What is Starbound team doing?

I've been following Starbound's development ever since they first showed that they added water(somewhere around 2012). They used to post every few days, keeping us up to date what they were working on, showing us that they're actually doing something. 3 years ago Tiyuri also claimed that they will be able to keep going even with the current funds for about 9 years(https://blog.chucklefish.org/starbound-health-check/).
They claimed on multiple occasions that they have a lot of content already planned after the 1.0 launch("Post 1.0 we have a whole bunch of content and updates planned" https://blog.chucklefish.org/finishing-up-starbound-1-0/ , "Leaving Early Access doesn’t mean the end of updates for Starbound by any means, instead it will mark a shift away from engine work and towards additional content creation." https://playstarbound.com/final-approach-to-1-0/ , "One thing we’ll be looking into soon after release is director mode. Something you’re able to find information on here" https://playstarbound.com/what-to-expect-from-the-next-update-1-0-and-beyond/ ).
Despite claiming they'll be focusing on content and implying we will get more content than before, the updates have slowed down to almost a halt(3 proper content updates in 16 months). Even the blog posts have become extremely rare(actual Starbound content as of today, in reverse chronological order are 18.10, 18.09, 1.09, 18.07), on average being one per month. Now let's go back a random amount(chose page 20 on blogs), and check the dates there - 3.05, 29.04, 25.04, 21.04, 18.04, 14.04, 11.04, 7.04, 3.04. You can see that in a one month period there were 8 updates and all but one of them were actually about new content/features.
And it's not like there's a shortage of ideas. I checked all posts made in the past 1-2 months in the Suggestions and the only time I saw a moderator post was to say that people are doing something wrong(double posting, linking to another post), but not a single word about the idea itself.
Not to mention not having added many features promised many years back(playing instruments with keyboard buttons).

 

Developing >_> these things take time >_> When they have something important to relay they will >_>

 

Generally not what they said they were going to be working on... What about those server side character saves? https://www.reddit.com/r/starbound/...bout_the_future_of_starboundchucklefish_link/

 

Linking a three year old post is worthless

 

what are you, the ceo?

 

No just someone with common sense

 

wasn't talking to you, rando

 

I'm pretty sure we will hear from them before the year ends.

 

Just happens to be a list of things that were also in their FAQ before they cleared their planned features. Just a statement that they aren't doing much of what they said they would do for the game. You asked a question and got a real reply, common sense that one out I guess? lol

 

well... I understand what you feel but next update will take long time because chucklefish is doing 4 projects simultaneously. starbound update, wargroove, stardewvalley multiplayer mod, spellbound(this is not official name).

 

Hopefully what they're doing is making some nice Avian wall displays with VirtuaBoy looking red graphics and pictures of Kluex and other glyphs against a gold border with a black background. That's what I'd like to imagine they're doing right now, anyway.

 

Have you guys checked the Factorio oficial site? The team behind Factorio posts every week with significant changes or at least what they are planing....
Come on Devs, we want to know what you are doing... At least tell us your plans and ideas.

 

SB started to do that and then spent several months talking about and showing the combat and creature attack changes they were working on, which then they went and scrapped entirely (cue resources and dev time down the drain) so they could shove 1.0 out the door. I guess weekly updates died with the combat improvements.

 

I wish the devs at the starbound team didnt scrap all of the stuff koala had. There were many cool weapons and amazing techs, also the uscm bunker structures, and the ravagers. Too bad they removed this stuff.
P.S: also they removed the awsome ores and bosses. I also couldnt complain too much because these recent updates have brought some pretty cool stuff.

 

Much as I love Starbound - it really feels like CF just kinda left it out to dry to some degree. While its a great game for what content it has - there are so many things ingame that feel like loose ends or unfinished (or unrealized) ideas. Seeing what creative folks have done with JSON coding and the items/pets/etc they've come up with - really makes we wonder why such content wasnt in the game to begin with. A pet that waters your plants? A hovering backpack? Weapons that are interesting with crazy fire modes and projectile patterns? (IE: not the 1000th burst fire rifle with a grenade launcher...). The mech update, while neat for a short while - was a completely missed opportunity. Ridiculously repetitive levels, extremely low drop rate for the very, very little amount of new items introduced (weapons, decor, vanity, etc). Cant even use an 'endgame' mech on any planet for any respectable length of time - I mean come on.

Just seems to me theres so much CF could do with Starbound, so many directions they could expand on it - but it seems like its been set out to pasture for the most part. And thats a really disappointing prospect. So much we used to have, that we dont - so much we could have, that we probably wont...unless they decide to do some massive, Terraria 1.3-style update in the near future. Well, heres hoping...

 

First of all,terraria 1..3 exists. Second, I see the stuff you were saying mechs are not long and all that stuff but i see it as a picture. Lets say the storyline is the line and weapons and that kind of stuff are color. I kind of see the devs are putting the storyline to an end before they add all that stuff. Its like not finishing a portrait and starting to color. That way the player can experience the thrills of the storyline and then enjoying the goofy stuff.

 

My educated guess is that the "funds that would keep the game going for 9 years" are now being used to publish other games and the "team" is a couple of part time coders working on bounty hunting, if that many.

The game is over, and that is for the best. The game is incomplete and no amount of new content is going to change that, because lack of content isn't its problem.

Nothing short of another near complete overhaul of the game's mechanics akin to Cheerful Giraffe is going to make the game interesting. It's better to let it go.

 

Avoiding your phone calls.

 

They could add aesthetically pleasing things, it wouldn't be growing up, it would be growing sideways. If they released more sideways content, like more bosses (optional bosses of course,) more weapons/clothes/armor drops from said bosses, more vendors which used things such as collected bugs, figurines, capture pods, and fossils (even fish if they found a way to trade what's inside of the critter transporter guns,) to trade for more high-end rare stuff like the forementioned weapons/armors/clothes. Adding more insects to catch, fish to catch, fossils to find, monsters to fight/capture/collect figurines of, would be a significant shot in the arm for the game. With games like this, they just simply need to add more stuff to make it entertaining, and that stuff doesn't even exactly have to be mechanics like bounty hunting. It could simply just be...stuff in general. Everyone loves stuff, and most successful games realize an abundance of stuff=win.

They need to make it reasonable, though. I don't think anyone is going to be getting any Parasprite figurines without a significant boost in their drop rate (hint, hint.)

 

I just got back into this game after a very long break (around a year or longer) and am really enjoying it. The mechs are cool and I am having a lot of fun.

But, I still remember in during the initial developement claims about infinite procedural weapons. Well, okay, so we get endless variations of the same guns and axes and swords. How about straight up weapon crafting? Maybe I want an assualt rifle with a shotgun secondary instead of a grenade launcher.

Anyways, there are valid criticisms of the game mentioned above and it really breaks my heart to read a post claiming the game is dead already.

I mean games like these, to me, the main story is almost always secondary. It's the side quests and exploration that keep you going.

Theu could quest arcs based on factions like the minikong militants and scientists. Add bosses for them.

I still have hours and hours of content to go through but I don't want this game to be dead.