Archive: playtest

Join the Starbound Xbox Playtest – Live Now

Hey everyone.

The Starbound Xbox version is finally almost ready to launch! 🚀

Before we confirm the release date, we would love to involve the Starbound community to get your thoughts and feelings regarding usability – specifically around controls and console-specific design decisions on the Xbox version. This will inform our final changes ahead of the game’s launch, and will help us with any further quality of life changes for future post-launch patches.

For those of you with an Xbox One or Series console, Starbound will be available to playtest for a limited time as part of the Xbox Insider Program from Wednesday 28th August – Wednesday 4th September

The testing pool will be size restricted in order for us to manage and prioritize the feedback we receive, so please note that access is not guaranteed for all users.

Please note: Xbox Series Consoles, Xbox One and Xbox One X are able to host up to 4 players in a party, whereas Xbox One S players are able to host up to 2 players in a party.

What feedback are we looking for?

Our main aim of the playtest is to find the optimal default controller mapping for the launch version using information we receive from the playtest surveys. We want to find out what feels best and most natural for the majority of players, so after you’ve given the default controls a try, you can adjust the mapping and deadzone balancing in the Settings.

  • How does the default button mapping feel? Did you make any customisation changes to the layout?
  • How responsive do the current controls feel?
  • How did the game balancing feel for the Xbox version? (We’ve made slight adjustments to the Xbox version!)
  • Do you have any thoughts about the console UI?
  • How was the performance and stability?
  • Any other console-specific version feedback?

If you experience any bugs during your playtest please let us know via “Report a problem” so we can investigate:

  • Hold down the home button on your Xbox controller
  • Select Report a Problem
  • Select the Games category and the ‘Starbound Demo’ subcategory
  • Fill out the form with the appropriate information to help our investigation

How do I get access?

Any Xbox user can get access to the Xbox Insider Program via the Insider Hub app on the Xbox Store. Once you have installed the Insider Hub any Previews that you’re eligible for will be visible within the app. Please note that not all users will be eligible for all game betas (including Starbound), as some playtests are restricted by scale, platform, and other criteria. 

I’ve got thoughts! What should I do with them?

Firstly, thank you for getting involved in the playtest! It’s very hard to collate feedback across lots of social media platforms, so please share your thoughts in this Starbound beta Google Form! You can also access the survey directly from your Xbox console via the Insider Hub ‘Announcements’ section – select “Go” on the announcement to open an Edge browser with the survey linked. Feel free to discuss your thoughts with other players in the Chucklefish Discord or via the Starbound Reddit too.

Thank you all for your patience while we got to this point. It’s been a long road, but we’re glad to have you with us for it!

Chucklefish

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