Should I get this?

[Hayden]

I've always looked at this game and been sorta curious but never taken the plunge.

Does it have survival elements? Like hunting and growing food?

Do you have to worry about water and fatigue?

I've seen screenshots with NPCs in buildngs. Do you sort of manage your own colony a bit like Rimworld or something?

If it doesn't have those above things, then what about Starbound? Does it have those sorts of things?

Would you recommend starting with this or Starbound first? I admit, the sci fi setting does probably appeal to me a bit more.

One thing to note, I wasn't a big fan of minecraft. Would I still like this?

[Albcatmastercat]

Terraria doesn't have any of the elements you listed. Not in-depth anyway.

There is no such thing as survival elements and plants which can be grown are only used in potion brewing.

Starbound has a fair amount of crop types, and you need to manage hunger. No other elements, either.

As for colonies, Friendly NPCs on Terraria come in a set amounty. You cannot have more than one type (There's around 24).

Starbound has a colony system with Colony Deeds. You can spawn as many NPCs as you like.

[Hayden]

Originally posted by Albcatmastercat:

Terraria doesn't have any of the elements you listed. Not in-depth anyway.

There is no such thing as survival elements and plants which can be grown are only used in potion brewing.

Starbound has a fair amount of crop types, and you need to manage hunger. No other elements, either.

As for colonies, Friendly NPCs on Terraria come in a set amounty. You cannot have more than one type (There's around 24).

Starbound has a colony system with Colony Deeds. You can spawn as many NPCs as you like.

Thanks for the info.

It sounds like Starbound is probably what I should get.

[Albcatmastercat]

Originally posted by The Hawk:

Originally posted by Albcatmastercat:

Terraria doesn't have any of the elements you listed. Not in-depth anyway.

There is no such thing as survival elements and plants which can be grown are only used in potion brewing.

Starbound has a fair amount of crop types, and you need to manage hunger. No other elements, either.

As for colonies, Friendly NPCs on Terraria come in a set amounty. You cannot have more than one type (There's around 24).

Starbound has a colony system with Colony Deeds. You can spawn as many NPCs as you like.

Thanks for the info.

It sounds like Starbound is probably what I should get.

Both games are pretty different, however. Search for some videos around youtube.

[Midas]

If you're looking for a game that involves responsibility & upkeep, Terraria isn't for you.

There's no hunger, thirst, fatigue, or responsibility whatsoever.

The only thing an NPC needs from you is to fulfill its requirement to make them arrive & a room.

The only thing you could call survival is not dying from enemies. There's nothing you need to do in order to take care of yourself other than getting better armor & weapons.

[Hayden]

Originally posted by Hours:

If you're looking for a game that involves responsibility & upkeep, Terraria isn't for you.

There's no hunger, thirst, fatigue, or responsibility whatsoever.

The only thing an NPC needs from you is to fulfill its requirement to make them arrive & a room.

The only thing you could call survival is not dying from enemies. There's nothing you need to do in order to take care of yourself other than getting better armor & weapons.

Yeah, think I'll pass on this and try Starbound. I want responsibility and upkeep for sure. I might try Terrarria down the line at some point. It doesn't look bad, just doesn't look like what I'm after at the moment.

[Drag]

The way I like to think of it, Terraria is much more combat focused than Starbound.

Terraria has a much harsher learning curve on the fighting. It takes a lot of dodging. You can't spam healing items in Terraria (60 second cooldown, 45 with a certain item equipped), which can be done in a much less limited fashion in Starbound.

Starbound does have more of the survival and self-maintainence mechanics than Terraria. But toward the end of the game, it becomes trivial to maintain your hunger.

[Luux]

My take on Terraria Vs Starbound

Story/Plot

- Starbound - Minimal main questline, optional but mundane sidequests, not much of a linear direction.
- Terraria - No story or plot, no questline except for one NPC that gives fetch quests, goal is boss and gear progression.

Genre (Both are sort of Action-Adventure type games)
- Starbound - Self-driven exploration sandbox with a sci-fi theme.
- Terraria - Versatile sandbox with perpetual combat elements, no singular theme.

Control Quality
- Starbound - Adequate control, but slippery at times.
- Terraria - Flexible customizeable character control based on gear enhancements, improves as you progress if you so choose.

Character Progression
- Starbound - Character's power is not very noticeable besides flunctuations in damage taken/dealt.
- Terraria - In-depth rise in power that changes weapon and armor abilities gradually.

Skill
- Starbound - Average person can pick it up quickly, difficulty doesn't increase much beyond need for better weapons/armor in more difficult areas.
- Terraria - Bosses get harder mechanics closer to end-game, and has various difficulties built into both the world and character but each separate.

Classes
- Starbound - Melee vs energy-using weapons, basic defined classes of: Tanky Melee, Ranger, and Caster.
- Terraria - Clearly divided classes of: Warrior, Mage, Ranged, & Summoner. Class separation becomes more vital later in game to focus your strengths.

Character Customization
- Starbound - Several races and vanity items that are rare drops. Basic dyes and vanity slots included.
- Terraria - Basic human avatar with minor color/style customization options. Good range of vanity items, vanity slots and impressive range of animated dyes beyond simple colors.

Creative Potential
- Starbound - Countless decorative items and blocks for a huge range of possible building projects.
- Terraria - Basic themed furniture sets and blocks.

Crafting
- Starbound - Progressive crafting, have to discover most recipes.
- Terraria - All recipes available provided the ingredients and proper crafting station.

World
- Starbound - Huge universe with planets and coordinate system that is consistent across all characters (Different characters can find the same planets).
- Terraria - Randomly generated maps with set sizes. Easy transferring between worlds though.

Navigation
- Starbound - Highly recommended to document all planets and their biomes/landmarks/settlements. No in-game map.
- Terraria - Whole world map and minimap that is uncovered by player proximity (starts off black but it gradually revealed by exploration).

NPCs/Enemies
- Starbound - NPCs are usually either townspeople or lone merchants, majority are randomly generated. Monsters are either randomly generated or a specific species.
- Terraria - NPCs are residents of whatever living spaces you build that qualifies as a house according to the game's rules, some are vendors and unlocked by certain milestones. No randomly generated ones.

Environment
- Starbound - Difficulty of area is based on the star system of the planet.
- Terraria - Constantly migrating from biomes to pursue levels of progression, some get revamped (harder) if the player chooses to do so.

RNG
- Starbound - Heavy RNG elements, not very predictable, but not very memorable either.
- Terraria - RNG elements are part of it, but do not rule it. Very recognizeable items, enemies, NPCs, biomes, etc.

Survival
- Starbound - Basic hunger and farming system, hunger adjustable by character-specific difficulty.
- Terraria - No hunger or any sustainables, simply just don't die to enemies.

You could probably tell i favor Terraria in general. But when it comes to a skill-based combat game focused on killing enemies/bosses and getting loot vs a game that is a very vague sandbox with greater creative wiggle room, it boils down to what you are looking for.

Terraria is more about challenge and combat, but, it also has the possibility of some decent creative building. Starbound has obviously superior building, but it isn't linear, and requires you to know more about what you want to do, although that could be either a strength or a weakness depending on if you want it to be such a blank canvas or not.

[Ruinae Retroque Rursus]

Terraria is about killing things and building things that look nice.

Starbound carefully manages all sorts of interesting game mechanics and requires you to actually consider the downsides of doing something.



But in Terraria, you kill things and you build things that look nice. (And die a lot)

[two straight ♥♥♥♥♥♥ kissing]

No

[Hayden]

Originally posted by Luux:

My take on Terraria Vs Starbound

Story/Plot

- Starbound - Minimal main questline, optional but mundane sidequests, not much of a linear direction.
- Terraria - No story or plot, no questline except for one NPC that gives fetch quests, goal is boss and gear progression.

Genre (Both are sort of Action-Adventure type games)
- Starbound - Self-driven exploration sandbox with a sci-fi theme.
- Terraria - Versatile sandbox with perpetual combat elements, no singular theme.

Control Quality
- Starbound - Adequate control, but slippery at times.
- Terraria - Flexible customizeable character control based on gear enhancements, improves as you progress if you so choose.

Character Progression
- Starbound - Character's power is not very noticeable besides flunctuations in damage taken/dealt.
- Terraria - In-depth rise in power that changes weapon and armor abilities gradually.

Skill
- Starbound - Average person can pick it up quickly, difficulty doesn't increase much beyond need for better weapons/armor in more difficult areas.
- Terraria - Bosses get harder mechanics closer to end-game, and has various difficulties built into both the world and character but each separate.

Classes
- Starbound - Melee vs energy-using weapons, basic defined classes of: Tanky Melee, Ranger, and Caster.
- Terraria - Clearly divided classes of: Warrior, Mage, Ranged, & Summoner. Class separation becomes more vital later in game to focus your strengths.

Character Customization
- Starbound - Several races and vanity items that are rare drops. Basic dyes and vanity slots included.
- Terraria - Basic human avatar with minor color/style customization options. Good range of vanity items, vanity slots and impressive range of animated dyes beyond simple colors.

Creative Potential
- Starbound - Countless decorative items and blocks for a huge range of possible building projects.
- Terraria - Basic themed furniture sets and blocks.

Crafting
- Starbound - Progressive crafting, have to discover most recipes.
- Terraria - All recipes available provided the ingredients and proper crafting station.

World
- Starbound - Huge universe with planets and coordinate system that is consistent across all characters (Different characters can find the same planets).
- Terraria - Randomly generated maps with set sizes. Easy transferring between worlds though.

Navigation
- Starbound - Highly recommended to document all planets and their biomes/landmarks/settlements. No in-game map.
- Terraria - Whole world map and minimap that is uncovered by player proximity (starts off black but it gradually revealed by exploration).

NPCs/Enemies
- Starbound - NPCs are usually either townspeople or lone merchants, majority are randomly generated. Monsters are either randomly generated or a specific species.
- Terraria - NPCs are residents of whatever living spaces you build that qualifies as a house according to the game's rules, some are vendors and unlocked by certain milestones. No randomly generated ones.

Environment
- Starbound - Difficulty of area is based on the star system of the planet.
- Terraria - Constantly migrating from biomes to pursue levels of progression, some get revamped (harder) if the player chooses to do so.

RNG
- Starbound - Heavy RNG elements, not very predictable, but not very memorable either.
- Terraria - RNG elements are part of it, but do not rule it. Very recognizeable items, enemies, NPCs, biomes, etc.

Survival
- Starbound - Basic hunger and farming system, hunger adjustable by character-specific difficulty.
- Terraria - No hunger or any sustainables, simply just don't die to enemies.

You could probably tell i favor Terraria in general. But when it comes to a skill-based combat game focused on killing enemies/bosses and getting loot vs a game that is a very vague sandbox with greater creative wiggle room, it boils down to what you are looking for.

Terraria is more about challenge and combat, but, it also has the possibility of some decent creative building. Starbound has obviously superior building, but it isn't linear, and requires you to know more about what you want to do, although that could be either a strength or a weakness depending on if you want it to be such a blank canvas or not.

Yeah, not hard to see which one you like more.

Thanks for the awesome breakdown. I went ahead and got Starbound. It definitely sounds like what I'm after. No doubt I'll pick up Terrarria at some point later on.

Gonna get stuck into Starbound now and see how I get on.

[Sileka]

Originally posted by The Hawk:

Would you recommend starting with this or Starbound first? I admit, the sci fi setting does probably appeal to me a bit more.

I play both Starbound and Terraria, though I only caved in on Terraria AFTER playing Starbound. They are also doing some changes to space travel in Starbound in a future update... so I don't want to say one thing only to have you possibly buy it after the update and be surprised. (For better or worse.)

I enjoy both games, granted after playing the 3DS version of Terraria I find myself having trouble on the PC version from time to time. I would recommend both, play it before the refund time runs out and simply refund the game(s) if you feel they are not worth your time.

Terraria does not employ a hunger system.
Starbound does.

Terraria has no 'plot' to follow.
Starbound does (albeit... rather silly if you do not play on hardcore)

Both employ multiple worlds, in different ways.
Starbound, you travel to different stars/worlds.
Terraria, you can freely play your characters in any world you've created.

Starbound has multiple races, but right now there isn't really a statistical purpose behind them. (Outside of mods).

[Hayden]

Originally posted by lilvulpix:

Originally posted by The Hawk:

Would you recommend starting with this or Starbound first? I admit, the sci fi setting does probably appeal to me a bit more.

I play both Starbound and Terraria, though I only caved in on Terraria AFTER playing Starbound. They are also doing some changes to space travel in Starbound in a future update... so I don't want to say one thing only to have you possibly buy it after the update and be surprised. (For better or worse.)

I enjoy both games, granted after playing the 3DS version of Terraria I find myself having trouble on the PC version from time to time. I would recommend both, play it before the refund time runs out and simply refund the game(s) if you feel they are not worth your time.

Terraria does not employ a hunger system.
Starbound does.

Terraria has no 'plot' to follow.
Starbound does (albeit... rather silly if you do not play on hardcore)

Both employ multiple worlds, in different ways.
Starbound, you travel to different stars/worlds.
Terraria, you can freely play your characters in any world you've created.

Starbound has multiple races, but right now there isn't really a statistical purpose behind them. (Outside of mods).

I imagine a 3DS version would be nice with controls. I didn't realize Starbound had no controller support before I bought it. That's a bit of a let down for me. I got a gamepad profile for pinnacler though so hopefully it plays well.

[Hayden]

Another question: I want to play with a few mods such as the increased zoom scale, food rot dots and Matter Manipulator Manipulator mods. I hear these mods are okay for a first playthrough.

Do I just subscribe to the mods in the steam work shop and that's it? Is there a mod menu that shows what mods are installed?

I did read about the folder in the workshop>content folder. I have 3 folders there but each only has a contents.pak file.

[Hayden]

Was just reading about this 1.3 update that is supposed to be in the works. I see it adds mechs and interstellar travel. Looks amazing. Part of me wants to wait until that to play, but I probably won't be able to

I installed Steam's beta branch and tested Starbound with my ps4 controller. Works awesome. Glad I don't have to use a keyboard and mouse.

[Albcatmastercat]

Originally posted by The Hawk:

Another question: I want to play with a few mods such as the increased zoom scale, food rot dots and Matter Manipulator Manipulator mods. I hear these mods are okay for a first playthrough.

Do I just subscribe to the mods in the steam work shop and that's it? Is there a mod menu that shows what mods are installed?

I did read about the folder in the workshop>content folder. I have 3 folders there but each only has a contents.pak file.

Sorry I didn't get into it sooner. Yes, that's all you need to do.

Also, be sure to read the mod information to check for any incompatibilities. You should avoid one called "Frackin' Universe" for now, as it adds things that literally double the game size.