Vector Squared -- Starbound Community News, Issue #3

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On the recent Florans lore update.

1 - As you know, Florans are meant to be an extremely aggressive and carnivorous race. Before having seen the update, what did you think Florans' lore would be like?
Honestly, I had no idea. I usually take things as they come and expected something surprising from the devs because of the Apex. When I saw the picture, my reply was "Awww they just want classic innocent plant pe- AHH!" quite a bit surprised by that gif.

2 - Do you think you'll be playing a Floran character? Why is that?
Well, I'm really leaning towards playing a human or robot first time because I love fire, but I'm considering the aquatic race for ironic reasons. So I don't think I will play the Floran race right away, but I will definitely try out eventually.

3 - Would you add/change something about the Florans' appearance and/or culture? If so, what and why?
I would probably add thorns to the Florans’ arms and legs. Seems appropriate to me and doesn't mean they are aggressive either, just helps keep others from getting too close.

4 - What do you think a good name for a Floran tribe would be?
A Floran tribe, well, hmm... Ok, I have two thoughts, they could have combination names like "Fleetfoot Tribe" or names like "Etlon Tribe" or "Amtuh Tribe". I hope they get pretty out there with the names and you can say which tribe you originate from when designing your Floran, that'd be fun!

5 - Finally, what do you think this sneak bugger is up to?
He's probably on a scouting mission and if he gets caught, he probably isn't making it back, better hope he's got cloaking. You never know though... maybe he is captured tech forced to repair the thatched roof when it gets damaged.

Interview conducted by Keeper.


Bartwe’s more recent stream featured a temporary crafting screen, of what it was called the “Stupid and Temporary Crafting Screen”, and it featured a hazmat suit, which showed some interesting stats, such as -15% poison and +10% air, which may hint to space combat or possible places lacking in oxygen, and poison resistance (or just the opposite).

His programming stream released hints of several other things, which forum member NewLiar managed to catch. The three were crouching, hunger, and smashable items. The first one is self-explanatory. Crouching, which may lead to better aim, silence, or hobo-gestures. Legendary, of course. The second one, hunger, is a bit more intriguing. What is hunger for different races? What are the different types of food for the races? What bonuses do they bestow? Seeing as there are robots and plant people, the varieties will certainly be endless. Oil? Plant food? Fish?
Smashable items, on the other hand, contains no mystery. Only fun in imagining the sight of you blasting things to dust and rubble...

Perlin Noise is also going to be included. But what is Perlin noise, you may ask. Well, it’s basically a randomly generated gradient noise. This allows for more efficient use of computer space, and makes for more natural cloud movements, fire, smoke, all the like. What interesting things can be gleaned from this?
~Nababoo and Wox


Starbound has been nominated for the Most Anticipated Game of 2013 in The Indie Game Magazine, and OmnipotentEntity has made a thread linking to the vote. There are many different sections and lots of nominees, so we highly suggest voting for as many games as you can -- and be honest. Or don’t.

It’s quite nice to see that Starbound has reached such a high place, from its humble beginnings at the beginning of the year.
~Nababoo

Hats ‘n’ Contests
A very sobering experience (not really). Remember last week’s “Another Contest” article? Well, it turns out that the staff beat us to it and posted it a day before issue #2. Talk about lack of informants, eh? Anyways, the contest is well underway. Good luck to all participants!

The thread already has ten pages of talking and discussions, and we’re only several days in. Talk about community involvement! The contest rules, terms, and all that boring stuff is located here.

Here’re a collection of features that seem of good quality. Keep in mind there’s plenty more, ready to be accessed, viewed, liked, and replied to.

Our first feature is “I’m a Smooth Operata~”, a nice example of sarcasm mixed with a good idea. A pretty nice hat, one would say. Over and out.

The thread is located here.

Our second contest feature is the paragon of wit, humor, and functionality. The Spaceflame Circlet. The entry is simple, but none too destitute of the things that matter in life.

~Nababoo

Suggestion Spotlight
The Suggestion Spotlight of this week is Darkbound, made by moderator Ghostar! A daunting amount of work was put into this suggestion.

To summarize the very lengthy suggestions, it’s all about the Darkbound -- a race of creatures that feast upon the life of a dead planet, where the resident star has gone cold. They are like insect/plant hybrids, closely linked to the shadows. They possess all kinds of nasty weaponry at their hands, and they’re ready to use it against those who wish them ill. The rest of the suggestion details the various weapons, factions, and places involved with the Darkbound.

There are currently plans to add this into the game as a mod, so cookies for all of you who were wishing to have the umbrage of the Darkbound queen above them.
~Nababoo


The Feature of this week is art! So many possibilities lay within this marvelous realm of pencils, tablets, and paintbrushes. It gives off a mighty fine product that can shock your viewers.

The art thread, seen here is a marvelous work of art, using old fashioned (but tried ‘n’ true) colored pencils. The penciling and shading is marvelous. The color is vivid, enough that it seems like it’ll pop off the screen. Everything seems to be perfectly in place, lending the Floran an air of... mischievousness? Anyways, be sure to go by and give the artist Ken Temberth some appreciation.
~Nababoo

Corporation Politics
Corporation Politics is well underway, according to our corporate informant (who conveniently is also the organizer of said event). Many CEO’s gathering together to decide on things... standardized units of measure, currency, explosions, and other wonderful objects. The one quip he has to say to us, though, is that there aren’t enough participants. So, here’s a rousing call to all ya’ folks. If you’re currently a CEO of a corporation, you’re eligible to join and have fun doing whatever corporate executives do.

In other news, GeneriCorp has over 20,000 thread views, Mr. and Mrs. Covert have died fighting unknown enemies, and Sproutech got in a nasty tangle with GeneriCorp over a mishandling of a “simple transaction.” But of course, knowing them, there was probably some fine print our informants didn’t see.
~Nababooo and Galactic Mindswipe

Science Trivia
Time Travel

Generally thought to be reserved for science fiction, time travel is possible. It’s just really hard to do. There are a few theories about how time travel can be achieved, so here’s one that’s pretty easy to understand. This method is actually pretty simple: move really fast. And by fast, I mean within a fraction of the speed of light. One of the laws of physics is that light is the fastest moving “thing” in the universe. (Let’s leave out all the other theoretical stuff for now ). So, imagine you are on a train riding on a track that circles the planet along the equator, creating a loop. As the train speeds up you’re going to notice that nothing seems to have changed, this is fine. The only change occurs when you are nearing the speed of light.

At some speed greater than 99% of the speed of light, you suddenly won’t be able to make any calls to anyone outside the train. This is because the train and everything inside it are now traveling through time slower than the rest of the world. You can watch your speedometer slow down as you approach the speed of light, and when you reach just a sliver within the speed of light it will appear to stop. You are still accelerating; the increments are just becoming less and less. You are now experiencing time at a much slower rate than the rest of the world. With this method it is possible for 100 years to pass outside the train for every week inside the train, depending on the exact speed used. Now, why does traveling close to the speed of light cause time to slow down? Very simply: time slows down so that you cannot reach the speed of light. That would be the Laws of Physics whacking you in the face, by the way.

Fun Fact: At "maximum" speed you are circling the Earth just under 7.5 orbits per second.

Questions, comments, concerns? I’ll gladly answer them all. And if you’ve got any suggestions or ideas for future topics post those as well.
~That Guy

Q&A
Q: What would you do for a planet made out of a klondike bar?
A: Post in the thread! Let’s see how depraved humanity can get...

Closing Comments

• Well, we’re now officially endorsed by the staff. We have a sticky for each new issue! Hooray. The old ones will get un-stickied, for those who thought that a problem.
• Also, welcome two new members onto the staff -- Mr Weapon and WoxandWarf. Having more manpower at hand is always useful.
• And, as always, looking for graphics and art. Headings, signatures, all the like. Wox made us some, but a couple titles are missing their jazz.

Staff:
Nababoo -- Manager/Writer
Keeper -- Wordsmith
That Guy -- Scientific Consultant
Galactic Mindswipe -- Typer of Corporate Truth
WoxandWarf -- Artisan of the Arcane

Credits:
Zerak-Kyria -- Banner
TTCBuilder -- Interview

Issue #1
Issue #2

 

WOAAAH

ISSUES

 

Yeah, the BBCode is being a real pain right now.

 

Really like the pixel style, though.

 

Great work!
Just missed Issue #2 and had to go reading (not that I mind)
Also to travel through time you have to go faster then the speed of light. Also time isn't a constant in the known universe according to Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity.
Also the issue is looking really good well done!

 

We had to omit the more technical parts, but yes, you are mostly correct.

The pictures helped, eh?

 

Nice issue again! Very simple and clean, compared to some of my Terrarian Times Issues, haha. Keep it up! Quite enjoying to read!

 

Cooool

 

Interesting read, I look forward to the next issue.

 

This artificial pleases me. <o>,..,<o> Are you planning to feature more hats?

 

It'll probably be the focus of the next issue. After all, half the community is posting like mad in the submissions section!

 

I like reading these. Something to look forward to as more news comes out.

 

Very nice, it's a good read.
Q&A: I wouldn't want to live on a planet made of klondike bars...
but I would grief it and eat it one piece at a time!

 

Missed the Q&A.

Not sure. Kittens and a blender?

 

But the cheezburger...

 

wow, and this was supposed to be a newspaper.

 

Heretic... everything is 4chan. EVERYTHING!

Hmm... do you guys think the lengths of the articles are fine? They seem a tad bit short to me...

 

I think that they're a little short, but the work well enough. any articles I write are likely to be too long, not too short

 

There's the warning call for us, staff members.

Hopefully the pictures made up for it

 

I'm an as of yet unannounced staff member.
I SAAAAAAY- MOAR FOR TEH LUVVA GOD MOAR
Don't worry, Wox, I made my own banner.