't place any bets on how it's going to turn out given the last couple of updates.

Ah, yeah, the design study part is what I was thinking. I'm not planning on a voxel or MC-like game anyway. I didn't particularly enjoy Terraria either, so I'll pass then.

I can always get it later :)

[murillokb]

I've create a new character last weekend and played for about 7 hours. Found out that Florans can craft a tier IV armor at tier II and it only costs steel and Matter Blocks (those are a bit hard to find but you don't need too much of it) and this made the second boss a piece of cake :P

Managed to get to the Gama sector and kill the third boss.

It's all too easy.

Desert planets are completely unbalanced. You just need to dig down on the sand and all the ores just fall on your head. I've got over 200 iron ores in a feel minutes.

Gold is everywhere and diamonds too. Titanium is all over the Gama sector and only Platinum seems to be hard to find ATM

Also at first i thought that 10 wood for 1 coal was too expensive, then i've spent 10~20 minutes chopping wood like a mad man and got 2 stacks of wood (1k each) and found out that it's cheap as candy

I haven't found a single gun yet...

Yeah, the guys at chucklefish have lots balance to do and I'm hopping that the "mode" thing means something in the lines of easy/hard mode and not easy/easy roguelike mode