Starsector - RT 2D indie space goodness

[ItsChon]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

 

[tindrli]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

just play it. if you like this genre you WILL NOT be disappointed

 

[IMPERIVM RECTVM]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

The game despite being in development it's quite fleshed out and finished. Also mods add lots of fun stuff from end-game content to factions and ships, you should definitely play this game.

 

[Lithium Flower]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

If you are in it for the questing, colony management, or 4x-type stuff then you may be disappointed as those elements are latest ones to be worked on and still undercooked. If you are in it for space combat, then shit's god-tier cash money sick-nasty etc and can provide several hundreds of hours of entertainment just from tinkering with ship designs and fleet compositions. As an overall experience its already in a decent place as most of the game systems are auxiliary to the combat anyway.

Also resist the urge to install 200 mods, vanilla has godly balance and modding will make it harder to appreciate on top of making it much harder to learn the game, although basics like GraphicsLib and QoL mods (like the firing arcs mod I linked earlier) are a good idea. Also also - aesthetics. Shit's atmospheric AF and the writing and world-building are really good even if there aren't too many handcrafted quests yet. frfr no cap

 

[Sarathiour]

how far along in the development cycle is the game?

15 years in, 15 more to go, with at least 10 rework of the characters skill system.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Memes aside, the development of the game, while infuriatingly slow (I assume due to dev's perfectionism and choice not to pursue crowdfunding/EA or recruit additional devs, for better or for worse,) has been relatively steady and focused in my estimation. Such things as skill, weapon, and ship balance go back and forth (and are in a very good place as of the last few versions IMO, hence the skills were not touched at all in 0.96.)
But those are mostly numbers tweaks that probably do not consume many development resources, whereas large systems that require a lot of new sprites/codes/text typically follow the pattern of implementation (usually at least 1 large game mechanic per update) and subsequently being fleshed out or extended.

Compared to other titles with similarly long development cycles, there does not appear to be a ton of redundancy, meandering, or feature creep. Its not really comparable to whatever the fuck was going on with That Which Sleeps, or the perpetual identity crisis of Copper Dreams/Mechajammer (RIP,) or Exanima with its "and for the next update we are going to rework the procedural generation of wooden shafts for the glaives, with RNG axe handles to come in the next update, also do you remember how this was supposed to be a glorified tech demo for our big rpg TBD: never?"
By contrast, I can't really think of a major game system in Starsector that was changed beyond its recognition besides the skill system, and certainly nothing I would consider to be indulgent.

I think the last half of Age of Decadence's dev cycle may an apt comparison in that it did take a ton of time, but it was not - at least for the part of its development I followed - emblematic of the sort of blatant mismanagement, lack of focus, or game design gaffes we see associated with development hell.

At this point all I think the game really needs for a very solid 1.0 experience is some sort of late-game threat, quests for the factions that lack them (with some use for the reputation you get with individual characters through said quests,) plus more political/management/fleet command options - and you can pretty much see the foundation for all of the above in the last couple of updates, from the spooky scary end game stuff to how certain quests and faction-related decisions influence hostile activities against your colonies and so on. So... ~3-6 more years until 1.0, maybe?

Perhaps I am wrong and did not follow the development closely enough (I was playing on-off since starfarer days but did not really get hooked in until the 0.95 release, and my attention to dev cycle followed roughly the same trend.)

 

[Modron]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

Took me a better part of a month just to explore everywhere, activate all the gates, and do the story quests in the vanilla galaxy size (lets not even get started on expansion by lots of mods). I didn't even go to war or with any of the factions or wipe out their colonies. It's version 0.96a should tell you how far along it is. Basically ~4 patches left until 1.0 so probably another ~10 years of development. No real harm in jumping in now unless you want to wait a few more months to ensure all the big mods have been updated for 0.96.

 

[None]

The devs make it clear that the game is very much in development. That being said, how far along in the development cycle is the game? Is the game as big and comprehensive as it seems to be?

As others have said, there is already plenty of game to enjoy. Just play it. And do yourself a favor and stay away from ship loadout discussions, explore that part for yourself. The game can be played with a variety of ship and fleet loadouts and you'll most likely discover most meta builds on your own anyways.

Only thing the game needs IMO is more unique quests. We got a handful this last patch, some of them really good, and after all the new ships and weapons I'm hoping they'll focus on writing and quests more and more.

 

[Lithium Flower]

David is a really good writer. The Luddic Church quests in particular are great because he took what might have been a completely trash pulp-scifi concept ("anti-technology cult! in spaaaace, flying around in spaceships and shit!") and actually grounded it in the setting, exploring the idiosyncracies, drawing a bit from early Christianity, and even allowing you to approach it from different perspectives (characters might have different reactions depending on whether you show yourself to be a secular opportunist, agnostic, a genuine believer, a radical, etc.) There isn't a massive amount of C&C but it is there, and as worldbuilding fuel for contextualizing your own murderhobo hijinks, it is absolutely fantastic. Fucking Jangala shrine "garden," fucking space ossuary - awesome stuff.

 

[ItsChon]

All of this talk makes me want to wait for 1.0 to come out...How long are we talking? I'd be willing to wait 1-3 years, how likely is it that the game will be finished by then?

 

[Modron]

I feel confident in my 10 year estimate. What you might think is me joking initially could ring true if they don't pickup some steam with 0.97's release. 26 months from 0.95 to 0.96: https://fractalsoftworks.com/category/releases/

 

[Lithium Flower]

All of this talk makes me want to wait for 1.0 to come out...How long are we talking? I'd be willing to wait 1-3 years, how likely is it that the game will be finished by then?

Nah fam, I agree with modron's assessment that its gonna be 3-5 updates to finish and the updates tend to take anywhere between 1 and 2 years to drop. Just play, there is so much fucking variety that going back to the game for 1.0 won't be a chore, do you want to zip around in a frigate? or command a battleship? do you want a fleet of slow low-tech hulkers using outdated tech or cutting edge ships that use quantum physics to jump dimensions or whatever? every ship is different and every playthrough is a cherished opportunity to build a cool ass fleet. Just play. I can show you a video I made where I pilot a ship and its set to King Crimson's Talking Drum (the radical action to unseat the hold of the monkey mind version OF COURSE) and its like, wow, super cool. Just play this video game ok.

I tried very hard to get some other guy from here (identity preserved for his safety) to "click" with the game to the point of recording some instructional videos but he mostly ignored my amazing advice and couldn't get his playthrough off the ground but then lo and behold he installed this one gay (not homophobic its just objectively homosexual) fucking mod that turns sindria into a meme gas station faction "look friend I finally like the game this mod is really hilarious there are flying lobsters and everything and then philip andrada turned himself into a pickle it was the funniest shit I've ever seen" oh goddamn it all you ingrates you fools just enjoy this game that god and some dude called alex gave you

 

[ItsChon]

Yeah if the game is not going to be finished in 1-3 years time, then playing it now is definitely the ideal move. Will try it soon, just need to deal with my OSRS addiction.

 

[tindrli]

its great game. No doubt about it

 

[Sarathiour]

And do yourself a favor and stay away from ship loadout discussions, explore that part for yourself.

I've never even tried to know about the meta, I only pick the ship I found cool and try some shit from there. Never prevented me from winning pretty much all my fight, apart maybe from the one where I was ambushed with a 300% difficulty encounter.
Got back into this version, using the opportunity to play a more bounty hunter and fight focused playthrough.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

i played this years ago, like 3-4, maybe even 5-6 (which is no more than 3 or 4 patches ago, i'm not joking), and it had already more features and polish than your average aaaaa.

 

[Perkel]

I think this year is probable. There isn't really much to add here. 0.96 is pretty much finished game with no bugs and no missing features. The only thing I think he could add to it without bloating it is more unique quests but something like this could just as well be added in expansion.

I hope though he reconsiders not releasing it on other platforms. As much as 30% sucks PR is important and your game can go from 10 000 copies sold into literally million.

If there is a game that should have better sequel it is SC.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

If there is a game that should have better sequel it is SC.

Star Cector?

 

[Lithium Flower]

I think this year is probable.

I believe this was the latest the man himself said on the matter.

I presume this roughly means that he is not going to think about the next stage of his long term plans (which may or may not include end-game features and wrapping the game up for a steam release etc) until after 0.96.1 is done - and that's at least a year away on its own. Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure SS updates follow a pattern of alternating between a major version (which drop ~1.5-2 years after previous update, think 0.95a) and a sort of intermediate version (which drop ~1 year after the previous update, think 0.95.1.)

So presuming the scenario in which Alex intends to have only one more major update, that's still 3 more updates and ~4 years of development in total. Since I think its highly unlikely he releases the next major update on steam without the polish of that .1 version.

On the other hand, I do feel like the game is very much Steam EA ready at this point, and the only reason Alex has not thrown it up on steam yet is because he hates money and wants to stick to his deadline-averse "when its done its done" ethos. Which has its benefits, however Iron Tower and to lesser extent Bare Mettle showed that with a solid product EA can probably bring in revenue without compromising release sales.

In general Alex seems to me like a delegation-averse control freak with all the good and bad that brings. Guy spends a decade working on a game without losing focus and consistently tightening things up - but at the same time he also feels compelled to personally moderate his forum, give coding advice for modders, and so on. Gives me the impression of the nicest guy ever, but at the same time he is infuriatingly inefficient lmao. Perhaps this is part of his reluctance towards the steam release - he may want to continue developing the game in a controlled, semi-hobbyist fashion, and understandably doesn't want to change his process towards something more suited to the mainstream steam marketplace.

 

[Mauman]

I bought this a few years back but only played it for a bit. Been thinking about it lately, but I have no idea how to get the installer again (different computer, wasn't able to back up everything in transition).

 

[Black]

Just download the installer from the official site.

 

[Mauman]

Just download the installer from the official site.

I suppose I should have been clearer. What I meant is I don't know how to get the installation code since I bought it years ago and have no idea what the code is anymore.

edit - nvm. Seems like my sheer stubborn refusal to ever clean up my email is paying off. It was 4+ years ago, but the activation code is still in there. Think I'll give this game another spin.

 

[Sarkile]

Just download the installer from the official site.

I suppose I should have been clearer. What I meant is I don't know how to get the installation code since I bought it years ago and have no idea what the code is anymore.

Do you have the same email account it was sent to?

 

[Sarkile]

I just came back to this after two years with the last patch, and was trying to figure out what I want to try for fleet composition.

I've been trying to scrounge up some Monitors, but I haven't had much luck so far.

 

[Zariusz]

Does anyone here have the latest version of Dassault Mikoyan mod? Im currently upgrading my mod collection to 0.9.6a version but from what i saw on Starsector forums there was some modder drama or smt like that and creator of this mod removed it, im not even sure if it was updated to the latest release tbh.