When you begin the game, you're presented with a quest that rewards you with a bunch of items - including a multitool, which is capable of destroying and placing blocks. A very cool item, right? Well, when you beam down to the surface, you notice that the tool is a bit weak. Cutting down trees and mining ores takes time, but that is to be expected - the multitool is very basic, and surely you can upgrade it later on. Right? No, instead you craft a damn stone pickaxe. This is a major problem in my opinion. Less than 15 minutes in the game you're able to craft stone tools, which are much more efficient than the multitool - So why even have it? Why not just start the game with wooden tools, which would still be better. Or better yet, not have the multitool be completely useless. I think that removing basic tools such as Axes, Pickaxes and Hoes would greatly increase the feel of the game. In a game like Terraria these tools feel natural, since that game even has magic which means tools made of magical ores naturally feel powerful. But Starbound isn't like that, I bought Starbound because I wanted a SCI-Fi Terraria-like experience, but that is completely ruined by introducing tools made of stone, copper, silver and so on. Why are these here? Not only the immersion factor, but you also now have 3 slots in your hotbar equipped by tools, when you should take only 1. I think a better way of introducing tool-tiers in the game would be Multitool Upgrades. Basically, instead of crafting a stone pickaxe, you craft a Level 1 Mining Upgrade Chip. Instead of a gold pickaxe, you can upgrade your multitool with a Level 3 Mining Upgrade Chip. It already sounds more sci-fi, doesn't it? An upgrade system would allow for more variation as well. Not only could you have upgrades that improve harvesting materials, you could improve the tool range, or maybe augment it with a a small flashlight, or a short range item vacuum. That certainly sounds much cooler than meddling with pickaxes. The multitool could even be "stickied" to the hotbar's #1 slot, and this way you wouldn't ever need to worry about losing it or something.
Yeah I agree with this, the multi-tool becomes redundant very quickly, it would make more sense if you even started with normal items and had to craft the multi-tool with basic ores and then upgraded it as you progressed through the tiers.
I have yet to progress far up the tech tree but I kind've assumed that by tier 3 or 4 we'd be building and upgrading multi-tools (Or building powered tools like pneumatic drills and chainsaws) rather than still relying on manual tools; is that not the case then? O,o
I was just reading another tread with this same basic idea. http://community.playstarbound.com/...e-picks-upgrade-the-matter-manipulator.38443/ A fair amount of people seem to dislike the picks and stone tools. (including me)
I like the basic tools. It has a nice feeling of working backwards to move forward. On that note, I do agree with an upgraded manipulator later in the game, say past gold/platinum/titanium/hulkhonium ore tools. I also would like to see high tech specialized tools too. A laser cutter for only very quick single block removal and a sonic 'cough-something' for only quickly removing multiple blocks where the full upgraded manipulator is the in-between. Those tools can also have added effects such as mild damage, knockback, etc. Same goes for building tools. Specialized tools for placing down 1x5 tiles, or even a fill tool would be neat.
I agree entirely. The multitool is a really cool item, but the fact remains that it's utterly useless. I thought having something that has more range than what I was used to from Terraria was a major step up, but then it goes back to the same old, and suddenly I have to climb dirt towers again if I want to mine the ceeling of a two meter high tunnel. We've all had plenty enough of that from Terraria. It's not interesting anymore, inconvenient and doesn't fit the theme at all.
I saw the matter manipulator as more of a building tool rather than one used for excavating; Placing objects at a distance. Still agree that some high tech equipment would be da bomb! Upgrading to a "re-skinned" tool is a little lame.
It only makes sense that their needs to be sci-fi tools in a sci-fi game. Going from the starting manipulator to a stone axe seems foolish.
This might not be the right place, but I suggest an Advanced Matter Manipulator that cuts and mines faster than the normal one, but it sucks up the mats so you don't have to walk over and pick them up. Great for those of us too lazy to dig through half a screen of cobble to get that one gold ore (or whatever ore you want).
They do have things like a mining lazer. I'm nearly certain that they intend to implement more high tech tools later on in the game, and I think that yes later on you will be able to upgrade and/or get an upgraded version of the matter manipulator. I believe the idea behind giving it to you in the early game, is that a spaceship wouldn't be carrying a stone pickaxe ( that's just dumb ). The matter manipulator on your ship is probably say "a cheap version of an industrial tool" that can be found on most ships to be used in an emergency, and thus is a weaker copy of an item that will be more powerful in late game. I think of it like an interstellar car jack. Or one of those really tiny shovels that were attached to the back of a willies jeep back in ww2. It's an emergency tool When you get to your first planet, your out of fuel, in your little Prius of a spaceship you have to start over with whatever survival skills you have on a brand new planet. So relax The dev's wouldn't seriously expect us to stomach pickaxes all game, and the matter manipulator I'm sure will be of more use at SOME point down the road.
I full heartedly agree with the idea of future tools and being able to upgrade the matter manipulator. However, please do not remove any of the current tools. I greatly enjoy being able to use an axe to cut down a tree, a pickaxe to mine ore, etc, etc. Let's not forget the fundamentals here. This game is great because it is everything else, and more. I know it's hard to make everyone happy, but honestly if you don't want to use an item, use another one. Don't start taking things away from a game, especially when they work for other people.
Been a while since you played Terraria? Many items to get around stepping blocks now. Same with this game which patch 1.2 took a lot of inspiration from.
I will be massively disappointed if you don't get to upgrade it or get more sci-fi tools later in the game. As it stands, I have a diamond pickaxe and it's still too damn slow when trying to mine things like obsidian, or most man-made materials.
i entirely agree, please devs get rid of tools and give us multitool upgrades instead, it would fit perfectly with the sci-fi and would just be more convenient/fun/immersive!
Right now there are too many tiers of primitive tools... and the fact that a stone pick out performs the mult-tool feels a little strange. I'd be happy with three tiers of primitive picks/axes so long as we moved onto mining lazers, chain saws, and the like fairly quickly. Our armor returns to the sci-fi styling far quicker than our tools do, and that simply feels wrong. So, don't get rid of the primitive tools all together, but make them feel like a stop gap, and not a first 4 hours of the game hole that they feel like right now. Also, has anyone seen the mining lazers in the game yet?
