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

[Ultragamer2000]

The one thing that made me stick in this game up untill late Feb was well:
Everything
The building is awesome
The logic is awesome
EVERYTHING about this game is good
I mean the community is small but
This game is very good, but needs a bit more people.
Only a bit.

 

[NeonSturm]

Planets are good?

When I visit planets, I want a nice background for my base, some canyons to do racing, a beautiful atmosphere and a lake with a waterfall where Dave can relax.

I don't really care if you can dig/blast holes into the planet as long as you can slightly modify the surface and have a few areas which allow you to edit them to build a landing base, a factory, a house, etc.

SM could really benefit from oceans and sand/ice deserts which hide chunks beneath them to increase FPS. Real Earth has 70% ocean which means SM could give Earth-Planets 2x radius without lag.​

 

[Edymnion]

Well for me, it was simple. There weren't any others when I started.

 

[_Scooter98_]

Well for me, it was simple. There weren't any others when I started.

Yep, no Spengies, nothing, just good ol StarMade.

 

[kulbolen]

control

 

[Edymnion]

Yep, no Spengies, nothing, just good ol StarMade.

Which means everything else has to not only be as good as Starmade, not just better than Starmade, but has to be SUBSTANTIALLY better than Starmade to get my attention. Which nothing else has been able to achieve yet.

 

[Vvolodymyr]

Hi all.

1) I enjoy "doodling spaceships & buildings" - by that I mean assisted & heavily assisted drawing / building.
I played a lot of Spore back in the day, I also used to draw building diagrams.
Something about the process of starting out with an idea, and then working with the tools provided and see where that takes you - is liberating and calming.

But that's just the looks, in Starmade you can

2) Design stuff that works, not only looks good.
- Oh you made a cool looking ship, hey - you can fly it.
- It'll fly as well as YOU make it, It'll shoot the way you make it, It'll do all the other stuff exactly as you make it - and that's awesome.

Another analogy would be - as a kid I had a lego-equivalent set. That was fun. But there was another set called "the constructor" - it had motors, gears, belts, ropes and you fixed everything with screws and nuts - that stuff worked ! and was way more fun

3) I did actually once "go on a mission" in Starmade - there was a super cool abandoned station (the one with all the cameras that keep on watching) - It was interesting creeping through the ship, finding out the back-story - and all the while knowing that anything in there, you can make too! - So there could be a nice RPG element (which I enjoy).

4) I'm looking forward to some PvP action as well (just never got around to that somehow).

P.S. I never played Minecraft. The thing about the voxel gaming that perfectly makes sense - it has that visual simplicity, which allows for functional complexity and scope. Although Starmade somehow keeps looking better and better!

P.P.S. Linux !

 

[NeonSturm]

P.P.S. Linux !

And again

I hate how developers call their game free if they require the user to buy Windows to enjoy it.
License-free hardware → free2use operating system → free2enjoy game → free-download community content → that's true free2play.​

 

[Edymnion]

And again

I hate how developers call their game free if they require the user to buy Windows to enjoy it.
License-free hardware → free2use operating system → free2enjoy game → free-download community content → that's true free2play.​

Well if you want to go that route, then no computer game is free. You have to buy the computer, you have to buy the electricity to run the computer on, you have to buy the internet connection, etc.

Complaining that you have to buy an OS is like complaining that you had to buy a video card.

 

[JinM]

NeonSturm , what bugs me way more about FTP is the amazingly big updates, that come with every cosmetic new item. I rather pay 15€ once or per year, instead to suffer this never ending stream of advertising cosmetic bullshit I don't need and downloading 1GB updates every time they make a new event in the game (Dota2).

I can understand that you want precission in language when it comes to the term "free". (...Even though assuming that you have a Windows running and the hardware for it...I mean if I visit a free event that is 500km away from my place I can't assume driving there will be free, or sleeping and eating there. )

But I understand, that the term "free" for ftp games is utterly bullshit: you pay with your attention span that get's constantly distracted from advertisment or "features" you don't need, or - worst case - you have to pay to play the actual game and play totally different when you don't pay some 20€ booster or the likes.

 

[ZombieMouse]

• The developer's commitment to maintaining or improving game performance.
• Linux support.
• Great logic system.

 

[NeonSturm]

Well if you want to go that route, then no computer game is free. You have to buy the computer, you have to buy the electricity to run the computer on, you have to buy the internet connection, etc.

Complaining that you have to buy an OS is like complaining that you had to buy a video card.

You buy "the service" that peoples build a computer for you, not the computer itself.
– It is a service because creating a copy requires human time (maintenance) and may be paid from basic income if your country has it - of-course not the latest stuff.

But you are unable to build windows yourself. Even if you want to, you cannot do it in your life-time or are allowed to reverse-engineer it.

Also, internet should be free2use to a certain extend because peoples should have the right for social life. It can be paid with taxes on luxury goods like everyone who owns high-quality equipment must provide 10% to the community or taxes on porn/hd-movies/etc.

Anarchy and who will build the (internet)roads?: Anarchists Begin Fixing Roads and Potholes Because the Government Won't​

 

[MChain]

Checked most of the mentioned games (Except the Interstellar Rift) and stuck to Starmade.

1) Space Engineers are of course cool and intersting (just try to build a pretty ship with sophisticated conveyor system xD Also, Programmable Block) but... Well, it was a good (maybe not-so-optimised) game till Keens added planets. With planets added, Space Engineers turned into a slideshow for my PC. So no, thank you, I love eye candy, but I prefer to play a game, not watch some pretty pictures. Also, 2,5m cubes? Are you serious? Also, SOLID WATER.

2) Empyrion. Nice and pretty, with flora and fauna, but damn, I am able to build a huge starship - but I need to mine resources for it BY HAND??? WHAT THE???

3) Avorion. Nice, intersting sandbox with some lovely crew management - but forget about interiors. Bridge? Engine room? A lovely garden? A comfy cabin? Sorry, not supplied. A good X-style game with advanced ship designer, nothing more, nothing less. Worth checking, just a different approach to a space sim.

As for the Starmade graphics - maybe it isn't so realistic, but its bright side is that you don't have to rely on pre-created graphics, models, components. Create them yourself! Not satisfied with window placement? Move it! Or remove completely! Bad corridor? That's your fault, redesign it! Stupid bridge setup? Well, that was your desire to put that console right in the middle So, time to fix it, not to rant about stupid developers. Be an artist and build yourself a perfect ship you'd love to fly. All necessary parts are included, just be creative in using them.

 

[Mr.Steam]

Notice we are getting very close to release 0.2 (currently 0.199.535) which from what I remember is going to be called Andromeda update? I have a feeling that will include a bunch of awesome new additions to the universe like better planets and other space phenomena. I am sure this will be a quantum leap that will really push it above many current offerings.

 

[therimmer96]

Notice we are getting very close to release 0.2 (currently 0.199.535) which from what I remember is going to be called Andromeda update? I have a feeling that will include a bunch of awesome new additions to the universe like better planets and other space phenomena. I am sure this will be a quantum leap that will really push it above many current offerings.

being in 0.199 doesn't mean shit. Schine has this knack of wanting certain numbers to be significant updates, and so as we get closer and closer, the version number will keep getting longer without ticking over to 0.2. It could be another year before we hit 0.2. 0.19498 came out on 21/11/2015

 

[PriZm]

Hope and nostalgia

 

[Ithirahad]

Seems to me that the systems revamp is worthy of being called 0.2.x.

 

[Spoolooni]

The communal shitposting within the community brings some positivism into my life.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

What brought me here:
Back in 2011-2012 I had quit Evil Online as I had lost all interest in playing a game that is so much harder and grindy-er than real life that it feels more like a chore (I would literally fall asleep during battle) than a pleasure to play. Afterwards, I was suffered from a terrible space sim withdrawal. For months, I bounced around to other space games; desperately looking for a fix. Then one day, a close friend of mine says "Hey Whammy! You gotta try this new game that just came out. It's like Mine$haft but in space. Trust me; this game is right up your alley. With all the years of you doing pixel art in Windows Paint, you are already hard-wired for it".

So I picked up a new habit that I can never EVER quit. Some have said that I would probably have a heart attack and spontaneously combust if I went for too long without playing StarMade. They don't seem to understand that I would cause the rest of the city would go up in flames with me.

What keeps me here:
There have been plenty of Voxel space games popping up like dandelions in a field. To be honest, none of them spark my interest.

Avorion - Ships designs lack depth and complexity and the game looks like it is trying to imitate Evil Online. I'll have none of that thank you.

Space Engineers - ...or should I say, Space Collsioneers? Seriously; as pretty as the game looks, I have NEVER seen a successful combat video on youtube. The players spend 3/4 of the video trying to turn their ship in the general direction of their opponent before giving up and ramming each other. The pre-designed build elements seem very limited and the weapons look like a joke. The whole game feels like a hot but dumb cheerleader with the personality and depth of a jar of mayonnaise; Fun to "play" with but not a keeper.

Empyrion - At first glance, this game looks like a less polished copy of Space Engineers. While planets are still more realistic starmade, the scale of the game feels too small and isolated for me.

No Man's Sky - Simply put; when No Man's Sky revealed that it was actually "One Man's sky", it quickly became No Man's Buy...

Sky Wanderers - A blatant ripoff of StarMade AND Legos... Bad form sir! Bad form!!!

Dual Universe - The same friend who introduced me to StarMade tend to get bored easily so he's now ranting and raving about how cool Dual Universe is going to be. The game looks as eye pleasing as Space Collisioneers and has a scale approaching that of StarMade. It is also said to not suffer from any lag whatsoever. In theory, The game could crush anything StarMade and the others can dish out. But... they haven't even released a playable alpha yet (this September).

More than likely, I'll be sticking with StarMade. I already know this game, its mechanics and community. Why leave home when you don't have to?

 

[JinM]

Dual Universe - The same friend who introduced me to StarMade tend to get bored easily so he's now ranting and raving about how cool Dual Universe is going to be. The game looks as eye pleasing as Space Collisioneers and has a scale approaching that of StarMade. It is also said to not suffer from any lag whatsoever. In theory, The game could crush anything StarMade and the others can dish out. But... they haven't even released a playable alpha yet (this September).

I was very close to pay some bugs there into the kicksstarter to participate in the beta...But even for beta (not alpha) they wanted glorious 50 Euro. I was like wtf. You might not even deliver and this might be a mmo without any offline player experience. Do they think I am crazy? AN MMO. This game might be ready in 3 years and then they even could shut down their servers half a year after completing it. Seriously, why do people even pay for an mmo sandbox.

Quotes
Will it be possible to have player-hosted servers?
No. The game vision for Dual Universe is to gather the whole community in one unique game universe, not to fragment it among several servers: this would dilute (or even nullify) the meaning of many major game features as the player-driven economy, industry or even territory control.
Will there be an offline mode?
No. As the main goal is to favorize interaction with all other players, an offline mode wouldn't make much sense in this context.

But this isn't why I didn't pay there. I still would play in a working sandbox mmo. But: This is paying 50 bugs to play a game in 2 years. Who knows if I am still playing computer in two years? Maybe I am rich in two years and 100 Euro would hurt my capital less, than 50 do now... It's just that I despise paying for something so much money up front. In two years so many other games can be made...And I don't even know, if their game will be a good space fight game as well (what is a important part of the space sandbox of my dreams).

But the devs did a great job in marketing it and giving a thrustworthy image of themself. This is something many other companies can learn from.