So I just "Finished" the game, and im worried about its core mechanics

Right now you are assuming that the current model will still use a "summon the boss mechanic" akin to Terraria.

There's a main questline which is still missing.
The devs also mentionned that there might -be- unique worlds which aren't procedurally generated(or at least not completely) that might tie into said questline.
And it's without mentionning the dungeons which are only at half functionality right now at best.

What make you think boss will be "summoned" at all when the game is complete?

There's already one of the current "skeletons" of a dungeon that's more of a jumping puzzle than anything close to combat, even.

 

How do we propose to make it less linear then? I think that's a little more peachy than saying it shouldn't be as linear as it is now.

 

I could be too new to contribute but I feel like a core part of this game is building.

 

The eventual removal of sectors could go a long way towards making it feel less linear. They could also move some previously tier-specific content (e.g. wiring and planet types) to quests or something (which you would ask around towns for and be directed to a planet suiting your current tier.)

 

You mean something like this?

So yeah, they aren't finished with the sector travel either, and even if it'll be still separate sectors, if the bosses don't gate you, you can fly to whichever you want.

The other thing I noticed is the MODE tab next to my characters. Since there really wasn't much info on that, one could speculate that there might be a pure sandbox mode in the works, just not published yet.

 

There will be main quests, side quests, npc's, dungeons...instead of 1-2hrs per tier, it may take 5-10hrs who knows?
It's gonna be totally different.

 

Oh, nevermind. Got it confused with someone else's suggestion where higher tier planets were distributed throughout the galaxy and required tier-related technology to land on.

The most important thing, though, is that there should be plenty of content that you can pursue regardless of current tier.

 

So the concept in question is that progression is powered by getting better items, in order to get better items?

I mean, generally, the main drive to progress in ANY video game is to get stronger/richer. But non-sandbox games have you get stronger to meet a challenge, where as Starbound, in this state, the only point in getting stronger is so you can get even stronger.

 

Yeah, I sort of feel like people are missing this point.

If you're just going through and progressing for the sake of progressing and finishing the game, you're probably not going to enjoy it. Build something. Love the thing you build. Work hard on it. And play the game.

 

What do you mean YOU PEOPLE?

 

What an odd thing to be worried about.

 

So, like Metroid's system. Every power up in the game is not strictly 'better' than what you have. It simply allows you to do things you couldn't before. Super Metroid, the ideal here, had it to where sufficient skill and knowledge could completely subvert the intended order of progression (you know, sequence breaks (and I DO know not all of them were intentional)). In Metroid, the environment, not so much the bosses or enemies, were what prevented Samus from reaching certain areas at certain times. In that setup, bigger guns and better armor didn't help in the slightest. Now, no Metroid game is ever going to be as expansive as Starbound, and I'm certain a great deal of fine balancing that can't be done in a game like Starbound occurred for its progression. But it's still neat to consider.

Starbound needs a clear end goal (or at least an assortment of smaller ones), I think, which will probably come a little later. Things you can't accomplish right away, that you can only begin to unravel after a series of smaller goals are met. It'd pull you in many different directions, into situations where better gear doesn't make things easier, and worse gear doesn't completely lock you out.

 

I don't really like Mega Man as an example, since the levels themselves were linear. You could play them in any order, sure, and there were hidden spots you could only reach with a certain Robot Master's weapon. I dunno.

With Metroid, there is a set path indeed, but to an enterprising player, it's more of a suggestion than a railroad. Most upgrades in Metroid either give you a movement ability that lets you traverse an obstacle, a weapon that can open a previously un-openable door, or a suit that give you free movement through certain areas (and a nice damage reduction). Heck, those things can overlap. You can get movement abilities that let you kill enemies and weapons that alter the level so you can traverse it better. But since Starbound is all randomly generated, the environment can't control progression beyond extreme cold and the lack of air and gravity.

Unlike Terraria, there's a whole universe for you out there. Why am I wasting time killing wildlife and spelunking old ruins when there are bigger fish to fry? I had this picture of Starbound in my head for the longest time where getting ahead in the game required one part exploration, to find a good planet, and another amassing the resources it offered by building things, and generally managing a bunch of bases across multiple planets to get the resources necessary. The enemies that stood before you would take so much more to deal with than better armor. I dunno, maybe it WILL become that game as more features are added. I'm still a Phase 2 guy at this point, so what the hell do I know?

 

I wish you guys would stop saying that the game is about building. There is no point to building right now. I know they are supposed to fix that later but I hope it's not pointless like Terraria. Gain nothing by building creatively. If I wanted to have a lifeless building game, I'd play Minecraft. I hope the devs can make this game to its full potential.

 

"His feedback is quite valid
because its a common trope in many games.

You could have a million side things to do.
But in the end of the day once you get the best equipment by crafting it. You are going to fight the boss, and just unlock a new sector area to get better gear"

I broke the reply format, shoot. I put quotation marks as replacements instead.

So we should consider these millions of side things irrelevant, and instead, pretend that the tier progression is the only thing that defines the game? You can easily use T4 armor/weapons in Gamma without ever going into X-Sector, simply because the tier system does -NOT- define the game. I've long unlocked Impervium, even though I didn't have to. Currently, I'm raiding castles, prisons, villages, and airships because it's fun, and I have no idea what's going to hit me next. After that, I'll probably find something resembling a grassland biome, set it as my home planet, and plunder only the best materials from other planets to aid in constructing a fortress of some kind. Then, I'll populate it with merchants and guards. Maybe after that, I'll summon bosses and observe how my guards deal with it.

There are so many things to do. Saying we should ignore these other options just because the tier progression assumes this state of dominance is ridiculous and narrow-sighted. TIY himself stated that there will be more things to do in the future, such as ship battles, utilization of WMD's, ship upgrades, extra biomes to experiment with, sub biomes, better dungeons, etc. Honestly, how does one even ignore all that?