[OT] What draws you into playing StarMade over others in this genre?

[HellJoe989]

First off, tried to find an Off-Topic forum, but there doesnt seem to be one.

But to preface this post: There seems to be this genre push for Sandbox style open space sim games, which for one I am happy to be seeing. It seemed the genre was practically non-existent, and then lately, everyone and their mother have been putting out space sim games left and right.

I saw on the Steam workshop ANOTHER sandbox creative space sim: Avorion (Avorion - Sci-Fi Space Sandbox: Explore, Build, Trade, Fight), which looks interesting and pretty. Havent played it yet.

But yet, looking at this list of games in the current genre...

• StarMade
• Space Engineers
• Empyrion
• Intersteller Rift
• Avorion

None of them have that look, feel, and complexity that StarMade has for me. I have played all of them now (except Avorion), but each one severely lacks many things that I cant really put my finger on. But in each case, I get bored of the blandness and end up back at starmade.

With the exception of StarMade, all the games above do a decent job of creating the hull of a ship, but they all look pretty bland, and the way they handle ship systems seems more like a bunch of props placement. And I believe thats the main issue I have with all the above games (except StarMade of course)... You are really just building a shell or frame for system props.

Dont get me wrong, every game looks much prettier and graphics wise, sorta wish StarMade could approach that level... but the limiting factor of prop placement really is major drawback. And thats where StarMade shines for me. I love the complex structures players can make for just about everything, ranging from a ship's power systems and components, to the limitless possibilities with weapons and turrets. Add in the massively complex shipyards, rail system, fleets, carriers, logic systems, NPCs... none of the other games above have that factor.

So there it is. StarMade, for me personally, is a cut above the rest for those reason alone, and the dream game for me would be StarMade + modern graphics.

Anyone else agree?

 

[jayman38]

1. The Off-Topic forum is rather hard to see, but it's there. Nevertheless, since the subject is about Starmade, I feel you put this in the right forum, General Discussion.
2. I first got hold of Starmade a few years ago (2014, I think), before there was a "land rush" of space voxel games. I was searching for simply a Sci-Fi Minetest-a-like.
3. Since I grew up on games that were extremely limited with graphics, Starmade's graphics have not bothered me one bit. In fact, I see bits here and there, such as thruster plumes and gun flashes that are beyond what one might expect at this early stage of the game.
4. I play solely on a Linux platform, which significantly reduces my prospects for gaming.
5. Starmade goes above and beyond, delivering on the promise of complete universe simulation. Many games in the past have promised this, but have failed to deliver.
6. There is a certain charm to the simpler graphics of Starmade. Lesser graphics, by necessity, inspire greater imagination. Also, the vision of Schine in regards to unlimited ship building has led to infinite varieties of spaceships by the players.
Schine humbly makes improvements here and there. Over time, it really has built up to something special.

 

[Stormraven]

Lag type issues aside, I don't think Starmade graphics are at all bad for a voxel game. The backgrounds are beautiful, and the textures are always improving.
It's a ton better than Minecraft and just look how popular that is!

As to why I love this particular game? I LOVE problem solving puzzles. The rail and logic systems open up so many possibilities that my struggle is often less about solving a problem and more about figuring out what fun new project to pick up next. Just trying to figure out what to TRY is huge. I love that.

 

[Brokengauge]

I too enjoy the simpler graphics, since in a lot of cases you can actually do more with less.

I haven't played any other games like starmade except for mine craft, and tbh I haven't even gone back to mine craft since I bought this game in mid 2014 (when it was still $3!)

It's very close to my dream game I've always wanted. Not to mention, it handily lends itself to any build style.

Also, it's weird, but this game has taught me a lot about how to effectively use simple geometric shapes to make more complex and detailed constructs.

Example, I went from this:


To this:


And that sort of improvement seems to be taking a hold of everyone who plays it...or at least submits things to the dock.

I feel like starmade allows you the best opportunity to build space ships that have true personality and charm, and that's why once I stumbled on it, I never even bothered looking for alternatives lol.

 

[HellJoe989]

...Schine in regards to unlimited ship building has led to infinite varieties of spaceships by the players.
Schine humbly makes improvements here and there. Over time, it really has built up to something special.

And you are right, the game already is something special, more so than all the other current voxel style games

Lag type issues aside, I don't think Starmade graphics are at all bad for a voxel game. The backgrounds are beautiful, and the textures are always improving.
It's a ton better than Minecraft and just look how popular that is!

As to why I love this particular game? I LOVE problem solving puzzles. The rail and logic systems open up so many possibilities that my struggle is often less about solving a problem and more about figuring out what fun new project to pick up next. Just trying to figure out what to TRY is huge. I love that.

I completely agree regarding the textures and graphics.

To be more specific, its the flair and explosion effects of the other games in regards to mostly weapons and space battles is the only small dent in an otherwise absolutely stellar game. This is what I was referring to

 

[Magrim]

I've been playing starmade for quite awhile now. I too bought it back when it was $3, in fact, I bought it the very first day I played it, because immediately I knew I would be playing it for a long time and wanted to support development. I kinda feel guilty only paying $3 considering the amount of joy starmade has brought me over the years. I mean, I have spent $60 on numerous triple A games, that developers spent tens of millions developing.....and they just don't hold a candle to starmade. Sure, I do stop playing it from time to time, but I'll tell you this, I have spent a lot less money on other games since i found starmade.

The creative freedom is what I love about this game, but beyond the game is the development team. They are another big part of why I keep coming back. First of all they have a huge vision for starmade, and you know what? I believe they will deliver the goods. Secondly, they take feedback from the community and put it in the game....if it's good feedback lol. Third, they treat everyone here as equals to themselves, they find time to help, and the recognize the talent in this community through the competitions.

 

[Neon_42]

For me, what starmade has going for it is the scalability of ship systems, and the potential for a large universe. That being said I've looked at all these games and none of them truly dazzle me. The first game to allow me to build a space empire ,alone, will get my attention. I don't want to commit to a faction with other players. Though I'd like to compete against their empires in a single universe. This is why Dual Universe is very attractive. I'd like to have a faction of NPCs that do my bidding, and I can take part in whatever parts I like. The game with the motto I want is " build your empire block by block". So far I think Starmade comes the closest and has the potential to become this game, but it is still quite a ways away from what I want from it.

 

[AtraUnam]

For me?
Starmade promises nothing, and delivers on everything.,

 

[Gasboy]

For me?
Starmade promises nothing, and delivers on everything.,

This says what I wanted to say much more simply than I could manage.

 

[mrnotsoevil]

It works on Linux. Avorion also works on Linux, but I don't like it's building: I prefer this Minecraft-like approach where you can have more details. Also you control the ship in 3rd person view which makes it feel very small (although the simple tutorial ship I built was 2x as big as my last Starmade ship).

 

[Panpiper]

There are a lot of things about Starmade that appeal to me, most of which others have already mentioned. Perhaps the biggest factor however, that has not yet come up, is the fact that the developers are listening to their community and in effect, developing it in concert with our feedback. This was really driven home for me when it became clear that the thread 'Crew: Stations, bonuses, specialties, experience & expense' was not simply an intellectual exercise for the posters, but was being followed with the intent to include it in the game!

The developers are not just developing 'their' game, they are developing 'our' game.

 

[_Scooter98_]

I brought Starmade, when it too was $3 USD (like 10 million AUD) because Australia's economy back then was atrocious.

Since I linked my purchase with my steam, i have played for 505 hours. But make no mistake, you can easily triple that playtime with Starmade's pre-greenlight days.

It has a, certain feel, a certain atmosphere (especially on the planets :P) about it that I enjoy.
I enjoy the simplicity it offers, whilst holding potential complex problems.
In my opinion, no other voxel based game, editor, sandbox, creative mode game, doesn't even come close to the way Starmade has its build mode.
It has that freedom that Minecraft had.
It has that satisfaction of accomplishing something grand that the other space voxel games (in my opinion) lack.
You can visually see the improvement of your creations over time.
If you find a good mob of people to play with, you'll make some of the best video game memories in Starmade. (I think most of us veteran players can recall naming at least one of our early ships 'Dreadnought' whilst only being 50 something metres long :P)

Spoiler: No Homo

To put it bluntly. If Starmade had a dick, i would suck it...maybe

These are just a few of the things that immediately popped into my mind whilst reading the post.

If I hadn't bought Starmade way back when, and it were to put its price up to $30 USD, i would NOT hesitate to buy it.

Just my two sense. LONG LIVE STARMADE


_Scooter98_

 

[Ithirahad]

Mostly, I got tired of being forced to fly predefined spaceships with predefined weapons setups and put up with wacky 2-D flight in games like EvE or Star Trek Online. :\

StarMade neatly solved both of those problems.

 

[nightrune]

Creative Freedom has been what's kept me in the game for so long. Its not very often that you get that from a game. Its not only that but that the things that I create might mean something in the universe. I love that.

 

[KiloZulu]

The difference to me is more in the mechanics. Avorion seems to have more of a macro scale to the game, given that you don't have an avatar and can't run around on ships, stations, or planets (for what they are in Starmade.) I enjoy having that perspective - to walk about the halls of my ships and (eventually) interact with the crew. Also, by providing a wide variety of blocks that often can be used for decoration as well as functional purposes, I get the sense that there is a lot more customization and design choice allowable in Starmade than in Space Engineers. In SE, for example, if you want a thruster, you place down the cone-shaped thruster module and it shoots flames out when in use. In SM, on the other hand, I shape all of the thruster blocks into the shape I want, add lighting effects, and other blocks, to create as unique of a design as I wish.

To be fair, I haven't played either of the other two games. I have purchased Avorion, but I haven't been able to play it yet because it has networking issues (which they tell me are being fixed.) I might consider picking up SE at some point, but between Starmade, Star Citizen, and now Avorion, I think my needs in the genre have been met for the time being. I can say that I like the scale of ships in SE over that in SM. The difference in block size really matters, and I get the sense that it's easier to make a small ship in SE than in SM.

 

[HellJoe989]

...
To be more specific, its the flair and explosion effects of the other games in regards to mostly weapons and space battles is the only small dent in an otherwise absolutely stellar game. This is what I was referring to

Hate to quote my own reply, but I found ANOTHER space voxel sandbox game being developed, and it looks to be the one that is the closest to StarMade, called Sky Wanderers. You can see the developer's intro videos here.

But brought this up, cause the background visuals, and vastness (Also, that interactive galaxy map is pretty amazing) is the type of visuals I was specifically referring to in regards to what I was talking about

 

[Magrim]

Hate to quote my own reply, but I found ANOTHER space voxel sandbox game being developed, and it looks to be the one that is the closest to StarMade, called Sky Wanderers. You can see the developer's intro videos here.

But brought this up, cause the background visuals, and vastness (Also, that interactive galaxy map is pretty amazing) is the type of visuals I was specifically referring to in regards to what I was talking about

The thing that looked most interesting to me about sky wanderers was the scale of everything, how far apart everything was and how huge the planets were compared to starmade. That kind of vastness is something I think starmade could benefit from

 

[Katorone]

Linux support.

 

[EMC007]

Oh boy, my list could go on forever.

Well, let's see, what brought me to starmade in the first place?

Hmm, well, one day in 2013, I was looking for a minecraft mod similar to that airships one, but in space, so I could build a spaceship block by block and fly it around. So, I saw a Yogscast video that looked like minecraft, but it had a damn spaceship flying around asteroids on the thumbnail. So, I of course clicked it and saw something amazing.

I had a Linux server I used so my friends and I could play minecraft together, and it was far more powerful than my laptop, so, I suppose the fact that it supported Linux was one of the first reasons, but, I think the thing that has really kept me playing this game for the last 4 years is just how dedicated the developers are. The level of complexity and the scale of the ships you can build in this game is truly just amazing, and, I really have never seen a game quite like it. Space engineers had caught my eye because of its physics capabilities and because it had wheels, which was something I'd been looking for in starmade (a form of ground-based vehicles). But, that game was far more difficult to run, and it took FOREVER to build things large enough to be fun.

Starmade has some of the best building tools I've seen, placing a million blocks at once, using build helpers to create (close to) perfect circles or ovals of any size, copying and pasting anything you've built, undo-into and redo-ing, Symmetry Planes (though those were in SE as well). I can build things in starmade 50 times faster than I could ever hope to have built things in games like minecraft.

And the community, I wish I had joined the old starmade website so I could have witnessed how great the community was beforehand. Never have I played a game with a nicer community than this. It's a small community, but people actually help eachother, there aren't a bunch of 7 year old all over the place rating your builds 1 star and saying "GIT GUD" or whatever, people actually will help eachother and share tips and give you constructive criticism.

Schine used to put out an update every 2 weeks, nowadays it's taking longer because they have much larger features to implement. That's crazy. Clearly, the developers care about the actual game, and not about the money. I waited before buying the game until it was around 15 dollars so I could support the developers more, because I have played this game for a longer amount of time than I have any other.

But, I think the thing that keeps me going the most is the fact that this game is still only in alpha, and yet it is many times better than most early access games on steam, or even a lot of the finished, multi-million dollar titles that some people call the greatest games ever. Who knows what the future of starmade will hold, but, knowing how the developers have been progressing the game, and the direction they are taking it, I can only imagine it will get better.

Damn, sorry for the rant. Reading this back makes it sound like a Steam Review.

TLDR: Community, Still in alpha, Great Devs, Build Tools.

 

[Ithirahad]

Oh boy, my list could go on forever.

Well, let's see, what brought me to starmade in the first place?

Hmm, well, one day in 2013, I was looking for a minecraft mod similar to that airships one, but in space, so I could build a spaceship block by block and fly it around. So, I saw a Yogscast video that looked like minecraft, but it had a damn spaceship flying around asteroids on the thumbnail. So, I of course clicked it and saw something amazing.

I had a Linux server I used so my friends and I could play minecraft together, and it was far more powerful than my laptop, so, I suppose the fact that it supported Linux was one of the first reasons, but, I think the thing that has really kept me playing this game for the last 4 years is just how dedicated the developers are. The level of complexity and the scale of the ships you can build in this game is truly just amazing, and, I really have never seen a game quite like it. Space engineers had caught my eye because of its physics capabilities and because it had wheels, which was something I'd been looking for in starmade (a form of ground-based vehicles). But, that game was far more difficult to run, and it took FOREVER to build things large enough to be fun.

Starmade has some of the best building tools I've seen, placing a million blocks at once, using build helpers to create (close to) perfect circles or ovals of any size, copying and pasting anything you've built, undo-into and redo-ing, Symmetry Planes (though those were in SE as well). I can build things in starmade 50 times faster than I could ever hope to have built things in games like minecraft.

And the community, I wish I had joined the old starmade website so I could have witnessed how great the community was beforehand. Never have I played a game with a nicer community than this. It's a small community, but people actually help eachother, there aren't a bunch of 7 year old all over the place rating your builds 1 star and saying "GIT GUD" or whatever, people actually will help eachother and share tips and give you constructive criticism.

Schine used to put out an update every 2 weeks, nowadays it's taking longer because they have much larger features to implement. That's crazy. Clearly, the developers care about the actual game, and not about the money. I waited before buying the game until it was around 15 dollars so I could support the developers more, because I have played this game for a longer amount of time than I have any other.

But, I think the thing that keeps me going the most is the fact that this game is still only in alpha, and yet it is many times better than most early access games on steam, or even a lot of the finished, multi-million dollar titles that some people call the greatest games ever. Who knows what the future of starmade will hold, but, knowing how the developers have been progressing the game, and the direction they are taking it, I can only imagine it will get better.

Damn, sorry for the rant. Reading this back makes it sound like a Steam Review.

TLDR: Community, Still in alpha, Great Devs, Build Tools.

1/10. Git gud.

...Anyway, you should format and submit that as a Steam review. StarMade could use some good and comprehensive ones.