Star's Reach, new game by Raph Koster

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Well, I got myself into the pre-alpha testing of Raph's new game Stars Reach. It's an upcoming sandbox MMO with similarities, mechanics wise, to the pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies but with a complex world-simulation running under the hood and deformable terrain. Went through my first test last night and while definitely rough(it IS pre-alpha) there's a lot of potential to be had. Movement systems seem on point and the world simulation parts are rather interesting, even in this early state. For example a group of players hollowed out a hill to the point where the remaining material could no longer withstand the load and the cavern they had created collapsed, killing a good chunk of them. Surprisingly the NDA is EXTREMELY permissive at this point. I can freely discuss things I've seen and done, the only restriction is no video footage. I myself build a little hut out of slate between crashes. And while there was some definite lag issues, it was quite fun.

Not sure if the hut survived the end of test event, what with all the mobs and the meteor storm.(fighting mobs using terrain manipulation tools instead of proper weapons was interesting. Had to use the agitator(tool to heat up or cool down terrain) to do damage.

This test was mostly trying to break the world similation by having everyone messing with terrain and building things, so most of the other systems were not enabled, though the wound system from the original SWG is already implemented(yes I died and yes, my max health was lowered when I respawned) and someone figured out how to dance to heal other player's wounds.

Looking forward to the next test.

 

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Looks like there's another test scheduled a week from now. Testing some of the scout and surveyor related skill trees and progression. Having us set up camp(scout skill) on and map out(surveying skill) a hostile forest world full of skysharks, ballhogs and deer with nothing but a starter weapon to defend ourselves(well that and they flamethrower mode on the ranger tool, but given the nature of the game, that could backfire) . No terrain tools this time, though. Hopefully I can get better screenshots on this one.

 

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5th test(2nd I've been a part of) just finished. Lots of crashes, which they think they've figured out what was triggering it and my framerate was a bit too low for combat to be effective (my GPU is getting a little long in the tooth and the game hasn't been optimized yet). The surveying system seems interesting, though the full potential of it hasn't been shown yet. We can set waypoints and collect survey data, but there's some potential there, and it gives purpose to exploration. A couple of the survey points spawned over lava, so we had to use the freeze mode of the ranger tool to make a temporary bridge over the lava lake to get to them. The plan is that once you collect all the survey points you can craft maps with them that you can sell to other players.

The camping system allows you to set temporary respawn points and you get Ranger XP by other players using a camp you set up as well as provided some crafting stations(all we could craft currently were a few food items)

Combat is different from any MMO I've played, even though my framerate tanked during combat. It has some shmup style mechanics that make it feel rather different. Mobs would also drop temporary powerups that would trigger on pickup when they were killed in addition to meat and other items.

 

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Just finished another test, they added more of the skill trees into the game and had 3 planets plus one space zone playable. Unlocked the civil engineer tree pretty quickly but took the rest of the playtest to get the materials needed to get the instaformer tool(had a hard time collecting enough inert gas to manufacture it). game is really starting to flesh out and while the character editor is not in-game yet, they did have it randomize our appearance to give us a glimpse of what could be possible.. This is the first test that I've played that the grapple gun and the gravmesh were not pieces of the default kit(you had to craft them if you want to use them).

 

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Looks like the NDA has lifted the restriction of alpha video footage. I didn't capture any footage, but I did find one from the last test(latest test had a few additional skill trees and 2 additional planets and increased the player character variety by randomizing costumes and sliders)

 

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Last test I unlocked the chronophaser, a tool used to modify rocks into different forms by melting or compressing them. I used it to melt some overhangs on cliffs and watch the resulting molten rock fall down to the land below(I feel this could actually be useful in certain combat situations in addition to creating navigable paths and collecting resources). Also used it to turn a large area of sand near a couple of ponds into glass, which I then used the extractor to collect. Messed with the Instaformer a bit more, built the beginnings of a little mincraftesk hut with it, though I ran out of conglomerate blocks before I finished and I was so tired that I ended up cutting out early. Fogot to take any screenshots, unfortunately. They are rolling out the claim management system this weekend which I will not be able to be there in the initial test for that due to work.....

 

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/starsreach/stars-reach

They just launched their Kickstarter. Wish I could do more than the $30 or $60 tier. They've made a lot of progress over the past few months.

 

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Only grabbed a couple of shots from tonight's test, but looks like some of the other players are already flexing their build skills even with the limited parts currently in the game.

 

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Another test tonight. I personally didn't build anything interesting, but found a few cool structures others had built while completing the survey points on a few of the planets.

 

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New build was released. Wasn't able to play long during the test window due to real life interrupting the session, but they've started testing the seasonal system, world events, revamped the skybox and added in a preliminary pass on the farming system.

I couldn't figure out how to get farming XP before I had to log off despite unlocking the tree by spending botany xp. It will including having to adjust the PH of soils to ensure the crops you want to grow grow well. It's also affected by the temperature and humidity of the planet your on.(or once they are in, the greenhouses you build).

The new skyboxes are quite nice and the atmospheric effects definitely add to the immersion.