Stars Reach News

[p]PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p][/p][p]With backend service migrations and new update installations planned, our playtest schedule has adjusted for the next week. Bear with us on the complicated test schedule.[/p][p]

A TOUR OF PLAYER CONSTRUCTION ON AKACALA[/p][p]If you wanted to go on the construction tour of Akacala but missed the stream, we have uploaded a recording to [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]. These buildings are amazing. Highlights for me were the grand piano, the roof terraces, the comfy living rooms, and the curated gardens.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]GROKLUDO INTERVIEWS RAPH KOSTER[/p][p]Jeremy Ray, aka The Junglist, interviews Raph Koster for the Grokludo podcast. [/p][p]The conversation touches on game design theory, game history, Stars Reach’s cellular automata system, sustainability despite player terraforming, the dangers of fire and water, and much, much more. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]MASSIVELY OP COMMENTING ON STARS REACH
MassivelyOP points out two separate, unrelated hours of video – both worth watching. One is the tour of the player-built city on Akacala and the other is Raph’s History of Virtual Worlds presentation to the IGDA San Diego chapter. [/p][p]Regarding Akacala City, MOP commented that “What’s important to note here is that this city and its buildings all sprang up organically from concerted player effort without any specific system features added in the game’s test build.” Players organized themselves. And they did it on a test server knowing that it would be wiped at some point in the future. This is not yet a permanent world.[/p][p]https://massivelyop.com/2025/10/13/stars-reach-highlights-a-player-built-city-and-a-raph-koster-panel-about-online-worlds-evolution/[/p][p] [/p][p]CONTROLLED CHAOS INTERVIEWS SOUND DESIGNER KURT LARSON
This interview is a crazy one. Kurt has an immense personality and is a lot of fun. Controlled Chaos earns his name on this interview – even struggling at times with Kurt Harland Larson’s name. [/p][p]Come hear Kurt’s amazing background and the role he plays on Stars Reach.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]PLAYED WITH THE DEVS LIVESTREAM
If you missed Thursday’s Play-with-the-devs livestream, we have a recording of the hilarity and pandemonium. Watch us defeat the dreaded Harror while dying repeatedly to many other creatures. For once, the Servitors were not disgusted with us. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]NEXT FIRESIDE CHAT - OCTOBER 25[/p][p]Please join Dave Georgeson (Qix) and Rick Reynolds (Carneros) at our next Fireside Chat at 9:00 AM on Saturday, October 24, 2025. [/p][p]We will be introducing a new game update and answering your questions. [/p][p]Join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]. Saturday, October 25 at 9:00 AM Pacific / noon Eastern.[/p][p]

LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE[/p][p]We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:[/p]

• [p]The Transplanetary League set[/p]
• [p]The Stars Reach logo set[/p]
• [p]The Infinite Worlds set[/p]

[p][/p][p]
You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store[/p][p] [/p][p]HOW YOU CAN HELP [/p][p]If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p][/p][p]We are currently closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but are open Thursday through Monday.[/p][p][/p][p]A TOUR OF PLAYER CONSTRUCTIONS ON AKACALA[/p][p]If you wanted to go on the construction tour of Akacala but missed the stream, we have uploaded a recording to YouTube. These buildings are amazing. Highlights for me were the grand piano, the roof terraces, the comfy living rooms, and the curated gardens.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]THE HISTORY OF VIRTUAL WORLDS PRESENTED BY RAPH KOSTER[/p][p]Raph presented a talk on the history of virtual worlds at the International Game Developers Association – San Diego Chapter’s Demo Days event held at Mesa College. This was dense material presented to fellow game developers, not to players or the general public.[/p][p]A recording of the presentation was posted to YouTube and we hope you will enjoy it. [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]MASSIVELY OP ANTICIPATING STARS REACH[/p][p]Justin Olivetti wrote about upcoming MMOs and MMO expansions that are holding his interest these days. Then he shared the top 8 in-development MMORPG projects that he’s most anticipating at the moment. [/p][p]Stars Reach came in between Light No Fire and EverQuest 3 – although he didn’t mention if the presentation order meant anything at all.[/p][p]https://massivelyop.com/2025/10/05/mmo-hype-train-the-five-upcoming-mmo-projects-im-most-anticipating/[/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][p]BYBSIE ANTICIPATES STARS REACH[/p][p]
Polish MMO content creator Bybsie posted an MMO news roundup (in English) for October 2025 that includes Stars Reach among other games. He gets our vision and he understands what to expect in the pre-alpha phase of development. [/p][p]Stars Reach is the first game he covers at about 1:59 into the video.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]NEXT LIVESTREAM THURSDAY OCTOBER 9[/p][p]Next Thursday we will be rampaging through the wild planet if Bob, the god of wormholes, is willing. We’ll be fighting creatures, healing each other, rezzing each other, and just causing havok. If you are non-combat, equip a Harvester or Terraformer, come with us, and casually pick flowers or emeralds next to us while we fight.[/p][p][/p][p]You are welcome to join us in game. Just meet us on the back deck of the TPL station in space. Or you can join us for the livestream at [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink].[/p][p][/p][p]If you prefer to watch, join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]. Thursday, October 16 at 9:00 AM Pacific / noon Eastern.[/p][p] [/p][p]LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE[/p][p]We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:[/p]

• [p]The Transplanetary League set[/p]
• [p]The Stars Reach logo set[/p]
• [p]The Infinite Worlds set[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]HOW YOU CAN HELP [/p][p]If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]Hello Reachers![/p][p]We got a new update for you today; time to list some changes![/p][p][/p][p]Changes[/p]

• [p]Building Tiles have had their models updated. This is the first step in a larger update that is aimed at helping with the performance of their assets.[/p]
  • [p]You may notice that the appearance of some of them has been altered slightly. Keep an eye out for anything that seems out of place and let us know if it helps with performance in areas with a lot of building tiles.[/p]
• [p]The planet ecology system has been turned back on after some fixes and tuning. See the University Updates for more information on the system.[/p]
  • [p]This is only the first pass on the system, and we are excited to see how you all interact with it.[/p]
• [p]Added a cancel button on the trade dialogue when waiting for the other player to accept the trade.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Bug Fixes[/p]

• [p]Fixed an issue that was causing the Named Bosses from public events to spawn multiple times.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue with grown trees not retaining their size after a server restart.[/p]
• [p]Deployed a fix to prevent creatures from dropping power-ups if they were killed by the kill-field below the world.[/p]

[p]PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p]We are currently closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but are open Thursday through Monday.[/p][p]
[/p][p]CONTROLLED CHAOS INTERVIEWS JUSTIN STREFLING
The craziest Controlled Chaos interview yet – this time he interviews Playable Worlds Human Resources Manager Justin Strefling. This interview sounds more like two friends having beers after work on a Friday. You will laugh. This is a long, fun interview.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
RAPH KOSTER PRESENTS AT IGDA SD DEMO DAYS[/p][p]Raph presented a talk on the history of virtual worlds at the International Game Developers Association - San Diego Chapter’s Demo Days event held at Mesa College. [/p][p]Rod Haza also brought a demo computer and demonstrated Stars Reach for the attendees alongside other Southern California-made games. [/p][p]Special thank you to Justamirage for attending and taking photographs and letting us use them.[/p][p]
[/p][p][/p][p]KICKSTARTER LATE PLEDGES ENDED - THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT!
The late pledges had remained surprisingly popular after the close of the Kickstarter campaign but these have now ended. [/p][p]Be advised that for a period of time there will be nothing offered for sale other than logo merchandise. [/p][p]It is still possible to sign up for the waiting list for future invitations to playtest. Please visit https://starsreach.com to sign up.[/p][p]

FIRESIDE CHAT WITH LIGHT BATES
Last Saturday, Light joined us on stage to talk about the University Update, what each thing meant and sometimes a bit of why it was interesting. [/p][p]These features are not meant to be finished, shipping quality but are meant to be sufficiently functional for players to tell us what works and does not work about them. We are leaving space to adjust our design before finishing the features. This is an important part of how we want to partner with our players.[/p][p]Please take advantage of this temporarily-stored video on demand:[/p][p]https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2578742717[/p][p][/p][p]
NEXT LIVESTREAM THURSDAY OCTOBER 9[/p][p]Next Thursday we will be touring the buildings and homes on Akacala in a nod to EverQuest’s famous old home tours. [/p][p]You are welcome to join us in game and come attend (or guide) the tours with us. [/p][p]If you prefer to watch, join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]. Thursday, Oct 9, 2025 at 9:00 AM Pacific / noon Eastern.[/p][p]

LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE[/p][p]We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:[/p]

• [p]The Transplanetary League set[/p]
• [p]The Stars Reach logo set[/p]
• [p]The Infinite Worlds se[/p]

[p][/p][p]You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store/[/p][p] [/p][p]HOW YOU CAN HELP [/p][p]If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]

[p]NEW: UNIVERSITY UPDATE[/p][p]There are a number of new features in this update including a new way to measure planetary ecological health, but what really caught peoples’ attention were the changes to skill trees.[/p][p]Built into this update is a way to view our future plans for skill trees. We included trees and skills for parts of the game we are not working on yet. [/p][p]https://starsreach.com/university-update[/p][p][/p][p]PLAYTEST SCHEDULE HAS CHANGED[/p][p][/p][p]Immediately following Saturday’s Fireside Chat, we will have a playtest that lasts until Tuesday morning, Pacific time. We will take the servers offline for 2 days for updates, then restart the test on Thursday at the same time as our Thursday livestream. .
[/p][p]Fun note: the playtests used to start at 10:00 AM and we had a developer livestream on[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink] from 9:00-10:00 AM. We moved the start time earlier so players could join us in game and play together.[/p][p][/p][p]CONTROLLED CHAOS INTERVIEWS THOMAS MARCON[/p][p]Another great Controlled Chaos interview – this time he interviews Playable Worlds Community Manager Thomas “Frommy” Marcon. Come hear about this multitalented man with a great, Italian accent.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]THOMAS MARCON INTERVIEWS DAVE GEORGESON: CHANGES COMING TO COMBAT[/p][p]We can expect new weapon types, new deployables, customization, new combat mechnics, vehicles, crowd control, added effect, and weapon customizations.[/p][p]Some of this content is years away, but it’s all very interesting. Don’t miss this interview.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]KICKSTARTER LATE PLEDGES ENDING IN DAYS!
The late pledges have remained popular after the close of the Kickstarter campaign but these will be ending on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. You have this weekend plus Monday & Tuesday to purchase them either on Kickstarter.com or on StarsReach.com/store at the same price but with a couple additional payment options.[/p][p]
Be advised that for a period of time there will be nothing offered for sale other than logo merchandise. It will still be possible to sign up for the waiting list for future invitations to playtest.[/p][p][/p][p]PLAYING WITH THE DEVS LIVESTREAM[/p][p]We had a test run last week and it was great fun but it would be more fun if the playtesters joined us. [/p][p]We will do it again on Thursday, October 2nd. We will meet at the Transplanetary League base by the mission kiosks. We will ask everyone to accept two missions from Akacala which we will complete together. Then we will move together to the Akacala portal.[/p][p]We will start with the closest mission locations and work together to clear them all. Then we will go back together and turn them in earning klaatu.[/p][p]Be ready with your client updated and your character already finished with the tutorial and waiting in the Transplanetary League base. Come with us![/p][p]If you prefer to watch, join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]


[/p][p]LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE[/p]

• [p]We updated our game logo recently. A new game logo also means that new game logo merchandise arrived in the store![/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][p]SCREENSHOT OF THE WEEK [/p][p]Upgraded lighting and a bit of volumetric fog is visible here in a familiar location. The values have not yet been tuned but it’s already very noticeable.[/p][p]
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