Starbound Live Dev Interview log

fetalstar: <Yrimir> Difference in difficulty depending on single- or multiplayer?
Tiy: The whole universe will be available in both single + multiplayer. We're looking at scaling the difficulty for multiplayer, but aside from that there's no difference.
Tiy: the complete story, quests, universe, will all be available in multiplayer
fetalstar: <ShadeWolf>  Is there a maximum amount of people you can have on your crew?
Rho_: as far as NPCs go, not really
Rho_: any surplus you can put on your homeworld
Tiy: There is a maximum amount of people on the space station though. Once your space station is full, you can take the rest of your crew to your homeworld
Tiy: where they'll set up base, have needs, and send you on random quests
Rho_: yeah, there's a bunch of set tasks and positions filled by NPC on the station
Tiy: at end game, the hardest planets never become easy. So the random quests are always challenging
Tiy: we never want the game to get so easy that it's boring
fetalstar: <mgbt> Tiy, how many items will be in the game?
Rho_: a lot
Tiy: too many to count, we have a procedural item system that produces items on the fly. I've got the rocket launcher stuff open right now, and there are MILLIONS of combinations of rocket launcher
Tiy: the game even procedurally generates the graphic used for the guns, right now there are 21,000 different visual styles for rocket launcher. Then each of those styles can be coloured individually
Tiy: by release time, there will be many, many more
Tiy: and that's just for rocket launcher
fetalstar: alright, so mgbt had another question relating to what you said about multiplayer
fetalstar: <mgbt> So i can complete story mode with my friend?
Tiy: Yes :)
Tiy: you can experience the whole thing together
fetalstar: <ToTeMVG> How long would we roughly have to wait for beta testing if there will be any
Tiy: It's difficult to tell when the game will go into beta, but we are relatively far along. We're still deciding how to do beta testing :)
fetalstar: <Combine_Kegan> Hi Fetalstar, here's my question: Will we have vanity slots for equipment? If so, can we get a medieval looking knight set as well?
Rho_: yes, and probably
Rho_: vanity slots are a thing and we're probably going to have lots of wacky stuff
Tiy: There are so many different visual styles for armor (we're using the same random generation system as weapons) that you won't need "costumes" as such, because armors will cover everything. But! You can equip armor to be purely visual, just like in world of warcraft
Tiy: many of the armors are fun, so youll be able to find a knight indeed :)
fetalstar: <Dawn> Will there be mining in the game? And How will you manage your city?
Rho_: there'll be mining, lots of it
Tiy: The terrain is fully deformable, so you can go underground. Managing your city is going to be really interesting. You're going to have control over pretty much everything. I can't talk about this too much yet, because we're still looking at whats possible. We're hoping to give the player a UFO that's attached to the homeworld
Tiy: the UFO will let them suck up NPCs and reposition them
Tiy: it'll also let you terraform on a large scale
fetalstar: <Lazerus> will we be able to personalise our weapons?
Tiy: Yes! :) First of all there are ways to obtain weapons beyond just enemy drops, etc. So you'll be able to make sure you get the weapons you want. Then on top of them we're planning for you to be able to paint them
Tiy: hopefully you know what I mean
fetalstar: <Salidenk> Well, Other Question, please answer: Will we can make buildings in crafting or just build block per block?
Rho_: still looking at options really
Rho_: right now we're looking at per block
Rho_: could change, idk
Tiy: There are going to be facilities you can place down, that may take the form of buildings. For example a weather control station on your homeworld. But you can place blocks :)
Tiy: But yeah, Rho is right, we're still looking at it
Tiy: we want your homeworld to be super unique though
Rho_: yeah like...one thing i'm looking forward to is making an underground bunker colony
fetalstar: <nilsge> The question: Are there any plans or personal for music?
Tiy: We've got a couple of awesome musicians working with us. We want it to be retro style using modern synths
fetalstar: <Raphael> How many players can play together?
Rho_: that's really a kyren question
Tiy: Right now we're still looking at that. But it should mostly be up to the specs of the server. Our test server is running on a terrible connection and we've had around 10 people in with zero troubles
Tiy: but that could potentially get much larger, we'll have to wait and see
fetalstar: <demanrisu> Question: How long ago was Chucklefish formed?
Tiy: Chucklefish has been around for a little while now, but this is our first release. We've been together for a few months now and we were all good friends before then
fetalstar: <Zakkeh> What is the dream experience yo uwant players to have?  How bad does latency affect gameplay?
Tiy: The dream is for you to be able to get lost in this vast universe, where every time you play, you experience something new with your friends.
Rho_: yeah
Tiy: Latency is pretty well handled atm, I play with a friend from Australia
Tiy: and I'm in the UK
Rho_: ideally we want to give players a purpose, a goal to work towards, rather than just being a sandbox
Tiy: around 600ms ping
Tiy: and it does very well coping with that
fetalstar: <BlueF0x> Hi! Do you plan to release the game on Steam?
Tiy: I hope so, we'd like to make it accessible for everyone. So aside from steam, we'll be looking at other channels too
fetalstar: <Starbi> Can you say the time you need to play until you get the end-game items?
fetalstar: <Starbi> So basically, the game will be damn awesome?
Tiy: haha we hope it's awesome
Rho_: we're hoping the progression would be reasonably long
Rho_: i mean obviously it depends on the player but yeah
Tiy: gameplay until end game is pretty long. It is sand box based so you could rush through it at breakneck speed if you wanted to. But the concept here is for the end game to be limitless and endlessly entertaining.
Tiy: Each planet in the game has a threat level, from 1 - 100
Tiy: planets with a threat level of 100 will always be difficult, no matter what equipment you have. And when youre at end game, npcs will often send you on quests to threat level 100 planets
fetalstar: <mgbt> What you can say about double mech control? (I control robot, my friend is shooting) ?
fetalstar: <mgbt> Can we customize our ship?
fetalstar: <mgbt> If the game will be available on Steam, will be achivments there?
Tiy: If the game is available via steam we want to go the whole nine yards with steam support. Steam friends, achievements, all that good stuff
Rho_: ship customisation, most likely to a degree
Rho_: you'll probably be able to paint it different colors, have different color schemes, attach decals
Tiy: In terms of mech control, we're still looking into if you'll be able to pilot mounts with your friends. It's a technical challenge, but hopefully one we can overcome
fetalstar: <Gamegamer0> I have a question, will crafting be in the game and how will it work? Also how the Hell do you get the mecha?
fetalstar: <Gamegamer0> Also does tiy promise to add the hoverbike to the game and make it paintable? =P
fetalstar: <Gamegamer0> Will there be bosses?
Rho_: the crafting system is very deep
Tiy: Crafting is rather different in this game to anything else. NPCs you rescue will have knowledge of certain plans and blueprints.
Tiy: You'll also be able to open a research lap on the space station, which will lead to a tech tree
Tiy: Mechs are part of that tech tree
Tiy: Rho should we add hoverbikes?
Rho_: sure, i don't see why not, i could do that :3
Tiy: ohh what about hoverboards
Tiy: haha
Rho_: hahahahaha, back to the future
Tiy: because we knew we wanted vehicles to work in the game
Tiy: we spent a long time making sure the terrain was easy to navigate
Tiy: things like hills can be walked up and down, no jumping required
Rho_: yeah, that's something we're really proud of actually
Tiy: you can walk up slopes
Rho_: kyren did a really good job with that
Tiy: so it really opens the game up to vehicles for us
Rho_: and should save wear on your space bars
fetalstar: <Wired_Ecstatic> My question is: Can I safely say that forums has been moved up the priority list due to public request?
Rho_: i don't know, i'm not sure on it
Rho_: i mean, there's already a subreddit
Tiy: A bunch of people have approached us asking to host forums
Tiy: and we're in talks with some of them
Tiy: so it shouldn't be too long!
Rho_: could i elaborate a bit more on the crafting system?
Rho_: there's going to be varying tiers of crafting, and most of it will be done via the manufacturing facility on the station, which will reflect the various tiers of crafting
Rho_: i.e. it will have levels
Rho_: you will be able to craft things on person on worlds, but it'll be very basic and limited, because it'll be pretty stupid if you could make armed mechs from a workbench
Rho_: but stuff like torches, basic tools, the things you need to...do stuff, yeah
fetalstar: <Yrimir> Will there be wiring mechanics?
Rho_: we hope!
Rho_: should be
Tiy: We're looking for a really easy way for players to create their own missions, in the engine.
Tiy: So we're going to have an in game mission editor, that you can use with your friends
Tiy: think.. little big planet
Tiy: then youll be able to play those missions online
Rho_: the editor may or may not be post release though
Rho_: really depends on time constraints
fetalstar: <Commissar64> Heya Bro. Will there be politics/factions in the universe that you can gain allegiance/piss off?
Tiy: There are going to be tons of human enemies in the game
Tiy: well, I say human, humanoid?
Rho_: right
Tiy: and we're looking at how we can turn them into factions
Rho_: as far as actual factions existing mechanically...i'm not sure, maybe?
Tiy: but you will definitely see teams / groups of humanoid enemies that share similarities working together on planets
fetalstar: <Tivec> You mention catalogeuing your finds in the about page - what impact will this have on gameplay? Will the catalogued creatures and finds be usable on other planets?
Tiy: We like the idea of the players feeling as if theyre making discoveries, finding things for the first time. And in many cases they will be!
Tiy: so we want them to go to lengths to log those cool findings so they can show their friends
Tiy: in terms of logging enemies, you will actually be able to CAPTURE enemies
Tiy: and train them to fight for you
Tiy: and those you can take to any planet
fetalstar: <Tankski> My question: How will you navigate from one planet to another, using something like a space map or actually piloting a spaceship?
Tiy: Navigation is via a star map :)
fetalstar: <Tankski> Will there be reverse engineering as such, where you say, find something in a chest and really want its blueprints, but you can't find them anywhere, so you reverse engineer it and get the blueprints, but destroy the item in the process?
Rho_: i want to say i don't think so, at least it isn't planned
Rho_: it could change, i don't know
Tiy: Reverse engineering wasn't planned
Tiy: but it's actually a really interesting idea
Rho_: yeah
fetalstar: yeah, i agree. that's kind of cool
Rho_: we hadn't really thought about it, if we can incorporate it somehow without breaking the progression, then great
Rho_: the idea was that if you haven't researched weapons, you can use whatever you find, but won't be able to create ammo for it unless that type of weapons researched
Rho_: so that lets us place things at key locations for missions and set pieces
Rho_: we could possibly do something where reverse engineering the weapon boosts the research progress towards it
Rho_: just surmising
fetalstar: <Beanus> Will the player be able to upgrade skills or traits?
Tiy: there wont be skills or traits, but items will give you skills
Tiy: and items will get better as the game progresses
fetalstar: <Beanus> Will the game be developed to support modding?
Rho_: the modding things a kyren question, she indicated shed like to if she had time, possibly post release
Tiy: Modding is something we'd love to do yeah
Tiy: aside from traditional modding though, we're hoping we can put out the tools we will be using to create missions
Rho_: yeah, i can say if we do modding we'll do it right
Tiy: so players can create their own missions
Tiy: really easily
fetalstar: <ToTeMVG> how large will the worlds/planets be for us in terrain generation?
Tiy: Our engine supports any size for planets, they can even be infinite
Tiy: we're wondering if we should limit it at all
Tiy: hmm!
fetalstar: no limits tiy
fetalstar: <ToTeMVG> can i follow all of the developers on twitter?
Rho_: i think legris and fetal have twitter, as well as tiy obviously
fetalstar: yeah
fetalstar: i'm fetalstar on twitter
Rho_: twitter isn't really my thing, i don't have lot to say hahaha
fetalstar: but i just post about cats
Tiy: i'm on twitter as Tiyuri
fetalstar: maybe i'll actually use my twitter for important things
fetalstar: <Cobaltcakes> I noticed there are "Tech" slots for your character in one screenshot. What purpose would those serve?
Tiy: Tech slots augment your character in certain ways. Jetpacks, short range teleporters, stomp boots
Tiy: that kind of thing
fetalstar: <Gamegamer0> Ok will there be bosses and the tiy boss question included in that also the death penaltie
fetalstar: also, can you use fists in the game?
Tiy: Bosses yes
Rho_: there are going to be bosses, though right now in this phase of development we're focusing on normal enemies
Rho_: death penalties have been talked about, it may be something that requires testing
Tiy: Money plays a HUGE role in the game
Tiy: so it might be a monetary loss
fetalstar: <Starbi> Will there be physics that affect gameplay? Like the gravity gun in Half Life 2? Lol.
Rho_: it isn't planned i don't think, but never say never
Tiy: We're probably not going to have half life style physics in there. But we're making the world really interactive
Tiy: Monsters can kick chunks of dirt at you
Tiy: explosions send dirt flying that lands somewhere else
Rho_: yeah, dirt actually gets displaced
fetalstar: <DarkDXZ_> Are there any "ores" in the game?
Tiy: I'm not sure calling them ores is the right word
Tiy: but
Tiy: there are going to be all sorts of special materials, youll be able to use in your factory
Rho_: in the context of "will there be shiny things for me to mine", yes
fetalstar: <Moses> Will I be able to blow up planets? Planets I don't like, enemy planets, whatever?
Rho_: hahahahaha
Tiy: Destroying the planet entirely? That's an interesting idea
Rho_: that is
Tiy: We haven't planned that yet, but
Tiy: one of the really cool things about starbound is that, because there are so many planets. You won't always get so attached to a planet youre on
Tiy: and so you can happily blow it to pieces :)
Tiy: for example, calling an orbital strike down on the planet
Tiy: that wrecks the surface
Rho_: yeah, orbital strikes for sure are planned
Rho_: just not actually destroying the planet, but im sure we could
fetalstar: <TheTFEF> Are you planning on having any sort of special NPC interaction?
Tiy: Oh there is tons of NPC interaction. Saving npcs is a big part of expanding your space station.
Tiy: There are times you will have to actively carry NPCs off of a planet, and with your hands full you wont be able to use your guns. So your friends will really need to help you
Tiy: NPCs will give you quests
Tiy: rewards
Tiy: have desires
Tiy: they might send you across the entire galaxy to find a special kind of pot plant to decorate their home
fetalstar: <Marketh> can we rename planets? I want to name one Alderaan so I can blow it up
fetalstar: <Marketh> This is important to my nerdy amusement
Tiy: youll be able to name your homeworlds for sure
Tiy: other planets we're looking into a "Bookmark" feature
Tiy: so you can find your fav planets again
Tiy: you could name them there
fetalstar: <Skeleti> can you make something like mix the dna of captured enemies with cataloged plants or other things?
Tiy: We were actually discussing picking random elements from 2 different npcs and combining them recently
Tiy: so it's a maybe at the moment
fetalstar: <hardband> Do the story missions feature randomly generated worlds or are they pre constructed?
Tiy: they're pregenerated
Tiy: hand crafted for specific gameplay
Tiy: we want some really good platforming/combat gameplay during the missions
Tiy: quests are like missions but take place on random planets
fetalstar: <L4mppu> My question: Will there be references to other games like Pokémon?
Tiy: I'm not sure about references as such
Tiy: but there is inspiration there from some of my fav games
Tiy: I want the combat to be really tight for instance, similar to castlevania/megaman
Tiy: where you really have to think about the enemy behaviour to combat an enemy
fetalstar: <DoctorG33K> How much can you guys support the community's interaction.  E.G. A contest for a weapon sprite, winner's gets in the game.
Tiy: Oh we're going to do all sorts of things like that
Tiy: someone made a suggestion the other day of players making a donation to get themselves into the game as an NPC
Tiy: and I really like the idea of contests
Tiy: community is a huge part of producing games for me
fetalstar: <Havoc_> will the game have just melee & ranged combat, or will there be some equivalent to magic?
fetalstar: <Havoc_> in addition to the teleporters and vehicles, could you add in catapults as a travel option?
Tiy: there is both melee and ranged combat. We're also hoping we can include shields for blocking enemy attacks
Tiy: weapons come in 1 and 2 handed varieties
Tiy: and when you equip two weapons, the left mouse button activates one, the right mouse button activates the other
Tiy: so you could equip say.. a sword and a pistol
Tiy: and use them in combination
Tiy: Some items require battery power
Tiy: which you'll need to recharge
Tiy: also a catapult for getting around sounds hilarious
fetalstar: tiy can we do that
Tiy: reminds me of the boots you find at the beginning of morrowind
fetalstar: <Wired_Ecstatic> In what depth can you train the monsters. E.g Spec's, skill trees, and will they fight with you? & Whats the biggest issue the team have had to over come since begging the project?
Tiy: We wanted to keep the monster system relatively simple to start with. To see how it plays out. Most monsters can be trained to use ranged/melee attacks, some can be taught to fly or swim. They have inbuilt stats like defense, attack damage, speed, etc that will increase with kills
fetalstar: <Combine_Kegan> On the topic of NPCs, can we choose to evict them?
Tiy: yes :)
Tiy: its a secret just how youll do that at the moment ¬_¬
Tiy: but yes
fetalstar: <Tankski> Will there be stellar events and phenomena, like stars in various phases of their lifes, black holes, supernovae and nebulae?
Tiy: not for the initial release, though there are random events, they're more planet focused
Tiy: so maybe something will crash land on a planet youre on
Tiy: that sort of thing
Tiy: but after release we're wondering what we can do with the universe as a whole
fetalstar: <Kjulo> will there be pvp, and if so, will there be gamemodes? (capture the flag, king of the hill etc.)
Tiy: There will be PVP, and we're looking at creating premade "Arena asteroids"
Tiy: that you can visit to play in an organised game mode
Tiy: that will keep score, etc
Tiy: monsters change more than just their colours ;)
Tiy: their behaviour + graphics change too

Tiy: As far as release, hopefully by the end of summer
Tiy: but we arent rushing
Tiy: we want it to be perfect

Tiy: gameplay vids arent far away :)

Tiy: I literally hope to support it for years