StarForge - Initial Thoughts

About the Game (From the Steam Store Page)

StarForge is a sci fi survival sandbox. Hunt to eat, dig for resources, craft many items, build a fort, and fight enemies in order to survive! Do this alone, or with other players, in a fully infinite procedural world.

Key Features in StarForge:
Procedural Infinite Voxel Terrain - There are no set boundaries in StarForge; the planet will procedurally generate each time you start a new game. The terrain supports plains, mountains, deserts, mountains, caves, overhangs, rocks, and much more. The world is infinite, meaning you will be able to run in a single direction for as long as your computer can support it.

Underground/Surface/Space Gameplay - Build a tower that ascends into the clouds, through the atmosphere, then into space, and do this in real-time with no loading screens.

Dynamic World - Enjoy dynamic weather patterns, a 24 day and night cycle, and a real time atmosphere. Creatures drop loot and attack the player and sometimes other creatures. Players can also swim and find water or lava in the game.

Loot and Survive - Before the humans landed countless weapons and armor were sent to Atlas. You will find loot chests littered throughout the land, you will need their contents to survive.

Vehicle Gameplay - Hop on board a 4 wheeled all terrain vehicle with a friend and traverse the world. Or jump into a hovercraft for speedy terrain movement. You may also take flight in the space helicopter.

Procedural 3D Tileset - Build anything you want with our unique 3D Tilesets. You can create towns, villages, bridges, forts, and much more. It is also fully destructible! Ramps and stairs are also included.

Physics Sandbox - We are designing the world to be fully dynamic. This currently includes chopping down trees, turrets, and enemies.

Physics Movement - Our movement model is designed closely around the real bio mechanics of biped locomotion; The result is a more human look and feel, and a character that is equipped to intelligently react to dangers far beyond what conventional movement code was designed to handle. It also features a full body IK system.

Resources and Economy - There will be many different resources in StarForge. However, the player can only hold so much at a time. When the player can no longer hold what he mined, he will have to build containers to store them into. This makes resources tangible and gives you the ability to steal other players resources.

Multiplayer & SinglePlayer - We have both modes playable in the game.

Survival - In this mode you are tasked with surviving on the planet. You will encounter enemies, find new blueprints, gather weapons, build a base, and so much more.

Creative - In this mode you have unlimited resources and can build at great speeds. You may also place creatures anywhere you want.

Previous Playtime

0 hours

What Was I Thinking When I Bought This

It was on deep discount and its screenshots looked intriguing. I love building and exploration, and to do that sort of thing in a realistic-looking science-fiction world seemed like a can't miss prospect. It was still in early access at that time, but I figured, what's the worst that could happen . . .

Expectations and Prior Experience

It turns out that this purchase may have been my biggest mistake yet. Looking back at the store page, I found the reviews were extremely negative. Just 18% of the purchasers gave it a good review, which is worse than everything but Ride to Hell: Retribution, and even then only by a bit.

Most of those reviews focused on the fact that the game was released in early access and then not finished. Actual details on the game itself are thin on the ground. It looks like an open-ended survival crafting game where you wander around gathering materials and building equipment, but exactly how many features are present and missing is difficult to say.

If it's just crafting, I think I can live with that. I recently played Windborne and didn't have any trouble with it. However, if the game doesn't actually work, then that could be a problem. I have a feeling that if the game was functional, people probably wouldn't be so bitter about it, but I have no way of telling whether the negative reviews are the result of anything more than dashed expectations.

Well, okay, I have one way of telling.

I'll see you in another two hours or so.