New Patch: Fuel

I disagree with OP.

I personally like the fact that you now have to work to get fuel, as it keeps you from just jumping around, looking for a quick Avian ship to buy a gun from, or to take all the chests from the surface or easily managed dungeons.

I personally think that in later levels it would be a better idea to be able to craft a converter of sorts, that can make wood into a fuel source.

Right now, I enjoy what the change does. It makes you explore the planet, make a shelter, and survive on it until you've built up enough to go off and explore the cosmos, makes it feel like you really are a runaway that's been stranded in orbit over an unknown world.

 

Just saw this in your OP, and I rethought my position.

This removes any counter argument I have. As long as this is true I would be ok with wood being a 'fuel'. As this processor would probably require you to play a bit before obtaining it. But once you did, you could travel easier.

 

I also like the feeling of being stuck on a planet, and have at least one reason to make a shelter. Maybe we needs more reasons, not just can't get out, but I think is a good beginning, the idea of "at least at the beginning" you cant be jumping planet to planet like nothing. I like fuel being a problem in the first days of the game. in more advanced game I suppose we will have other fuels like uranium or magnimitium or fossilized penguin to make traveling not a fuel problem (maybe just to some kind of ultra large secret travel to a secret place far away and lost in the deep of space... )

 

There gets to be a point where you're just adding more hoops to jump through before any fun can be had.

 

Never used Wood as fuel always found plenty of coal and that was enough to get where I wanted to go. Dont see what the big deal is

 

yeah, allowing conversion of wood to fuel, I would say at say...5 wood for 1 unit of whatever ya wanna call the end result, that would provide 2 fuel units per resource.

even better, if it was a late game item it would allow conservation of other fuel sources by allowing you to refine them, like turning coal into something more concentrated or allowing you to refine oil out of sand or tar or what have you.

 

Wood and coal are both similar enough as an energy source that we should be able to use both. It's a simple fix really, just let us convert wood into charcoal with the furnace to account for how much easier it is to obtain.

 

Perhaps instead of upgrading the starmap, we can upgrade the stardrive instead and it uses different types of fuel?

 

Okay so we all agree we are having problems traveling.

 

Yeah, this makes no sense. I'd rather not spend hours on end digging for fuel just to explore another planet of the same exact level as the one I start on. I just want more places to explore, and punishing the player by making them grind so much for fuel is rather pointless. I thought it was fine the way it was before. You still had to work for it, and especially early on it felt like a big deal having to spend that much wood in order to fill up your fuel tank, but making coal the only source of fuel is just silly. I was actually hoping they would add more things to use, instead of use less.

Now I feel like I can't make torches because I'm using every scrap of coal on my fuel tank.

 

I kind of wish you could just throw anything in there. After all, this is a thing...

 

I farmed for 30 minutes, without even focusing on Coal. Just grabbing everything in sight.

I got 500 Coal, and a lot of Copper/Iron/Silver/Gold (but these are a bit off the charts right now). That is enough for me to visit my entire starting Solar System, and probably still have some left.

Coal is not scarce at all. It's just not a 100 coal = travel anywhere in the entire Universe thing anymore.

It also adds a layer of gameplay with Torches. If you make 200 Torches and just place them anywhere, instead of being smart with your resources, you're cutting yourself from Fuel. It's an interesting back and forth between those 2 resources (one used for planet exploration, the other for spelunking).

 

See, we shouldn't be farming, not for 30 minutes anyway. We should be exploring and dungeon delving.

 

See, mining is still part of the game whether or not people strongly dislike it.
You have to have some tolerance to tedium, it's mandatory in certain games. You're not going to get instant gratification.

 

Sorry, let me correct myself.

I farmed while exploring and dungeon delving (hence why I found the double jump and dash techs, enough meat to survive for a couple hours, leather for snow armor, killed a few robotic apes at a huge scientific facility, encountered 2 merchants, got 2k pixels from monsters and pixel containers, etc.).

 

It's not about instant gratification, don't give me that crap. I could say the same to you about how you want your resources the easy and mindless way, in a generation raised by iPhone games, but I wouldn't say that because I at least understand the enjoyment behind pretending you're an actual miner. I prefer a slower paced game, but not a tedious game. I understand the importance of mining, but now we just have one more thing we need to grind for. I understand the concept, but I haven't been as lucky as everyone else with coal. I've been farming for about an hour without as much luck, mostly because i get bored and want to explore a dungeon instead (which, in my experience, never contain coal).

Using coal as fuel in a spaceship makes about as much sense as using wood, so I fail to see why we can't use both. As it stands, coal is probably the most valuable resource in the game, and I don't even make torches anymore because of this. I use the same ones, pick them up, and move them, which just adds to the tedium. Alternatively, I just play during the day, or use my flashlight. We already mine enough for armor, weapons, and crafting stations as it is. In order to help make these mining experiences interesting, flying to other planets shouldn't be as painstaking as it is now, especially when you consider all the planets in a sector are of around the same level and by traveling to a new planet all you're getting is a selection of more opportunities to play the game how you want.

Since wood is used in a lot more things than coal, we're collecting it anyway, so it's one less unengaging distraction we have to do. Limiting the game to one fuel source is only a detriment to the fuel system, at least with how little it currently fills the tank.

The great thing about Starbound is how open the gameplay is. Digging, mining, and grinding should be choices, not forced upon the player. If a player wants to search and explore for their resources instead, they should be allowed to. It at least comes with a lot more challenges than mere farming for it. That's why we have the option between farming for food, and hunting for food: Some want to work for it to get it quicker, some want to be patient for it and work toward other things. So far, other than certain desperate situations, I've spent the game exploring the surfaces of planets and progressing rather comfortably, only delving underground when I come across caves, but now I have to stop myself and think "Ugh, now I have to grind for coal so I can get to the next planet.", when before I merely had to stop and chop a half a dozen trees (which is harder to do, if you're on a desert planet).

 

I'z have a few new fuel options!

You can find them here: http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?resources/spacefuel-tamefoxx.8/

 

How is "playing naturally for 30 minutes without focusing on fuel and being able to travel to at least 10+ different planet systems (!) just with those resources" even REMOTELY CLOSE to grinding?

 

In my experience, it's a lot more than 30 minutes, and I've only gotten enough fuel to fly to one planet outside my solar system.

 

so much for "freedom to do what you like" huh? oh wait, thats the game's slogan isnt it? oops. Here is the deal:it is a sand box. forcing people to go on a linear path and making us go through hours of digging for coal just to make us look at the whole planet is not fun for many of us at all. not everyone wants to dig forever. i find myself spending more time digging in this than i did i terraria and thats lame as fuck. using coal to power the ship is as silly as wood but this is a game so ill assume the ship is so fuel efficient it can use that. i want to see more fuel sources, not less. i want to be able to star hop if i so choose making me mine for hours to make me explore the planet is contrary to the concept of a sand box and is turning a great many of us in the community off your game. i honestly considered quitting and uninstalling over that change more so than even the balance issues. it is THAT anti-fun for a lot of us. and yes, i would be willing to advertise - positively or negatively - on this basis because it represents a real view of the experience expectation for the game. "yo what is starbound like?" a)" you send half the time digging for coal" or b)" you can explore the fucking universe anyways you like" which endorsement do you think will sell more copies of this game?