Starbound is a brand new game undergoing active development by Chucklefish, an indie game company made up of a lovely group of dudes and dudettes. If you like what you see, please feel free to leave a comment or tell your friends. We hope this blog can be an insight into the trials and tribulations of the development process, the people behind the game, and what we hope to achieve.
A story within a sandbox
Starbound begins with you fleeing your homeworld in a space shuttle, just as its destroyed by an unknown enemy. With nothing to guide it, the escape pod shoots into space without direction, becoming hopelessly lost in a sea of stars. As luck would have it, the space shuttle touches down on a habitable planet and an adventure begins that will take you hurtling across the universe. Starbound contains both quests and story driven missions, buried inside its vast sandbox universe.
Endless Planets to visit
Planets in Starbound are entirely procedurally generated and filled to the brim with unique content. We went into the planet generation with one simple goal: no two planets should be the same. By procedurally generating even the smallest details, were doing just that. Not only is the terrain of the planet procedurally generated, but the weather, the gravity, the difficulty level, the plant life, the behaviour and appearance of alien creatures, and much more all contain random or procedurally generated elements.
We want you to feel like an explorer!
Because were working so hard to make each planet unique, we want to give you the tools to catalogue the things you find and make sure absolutely everything you find has depth in the world. Much like old school point and click adventures, absolutely every object in the world, right down to the trees and flowers, can be examined for a description.
See a weird alien tree? Examine it! Maybe youll discover something about its use! For any explorer, sharing discoveries is important. So whilst the game is fully coop (Bring your friends along! Form an expedition!) you can also record your findings in an electronic logbook. Not only that, but each and every planet has unique coordinates in the Universe that you can share online, so other players can check out exactly what you found!
Finding a new home
Exploring is wonderful, but everyone needs a place to call their own. Thats why were letting you claim an entire planet!
When you claim a planet as your new homeworld, a whole new aspect of gameplay opens up. Everything that makes a planet unique is at your command. Feel like changing the weather? Build a weather centre! Dont like the terrain? Terraform it! Every aspect of the planet is under your control. Once youre happy with it, start populating it with characters youve met in your travels and take care of them! Theyll have needs and desires and wont hesitate to ask for your help if they require assistance.
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