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[Frumple]

If theres no point to having a birdman excpet for a different look, why give the birdman wings. You'll end up with a lot of comments complaining the birdman with wings can't fly instead of anything helpful.

The... the birdmen don't have wings. They've got wing-shaped jetpacks, though! Presumably they'll be species-specific tech, though wether that means they only have an easier time getting it or something else, well... we don't know yet. There's plenty that can be done with unique species without actually having any statistical changes (faction/npc relations, easier tech access to certain things, etc., so forth.).

T'the lot of yeh, we just know jack-all about implementation right now. We've got some aesthetics and some interesting-enough lore. Das ist all. Unless there's more news?

Anyway. Eta for beta-thing is still mid-late summerish, right? Has there been any retractions on that?

[Shadowlord]

Right now, the reason that I assume that they are not showing much of the game is because they are still in early alpha. You have to keep in mind it can take a VERY long time to make a game, and that even applies to huge companies.

Especially since they're making it in C++. :V

[Darkmere]

Yeah, wasn't the original hype a "summer release"? I've been following this off and on since just after the announcement, and I haven't seen any gameplay more complex that "walk around shining a light on things."

Don't get me wrong, I hope this game is fun and replayable and creative and makes me feel like a special snowflake, but so far all we REALLY have is a very, very long list of ideas, some spritework, those wallpapers from the website, and a few characters walking around with flashlights.

Where's the research screen? All the areas of the space station? Footage of mechs stomping around on cotton candy acid worlds with lizard penguins that shoot rainbow lasers and explode into bacon when they die?

[Frumple]

And a number of in-game screenshots (some pretty busy) and some limited footage. Then there's those gifs of the shield based combat, which is presumably cribbed from in game, and some other stuff.

As for the hype, well...

It’s expected to be released towards the end of Summer 2012, but we’re willing to take the extra time to get things JUST right.

Time wise, it's interesting. From what I remember (perhaps entirely wrongly!), they inherited/bought some or all of the Terraria engine code, so the project wasn't starting entirely from scratch... the in-game stuff seems to reflect that -- looks a fair amount like a more polished Terraria. Though how much under the hood has changed, who knows, heh. Anyway, if the group is working off a previously (fairly) stable code base, potential time investment necessary to get things up and running may be drastically reduced.

That said, if there's any rule of coding that approaches 100% accurate, it's that all initial deadlines underestimate the amount of time that's actually needed. Still... before the end of the year? Maybe. Maybe. They've got more than one coder, iirc, and Terraria managed to get (perhaps prematurely, all things considered) released in, what, a six, seven month period (which is goddamn blisteringly fast for game development of any major size)? We could see something similar. We're probably going to have an ETA update within a month or two, though. Eyes open!

[Darkmere]

I'm just wondering where the gameplay is. It can't all be about art and high hopes. At some point, there needs to be a goal of some kind and the mechanics to get you there, eventually. That part I haven't heard anything concrete about in a long while.

[ollobrains]

Their PR is weird, a lack of youtube and video outputs instead the ydo a lot of screenshots and inuedno on twitter , reddit and other sub type of sites.  Theyve got enough funding to take their time with it, theyve got enough staff, however they seem to be slow baking and trying to get interest up the risk that remains is that ppl get bored waiting and waiting for them to pull their finger out and do a traditional or beta type of approach and get bored that said theres a few competitor games coming up that might steal their thunder i watch with interest they just seem to need their heads screwed on more ie tiy etc

[Tilla]

Relax people, games take time, sometimes people choose to do things more quietly, not really a big deal. Sometimes they also overestimate  how much time things will take - for instance ARMA 3 was supposed to hit community alpha for July but pushed back to Fall recently. They're also not taking preorders for Starbound and I think they're wise not to at this phase of development.

Lower your expectations and go do something else, the game will come out some day most likely As a small team, it's probably best if they focus most of their effort into making the game rather than promoting it.

[bombzero]

Relax people, games take time, sometimes people choose to do things more quietly, not really a big deal. Sometimes they also overestimate  how much time things will take - for instance ARMA 3 was supposed to hit community alpha for July but pushed back to Fall recently. They're also not taking preorders for Starbound and I think they're wise not to at this phase of development.

Lower your expectations and go do something else, the game will come out some day most likely As a small team, it's probably best if they focus most of their effort into making the game rather than promoting it.

I think Minecraft ruined people...

now everyone's like "are we going to get an alpha or a beta to help with dev? plase! plase! plase!" (paraphrasing a lot of what I have already seen over on their forums.)

well, sorry to tell you, but sometimes open world sandbox games, actually get to a point of being mildly entertaining before being released, amazing ain't it?
(plus nobody actually ever helps with bughunting in those early releases anyways)

[Gunner-Chan]

I think Minecraft ruined people...

I'd beg to differ that people ruined minecraft.

The problem wasn't the sales model, it was the entitled 12 year olds that bought in early and wanted everything. And now they want the same from everything else.

[Darkmere]

Well Notch (and Redigit) did have a giant wheel-o-promises. Minecraft has in some form filled most of the big ones, but Terraria had the whole "Alternate planets! And spaaaaaaaaace!" which kinda won't happen.

I think that, more than anything, is what makes me a bit wary here.

[Neonivek]

I think Minecraft ruined people...

I'd beg to differ that people ruined minecraft.

The problem wasn't the sales model, it was the entitled 12 year olds that bought in early and wanted everything. And now they want the same from everything else.

Except that the sales model was specifically BASED around that. "Buy now and get ALL this later!"

Terraria was based around the same thing.

In fact a LOT of "Pay for alpha" and "Pay for Beta" games are based around buying early, at a discount, on the promise that the game will "totally be awsome later guys" (I already fell for it once on a game that won't deliver... I sort of already realised it).

As for Starbound if people are complaining about features it really is their own fault for putting up screens to indicate deeper gameplay when they are fixed (which Terraria also did)

Relax people, games take time, sometimes people choose to do things more quietly, not really a big deal

I am actually starting to develop the theory that you can be as unfair to a game as possible by what info or the lack of info they release... and that you are entirely justified in doing so.

Why? Because the very same industry will also fake gameplay, use cutscenes to sell the game, and will outright fake features and never deconfirm them in order to hype or sell a game.

So what is it game industry? you can't have your cake and eat it to.

[mattie2009]

So what is it game industry? you can't have your cake and eat it to.

No, they can't, so instead they're going to sell you the cake in individual slices and THEN eat it.

[Neonivek]

So what is it game industry? you can't have your cake and eat it to.

No, they can't, so instead they're going to sell you the cake in individual slices and THEN eat it.

Yes but for the price of a whole extra slice they can add the frosting.

[mattie2009]

So what is it game industry? you can't have your cake and eat it to.

No, they can't, so instead they're going to sell you the cake in individual slices and THEN eat it.

Yes but for the price of a whole extra slice they can add the frosting.

What a deal!

[bombzero]

Hmph, I think thats why I like it on these forums, people still realize how fucking screwed up the gaming industry really is.

anyways, on the topic of starbound.

heres hoping the people who want an ultimate sandbox where you are always more powerful then your enemies don't sway the devs too much.