Getting Started in Starbound

Since the (apparent) lack of a "Starbound For Beginners" thread, let's make one now. We should all collaborate everything we learn into a single thread, that way it'll be easier for everyone to find.

Let's start with something simple:

CONTROLS

The controls in Starbound are straightforward for the most part.
We have the basic W A S D movement, and cursor aiming.
The Spacebar allows for jumping.
The E key allows the player to interact with objects in the environment, be it a crafting bench or a door, etc.
The Q key lets a player drop the selected item.
There are also menu hotkeys such as C for crafting and I for inventory.
Right-click a stack to divide it.
Shift-click an item to move it from slots like toolbar and chests to your inventory and vice-versa.
The F key is used to activate tech powers such as the Mech.​

GETTING STARTED
It's wise to use the 3D Printer aboard your ship to copy the seeds you start out with. To interact with the 3D Printer, press the E key when you're next to it. Once you scan them into the printer, you are easily able to copy them for only 1 Px apiece. In order to actually use the seeds, you will need a gardening hoe.
To craft a hoe, you will need cobblestone and wood. Gather them with the matter manipulator you are given at the beginning, and press C to open your crafting window. From there, craft some wooden planks and then, using the planks, craft a workbench.
The workbench will allow you to craft the essential Iron Anvil among other useful tools.Once you have crafted your gardening hoe, find (or make) a fairly long, flat stretch of dirt. Use the hoe on the dirt and then use the seeds on the tilled land. After a wait, the seeds will grow. In order to harvest them, you must activate them as you would a crafting station or a door.


It's advised that you build a shelter at this point. Once you're settled in, with a decent crop, you can begin working on crafting other things such as a kitchen counter.



HELPFUL TIPS

• Not all creatures are hostile. Most of them are.
• Do NOT swim in green liquid. This is poison and it kills you rapidly.
• Moon planets tend to drop temperature very quickly, but contain a lot of ores, with no trees.
• Arid planets have no trees, okay temperature and a good amount of ores, but it seems like it has stronger monsters.
• Forest planets are just "ordinary" planets.
• Coal can be used to fuel your spaceship.
• Every race has different starting armour and weapon recipes.
• The sun icon that sometimes pops up shows temperature. If the bar empties, you tend to die.
• At night, all creatures become stronger, and more seem to spawn.
• You can left-click to build, but you can also right click to build a background.
• Some crafting recipes unlock new crafting recipes. (Copper armour unlocks silver armour for example.)
• Holding the attack button while using a bow increases attack damage and range.
• The shift key has many uses. You can mine/build in a 1x1 area with it, and it allows you to walk.
• The Ctrl key can be used to extend your view in the direction of the cursor. Very handy in caves.
• Blueprints are used in the same way as food. Simply equip it, and click. This will allow you to craft whatever is on the blueprint. The same applies to found tech too.
• You can repair tools with the tool's respective ore. For example, right clicking a damaged copper pickaxe while holding copper ore will restore some of its durability.
• Use a hunting bow if you want meat or leather. If you kill a monster with anything else, they'll drop pixels.
• Using coal, you can fuel your space ship. Simply open the fuel tank and drop in the materials. Unrefined wood also works, however it isn't nearly as efficient.
• The Distress Beacon summons the first boss. Don't fight him until you're ready!

As I learn more, I will update this thread. Feel obligated to add to this.

 

There's actually a Codex entry in the game that lists the various keys, though it's a bit hard to find. Didn't actually see it until after I'd worked out all the controls.

 

1. Not all creatures are hostile. Most of them are.
2. Do NOT swim in green liquid. This is poison and it kills you rapidly.
3. Moon planets tend to drop temperature very quickly, but contain a lot of ores, with no trees.
4. Arid planets have no trees, okay temperature and a good amount of ores, but it seems like it has stronger monsters.
5. Forest planets are just "ordinary" planets.
6. Coal can be used to fuel your spaceship.
7. Every race has different starting armour and weapon recipes.
8. The sun icon that sometimes pops up shows temperature. If the bar empties, you tend to die.
9. At night, all creatures become stronger, and more seem to spawn.
10. You can left-click to build, but you can also right click to build a background.
11. Some crafting recipes unlock new crafting recipes. (Copper armour unlocks silver armour for example.)
12. Holding the attack button while using a bow increases attack damage and range.

 

Right-click a stack to divide it.
Shift-click an item to move it from slots like toolbar and chests to your inventory and vice-versa.

 

Very useful tips. I started on a forest world and there is plenty of copper but little iron and even less silver.

 

If you middle-click over a crafting station, more options show than if you pressed E. Holding shift allows you to mine/place blocks 1 at a time instead of 2 x 2 or 3 x 3. It also allows you to walk instead of running, although to my knowledge there's not much point in doing so.

 

The hunting bow has a certain spot on its draw that will fire a more powerful shot. The weapon will glow briefly when you can fire this shot, and the arrow leaves a little bluish-white trail behind it when you pull off this attack. By the way, the hunting bow draws from your energy pool (somehow), so no ammo is needed.

Has anybody figured out the 3D printer yet? I try to scan something, but nothing happens.

 

I scanned a seed and it worked. That is all though.

 

Do any of you guys know how to use found blueprints? For instance, I found an item called Energy Dash Blueprint. How am I supposed to use it?

 

I found one of these too, place it in your hotbar, then just click, then go to your ship, the printer menu has a 'tech' option, press lock in on one of the buttons shown
then just double tap a or d to do the dash

 

I'll add that to the first post. Thanks friendo.

 

No problemo
another thing that should probably be added: You can use ore's to repair tools, eg use copper ore on copper pickaxe = slightly more repaired pickaxe
(place ore on hot bar, or pick up from inventory, right click on damaged tool)

 

Is it legitimate to add very basic questions here instead of putting them in their own threads?

All us newcomers probably have various little hangups (some things are certainly unintuitive in this incarnation of the game)

 

Yeah, let's hear what you got. I'm sure somebody'll have an answer.

 

Using a hunting bow makes defeated creatures drop meat or leather ...
etfeating them with a sword makes them drop Pixels instead


Also, coal isn´t the only means of powering your spaceship ... wood works as well

 

Is there a way to lay down 1 row of a building material at once (one layer of rocks instead of a 2x2 grid)
How does one combat the cold? stay indoors, build a fire? doesn't seem to have worked so far.

 

I'm sure this is known, but if you press E near a vegetable (carrot, wheat, etc) instead of mining it, you'll get that edible vegetable and 1-2 seeds instead of just a single seed.

Campfires work better than torches. To heal at night and stay warm, carve out a big enough area underground to place a tent with a torch on either side. It should keep you warm and refill your health bar.

 

Okay, is there any other resources after gold and platinum? Also can I make armr from the? If so, then how? I can't find any blueprint or a place to craft them.

 

As far as I can tell, you have to move up the hierarchy to unlock stronger armor. Crafting the Copper set unlocks Silver, and so forth. Not 100% sure if this is the case, but when I made the last piece of my Copper set, it said "new blueprint discovered" and the entries for Silver armor were in the crafting menu.

 

im having a lot of trouble crafting things. i have raw meat to cook, but near a campfire nothing shows up in the crafting menu to cook meat. i have a lot of planks to make various wooden things, such as doors, but no objects show up in the crafting menu, whether im next to my crafting table or away from it. any help?