DukeofRealms - thanks for these updates. I hear your point on not doing community fundraising, but the approach does leave me wondering how to best support the project going forward? There are lots of games in this genre and I play all of them, but I love Starmade and would gladly join a Patreon or something like that to help support the continued life of this truly precious gem. I would also support DLC, though I know that can be controversial (gah, people bitch about everything, don't they! LOL).
Anyway, just a fan who is used to paying a subscription for things he likes and who would like to support Starmade in that way as well...
The honest answer is, I have no idea. Ultimately it's up to schema, he has in the past been against any community fundraising. I get the feeling he is more open to this lately. These days I relay all that I know to the community, which is not as much info as I'd like to be able to share. I try not to occupy too much of schema's time, as I know he's extremely busy outside of StarMade.
He has been making money elsewhere, we spoke about getting back to StarMade last month. He feels he's getting close to a stable income with good wiggle room for SM development. Unfortunately, one of the big barriers is that the remaining work to be done is rewriting old code (potentially 10 years old). So, he hasn't really been able to chip away here and there, it's a mentally draining task. I think that mountain of work gets to him. Without a safety net, it has to be hard to get back into it.
What I can say is that I'm extremely grateful for all of your continued interest, suggestions and helping hands. I know schema appreciates it as well. There are a lot of good ideas here, I think the compensation agreements from nightwalker_007 have merit, as well as incorporating performance/stability improvements.
I'm excited about the progress modders are making, I think I'll make a news post about that soon.
The simplest take away I can get is, like the rest of us, Schema has gotten older in life and progressively has to focus on what provides a stable life. In his case it's stepping back from StarMade development. In my case it's stepping back from playing video games. Down the road, hopefully before we die, we'll cross paths again.
If I could give an Award for the worst developer I'd give it to Starmade. I first discovered this game in 2012 with Yogscast when Minecraft was the new big thing. Needless to say Minecraft in Space has always been a passion that runs deep. I play alot of these kinds of games. But Starmade has been the biggest disappointment for all those years. Every two years I try to come back follow the development and play an hour or 10 and it's just heartbreaking......plz sell the game so someone can finally finish it and make it fun
So I know I'm not around much but I still hold a torch for this game, just thought I should mention that because I know theres a lot of negativity these days. You keep doing you Schema.
We have no issue getting new players, we have issues keeping them. This is why we have avoided advertising/marketing. Retention rates are very low, there simply is not enough gameplay for the average user to stick around.
Seems this got under the RADAR, apologies, but I simply can't help but respond to this.
BINGO!... correct, retention rates are terrible!
... but, I will have to simply disagree with this reasoning...
This is the number one reason why online players do not "stick around":
... and the rest, (single and online) because of bugs, missing optimization, and half implemented / broken features, (die heilige drei)...
Asteroid duplicates
Stations / Shops disappearing (or warping to god knows where*)
Decayed stations and Planets resetting (after players start to build on them*)
my opinion: a few bad config / variable choices (had to throw that inthere*).
NPC traders littering the universe with docked parts (left behind*)
NPCs crashing and getting Stuck In Space [SIS]™ (no pathfinding / object avoidance*)
NPC Crew not attaching to ships proper (can't bring them to your base AND they simply disappear eventually*)
NPC Pirate-Stations cannot be updated (without bugging into red space-plateaus*)
NPC Trade Guild Shops that cannot Trade (because shop-owner is still the original builder and/or no storage*)
Fleet-ships not updating sectors and not following orders (just spin and jerk around*)
Shipyards get stuck and cause major lag and can crash server
Reactor changes cause major lag and can also crash server
Outdated Assets since 3 years ((power1.0) stations and ships*)
Factory / Block system full of depricated blocks
BP / faction / file corruption
Reseed-bug(updates*)
wonky AI
Desynchs...
...xxx
Players want light-wedges... give it to them!
... along with more shapes for motherboards, cactus, lava etc... it's easy: Vanilla Extension Pack 250
The most important game-breaking-bugs have been neglected!
Common knowledge says: you CANNOT leave a game in this state for so long and expect success!
... and for what?
focusing developement around META-Exploit-Balance "fixes", (and making it too complicated in the proccess), is why StarMade is where it is.
Facts are:
Successful games fix game breaking problems first, (balance/exploits are not highest priority).
A game must be fun and functional.
Most of these bugs could be easily fixed with minimal effort.
Updating assets could also be done with minimal effort: I did it, so can you: NPCs , PIRATEs
Adding more shapes/blocks (removing depricated) is also minimal effort.
Starmade's roots are voxel based", (i.e. minecraft in space):
"Robin Promesberger announced he had begun development of StarMade around 2010, describing it as a Minecraft inspired 3D sandbox space shooter."
The concept is great and Schine's / Schema's interpretation is great "as is".
StarMade still has many devoted fans, but hardly anyone plays because of this, not because of missing gameplay or balance.
(see MineCraft... it doesn't have half the "planned" - "gameplay" - stuff as StarMade*)
I do not claim StarMade would enjoy the massive success MineCraft has, but it could be doing so much better, (instead of where it is now).
EDIT: later
references: <i>StarMade</i>
" store.steampowered.com hat die Verbindung abgelehnt. "...
I'll just put pics instead...
(great work on the trailer!*)!
just remember, it's never too late...
well, maybe, at some point, it is.
P.S. You are forgiven, StarMade is awesomesauce!
... pay no attention to that last post: #23.
Been on and off SM for years myself. I still love the concept, but at this stage, wouldn't it be better to just make a starmade 2? It was written elsewhere and I very sadly tend to agree. SM just seems like a relic of the past.
Considering the age of the code and graphics, it will take Schema massive amounts of time and resources to remake this game into something more modern. I wager the same amount of time to simply start over. And remember that with the bugs still plaguing the original that has to be ironed out... there comes a time you must start over from scratch. Many, many games and devs do this. I believe to breathe new life into SM, it may be easiest and most efficient to start over.
Side note, over complex power of 2.0 did no favors here either. People who play games tend to not want to make a career out of learning it.
Now with all that said, don't misunderstand, I still love SM in general! I still play this game now and again for nostalgia and to see if anything has happened, above all I very much love the game concept and idea and would love to see a finished product, what I say is actually meant as encouragement to look beyond what has already been done, to take this worthy and potentially very profitable idea, for Schine and the community, and bring it into the 2020's with the rest of us. Even turning this into open source code is worth a look.
I think anything is still possible, and I still wish everyone at Schine the best! Good luck guys! I will still be stopping by occasionally, regardless of outcome.
Been on and off SM for years myself. I still love the concept, but at this stage, wouldn't it be better to just make a starmade 2? It was written elsewhere and I very sadly tend to agree. SM just seems like a relic of the past.
Considering the age of the code and graphics, it will take Schema massive amounts of time and resources to remake this game into something more modern. I wager the same amount of time to simply start over. And remember that with the bugs still plaguing the original that has to be ironed out... there comes a time you must start over from scratch. Many, many games and devs do this. I believe to breathe new life into SM, it may be easiest and most efficient to start over.
Side note, over complex power of 2.0 did no favors here either. People who play games tend to not want to make a career out of learning it.
Now with all that said, don't misunderstand, I still love SM in general! I still play this game now and again for nostalgia and to see if anything has happened, above all I very much love the game concept and idea and would love to see a finished product, what I say is actually meant as encouragement to look beyond what has already been done, to take this worthy and potentially very profitable idea, for Schine and the community, and bring it into the 2020's with the rest of us. Even turning this into open source code is worth a look.
I think anything is still possible, and I still wish everyone at Schine the best! Good luck guys! I will still be stopping by occasionally, regardless of outcome.
well... StarMade I still hasn't happened afaik
Retro is still a thing...
other than that I agree 100%.
In my opinion...
The best, most professional / business procedure from this point on would be to accept fate, funding is dead, times have changed, etc...
StarMade as it is today in 2021 should be fixed and released "as is", i.e. fix bugs to make it "fun and functional", and move on.
EDIT: (personally I don't understand why this doesn't even seem to be an option, opensourcing give me the heebegeebees*)
That really should not be that hard.
1. That would/could generate cashflow for Schine, (for low-end-systems (retro for the win*)).
2. That would/could open a new path for StarMade II (JAVA 11, new planets etc... for higher-end-systems).
All the talk about the universe update was sounding like a whole new game anyway... and well seems there's no funding at this point to make it happen either.
I feel like I should throw my 2 cents into this conversation, just for the record.
Warning: long and mostly irrelevant.
It's no secret that Starmade and myself have had a rocky history. Many of the older community members can vouch for this. However through all that, I still love and adore this game and community.
Even through questionable updates and direction (in my opinion) Starmade still remains as my deepenst and most meaningful investment. I want to see this game flourish and become successful for the team behind it.
Without Starmade, I wouldn't be where I am today in my life - being part of this community has helped me develop as a person, building new skills and becoming a more confident person when explaining my own opinions and ideas.
With all that fluff out of the way, members of Schine have every right to take the time they need, however long that may be. Whether it's financial burden or just being short on time.
Just a few days ago a few friends from the community were discussing what was Starmades magic, and we suspect it was the games simplicity - easy to pick up, hard to master gameplay and 'engineering'. I've actually been considering setting up a retro server to try and recapture that time again.
As for your initial question. Keep playing Starmade. It still exists, you can still build things. Be creative, make mods, learn new skills. Experiment with your own game settings, limits, etc.
For me it doesn't matter how many other space games I go and pick up, Starship evo, empyrion, starbase, they all lack the magic of Starmade. The raw freedom and creativity it provides.
I really, sincerely hope Starmade becomes something more. But even if it doesn't, I will always adore what it was, and how it brought together some of the most creative, talented and wonderful people that I have ever met. I cherish the friends and memories I've made, and I thank Robin and the team especially for that.
For me it doesn't matter how many other space games I go and pick up, Starship evo, empyrion, starbase, they all lack the magic of Starmade. The raw freedom and creativity it provides.
I have to second this. I really dont feel like playing Starship Evo, as it has microblocks. I do feel overwhelmed when I think about having to engineer all that details with the small block scale. It would take me ages to engineer a ship in all the detail I am used to. So truth is, a good sandbox sticks to 1x1m blocks - even though everyone cried out for more detailed blocks.
I agree that starmade as is is just playable BUT, there are random bugs, and bugs not easy to solve, it deserves to have a sequel but.... in my opinion it would be necessary to change the engine of the game and switch to a real 3d engine, java base is not really made for that, and it requires a lot of resource cpu I would like it to continue, but what to do when graphically it attracts but behind it you get bugs, slowdowns, cpu overloads when there are only 6 vessels at the same time that canardent, the only thing we can do is build, but then again, we have mechanical problems or we will literally break a cable to know how to make a vessel if it needs hundreds of thousands of blocks in logistics etc etc etc etc. etc. ... simplifying the mechanics would help the game to have more people...
I agree that starmade as is is just playable BUT, there are random bugs, and bugs not easy to solve, it deserves to have a sequel but.... in my opinion it would be necessary to change the engine of the game and switch to a real 3d engine, java base is not really made for that, and it requires a lot of resource cpu I would like it to continue, but what to do when graphically it attracts but behind it you get bugs, slowdowns, cpu overloads when there are only 6 vessels at the same time that canardent, the only thing we can do is build, but then again, we have mechanical problems or we will literally break a cable to know how to make a vessel if it needs hundreds of thousands of blocks in logistics etc etc etc etc. etc. ... simplifying the mechanics would help the game to have more people...
Schema's custom Jave engine does pretty darn good with 3D if ask me...
I will agree needing hundreds of thousands of blocks is too much, it is the "performance-punch-in-the-gut"...
simplicity would be good for stability in general...
in my opinion blocks need buffs, not more diminishing returns (QF-config).
As far as online-MP servers go: they simply need to set limits/rules.
EDIT: copied from another post... it is simply too much load on servers in SM's current alpha- state.
in general, yes the load of the server, especially that some use cardboard machine, it is true that the game needs mainly a performance opti and especially memory side, because the server crashes are due to memory leak, or random out of memory
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