Stars Reach News

[h2]TUESDAY, JULY 28 UPDATE[/h2][p]Thanks to the great feedback we received from last weekend’s 36-hour test, we realized the need for another fast-turnaround update before we get back onto focus for the next update after this one. This is abnormal procedure for us, but some of this needed to be done so you could play while we work.[/p][p]
[/p][p]The list of fixes includes:[/p]

• [p]Starting Professions got a series of updates to make them more well-rounded and fun. See “Professions Changes” below for more details.[/p]

• [p]The Cooking recipes for StaminaBooster, HealthBooster, and FocusBooster are now granted to all players so you have a way to leverage up your skills in the Cooking tree.[/p]
• [p]Players that do not have a Terraformer or Xyloslicer were finding it nearly impossible to advance their way up skill trees without some limited form of access to wood, gems, metals and gasses. Therefore, new drops have been added to various bushes, thickets and trees to make up for this lack. (See the “Added Harvesting Drops” list below).[/p]
• [p]If a server went down for any reason, and you were on the affected planet, then there was a chance you would randomly be respawned back to the FTUE Hallway. This has now been prevented, and if you were on a planet that is unavailable when you login, you will appear in the TPL Starbase instead.[/p]
• [p]Creature loot glows again! So tall grass or dark nights will no longer hide it from you.[/p]
• [p]Even better, the bug with creature loot is fixed and there should be lots more of it now. Actually…all loot benefited from this bug fix, so it should just generally feel better everywhere in all situations now.[/p]
• [p]PQRV stats no longer have decimal points of precision, thus preventing the “invisible inventory” issue that affected many players on the weekend.[/p]
• [p]When you use Deposit (Terraformer function), you can now deposit from the total of all stacks. Deposit will just treat them as one large stack for now. (Later, you’ll have the opportunity to decide which of the stacks get consumed, but for now, we just wanted the function to work again.)[/p]
• [p]The Peaceful Settler can now place a camp and upgrade it to a Homestead, as originally intended.[/p]
• [p]You can no longer place a Camp in the FTUE Hallway, thus preventing a way to get outside the hallway.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Professions Changes[/p]

• [p]Explorer: Replaced the Harvester with the Xyloslicer. (Xylo is removed from Crafter making the Explorer the premier wood gatherer of the five professions.) No other changes.[/p]
• [p]Soldier: Replaced Terraformer with Harvester so the Soldier can make their own Medicines. Removed Chronphaser (because no Terraformer). Added Weaponsmith so Soldier can make PowerCells.[/p]
• [p]Scientist: Old version of Scientist was jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. Still has Gravity Gun, but also gets Reflection Shield now! Added Terraformer and lots of Refining skills (Alloy and Other are unlocked) so the Scientist is the sci-fi Alchemist of the group.[/p]
• [p]Settler: Gets Pathfinder instead of Xyloslicer to open up gameplay opportunities as you gather. Now gets basic Refining (with Soils unlocked), Farming, and Toolmaking. Still no weapon though, so watch your step![/p]

[p][/p][p]Added Harvesting Drops[/p][p]The drops listed below are in addition to the drops for that flora that previously existed.[/p][p]Bushes[/p]

• [p]Besom Scrub now drops dark soft wood[/p]
• [p]All the alien mushrooms (blushing bonnet, brimmed bonnet, dark wizard, lilac dandy, and witch's ringlet) all occasionally drop Salt[/p]
• [p]Emberbloom Torch now drops Ammonia[/p]
• [p]Hexavine Spires can be harvested for Magnetized Iron[/p]
• [p]Lumipora and Lumipora Stand can both be harvested for Dark Soft Wood[/p]
• [p]Sunset Coleus drops Silver[/p]
• [p]Verdark Cone drops Tin[/p]

[p]Thickets[/p]

• [p]The Alder thickets drop Light Soft Wood[/p]
• [p]The Berry thicket drops Stimberries[/p]
• [p]The Jungle thicket drops Dark Soft Wood[/p]

[p]Trees[/p]

• [p]Blue Veil drops Radon[/p]
• [p]Duskleaf drops Flourine[/p]
• [p]Organ Pipe can be harvested for Copper[/p]
• [p]Spore Pod drops Methane[/p]
• [p]Lunareth drops Xenon[/p]

[p][/p][h2]FRIDAY, JULY 25 UPDATE[/h2]

• [p]The Soils skill node was missing from the Refinery skill tree. [/p]
• [p]The Intrepid Explorer profession was incorrectly awarding the Terraformer instead of Harvester. This is now fixed.[/p]
• [p]We had an issue with FTUE tutorial crates not getting cleared properly between players and “doubling up” on players. This is resolved.[/p]
• [p]The delay after you clicked on an inventory icon before you could drag it has been removed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that made the character disappear frequently as the camera moved around and improved the minimum distance settings for camera placement.[/p]
• [p]Improved the burning effect on flora, especially the transition from burning to burnt.[/p]
• [p]Improved audio for the Wormhole and when you are on fire.[/p]
• [p]The skill nodes for Health, Stamina, and Focus Boosters were incorrectly labeled as zero XP to purchase. They have been adjusted to 100XP each, as the other cooking recipes.[/p]
• [p]The text error showing Iron as a Tier 1 metal has been changed to “A very common metal” instead.[/p]
• [p]The meteor shower display strings have been updated to not reference planets so they make sense when seen in space.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]THE NEW WORLDS[/h2][p]You’ve been adventuring in Rodin IV, Zaraxa, Gaiamar, Pyromycis, and Escarion for many months now. [/p][p]The Servitors have retired those wormgates and they are no longer accessible. In preparation for moving the game to 24/7 status, we are retiring all of our old planets and bringing you new ones instead.[/p][p]Going forward for the near future, we’ll have three persistent planets, the space zone, and occasional wild wormhole worlds. We’ll let you discover those planets on your own for now.[/p][p]Those new worlds are formulated using the new rarity systems for metals and gems, and they’re also being set up with randomized crafting stats on those elements. Because of that, we also need you to create new characters so we can clear out your inventories, leaving you with only the newly-created materials.[/p][p]So this update requires brand new characters exploring brand new worlds. Enjoy![/p][p][/p][h2]FIRST-TIME USER EXPERIENCE[/h2][p]Until now, the only “tutorial” that existed was a string of text dialog boxes that…well…left a lot to be desired. This is now replaced with a short tutorial that places you on a doomed starbase and runs you through the basics of the game. At the end of the experience, you’ll then get to choose a starting Profession![/p][p]Professions grant you starting sets of equipment and a few unlocked skills to help define your path. You get to choose between:[/p]

• [p]Intrepid Explorer[/p]
• [p]Valiant Soldier[/p]
• [p]Brainy Scientist[/p]
• [p]Diligent Crafter[/p]
• [p]Peaceful Settler[/p]

[p]For those of you that have played previously, this means that you’re only getting a subset of tools from what you got previously. You’ll have enough to get started, but you’re not going to be able to do everything. Time to start communicating with other players!

(NOTE: This will get easier in the near future as we work on chat systems and other systems that allow easy communication and/or marketplace trading.)[/p][p]When you’re done choosing your Profession, hop through the nearby portal and arrive at…
[/p][h2]THE TPL STARBASE[/h2][p]The Starbase is a large, sprawling complex in space. It has landing pads, a marketplace, a park, a theater, a ReLife center, and a central social hub (and it has been assembled entirely from the same Fabricator pieces that you can use within the game).[/p][p]Be sure to check out:[/p]

• [p]The Mission Boards (see below for details)[/p]
• [p]The Title Shop[/p]
• [p]The “Hall of Heroes” plaques that line the floor in the central hub, saying thank you to our largest Kickstarter backers![/p]

[p][/p][h2]THE MISSION BOARDS[/h2][p]In the marketplace area of the TPL Starbase, you’ll find the Mission Board kiosks. Access those to grab TPL-approved missions that let you earn Klaatus (currency) that you’ll be able to spend in many future ways (and one current way).[/p][p]Missions are simple for the moment. You take on a task of some sort: harvest, survey, kill, heal, or find. You can take one of each type of task. Each mission is located on a specific planet. Go to that planet, look for the waypoint that’s in the mission area and complete the task.[/p][p]When you’re done, return to the Starbase to turn in your missions and get your Klaatus.[/p][p]For now, you won’t be able to do a lot with that currency, but you can find the Title Shop kiosks in the main hub of the Starbase and buy titles to wear proudly (and sometimes usefully!). [/p][p][/p][h2]METAL AND GEMSTONE RARITY[/h2][p]The “tiers” of metal that existed previously have been replaced with Rarity categories instead. This change has also been applied to the gemstones.[/p][p]You can access the F1 “Resource” screen to see the new rarities. If a resource is “rare” that doesn’t apply to the amount of a resource you’ll find on a particular planet. What it means is that as we generate planets, some resources will occur more or less commonly than others. So over the course of exploring various planets, you’ll find certain resources to be more rare than others. But once you find a rare metal or gem on a planet, there might be quite a bit of it there! Dig in and get some![/p][p]Recipes for many items have been refactored with this new rarity system in mind.[/p][p][/p][h2]INVENTORY SCREEN REFACTOR[/h2][p]The inventory screen has been completely gutted and rebuilt. It’s not finalized, but it’s much cleaner and more useful than it was previously.[/p]

• [p]The Clothing and Toolbar tabs have been combined together onto one screen.[/p]
• [p]You’ll see aesthetic changes and icons should be large (and no longer buggy).[/p]
• [p]The PQRV stats are easily accessed by clicking on the “Show Stats” radio button. NOTE: The items have not yet been hooked up with stats, so these will display zeroes currently. But we’re working on it! [/p]

[p][/p][h2]IMPROVED RENDERING AND FLORA[/h2][p]We are in the middle of updates to the way our worlds look. You’ll be seeing a lot of new-looking flora on hot & humid worlds, as well as hot & arid. We’re still working on other biome combinations.[/p][p]We’ve also improved many rendering methods, but this update only includes part of those updates. That will be completed in the next update.[/p][p][/p][h2]OTHER UPDATES[/h2]

• [p]Ice Fall meteors now drop ice…which melts into water.[/p]
• [p]Foundation tile is now available again in the Basic Set for the fabricator.[/p]
• [p]The Antimatter and Ammonium recipes are also available as they should be..[/p]
• [p]Creature taming foodstuffs now make more logical sense. The system itself hasn’t been improved yet, but all creatures now have more logical (and varied) foodstuffs they desire. [/p]
• [p]Loot drops for creatures and makers have been improved significantly and rebalanced. You’ll find much greater variety in loot drops now, which will be useful in coming updates when PQRV stats are a necessary element in crafting.[/p]
• [p]Combat tips added to F1 screens (to explain the color-coding danger rating system to new players).[/p]
• [p]Resource screen (F1) edited to match new rarities[/p]
• [p]The follow-camera now pushes forward when it hits a building tile, resulting in less clipping through buildings. We still have some issues where the camera gets “pinched” between the player and the walls, resulting in a bit of a freak out, but we’re working on it.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the “slide back three steps when you enter a new world” bug[/p]
• [p]Overcharge now has audio[/p]

[p]
[/p]

[p][/p][p]Your weekly update on Stars Reach[/p]

• [p]We dropped a bombshell revelation at last Saturday’s Fireside Chat when Raph showed screenshots of an upcoming update to our terrain including increased plant density, improved foliage detail, and volumetric fog at reduced overall performance cost. See the recording of the full stream here:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]We interviewed Concept Artist Jim Moore and showed concept art for upcoming surprises!:[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p]
• [p]Next week’s playtest schedule includes one 36-hour test and other tests:[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]MMORPG.com commented on Cosmic Calibration update: [/p]

[p]https://www.mmorpg.com/news/stars-reach-shares-upcoming-playtests-plus-its-latest-update-and-streams-2000135475[/p]

• [p]MassivelyOP commented on Cosmic Calibration and the Fireside reveals [/p]

[p]https://massivelyop.com/2025/07/15/stars-reach-updates-its-infrastructure-and-networking-shows-off-an-in-progress-graphics-update/[/p]

• [p]Backer Invites + Discord Backer Badge. Almost all of the backers have submitted their survey, but if you haven’t then search your email box. If you submitted your Backer Surveys before July 18th:[/p]
  • [p]New testers got an invite from FirstLook with a playtest schedule and instructions. (Check your spam folder if you don’t see it!)[/p]
  • [p]Existing testers will not get a new invite, your Discord role should now show a Backer badge. Not yet? Log into FirstLook.gg and synch.[/p]
  • [p]Can’t find it? Email [/p]

[p][email protected][/p]

• [p]Kickstarter late pledges are still available but this may wind down soon: [/p]

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

• [p]Check out our Web Store! [/p]

[p]https://starsreach.com/store/[/p][p][/p]

• [p]We also have late pledges available on payment plans at our store[/p]

[p]This Fireside Chat revealed something epic... Not only did we discuss the latest update, "Cosmic Calibration", but we also introduced the new look of Stars Reach that is being worked on in the background![/p][p]
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[p][/p]

• [p]New Update: Cosmic Calibration was released this week – built in major part on the capabilities of a newly-improved network layer. Update notes here: Cosmic Calibration Build Notes[/p]

• [p]Tomorrow is our next livestreamed Fireside Chat at 9:00am Pacific time. Join us on:[/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

• [p]We have a recording of last Thursday’s livestream with Kurt and Leric:[/p]

[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

• [p]We interviewed Finance Manager & Remote Office Manager Majick Robinson which turned into a cooking show:[/p]

[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

• [p]We published Part 3 of the latest Stars Reach lore short story entitled “Another Working Day” [/p]

[p]https://starsreach.com/another-working-day-part-three[/p][p]Next week’s playtest schedule includes another extra long, 14-hour test:[/p][p][/p]

• [p]MassivelyOP.com commented on Cosmic Calibration update: [/p]
  • [p]https://massivelyop.com/2025/07/10/stars-reachs-latest-patch-includes-extensive-network-upgrades-better-sunrises-and-slicker-sliding/[/p]

• [p]Controlled Chaos dropped a video this week covering Cosmic Calibration update:[/p]

[p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

• [p]Backer Invites + Discord Backer Badge.  Almost all of the backers have submitted their survey, but if you haven’t then search your email box. If you submitted your Backer Surveys before July 3rd:[/p]
  • [p]New testers got an invite from FirstLook with a playtest schedule and instructions. (Check your spam folder if you don’t see it!)[/p]
  • [p]Existing testers will not get a new invite, your Discord role should now show a Backer badge. Not yet? Log into FirstLook.gg and synch.[/p]
  • [p]Can’t find it? Email [/p]

[p][email protected][/p][p]Kickstarter late pledges are still available but this may wind down soon: [/p][p]https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/starsreach/stars-reach[/p]

• [p]Check out our Web Store! [/p][p]https://starsreach.com/store/[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p]

[p]A few brave warships had chased the asteroid and opened fire after the tragedy on the space station. Their fire did nothing. If anything, each impact made the artifact’s mesh glow brighter.[/p][p]“Ma’am… we have to stop it.”[/p][p]Bunten was pacing again. “What if we give the location to a different Clave member?”[/p][p]The Assistant was horrified. “Oh no, ma’am! I don’t think we can trust the Clave, not at all? I’ve been reading the files, and… those artifacts, they’re dangerous?”[/p][p]Bunten snorted. She grabbed the glowing yellow tesseract and tossed it to the Assistant. “Hold it to your head, kid.”[/p][p]Tentatively, the Assistant did as she was told. The yellow construct deformed around her horns and skull. It did sound like the ocean. In fact, there were whispers in the ocean. Susurrant whispers she could almost parse. She felt like a child who had her first glimpse of the worlds beyond the stars, and felt intensely curious. If she just listened more closely, the shadowy sibilance would senesce into silence and surface sense out of the sizzle and sassafras sassy syntaxy solubility salsa –[/p][p]Bunten pulled the artifact from her head. She yearned for more, but Bunten set it down on the desk gently.[/p][p]“That was…” The Assistant searched for words. “Beautiful. But also like drowning in very deep water?”[/p][p]“Danger is relative,” Bunten said. “This is a level seven artifact. Most it’ll do is maybe persuade you that you have a direct channel to a higher level of reality, and that’ll fade after a day or two, though you might have lingering effects like an ayahuasca trip. The asteroid – it might be Stage V or even Stage VI by now, but it’s still only a level two. It’s big, but they probably have access to enough Old One tech to communicate with it or redirect it. The Clave might accidentally let it eat a starbase or something, but it can’t grow if they’re studying it somewhere out in empty space and they restrain it. Better contained than loose.”[/p][p]“Only level two? But it’s singing… and maybe talking? Isn’t it aware?”[/p][p]Bunten shrugged and pointed at her yellow tesseract. “This here is probably intelligent too. And it was talking to you just now – in a language we can’t quite understand. I’m much more worried about the alien artifacts we can’t understand than the ones that like show tunes.” She quirked a grin. “It’s a loathsome habit, but it’s one we humans understand.”[/p][p]“You keep saying it’s Stage V…”[/p][p]“Yes, it’s growing. That’s a stage of development. Once it reaches Stage X, it’ll probably converse just like the hunter-killer that just left. If it’s sane and not a berserker.”[/p][p]The Assistant was thinking furiously. “So, it’s… it’s a hungry baby. And it’s moving intentionally, like it’s curious.”  She thought about the sense of an endless ocean and how she had felt like wading into the tesseract and losing herself under its waves. “What if we can offer it an ocean to walk into?”[/p][p]Bunten looked at her with sharp interest. “What are you thinking, Assistant?”[/p][p]She reached for the datapad and the earbuds. “I was doing some research…”[/p][p]Bunten gestured impatiently for her to go on.[/p][p]“It’s a part of the job I really enjoy? And what you just said has me thinking… what if we give it something to be curious about?”[/p][p] [/p][p]# # #[/p][p] [/p][p]It took only a few hours to get the beacons lined up right. The Assistant programmed the playlists herself. She even spent the time to do some remixes, blending in Skwatchi slam poetry with “Hello Dolly!” She fired that last one on a trajectory that doomed it.[/p][p]She felt uneasy about drowning a baby. But baby monsters are still monsters, right? And she was becoming aware that there were a lot more kinds of monsters in the world than she ever knew.[/p][p]The whole Garden watched breathlessly as the asteroid diverted course to follow the novelty the beacons offered. Clave and Warden vessels chased it fruitlessly across the spaceways as it avoided Pyromycis altogether, chasing the signature songs from the second acts.[/p][p]It was one day more before all that jazz lured the Artifact through the local sector, and across the event horizon of a black hole.[/p][p]It went down burbling songs from Cats, defying gravity to the very end.[/p][p] [/p][p]# # #[/p][p] [/p][p]The Assistant watched Bunten sag back on the couch and wave at the NewsNet screen to turn it off. The reporters had moved on from saying anything positive about the asteroid’s demise, and instead were full of recriminations against the government for having failed to save enough lives.[/p][p]Bunten looked over at the Assistant, apologetic. “I’m sorry. I know I was riding you hard today. It gets to me, sometimes.” She waved again, and suddenly show tunes were playing quietly on speakers in the room.[/p][p]“That’s understandable, ma’am,” the Assistant said. She had kicked her shoes off, and was lounging on the other couch. She was indulging in a cold compress on her forehead, draped across her horns. [/p][p]“No, listen. You did good today.” Bunten looked down. “And you had some fresh ideas.”[/p][p]“Thank you, ma’am.” She still felt enervated, almost hollow, from the rush that her idea had worked. Now she felt drained, like a vessel ready to be filled. “Sorry about the musical theater.”[/p][p]Bunten smiled tiredly. “I’ll never admit it in public, but I have loathsome habits myself sometimes.”[/p][p]“Yes, ma’am.”[/p][p]“I know today was hard. Our job. Our job is secrets. We learn secrets, and we keep secrets, and our job isn’t to save one planet,” Bunten said.[/p][p]The Assistant slowly sat up, and looked into the eyes of her boss, a woman who bore many burdens.[/p][p]“It’s not,” the Assistant said. She felt more sure of herself, and for once, it didn’t come out as a question.[/p][p]“No,” Bunten said. “It’s to save all of them.”[/p][p]“All the planets…” the Assistant breathed. [/p][p]“No, girl.” Bunten smiled wistfully at her. “All the people. And we are going to fail every damn day at it.”[/p][p]“We did okay today.” But even with her eyes closed, all the Assistant could see was that child’s drawing.[/p][p]“You say that now. But you need to understand. We’re just bureaucrats, really. Armed with regulations and paperwork. Rules from on high that don’t make any sense, and long days averting catastrophes that you can only see by parsing spreadsheets. We do our jobs by stamping forms and approving line items, fining and horse-trading and favors. The days are long. Some are like today. Most aren’t. And the pay sucks. And no one will ever like you for it, because every single thing you do will be a trade-off.”[/p][p]The Assistant thought about that, and for some reason she felt proud of that. “About that, ma’am? If I did really well today…”[/p][p]“Shut up. No, you cannot have a fucking raise. You can’t even catch an escaped space otter.”[/p][p]The Assistant grinned ruefully. “Had to ask!”[/p][p]There came a pounding at the door, and frenetic buzzing. The door screen activated, and the Assistant saw a flustered group of Elioni. They were worked up about something. She could hear them shouting something about cultural insensitivity, memory, and cats. And how offensive it all was, and apologies were demanded![/p][p]Oh, she thought. Cats. Right.[/p][p]“Back to work, I guess!” the Assistant said, and grinned at her boss.[/p][p]Bunten grinned back. [/p][p]“So, before we let them in,” Bunten said. “Faceless bureaucrat… tell me your name.”[/p]