NEW PLAYER: Tiny problems and suggestions

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    Hello!
    Im a big fan of sandbox games, with building and crafting, really enjoy games with progression and freedom and today a friend recommended me StarMade so i downloaded the demo to test it.

    The start menu was pretty straight forward, nothing to say about it.
    But then the game loaded and start to see some problems.


    FEELING LOST AT THE START
    - i spawn floating in space in the middle of nowhere next to a pillar, and see other characters walking next to me also floating in space, so i waited thinking that the station (or spaceship) where i was didn't fully load, idk if it was a bug but no station showed after a while, later i learned that those pillar thing are the station (found other similar to it) or the the design is unfinished or the scale is off.

    Would be nice if we spawn for first time inside a station that show us a bit of the potential of the building system and some possibilities and looks we can achieve in the future.
    Also would help so we don't feel so lost at the start and give us an instant sense of scale of our surrounding.


    BUILDING SYSTEM
    - i decide to start building my ship, i click on the numbers of my hotbar but it doesn't show me where the blocks will be placed, and don't know the direction of the block until i place it.
    And i was thinking "would be nice if it had an hologram system that show us where and in which direction we are about to put the blocks"
    After i finish my ship and i sit on it, (or inside the block with the sphere, not sure) i see that if i press Z i enter building mode, and is way better that the other building system at the start, i feel this new building system should be the default one
    its a bit confusing to have 2 building systems.

    Also what is the deal with the block with the sphere? i go inside it when i press R or i sit on top of it, not sure of the scale of it, if i sit on top of it would be better a seat with controls ?


    CONTROLS
    - Its a bit confusing to have different keys for the same type of action, in some situation to go up you need to press spacebar, but in others you need to press E
    Also SHIFT, it is the key to RUN or for Turbo in most games but here is the brake of the ship ? also in the second construction mode (inside the ship then press Z) if you press SHIFT the camera move faster (this last is correct in my opinion).

    I think that we should have an unify system for movement.
    Also R to interact with objects ? in most games it is F or maybe E.


    FLIGHT MODEL
    - The second i entered my ship i start bumping uncontrollably against everything, was wild
    idk what the 3 bars on the right mean, the HUD don't tell me what they are, after some testing it looks like is speed/power/consumption
    Its weird to have speed measured in a vertical bar, like it is power to the thrusters or something, but i think is something needed for this flight model based on tiny touches of the keys.
    it is very difficult to be precise and do close maneuvers with keyboard, maybe with a joystick it is better, I don't know.

    Have you tried a flight model based on power graduation, mouse wheel up to send more power to the thrusters and down for less power (something similar to movement speed in Escape from Tarkov)
    Or maybe with limiters like in Star Citizen with cruse control key (so you don't need to hold W all the time).


    OTHERS
    - The map don't show which direction my ship is facing (maybe add an arrow or something?)
    - It wont let me put the basic factory on my ship
    - Could be nice if at the start we can choose for the pieces we start with or maybe 2 different ships models already built to choose from (made with the same amount of pieces), so we can soften a bit this wall of new stuff we should learn and do at the start. Or maybe a hologram blueprint that we need to fill using the correct pieces.

    Some UI issues, for example some material icons are similar to others or there is not enough difference, the X to close the windows being outside the window, i was in a red planet and was hard to see the red X.
    1650091484950.png

    Some hierarchy in the fonts (the name of the resource should be different from the description, stuff like that) also the icon of the resource should be a bit bigger to see the difference between each (it would be perfect if it was the same size as the actual item in the inventory) other and also not hidden or close to be hidden behind some text.
    1650091381839.png

    Maybe is a bug, but i tried to land on a planet but it keep pushing me out far from the planet, felt like a heavy desync.
    Another bug is that the planet swallow my ships after restart.



    This is all for now. I'll keep playing and update this post if I find anything else.

    Thank you
    Krovv
     
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    Hello! A lot of this stuff is intended to be changed, actually. Like the shop pillar stations were supposed to be a place holder, for example. The "second" build system, build mode, is actually available immediately after you get in the core that spawns, and is intended to be the primary build tool, and yeah, we've been wanting cockpit control seats for years, but Schine was focused on implementing core game programming and mechanics when they suspended developmment. Controls definitely take a bit to get used to. The in-flight HUD is bad, but can be modded.

    The game is unfortunately still in an alpha state and hasnt been updated in a couple years now, because the developer went bankrupt after the reactor systems were introduced and players werent happy with them. People basically self-destructed the community and vanished. Schine is developing other games to regain funding, but intends to restart development once they can.

    The game's mostly being kept alive by the modding and building community these days. Those that are left, at least.
     
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    1. "Feeling Lost at the Start"

    Can't blame you. The tutorial system isn't anywhere close to where it should be, and the fact that you're not mentioning the tutorial videos that should pop up for first time players tells me that something might be broken there.

    2. "Building System"

    Again, this would've been partially explained.

    When you're walking as astronaut, you can look at a surface and press SPACEBAR (default) to align yourself with the 'up' direction of that entity. Your hotbar and building works like minecraft's. By default, right click place a block, left click remove/mine. Hold down Right Ctrl to rotate rotatable blocks.

    The 'block with the sphere' is the Ship Core, and you fit inside it when piloting. You can access the same build mode on any other place (planet plates, stations) using a Build Block.

    3. "Controls"

    If you find the default keybinds confusing, you can still try to rebind them. Most controls are contextual, so they rarely if ever overlap.

    4. "Flight Controls"

    Bumping against stuff is normal, what you're mentioning is probably having made a far too fast ship than you can handle.
    By default, the ship is supposed to not slowdown, but you can change that by accessing the thruster config menu.
     

    Crashmaster

    I got N64 problems but a bitch ain't one
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    The shift key is an all- direction brake. I hold it down while trying to make precise movements.
    In the 'z' building mode there is an option in the graphics setting to turn on a holographic preview of the block and it's rotation you are set to place.
    The lack of quantified navigational instrumentation for the pilot has been stupid from the start. You get used to it. Just pretend you're a spacefareing civilization with no common sense.
    There is an option in the server settings to allow factories on ships.
    glhf
     
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    Long time is ago, where i'was play starmade, today i'was made a download and it's dont run at my mac (version osx catalina) it's dont run at my linux mint laptop (current Linux mint) and i'was think ... hm ... is there a version outside what will run ... with current operatings systems?
     
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    Long time is ago, where i'was play starmade, today i'was made a download and it's dont run at my mac (version osx catalina) it's dont run at my linux mint laptop (current Linux mint) and i'was think ... hm ... is there a version outside what will run ... with current operatings systems?
    Since "game not working" is an extremely generic description to work with...

    • Make sure that your Java Runtime (JRE) is Java 8, any more recent versions are not compatible with the game.

    • The Windows version works fine on Win10, but some people have reported issues on Win11.

    • As final point, do not use ANY kind of integrated graphics (Intel HD or AMD APU), as integrated graphics have been proven time and again incompatible with the game.
     
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    Since "game not working" is an extremely generic description to work with...
    ok, thanks for fast answer, i'try now win10 ... still download ...

    i'was love this game ... ;-) but time time to play ... is always a problem ...
     

    Sachys

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    • As final point, do not use ANY kind of integrated graphics (Intel HD or AMD APU), as integrated graphics have been proven time and again incompatible with the game.
    thats a massive load of bunkum with no factual basis and you know it.
     
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    thats a massive load of bunkum with no factual basis and you know it.
    Not sure about AMD but there is definitly a spike with intel integrated graphics not working for whatever reason. I think Schema blamed their drivers not supporting certain things.
     

    Sachys

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    Not sure about AMD but there is definitly a spike with intel integrated graphics not working for whatever reason. I think Schema blamed their drivers not supporting certain things.
    A newer problem then, rather than a historical one?
     

    Sachys

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    No, not new at all. The newer ones might work better.
    Odd, I've had a break of a year or two and the only times I can think of intel HD has been an issue for me is with the more "Lagmonster" category of ships in game. Thats across several laptops in quite a few years too.
    That said, since my break I've not tried on one of the laptops.