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[mattie2009]

Ohh I know it is supposed to be funny.

It just means this is going to be a soupy game which is one of the indicators of negative quality (which is a shame because I love Soupy games done right). Judging by the Comedy it means it is also going to be light-hearted soup which is also an indicator that this could be a Mudbox game. It is showing its gameplay unfocus.

Can you... uh, translate that into an existing language of some sort? Because "soupy game" and "mudbox" isn't even Tropese, though I can probably sort of infer the meaning, or part of it at least. "Mudbox" probably relates to "sandbox", and "soupy" would imply a disparate style conglomerate a la, say, Nethack, but beyond that I've no idea. If I'm right on the "soupy" definition, I see nothing badong with it. Given the game's general scope (how many variations of rocket launcher did they say they have?), having everything up to and beyond the kitchen sink's long lost Cybertronian half-brother in the bestiary and environments can only be a good thing. Being normal (or even "sane") would only be detrimental here.

And really now, given how great Terraria was, can you really blame people for being excited about a space-based Spore/Roguelike offshoot project? Even if only half of the things promised are done in the end, the sheer scope and scale of the project will make up for it, at the very least it'll be another Terraria. I'm not excited for it as anything more than an expanded Terraria clone, but even that has me rather anxious to see this game.

...aand ninja'd, of course. Still, I'd like some clarification on those terms used.

I believe it was something like 10,000 individual graphical styles for rocket launchers, or something along those lines.

EDIT: Wat.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[freeformschooler]

And now for a convenient transition to the game-master mode for Starbound. It allows some people to access a server/planet and be able to 1.See everything 2.Have world editing powers and 3.Control any NPC.

This allows for things far more complex than can be gained from scripted events. For example, the GM could create some ruins filled with treasure and tell the players by means of an NPC or signs or something to go in, then spawn a boss inside and `cave in` the entrance if they try to run, so it's either they run with good mining equipment or they kill it.
Sounds pretty versatile.

What? The way you said this it seems like you're stating a fact. Could you show where you've gotten this information? I would love for it to be true.

Specifically "Control any NPC". I look for this feature in many, MANY games.

[Microcline]

This /r/starbound post has some new screenshots. Also a ketchup robot.

And the quality of the game is starting to become suspect.

Elaborate?
Just so you know, the ketchup thing is an obscure reference to a Heinz advert, I believe.

Ohh I know it is supposed to be funny.

It just means this is going to be a soupy game which is one of the indicators of negative quality (which is a shame because I love Soupy games done right). Judging by the Comedy it means it is also going to be light-hearted soup which is also an indicator that this could be a Mudbox game. It is showing its gameplay unfocus.

It is suspect but only so much that it means I'll have to pay close attention to this game to see if it is good. Judging by other people's reactions is also means I cannot take anyone's word for it because this game seems to have a strong community hype factor as well given that people will just outright edit your posts to say the game is awesome. It may have been a joke but as someone once said "You learn more about someone in a hour of play then in a hundred days of conversation". The chances that I will be called out on this is also high, the tone and amount of information indicative of community hype generation.

I work by percents and indications.

"The penguin with the turtle shell wasn't enough to hint that the game wasn't entirely serious?"

Didn't see it. It could be cutesy but I thought it was a product of the art style. Plus Cutesy is a rather poor indicator of quality.

Like Sean I haven't previously encountered the terms "soupy" or "mudbox" in this context.  I'd would agree that memes and references do not enhance a game, and can detract from it if overdone.  However, I don't know if "gameplay focus" is that damning of criticism given how many recent indie games have prospered despite (or perhaps because of) it.

That said, I think you're right that the hype has gotten out of hand and anyone expecting it to live up to fan speculation will be sorely disappointed.  I suspect the capabilities of procedural generation such as promises of limitless planets, 10,000 unique rocket launchers, randomly generated creatures, have been largely overestimated by the fanbase (a good way to deal with advertising blurbs is to think "what's the easiest way to implement this and still be able to say it?").  If people are just looking for Terraria+ I don't think they'll be disappointed.

As we don't have any examples of previous games from the team we don't have any way to gauge how well it will live up to expectations.  With most other devs you can tell by their previous work, like
Their word is always true (ex. Gaben, Toady, Wolfire)
You can trust screenshots (ex. Redigit)
Don't trust them until you see in-game footage of it (ex. Notch)
Don't listen to their lies (ex. Todd, Molyneux)

[Neonivek]

I'll translate my terms

Soupy: Like a Stone soup a soupy game is one that tries to fit a lot of many types of content into the game.
Mudbox: A Sandbox that doesn't lead to enhanced gameplay. Especially true of games that randomise but do not give good layouts.

[Aklyon]

The only thing I got out of that picture mattie is that my irc client doesn't show join/leave lines for some reason. Probably a misclicked setting.

[Urist Imiknorris]

The only thing I got out of that picture mattie is that my irc client doesn't show join/leave lines for some reason. Probably a misclicked setting.

Bonic the Sledgehog, man.

[Graknorke]

And now for a convenient transition to the game-master mode for Starbound. It allows some people to access a server/planet and be able to 1.See everything 2.Have world editing powers and 3.Control any NPC.

This allows for things far more complex than can be gained from scripted events. For example, the GM could create some ruins filled with treasure and tell the players by means of an NPC or signs or something to go in, then spawn a boss inside and `cave in` the entrance if they try to run, so it's either they run with good mining equipment or they kill it.
Sounds pretty versatile.

What? The way you said this it seems like you're stating a fact. Could you show where you've gotten this information? I would love for it to be true.

Specifically "Control any NPC". I look for this feature in many, MANY games.

Yup, Tiy was talking about it and someone pasted the IRC chat up on the forums.

Spoiler: spoiler for length (click to show/hide)

[19:58:56] <@Tiy> i have some crazy ideas for after release support
[19:59:53] <@Tiy> after release im going to focus on director mode
[20:00:14] <@Tiy> Director mode is my grand vision
[20:00:15] <@Tiy> haha
[20:00:41] <deebee396> whats director mode?
[20:00:52] <deebee396> like a machinima thing?
[20:01:04] <@Tiy> no
[20:01:06] <@Tiy> basically
[20:01:10] <@Tiy> in director mode
[20:01:19] <@Tiy> players can log into a normal server as "director"
[20:01:30] <@Tiy> players who log in as directors can control *everything*
[20:01:33] <@Tiy> for example
[20:01:43] <@Tiy> heres the example I used last time
[20:01:53] <@Tiy> the players are playing normally
[20:01:54] <@Tiy> on a planet
[20:01:57] <@Tiy> this doesnt stop normal play
[20:02:01] <@Tiy> its not something you have to arrange
[20:02:04] <@Tiy> or make a meeting time for
[20:02:10] <@Tiy> it works with the rest of the game
[20:02:16] <@Tiy> the director logs in, sees the players
[20:02:22] <@Tiy> and then decides to spawn an old man NPC
[20:02:27] <@Tiy> the director then takes DIRECT control of the old man
[20:02:30] <@Tiy> and runs up to the players
[20:02:44] <@Tiy> anything the director says will come from the old man himself
[20:02:53] <@Tiy> so the director would say
[20:02:57] <@Tiy> "Help help! there are space pirates chasing me!"
[20:03:11] <@Tiy> the players can then choose to protect the old man
[20:03:14] <@Tiy> so lets say they build him a house
[20:03:20] <@Tiy> and because the director is controlling the npc
[20:03:22] <@Tiy> the old man can help out
[20:03:23] <@Tiy> too
[20:03:27] <@Tiy> now
[20:03:29] <@Tiy> the house is built
[20:03:36] <@Tiy> the director releases control of the npc and sets him to idle
[20:03:38] <@Tiy> so he stays in the house
[20:03:47] <@Tiy> then spawns a group of space pirates
[20:04:01] <@Tiy> he sets them to passive, and makes them all go towards the house
[20:04:05] <@Tiy> he takes control of the leader and says
[20:04:10] <@Tiy> "give us the old man! and no one gets hurt!"
[20:04:17] <@Tiy> then its up to the players what they want to do
[20:04:22] <@Tiy> they could say no, and defend the house
[20:04:28] <@Tiy> then the director could set them all to aggressive
[20:04:34] <@Tiy> or
[20:04:36] <@Tiy> they could say yes
[20:04:40] <@Tiy> and the director sets the old man to aggressive
[20:04:44] <@Tiy> because he doesnt want to go
[20:04:53] <@Tiy> the players could tunnel into the earth to try to escape
[20:04:56] <@Tiy> and the director could make the space pirates chase them
[20:05:06] <@Tiy> anything can happen essentially
[20:05:10] <@Tiy> when directors are controlling the game
[20:05:14] <@Tiy> the great thing about it all is
[20:05:18] <@Tiy> that its completely transparent
[20:05:22] <@Tiy> the players wont know if a director is there
[20:05:27] <@Tiy> once the director stops controlling things
[20:05:30] <@Tiy> the game doesnt stop
[20:05:32] <@Tiy> or reload
[20:05:33] <@Tiy> or anything like that
[20:05:48] <@Tiy> there are going to be quests
[20:05:51] <@Tiy> but
[20:06:09] <@Tiy> no amount of code will be as imaginative and interactive as a director could be
[20:06:14] <@Tiy> using this system players can have conversations with npcs
[20:06:25] <Disreputable_dog> interesting
[20:06:34] <Disreputable_dog> i can see some people playing as the director all the time
[20:06:46] <Disreputable_dog> though i do worry about some people abusing it
[20:06:54] <@Tiy> well director accounts are limited in access
[20:07:00] <@Tiy> to the people the server admins allow to log in as directors
[20:07:29] <@Tiy> you can have multiple directors
[20:07:33] <@Tiy> and they can go to any planet
[20:09:52] <Disreputable_dog> i mean, the directors could use this to build a planet with, say, the acient ruins of a forgotten civilization, then use the NPC's to point the players towards this planet
[20:10:17] <@Tiy> Disreputable_dog yeah thats entirely possible
[20:10:23] <@Tiy> directors can edit maps very quickly
[20:11:34] <Disreputable_dog> i thought youd have to make the npcs do the building xD
[20:11:36] <@Tiy> as part of character creation
[20:11:45] <@Tiy> no Disreputable_dog you can edit the map very quickly
[20:11:53] <@Tiy> so if you want to prepare a planet and then tell the players about it
[20:12:00] <@Tiy> you can do that
[20:16:13] <Disreputable_dog> well tiy, i have another director mode question! will directors have to manualy trigger events? or will they be able to set things to happen on their own. like, does a director have to be in control of an NPC to make them talk, or could he, say, tell it to say something when the players talk to him? or have things happen when players reach a certain area?
[20:16:40] <@Tiy> thats the kind of thing we wont know ourselves until we get heavily into developing it

[jocan2003]

THat i can see a lot of very nice story! Finaly something free-form, sandbox, survival, sci-fi, and for god sake NPC/story/GM/DND-ish story system? How can it go wrong really.

[mattie2009]

I am going to have so much fun with this game.
Hell, I think a lot of people will use director mode for megaconstructions when they're not using it for questing.

[sambojin]

This looks like it's going to fill my point-click-kill urges more than Diablo 3 probably will. It seems to have everything: nostalgia, replayability, exploration, multiplayer, cool/cute graphics. I've finally bothered to get a card to make the occaisional purchase/donation with, so when this is out, it's a definate.

From reading the site and posts, it seems to be pretty influenced by some of my favourite games (or series).

#1. It's like a side scrolling RLProspector, but with multiplayer. Prospector is one of my fave roguelikes for general time-killing purposes.
#2. It's like a randomly generated Wonderboy 2/3/5, with guns and multiplayer. The amount of nostalgia the shield block mechanic posts gave me was amazing.
#3. It's like a dual weilding, craftable weapon Metal Gear. Run and gun, then gun some more (I'm pretty sure I'm thinking of the right game here).
#4. Someone mentioned Phantasy Star. Phantasy Star+Wonderboy II/III/V+Midnight Resistance+Prospector=this game.

These are all very good things.


I wonder how the creature graphics are going to be done in the end? Paper-dolling, construct-a-skeletal-animation, bits-and-pieces-mashup or something else. If there's 21000 possible types of rocket launcher, that implies paper dolling (5 pieces connected together for each rocket launcher, 10 types of each of those pieces, 2 different rocket graphics would give you enough for 20K RLs, or any combo like that). The actual effect of the rocket launchers could easily run into millions though (missile speed, range, multi-boom, explosion size, damage type, gravity effects, tracking, charge-up, fire speed, ammo, environmental safety/damage, all kinds of other stuff). But different creatures can be a bugger to paper-doll if there's different features. Some heads don't go quite so well with some bodies, even if you scale them and have connection points mapped. Maybe it will end up as skeletal animation. Damn that would be cool, the possiblities in creature design would be damn near limitless with just a few different body layouts (2 legs/3/4/6, head placings, etc), then just a host of part sprites getting glued together/scaled/coloured appropriatedly.

Anyway, where was I going with this? Oh yeah, this game looks great. I'm going to buy it.

[miauw62]

Director mode is going to be nice!
I have a friend that loves to do LP's, so i hope i could make us a server when the game comes out, director-edit the server and let my friends LP on it while i supply them with events.
Kinda like the yogscast minecraft series.

[freeformschooler]

Director mode sounds great. Even if this turns out to be Terraria Plus, having that kind of feature would increase its replayability for me and my friends.

[mattie2009]

Suddenly, I go director mode and everybody is instantly surrounded by 500 of every enemy in the game.
Those that don't lag out are instantly slaughtered, and those that survive get gibbed by me, as a max-power NPC with all the best equipment.

EDIT: Also, a chargable rocket launcher would be the best thing ever.
I can imagine a few effects.
Bigger explosion
Fragmentation
Elemental effects
More rockets
Homing rockets
An alternate charged fire mode, like a terrain-piercing laser shot
Splitter rockets
Mortar shots
Rockets that turn into immobile turrets once they hit the ground
Rockets that transmogrify their victims into cats
Rockets that heal their target
THE POSSIBILITIES

[miauw62]

Dont forget to balance it tough. I know perfectly how, add 'no random critical hits'!

[mattie2009]

Dont forget to balance it tough. I know perfectly how, add 'no random critical hits'!

-200% move speed
No random critical hits
-99% firing speed