Planets dont feel different enough from each other....

I think they need to get more creative with planet generation in order for it to feel like planets alien from each other.

The whole universe almost feels like the same planet. There should be more game changing ways to differentiate planets. We need environmental hazards and quirks. The rare gravity change. Unique resources that can craft unique items made from that resource. Unique blocks with different properties, etc.

So far the eyeball tree is their one trick pony. We need more outlandish/ unique parts to generation.

 

There are other special trees than the Ocumelon tree (the eyeball tree )
But in general, yeah, I feel the same way. It is probably a hard thing to do, as unique blocks associated with craft would mean too much work (for not enought interest in the game).

The is also an issue : Exoplanets (aka not the big gas ones) are very similar in terms of appearence. Take Mars, Mercury and Venus for example. Their surface is rougthly the same thing: rock rock rock. The composition of the earth (not Earth) can vary, but it's quite similar if you don't go to the molecular/elements depth.

I'd like more diversity, but I honnestly don't see how it is acheivable.

 

Totally agree.

As I said in a recent post, small interesting and fun to explore planets means that over a play session you're seeing and doing different things. And it feels like time is being well spent.

Huge, sameish/repetitive planets is probably not something they want to have their player base exploring over the course of a couple hours played.

 

In the "The Game we Want" thread people propose ideas that would do a lot to different planets indeed feeling different.

A basic element would have to be that not every element is present on every planet. Some should have no trees, some no wildlife, some no rock, some no ores.
This would make exploring much more worthwhile.

Another thing could be unique blocks that can be processed to some basic crafting material by means of a new machine (de-alienator?). Say, instead of trees there are these giant sail-like structures. When chopped down, they don't drop wood but "sailskin", which you can then turn into leather or fabric.
That way, it's not just different versions of "woodspending tall structure".

Likewise you could look anew at unique ores/ blocks. We have these crystalline mesh - We can turn it into coal!
We have this orange powder - we can turn it into sand!
20 to 40 more unique blocks that would all be just one conversion away from standard crafting could increase the sense of strangeness.

 

As I've said before, there's only so much you can do on a 2D plane but already there's a sufficient amount of variety in my eyes, but don't forget it's not all in there yet. Also, content generation like this is incredibly easy for the team and modders, so try not to worry about it.

I mean some forest mountainous backgrounds can have craters, ruins, streams or trees or any combination thereof. And lets not forget about colour variation, I mean honestly if weren't for the fact that blocks can be nearly any colour, then it would be incredibly samey.

I'm very much looking forward to Ocean planets. They've talked about gravity in the past so expect that to be another variable. I personally would like to see the planet generation lean more towards 'science-fact' without getting too boring, like 'moon' moon's that have no life other than NPC's using suitable equipment to survive.

 

I can't seem to find the thread you mentioned. can you link to it? all in all, I agree completely with this thread. I had created a post call immersive filter effects, to make the game more immersive, but now I think filters and just crazy weather patterns in general need to be added to make the planets differentiated are very necessary. just use our universe as inspiration! where is the acid rain? literal rain made of hydrochloric acid. where are the planets that rain lava from constant volcanic activity? or the one constantly bathed in beautiful but fatal radiation, just like one of Jupiters moons? the are many things that need to be done to make plents feel different. I think what is missing is some more ridiculousness.

http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/immersive-filter-effects.22328/

 

i honestly believe the devs made the mistake of promoting constant planet hopping. They dont have the content to support it (yet?) Most of the biomes they have would make 1-2 good planets with a variety of wild life. I think if planet hopping wasnt as frequent, variations would feel more profound. If it was more like Terraria, with planet hopping was the equivalent of rerolling a complete world, the game would feel a bit more robust and have less problems with progression. As it is now, we are just "traveling" between biomes, what we could do in Terraria by just walking.


*By unqiue ores, it doesnt have to be completely unique items. What if trees on one planet could serve as stone AND wood? You could discover new fuel sources, iron equivalents, etc. It would make mining feel like discovery.

 

yes. Moons should serve a purpose other than another planet generation. Like you said, no life, extra ores, different gravity.

 

Larger planets could stand to involve multiple biomes. And oceans. Definitely oceans. I don't mean desert having an oasis, that's okay as a mini biome and especially on smaller worlds, but I mean a planet that is roughly 4x4 or 5x5 on the grid having a forest, desert, arid, and/or snow biome on the same world. Smaller planets I can dig having a theme. For larger planets, being entirely arid across the entire surface gets really old.

Then, as others have stated, worlds could spare to lack things or have things other worlds may or may not, like creatures. Still, we're in beta. There's a lot left to see added. Even after beta, that doesn't mean the updates and content will cease. Plus, there's always mods.

 

I think a great deal of attention was spent on making planets LOOK varied. But what I'd like to see in future updates is the questioning of how do we make them FUN? There are a lot of gameplay factors that could be designed to give each planet its unique challenge and reward, and some of them work quite well with a randomized system. But it'd be also important to design scripted events that have a chance of happening in each scenario, and those would not necessarily have to do with the planet in question, but with the player's progression in the game. I'm hoping this will come with the game's main quest.

 

I run into the same buildings (even whole towns) that are exactly the same on different planets, exploring the surface is getting redundant especially in sector X once you have impervium armor. Looking for some exciting things to explore. Whats the point of digging down when everything is so nice on the surface for me.

 

I feel we need less planets, but larger and more varied ones instead.

Having a trillion planets doesn't matter if the only significant difference is the terrain shape.

 

Yes, that's exactly what I've been trying to say. You do realize there's a finite number of unique places and dungeons they can add, even if they include new ones regularly. You'l eventually see them all, and when new ones show up, you'll see them again. And you'll be out of exciting new things to see. Many people are very attracted to the notion of exploration as a major thing, but it's a dangerous path to design around. However, if they focus on making those sights full of purpose, from a gameplay perspective, they become more than just sightseeing. Exploration as a gameplay feature, is a limited, albeit important, selling point. Even with procedural worlds, at one point, the players will have explored your map and will be looking for other things to do. It's a novelty that ceases to be a novelty after a few dozen planets. That's why, in my opinion, you need a slower game pace, so you don't expose your entire universe in a few sessions, and that's why players must be challenged with different obstacles to overcome. Mining has to be made fun, because on exploration alone, the game will be very limited.

I appreciate the effort they are taking to make planets look good. They do look nice and there are plenty of details. I wish they will spend more time on developing the "gamey" aspects of Starbound such as story, progression, simulation, puzzles, and less on actually expanding the amount of visual variety and star systems and different versions of the same tools, which are always good, but we do have plenty already and add nothing new when it comes to actual gameplay.

 

It took less then 3 days for me to see almost every combination of towns and get through all late tier content (threat 5-10) within a couple hours. Never had to dig down once.

 

I agree, but would argue that if all the planets were just like creating a new world in Terraria, then people would be unhappy because all of the planets would be too alike.

Personally I feel sometimes like the planets are too big. I think it might help break up the monotony of a planet if it had 5 or diverse biomes and was about half as big. I haven't timed it yet and have probably gotten side tracked alot on my walk, but I think it took about an hour to walk all the way around my starting planet the other night.

 

I agree. They are trying to sell this game (to some people) as a space explorer sim game- but its NOT. There isnt enough content for that. Its truly a mining game with a space skin. This kind of game isnt really set up to have complex vilages and NPCs for interaction and roleplay. Its the kind of game where the NPCs help give purpose and relevance to mining, building and hunting loot. Jumping from planet to planet, skimming the surface (like you would do in a space explorer game) wont hold up for too long. This games content is too focused on digging, building,fighting,crafting /finding loot to help dig and fight and craft/find better loot. If they make us focus on the surface, or break up the gameplay of digging, finding loot and building just to start all over again to progress, it all starts to fall apart.

I know its too late now, they're far too commited- but i wouldve never made this into a "visit and explore 100s of unique planets as fast as you can to progress" game. It shouldve been more of an "explore an alien world and travel to experience more" kind of game. This way they can focus on making our starter world a GREAT place to play for 20-30 hrs ( however long an average playthrough should last) , with the option to travel to other worlds just as viable and robust.

 

Sorry, I was a little lazy when I wrote my last post.
Here you go: Have fun, it's a great read!
http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/48657/

 

I think it's too early to say that there's not enough content, since they have said not all content is in yet, and they'll be adding for a year after they decide the game works well enough to release fully.

Agree that there's a sameness to planets now.

 

Definitely right. More hazards, and more random encounters. I don't really see much difference from each of the biomes other than the trees that can be cut down and maybe a couple of aesthetics like the blueprints.

 

I think that's kind of a given, but what's being suggested here are what additional bits of content can be added to what's planned to vary planets and composition.

This is just me, but I think atmospheric density and composition could add quite a bit to the game, even if it's just a no-oxygen (in danger of suffocating)/poisonous (constant poison damage)/superheated (constant fire damage)/acidic (constant non-elemental DoT)/electrostatic (constant electricity effect) flag, and the addition of environmental suits to allow players to navigate. I actually find myself surprised there's lava and volcanic worlds in the game already, and no environmental suit to allow players to navigate lava. Just adding that could allow for completely molten planets and the like.

Making entire planets out of sub-biomes could be a good addition, as well. I know I'd laugh out loud if I beamed down to a planet made entirely of sewage.

I'd also like to see hostile flora, as well. Trees that fight back if you try to chop them down could be great fun.