My Dissapointments With Starbound

Preface: I'm addressing the game as it stands and what I've perceived as it's intended direction. I'm also addressing the game at large and I'm not talking about specific game balancing issues or things of that nature. Comments saying "It's Beta" are not constructive. Comments saying "I think/they are going to improve upon that in a later version" are constructive. Also, I am aware that what I am saying is an opinion. I'm not trying to say that it should be what I expected, or that I was wronged for it being something other than what I expected. I am simply voicing what I had expected and what would make the game more enjoyable for me.

Before this game was open beta, I was getting this vibe that this game was going to be all about exploration and finding interesting things and flying around space in your space ship and meeting interesting people and a game environment that was bigger and deeper than your character. However, the game isn't that. I'm afraid it won't ever be that.

First thing: Lack of Meaningful Variety.​

Sure, there are different textured trees and different tinted dirts, but every tree grows in the same way, and every dirt block is placed and acts the same as every other. different planets are generally only aesthetically different then one another and only on a pretty trivial level. I never feel like I've gone anywhere when I go to a new planet.
There are different amours and weapons, but mechanically speaking they're all scaled versions of the same thing. Warmth and energy consumption are nice additional mechanics, but those are the only additions to the very basic and boring rpg stats of the item. I use the spears, they poke forwards. I use the short swords, they swing forwards. Same thing. I get a better one. They do the same thing but with a higher number, which is meaningless as the enemies now have more health.
Tools. There are only ever faster tools of the other lower tools. Higher tools need to be made with the lower ones. You mine to mine faster. It's redundant. There's no variance on how to get the ores you need. No alternate order to go in. You're boxed in. There's no difference between the beginning tools and the end tools besides how long you wait for your results.

Second thing: Linear Sandbox Progression.​

This game seems to artificially box you in on what you can do and when. You must make the first set of tools first, second set second, third third. Kill the first boss to get to the second boss. Kill the second to get to the third, It's more linear than a lot of games that aren't 'sandbox', even. This is related to my introductory statement about the world being bigger than the player. Everything is aimed at the player. The way tools work, the existence of bosses. The way to travel. It's all there to make you go in a line the developers wanted. It's annoyingly shallow as far as variance between playthroughs. I'm sure you all did more or less what everyone else did playing the game, save looking up coordinates for guns and stuff,

Third thing: Isolation.​

There are npcs, but npc's are essentially passive mobs. There might be a chicken farm, but who takes care of it? No body really. There might be a town, but what do they do all day? Nothing, really. They don't need to eat or sleep. They spout some saying when you click on them and that's it. The npc's aren't hardly populous. There's no societal structure. There's no larger picture. They're there and that's it. There's little point in talking to them. To finding them. You don't feel like you're in a town, it just looks like you are.
You're the center of the universe in a game about exploring the universe. It kind of defeats the point.

Fourth thing: Static Environments.​

Nothing really changes or moves. Trees don't regrow or spread. Mobs have no sort of source or quantity. The most you can do with circuitry is open a door and turn off a light. Everything around you will stay the same if you don't do anything. NPC's don't do anything, mobs don't do anything. Nothing like erosion or asteroid landings anything. Your environment is plain and uninteresting. Things don't happen around you. You are the only mode of change. Again, you're the center of attention. You can't even make the environment change beyond the most direct means. you can't make a lift. You can't pump water. You can't set up a mining machine.

All in all, I just expected something more centered on exploration and space travel rather than basic rpg stat progression.

 

Amen to that.

 

#3 is the main thing that bothers me maybe
i cannot play starbound in single player because it bores me to death because i am the only one doing anything ever
i always play multiplayer with my boyfriend thing because the only reason i ever explore is to discover new things and if i am the only person in the universe there are never new things to discover
i also feel that planet hopping is not very rewarding
i go to a new planet and usually i just find an avian village or floran huts
i do not like to murder people sometimes
even when i find an airship it just lets me buy really weak guns that i ignore anyways
all i ever do when i find airships is murder everyone and hope for a rare gun drop
maybe give vendors a chance when you first land on the planet to generate a rare item in their shop that costs a lot but is more useful than the other items in their shop
have glitch castle knights occasionally turn on their king and overthrow him
make really powerful monsters occasionally spawn in planets and roam the surface in search of things to kill
something interesting that does not happen on practically every planet

 

I have put more hours into SB than any other game in the last year. I love SB. That said, the OP's points are all pretty much on point. They are all legit issues that need to be addressed, IMHO.

 

I definitely agree that this game needs a lot more variation and ambiance. Especially how underwhelming extremely unusual things (such as eyeball trees) come across for some reason, or how being in a town feels little different from being in a hostile NPC-filled dungeon, which feels little different from being in some large caverns with mobs pathing back and forth.
The tiers also feel extremely forced, as if making a silver pickaxe without wasting copper on a copper pickaxe is some sort of despicable crime. This gets especially bad with drills, where by the time you unlock them you could easily have a diamond pickaxe, and if you want a diamond drill you have to throw your pickaxe away and work all the way up through all the tiers of drills before you can finally make a diamond drill. There's a lot less satisfaction in it than frustration from all the tedium.

 

You are first person I have seen to address point #3, and I am glad someone finally did. You could say that things are going to change as the game updates but I highly doubt it, considering the mentality that the sector system has been designed with. The game really doesn't want you to stick in one area for very long, making a living, breathing universe more or less an useless addition to the game.

I feel like the game tries too hard to be like Terraria. Starcontrol 2 did planetary progression extremely well, I think Starbound could learn a lot from that game.

 

I completely agree with this post.

Side note: i had a funny mental image of a dev just posting "GOD DAMNIT, IT'S BEEN A MONTH, WE'RE WORKING ON IT".

 

Well to be fair, this has been in development for much, much longer. It's only recently been released for public consumption.

 

The game is beautiful and if you dont like it go and play terraria ok?Leave us in peace!

 

Or they could give their feedback on a beta, which is kinda the point lol

 

are you serious? he's only giving his feedback.

 

This - This is the worst kind of forum post you can get. Go sit in the corner, be ashamed and consider actually reading and digesting something before spouting such stupidity ever again.

 

That's a little bit harsh, but i do agree it isn't a helpful post. In fact, I think this thread has damn good points. It's definitely the kind of feedback we need.

 

Sorry am croatian i dont understand some words lol

 

Wow, i can't believe how hostile people are being, sure starbounds fun to play, but everything he said hits the nail right on the head.
Good on you OP, i really hope the universe of starbound becomes more lively.

This linear progression system and lack of "Real" variety isn't that great, sure starbound will still be fun in the future, but it could be so much more.

 

get it together Susan!

 

I agree with pretty much everything on this post. I mean, Starbound is amazing and I'm still happy with it but I definitely was expecting a bit more like you said. The main thing that bothers me is how difficult and unrewarding it is to travel to other planets, to the point that I'm almost afraid to leave my home planet in case it's just a waste of fuel. A fuel cost, sure okay, but wow was I surprised when I saw how much it costs to go anywhere. Maybe I'm the only one like this, but I hope it costs a bit less in the future considering this is supposed to be a game centred around space travel and exploration.

 

A very thoughtful analysis that brings many good points to light. It would be nice to see the world have some agency of its' own and not having the player constitute the absolute center of the universe around which everything revolves.

 

Games with empty NPCs just make you feel lonely. Like you're the only person in that universe. No matter what the husks say every time you hit E on them.

 

Agreed. Might want to add how exploration is not good enough because other than decorative stuff, you can't really find anything. Especially with those dungeons without a single chest.