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[HaRyu]

When I try to join the GAF server it just fails every time, am I doing something wrong? I quoted the OP and inserted the info at the top.

Yeah, I just checked and I'm unable to connect. Server might be having an issue at the moment.

Finally an issue. Was worried there for a moment.

Just checked, computer seems to be "on", but I'm not getting any video. There was a Win10 update recently, maybe it finally decided to install the thing.

Anyway, rebooting now, should be up in a few.

EDIT: Wait, scratch that, lots of updates apparently. I'll post when its all over.

EDIT: Ooops, forgot to say its up (and its been up for a few hours) >_<

 

[Mobius and pet octopus]

Any news on updates? Blog seems silent lately.

 

[Purkake4]

Any news on updates? Blog seems silent lately.

You're right, used to be daily updates. Maybe Molly's on vacation?

 

[Mengy]

So I’ve been playing a lot of Starbound lately, and I’m really enjoying myself. I have a very rickshod main base made of dirt on my spawn planet but it is only temporary. I’m gradually progressing my way through the main story progression while I’m also hunting for a super scenic ideal planet to build my super main base on. Somewhere I can build like crazy while having a view to kill for too.

I found one planet that had a biome with prisms all over that actually refracted light and such, that was awesome. So far it’s my prime candidate for my base but the background view wasn’t anything special, I’d like to have a planet or two orbiting up in the sky! Also found a planet with a biome of flesh and eyeballs, WTF. Found another planet that seems to always be raining poison acid rain, can’t even explore it safely (yet?).

Currently I’m mining durasteel to build all of the new stations I can make now, already have durasteel armor and some pretty good gear to handle dangerous and even extreme worlds.

 

[Icefire1424]

While I'm thinking of it, is there any ways to craft the materials needed to upgrade many of the work stations to level 3 (the ones that require durasteel)? The durasteel I have, but don't have any copper wire, or batteries, other than what I've found from drops. Are those even craftable items?

 

[Retro]

While I'm thinking of it, is there any ways to craft the materials needed to upgrade many of the work stations to level 3 (the ones that require durasteel)? The durasteel I have, but don't have any copper wire, or batteries, other than what I've found from drops. Are those even craftable items?

Batteries and copper wire are crafted at the Atomic Furnace (Tier 3 furnace, requires 7 Durasteel, 2 Gold, 20 Glass and 10 volatile powder).

 

[Icefire1424]

Batteries and copper wire are crafted at the Atomic Furnace (Tier 3 furnace, requires 7 Durasteel, 2 Gold, 20 Glass and 10 volatile powder).

I have all of those. You're my hero.

/bows.

 

[Supernorn]

Any news on updates? Blog seems silent lately.

Our 1.1 content update is approaching imminently. Expect an update on the blog very soon!

 

[Icefire1424]

Our 1.1 content update is approaching imminently. Expect an update on the blog very soon!

Ah cool, we have a Chucklefish artist among us!

 

[IceMarker]

Our 1.1 content update is approaching imminently. Expect an update on the blog very soon!

Nice to hear, I'm looking to start a fresh run once the update pushes through!

 

[Supernorn]

http://playstarbound.com/starbound-1-1-changelog/

Hey, everyone! It&#8217;s patch day!

Version 1.1 is our first content patch since the full release of Starbound &#8212; we&#8217;ve added a fishing game, item collections, Novakid villages and more! Check the changelog below for a list of major/minor changes and bug fixes, and then go relocate some Fluffalo!

MAJOR CHANGES

Fishing

- Two tiers of fishing rods are now craftable from the Foraging Table and can be used to fish on ocean planets (including arctic, toxic and magma oceans)
- Added 48 unique fish types to catch
- Rare fish can give valuable rewards, including reel and lure upgrades to enhance your fishing rod

Collections

-New Collections interface tracks various kinds of collectables including captured pets, figurines, fish, cooking recipes, fossils, and bugs

- Added the Relocator tool, which allows non-hostile creatures such as critters, fish, bugs, and farm animals to be moved

- Added friendly Novakid villages including a variety of new Novakid-themed furniture and objects

MINOR CHANGES & BUG FIXES

- Saloon furniture previously sold at Frogg Furnishings is now available in Novakid villages, and has been replaced with the Pastel set (which has its own unique tenant)
- Novakids can now be generic tenants or guards
- Added Novakid NPC dialogue
- Implemented party chat and local (planet) chat
- Acid rain now applies poison instead of direct damage
- Console objects are now available as themed tenant rewards
- Added option for &#8220;borderless window&#8221; style fullscreen mode
- Improved sound effects for Staff abilities
- Improved sound effects for several unique boss weapons
- Adjusted which bugs appear in Midnight, Mutated and Giant Flower biomes
- Shockhopper Mk I and Dreadwing now have a chance to drop their respective action figures
- Mother Poptops on starter worlds now drop enough Core Fragments to complete the initial gate quest
- Added chance for Snuffish to appear in ocean biomes
- Kelp now unlocks the Rice Cake cooking recipe when picked up
- Reduced moon threat level from 10 to 1
- Fixed a bug causing merchants to offer material items for free (which made them impossible to purchase)
- Fixed several armor descriptions that didn&#8217;t fit within their tooltips
- Fixed a bug causing fireworks to deal large amounts of damage
- Fixed birds and other monsters spawning in the atmosphere and asteroid layers of moons
- Made several NPC-like monsters uncapturable
- Fixed monsters getting stuck outside arena in final arena side quest
- Fixed friendly NPCs and monsters being damaged by environmental effects such as traps
- Fixed a few edge cases in pathfinding
- Fixed several items displaying erroneous recipe unlocks when obtained
- Fixed a bug causing underwater audio filters to continue after quitting to title
- Fixed several cases of incorrect cursors displaying over GUI elements
- Fixed a bug in LoS calculation determining whether the player can reach objects
- Fixed a bug causing Dreadwing&#8217;s UFO to visually flip
- Fixed a bug causing boats to oscillate at the surface of water
- Fixed a bug causing physics AoE effects to move projectiles
- Wire Mode overlay is now hidden on protected tiles
- Lots of typographical/grammatical text fixes

 

[Icefire1424]

Thanks for the heads up, looking forward to this.

Dammit, that fishing game will be the death of me.

 

[Blizzard]

http://playstarbound.com/starbound-1-1-changelog/

Hey, everyone! It’s patch day!

Version 1.1 is our first content patch since the full release of Starbound — we’ve added a fishing game, item collections, Novakid villages and more! Check the changelog below for a list of major/minor changes and bug fixes, and then go relocate some Fluffalo!

Sounds neat! Any chance of a future patch including the fan mod that moves GUIs out of the way when they open?

 

[Spyware]

Fishing and Novakid love, thanks so much!

Too busy caring for a puppy to play much atm, but this update will bring me back very soon

 

[IceMarker]

Definitely looking forward to running into my first Novakid village!

 

[Morokh]

Wanted to check out the new update but it seems my Starbound is considered uninstalled by Steam while the files are still there.

What files should I save in case of trouble to be able to get my save back in case something goes wrong when I install it again ?

 

[HaRyu]

Wanted to check out the new update but it seems my Starbound is considered uninstalled by Steam while the files are still there.

What files should I save in case of trouble to be able to get my save back in case something goes wrong when I install it again ?

Just the save folder. TBH forgot the exact name of the folder, but the one that holds the UNIVERSE and PLAYER data folder. Copy it to your desktop. Reinstall game, it shouldn't overwrite the save folder, but you'll be fine since you made the copy.

 

[Morokh]

Just the save folder. TBH forgot the exact name of the folder, but the one that holds the UNIVERSE and PLAYER data folder. Copy it to your desktop. Reinstall game, it shouldn't overwrite the save folder, but you'll be fine since you made the copy.

Ty for the answer.

Turns out it was just the update that didn't finish downloading cause my computer crashed.

 

[Harmondale]

Any news for a possible ps vita version? Looks more fun than Terraria tbh

 

[Retro]

New Update to Unstable means a new stable build is right around the corner;
http://playstarbound.com/starbound-1-2-unstable/

Highlights:
- Terraforming
- Elemental Damage / Weakness system
- Randomized dungeons (with randomized bosses) set after the main storyline.
- Weapon Upgrades

 

[Supernorn]

Hey guys! We've just launched our new update to stable!

Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru5Mh7_IxuE

1.2 – VAULT UPDATE

Hello! Many thanks for everyone who helped us out by playing 1.2 on the unstable branch and provided feedback or bug reports. Starbound 1.2 – Vault Update is here! Check out the trailer above to get the gist of what’s been added in 1.2, or check the patch notes below for a more in-depth list. Or both, even! Follow your heart! Either way, please enjoy the last big Starbound update of the year.

MAJOR CHANGES

Ancient Vaults
Players who have completed the main storyline can visit a mysterious trader on the Outpost who will send them on a quest to activate and enter the Ancient Gateways found floating in some systems
These gateways provide access to Ancient Vaults: challenging procedural dungeons left by the ancients, filled with dangerous guardians (including procedural bosses!) and fantastic lost technologies

Terraforming
Using powerful devices acquired from the Ancient Vaults along with a new Essence currency, you can now transform regions or whole planets into entirely different biomes
Terraformers can be used to expand a region across a planet’s surface, replacing natural blocks, objects and plant life, and eventually changing the type of the planet itself
Microformers are consumable single-use terraformers which provide even more region types to add to your worlds

Weapon Upgrades
Use the ancient anvil available at the end of Ancient Vaults and spend Essence to upgrade your outdated legendary weapons, opening up many new options for endgame combat styles

Elemental Damage
Monsters now have resistance and weakness to elemental damage types, making your choice of weapons more important than ever
Holiday Spirit!
Celebrate the holidays with the variety of festive items bought from Space Santa at the Outpost!

MINOR CHANGES / BUG FIXES

• Holding the activation key while in a distortion sphere tech will force deactivation, to avoid being permanently stuck in small spaces

• Contain tooltips within the game window when they’re near the edge

• Fix a bug with monster kill sounds not playing correctly

• Several bug fixes to monster/NPC behaviors and pathfinding

• Various typo and asset fixes

• Add appropriate “bushes” to the Rust biome

• Update SDL2 to 2.0.5, should fix some fullscreen issues

• Fix some security vulnerabilities in server packet handling

• Fixed an issue where crew would duplicate

• Fix a player inventory networking issue

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS

• Improve generation time of older, image-based dungeons

• Other minor improvements to dungeon and world generation

• Use larger texture atlases on graphics cards that support them

• Various optimizations to monster/NPC scripts

• Improve loading speed for dungeon worlds

Full Changelog

 

[IceMarker]

Cool, I always love new endgame content!

 

[Retro]

Hey guys! We've just launched our new update to stable!

Trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru5Mh7_IxuE

Very nice, been waiting for the next update to start playing again. Burned myself out something fierce before 1.0 hit and after the universe reset and building the GAF Homeworld, I just didn't have the spark to keep going. So this is good timing.

Any hints as to what you guys are aiming for in the future?

 

[Supernorn]

Any hints as to what you guys are aiming for in the future?

We have a very exciting idea for the next update that i think will make people happy, but we won't start planning it out until the new year at this point.

 

[Retro]

Since the 1.2 Update, I decided to start a new character / universe and focus on finishing the story (which I hadn't done before, I burned out from a combination of pre-release play and building the GAF base). Making a point to not get bogged down in big building projects but make small little camps on all of the planets I visit.

Reached a point where I was sick of lugging stuff around in my ship and decided to make a "small" base;

Haven't added the farming area (that'll be across the bridge), but the crafting and storage area is all there. I'm also making it a point to not use admin commands / mods to spawn decorative stuff, instead trying to plop stuff down as I come across it as a sort of record of where I've been (I did spawn SOME stuff though, like the Protectorate Banners).

We have a very exciting idea for the next update that i think will make people happy, but we won't start planning it out until the new year at this point.

Excellent, with the core game in really good shape (moreso now with the extra endgame content), I'm looking forward to the stuff you guys came up with but couldn't implement in time for launch. I bet there's a list as long as my arm of "oh, it'd be neat ifs."

Take your time, people who are onboard with Starbound are prepared to wait a little for something good.

 

[Icefire1424]

"Small base", he says...lol.

I wish I could pull off something like that. Looks amazing man.

 

[VandalD]

Need to try out this update at some point. It looks good. So many other things are pulling me away though.

 

[Easy_D]

Wow, the latest update made the Outpost a little less trash, now it's 30-40 instead of 28-30 and stuttery as balls, that makes me really happy . Quite odd tho since this patch was intended to fix issues that popped up to the last one, but I've had performance issues in the outpost prior to that, no matter the case, I'm glad to see some improvement

 

[VariantX]

Fuuu.... Terraforming is a thing now? All i need is the ability to make flying cities on gas planets...

 

[cyress8]

We have a very exciting idea for the next update that i think will make people happy, but we won't start planning it out until the new year at this point.

Don't forget about Castlevania stairs. Need to make it a little easier to go up and down. I will be extremely happy when you add that.

 

[Ventara]

I asked this in the sale thread as well, but this is probably a better place to ask it.

I bought this game because I like Terraria and wanted more, but I've read a few comments now that it's not as good. I'm not sure if 2 hours is enough for me to get a good feel for this game. I'm mainly looking for the mining/exploration aspect in Terraria, with using the items you find to explore further/easier. I don't really care about combat. A loosely tied together story would be nice, with incentives to explore and build stuff.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Weltall Zero]

I asked this in the sale thread as well, but this is probably a better place to ask it.

I bought this game because I like Terraria and wanted more, but I've read a few comments now that it's not as good. I'm not sure if 2 hours is enough for me to get a good feel for this game. I'm mainly looking for the mining/exploration aspect in Terraria, with using the items you find to explore further/easier. I don't really care about combat. A loosely tied together story would be nice, with incentives to explore and build stuff.

Any help is appreciated.

I can't imagine in what world Terraria is better than Starbound, but you're always going to get opinions in both directions even if you're comparing sliced bread with a can of worms. But if you've already bought the game, what is stopping you from playing and figuring out for yourself which one you like better?

 

[Ventara]

I can't imagine in what world Terraria is better than Starbound, but you're always going to get opinions in both directions even if you're comparing sliced bread with a can of worms. But if you've already bought the game, what is stopping you from playing and figuring out for yourself which one you like better?

I can refund it pretty easily (I bought this game on Steam). I just want to hear some thoughts from fellow gaffers. As I mentioned, what I enjoyed from Terraria was the mining/exploration and finding meaningful things to help you build/explore further, and I just want to know how this aspect compares in Starbound.

 

[Retro]

I can refund it pretty easily (I bought this game on Steam). I just want to hear some thoughts from fellow gaffers. As I mentioned, what I enjoyed from Terraria was the mining/exploration and finding meaningful things to help you build/explore further, and I just want to know how this aspect compares in Starbound.

Alright, let's do this then...
TLDR: Starbound is basically Terraria on Steroids.

World / Exploration:
Terraria gives you one world; once you've dug it all up and found everything, that's it until you start a new one. There's only a handful of biomes (forest, desert, beach, corrupt / crimson, jungle, and snow. Enemies are biome specific.

Starbound gives you a huge number of planets (12 quadrillion, I think?) with a huge variety of biomes and mini-biomes, with procedurally generated plants, animals, enemies, mini-dungeons, NPC villages, loot and so on. When you've explored a planet and dug up all the resources you need, you can just fly off to a different one and see what it's like. There's something like 20 different main biomes and then a ton of mini biomes above and below the surface, so there's a lot more variety. The only limit on your exploration is what tier of survival pack you have (upgraded via combat / agriculture) and how much fuel your ship has. Starbound also has more stuff to find underground, like Fossils (which you can dig up and display), mini-dungeons, NPC villages... there's just a lot more to be surprised by, once you've seen everything in Terraria that's kind of it.

Towns / NPCs
Terraria has a static set of NPCs who just sell you items and generally don't do too much else.

Starbound lets you create colonies full of NPCs who interact, pay you rent, socialize, give you quests, etc. You can get different types of NPCs based on how you decorate the space (rather than just assigning them to rooms), allowing you to unlock rare vendors and such. You also get a spaceship to travel between planets that you can expand by either buying the upgrades outright or hiring a crew.


Building:
Terraria lets you craft and blocks and walls individually, and then paint them with a bunch of paint tools and consumable paint.

Starbound lets you place blocks AND walls with the same tool, in large swaths at once, over a much greater distance, and paint them using the same multi-tool (which also does all of your mining, scanning and liquid harvesting to boot). I think Terraria might have more blocks to build with, but Starbound has a wider variety. Starbound's wiring system is also more advanced, linking objects directly rather than placing consumed wires physically into the world. Personally, I was unable to build in Terraria once I'd gotten used to Starbound's approach.


Loot:
Terraria has static weapons and armor (though you can tweak the stats via an NPC).

Starbound has static loot (crafted) and randomized loot (found / quest rewards), with a lot more classes of weapons and a ton of armor. Both games have a similar vanity / dye system. Dunno where else to mention this, but Starbound also has a bunch of musical instruments that play .abc files (so you can add custom music), and you can sync songs up with other players to jam together. Kinda fun, there's a lot of videos out there of people putting on concerts and stuff for shits and giggles.


Story:
Terraria has no story, unless they added some in the last year or so. There's just a series of bosses to kill to progress.

Starbound has a linear story, with instanced missions, and NPCs will offer you quests as well. There's also a bunch of books / documents to find that flesh out the universe.

Agriculture:
Terraria lets you grow like 5 different flowers in pots to produce potions.

Starbound lets you farm to grow a bunch of different crops to use as ingredients to cook various food items (needed to survive on Normal and Hardcore mode) and raise livestock (some food, but also items you need to explore more planets). Starbound also lets you capture pets (ala Pokemon) and use them in combat. Both games have fishing / bug collecting.

Oh yeah, and Starbound has Steam Workshop support, including a mod (Frackin' Universe) that basically dumps a shitload more content into the game. Modders have even added entirely new races (oh, right, forgot to mention, you can also pick from 6 different races for your character, though it really only affects the name / visuals of the items you can craft and what your ship looks like).

Probably a ton of other stuff I'm forgetting too. If you liked Terraria, chances are you'll like Starbound even more. Terraria has had years to develop a ton of content and I still think Starbound comes out ahead in the end. They're also continuing to develop the game, whereas I think Redigit is making some weird Terraria spin-off (though I can't tell what the difference between Terraria and Terraria: Otherworld is supposed to be other than the visuals).

 

[Ventara]

Alright, let's do this then...
TLDR: Starbound is basically Terraria on Steroids.

World / Exploration:
Terraria gives you one world; once you've dug it all up and found everything, that's it until you start a new one. There's only a handful of biomes (forest, desert, beach, corrupt / crimson, jungle, and snow. Enemies are biome specific.

Starbound gives you a huge number of planets (12 quadrillion, I think?) with a huge variety of biomes and mini-biomes, with procedurally generated plants, animals, enemies, mini-dungeons, NPC villages, loot and so on. When you've explored a planet and dug up all the resources you need, you can just fly off to a different one and see what it's like. There's something like 20 different main biomes and then a ton of mini biomes above and below the surface, so there's a lot more variety. The only limit on your exploration is what tier of survival pack you have (upgraded via combat / agriculture) and how much fuel your ship has. Starbound also has more stuff to find underground, like Fossils (which you can dig up and display), mini-dungeons, NPC villages... there's just a lot more to be surprised by, once you've seen everything in Terraria that's kind of it.

Towns / NPCs
Terraria has a static set of NPCs who just sell you items and generally don't do too much else.

Starbound lets you create colonies full of NPCs who interact, pay you rent, socialize, give you quests, etc. You can get different types of NPCs based on how you decorate the space (rather than just assigning them to rooms), allowing you to unlock rare vendors and such. You also get a spaceship to travel between planets that you can expand by either buying the upgrades outright or hiring a crew.


Building:
Terraria lets you craft and blocks and walls individually, and then paint them with a bunch of paint tools and consumable paint.

Starbound lets you place blocks AND walls with the same tool, in large swaths at once, over a much greater distance, and paint them using the same multi-tool (which also does all of your mining, scanning and liquid harvesting to boot). I think Terraria might have more blocks to build with, but Starbound has a wider variety. Starbound's wiring system is also more advanced, linking objects directly rather than placing consumed wires physically into the world. Personally, I was unable to build in Terraria once I'd gotten used to Starbound's approach.


Loot:
Terraria has static weapons and armor (though you can tweak the stats via an NPC).

Starbound has static loot (crafted) and randomized loot (found / quest rewards), with a lot more classes of weapons and a ton of armor. Both games have a similar vanity / dye system. Dunno where else to mention this, but Starbound also has a bunch of musical instruments that play .abc files (so you can add custom music), and you can sync songs up with other players to jam together. Kinda fun, there's a lot of videos out there of people putting on concerts and stuff for shits and giggles.


Story:
Terraria has no story, unless they added some in the last year or so. There's just a series of bosses to kill to progress.

Starbound has a linear story, with instanced missions, and NPCs will offer you quests as well. There's also a bunch of books / documents to find that flesh out the universe.

Agriculture:
Terraria lets you grow like 5 different flowers in pots to produce potions.

Starbound lets you farm to grow a bunch of different crops to use as ingredients to cook various food items (needed to survive on Normal and Hardcore mode) and raise livestock (some food, but also items you need to explore more planets). Starbound also lets you capture pets (ala Pokemon) and use them in combat. Both games have fishing / bug collecting.

Oh yeah, and Starbound has Steam Workshop support, including a mod (Frackin' Universe) that basically dumps a shitload more content into the game.


Probably a ton of other stuff I'm forgetting too. If you liked Terraria, chances are you'll like Starbound even more. Terraria has had years to develop a ton of content and I still think Starbound comes out ahead in the end.

Wow, all that sounds amazing! The only thing that might bring me concern was the number of planets. Did you ever feel that you needed something from a certain biome, but couldn't get that biome because you had a hard time finding the right planet? Or was that not a problem at all?

 

[Retro]

Wow, all that sounds amazing! The only thing that might bring me concern was the number of planets. Did you ever feel that you needed something from a certain biome, but couldn't get that biome because you had a hard time finding the right planet? Or was that not a problem at all?

The way it's organized is, there are a bunch of different star types (Gentle, Temperate, Radioactive, Frozen, Fiery), and different types of planets occur more frequently in orbit around specific stars (e.g. if you're looking for an Arctic planet, they occur more often around Frozen stars). You can read more here. The star types are also how you determine what kind of survival pack you'll need to safely explore orbiting planets (e.g. you'll need a radioactive protection pack to survive planets orbiting a radioactive-type star).

There are also moons (no atmosphere, used largely to harvest fuel for your ship), meteor clusters (no atmosphere and no flat terrain, but low-level materials are much more plentiful and easier to find) and Ancient Vaults (endgame content, basically randomized dungeons). Barren planets too, but those are mostly just useful for colonies (they have no ore, but no enemies or hazardous weather either).

 

[Ventara]

The way it's organized is, there are a bunch of different star types (Gentle, Temperate, Radioactive, Frozen, Fiery), and different types of planets occur more frequently in orbit around specific stars (e.g. if you're looking for an Arctic planet, they occur more often around Frozen stars). You can read more here. The star types are also how you determine what kind of survival pack you'll need to safely explore orbiting planets (e.g. you'll need a radioactive protection pack to survive planets orbiting a radioactive-type star).

There are also moons (no atmosphere, used largely to harvest fuel for your ship), meteor clusters (no atmosphere and no flat terrain, but low-level materials are much more plentiful and easier to find) and Ancient Vaults (endgame content, basically randomized dungeons). Barren planets too, but those are mostly just useful for colonies (they have no ore, but no enemies or hazardous weather either).

Coolios, sounds good. You've convinced me. The fact that there's more to explore and that building is so much easier sold me. Thanks a lot!

 

[VandalD]

I asked this in the sale thread as well, but this is probably a better place to ask it.

I bought this game because I like Terraria and wanted more, but I've read a few comments now that it's not as good. I'm not sure if 2 hours is enough for me to get a good feel for this game. I'm mainly looking for the mining/exploration aspect in Terraria, with using the items you find to explore further/easier. I don't really care about combat. A loosely tied together story would be nice, with incentives to explore and build stuff.

Any help is appreciated.

If you're looking to explore and build, Starbound blows Terraria away. I think the one thing I'd argue Terraria has over Starbound is its combat. It's faster paced, tends to throw a lot more enemies at you, and you have a better feeling of becoming more powerful by using better items since everything's not quite as random. Not that Starbound's fighting is bad. I just prefer the more hectic style in Terraria. If you don't care about that, or if you found yourself thinking "I wish these enemies would just leave me alone so I could do my thing," then I think you'll like Starbound.

 

[Ventara]

If you don't care about that, or if you found yourself thinking "I wish these enemies would just leave me alone so I could do my thing," then I think you'll like Starbound.

Yes! I do often find myself thinking that. The monsters in Terraria spawn at a crazy rate and will chase you all the way to hell.

 

[Retro]

Yes! I do often find myself thinking that. The monsters in Terraria spawn at a crazy rate and will chase you all the way to hell.

Yeah, combat is a bit different too, especially where gear is concerned. Since you're getting randomized loot, weapons can be a bit less effective. But there's a bunch of different types to mix and match, for example you can pair 1-handed weapons together, with a shield, or some other secondary item (I like to travel with a Pistol / Flashlight combo, and keep a Shield / Medical pack setup for when things get nasty). 2-handed weapons all have secondary fires; spears, hammers and such have things like defensive twirls, charged up knock-back attacks, etc, while 2-handed firearms have stuff like grenade launchers.

Starbound tends to be a bit more 'floaty' though, in terms of combat. Hard to describe but some people have said that the combat feels 'off' to them. I found that once I was used to things, I didn't have much of a problem. YMMV. I found the sheer variety of enemies in Starbound to be a highlight, since you never know what kind of special attacks enemies are going to have on any given planet.

 

[Ventara]

Would you guys recommend I start on casual?

Also, no need to install Starbound (unstable), right? That's just something they use to test their updates before pushing it out officially?

 

[VandalD]

Would you guys recommend I start on casual?

Also, no need to install Starbound (unstable), right? That's just something they use to test their updates before pushing it out officially?

If the idea of going back to find your items after you die does not appeal to you, then you should play on casual. Other than that, the one major thing casual lets you do is warp off a planet from anywhere, even deep underground. I don't like that, but I just make myself not use it in that way.

And you're right about unstable. It's for public testing.

Edit: Oh, right, I forgot about the hunger system. Casual pretty much turns it off. I'm not a fan of it. For me, it turned from me farming my own crops to make food, to me selling crops to buy the well preserved canned food from outposts. It might take something out of your exploration or farming desires if you go casual, but I don't miss it. Opinions vary of course.

 

[Retro]

I actually like the survival mechanics, but your hunger meter drops far too quickly for my tastes and I dislike items dropping on death. What I do is go Casual, and then add the "Hunger Enabler for Casual Mode" and "Slow Hunger" mods to put hunger back in at a reduced rate. Alternatively, I think there's a mod that disables item drop on death which would give you the hunger element on Survival mode, and you can add the slow hunger mod on top of that. I prefer my way though, since if there's ever an update that screws up mods, my character will still be relatively safe.

I don't look at either option as 'cheating', really; Starbound is a big ass sandbox game and tweaking the experience to fit my specific preferences enhances the whole. In the same way I won't feel guilty grabbing an item spawning mod when I decide to build something enormous and awful; that's just letting me play the game the way I want to.

 

[Ventara]

If the idea of going back to find your items after you die does not appeal to you, then you should play on casual. Other than that, the one major thing casual lets you do is warp off a planet from anywhere, even deep underground. I don't like that, but I just make myself not use it in that way.

And you're right about unstable. It's for public testing.

Edit: Oh, right, I forgot about the hunger system. Casual pretty much turns it off. I'm not a fan of it. For me, it turned from me farming my own crops to make food, to me selling crops to buy the well preserved canned food from outposts. It might take something out of your exploration or farming desires if you go casual, but I don't miss it. Opinions vary of course.

I actually like the survival mechanics, but your hunger meter drops far too quickly for my tastes and I dislike items dropping on death. What I do is go Casual, and then add the "Hunger Enabler for Casual Mode" and "Slow Hunger" mods to put hunger back in at a reduced rate. Alternatively, I think there's a mod that disables item drop on death which would give you the hunger element on Survival mode, and you can add the slow hunger mod on top of that. I prefer my way though, since if there's ever an update that screws up mods, my character will still be relatively safe.

I don't look at either option as 'cheating', really; Starbound is a big ass sandbox game and tweaking the experience to fit my specific preferences enhances the whole. In the same way I won't feel guilty grabbing an item spawning mod when I decide to build something enormous and awful; that's just letting me play the game the way I want to.

Not losing much when I die sounds like something I'd enjoy, but I do want to give the hunger system a shot. Think I'll try casual with those two hunger mods. Thanks!

Edit: Wow, there are a lot of nice little mods in the workshop. Went ahead and downloaded a few, like the one-handed torch. Tbh, something like that feels like it should've been in the game in the first place.

 

[Buckle]

you can also pick from 6 different races for your character, though it really only affects the name / visuals of the items you can craft and what your ship looks like).

It also changes the dialog your characters say when you inspect things in the environment and your character describes it.

Apex and Florians will have two different things to say about checking out a banana for instance.

 

[Retro]

It also changes the dialog your characters say when you inspect things in the environment and your character describes it.

Apex and Florians will have two different things to say about checking out a banana for instance.

Ah yeah, forgot about that. A little thing, but still kinda cool.

 

[Mengy]

Coolios, sounds good. You've convinced me. The fact that there's more to explore and that building is so much easier sold me. Thanks a lot!

I’ve played well over 170 hours of Terraria, and almost 140 hours of Starbound now, and I have to admit that I enjoy Starbound more. Terraria is still a fantastic game, don’t get me wrong, but Starbound just offers more, especially in the veins of exploration and building. And the music, Oh My God I love the music in Starbound.

Some people might find Terraria’s focused gameplay and world more appealing and that’s understandable, but I prefer Starbound’s variety and freedom.

 

[DrAg0nBoY]

Thinking about buying the game. Missed the steam sale though. Is there a chance that if I didn't like Terraria that much, I would enjoy Starbound more (I read Retros post and it does sound more appealing to me than Terraria)?

Also is the GAF server still up?

 

[Retro]

Thinking about buying the game. Missed the steam sale though. Is there a chance that if I didn't like Terraria that much, I would enjoy Starbound more (I read Retros post and it does sound more appealing to me than Terraria)?

Also is the GAF server still up?

If you weren't a fan of Terraria, I honestly don't think "More Terraria" would be up your alley. Then again, it dials back that initial survival aspect (in favor of optional, long-term survival), dials the exploration way up, and there's randomized enemies / loot so that might scratch an itch that Terraria didn't offer.

You could always wait for the Spring Sale if you're not sure, but it doesn't sound like something that will grab you since Terraria and Starbound have a lot of overlap. But who knows, it might just be different enough that you really get sucked in, but that seems like a slim chance... I don't mean to sound negative, I just don't want you to spend money and end up feeling burned.

GAF server is down, I believe, since people sort of drifted away (I know I did for a while, due to burn out). Generally, more people start playing after updates and we bug HaRyu to fire it back up (and we're supposedly getting news on the next one in the not-too-distant future).

 

[davidnolan13]

Thinking about buying the game. Missed the steam sale though. Is there a chance that if I didn't like Terraria that much, I would enjoy Starbound more (I read Retros post and it does sound more appealing to me than Terraria)?

Also is the GAF server still up?

I really didnt like terraria but really wanted to but i tried starbound and i loved it. Couldnt even get to double number hours in terraria but ive played a couple hundred hours of starbound. so its possible you'll like it more.