A Question and a Discussion of Tech Tiers

I have been thinking recently about the "Tech levels" in Starbound. And I have run up against a question that I haven't seen answered anywhere yet.
Will tech level 1 basically be the "Terraria level" where your goal is to make super-basic tools?

If it is, I am not sure it will be a very interesting level. I mean do we really have to go digging into our first planet with a copper pickax (or equivalent) and start "crafting" our way out of the bronze age into modernity? Wouldn't it be easier for our hero to stop by a black-market peddler and pick up a second-hand drill and scanner set?

What do you all think. Do you want the early tiers of Starbound to be Terraria II, where your character goes digging around with a pickax looking for basic ores, or do you think the main character should start with more advanced tools from the beginning?

 

It would have to be advanced. The player already has the technology for interstellar flight, it wouldn't make any sense to start with copper tools. Also, Tiy mentioned using low tier ores like gold, copper, sliver, etc. for other things like turning them into ink for the 3D printer.

 

Yeah. This is nice.

 

I prefer stone age, it just gives the feeling of being stranded. Maybe start with a beaten up ship, and some stone age tools.

 

That doesn't really work with the starting out on a space station part though.

 

I put stone age, but only for the first 30min of the game when you have nothing. After killing an entire family of those horrible glitch with a stone tied to a branch, then we can take there stuff and become advanced. I guess what I am saying is I would like room to advance in the game.

 

I don't think stone age is the right term. After all, the only tools that were available in the stone age were simple spears and knives made from stone and wood. It would be impossible to construct any sort of useful digging tool.

In any case, I would like the start to be pretty basic. Your race may be technologically advanced, but you escaped from your destroyed world with little to no supplies and will have to start from scratch before you can start using technology again.

 

Starting off with simple tools like a pickaxe would be fine. Like feldemon said, using tools like those to start off would add a sense of progression in the game.
Though I wouldn't be opposed to having the first tier be some sort of mining laser type tool.

 

The lower you start the more difference is possible between each teir.... Surely that's a good thing?

 

The way I see it is, sure, you have a space-worthy ship that you can travel the galaxy with...but that doesn't mean that you are equipped with high-tech tools and instruments for mining and harvesting (and whatever else). I especially agree with Soup's point, since it's what I've imagined since I first saw the Water Demo that Tiy put up where you see a grey pickaxe (stone? iron?) - that you lost a lot of your tech and need to start over, but have at least some basics on the ship.

I mean, besides, with the reasoning that some are giving with our mining tech needing to match the ship's tech, shouldn't the ship already be decked out and shouldn't we already start with good armor? But our ship will start out pretty bare and I'm sure we'll start out with just the clothes we pick when we make our character. We'll need to start low, and progress (but whether that start is with primitive tools or high-tech, is still up for discussion of course).

 

What.Just what.
Techs in starbound are like terraria's cloud in a balloon.There was nowhere mentioned something like that.

 

I think by "tech tiers", Zellman mean tiers of technology, like a laser is a higher tier mining tool than an iron pickaxe. Not the "tech" we hear about that gives us abilities and modifications.

 

Oh.Well screw terraria.I want sci-fi tech since the beginning.Or,at least,a sort of.

 

I'm banking on more of a piecemeal set up of primitive and reasonable advanced tool setup in the beginning. As you progress then you can start streamlining your equipment towards more futuristic hardware. I'm just hoping that your materials can actually peak with certain applications.

 

My guess is that you start with the device you see players using in the videos to mine blocks 1 at a time and to build stuff.
That, and probably a sword or a gun.
That thing mines really slow, yet at the same time it's obviously a very high tech device.
...and without it I don't think you could even place blocks. Dunno if it even takes inv space.

 

This is what I've been thinking as well, but there hasn't been anything really clarified about it, which is kinda ok, I don't want bad spoilers on the opening. I love cool game openings.

I think that this is really the best reason I've heard of for starting without futuristic tools. If the Devs find themselves running out of ideas for advancing through all 10 tiers of technology they could just make tier one bare bones. I am still not sure that it would be a good decision though, as it would not be a very interesting technology tier. There is also the point that most advanced (even just modern) tools and equipment require very fine advanced machinery to make them. You can't just build a drill from raw iron ore and sticks. The gears, lenses, electronics, etc. all require machines to be fashioned in a way that allows them to work together.

I think that in a populated galaxy, you wouldn't have to "work your way" back up, since there would be other civilizations that already had the technology, There could be a pixel-check for that technology though, I guess. The merchant who has your first advanced mining tools could be a total jerk and want to charge you 10K pixels for tier 2 equipment. However, I've always hated "artificial" progression blocks like that, because they encourage grinding (a game mechanic I abhor).

 

I think it would probably be the most fun for me and my friends to all start at nothing. Then slowly build to the stars. It's a cheap gimmick for making the game longer, and maybe even tedious, but on the first time playing. I don't think I'd notice or care.

Maybe an option at the start. So you can choose to start with nothing or t start with space basics(spasics)

 

I think that something like that would make a great Mod, but I don't like the idea of any part of a game being designed as tedious. But I'm also a huge grind-hater, which sets me apart from a large part of the gaming community.

 

I believe we're going to start with some kind of emergency multiool. We barely got away from our homeworlds demise. Our multitool can cut wood, mine/extract ore and earth and help us build structures. Its range is very limited and it works slowly. Our very first quests will be to reactivate and repair our station so we gain more functionality and blueprints. I guess we'll lack the ability to fabricate the spareparts on our own at the beginning, and maybe we'll have to go on salvage and scavenge missions. We might have to explore other abandoned space stations or ships and find the parts we need. As we progress in the game we will probably unlock specialized tools like drills, chainsaw or repliplacers which perform only one function but much more effective than the multitool. Its very possible that there are better multiools as well. Upgrading is cool.

 

I think that the first tier will be a mix of stone age and tech. As many before said, it'll really depend on how the storyline starts out as to the level of tech at T1.

Here is how I think about it...

Imagine, when homeworld planet is destroyed by the evil nothing your character is just a regular citizen, right?

They most likely escape on a rescue ship that someone else higher up society prepared (tutorial man). That means you only have the tech that happened to be on the ship or that other survivors (starting npcs perhaps) had time to snatch before TSHTF.
Being an ignorant neet in your society, you only know how to use tech so any need that you don't have something high tech to solve you'll have to start in stone age to make. Such as fire, armor, maybe weapons, etc.

I think this would be a fun way to start out: clueless citizen who doesn't know how to do anything without the tech from their society.
It's not like you figure out all on your own how to make new tech either, you have to find the blueprints from other; possibly ancient, civilizations.