http://playstarbound.com/hark-a-stable-update-v-upbeat-giraffe/
As I was getting ready to report to you on my latest play through of Starbound's Nightly Build, I visited the official website to see if there was any current news. Luckily, I found out that Chucklefish is finally updating the stable release of Starbound. That said, I'm going to continue with my "report," but please see the link above for more details about the new update.
First, I want to clear up something that you may not know about Starbound. The game has three different versions. If you've played Starbound before, you're definitely aware of the "stable" build. It is the stable version of the game, which means most (if not all) of the bugs have been worked out. Secondly, there is an "unstable" build. This version includes things not yet available in the stable build of the game and most likely has more bugs. Finally, there is the "nightly" build. This version of the game is the freshest version as it contains what the developers are currently working on. It is usually updated nightly, contains things not yet available in either other version of the game, and bugs are to be expected.
Months ago, I reported about the nightly build and gave some input as I decided to start playing it. In short, I'm happy to report that if you played the game before the newest update, then it's time to get back in-game! However, I intend this to be an in-depth report, so say goodbye to brevity!
When I first started playing the nightly build many months ago, I was a bit disappointed as I ran into frequent bugs and game crashes. I played through it for a while, but eventually decided to wait before playing again. I was looking forward to the new features, but decided the build was currently too buggy for pleasant game play. This time, however, has been much different. The nightly build still crashes from time to time, but I no longer run into the same serious bugs that were there before.
So, what's new? First of all, when you begin a new game and get to the character creation screen, you're going to see a new race called Novakid. This race is pretty much a space wild west kind of group. I'm not sure I've yet tried a Novakid character, but from a play through I saw on YouTube, they seem to specialize in ranged weapons, in other words guns.
Secondly, you will notice different levels of difficulty. "Casual" is probably what you're going to want to start out with. The death penalty in casual mode is 20-30% of your pixels. At one time the death penalty was a loss in pixels and you dropped the ore that you had in your current inventory. You were able to go back to the place where you died and collect your ore. That, however, seems to have changed and is most likely the death penalty for higher difficulty levels.
Once your character is created, you will spawn on your ship, but you will notice some significant changes if you've played the game before. Now, your ship is damaged and barely functional. You will have to access your ship's AI called "S.A.I.L." You will have to issue the command to reboot the ship's AI. You will also have to issue the command to enable the Matter Manipulater, and the teleporter. Once you do that, you will see you can also issue a command to repair the ship's FTL drive, but the AI will tell you that it is broken and can be repaired with 20 Core Fragments. These can be found deep down in your home planet you beam to. You're going to have to dig pretty deep to find these. *Quick note* I recently noticed that the planet you begin on does not have to be set as your home planet, it is automatically selected. If you wish to move your "home planet" to a different planet, you can do so on the star map.
At first, everything will likely look as you remember from playing the game before, if you've done so, until you dig deep enough to mine Core Fragments. You will see these red glowing ores quite easily once you've dug deep enough. Once you have these, your ship's AI will tell you that in order to travel, you're going to need fuel. It suggests going to the nearest Outpost to find Erchius Crystals. You will notice, on your local star map, an object that isn't a planet, which is an Outpost.
Once you travel to the Outpost, you will see a structure with a device. You need to stand on the platform and a bubble will show up above your head. Access the device by using the "E" button and you will then be able to select to warp to the Outpost. Outposts are a fundamental change with the game and you're going to be visiting them often. The reason for this is because there are NPCs at the Outpost, which will give you quests. You will noticed question marks or exclamation marks above the NPCs, which tell you that they have a quest for you. The first quest will be to visit a Erchius Mining Facility in order to find the crystals that you need to fuel your ship.
*Here is where the spoilers come in*
Once you start the first mission, you will be beamed to the location (via the "Missions" tab in your ship's AI) and you will not be able to beam back to your ship until you complete the mission or die. You also will not be able to use the Matter Manipulator on anything on the mission's planet. This means that you have to traverse the mission the way the developers intended. Once you arrive, you will see a metal station. It doesn't look obvious how to get in, but one of the slanted pieces of metal is a door that can be accessed by clicking on it and pressing the E key. It's a door!
Once you're inside, you'll notice it's a bit dark and some areas are inaccessible. You can activate some computer terminals (by using the E key) and turn lights on. You will have to figure out how to progress further. At one point, you're going to need to jump and climb up and over a door that won't open to get to the other side. You will then find switches that can be activated with the E key, but you'll notice that not only does this open a door, enemies will spawn in. These are "infected miners." The best way to combat these creatures is to use ranged weapons. Luckily, you may get fortunate to find some kind of gun in different storage containers. When I went through, I found some rocket and grenade launchers, which were very helpful.
Along the way, you will come across other people who will not attack you or take damage from you, but they will help you attack the new monsters. Help them out, or let them die, it's your choice. At one point, you will be in a corridor that contains closed doors and a switch. When you activate the switch, some doors will open and a new enemy will begin to attack you with a melee weapon. This new enemy is tougher than previous enemies and the best strategy for this is to keep going left, activating switches along the way that will open doors. Then you will be able to jump on some platforms and evade that enemy or attack it from a distance. You will see more people who will help you along with more storage containers and a bed that you're most likely going to need to rest in.
You will then proceed to the right, above the corridor you just came through. You will then get to a place where you will have to carefully jump down on platforms, trying not to fall to your death. Once there, you will see another switch, which will open a hatch below you, which takes you to the boss. This boss is difficult! The room that contains the boss also contains about six switches and some platforms. You have to activate all six switches and then active the final device which is below the boss. This will hit it and you will have to repeat this process two more times. In the mean time, the boss will summon "infected miners" and will use some electrical looking rays to hurt you. You will have to avoid these rays as they hurt! If you have a shield, you can try blocking the rays, but they will pretty much destroy your shield. The rays move about in a pattern, so you can avoid them. However, after activating the device a second time, the path of the rays will become more difficult to avoid.
I was not able to defeat this boss. I kept dying, so I cheated by using the /admin command, which made me invincible. Once you activate the device for the third time, the boss will die and drop something. Also, a door to the upper-right will open and you will see a large mining machine with a question mark over it. Activating it will give you the crystals you need and you will then be able to beam back to your ship.
Your ship will need fuel to visit another planetary system. Erchius liquid can be bought from a building at the Outpost that looks like a gas station. Coal is no longer a fuel source, Erchius liquid and radioactive ores are the only fuel source now. When you are able to look at your star map, you will see how the universe has changed. There are no longer sectors, but each star system has a description. These include "Eccentric," "Radioactive," "Frozen," and "Fiery." Each system contains planets with different threat levels such as "Harmless," "Mostly Harmless," and "Risky" among others. The different tiered ores you will need are contained in those various star systems with their various difficulties. This is the new universe progression. If you want some more details visit: http://www.reddit.com/r/starbound/comments/2q9h1h/how_to_nightly_tier_progression/
There are some new planet biomes, too. For instance, there are Ocean planets which are filled mostly with water and very little land. You can traverse these with a new "tech" ability, which gives you boat. In one quest from an NPC at the Outpost, you will have to go to the bottom of the ocean on one of these planets and collect some Kelp. You will be able to do this by using a new oxygen suit that you can equip at your ship's AI console. At this console, you will also see how the game's "tech" has changed. As a reward for completing some quests, NPCs will give you blank tech cards. Once you have at least one of these and access the tech via the ship's AI, you can unlock different "tech" abilities.
The game feels much more fun now with NPCs that give you quests at the Outpost. This gives you something to do and reason to explore, instead of just mining for ore to make higher-tiered armor. There are also many new items in the game.
Oh! I almost forgot one other really cool thing regarding NPC Outpost quests! After helping some NPCs, an NPC at the far right of the Outpost will give you a quest to give him something (diamonds usually) to obtain a license, which will upgrade your ship. I'm currently not sure how often you can upgrade your ship, but I've done it a few times already. Now, there is lots of space on your ship to store pretty much everything! It is cool and worth doing. While you can store items in your ship's inventory, it can get full after a while. You can use chests in your ship, but space is limited. I always put my crafting devices on my ship along with a bed. Since space was limited, I began storing items in crates on my home planet. After upgrading my ship, I moved all of that stuff back to my ship in various crates.
There are other bosses and there seems to be plenty to do. So, if you've played Starbound before, you should play it again very soon. You will notice the changes and I think you will agree with me that the game is much more fun now. I'm looking forward to new changes to the game.
As I was getting ready to report to you on my latest play through of Starbound's Nightly Build, I visited the official website to see if there was any current news. Luckily, I found out that Chucklefish is finally updating the stable release of Starbound. That said, I'm going to continue with my "report," but please see the link above for more details about the new update.
First, I want to clear up something that you may not know about Starbound. The game has three different versions. If you've played Starbound before, you're definitely aware of the "stable" build. It is the stable version of the game, which means most (if not all) of the bugs have been worked out. Secondly, there is an "unstable" build. This version includes things not yet available in the stable build of the game and most likely has more bugs. Finally, there is the "nightly" build. This version of the game is the freshest version as it contains what the developers are currently working on. It is usually updated nightly, contains things not yet available in either other version of the game, and bugs are to be expected.
Months ago, I reported about the nightly build and gave some input as I decided to start playing it. In short, I'm happy to report that if you played the game before the newest update, then it's time to get back in-game! However, I intend this to be an in-depth report, so say goodbye to brevity!
When I first started playing the nightly build many months ago, I was a bit disappointed as I ran into frequent bugs and game crashes. I played through it for a while, but eventually decided to wait before playing again. I was looking forward to the new features, but decided the build was currently too buggy for pleasant game play. This time, however, has been much different. The nightly build still crashes from time to time, but I no longer run into the same serious bugs that were there before.
So, what's new? First of all, when you begin a new game and get to the character creation screen, you're going to see a new race called Novakid. This race is pretty much a space wild west kind of group. I'm not sure I've yet tried a Novakid character, but from a play through I saw on YouTube, they seem to specialize in ranged weapons, in other words guns.
Secondly, you will notice different levels of difficulty. "Casual" is probably what you're going to want to start out with. The death penalty in casual mode is 20-30% of your pixels. At one time the death penalty was a loss in pixels and you dropped the ore that you had in your current inventory. You were able to go back to the place where you died and collect your ore. That, however, seems to have changed and is most likely the death penalty for higher difficulty levels.
Once your character is created, you will spawn on your ship, but you will notice some significant changes if you've played the game before. Now, your ship is damaged and barely functional. You will have to access your ship's AI called "S.A.I.L." You will have to issue the command to reboot the ship's AI. You will also have to issue the command to enable the Matter Manipulater, and the teleporter. Once you do that, you will see you can also issue a command to repair the ship's FTL drive, but the AI will tell you that it is broken and can be repaired with 20 Core Fragments. These can be found deep down in your home planet you beam to. You're going to have to dig pretty deep to find these. *Quick note* I recently noticed that the planet you begin on does not have to be set as your home planet, it is automatically selected. If you wish to move your "home planet" to a different planet, you can do so on the star map.
At first, everything will likely look as you remember from playing the game before, if you've done so, until you dig deep enough to mine Core Fragments. You will see these red glowing ores quite easily once you've dug deep enough. Once you have these, your ship's AI will tell you that in order to travel, you're going to need fuel. It suggests going to the nearest Outpost to find Erchius Crystals. You will notice, on your local star map, an object that isn't a planet, which is an Outpost.
Once you travel to the Outpost, you will see a structure with a device. You need to stand on the platform and a bubble will show up above your head. Access the device by using the "E" button and you will then be able to select to warp to the Outpost. Outposts are a fundamental change with the game and you're going to be visiting them often. The reason for this is because there are NPCs at the Outpost, which will give you quests. You will noticed question marks or exclamation marks above the NPCs, which tell you that they have a quest for you. The first quest will be to visit a Erchius Mining Facility in order to find the crystals that you need to fuel your ship.
*Here is where the spoilers come in*
Once you start the first mission, you will be beamed to the location (via the "Missions" tab in your ship's AI) and you will not be able to beam back to your ship until you complete the mission or die. You also will not be able to use the Matter Manipulator on anything on the mission's planet. This means that you have to traverse the mission the way the developers intended. Once you arrive, you will see a metal station. It doesn't look obvious how to get in, but one of the slanted pieces of metal is a door that can be accessed by clicking on it and pressing the E key. It's a door!
Once you're inside, you'll notice it's a bit dark and some areas are inaccessible. You can activate some computer terminals (by using the E key) and turn lights on. You will have to figure out how to progress further. At one point, you're going to need to jump and climb up and over a door that won't open to get to the other side. You will then find switches that can be activated with the E key, but you'll notice that not only does this open a door, enemies will spawn in. These are "infected miners." The best way to combat these creatures is to use ranged weapons. Luckily, you may get fortunate to find some kind of gun in different storage containers. When I went through, I found some rocket and grenade launchers, which were very helpful.
Along the way, you will come across other people who will not attack you or take damage from you, but they will help you attack the new monsters. Help them out, or let them die, it's your choice. At one point, you will be in a corridor that contains closed doors and a switch. When you activate the switch, some doors will open and a new enemy will begin to attack you with a melee weapon. This new enemy is tougher than previous enemies and the best strategy for this is to keep going left, activating switches along the way that will open doors. Then you will be able to jump on some platforms and evade that enemy or attack it from a distance. You will see more people who will help you along with more storage containers and a bed that you're most likely going to need to rest in.
You will then proceed to the right, above the corridor you just came through. You will then get to a place where you will have to carefully jump down on platforms, trying not to fall to your death. Once there, you will see another switch, which will open a hatch below you, which takes you to the boss. This boss is difficult! The room that contains the boss also contains about six switches and some platforms. You have to activate all six switches and then active the final device which is below the boss. This will hit it and you will have to repeat this process two more times. In the mean time, the boss will summon "infected miners" and will use some electrical looking rays to hurt you. You will have to avoid these rays as they hurt! If you have a shield, you can try blocking the rays, but they will pretty much destroy your shield. The rays move about in a pattern, so you can avoid them. However, after activating the device a second time, the path of the rays will become more difficult to avoid.
I was not able to defeat this boss. I kept dying, so I cheated by using the /admin command, which made me invincible. Once you activate the device for the third time, the boss will die and drop something. Also, a door to the upper-right will open and you will see a large mining machine with a question mark over it. Activating it will give you the crystals you need and you will then be able to beam back to your ship.
Your ship will need fuel to visit another planetary system. Erchius liquid can be bought from a building at the Outpost that looks like a gas station. Coal is no longer a fuel source, Erchius liquid and radioactive ores are the only fuel source now. When you are able to look at your star map, you will see how the universe has changed. There are no longer sectors, but each star system has a description. These include "Eccentric," "Radioactive," "Frozen," and "Fiery." Each system contains planets with different threat levels such as "Harmless," "Mostly Harmless," and "Risky" among others. The different tiered ores you will need are contained in those various star systems with their various difficulties. This is the new universe progression. If you want some more details visit: http://www.reddit.com/r/starbound/comments/2q9h1h/how_to_nightly_tier_progression/
There are some new planet biomes, too. For instance, there are Ocean planets which are filled mostly with water and very little land. You can traverse these with a new "tech" ability, which gives you boat. In one quest from an NPC at the Outpost, you will have to go to the bottom of the ocean on one of these planets and collect some Kelp. You will be able to do this by using a new oxygen suit that you can equip at your ship's AI console. At this console, you will also see how the game's "tech" has changed. As a reward for completing some quests, NPCs will give you blank tech cards. Once you have at least one of these and access the tech via the ship's AI, you can unlock different "tech" abilities.
The game feels much more fun now with NPCs that give you quests at the Outpost. This gives you something to do and reason to explore, instead of just mining for ore to make higher-tiered armor. There are also many new items in the game.
Oh! I almost forgot one other really cool thing regarding NPC Outpost quests! After helping some NPCs, an NPC at the far right of the Outpost will give you a quest to give him something (diamonds usually) to obtain a license, which will upgrade your ship. I'm currently not sure how often you can upgrade your ship, but I've done it a few times already. Now, there is lots of space on your ship to store pretty much everything! It is cool and worth doing. While you can store items in your ship's inventory, it can get full after a while. You can use chests in your ship, but space is limited. I always put my crafting devices on my ship along with a bed. Since space was limited, I began storing items in crates on my home planet. After upgrading my ship, I moved all of that stuff back to my ship in various crates.
There are other bosses and there seems to be plenty to do. So, if you've played Starbound before, you should play it again very soon. You will notice the changes and I think you will agree with me that the game is much more fun now. I'm looking forward to new changes to the game.
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I was taking a break from the game when I decided to write this, which was when I found out about the stable build update. After that, I noticed that I was no longer able to play the nightly build. So, I switched to the stable build. I found the answer to the issue I had in the forums; "Nightly is going to be broken until stable is released. It's our staging branch and we're doing some layout changes."
I also read that some people were having some issues after the update, but Chucklefish was working quickly to get that issue resolved. After I switched to the stable version and the game updated, I decided to see if that issue was resolved or, in other words, if I was having the same issue. To my surprise, I did not have an issue with it. The launcher worked without issue, which it did not do with the nightly build, and it also showed that the game was updated to "Upbeat Giraffe" (the name of the latest build).
My point is, that I was surprised because I found my character there on the stable build that I was using on the nightly build. I remember Chucklefish saying something about trying to make it so that the "unstable" build characters would transfer to the stable build, once it was completed. So, I am grateful that they got that to work. I was able to continue using my character and my universe without any issue.
I might delete my character and universe and start fresh with the new stable update. I'm not sure how that nightly build will differ from the new stable version, but I imagine there is little to no difference. Obviously, as I stated above, the only difference I can see now from the two is that the stable build is definitely stable.
I may continue to make notes here in the comments as I think of things I left out in my post. One thing I wanted to mention is that the Matter Manipulator can now be upgraded multiple times. One upgrade will allow you to use it with liquid. This new feature is really handy, because at one point you're going to need to collect oil. Your ship's AI will further upgrade your MM, but that will require further materials.
Tech upgrades are available as well, as I mentioned. One of those is a boat. Another part of the tech upgrades is called "suit." You can get upgrades that will allow your character to breathe underwater or on planets that have little or no oxygen. There is also cold, heat, and radiation protection suits. These are now tech upgrades and no longer require you to craft and equip accessories.
The need to eat is temporarily no longer necessary. However, there are many new crafting/cooking recipes and plenty of things that can be used in a farm. Instead of replenishing hunger, food now gives various buffs. Harvesting crops will not only provide seeds and food, but also plant fiber. There are many other types of plants that will also provide plant fiber, especially vines that you will find in caves.
You can now also craft a bug catching net, which you will need as one of the first Outpost NPC quests will be to give the NPC a bug.
These things that I've mentioned are just a fraction of what has been changed or added in the game. Please see the link I provided at the top of my post for more information. I've pretty much only covered the things that I have noticed in my play through.
Pickaxes can no longer be repaired. There doesn't seem to be a good reason to make them anyway, since the Matter Manipulator can mine ore and provides some light. It also can reach places that are farther away from the character.
As I mentioned, there are now only two types of fuel for your ship. However, fuel is only necessary to reach a different star system. Travelling within your local star system requires no fuel at all. As for the Core Fragments, you will only need 20 and it seems you will never use them again.
As I mentioned, the Matter Manipulator can be upgraded to collect liquid. In order to create Steel, you will need to collect Oil on a desert planet with your upgraded MM. Initially, to upgrade your MM, you will need refined ore such as Silver.
I deleted my old character and universe and started a new game as a Novakid and I like it. The guns seem to be powerful. I still use a melee weapon as some are more powerful than the gun. Previously, I pretty much only created Avian characters and used only melee weapons. After my latest play through of the nightly build, I realized that ranged weapons can be so much more effective. You don't have to worry about ammunition as they use your energy instead. However, they will drain your energy, which will replenish quickly if you stop using your weapon for a few seconds. If you use too much of your energy, it will be depleted and you will hear a sound telling you that. You will not be able to use your energy until it refills, which you will also know because of a sound.
I am very happy with Starbound now. I was disappointed at first because I was just running around collecting ore to obtain higher-tiered armor and weapons, fighting some bosses along the way. Other than that, I felt like there was no other purpose to exploring the universe. Once I finally obtained the highest tiered weapons and armor, there was no longer a reason for me to explore or to play. That has changed thanks to the multiple quests given to you throughout the game by the NPCs at the Outpost. I'm happy to report that Starbound is a much better game than it was before this new update.
Oh my goodness! I just completed the first mission without cheating! They apparently nerfed the boss and made it's energy beam attack slower. I didn't even use my shield, but I kept healing myself after getting hit. I'm so glad they made that mission doable without cheats. This makes me very happy!
The bosses are also much easier when in multiplayer -- as long as one of you is still alive you can teleport back in and keep going.
Awesome! I haven't played multiplayer in Starbound. Thank you very much for replying to my post. Are you enjoying the new update? I'm seriously loving it, the game is so much better now and it's wonderful!
Oh, I didn't have a problem with Dreadwing. For that, I was using a rocket launcher I found on the lunar base (first boss area). I didn't find any when I did the mission on the stable version, though. In the nightly build, I found rocket launchers and grenade launchers, which were very helpful in defeating the "infected miners." The good thing about them is that they can't jump, so they're easy to take out from a distance, some where they cannot get to.
I don't think the Floran "party" mission gave me much trouble either. However, the second boss that the penguin sends you to, the weapons test mission, was more difficult and I used the /admin command to beat that. I haven't made it to those missions yet in the stable release, so I'll see how it goes.
Thanks for the update Greg. This is interesting to read.
You're welcome and thank you for reading! I know my post was long and my commented additions are, too, but I guess that's just how I do it. Hahaha. I think this new update is exciting and there is so much that is new. That and the fact that I've spent some time with it recently has given me plenty to say about it.
I really hope you and others get back into the game and check it out. I think you will be delighted and have a much more enjoyable experience with the game now. I think this new update is very big, much like the much anticipated update coming to Terraria.
With that, I'd also like for us to discuss a bit about our experiences with both games and how differently (if so) we play them. For me, when I start playing Terraria, I start building a huge house for me and NPCs, then I start exploring. With Starbound, I don't build at all. I put everything I make (such as crafting tables, bed, etc.) on my ship. I'm wondering if you and others play these games the same way.
That's one thing I strongly DISlike about Starbound. It's got all this great tech to make building way easier than in Terraria, but there's just no reason to build. I literally built a house, then traveled somewhere and forgot where I built it, and that didn't even bother me.
Yeah, that would suck, Travis. However, if you built something on a planet, you could set it as your home planet, I think that's done using the starmap. Then, whenever you went to your teleporter, you could select "beam to home." There are now moons that contain no creatures whatsoever, so they are perfect for building something and not having to worry about being interrupted by monsters. There is also a new tech which reverses gravity, making building much easier.
However, I came across an issue that I have not yet researched. When taking metal crates from my home planet to use on my ship as storage containers, I accidentally grabbed some pieces of the structure when are slanted in one direction. These pieces are made to look like wooden structural supports. Unfortunately, it seems that they slant in only one direction and I could not put the piece back as it was because I couldn't reverse the direction of the slant.. These pieces look like this: / and \
There is now also a Paint Tool, which can be unlocked via the ship's AI. In order to craft paint, you will need a Robotic Crafting Table and at least 15 pedals of the color you want. I didn't experiment with this on the nightly build, but I intended to paint the internal sections of my ship blue. I plan to do that as soon as I'm able to make a Robotic Crafting Table. I already have 15 blue pedals to do this with.
There is also an animation on the first link I provided in this post that shows improvements to turrets. Check out the link for more info.
So yeah, I played a bunch on "unstable" when they released to that -- it was a lot of fun. Even when playing solo I didn't have to /admin the bosses. There are a couple features/bugs I exploited to get past the Floran "party" and the second penguin boss. For example, explosives go through closed doors -- so you can lure enemies to a door, let it close and they stand there and let you kill them with rocket explosions... Also, I use doors a lot with ranged weapons. I stand in the doorway, fire a bunch, then back up letting the door close, and wait for the enemies to loose interest and walk away. Then I do that again, and again....
But yes, I really enjoyed the new content for a while and then waited for it to get to stable. :)
Supposedly they are adding in the ability to have a "teleport to" list. So you can go to more than just home. That way you can jump around to a set of homes/build-outs on various planets. I'm not sure if that's in stable now or not...
Also, the paint tool is a lot of fun. It was available to build in the previous stable version also. My kids love running around my ship and "re-decorating" it. I really like the new ship upgrades -- you upgrade to a HUGE ship so you can give it more personality instead of just packing in the tools and crates.
The "mission" dungeons are fun also. A lot of the compounds/labs/prisons you used to come across are now locked down to changes (unless you do the thingy to unlock them -- I'll not spoil it). So I've cleared places to get the pieces I like (e.g. I love the small lockers in the Apex labs -- they are full storage, but skinny and stackable). There are also some platforming "puzzles" in Apex labs.
Oh, another thing... Be sure to explore in the boss levels (at least the infected humans and floran party ones -- didn't really notice any in the "battle arena" type bosses) Some have hidden areas with pieces of "armor" sets that go great in the visual slots. :)
Also, being able to collect liquids if fun too -- it allows for some interesting building now. I put a "hot tub" of healing water on my ship which was great (until my kids thought it was funny to fill it with lava... those brats :)
The new staff weapons are also fun -- they can do some wacky things. Just be careful. Some cause block-breaking explosions which can wreck havok on your ship (or someone else's).
Thanks for the update! I'm thinking about jumping into Starbound again for a little while now that they've had a big update. The new additions sound awesome. I still don't want to play too much of the game since I know it's still a work in progress.
Travis: I know what you mean. A part of me always wants to build a huge base but it seems kind of pointless when your ship can do pretty much everything. From what I read on the forums it sounds like they are going to address that in a future update by giving you ways to progress through the game by building and cultivating a town with NPC villagers or by setting up a Farm or something.
Thank you all for the comments! Hardeyez, thank you for covering some of the things I didn't mention. I have not yet tried out the staves. I also remember the fact that they said they are going to add a teleport list.
One thing I wanted to mention, also, was that when upgrading your ship, you will notice the new parts of your ship are blocked off by "hazard" blocks. These can be taken away with the Matter Manipulator.
Yes, Tim, I highly recommend that everyone jumps in the game. The game is much different now and definitely worth playing. You have a good point that it is still a work in progress, but it's great to check out the amazing progress they've already made. I'm looking forward to seeing what a completed 1.0 version looks like.
I just defeated Dreadwing, though I'm kind of ashamed at how I did it. I noticed I could kill off the little penguins easily enough with my upgraded Novakid weapon (a gun). I also noticed that if I went far enough to the right and just a little bit, I could barely see Dreadwing's ship, but he couldn't see me. So, I kept shooting at it from afar. That is how I finished the mission in the stable build. When I played the mission with the nightly build, I had rocket launchers and didn't even die. That was definitely not the case this time. So, I took advantage of an obvious flaw.
While I've realized how beneficial ranged weapons are, I've found a minor annoyance with them. Sometimes vegetation gets in the way and instead of shooting a monster, I shoot a shrub or something instead.
Hardeyez, have you tried a Novakid yet? I think they're pretty cool.
Oh! I just noticed something today! You know how when you click "Play" in Steam, the Starbound Lancher loads and you can select "Launch Starbound" or "Launch Starbound (OpenGL)?" Well now there's a new option, "Launch Starbound (64-bit OpenGL experimental)." I've been using the new option today and I haven't run into any problems with it.
Ok, I found out how to use the Paint Tool. You don't need anything other than the tool itself. Select the tool and right click to switch colors. Then aim it and click the left mouse button to paint the background of whatever you want. I painted my ship's internal walls blue. I remember some crafting recipe in the nightly build that used pedals, but I couldn't find it on the stable build.
Oh man, that "Mysterious Party" mission was tough this time! It's probably because I didn't have a rocket launcher. I did find a nice two-handed melee weapon, but I was also using a nice two-handed crossbow I found elsewhere. The crossbow was better than crafting the next gun for my Novakid, so I didn't craft that.
It's cool that I'm playing the stable build after playing nightly because I know some things the NPCs are going to ask for later. So, when I found these things, I was able to collect them ahead of time.
As I mentioned in a different post (by Jon), I was hoping for new music. I think my wish was granted. The missions seem to have new music and it's pretty cool. I had said I was tired of the music, but I'm not feeling that way now.
I'm surprised I finally beat the "Weapons Test" mission. This was one mission that I used the /admin command to complete when I played the nightly build. This was a tough mission. I think having a high armor rating is important, but blocking with a shield is pretty much necessary. This mission made me learn how to block with a shield, which isn't as simple as it sounds. When you block with a shield, you don't take damage, your shield does. That makes sense, but your shield can only take so much damage before it will not protect you. If it takes too much damage, it will need to "recharge," although it doesn't have to fully recharge before providing protection. You can, however, negate this damage by timing the block perfectly by raising your shield right before you get hit. Since I found a two-handed shotgun that does over 700 points of damage, I was not able to block and attack at the same time. I did, however, have my shotgun as my leftt-click and my shield as a right-click. So, instead I was only able to hold the shield when I was holding another item, which in my case was a Medical Kit. In order to craft a Medical Kit, you will need at least one Bandage and one Bio Sample. Bio Samples can be obtained from certain plants. If you are in a Radioactive star system and find yourself on a "lush" or forest planet, you will be able to find Bio Samples by breaking plants, either with your MM, melee, or ranged weapons.
So as i mentioned in my last post I'm probably going to jump back into Starbound for a little to try out the new update. Do you guys play together on a sever or anything? I don't know if my internet service can handle it (F U Time Warner...) but if I set up a server for a week or two would anyone be interested?
Tim, I've never played multiplayer Starbound. I can hardly imagine it, because the universe is so big. Obviously, with the boss fights, I can see how helpful it could be though.
It'd be cool if Cheerful Ghost had some kind of access to game servers, so that we could set them up for games we want to play together.
Just having access to servers to set them up whenever would cost a ton of money. But multiplay.co.uk is fantastic whenever you just want to set one up for a specific game.
*This comment may contain spoilers*
I'm finished with Starbound. I have completed every quest and have upgraded my ship to it's maximum limit. There are only a few "Missions" or boss fights. I believe there were more previously, but most of them have been removed. Hopefully, Chucklefish will add them back later.
One of the things that took me so long to do was one of the quests where you have to find an Avian Airship and take a Treasure Map from it. I had never seen one of them before, but you'll notice them on a planet by the anchor that sits on the planet's surface. Then you'll have to find a way to get up to the ship. I made some platforms with various materials I had (like dirt).
One of the upgrades to the ship required Plutonium, which I hadn't encountered in the new update. The reason is because I did not explore moons or asteroids. The good thing about moons, I learned, is that not only do they contain Plutonium, but they also contain Erchius Liquid. So, if you want free fuel for your ship and have your MM upgraded to collect liquid, go visit a moon.
Another quest took some time to figure out. The NPC gives you a blueprint for a kennel, which requires red dye, which you can't make. However, once you "learn" the blueprint, you can access the 3D printer from your ship AI and "print" the kennel.
Anyway, you probably don't want to know too many spoilers. All that said, the latest update is still a great improvement to the game. It's still in beta and it took a year for them to get this update out. We can only imagine what might later be added to the game and when it might finally reach version 1.0.