I'm finally playing Starbound and I thought I'd share my initial impressions, which actually comes less from game play and more from watching someone play it.
I've been watching Paul Soares Jr.'s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr). I decided to start watching his Starbound videos, which I've been enjoying. They are almost 30 of them and I'm almost done with that series (each video is about 20 minutes long).
I thought that by watching some videos, I might be able to get a better idea of the game and whether or not I wanted to play it. I finally decided that I wanted to try it. When I first saw video of Starbound, I thought it looked kind of ugly, although it has it's own unique art style, which can be appreciated. I think it is cool how colorful the game is. It's quite a lot like Terraria and Minecraft. After playing those two games, I was left still wanting more like them, so Starbound was an obvious next step for me. By watching Paul's videos, I also found out that this game has Pokemon-like elements to it, too, with the creature capturing system (in which you throw a kind of ball at a monster after weakening it and then being able to throw the filled kind of ball later to release the monster to follow and help you).
One of the first things I noticed (a difference from Terraria) is the trees. When you chop down a tree, it actually falls to the ground, breaking up into wood to be collected, which is more realistic. This differs from Terraria where trees don't fall, they just break up into wood in midair. I also noticed other “survival” game elements. You have to watch your health meter, hunger, and temperature levels. This is a similarity to Minecraft.
One big difference from those other two games is that you get to explore various worlds in various sectors of the universe, instead of just one world. This means that there is a lot of exploration to do. Right now, I'm not sure how big each planet is, but each one seems to contain one large biome such as forest, desert, snow, moon, and asteroid. Some of these are too cold or lack sufficient oxygen and may require the use of certain gear (like the survival kit) to explore. The game also has a flashlight and a way to look around to get a slight view of what's around.
Another big difference, I think, is the amount of items in the game. I watched Paul pick up so many weapons. I think that is really cool. There are also generated structures than NPC villages. I don't think the day/night cycle is as important in Starbound. I also don't know how to tell whether a monster is friend or foe. I guess the best way to tell is to go near it and see if it attacks.
In Paul's videos, he used Apex characters at first, and went through a series of character wipes (which I believe are over now). In the last video I saw, he created an Avian character. I also watched him play with his son who was using a Floran. I really don't know the differences between the races. I'm not even entirely sure why I chose Avian, but I think my character looks cool.
Like I said, most of my impressions come from watching Paul's videos. I've spent a little time in the game, but not a whole lot yet. One of the first things I noticed was an option to run the game in OpenGL. I'm not sure of how this differs from running the game normally, it's something I may have to look into.
I've made it to my first planet (easy enough, just play the game). There's low gravity on it and some trees with blue leaves, which I think are beautiful. I found a structure not too far from where I landed. The sword that I got initially with my character is now broken and it seems I can't use it, so I need to figure out how to repair it (I'm going to explore the wiki after writing this post).
I think I found a bug already. Pressing "E" allows you to interact with objects, such as the teleporter. However, I've noticed that this doesn't always work. Luckily there's a button to the right on the screen that you can click to teleport to the ship or the surface.
Anyway, I'm very glad to have another game similar to Minecraft and Terraria, since I love both games. This seems like a new video game genre to me and I only know of these three games in this genre. It seems to me that Minecraft created this genre and Terraria picked up on that with it's own style and now it seems Starbound has done the same (although much more similar to Terraria than Minecraft).
For those of you who have also played Starbound, what race did you chose and why? Or, what's your favorite race and why? How long have you been playing Starbound? How many hours have you spent in the game? Do you still play Starbound?
If you haven't played Starbound, why not? What might convince you to play? I'm not sure why I waited so long to get into it, I guess I just didn't feel ready and my very first impression of the game didn’t make me feel all that impressed. I also knew players were going through character and world wipes and therefore having to start all over with a new character. If you've been playing the game for a while, how many of these wipes did you go through? Did those wipes make you lose interest in the game or make you decide to hold off on playing until the wipes were done? I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the game. I also look forward to playing it more and following the game's development.
I've been watching Paul Soares Jr.'s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/paulsoaresjr). I decided to start watching his Starbound videos, which I've been enjoying. They are almost 30 of them and I'm almost done with that series (each video is about 20 minutes long).
I thought that by watching some videos, I might be able to get a better idea of the game and whether or not I wanted to play it. I finally decided that I wanted to try it. When I first saw video of Starbound, I thought it looked kind of ugly, although it has it's own unique art style, which can be appreciated. I think it is cool how colorful the game is. It's quite a lot like Terraria and Minecraft. After playing those two games, I was left still wanting more like them, so Starbound was an obvious next step for me. By watching Paul's videos, I also found out that this game has Pokemon-like elements to it, too, with the creature capturing system (in which you throw a kind of ball at a monster after weakening it and then being able to throw the filled kind of ball later to release the monster to follow and help you).
One of the first things I noticed (a difference from Terraria) is the trees. When you chop down a tree, it actually falls to the ground, breaking up into wood to be collected, which is more realistic. This differs from Terraria where trees don't fall, they just break up into wood in midair. I also noticed other “survival” game elements. You have to watch your health meter, hunger, and temperature levels. This is a similarity to Minecraft.
One big difference from those other two games is that you get to explore various worlds in various sectors of the universe, instead of just one world. This means that there is a lot of exploration to do. Right now, I'm not sure how big each planet is, but each one seems to contain one large biome such as forest, desert, snow, moon, and asteroid. Some of these are too cold or lack sufficient oxygen and may require the use of certain gear (like the survival kit) to explore. The game also has a flashlight and a way to look around to get a slight view of what's around.
Another big difference, I think, is the amount of items in the game. I watched Paul pick up so many weapons. I think that is really cool. There are also generated structures than NPC villages. I don't think the day/night cycle is as important in Starbound. I also don't know how to tell whether a monster is friend or foe. I guess the best way to tell is to go near it and see if it attacks.
In Paul's videos, he used Apex characters at first, and went through a series of character wipes (which I believe are over now). In the last video I saw, he created an Avian character. I also watched him play with his son who was using a Floran. I really don't know the differences between the races. I'm not even entirely sure why I chose Avian, but I think my character looks cool.
Like I said, most of my impressions come from watching Paul's videos. I've spent a little time in the game, but not a whole lot yet. One of the first things I noticed was an option to run the game in OpenGL. I'm not sure of how this differs from running the game normally, it's something I may have to look into.
I've made it to my first planet (easy enough, just play the game). There's low gravity on it and some trees with blue leaves, which I think are beautiful. I found a structure not too far from where I landed. The sword that I got initially with my character is now broken and it seems I can't use it, so I need to figure out how to repair it (I'm going to explore the wiki after writing this post).
I think I found a bug already. Pressing "E" allows you to interact with objects, such as the teleporter. However, I've noticed that this doesn't always work. Luckily there's a button to the right on the screen that you can click to teleport to the ship or the surface.
Anyway, I'm very glad to have another game similar to Minecraft and Terraria, since I love both games. This seems like a new video game genre to me and I only know of these three games in this genre. It seems to me that Minecraft created this genre and Terraria picked up on that with it's own style and now it seems Starbound has done the same (although much more similar to Terraria than Minecraft).
For those of you who have also played Starbound, what race did you chose and why? Or, what's your favorite race and why? How long have you been playing Starbound? How many hours have you spent in the game? Do you still play Starbound?
If you haven't played Starbound, why not? What might convince you to play? I'm not sure why I waited so long to get into it, I guess I just didn't feel ready and my very first impression of the game didn’t make me feel all that impressed. I also knew players were going through character and world wipes and therefore having to start all over with a new character. If you've been playing the game for a while, how many of these wipes did you go through? Did those wipes make you lose interest in the game or make you decide to hold off on playing until the wipes were done? I look forward to seeing what you have to say about the game. I also look forward to playing it more and following the game's development.
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Another bug perhaps or just simple user error? I don't know, but for some reason after I made and put a campfire in my structure, my sword was no longer grayed out and I could use it. I also found out that running the OpenGL Launcher performs better than the other default option. Apparently the default option uses DirectX.
"I don't think the day/night cycle is as important in Starbound."
Wow, really? Unless it's changed drastically, it was majorly important.
I honestly haven't played long enough to see if that cycle is important and it wasn't obvious to me in Paul's videos. I think he said more enemies come out at night. Further investigation (Google search) reveals that more difficult monsters come out at night. I just recently finished Paul's Starbound videos and will be playing more very soon.
For those of you who've played Starbound and Minecraft or Terraria, I want to know what your thoughts are on this game compared to the others. What do you think about the various similarities and differences? Are you aware of any other similar games?
Ok, as for the issue I had in the first comment I left here, I figured out what happened, which I want to share here so that others might learn. Haha. I was running around with my Broken Phoenix sword, which I found on my ship (among the other things). When I switched to something else in my hand, my weapon icon was grayed out and I didn't realize I could click on it in the hotbar. I also didn't realize that I could have simply pressed "X" to switch between held items. That's kind of a duh because I read the configuration notes while I was on my ship. But it was simply something I overlooked and was misled by the name of my sword. Each race is given a sword or weapon at the beginning and it's usually named Broken something relating to the character's race, hence mine is called "Broken Phoenix." Weapons in the game don't degrade, just tools, which can be repaired with any type of ore apparently.
Did anyone else fall for the same mistake? Hahaha
Ok, I've played during the night and yes it is worse! I also found out that my issue with the teleporter was most likely due to not hovering over it with the mouse pointer. I like the music and using the flashlight. I think it's cool, too, how the sound changes when you go under water.
Yeah, more difficult monsters come out at night. I sort of spend the night digging BUT once you get to a certain gear level, the night monster toughness isn't too bad.
What gear are you at?
1st tier, copper helm, copper greaves. I stored the Broken Phoenix since I made a Tomahawk.