Instant death traps

So I was wondering around this underground lab that I found on my first planet, found something that looked like some sort of generator or something, pressed e on it, and instantly died as it opened (or whatever it did). Seemed a little unfair.

 

Sounds like a Matter Generator (I'd link you to the appropriate wiki page, but there doesn't seem to be one). You find them in Crystal Labs. When activated, they shoot out matter blocks in all directions, which do substantial damage, though a single hit isn't usually fatal. The safest way to get your hands on those sweet, sweet matter blocks is to stand as far away from the generator as possible when activating it. My guess is you were standing too close and got hit by 2-3 blocks at once.

 

Did it spew purple blocks? It may have been a ?G-block? (I think that's what they're called, been awhile since I played) which cause damage when they scatter.

Edit: G-blocks don't seem to be a thing. Matter blocks is what I was thinking of though.

http://starbounder.org/Matter_Block

Don't know if that page is still relevant with the recent updates.

 

Ahhhh. I was playing an perma-death character because I get more satisfaction when I get far into the game. Obviously that comes with risk but it still seems a bit silly activating something at full health on your first planet can immediately kill you. And yes I was standing right in front of it. I didn't particularly notice any blocks fly out but I cant be sure.

 

yes, I was playing with my friend recently and we found one of these pretty early.
never actually seeing one before and not knowing what harm they can cause, he clicked it.
me being partly stupid I was on a permadeath character (never again, for a while) and died, him being reckless, I agreed to give him the full copper armor.
I died and he was almost dead. I tried to warn him but he went in to fast. so I got killed for his stupidity... something is off, oh well, im going to go jump in lava to see if muffins rain from the ground after a few days on the local binary star system

 

Was it silly to have such a device on a starter planet?
Or was it silly to assume a starter planet is safe or that touching machines that you have no idea about will only have beneficial results?

I get that it's annoying when playing permadeath. But isn't the point of Rougelikes? To die and learn for the next time?
Perhaps your next character is a little more cautious

 

What you encountered was a Matter Block Generator. There are a few things to note about them.
1. They deal pretty lethal damage if you get hit by the Matter Blocks.
2. Matter Blocks will not "un-phantom" (as I call it) if they do not hit a surface.
3. To catch the Matter Blocks and block the damage. Build a 1 unit thick wall around the Generator. There should be about 2-3 units of space between the wall and the Generator. When you activate the Generator then, the blocks will fly out, hit the wall, and hopefully you take reduced damage and simultaneously catching the solidified Blocks. If you do not build a wall all around the Generator, the blocks that fly away from you will stay phantomized and be uncollectable.

 

Thanks for the advice, TrueEdge, that helped me out a lot.

 

The best instant death trap is taco bell.

 

Lures you in, keeps you in, kills you with good taste. Also Serenity, don't derail the subject, even if Taco Bell is a great topic to talk about.

 

Yeah, got me too the first time. Also the propellers on the Avian flying ships.

 

Every. Damn. Time. Those things are the bane of my existence.

 

It's silly to have an instant death mechanic that gives no previous or current signs of danger, regardless of where it is found. There is no amount of "caution" that can avoid such a death other than looking up every single new object you come across on a wiki. Rougelikes should still follow a "if you die it's your fault not the game's" mentality, and such a mechanic does not. Even simply putting a "danger" sign on it somewhere would suffice. Even the instant death traps like the breakable pots that usually give you treasure in diablo 2 warn you by giving you less lethal versions first so you know what objects can be traps in higher difficulties

 

When I was collecting matter blocks, I blocked that flying stuff with my shield.

 

you, sir, are a genius. best use for a shield, ever.
-edit: though building the wall around it like true edge said has the added benefit of letting you get all the matter blocks to... but I suppose when dealing with such things... building the wall AND having the shield out is probably the safest.


also:
random status pod:
if you stand on top of it and it gives you a harmful effect ... you die instantly, without even knowing what just happened.
what is worse, this does not happen all the time, since buffs that help you, obviously don't kill you.

 

You can also use your shield as a sled, a pan or even as an umbella. They're marvelous things.

 

I thought the harmful effects were fixed to no longer 1-shot. No? I still avoid the things, but that is more because I don't see the risk/reward being in my favor yet even if they are not death pods.

 

idk... I stopped dieing to them the second I stopped hitting them while standing on top of them, and instead opening them at the furthest distance away possible.
in fact, this has pretty much started to be my go to way of opening things that are unknown... poke it from afar with the stick of open, rather then standing on top of it.

 

we need a function like that so we can actually use shields as a sled

 

mmmmm