Starbound -- first thoughts

So, through Nerd3 on YT I heard about Starbound, a new game that is being worked on by Chucklefish and has some people who worked on Terraria. I want to clear something right now -- this games is similar to Terraria but it adds it's own unique twists.

In Starbound you play a protagonist who has escaped from his/her planet and gets stranded on another world. The game begins in your ship, and you can then beam down to the surface.

In the same vein as Terraria and MC, the game is about survival, gathering resources, building a house. There are also quests to do, and your journey will bring you to many world's, increasingly harder

What I liked:
- The crafting system is solid, and instead of creating new equipment your current equipment gets upgraded with new metals.
- The alien worlds are radically different and look pretty striking.
- Unlike in Terraria, walls can be harvested as building blocks instead of walls, so a single stack of say, cobblestone bricks can be used to build a structure as well as walls.

Things I disliked
- The hunger system. Hunting for food is bollocks. I understand it adds realism but it just pisses me off.
- It's hard to tell hostile from passive mobs.

The game is in early beta, but from what I have seen so far, it is a solid recommendation to fans of both Terraria and MC.

It's available on the Steam store for 15 bucks, and I feel it is well worth it for fans of the genre.

It's still an extremely early beta. Charwipes galore at the moment.

Definitely a fun game, but anybody who gets it at this point should not get too attached to their characters -- rebalancing updates are hitting frequently, as are, well, charwipes. x.x

I haven't experienced many bugs so far. There was one instance when the game crashed and upon reloading I was dropped on a brand new planet, forcing me to rebuild my house and such, but so far so good for me. Hell, I found diamonds in the first five minutes of exploring this new world!

But yes, it isll a very very early beta so it's gritty, unrefined and crashy but it still deserves a solid recommendation from me. Well worth the 15$.

Sounds like a nice game but I'm really not into all that early release thing. To me it sounds as if you're paying to be a beta tester (but at least we're told that the games are not finished). I guess that when it comes to indie games it's ok to support them. Hopefully all those bugs will be crushed in the final release.

Except that I will get every update that comes out for the game and I can watch it progress from being rough and unpolished to becoming something great. I bought MC in early beta and I have watched it mature like a fine wine, and there is something satisfying in watching a game progress from it's early beginnings to a finished product.

Starbound shows a LOT of promise. I like what I see and this game will only get better as time goes on. I am proud to be a supporter of a gem in the making.

The game has received a significant update, and here if you for some reason want to hear my thoughts on it, here is a video I made earlier.

Not Minecraft!

Early Access games are usually very clunky so no big surprise there.

This makes me think of Darkout and Windforge.

By the way the shotgun vs tree bit made me smile.

I will further test to see if I can fell a tree with one of my guns. It would be bloody hilarious

I am surprised that my narration turned out alright for a video this long, TBH.

This update got me playing a lot more, and is better than Terraria and even MC on some aspects, though
all games are great in their own manner.

I also got Edge of Space, and I could definitively make a comparaison to Starbound, though I have not played much of it. I need to play this one proper for a few days. From what I did see the crafting system in EoS was solid, though, requiring raw materials aka rock, mud, dirt, etc to craft instead of the usual ores.

The loading screen gives a tip to equip a Firefox for when it's dark, that it's not the brightest bulb in the shed but that it will get the job done. My sentiments exactly.

You may have dwelt a bit too long on the Early Access thing. I only have a few Early Access games and although some are almost playable it's clear that they're all pretty much still in the beta stage.

It's a pretty cool review, you've got a good flow and a great voice for narrating. Last but not least it's nice to watch you messing around especially with that shotgun.

I bloody did it!

You did! You crazy lumberjack!