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[miauw62]

Hmm I could have sworn someone would have taken that joke and run with it.

Joke aside you havn't seen how the average gamer reacts when he has the beta in their hands. We are spared their cacophony.

You didn't even give us any time to run away with it, Neo.

[Grand Nagus]

Hmm I could have sworn someone would have taken that joke and run with it.

Joke aside you havn't seen how the average gamer reacts when he has the beta in their hands. We are spared their cacophony.

OMG PIECE OF SHIT SO BUGGED OMG WANT REFUND11111ELEVEN

[alexandertnt]

Honestly, why can't they just release a beta?  I'm not asking for any kind of finished project, just something I can sink my teeth into while I wait for the full-game.

They have to make sure it is of "beta quality" before people go and complain that it is only of alpha quality.

I wouldnt care (I want the game now, buggy or not), but from their perspective this would probably be an issue.

[hemmingjay]

Ok I got an explanation. It seems they inadvertantly painted themselves into a bit of a corner. Most of the game's systems are programmed and it has tons of content, but not a lot of it is "activated" yet. The explanation I got is that everything is in place but it isn't wired together yet, which means that there isn't much to do.

For my own speculation, they were excited about building the systems and making content so they focused on those "fun" parts. Now they have to make everything interact appropriately to actually have a coherent game. It kind of makes sense, but I don't know if I should trust that info. What choice do I have at this point?

[Skyrunner]

Didn't you say that a while ago? Having all the systems, and now they just need to stitch them together.

[hemmingjay]

Somewhat, it turns out the problem was a little more complex and pervasive than I thought. I thought it was just NPC AI and quests, but it's pretty much all of the systems. So while they have bout 80-90% of everything in the game, not much is linked properly. This explains the issue a couple of people have been bringing up about the gameplay videos being boring.

[Darkmere]

Sounds like another couple of months, at least.

[quinnr]

Whoo, I have a copy of this thanks to Moghjubar and this awesome forum!
I was looking through the past dev logs, since I haven't been keeping as close an eye on them lately, and came across the awesome post about the lighting changing based on the proximity of nearby stars and their types. After seeing a cool screenshot of the world being totally tinted in red, I'm am hoping that "green dwarf" is a kind of star. Because there would be nothing more awesome than living on a completely green planet.

[Nelia Hawk]

i would guess they probably take at least 3 more weeks to get their game systems working together and than another week for testing (as they seem to test their stuff anyways pretty often) before they consider any sort of "beta date" (if they even will have a beta... maybe they just go without a public beta).

so i would guess around the end of this month we might get some "beta date" or "release date estimate" (and for release i still guess around the end of the year... december or so... even though the game seems on paper like 95% "done" it probably still takes a while for it to come out. and if it comes out earlier: great.. and if not: well by december there should be more info about release anyways.)

[Solifuge]

Posting to watch. Starbound looks like a very pretty game, but I wonder if it's going to be able to deliver on all the non-Terraria-like parts of the design. We shall see.

[hemmingjay]

My friend has NOTHING to say about release or beta and refuses to talk about it. I would guess IGF would be a likely candidate for a release announcement date, but who the hell knows. Honestly, they are pushing the goodwill of their fanbase. There is only so long that people will continue to be excited before they turn on it. A great example is Wildstar or Blizzard's Titan.

Starbound doesn't have to worry too much. I would wager they have already made 70-75% of their total PC sales so the only thing they will lose is some goodwill.

[GrayFox]

I predict that most people who do turn away will eventually become re-interested once the game finally comes out, anyway. People are just frustrated and tired of waiting. Maybe not all, but most of them will get over it once the agonizing wait is finally over.   

[Darkmere]

I predict that most people who do turn away will eventually become re-interested once the game finally comes out, anyway. People are just frustrated and tired of waiting. Maybe not all, but most of them will get over it once the agonizing wait is finally over.   

This is my guess. Unless the release is botched in some way, no one will care about long waits when there is no more wait.

[0x517A5D]

[...] I'm am hoping that "green dwarf" is a kind of star. Because there would be nothing more awesome than living on a completely green planet.

There aren't any green stars* in our universe.  The Starbound universe?  We can hope.  And petition.  And eventually mod them in.

* It's because of the way our eyes work.

[Frumple]

It's because of the way our eyes work.

... obviously, this means we must work toward fixing that. Proceeds from starbound can be funneled toward the "let our eyes see green stars" fund that probably doesn't yet exist.