Vector Squared -- Starbound Community News, Issue #13

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Greetings, and welcome to the thirteenth (cue triskaidekaphobia) issue of Vector Squared. Last time, we covered some pretty interesting information about Starbound, topics such as the release of Treasure Adventure World and the introduction of badges. In this number, we come around with information on the recent Winter Contest, an effort at creating a Starbound series, and the victory Starbound has achieved in the “Most Anticipated Games” poll, among other subjects. So, fasten your seatbelts, get ready, and blast off into this issue’s coverage!

Table of Contents

• Winter Contest -- Results Revealed!
• Winter Contest -- Interview
• Starbound Series in Need of Help
• Off-topic LIterature Section?
• Fan Art and Normal Art Not Very Different
• February Wallpaper
• Indie Game Mag’s Most Anticipated Game of 2013
• Suggestion Spotlight
• Fanfic Review with Merc
• Science Trivia
• Question of the Week
• Closing Comments

Winter Contest -- Results Revealed!
Last week, the winter contest results were released, and due to time constraints, a proper article was not able to be constructed in time for the release date. We apologize for that inconvenience. We’ll try to be more prompt next time

Well, for the actual article. The contest itself was a great success, with 74 entries. That’s quite a bit for a small contest like this! So 74 poems, stories, and pieces of art, pixelated and traditional, along with the all-important song category. That’s plenty of content to keep you occupied for the next few weeks, so keep that in mind if you find yourself with nothing to do at the computer. Drop a comment or two on the creator’s profile telling them how much you loved it as well, along with a possible critique. It makes for a very nice reward after working so hard on the entry.

Mkay, some statistics to kick the next portion of the article off: There were 13 songs, 11 pieces of pixel art, 10 “arts”, 19 stories, and 21 poems. Quite intriguing, as it shows some interesting patterns. The largest category was poems, quickly followed by stories. The songs, art, and pixel art were all hovering around the same number. Perhaps the community found it more easier to write a poem, or a short story. Nevertheless, all the entries showed a fantastic amount of effort put into them. I congratulate you all again for entering!

This is one of the smaller contests, as can be observed from the relatively small amount of entries. According to the staff, the smaller contests are interludes between the larger contests. So that means we’ll have both, whichever one you prefer. How fun.

Well, the part you’ve all been waiting for, I’m sure. The winners. Well, here we go.

Pixel Art
The winner of this category was Pigrocket, with the entry of Solstice Customs -- a hallway featuring the presumed traditions of all the races we have so far. It’s quite a charming graphic, showing off all the wintry feelings at its finest.

Its runner-up was Starbound Santa -- this time a santa that has penguins instead of elves to carry out all of its monstrous deeds, like breaking and entering in most residences in the galaxy. It was made by Barlov Monkiss, who certainly seems to have some self-critiques regarding the work. Despite that, it’s a nice piece.

Digital Art
The winner in this category was 12 Midnight, Greenwich Time, by forum user Cyan the Red. It’s a 15-panel comic, with a very unique art style to boot -- a gooey-looking brush, for lack of better words. All of the panels are excellently drawn, featuring the celebration of New Year’s even in places far outside our solar system’s reaches -- after the destruction of Earth. Despite its morbid undertone, it makes for an interesting piece of art!

The runner-up was Christmas Tree Planet 6, drawn by Samszysm, featuring a tough candy-cane-munching hero who is fending off a horde of candy cane trees (strange coincidence, no?). It’s bright and spunky, combined with some interesting brush work. Take a look at it

Short Story
This category was somewhat... contested. The original winner was blind sniper’s Winter Customs Over the Galaxy, but due to some controversy, a “Holiday Spirit” badge was given instead, and Brother Lame’s The Hunting of Santa Claws took the official first place for that category.

The Hunting of Santa Claws (besides having an interesting play on the actual title) is the story of the “santa-monster” twist of the Christmas myth we all know and love, only within the Starbound theme. It’s an action-packed tale of monsters and death -- certainly worth checking out for sure for those seeking a thrilling experience.

The runner-up was by Mercenary Lord, creating his “Grounded Faith” entry -- the story of a Grounded’s experience with some otherwordly beings. I can’t go into much depth without spoiling much, but the general feeling it leaves you is stellar; the nice warm kind of satisfaction one usually gets from a good short story.

Poem
Sweeping this category was The Night Before Starbound, by BioApple. It’s a fun little piece, really, showing off, in painful poetic form, all the little habits we’ve lowered ourselves to while waiting for the release of Starbound. Like so:

Heh... well, anyways, take a look at this wondrous piece of art and revel in its awesomeness.

The runner-up was A Flawless Christmas, by resident spoony bard Sham. Featuring breathtaking scenery and visualization, it’s truly a Starbound epic for ages to come. Along the way, it has a whole collection of nods to our community lore, like poptops and “Guns of all sizes”. Need I say more?

Song
Fairytale of Distant Skies took this category by storm -- SpaceNarwhal’s parody of Fairytale of New York was quite an impressive work of music. He even sung it himself, and despite a few out-of-tune sections, it made it infinitely more engaging. Combined with the distinctive rhythm of the actual lyrics, it makes for a nice companion-music for anything you could choose to combine it with!

Coming in second place was Keeper'sStarbound Tribute. Sung to the beat of Tenacious D - Tribute, it’s a hilarious piece of music. Quite a few times, I dropped all my responsibilities to watch the video, over and over. Combined with the charming pictures and the reworked lyrics, you shouldn’t need another hook to enjoy this piece.

Another interesting thing to mention was Winter Customs Over the Galaxy. It had originally won the Short Story section, but it didn’t exactly fit in. Here I quote moderator Sokina:
[quote}
...didn't quite fit into the short story category as well as it could've. Despite that, the entry was all kinds of awesome and still deserved to win in some capacity, so we've awarded blind sniper the Holiday Spirit badge.
[/quote]
So there you have it folks. However, it’s a marvellous work of art, anyways, with some interesting anecdotes combined with even more community lore (or is it speculation?).

So that’s our coverage of this contest! The judging sure took a long time, but it seemed to have ended up very nicely. Thank the judges, entrants, and staff, for making this possible. So now, I guess we’ll all be waiting for the next contest to be coming to our doorstep

~Nababoo


Winter Contest -- Interview
We also interviewed forum member Soup on general feelings regarding the Winter Contest. (The interview below has been edited for public viewing)

nababoo: So. Interview time.
Soup: Yes, go ahead.
nababoo: What was the general impression you had of the Winter Contest?
Soup: You know, I just realized I don't think I've seen results for that contest yet. Have they been released?
nababoo: Yes, in fact they have: http://community.playstarbound.com/...zaakuh-extravaganza-the-results-are-in.14365/
Soup: Ah, very nice.
Soup: In any case, I feel like the contest went pretty smoothly, like the hat contest before it. I wasn't around when the monster contest was held.
nababoo: Neither was I, unfortunately.
nababoo: Well, anyways, what did you think of the entries? Nice, excellent, stupendous, etc.
Soup: I didn't enter this one though, I'm not at all a creative person.
nababoo: Well, what did you perceive of them?.
Soup: There are some very talented people on the Starbound forums. In both of the contests I've seen some fantastic entries.
Soup: I'm always amazed at how much work some of the people put into these things as well
nababoo: That's certainly very true. Do you plan on entering any contests?
Soup: Well, as I said I'm not very creative. I did try my hand at the hat contest though since I could do something simple.
Soup: If there's another contest in the future that doesn't require too much artistic skill to enter, I probably will.
nababoo: It's the simple things that usually win
nababoo: Like that cardboard box.
Soup: Yeah, that one's pretty amusing.
nababoo: So, how did you like the first "small contest" in forum history, as compared to larger ones?
Soup: was this considered a small contest?
nababoo: Yeah, rounding off at around 75 entries, as compared to the 300 entry or so ones of the Hat Contest.
Soup: Yes, I think that ties back in with what I was saying, this contest was a lot more difficult creatively than the hat contest. But at the same time, I think it gives the more artistic people more freedom with their creations, and we see a lot more interesting entries because of it
nababoo: It promotes creativity?
Soup: I believe so, especially since there were several options about what type of entry to make this time, so artists, writers, and musicians could all enter.
nababoo: Oh, yes, most definitely so.
Soup: In future contests, I think it would be good to keep a variety between this small more creative type and the more open type like the hat contest, to make sure that everybody can participate.
nababoo: That's some very nice thoughts you have.
Soup: All right, I'll make sure I read your thread when it's ready.
nababoo: Wonderful. See you then.

Thank you for all those interesting thoughts!
Interview conducted by Nababoo.


Starbound Series in Need of Help
Forum user Noc has created a topic this week where he exposes his desire to create a Starbound series with other community members willing to take part in the activity. Such project would consist in several episodes linked together by a continuous storyline, which is currently being development. The episodes would then be aired for the community to see, trustfully to provide a decent amount of entertainment, as well as gather some feedback.

The idea is that such project would mostly be shot in Starbound itself, hopefully with proper voice acting and editing. Due to that, Noc states his wishes in finding people willing to join the team to fill roles such as the one of actors, voice actors, builders, editors, among others.

The team is currently being assembled and the project is being discussed more attentively via Skype. If you are interested, pay the thread a visit, where you may find more detailed information about the whole thing (including an application form), and give Noc a shout.

~Keeper


Off-Topic Literature Section?
Recently, Keeper has raised the issue of a possible off-topic literature section. While the staff has yet to post comments and thoughts regarding this topic, the community response has been overwhelmingly positive, with 20 votes for and only one against. The thoughts seem to be along the lines of “Why not?” And that’s certainly true -- there is currently an off-topic art section, so there’s really no reason as to why not we shouldn’t make it. Also, as pointed out, it wouldn’t take too much effort, either. But of course, there may be reasons why or why not, and we’ll have to wait for the staff to step forward and say something regarding the matter before we jump to any conclusions.

~Nababoo


Fan Art and Normal Art Not Very Different
Winter Contest Pixel-er pigrocket has pointed out a rather interesting observation -- many threads in the Fan Art section would fit better in the Off-Topic Art section. This is mainly a shout-out to keep that section free of off-topic items and keep it for what it was originally intended for -- expressing one’s enjoyment of Starbound through the joy of painting and art.

~Nababoo


February Wallpaper
Announced by fetalstar, guest wallpapers seem to have returned this month. As such, the official Guest Wallpaper for February may be seen at playstarbound’s homepage.

The wallpaper was produced by forum user Suika Ibuki. The image is a fantastic depiction of a Hylotl, a Floran and a Robot, wielding three different melee weapons and standing their ground on a small clearing, ready to take on several approaching enemies.

More interestingly, as fetalstar pointed out, is that the wallpaper provides a pretty solid idea of those different races’ cultures, namely: Hylotl - Asian Theme ; Floran - Tribal Theme ; Robot - Medieval Theme.

Here it is:



Can you name all of the approaching enemies? (You might want the full-sized image for that)

And who will emerge victorious from the certain-to-be battle?

Finally, if you’d like to see more of Suika’s works, feel free to drop by his deviantART page and take a look around.

~Keeper


Indie Game Mag’s Most Anticipated Game of 2013
Hurrah for all the Starbound folk! We’ve recently won the “Most Anticipated Game of 2013” category, with a whopping 46% vote towards the selection of “Starbound”. It makes one wonder if the results were skewed by that announcement some time back then, recruiting all of us as an army of slaves...

We’ve won by a vast majority; revel in the victory, and watch as new members trickle in. How wonderful to see how far Starbound has gone since its inception roughly this time last year. Let’s hope that this will continue on, and that the game will serve its expectations!

~Nababoo


Suggestion Spotlight
Both suns shining brightly, flowers creating a captivating aroma, various creatures living out life in happy peace. While enjoying the natural beauty, you finish up the final touches on your new dream home, pixelated blood and sweat going into each block.

Suddenly, grey clouds form to block out the sun. Beasts of horror appear from seemingly nowhere and slowly march towards your house, stomping on the flowers and killing any creatures along its way. You try your best to stop them, but all you do is slow down the inevitable destruction of your home.

This is only one scenario that Starbounder Mary Sue wishes was possible in her suggestion of Dead Planets. Basically, the game should have random events and happenings that negatively affect the player and while may be slowed down, cannot ultimately be stopped. From legions of monsters to stars going nova, any adventure in Starbound should be filled with unpredictable danger - or so says Mary Sue.

Quite an unusual suggestion, no doubt. I’m sure quite a lot of players would be ecstatic to see such an interesting level of danger presented in the game, but perhaps have it optional as part of an advanced difficulty setting so that more casual players can relax without having to worry about the entire universe trying to kill them.

So please, visit the thread and comment. Add your feedback and let’s see what the community can do to build on the idea.

--Strife



I’m back again! Running out of Fanfics to actually review. Come on, people, write them stories. Welcome to more Fanfic review. I’ve had a bit of trouble finding good, semi-recent things to review, so I had to take a week off. Plus, I’m lazy. This week we’re looking at "A New Beginning”, by BlueberryFloran.

The storyline is pretty simple to follow. I like that. It’s a good opener, and leaves room for lots of complications. In this Fic, we follow the story of a young Floran girl who suddenly finds herself far away from home. She makes the acquaintance of a robot, and together the two set off on a journey to find a…oops, that’s spoilers. You’ll have to read it yourself to find out what goes on.

The grammar is pretty good. I’m aware that the author does not speak English natively, and so I understand the problems. Regardless, the grammar rarely detracts from the story. The setup of the text is interesting as well, although it might confuse people at times. It isn’t too much of a problem. I give it a 7.5. Average, not stellar, but also not bad.

Punctuation and Spelling is good too. Several misspelled words here and there and some punctuation errors as well, but there really wasn’t too much of a problem. I give it a 8.5, because again, it wasn’t entirely spotless, but it didn’t detract from the story in any major way.

Intrigue. This is actually impressive. Lots of good plot twists and an interesting potential plot. I really liked reading this one. The idea and execution pulled me in. I don’t want to spoil anything, though, so this is kind of difficult for me to explain much. There are just a lot of bucked trends and good thoughts. I’m starting to repeat myself. 8.5 for being good.

Characters are where this really shines. As I said before, the characters completely buck their personality traits at times, and at others they do just what you’d expect them to. Perhaps there was a little bit too much of trying to force me to see their personalities, but I liked it. I give characters a 9. Nice.

Lasting effect is always tough for me. I’ve said that a great deal. But good news! I actually liked this one! I think I’ll remember it for a long time, although I wouldn’t consider it life-changing. Still, making an impression on me is always hard to do, so props for that. I give an 8.

This is a damn good Fic. I recommend it. Go read it.
--
SCORES
PARTS
1: 7
2: 8
3: 7.5
4: 8
5: 8
6: 8.5
A: 7.8
-
CATEGORIES
G: 7.5
PAS: 8
I: 8.5
C: 9
LE: 8
A: 8.2
-
FA: 8

~Mercenary Lord

Science Trivia
Round and Round

Contrary to popular belief, the planets and asteroid belt do no actually orbit the sun. Everything in the solar system, including the sun, actually orbits the solar system’s center of mass. The center of mass is like the average location for mass. For example, if you have two bodies and one has twice the mass as the other, the center of mass of the two bodies, as a system, will be at the point in between the two that is twice as far from the one with less mass than the one with more.

While finding the center of mass for a system with as many bodies of mass as the solar system is wildly more complicated, it operates under the same concept. The only reason it seems like the planets and other celestial bodies of the solar system orbit the sun is because the sun has so much more mass than the rest of the solar system that it pulls the center of mass really close to its own center. And if we didn’t have Jupiter, being the star reject that it is, the center of mass of the solar system would be so close to the Sun’s center that you could say the Sun’s center is the solar system’s center of mass.

The same rules apply to all other star systems, including those with multiple stars. In the case of a system with two stars of relatively equal mass, their orbit of the system’s center of mass can make it look like they are orbiting each other. And in the case when one star is significantly more massive than the other, the smaller star can appear to orbit the larger star like a planet.

Questions, comments, concerns? I’ll gladly answer them all. And if you’ve got any suggestions or ideas for future topics feel free to post those as well.

~Active Link

Question of the Week
Q: Do you prefer larger contests over smaller contests?
A: Answer in the thread. We aren’t psychics (yet).

Closing Comments

• Well, thank you to all of the supporters who have been around. As we’re nearing Valentine’s, we thought it’d be appropriate to share the love!

Staff
Nababoo -- Manager/Writer
Keeper -- Wordsmith
Mercenary Lord -- Lector Ficta
Strife -- ???
Active Link -- Scientific Consultant
Slaticus -- Author from the Shadows
WackyWocky -- ??? #2

Credits
blind sniper -- Banner
Soup -- Interview

Previous Issues:
Issue #1 [] Issue #2 [] Issue #3 [] Issue #4 [] Issue #5 [] Issue #6 [] Issue #7 [] Issue #8 [] Issue #9 [] Issue #10 [] Issue #11 [] Issue #12

 

1st nice job as always keep up the good work.
2nd I prefer larger contest appose to smaller ones.

 

Another great issue, keep up the good work.
I want to suggest something to add to the newspaper, but I'm not really sure it's missing anything!

 

If you have any ideas at all, fell free to tell us. We're always willing to improve

 

Actually, I suggest you do something covering this thread.

 

Oh, I never noticed that. Good article topic! Thanks

 

I think that's the first time I've been interviewed for anything. Keep up the great work!

Do you have a link to the Indie Game Mag poll and results? I'm curious what other games were in the running.

 

Personally I think any type of contest is good, and it's my favorite thing about this community (not so much the competition, as much as the community spirit), but I really liked how the way the Holiday contest worked out with the smaller categories and and plain openness and casualness about it. The staff should definitely make more like it in the future.

 

http://www.indiegamemag.com/igm-awards-2012-vote/

It's down the page somewhat.

 

Unstuck #12 and stuck this one.

They said they'd release the results publicly this week.

 

Total forgets

Editing in-progress.

 

Good job as always.

I'd expect to see a broken piggy bank in one of the next suika works.

 

I love these.

If I ever get off my lazy butt I want to write a fan-fic....

 

So apparently my half-assed suggestion made while drunk was good enough to be made part of some community spotlight.
Muahahahaha.
I'd like to thank/blame Ducky, my cat Dreamy for making it pain to do and Olvi distilleries for inspiration.
(NEVER SPENDING A DAY SOBER AGAIN)

 

I agree with Mary's suggestion of unpredictable danger should definately be a part of space exploration, although it might suck sometimes, you never know when a star will go nova...

 

Issue #14:
Well, before we get any further, we have a special message from Suika Ibuki:
<Picture>
Ahm, well... let's just hope that my space bunker is stronger than that hammer. In other news...

 

Suika is killing your brother and you are just going to sit there??

 

I'd kind of love the "shit can happen" doom mode