Feedback My 2cents after playing Starbound !

Sup, guys ! It's been a while since i posted in here, ahaha. welp, i' m nobody in here though so yeah, there's that !
Anyway i just want to post my 2cents regarding the game. This game totally rocks, but it could be better i bet !
So, this is some things that could be improved... Sorry if it sounds offensive. and sorry for my bad english, grammar is my weak point unfortunately.

Exploration point of view :

- Lack of incentive to explore underground.
Most people prefer to explore the surface instead. Because, the stuff on the surface is too fulfilling,
You could gather a strong legendary weapon, ore, instruments, and pretty much everything else. And it's not as risky as underground.

- Underground biomes variation is kinda lacking as for now, It's used to be much more better in term of variety.
Back then, you could find a lot of amazing structures underground. Now, it's become rather monotonous.
There's only a few type of structures, and it's totally depends on the biome. So you know what you'll find. And it's just not as exciting anymore. Makes it a bit
more randomized should help a lot.

- No Novakid Settlements
Each race have their own settlements, even a non-playable NPC.... I haven't found novakid settlements until now. That's... a shame...

- Repetitive Quest
It's kinda repetitive as for now, it consists of escorts, build a settlement, capturing pet, and eliminate a bounty. Seems like it'll get sorted out in the next content patch though !



Combat point of view :

- Short Progression, For people who focused on combat and progression, this game will be kinda lacking for them. The progression system is solid already, but it's way too short.
Some people may be able to finish the game, less than a week. Adding back sector system would benefit this game greatly, but with revamped stats composition from the newest combat system.

- Lack of gimmick from Enemy moveset and A.I.
Few are quite interesting, but most of them have monotous moveset. And usually could be solved by spam attacking enemies with your sword. So, more attack
pattern and variation would be really appreciated.

- Tech system is unbalanced.
Some of the tech is clearly... almost objectively better than any other. Like Multi Jump, compared to wall jump, and Rocket jump. And spike sphere. compared to other
sphere tech that could be only used in specific situation. An upgrade for each respective underpowered tech, or a tree tech system would be great. It adds more progression and makes the game interesting in long term.

- Unbalanced Weapon
2-Handed Hammer is clearly underpowered compared to 2-Handed Sword/Spear. Sword have way much higher DPS with it's 3 Hit attack, Spear have a great effective range.
2-Handed Hammer DPS is weaker compared to sword, with extra wind up time. That's a big no. While it's stronger, it's not worth it. Also, it would be great if wind up time from hi-tech weapon could be reduced a little.
And, adding some skill to arrow based weapons seems like necessary. It could makes for interesting playstyle.

- Overpowered ?
After getting armor set from it's respective tier. The enemy becomes way too easy. The gap between our power and the enemy is way too far. Making the stats upgrade
not too powerful, and yet, still relevant for survival would make the game more challenging.

- Wasted weapon potential
There are some unique weapon, that really interesting to use. But it's kinda useless, or rendered useless due to tier upgrade.
Penguin bay only sells upgrade to a certain weapon. How about if a certain legendary weapon could be upgraded and renewed to next tier. So, it's not rendered useless, and makes
visiting penguin bay even more exciting.

Game Issue :
- There's a quite a bug as for now like, Cloning crews, and unfortunately, there's no way to dismiss cloned tailor as for now.
- Optimization, even my friends that own a decent gaming PC still experienced frame rate drops sometimes. I'm still not sure what the problem is, though.

That's it from me, folks ! Sorry to made you read such a long post, lol.

 

Interesting feedback...

Can't agree completely with the sector additions. I didn't like it before, as once you leave tier sector there was no reason to go back. World files tend to build up after a while using disk space. To have eventually several sectors of tiers would render that almost redundant. However saying that, I would agree to having a last tier being a separate sector, but with all planet types being same tier level. The other way would be simply adding a new star system and doing just that, however that might not be what some would expect or want; since that leaves a lot of star systems some simply would not go back to. Decent for progression, and quite possibly ok for end star system type, but not the best. Sectors come with their own fall backs, namely wasted space with too many of them.

Enemy AI I can pretty much agree on. The unique are taking over a bit much in this iteration, leaving the poor random ones lacking at a base level. I can only hope they expand the random to have more attacks and the like in some way.

As to weapons becoming useless... I am using a spear I gained from titanium tier with the one before last armor... The armor offsets the low damage, and that is something I rather liked compared to the old way where literally the low tier weapons would be useless. So the overpowered comment is subjective at best. Granted could use some tweaks; without causing too much trouble for using a low tier weapon. Finding a spear to upgrade the one I have has proven to be tricky. I have upgraded most the other weapons, but not my spear so far due to lack of finding them. I agree with the axes and hammers. Those I well... don't mind the windup, but it is still a bit much, and makes me want to just throw the weapon at the enemy rather than using it to attack the enemies. So I partially agree, more tuning.

Techs... Don't know about balance there, but yes I prefer using the multi-jump as well; although some tend to disagree and think wall jump is better for them. I never liked rocket jump even in the old iteration. I look at the first one as the basic design and the others as the variable modifications. So maybe to balance more with the other ones maybe... beyond the first of each category. I would like more techs to be honest. More choices in what to have. I can't stand dash, and never liked that; as currently I am staying with sprint. Not a fan of butterfly boost of old, as that gets a bit cheesy and like owning a fast car to get to point A to B rather quickly and ignore the ride. I prefer the scenic route to enjoy what I seen than just skim over. Regardless still I wouldn't mind just having options a bit more varied and expanded.

On a simlir note mechs and vehicles. That needs expansion, and entrance in the case of mechs.

As to the exploration part:
I agree underground needs work on the structures part of it. The terrain itself seems fine or acceptable, but yeah the structures... seems like less variety in each biome down there. I mean there are still a lot down there, but... as you said the structures themself seem to repeat general design or similarity of them quite a bit. Hopefully that gets some work on later.

As to the risk above and below; that I have to disagree with. With the amount of mobs around, especially the ones unique to biome tends to be overwhelming in both cases. Although I do agree with the bit about structures and treasure hunting, I don't agree about the risk part. Both are just about as dangerous. Just depends on how one goes about each. Had an easier time digging at times, especially when the MM is fully upgraded. That and my tendency to play on casual; I really want to use that hunger mod for casual... Don't like the item drop thing. Anyway it is just a matter of perspective of individual.

Yes please novakid settlements, or at least a space bar of sorts. It is feasible as to why they don't settle, but still having something for them is better than nothing... We need some light in those taverns. Ok bad joke... ><

Questing... I actually like. It is way better than was before, since it is not manditory to a point. Same goes for the story bit. I am one to work with colonies most of the time, although only been working with floran so far... Regardless of that it could always use more, and hopefully will get expanded. I like where it is at as a base collection, and is very entertaining connecting the dots for own cannon of what is going on within colony/village. Makes it more lively than it was before. It is one my favorite parts of the game.

This is just how I see it all. I really liked reading up on what other people think and contrasting what my perspective is by comparison. Nice to have many individuals with different mindset or ideas, otherwise it would be quite a bland world if everyone was exactly alike.... wrinkle in time... So I welcome any diversity of opinions, ideas, and perspectives. It is what makes a great community.

Optimization, bugs, and the like obviously is an ongoing process, especially where win10 is conerned; as it wasn't even a thing when this initially was put on steam. I am sure there are others having such issues, as for myself; there are noticeable drops, but usually only in initial generation when going to a new place. There are some things on my system as well that like to choke my system making the game run... slowly at times. So it is quite a combination of the two. Not much I can do, since I am running from a low end laptop that is slightly over minimum barely. I have come to accept I will not have the uber crystal clear experience, and probably not ever will, as I don't aim for the best computer; I just aim to have a functioning one within the games that I play. It is a 2012 model so yeah... That and I am probably one of the more patient individuals.

 

Whoah, that's a lot of solid points that you mention mate, totally agree with you.

- Now that you mention it, when the sector system was available, i never once think about going back to alpha sector planet. I, never thought about that downside.

- As for techs, hmm... i already tried using wall jump and rocket jump before. and i have to say, wall jump is good and all but... it's only great in specific situation, guess that's applied too for rocket jump (I sucks at using them). I personally favor Multi-jump compared to those two because it's safer and applicable in most situation. But still, it depends on preferences in the end, ahaha.

- As for the risk for underground/surface exploration, hmmm, also now that you points out to me, there's a lot of enemy on the surface but.... to be honest, i died in this game mostly because of fall damage. (And now the chance for me dying because of that greatly reduced, thanks to Multi-Jump, yaay !) The enemy is indeed quite threatening at first... that until you find a better armor that fits the tier of the monsters. The power gap between our character and the monster becomes way too high, and that makes the combat kinda fairly easy imo, it needs a little more challenge i think..

- I also like questing mate, gathering mates is really fun ! But yeah, i hope it's get expanded more. since... after i did quest around 20 times or more..... it becomes kinda repetitive... err... yeah, guess that's a given lol.

- Novakid rarely settles but.. but....still, I need myself some space bar you mention, yeah ! that would be great !

- The attack boost from armor system is lovely indeed. But, i love some of legendary weapon unique skills, and it's a shame to not use them anymore because of.... lack of tier, ahaha. As for now, i have an intense craving to use my time altering weapon but.... Asuterosaberu DX have a stronger DPS compared to it, so.... Also, i think that would also make penguin bay even more interesting to visit.


I love this game and it clearly had a lot of potential ! And i bet with a little bit of polishing it would turn out even more awesome, can't wait for it !
Also, this nuruhype emoticon is awesome, gonna use it a lot ! Thanks for sharing your opinion, mate ! You point out a lot of great ideas there. C:

 

Oh yeah that reminds me of the other thing I like, which is how easy it is to mod things... Well most things... Want to get through quite a bit of content before making my personal mod which makes things craftable that are not; mainly furniture items. I like having an alternate way from the printer in order to get my furnishings. At least I don't have to worry about blocks much anymore. So that is a little less off my list.

Only thing is I still only know the old modding before they changed the syntax... what ever it is called. That will be quite a bit to re-learn in order to accomplish what I want to do.

yeah legendaries... Something I rarely come across. hmm... Would be nice if some of the uniques would have higher tier variants... And thank you. Was quite insightful.

 

Hi there

For me Starbound turned out to be a huge disappointment and the main reasons are:

1) In the beginning there was supposed to be a unique story for each race. I was hoping for a great space opera plots (these intros on youtube). What we got is a simple, boring story about giant space tentacles, which in my opinion is a great let-down (and besides why would carnivorous Florans like to join a terran protectorate in the first place?).

2) Only cosmetic differences in playing different races (and they even resigned from unique SAIL looks)

3) Very quick progress. In terraria it took some time before you achieved anything (like defeating the first boss). In Starbound i felt no satisfaction after the fight with Ruin. The only reaction was: "That's all about the main plot?!!! What the....."

4) Procedural generation of.....almost everything (at least that's what developers say). Well if you were on every planet type and in every settlement/base, for me they seem to be procedurally generated......the same.

I hoped for an even better space terraria with a story to remember. In the end it gets down to a sandbox about building 2d space station.

 

@Tamorr
Yeah, sometimes it's quite a hassle to get some of cool looking blocks and... exclusive furniture. and that leaves me no choice but to raid some villages, ahaha. I know nothing about modding, sadly. But still, good luck with your project mate !

@hematyt
Sup, buddy !
- Well, i also kinda agree mate. The story is not my cup of tea either.... It's just... ok i guess ?
- That's also a shame, i for one, hoping for cool exclusives weapons too at the very least. I don't expect a difference in stats though, for the sake of balance.
- The progression is short indeed, they could increase the requirements to make armor and stuff to prolong the game but, that would make it feel a bit grindy. And therefore, there's a high chance that you would fight a boss with low tier armor. That would make the boss fight more challenging i guess !
While that could be good, but some people might not like it. or else, make another new planet and biome type, with brand new armor tier to prolong the game, that's what i'm hoping for.
Still, i would like to struggle a bit more to get a new armor, so it would feels more rewarding. As for now, it's kinda easy to get upgrades and good armor. And a new boss won't hurt !
- It's monotonous i have to admit, i guess it needs to be.... randomized a little. So it could be more interesting.

Welp, there's a lot of flaw in this game unfortunately. But at the same time, it had a lot of potential, it'll take times for this game to grow i guess. I still had a lot of expectation though, and it looks like Chucklefish also working hard these week.

 

my biggest issue with starbound is that it lacks any feeling of progression
you start with no armor and a bad weapon fighting monsters that are 20% stronger than you (random number for argument)
after you get the armor and a better weapon the monsters are 20% weaker than you
you go to the next tier of difficulty and the monsters are 20% stronger
you get the new set of armor and an even better weapon and the monsters are 20% weaker
and so on and so forth

 

@kazunenazumu I agree about the potential of that game but i think that a lot of it was wasted. I've been following the development of Starbound since the very beginning (I still remember the road map, newsletters etc.) and it seemed that something big is going on.
I know that not many games grow up to the expectations (espescially the ones that are produced for very long, like duke nukem forever...well that might be a bit extreme example ) but i have a feeling that developers got lost at some point. Instead of concentrating on polishing core things like nice stories for races, well-conceived progression system and so on, they started to pack the game with as many (underworked) features as possible (pokemon catching, playing flute in space). That left the game half-baked. I know there will be probably many changes and upgrades and fixes...but still Starbound lost it's soul for me.

Oh and when I mentioned races differences I ment something like: nocturnal vision for florans, extra guns damage for novakids (or heat ressistance), big lungs capacity for Hylotls etc. I stongly belive that it would be still possible to keep the game balanced with that (maybe they would have to devote less time in creating piano notes to achive that )

 

the lack of progression also comes from the lack of additional abilities.

in terraria you start naked too.

later you can doublejump, climb, fly short patts and slowly longer and longer ones and even run faster. new weapons add new methods of fighting and abilities to use in combat.

The techs in Starbound are too much the same the same and have no progression, your character has no progression wepaons have no progression asdie form more damage prevented and damage done.

 

I never even thought about that but now that you point it out I dont know how I missed it

 

@hematyt
N-no ! Not the instrumentals ! I spent around extra 20/30 hours in this game because of those stuff !
Welp, putting that aside, i remember those grand road map they showed us before, it looks pretty dope. Even now, to be honest, i don't know the direction this game is taking.
I mean, it's lacking in lot of aspects. The combat, progression, and exploration needs a lot of polishing. The pokemon stuff, it's just like it's there for being there solely, there's almost no depths to it.
The colony system is ok though. as for the story, and the lore, it probably needs... some.... polishing indeed.

@cooltv27
yup, sadly, you could get the best tech available quite fast too, and you probably would use it until the end of the game.
Also, the way of getting said armor is kinda...... not really satisfying, it feels rather... easy. Getting a certain armor set from Terraria is really challenging, and it feels like the player really deserved it after all the struggles, ahaha. That's just how i feels though, not sure about the others.

Still, armor upgrades makes the enemy threat-less as it's in current condition now. Hope they would change the formula a little. Making the stats upgrade from armor not too powerful, and yet, still relevant for survival.

 

@cooltv27
yup, sadly, you could get the best tech available quite fast too, and you probably would use it until the end of the game.
Also, the way of getting said armor is kinda...... not really satisfying, it feels rather... easy. Getting a certain armor set from Terraria is really challenging, and it feels like the player really deserved it after all the struggles, ahaha. That's just how i feels though, not sure about the others.

Still, armor upgrades makes the enemy threat-less as it's in current condition now. Hope they would change the formula a little. Making the stats upgrade from armor not too powerful, and yet, still relevant for survival. [/QUOTE]

armor progression still suffers vey much from the same as it did in koala which also goes hand in hand with the exloration issues, on the planets that initially have thungsten and initially have titan you can find both of those planets top tier material already on the surface. If they would be hidden deep in the planets more mining and exploration needs would be there. Even solarium, the end tier ore doesn'T requires going deep, you cna mine it on the surface and upper layers too. And that makes you basically never have to challange going deep. But then in the depth there isn't anything more difficult either. Which is another lack of progression.

 

Haha, i agree mate. i also made my final tier armor from gathering Solarium ores on the surface. And, it's no hard feat at all, there's like, a hell lot of them. And, sadly, that makes underground exploration even more not worth it.... There's more risk (Being unable to beam back, except on casual.) , lack of structures variety (Explorer have no incentives to visits underground), The loot is more or less the same as on the surface. I hope they would add more structures diversity in the underground, and maybe some cool looking loots that aren't available on surface ! Maybe that would happen in near future... i hope....

But on the other hand, that feels like forcing player to dig down below, and i guess some won't agree with that... But still, i think that would make underground exploration worth all the risk and more interesting than ever.

 

only 2 reasons are there to go deep to the undergound:
some underground biomes only existing there with their specific loots, like gnome biomes
Fossiles

even diamonds which only appear near the core can be found rather frequently on top layer chests, and since they don't repair tools anymore and are only used in low quantities for some very specific things. So no real need to go deep to gather them.