Rejected Time to Ditch Planets as Object?

[DukeofRealms]

how does this "core aspect" positively affect the game in any way? What is the importance of being able to interact with a planet in such ways, if there is no purpose to it? As it stands right now, planets are simply giant, non-respawning asteroids that most people avoid due to lag/ framerate problems.

This is one of the few bases of the game; everything else must be adapted to contribute to this fact, not the other way around. The importance is that being able to interact with objects from space is the core aspect of the game (no loading screens); a purpose must be given to the object that contributes to this core aspect. We're not going to be adapting the basis of StarMade to fit an object in the game.

Planets are not a core mechanic or a necessary object in-game. They are a nice, secondary background filler, we'll try to make them fit in as best as we can, but we're not going to change what StarMade is just to get them. We'll be making them as large as we can, however, that's going to be limited by performance restrictions. We have a few, potential (as in, we do not know whether this is possible) ways to achieve larger planets, when we get to that point, we'll have a very good idea of what we'll be able to do.

They say they want us to explore, but there's no point in exploring a planet when you can see everything from space.

Procedural generation is not to the extent where meaningful exploration can come out of it. Purposeful, human design can only achieve exploration. Procedural generation can aid us in this, fill in some of the gaps as background, however, it can not be made to be the basis of exploration. Exploration in StarMade is a tricky one; I don't think we'll ever have meaningful environmental exploration (I could be wrong). We may have exploration in the form of quest/mission system, discovering the workings of the universe and the inhabitants that live in it.

StarMade is not a planet based game; it's a space game which happens to feature planets. None of these planet based mechanics are planned or will be planned; they heavily go against what this game is. StarMade is a game about ship to ship, astronaut to ship and faction interaction, planets are a useful mechanic for an additional backdrop (exploration) and potentially resource growth. We are investigating ways to have planets be a strategic (if not necessary) resource, other than simply an area where lots of blocks can be mined.

Planets as a strategic resource are most likely where their primary purpose will lie. As I've said in the past, we're not able to determine what we can do with new planets, as we are not yet at a stage where that is possible. We'd like to implement mechanics which will encourage their use, perhaps even make them necessary at a certain stage in gameplay. We're currently planning a gameplay mechanic that might be able to address this; it's early stages though, so whether it will pass is yet to be seen.

 

[TrickyNicky27]

I mean, after all, the Enterprise never landed on a planet

I think they did actually land, you just missed it

 

[Edymnion]

I think they did actually land, you just missed it

Thats JJverse, it doesn't count.
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I don't think we'll ever have meaningful environmental exploration (I could be wrong). We may have exploration in the form of quest/mission system, discovering the workings of the universe and the inhabitants that live in it.

Planets as a strategic resource are most likely where their primary purpose will lie.

This... is not precisely news I am happy to hear.

 

[aRottenKomquat]

I'm a bit disappointed too. Not that I desire planets to be Minecraft grafted into StarMade, but I was hoping they'd gain a lot more depth. I always wanted to see gameplay be about 75% space and 25% planet-bound.

Still looking forward to seeing how planets evolve into strategic resources though. Hopefully there's enough there to cater to people who really want to play around with planets. For example, in a faction players seem to almost play completely different games. One guy does mining, another manages the homebase, another build ships, another explores and kills pirates. (At least that's how my server plays out when it's online. I'm usually the governor of the homebase and hardly do any of the other stuff.) I'd like to see enough in the planet system that players who really love planets could actually spend most of their time on one, doing something which is somehow beneficial for the faction.

 

[The_Onion]

This is one of the few bases of the game; everything else must be adapted to contribute to this fact, not the other way around. The importance is that being able to interact with objects from space is the core aspect of the game (no loading screens); a purpose must be given to the object that contributes to this core aspect. We're not going to be adapting the basis of StarMade to fit an object in the game.

I appreciate the response, but you didnt answer my question. What is so important about this core aspect, that you are so completely unwilling to alter it under any circumstance? What does this feature add to the overall experience? You guys are gimping yourselves over an ideology that adds very little to the immersion of the game.

Personally, I think instanced planets would add an entirely new layer of multiplayer interaction. Imagine multiple factions setting up outposts on the same planet. Planetary trade could become a thing, or planetary war.