So there will be a new update coming down the pipe soon, and there’s a couple of bits here that need explaining.

We’re changing the way we do releases slightly.  There will be a new “unstable” branch which you can select on steam, which will receive updates sooner than the regular branch that you get when you install starbound.  Anybody who is interested in helping us test the releases is encouraged to try it out, but please please note that unstable may destroy your saves and be generally, well, unstable.  Yes, we know this is a testing branch for our beta, which is also for testing, but we’re trying to keep the big ugly data destroying bugs to a minimum so we figure this will help.  We put some tests in your tests so you can test while you… anyway,

The next thing that needs mentioning… update sizes!  It seems every time there is a starbound update it’s 500 – 700 MB, regardless of how tiny it is.  This is due to two things:, One, our windows binaries had full debugging information because (for silly technical reasons) that was the only way we could get stacktraces from crashes.  Well, not anymore!  Windows binaries are now built at debug level 1 (as opposed to 2) which means that instead of starbound.exe being 450MB it’s more like 30MB.  So there’s that.

The OTHER thing that was causing large updates was our pak file system.  Whenever we updated pak files, we tended to completely rebuild the pak file with just a file or two changed, which was enough to make the steam binary diff system go bonkers and just basically re-download the whole file again.  This is also fixed!  We now add to the pak file in place, so minimal changes occur (and at the end of the file) that make steam deltas very small.  This is important as we want to start doing more frequent content updates (as we’ve mentioned).

That’s the good news, the BAD news is that in order to make this happen, you’re going to have to download the entire pak file again, so the first update will kinda suck (pak file format change).  But, it should get better after that.  To all those that have bandwidth caps, I’m very sorry :(

The update should include several bugfixes and updates to heck, the treasure horde, and the skyrails system at least, probably post a full changelog later.  The update will hit ‘unstable’ tonight, and probably ‘stable’ tomorrow depending on how things go.

-kyren

Hi guys,

So today we spent our Sunday having a long (5 hours!) design discussion in which we are pencilling in the finer details of the games progression.

As we said before, the current progression is entirely temporary, existing to provide temporary gameplay whilst we work on the engine. Today I want to share more with you about the games new structure and the beginning of the game.

First of all we’re removing the different universe sectors. In the final game there will be only three sectors. The sector the majority of the game takes place in, a pvp sector and a creative sector without dangers.

Instead of progressing through the game sector by sector, you’ll advance by upgrading your tech to allow you to visit planets that were otherwise inaccessible due to hazards. An example being a planet with no breathable air. Progression will be less linear and more akin to the kind of progression you find in modern metroidvanias.

We’re building the game with 3 main paths of progression that branch off later on. Farming, adventuring and building. We want players to be able to advance through the game whilst doing whatever they enjoy most.

At the beginning of the game (what would be the alpha sector in the current progression) you start on a ship with a broken fuel module, giving you access to only one planet. Through a series of quests you’re taught how to farm, find trophies in dungeons and build the beginnings of a settlement. Completing these quests will give you the pixels you need to use your ships 3d printer to produce a new fuel module. Which in turn allows progression to the other planets in your current solar system.

At this stage were introducing a new planet type called an outpost. A small and safe planet populated by members of every race. A safe haven for trade and quest taking. You’ll learn how to generate pixels through selling crops, taking quests, selling trophies found in dungeons and renting out houses in your settlement.

From here each of these roles will expand outwards as you progress (for example animal farming becomes an optional part of the farming progression).

More on that later

So we’ve had one of the first quick content patches go out, it added some new tiles and the beginnings of a new underground biome as well as a few smaller bits and pieces. You’ll see more updates like these hitting in the coming days.

Modding

So with our new content delivery system were also going to be able to include mods in the Base game faster. Which mods would you most like to see become part of Starbound? Answers in the comments please!