Point to exploring different biome planets?

I really like the different planet biomes, but is there any reason to really explore them other than seeds and bugs? Are there any unique materials located in planets like ocean biomes, magma, arctic, etc. that require you to go there and spend extended periods of time for game progression?

 

different bios have different subbiomes, with different raw materials and blueprints. you don't need them to advance in the game in a sense of "next level of ability" but a large portion of the game is open-ended exploring.

 

Does there need to be a purpose other than "just because"?

 

Because things, and things are great. You get to collect lots of things and shove those things in chests then eventually run out of space.

 

For my first playthrough, the main reason was that different biomes had different danger levels. Since higher tier ores are currently found in more dangerous planets, I had to go to different biome planets in order to make better armour to progress. The more dangerous biomes also have better equipment. My current best shield and 1-h sword were found in an extreme biome (by the same enemy too, how convenient).
Aside from that, each biome type has different earth, mini biomes, seeds, weather, etc. You might go to different worlds in general just to check out the different structures and creatures.
Edit: Different plants and villages is a major reason too.

 

Yeah, it seems like there's little point to the different biomes. The only biomes with a unique item that you might actually need are desert/aird planets and oil isn't used for steel anymore, copper is, which is nonsense since steel is not an alloy, but a processed form of iron to make it stronger. Copper and iron might make brass in a simplified sandbox game, at most. The only other item I can think of is bio samples, which you can use to make medicines. Fine sand can be found on some lush planets now, so that makes desert/arid planets even more useless (although it does take a bit of effort because most of it is underground). Unless you want the healing water from them. No point tho unless you're into aesthetics like baths.

Lush (starter) - Harmless
Forest / Desert (tier 2 starter) - Mostly Harmless
Snow / Ocean / Arid (tier 3 starter) - Moderate
Alien / Poison ocean / Tropical (radiation) - Risky
Frozen / Frigid ocean / Midnight (cold) - Dangerous
Dead / Volcanic / Lava (heat) - Extreme

They're all tiered and have different resources based on that tier, and that directly affects the power the items found there have, so in endgame there's no point to spelunking for chests on anything but the heat planets. Mining however would be easier on an cold planet as opposed to a heat planet which has stuff like blastrock, while at most on cold planets you'll find frozen dirt and harder forms of cobblestone. There might be some endgame ore on the heat planets, but I don't know what that is yet.

Other than danger levels and thus, better ores, different biomes have different edible plants, and that's all they really have going for them.

This is poor design, honestly. Hopefully it's mostly just placeholder junk until the development centered around this goes a bit further.

 

It would be nice if there were variants of the current low-tier planets with higher threat levels. They could have stronger creatures and more extreme weather instead of the garden variety stuff.
Using coal and iron to craft steel seems more realistic and coal is only a little more common than copper.


Edit: Don't worry too much about it. The Starbound team is gradually improving things and adding content to the game.

Things such as fossil excavation, more biomes and biome features, quests given in generated villages and more will all make exploring different planets more interesting. They'll also bring back the harder variants of early biomes.
Check the dev blog on the homepage for more.

 

http://community.playstarbound.com/...anet-biome-dungeon-types-and-locations.96052/

-Different planet levels have different underground mini biomes

 

Yes, there needs to be a purpose. Even if that purpose is just "it's fun." If it's not fun, there's no purpose in doing it. Personally, I find some of the biomes pretty cool, but there are some boring ones as well.

 

Then skip the boring ones and move on.

 

Atm there is no much reason to explore beside exploring 'new' planets reason.

 

It's placeholder. There used to be Oil (deserts), Uranium (radiation planets), and Solarium (Heat planets) that were required to make steel, durasteel, and the three endgame alloys respectively. They temporarily removed them to make the side ores useful until they find a good way to make them desirable.

At least I hope.

 

I like to check out different biomes to get building ideas for ships and houses, and to find just the right color backwall from time to time.

 

You need to stop blindly defending the game. There does need to be some practicality to the biomes. They're a major bullet point in this game and are just reskins.

 

Each biome is very unique now, at least in type. Some have special set pieces and terrain generation, crafting materials, ores, ect. The only ones without too much purpose are forest, alien, and toxic ocean, because they don't offer anything overly useful.

 

Toxic ocean was cool to visit, with the mutant set, and lots of chests under the water, my first alien landed me on a flesh mini biome, forests had hiking/traveler gear.

But aside from that the biomes don't offer much. IMO Artic was the most useless.

Biomes don't need a point, they build atmosphere and allow players a more diverse set of junk, IMO missions should be removed if they take away from exploring the game for the sake of looting and exploration.

Been searching for days for a Steamspring biome, but I'm feeling lucky next weekend!
I think that each biome that hasn't already been fleshed out, will get more additions as time goes on, so I'll be expecting more stuff to be added.

 

The only exist in nightly, and are quite common. So if you've yet to find one, then you likely are not playing nightly.