Comparison?

[cammelspit]

Even though I know that the two games are very different, satisfactory and astroneer, how does this came compared to those two. I really enjoy the base building / automation type games and I'm kind of looking for another. I am stuck in a nursing facility for a while following a very bad car accident so I can only play with my steam deck, so that also has to be taken into consideration when looking for new games to play.

Tl;Dr
Compare to satisfactory and astroneer, discuss!

[CrazedBumblebee]

I'd say it's not like either of those really. I haven't played either though.

This is not really a base building game. You don't have to link anything up, or meet production requirements, do anything complex. It's more of a relaxed survival game.

It's more alike subnautica than anything else, but on land, with no creatures or other characters of any type.

The goal is simply to turn the barren planet in to something you can live on.

It sounds quite boring, but it's one of my favorite games (even though I typically go for good looking games, and this needs a lot of help in that department). I've probably spent more time in this game than most i've played before, and I've spent years playing WoW, Destiny, Halo, Resident Evil, Diablo, and so on, going back to the late 80s.

[Pesky]

Not as polished as either game you quoted. Development team is just two people. Also, it is still in Early Access, so it's unfinished. However, as far as you can terraform the planet so far, you do have everything you need. There aren't any problems in finishing the plot because a vital facility isn't in the game yet.

Not really a factory game. Doesn't make you fuss about with conveyor belts, connect up electricity grids, etc. Most things you need to make require at most two operations. Also, you can't just set up a production line and leave it running. If you leave the game unattended for a while you'll die of thirst or hunger. So to play the game you have to actually play the game.

Also, note that this is a crafting/exploration game, and you have to do both things. If you just sit pretty in your nice clean base building things, you will die from lack of resources and discoveries. It's an exploration game. You have to explore to win it.

Major pull: watching your planet transform around you, from a dry desert to a world with plants and animals. And knowing that it is the result of your work and wouldn't have happened without you. Some of the graphics are excellent. And some are lame. Also, some of the plot and in-game lore is well-written and intriguing.

Yes, you can build some living quarters and many machines and animal habitats. And if you're bored waiting for the terraforming to take effect you can get creative and build a huge zoo or an Evil Genius headquarters on the side of a cliff. From the Discord I've seen many different styles of playing the game, with some people obsessing over aspects which don't interest some other players. The game seems to provide different opportunities to different players.

[Toasty]

I've played Satisfactory, it's much simpler than that. What i can definitely say is that it is a very chill and a relaxing game. I've got around 440 hours in this and around 780 in Satisfactory. I'm planning to start a new save when it hits release which will likely double my play time.

[Alshain]

It's a cross between a survival game and an "Idle" game. Plays like survival but with minimal threats, plays like Idle but less clicking/tapping and no microtransactions. You build machines to increase numbers, which happens over time, those numbers unlock bigger machines which increase numbers faster. That's really all there is to it.

[Zep Tepi]

The map is fixed but it is quite large and there are interesting places to explore. There is no terraforming like in astroneer(in terms of earth moving or digging). You pick up resources, build your base, keep making machines to unlock new blueprints and watch the world change around you. There is a little bit of a rush in the beginning to get food growers going, but after that you can take as much time as you want. Later on there are drones that will carry resources from one place to another and can fill your lockers and trade rocket for you. It's fairly simple though and you can basically put things anywhere instead of having to link them up.

Quick tip: don't build your base at the bottom of a valley.

[GreyBeard512]

I've played both Astroneer and Planet Crafter a lot. While there are differences, there are a lot of similarities.

Both require you to explore the map/system, both require you to gather resources to build better equipment and advance.

You can die in both, but (depending on difficulty settings) death isn't very painful for the player in either. Astroneer does have some light combat and lethal flora, Planet Crafter does not. You can starve or run out of water in Planet Crafter, Astroneer does not have eating or drinking. The most common way to I die in both is running out of air. Toward end game in both, oxygen stops being a problem most of the time.

While neither are base building games, building a base is important in both.

In Astroneer, you progress the tech tree with research points from exploring and bringing research items back to your base. In Planet Crafter, you progress the tech tree primarily by terraforming the world although some unlocks are from items you find while exploring.

Astroneer now is pretty quest driven. Planet Crafter has a few quests, but it is mostly just trying to advance your tech level / terraforming state.

Planet Crafter has no equivalent to Astroneer's terrain tool.

While the goals and tasks are similar in both, the mechanics are pretty different.

Astroneer is further along in development, and the game has more to explore. But Planet Crafter is still pre-release and I think it is very good for where it is.

[Hugin]

Interesting that people are calling it a survival game. I feel like the survival aspects are so lite it barely qualifies. The things you need to survive are plentiful and the things that can kill you are not much.

THAT IS NOT A COMPLAINT.

I like the chill vibe. I like just exploring and puttering around my base making it pretty. I've played several harder survival games and I'm very happy with this one being different.

[cammelspit]

I think I find the comparison to subnautica probably the most telling. Genuinely, I tried to get into subnautica but honestly it didn't seem like it was really at my alley. Even if Base building isn't necessarily the primary focus of the game like it would be and say satisfactory, that, to me, seems to be something that I really enjoy.

I appreciate the thoughts on my little question, I think I'll hold off for now but I might revisit this later.

Cheers!