List of Announced Game Information (Updated April 15th)

Because I like making lists, and gathering info so people don't have too look all over, I decided to combine all the info I can find that has been mentioned at this point. Ill keep it updated as best I can. As far as validity, I will only be adding things that have been said directly by Devs during chats, or on the forum/tweets, etc. But from my experience, as always, don't take everything in this list as 100% accurate for what will be in release or anything. I'm just a forum goer collecting info, and don't forget Devs can and tend to change ideas mid-work. -Blue

PLEASE NOTE: THIS LIST IS SOMETIMES UPDATED BY THE FORUM STAFF AND OCCASIONALLY THE ORIGINAL POSTER (BLUE). HOWEVER, AGAIN! THIS IS NOT 100% 'CONFIRMED IN GAME' INFORMATION!

The list has been translated into Spanish thanks to Alanzer-DNA ! - Español

Anything added in the prior update will be BLUE / Prior Update 4/03/13 at 3:59am EST
Anything added most recently will be Green / Most Recent Update 4/15/13 at 12:29am EST
Anything being changed, removed or redacted from the list. (04/15/13)

Please click a specific subject to learn more!
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Community and Development (open) Community and Development (close)

• Roadmap = Follow the development process by viewing the Roadmap which is a visual and interactive map of how the game development process stands.
• Release Date = 2013 (The specific month is still "to be determined".)
• Release Price = Pre-order price is $15. It has been stated price after release will possibly be more.
• Pre-Order = The Pre-order system has been opened. You can Pre-Order Here. The Pre-order will continue until release of the beta itself.
• Beta= No public Beta test is running at the moment, but one may be possible in the future. The roadmap will not need to be at 100% on all features for the beta to become open. Anyone playing the beta will be free to share what they've found (wiki), stream and youtube, share images, etc.
  • A private beta for close friends and family has been running since late November 2012.
• Platforms= Windows, Mac, and Linux
  • Chucklefish is aiming for a Steam release. Steam release is confirmed on the Pre-order page.
• System Requirements - Specifics TBA, but currently runs at 60fps on a Macbook Air (which is a low spec computer.) Game utilizes multi-threading to increase performance.
• Localization = (Other languages) Planned, but may not happen until post-release. (Note)
• Community Created Content = Contests have been and could continue to be held on the forum, and Tiy is open to many ideas for prizes. There were already contests for player designed enemies and hats. All winning submissions will be included in the game. There are also pre-order tier levels that allow those who pre-order with those amounts to have certain concepts of their creation added to the game.
• Updates = Updates to the core game will come in both big and small packages on a weekly basis after release. After a year of the whole team working on updates, a smaller team will take over to continue the updates even after the bulk of the team moves on to any other projects.

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Multiplayer PVP and Servers (open) Multiplayer PVP and Servers (close)

• PVP will be in the game at Beta release in normal sandbox mode, and there will most likely be pre-generated Arena Asteroids for organized game modes which will automatically keep score for you, however the arenas and special pvp game modes themselves will be post release.
• The entire universe of experiences will be available in both Single player and Multi-player.
• Servers will be able to hold as many players as they can based on thier power, and internet speed.
• Character saves that are transferable from "local to server" and visa versa are planned and will be limited only by the choice of the server host. (New chars only, by item level etc.) "Think Neverwinter Nights" - Tiy
• Servers can be launched from a dedicated server executable, but there may also be the option to launch the server from within the game client itself.
• The games current net-code is already working, being called "smooth and seamless." - Rho
• Server to Server portals to allow players to server hop mid-play are planned, but not set in stone.
• Launching and joining LAN games will be relatively easy.
• Players on a server are not required to be on the same planet at the same time, and may go off and explore different planets.
• There are going to be various chat channels.
  • Party chat
  • Planet chat
  • Universe chat
  • "Maybe "Guild" or "Corp" chat, if we implement that by release." - Tiy
• Server moderators will eventually (post release feature) be able to set up and control their own player created missions on the fly, possessing npcs and making them talk/behave/attack/etc, anything a player can do. So rather than dialogue choices, you can have a real dialogue.
• A "Crafting Server" option where all items/tiles are available at start to just build with is being considered, but will only be available post release as to not reveal all things in the game to early to people who use it.
• In terms of Server Protection Controls and Moderation, the following are mentioned on the Roadmap as being planned. "Multiple chat channels, muting, banning, group chatting, broadcast messages, identification and authentication by password and/or by user key, forced nick changing, klining, banning by IP or client fingerprint. User whitelists. User permissions in the form of Access Control Lists"
• Anti-cheat functions are planned for moderation.

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Controls Player Stats and Actions (open) Controls Player Stats and Actions (close)

• Left and Right Mouse Buttons will allow simultaneous dual wield weapon/item use.
• Death Penalty = Undecided at this time. Possibly a monetary loss.
• Weapons came in both one handed and two handed varieties.
• Player Stats seen in images/mentioned.
  • Health
  • White Health - Recoverable health, appears after being damaged while blocking with a shield. Auto Regens at end of Battle (images)
  • Battery Power - (This games MP equivalent from what it seems.)
  • Food Meter - (Optional) runs out over time. You will die immediately if it hits bottom.
  • Warmth Meter - Depletes at different speeds based on the warmth of the planet/surroundings. It takes into account things like weather, time of day, wind chill, etc. (So being inside a shelter actually protects you from a lot of those things. Various objects give off warmth, like campfires.)
• After successfully blocking, the player has a chance to counter attack the enemy to do a guaranteed critical hit. Blocking multiple attacks in a row will increase your counter attacks crit damage. There will be enemy attacks that are unblockable.
• Players can crouch (unknown control) and "walk" by holding shift and go into 'sneak mode' and walk by enemies without being seen.
• 0-9 will quick switch left hand item, and Shift+0-9 will switch out right hand.
• The view area can be increased and decreased using an unspecified key to give yourself a better idea of your surroundings. Possible zoom minimum's and max's will be limited in final game.
• Holding "LEFT CTRL" allows you to pan your current view around with the mouse a certain distance. Tiy states that it is possible items will increase your pan range. He says this will be important for sniper rifles so you can see further to find your targets.
• Joystick/Controller support MIGHT be added after release.
• The game window can be re-sized freely by simply re-sizing the client's window.
• They are considering adding a secondary attack for melee weapons when you hold down the attack button. Most likely coming post release however.
• Armor (In general) is specifically built to either buff your defense or your energy reserves.
  • Energy for ranged players, defense for melee/close combatants.
• Sitting in chairs is in already, and sleeping in beds has been mentioned as a possibility.

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Items and Objects (open) Items and Objects (close)

• Items are procedurally generated not only in visual style but in stats, offering bountiful variations of just one weapon possible to be discovered, shared with friends and remembered. Procedurally-generated guns are one example. However some rare and unique static items will be in the game to be found.
• There will be vanity slots to alter your appearance, and many worn items will also use procedural generation for appearance making sure most players will not look the same.
• Many strange and wonderful outfits will be available, ranging from a Knights armor to a space suit.
• Painting of weapons and armor for customization has been discussed/planned.
• Tech slots for items such as Jet Packs, Short Range Teleporters and Stomp Boots are available to the players.
• 'Sneak items' are in the game, and add to your chances of successfully sneaking. Sneaking in PVP is still being discussed. However, while working more on balance, they are deciding whether or not to use sneaking at all.
• Shield stats and appearance will also be procedurally generated.
• There will be many materials to mine. Including "...shiny things..." -Rho
• Some weapons will have charge times before firing, like a chargeable cannon.
• There will be tools that are useful in combat.
• The game currency is called Pixels. The idea is that 3d printing technology has advanced so far that '3d printer fuel' has become a Universal currency. The currency is called pixels and it can be used for trading and crafting.
• Your role in a party/team will be determined by what items you have and gear you wear and will require so much different gear to offer any specific gain as that role that it cant be changed on the fly, instead you will change at your starbase/homeworld where its all stored.
• Healing items, tools (like a placeable/toss-able field generator that increases damage of all weapon fire that passes through it.) and gear will be available so you can be in a support role such as a healer.
• A Flashlight you can aim with your mouse.
• Many items will be placeable directly ON the background so you wont have to always attach a torch to the "player layer" walls.
• "There will be Flashlight mods for some weapons." - Rho_
• Items will have an outline color in the UI to show their rarity. If you look in the lighting demo video you will see 3 items are in green hot-bar boxes.
• Background Objects, such as furniture and boxes are drawn/styled in a way to give them an appearance of depth, as they sit at an angle making them look 3D on a 2D plane.
• Chairs, Tables, Stairs and Background Windows are already in the game. Stairs have been verified to be fully interactable in the current build of the game.
• Background computer screens are animated adding a lot of ambience to the game. They also give off a faint glow that flickers slightly if no other light is nearby.
• A lot of melee weapons are currently "swingable", but some "stabby" ones may be added as well. This is due to every new item needs to be animated independently for every move the player could make.
• Complete guns are found, not parts of guns.
• Items that let you "rip huge chunks out of terrain and hurl them around, which can be used for terra-forming or harassing enemies." will be available.
• Intelligent inventory managment features are planned to help players not spend to much time sorting things out.
• There will be "sci-fi style" sliding doors that slide upwards.
• Tech will remain useful enough as you progress in tiers that it never just gets outright replaced by something objectively better.
• New Tech is only available through finding tech chips. There are items with unique uses. Some of those may be craftable, but they differ from tech in that you have to actively use them, like a sword or chainsaw.
• Some Tech items may add movement options to a player. Some of the following MAY be possible by wearing certain Techs.
  • Sliding
  • Gripping to edges
  • Diving
  • Sprinting
• Some weapons have mods that make them do very different things. Example, a hammer mod lets you smack the ground and create a shockwave that travels along hurting enemies.
• There will likely be a system a little like a potion system to add buffs/debuffs. But as to what it will be, is still being worked out.
• Crafting works in a variety of ways. There's basic crafting that can take place at any time, should you have the ingredients you need and the blueprints required. And there's crafting that requires certain facilities.
• There will be an object in dungeons that is the "protection object" and the dungeon tiles can't be broken until this object is destroyed by the player.
• Grappling hooks, Yes, but handled differently than usual.

Enemies / Plants / Creatures (open) Enemies / Plants / Creatures (close)

• Humanoid enemies will appear. Many will be grouped into teams to appear as if they are working together.
• Creatures can be cataloged by players so they can look back on the strange and wonderful things they have discovered.
• You can also click a plant (Using your Electronic Logbook) to find/store information about it as well to see if they have any use as materials.
• Creatures can be caught and trained to help you fight. These creatures will have stats such as defense, attack damage, speed, which will increase will kills. They can also be trained to fly or swim, etc. This will be able to be done when the creature is at low health. Three creatures may be taken with you at a time. Any "dead" monster on your team will automatically be sent to your monster slot and wait to be healed back at your station.
• There will be regular bosses and SUPER HARD bosses. The plan on bosses right now is to have a premade boss at the end of missions and procedurally generated sub-bosses appear on planets.
• Enemies can chuck dirt at you, displacing blocks.
• Enemy behavior will play an integral role in how you defeat them, much like in Megaman/Castlevania.
• Enemy Appearance, like weapons, will be highly variable and generated by the game randomly. However there are a lot of 'static' monsters [50 or so]. Some of the random generated appearances will be less common and offer players a different drop of rarer quality. Enemy appearance can and will affect their behavior. (if it spawns with wings, it may fly or hop higher)
• Touching (most) enemies in Starbound won’t damage the player directly, instead enemies must go through an attack animation to damage the player.
• Humanoid enemies will be able to use shields and many creatures may have natural shields.
• Enemies use line of sight (already confirmed in game at this stage.) If they see you they become aggressive and are no longer able to be "walked by". Unlike neutral/passive monsters that can be walked beside without the player being harmed or attacked.
• Later on, when modding is available, modding new creatures will be easier as each creature will have a config file where you can dictate all of its behaviors with tagwords like, "capturable" and "passive".
• Trees are going to procedurally generated so their appearance won't always be static sameness. Trees can also be replanted using a seed on other worlds that have a completely different eco system.
• Lots of cats and lots of penguins.

Cameos -
The following is a list of creatures from other (indie) video games that have been confirmed to make an appearance of some sort in Starbound.

• Creepers from Minecraft
• Monsters from Braid
• Fluros from Vessel
• Diggles from Dungeons of Dredmor ("hopefully")

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Playable Races (open) Playable Races (close)

The team has announced they plan on adding multiple playable races. The following six races are set for release, with more races planned as post-release content.

• Humans
  • (No Background racial data given yet)
• Apex
  • (Apes) Read Racial Background Info
• Avians
  • (Aves/Birdlike Humanoids) (Read Racial Background Info)
• Floran
  • (Sentient Plantlife) Read Racial Background Info
• Hylotl
  • (Aquatic) (Current name may be temporary.) (No Background racial data given yet)
• Glitch
  • (Medieval, Sentient, Self Aware Robots) Read Racial Background Info
• Novakids
  • (Fan Created Race, Sentient, Gaseous lifeforms.) Read Racial Background Info

*******************************************************************

• While using a specific race does not change your stats, they may change the appearance of items you craft/place.
• Each race's armor will have different abilities:
  • Avian: Allows you to glide
  • Apex: Allows you to jump higher, maybe run faster
  • Human: Allows you to carry more items "possibly" - might change as it's "a bit dull.. though very useful" -Tiy
  • Glitch: Allows you to mine faster
  • Floran: Allows you to convert sunlight into extra energy
  • Hylotl: Allows you to breathe underwater and swim faster
  • Novakids : Will have a faint glow to them, but not enough to light up a cave. This is not actually armor dependent, but a feature of their race.

• Players will "probably" have to be wearing a complete set to gain these abilities.
• The armor gives these abilities, not the race itself.
  • As the player progresses through the game, they will be able to craft other race's armor and gain their abilities, but at the start players may only craft their own race's armor.

Movement and Physics (open) Movement and Physics (close)

• Slopes have been implemented, and this allows much more free/fluid movement for players and things like vehicles.
• Aiming is handled with the mouse, with WASD on the keyboard being movement.
• Liquid physics beyond water have been planned. This includes acid, and oil which will be all 'goopy'.
• Falling damage will be present. It wont be limited to just players suffering from it, enemies will also be hurt by it.
• Water can have 'pressure' via the engine Chucklefish has designed, and causes pressurized water to burst forth. However it is unlikely this feature will be used in normal NON-DEV gameplay.
• Water will equalize. (VIDEO - Water physics demonstration)
• If there isn't a block behind water, it will drain out.
• Weather is atmospheric, and lightning is generated in real time on the screen. Trees will sway in wind and more clouds will appear in rainstorms.
• Water that freezes automatically on cold planets has been 'mentioned'.

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Planets (open) Planets (close)

• (Updated/Reworded) Each planetary system is created procedurally based on its coordinates. Coordinates will always create the same system, so you can share your discoveries with friends. Some coordinates will not actually have a system like in real life, so there should be a lot of empty space between systems. The planets themselves are generated based on their distance from their systems star, and a few other factors.
• (Updated/Reworded) Navigation between systems and planets will take place via a visual star map on your spaceship. You will then take the spaceship to the planet. This action will require fuel.
• It has been shown on the RoadMap that the universe is divided up into different 'sectors', each with a huge number of systems.
• Worlds that are not infinite in size will loop around, so if you travel far enough you will end up back at your start area, as if the planet is a real sphere.
• Worlds could possibly become completely destroyable in time, but as of now plans are in place to make it possible to call orbital strikes upon the surface of a planet. There is also a possibility they will add the ability to cause life on the planet to become extinct
• Claimed Homeworlds can be renamed. And non-homeworld planets will most likely have 'bookmarks' you can set. Multiple planets can be designated as homeworlds, but the cost is so high in resources that a single player may have trouble doing so.
• Some worlds will have pregenerated story elements, which have been hand crafted with game-play in mind.
• Planet based random events will occur. Eventually, post release there will be the possibility of planetary system, galaxy or universe wide events.
• It has been stated by Tiy that it will not only be planets you will visit. There will be explorable "man" made constructions found off planet's (space stations, derelict ships. etc.)
• Planets day and night cycles will differ based on the planet, some may even be eternally dark or eternally light.
• Acid rain has been mentioned, which may actually eat away at player constructions during certain quests to protect an injured npc.
• Homeworlds can be set to not allow explosions to prevent griefing. Regular planets you won't stay on long enough to care about.
• There will be mini-biomes inside the larger ones. Such as overgrown pools or mushroom/rose fields. This will add even more diversity to planets.
• Temples and Pyramids will be generated on some worlds.
• Planets will have varying levels of gravity.
• Round planets have a super-heated core at the centre that could melt the player. But not all planets will have molten at their core, some may have other impassible barriers.
• Below the surface, ores will be part of the background as well. - Tiy
• A planet may be generated as infinite in size, however, only left or right, as planet depth has been capped for obvious reasons.
• Random events such as meteor showers may destroy "throw-away" planets, but not homeworlds of course.
• There are multiple planets per star system.
• Mountains, Canyons, Hills, Flats, Chasms, etc are all generated on planets offering a wide variety of terrain possiblities, as well as random villages, dungeons and tunnel systems.
• Dungeons are divided into different rooms/corridors. Each room is made of a single image. Each pixel in an image references blocks, objects, spawn points, connection points and so on. More details here.
  • There are hundreds and hundreds of these images being used to generate all manner of different dungeons, temples, crypts, etc.
  • The engine is also capable of randomising what a particular pixel means, so a single room could appear in a multitude of different ways.
  • Lua scripts can be built directly into dungeons and wiring works too.
• Even with the top equipment, the "end game" (hardest) planets will not be "easy".
• The sky on the planet reflects the solar system view from your system navigator. If you find a planet with 4 moons around it, those same 4 moons will be orbiting the planet whilst you're on it. Or if you go to one of the moons, you'll see the planet and the other 3 moons in the sky.
• Sea level will differ from planet to planet.
• For oceans, content changes as you get deeper. "The ocean floor is awesome." - Tiy
• Non-planet celestial bodies (asteroids, moons.) will have their own set of unique dungeon types, as most have no atmospheres.

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Your Space Station and Spaceship (open) Your Space Station and Spaceship (close)

• For anyone who has been following this thread, the functions of the Space Station have been replaced by the Space Ship, and the space station seems to have been removed from the dev's plan, at least for now.
• Your station will have five decks, with bridge being the topmost deck.
• Will contain a Research Lab.
• Will be anti-griefable. (I am assuming if you invite someone to your spaceship it will also be anti-griefable, as the station would have been. Ill look into getting this clarified.)
• Station is slightly customizable but to a limited degree to offer all players a familiar place to call home on all servers.
• The spaceship used to travel to planets will act as a mini base while you explore.
• On fully PVP servers, stations are the only completely safe place. (I will seek confirmation of the ship having the same quality.)
• You're unable to teleport up to your spaceship from underground.
• Each Race's spaceship will have its own ship design.
• As you progress you unlock additional space and the ships get a fair bit larger.
• Post release functions for space (ship to ship) battles have been discussed and are eventually wanted by the team.

Building and Crafting (open) Building and Crafting (close)

• Items will have blueprints that are discovered, or learned from npcs. Reverse engineering has been suggested by fans and the devs seemed interested, but nothing official has been set in stone.
• Fully alterable terrain, and mining will be in the game, and so will block-by-block construction.
• A player owned UFO that will allow large scale terrain manipulation/terraforming as been discussed.
• Many buildings and complex constructions will be placeable as pre-constructed objects, an example given was a weather station.
• Possibility of a wiring system, and an in game editor that will allow for custom created missions to have your friends play (Most likely a post release addition.).
• At this time, only basic ship customization has been mentioned. "..to a degree." - Tiy
• Some simple crafting will be done on person, and more complicated creations will require you be on the space ship at the manufacturing station.
• Tech trees in the research lab on the space station will help you work toward building high end things, like vehicles, mechs, etc.
• Left clicking will place blocks it in the ground layer (the collision layer in which the player walks), and right clicking will place it in the background. Objects are placed 'in between' the background and ground layer.
• Blocks have variations in their appearance so they don't all look exactly the same. Especially noticeable in single blocks that are not touching others.
• Mousing-over a spot with an item will create a "ghost item" (faded-out object). "This can be used for entertainment by placing the cursor with a table selected behind the player and running along a flat surface." - Tiy
• Painting of 'pretty much everything' is being prepared/planned for, but is still up in the air for being ready at release or post-release.
• Holding SHIFT will let you place 4 blocks instead of the usual one. This allows for more efficient building as well as being able to fine-tune aesthetics by placing individual blocks.
• A "Gravity Gun" will allow you to see where other players are building. (Video)
• Circuitry will be a big part of the game and will double as part of the level-editor. Wiring will have logic gates.

NPCs and Quests (open) NPCs and Quests (close)

• NPC's will have needs, and offer you quests, some quests will always be difficult as the highest world danger level will always be tough to the most well geared players.
• No limit to npc/crew size, but space ship has limited space, so you'll have to move people to planet bases too.
• Some NPC's will be rescuable. And some will literally need to be carried back to your base/station.
• NPC's will be able to be evicted in an, at this moment, unspecified way.
• Quests will also be procedurally generated.
• Speech bubbles from NPC's will be seen by all players.
• As of right now, Quests are assigned to whole parties, and rewards are given per player.
• When you talk to an NPC, you may hear them speak with a "Sims-like" made up language.
• The dev team is toying with the idea of "monster breeding" where the resulting monster will have a mix of the parents' attributes.
• Monster randomization "intelligently" puts arms/legs/chest/heads together, colours it, decides to give it wings or not, and then gives it unique behaviour.
• The dev team is aiming to have a main plot-line with its own lore and narrative.

Music and Sounds (open) Music and Sounds (close)

• Curtis Schweitzer will be composing parts of Starbound's soundtrack. An incomplete version of the soundtrack can be found on his SoundCloud.
• Homestuck Music Team's Radiation and Solatrus will also be producing music for Starbound.

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Modding (open) Modding (close)

• Mod support has been discussed and will be available if the team has time. (see also Director Mode)
• Content-wise, basically nothing is "hard-coded" so the dev team is trying to make mods "modules" that can be pushed to the client easily.
• If someone makes a mod that makes player's lives easier, Tiy has stated that he feels like it should be in the default server and would want to either add it themselves or add the mod to the game.
• Starbound is structured in a way that modding could be really easy.
• More information on modding can be found here until a short version is added to this post.
• Texture pack support most likely won't be available at release, but the dev team is hoping for it as a post-release update.
• The game will have Lua scripting support.
  • Lua scripts can be built directly into dungeons and wiring works too.
• While the feature will not be available at release, the goal is for servers is to be able to run a MOD and have all clients who join it automatically have the added content from the MOD sent to them. And Servers themselves are planned to also be able to toggle a players use of custom config files to prevent them if so desired.
• Modding API : Post Release

Miscellaneous (open) Miscellaneous (close)

• Drinking lava is fatal.
• There currently are no underwater vehicles, but that could change easily.
• "Flying machines" are planned. And mechs will have a bunch of different uses, they use the players energy bar for power and can be beamed down from the players ship.

The Following has been stated as NOT being in the game -

• Micro-transactions
• Cooldowns (Unsure if this is just for weapons, or all items as well.)
• Item Durability
• Fog of war / Line of Sight
• Foreground Layer that blocks player sight.
• XP and Attribute Stats (IE; Strength, Intelligence, Charisma)

Edit by Tiy:

I call for a sticky myself, this seems really well organized. That way if someone has a question, they can look here and look at the section it belongs to.

Thanks guys. if you find anything you think is missing, direct me to the link for the source info and Ill look into adding it.

Hi there, just FYI, we're not going to stick this thread because, as incredibly awesome as the content is, (and it really really is), we don't want someone mistaking it as more than speculation at this point.

If you like this thread, and you want to keep it, you can watch the thread and access it later through the Watched Threads feature of the forums. You will need to click "Show all Watched Threads" to access a watched thread that hasn't had any posts recently.

Excuse me, I didn't read through this post all of the way.

I apologize, this all seems to be data sourced to a member of the dev team and is mostly accurate. I'm the one in a hurry. Re sticky

Yeah I wont be posting anything in the list that is hearsay from other members. Besides, I talk to Tiy daily to confirm some stuff If its in question or if he would rather leave certain things to speculation.

Blue and Tiy together again! ~Watches topic~ I assume you will add more to it as you get it?

Of course. Ill keep it updated as best i can. :]