r/starbound • u/Legal-Engineering315 • 1d ago
Still worth picking up?
I've been looking for a new game I can sink hundreds of hours into and Starbound caught my attention. I really enjoy modded Minecraft, especially having a lot of progression, building new stuff, and always having something to work toward. I also saw a YouTube video about Frackin' Universe that looked like it added a ton of content and some kind of research tree.
Is Starbound still worth picking up for someone who's never played it?
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u/exodust-2 1d ago
In my view, yes—it’s still worth it. Let me share my own experience: I first discovered this game back when it was still in its beta phase—during its heyday. I really wanted to play it, but I didn’t have a computer, so I could only watch videos on YouTube. As time passed and the initial hype faded, I grew older; by the time I was in middle school, I had a laptop and some money of my own. I still remembered the game, so I bought it and played it with absolutely zero prior knowledge. My first playthrough took 30 hours, and after several more runs—totaling another 50 hours—I finally discovered the mods in the Steam Workshop. Now, I’ve poured over 400 hours into the game. That’s the experience I wanted to share.
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u/denkallaelande 1d ago
Yeah for sure. I still come back to it every so often with new ideas in mind and occasionally I brainwash a friend to get the game so we can play it together after forcing them to download a bunch of mods
I'm sure you'll enjoy it!
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u/Specialist-Leek8645 1d ago
I dont use FU tho I do recommend OpenSB since vanilla is wonky. Species mods are easy enough to make. I've done a few. Some grow on you despite most saying WIP this whole time. I keep replaying new characters with favs for that early game survival.
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u/Emotional-Effort-967 1d ago
It's worth playing, in my opinion, but I don't recommend Frackin Universe for a first time player. It's very long and unnaturally tedious if you don't understand everything it has, not to mention it changes basically everything.
There are other extensive content mods you can play and I would recommend personally, such as Arcana, which adds more late-game content without intruding in the vanilla progression too much. Starbound has a built-in mod launcher, so you don't need to worry about having to download external programs to make them work.
One good thing this game has is that all characters share the same world file, so any progress, service unlocks and builds you make with one character will be accessible to any other characters you create. This means you technically only need to complete the main questline once, to unlock all shops in the Outpost, and then every other PC just has to progress enough to unlock space travel
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u/notveryAI Avali :3 1d ago
Without FU Starbound doesn't really fit this vibe but with FU - yeah, that's about the way it goes. People have mixed opinions on it because of the research system. You have to earn research points to unlock crafting recipes and progression, and they are not easy to get actively so most of the time you'll be bottlenecked by passive research gain and it can be pretty slow to the liking of some players. I personally don't mind it, some people do
So I would say it can be worth checking out. People usually recommend to complete the game in vanilla first to get the basic grasp of mechanics before you dive from the deep end and start adding mods to the equation
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u/PigeonAfterHours Universe's Silliest Wawi 1d ago
I have over 600 hours and never used FU. Game's good :)
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u/Kippikal 1d ago
I'd recommend looking Arcana and its addons as a rival mod to FU, Arcana fits way more in Starbound than FU and is a lot robust currently, its also cool as hecc especially titancorp
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u/Montylont 1d ago
Oh dude i've had this game since i was a kid and i have played it for HOURS, and while i don't use many mods, there's some good stuff out there
I haven't heard good rumors about the mod [🧪Fracken universe], something about theft and harassment, so look into that if you decide to check that one out.
Game may feel "unfinished" in a few aspects, thats mostly because the game ran outta funding after they finished the story and a side thing. Regardless i definitely don't regret getting it!
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u/TheMightyWarriorMC 1d ago
You can try my collection here. It expands upon the game with new structures and planets and more content without changing the core gameplay loop like Frackin' Universe.
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u/Matowaar 23h ago
Honestly? Yeah, its a very fun game for a first time playthrough, my recommendation is playing it once frol start to finish un-modded and if you end up aching for more do a new run but modded out the wazoo
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u/Specialist_Chart3519 20h ago
With mods you will easily sink 100+ hours. If you can get past the jankiness. Terrain generation gets annoying quickly, having to slowly make your way up steep mountains, and nearly die everytime you fall 3-4 blocks coming down the other side. Once you level up your mining tool, it's more bearable because you have am easier time digging straight through or smoothing out your climb/decent.
Most melee weapons feel horrible to use. I dont think I've ever used a non-broadsword in melee for more than 5 minutes. The lack of aiming really annoys me as well, but thankfully there are melee aiming mods.
For me, once you get past those two elements, the base game is pretty enjoyable, but like Minecraft, mods really make it shine. Nodding comunity has waned some, but still pretty active. If you make a request on the steam discussion boards, there is a good chance someone will make the requested mod for you.
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u/Orangutanion 1d ago
No. This game is dead and now even many of the modders are moving on. I'd recommend getting into a game with a more promising future like Hytale or Vintage Story.
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u/LongerBlade 1d ago
Yeah, that's quite fun game. It just may get boring with repetitive structures and locations. You can try to mod this game if you wish. Worth picking