Stars Reach News

[p]RAPH EXPLAINS VISUAL UPDATES[/p][p]For months now, we have been working on a big overhaul to the visuals in Stars Reach. This has involved redoing most of the shaders in the entire game, and going back and retouching every asset. We started by redoing all the plant life and flora, and we have hundreds of those assets that had to be redone.[/p][p]Further, they all need to grow, change in response to seasons, be able to catch fire and burn, freeze, shed leaves and die, and so on. The right plants grow in the right places based on the temperature and the humidity and the soil types. [/p][p]All that means that every tree you see in the game grew there, and propagates across the landscape just like real plants. Seeds fall and grow into trees, forest fires happen and so on.[/p][p]
More details are here: Raphkoster.com[/p][p]
STARS REACH LAB PRESENTS: BIOMES UPGRADE VIDEO[/p][p]We continue our series on incoming visual upgrades (and in some cases performance upgrades at the same time.)  [/p][p]Gorgeous volumetric fog effects, seasonal changes, reactions to frost and fires, multiple biomes, day/night cycles, hydrology changes, and alien species are visually portrayed. [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]FULL RESET COMING WITH GOVBOT UPDATE[/p][p]Our next major update is a big one. We will be calling it GovBot Update and it includes the planet ownership feature first revealed in our Kickstarter reward tiers. More details on GovBot Update coming soon. [/p][p]To implement it (and also to evaluate it), we will need to do full character wipes. Character wipes would also break ownership ties to homesteads effectively orphaning the beautiful constructions on Akacala and other planets. The solution is a full wipe.[/p][p]We are telling you this now so you can plan, screenshot, record video, etc.[/p][p]
MMORPG.COM & MASSIVELY OP NOTE NEW GRAPHICS AND RAPH’S BLOG
“Almost unrecognizable” and “major visual improvements”, they said. [/p][p]They reference and quote Raph’s devblog describing the new updates and how they are being added to the game. And MMORPG explains how the biomes are simulations rather than pre-designed settings.[/p][p]
Please read both articles here: mmorpg.com & Massivelyop.com[/p][p] [/p][p]CODE & CRAFT PODCAST INTERVIEWS LIGHT
Code & Craft sat down with Playable Worlds Technical Designer Light Bates to learn more logic and design philosophy behind Stars Reach. They talked about creative problem-solving, building worlds that feel alive, what it really takes to bring vision and engineering together in modern game development, and about Light’s own journey into game development.[/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
FIRESIDE CHAT - OCTOBER 25[/p][p]If you missed Dave Georgeson and Rick Reynolds’ Fireside Chat on October 25, we have a recording of the livestream. [/p][p]This is the introduction of Vendor Kiosk Update with some of the thinking behind the features in the update. [/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]We are testing the Vendor Kiosk Update built and new items include the bank in the TPL starbase, homestead crates providing new storage on your homesteads (limit 3 per homestead), and the titular vendor kiosks you can place on your homesteads.[/p][p]As usual, tests are currently running from Thursday morning straight through to Tuesday morning. [/p][p]
PLAYED WITH THE DEVS LIVESTREAM
If you missed Thursday’s Play-with-the-devs livestream, our plan was to show the new bank in the space station, then move to Akacala and tour the local shopping just added this week. We saw the breadth of offerings, the prices, and the organization. Some folks even placed multiple vendor kiosks side-by-side differentiated by the categories of goods for sale within.[/p][p]We then visit a homestead and built a Homestead Crate for storage and then a Vendor Kiosks so you could see the building and [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]PLAYABLE WORLDS CO-FOUNDER SPEAKING AT GAMESBEAT NEXT
GamesBeat Next runs Wednesday and Thursday, November 12 & 13 in San Francisco.[/p][p]It's a conference for games industry executives and their support services. [/p][p]Playable Worlds President and Co-founder Eric Goldberg is moderating a panel on Games M&A at noon on November 13.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The full agenda can be seen on the Gamesbeat website.[/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]
You can visit the store here: Stars Reach Merch Store[/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]VENDOR KIOSK UPDATE[/p][p]Yes, we have a new update for you to test. We named it after the Vendor Kiosk feature, but it also includes a bank, a storage crate, and a minor Halloween event.[/p][p]
Vendor Kiosk[/p][p]You can now place a kiosk on your claim that you can use to sell things to the general public in game.[/p][p]The recipe unlock is automatic for the moment and part of the Business skill tree. Everyone gets it for free at the moment.[/p][p]To create a Vendor kiosk, go to the Lathe and use the recipe you find there for it. Once it is crafted, you can go to one of your Homesteads and place the kiosk there. You place the kiosk with the Fabricator, so you’ll need one of those before you can do so. NOTE: You may only have one Vendor kiosk per Homestead.[/p][p]Any player may open the Vendor kiosk after it is placed and they can buy any item found there.[/p][p]Only players with editing permissions on that Homestead can post items to sell into that kiosk.[/p][p]Click the BROWSE button in the upper, left of the screen. All the items that you (or other players with edit permissions) have made available for sale are in those listings. Click on any item to get a Purchase dialog.[/p][p]To put an item up for sale, click the SELL button in the upper left of the screen. Then just drag-and-drop any item or stack of items from your inventory onto the right side of the screen. You can set the price and authorize the sale. [/p][p]You need to come back to the Vendor kiosk to collect the money from any sold items. Click the SELL button to see your listings then click the coin icon to collect the Klaatu.[/p][p][/p][p]Bank[/p][p]The Bank is found in the Starbase. You can access the Bank kiosk and then drag-and-drop items, or stacks of items, from your inventory to the bank vault. You can then return to the bank at any time and recover those items by dragging them back into your inventory.[/p][p][/p][p]Homestead Crates[/p][p]You can now create Homestead Crates and place them on your Homestead for additional storage.[/p][p]You unlock the Homestead Crate recipe by unlocking the Architect skill tree. [/p][p]You build the Homestead Crate at the Lathe.[/p][p]After it is in your inventory, you place it like any other Building Tile by using the Fabricator.[/p][p]Only yourself and people that you give permission to edit your Homestead will be able to access crates placed on that Homestead. (Later on, we’ll add more granular permission settings, but that’s how it is for now.)[/p][p][/p][p]Halloween[/p][p]We have also included a very small Halloween event but we are not explaining it. You will need to discover it yourself.[/p][p]More details are here: Vendor Kiosk Update – Stars Reach[/p][p]
PLAYTEST SCHEDULE[/p][p][/p][p]We are patching the current build and will open the playtest servers tomorrow. Then we go back onto our usual Thursday-through-Tuesday morning rhythm. [/p][p][/p][p]MASSIVELY OP AND MMORPG COMMENT ON NEW UPDATE[/p][p]MMO specialist press have been keeping an eye on our progress and commented this week. [/p][p]We appreciate their support.[/p][p]https://massivelyop.com/2025/10/22/raph-kosters-stars-reach-added-player-owned-vendors-in-this-weeks-pre-alpha-patch[/p][p][/p][p]https://www.mmorpg.com/news/stars-reach-adds-a-vendor-kiosk-to-buy-and-sell-new-mission-tiers-more-storage-and-a-surprise-halloween-event-2000136399[/p][p][/p][p]CONTROLLED CHAOS CREATED A VIDEO ON VENDOR KIOSK UPDATE
Chaos takes us through the various new functionality and how to use it. He explains one known bug but it might be gone by the time you log into the game.[/p][p]He also comments on art and terminology changes and smaller things that might go unnoticed.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]STARS REACH LAB: JUNGLE BIOME[/p][p]This is a work-in-progress video showing some of the new plants and vegetation, while also demonstrating how seasons, light, and some initial player interactions affect the living world.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]PLAYED WITH THE DEVS LIVESTREAM[/p][p]If you missed Thursday’s Play-with-the-devs livestream, our plan was to explain the game, explain the wild wormholes, and take a group to the wild planet. [/p][p]We did this and explained good resources to harvest on this temporary planet. And of course there were some combat shenanigans.[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p] [/p][p]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 the Vendor Kiosk Update and answering your questions. [/p][p]Join us on [dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]. Saturday, October 25 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]You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store[/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][/p][p]








[/p]

[h2]Vendor Kiosk[/h2][p]There is now a Vendor kiosk available to you![/p][p]
[/p][p]The recipe unlock is automatic for the moment and part of the Business skill tree. Everyone gets it for free at the moment.[/p][p]
[/p][p]To create a Vendor kiosk, go to the Lathe and use the recipe you find there for it. Once it is crafted, you can go to one of your Homesteads and place the kiosk there. You place the kiosk with the Fabricator, so you’ll need one of those before you can do so. NOTE: You may only have one Vendor kiosk per Homestead.[/p]

• [p]Any player may open the Vendor kiosk after it is placed and they can buy any item found there.[/p]
• [p]Only players with editing permissions on that Homestead can post items to sell into that kiosk.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Purchasing Items from the Kiosk[/h3][p]Click the BROWSE button in the upper, left of the screen. All the items that you (or other players with edit permissions) have made available for sale are in those listings. Click on any item to get a Purchase dialog.[/p][p][/p][h3]Posting Items for Sale into the Kiosk[/h3][p]To put an item up for sale, click the SELL button in the upper left of the screen. Then just drag-and-drop any item or stack of items from your inventory onto the right side of the screen. You can set the price and authorize the sale. [/p][p]NOTE: There is a non-refundable listing fee each time you place something up for sale, and that is currently 5% of whatever the amount you are listing the item for.[/p][p]There is a minimum cost of ten Klaatu per individual item, so a stack of 100 items will have a minimum sale price of 1000 Klaatu.[/p][p]You need to come back to the Vendor kiosk to collect the money from any sold items. Click the SELL button to see your listings then click the coin icon to collect the Klaatu.[/p][p]You can list a maximum of 100 items on your Vendor Kiosk.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bank[/h2][p]The Bank is found in the Starbase. You can access the Bank kiosk and then drag-and-drop items, or stacks of items, from your inventory to the bank vault. You can then return to the bank at any time and recover those items by dragging them back into your inventory.[/p][p][/p][h2]Homestead Crates[/h2][p]You can now create Homestead Crates and place them on your Homestead for additional storage.[/p]

• [p]You unlock the Homestead Crate recipe by unlocking the Architect skill tree. [/p]
• [p]You build the Homestead Crate at the Lathe.[/p]
• [p]After it is in your inventory, you place it like any other Building Tile by using the Fabricator.[/p]
• [p]Only yourself and people that you give permission to edit your Homestead will be able to access crates placed on that Homestead. (Later on, we’ll add more granular permission settings, but that’s how it is for now.)[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Halloween Event[/h2]

• [p]There is a (minor) event. But we’re not giving you details so there are some surprises. Enjoy![/p]
• [p]It starts when this update goes Live and ends on November 1st.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Miscellaneous Improvements[/h2]

• [p]Large glass walls and corners are added to the game. These are unlocked through the “Windows and Walls” skill node in the Architect skill tree. If you already have that unlocked, you’ll have access to the new tiles.[/p]
• [p]Mission and Ecology kiosks have visual upgrades.[/p]
• [p]There are now Tiers of missions available on the Mission kiosk. The more difficult tiers will be further away from the portal, requiring more travel time, but rewards are greater also.[/p]
• [p]A large number of flora items (trees and bushes) were improved, resulting in higher performance, but we’ll need to do another flora wipe to make them show up in game. Apologies to those of you that made gardens.[/p]
• [p]If a creature is immune to a status effect, you will now see text flyouts occur letting you know.[/p]
• [p]The “Bare” versions of soils that are in the game will no longer generate separate types of doobers. Previously, as an example, there were “Bare Alluvial” and “Alluvial” soil types. Those are still in the game, but you won’t notice it as much now because regardless of which type you extract, you will only get “Alluvial” soil now.[/p]
• [p]Repeatedly walking the same path across grassy areas will now start to form trails of bare soil.[/p]
• [p]The Planetary Health status is broadcast to all players regularly.[/p]
• [p]The Chat Pane has been improved and now has two channels. More channels are forthcoming after we test this further and enable a back-end piece that we’re still working on currently.[/p]
• [p]The “Stunt” function on the Pruning Tool now has a VFX associated with it.[/p]
• [p]Hitting ESC will now close announcements and hint dialogs.[/p]
• [p]“Inventory” is now called “Backpack”[/p]
• [p]Chat pane now defaults to open.[/p]

[p]
[/p][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a reference on the Weaponsmith skill tree to say “Corrosion Drones” instead of “Acid Drones”.[/p]
• [p]Using the “Dupe” function on the Fabricator will no longer allow you to exceed building limits.[/p]
• [p]Errors with seed artwork that resulted in them showing random icons instead of the proper art have been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Crafting Pharmacology recipes now generates Medical XP (instead of Cooking XP).[/p]
• [p]Crafting Power Cell recipes now generates Crafting XP (instead of Cooking XP).[/p]
• [p]You no longer get a Health Wound when you die during the first-time user experience hallway.[/p]
• [p]We no longer spam the chat pane every time you place a building tile.[/p]
• [p]Fauna (creature) totals on the Ecology Kiosk have been corrected.[/p]
• [p]Improved calculation and handling of marketplace stack listings.[/p]

[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]