More fuel sources are badly needed, one way or another; the game shouldn't force you to do deep mining just to enjoy the space-travel part of the game -- it should support different playstyles, including ones that focus mainly on the surface of different planets rather than delving deeply into one. I think that making it easier to trade for fuel (and maybe having some way to signal space-merchants who can trade you fuel, anywhere?) might be a better way to do it than using wood or more coal; more options would be good in any case. As I said, given their thematics, I suspect that the Novakid spaceship is literally a space-train. Many others appear a bit low-tech, too (the Glitch spaceship is a flying castle!) Running on wood or coal is the least of their worries.
My favorite solution to the fuel issue is dramatically increasing the mining speeds. If mining weren't so tedious, we wouldn't be complaining about this in the first place.
Get a diamond drill, you will realize that mining speeds faster than that (other than going through obsidian or magma rock) and you might as well just OP yourself and give yourself the items. So lame all this bitching about shit that they can easily fix.
We're just trying to make the early game content less tedious. I have only played to the third sector personally. I'll play further once they start focusing on it. I know nothing of the late game feels, but that has absolutely zero pertinence in this thread.
That's not how it works. The suggestions forum is partially to discuss the direction of Starbound, which will influence what kind of game it will be. As an early supporter, MurtaghInfin8 is entirely entitled to say "I'd prefer it if the game was a bit more like this." Obviously the basic outline of Starbound is what it is (it's a space exploration game drawing inspiration from Terraria and Minecraft and similar sandbox titles like that), but the game's progression, in particular, is very much up in the air, as you can see from the fact that it was just radically overhauled. So there's nothing saying that Starbound has to be a grindy or "hardcore" sort of game; nothing in the game's initial promotional materials has ever suggested that that was the goal. In fact, I suspect that a lot of it is just poor initial balancing, which will eventually get corrected thanks to user feedback -- making mining more fun, less of a chore, and less essential overall; making progression less rigid so there's multiple ways to progress depending on what you enjoy, etc. Of course it's up to the devs, but a huge amount of what type of game Starbound is going to be by the time the beta ends is still up for discussion; you may prefer "grind heavy" types of games, but it's entirely valid for people to suggest that Starbound should aim to be less grindy. I don't think that the grind (the slow mining early on, say) is really inherent in what Starbound is, even if you happen to like it. (I basically agree with MurtaghInfin8 -- I don't think that making mining in the initial game painfully slow just to allow for faster mining later on is particularly good design. This isn't Farmville, you know? A well-designed game should be fun all the time.)
I'm starting to not see a point to the fuel system other than to add busywork on each planet. I think something entirely different should be done for fuel. Plus, shoveling coal into my FTL drive always gives me a chuckle. MARTYYYY!!!! IT RUNS ON STEAM!!!
Well, I do think that there are a few advantages to a fuel system. To a certain extent, I think that a "nominal" fuel system can actually be fun -- there's something satisfying about dumping fuel into your ship; it gives it a more visceral, realistic feel. I don't believe realism should be a major concern (this is a game where you can nearly fly by shooting bubbles or butterflies), but the idea of "feeling" real is important, if you know what I mean. But a bigger problem at the moment is that there's currently not much reason to fly between planets in the same sector (rather than just exploring your current planet.) I think that the game needs a more robust and interesting trading system, to the point where you can make money trading between planets -- this would both provide a better source of fuel (buying it), and would provide enough of a reason to fly between planets quickly that fuel would be justified (it would be something you'd have to balance against the profits of trading.)
I don't understand how people find it tedious to mine coal. I see tonnes of it on the surface and am able to mine my way off the planet after 5 minutes of running the surface of a planet. As I said, if you guys find that too tedious, you haven't played minecraft or terraria and these games certainly aren't for you.
Loved minecraft and terraria, but the main difference between the two of them is that there is one type of world. Here the novelty comes from exploration and interaction with the world. Mining is not the emphasis of the game. I want this game to be novel and not use "it's not a big deal," as a way of ignoring places that could otherwise be interesting mechanics.
You guys, I hope you realize coal is only the first of many fuel sources. Look at the wiki and these are only the ones available right now. Also coal isn't that hard to get. I had about 2k coal by the time I left my first planet and a diamond pickaxe just from exploring below the surface. Coal is meant to not be the best fuel source as you get better ones (and better mining equipment) as you advance in the game. Also I suggested in one of the food/hunger threads that if they would make food spoil after a few in game days in your inventory then it would be great to be able to turn that into biofuel. Right now I'm swimming in alien meats and I'm gaining them well in excess of my consumption rate. If some would spoil then voila, turn it into biofuel.
We meet again Ewok, and as opposition again no less . I think that it would be fun to have farms of domesticated animals in hamster wheels that eat your excess food and output energy. I still don't like the spoiling system, but I agree that making a link between the two has potential.
I've mined for an hour and have found 3 copper on my FIRST planet i'm sad. There is so little coal aswell, but i found gold right off the bat ;_;
Well you see, after we basically defeated the Empire for you what did we get? Star Destroyers? A Death Star of our own? No, you threw us a little party and went on your way! I approve this idea as long as the hamsters can be used as food.
I was referring to the spoiling food thread, but I like your take on it more than my intention, so it's alright
Also, as I've been saying repeatedly, Terraria actually requires far, far, less mining than Starbound currently does, because: 1. There are almost no "consumable" uses for any mined materials in Terraria. Terraria torches are made from gel and wood; in Starbound they use coal. Fuel is something you constantly need, meaning you can never stop mining it, whereas in Starbound, you never need to mine again after you have decent equipment (maybe a little bit for potions, but the amount is so small that you can easily get a lifetime supply.) 2. Starbound requires massively more metal, because you need it to summon bosses and are not allowed to skip tiers of gear. Both these things translate into extremely high ore-grinding requirements, which are required to access most of the game. 3. In Terraria, you had many different options for the order you faced challenges and the directions you advanced in (so if you didn't like digging, you could do the Jungle, the Dungeon, the surface, the sky islands, the ocean, etc, and get lots of useful stuff in all those places.) In Starbound, you must mine to get usable gear, and -- given that wood-to-coal is not really practical now -- you must mine to use your starship to reach new planets, and you must mine to encounter bosses, and all these things have to be done repeatedly and constantly; unlike Terraria, you're never "done" with them.
