About Star Explorers and the Upcoming 5.0 Update
Many people may have seen the latest Star Explorers trailer on the Realms Deep 2020 hosted hosted by 3D Realms. I wanted to offer new players some history about this game, and what to expect in the coming months.
Star Explorers began way back in 2013. It was an idea that has come a long way, from something purely in my imagination, to an actual game that many people have played and enjoyed. I wrote about these early days developing Star Explorers in much detail, including some of the early pitfalls and struggles that accompanied making such an ambitious game as a solo developer.
The Time I Almost Invented No Man's Sky
Yes, this game does get compared to No Man's Sky quite often. However, if you read the article, you will see that it was not a clone or copy of that game (which is amazing in its own right) but something that was invented simultaneously. It is a much smaller scale project, and I think it fills a considerably different niche in terms of space exploration sims. Some players have expressed their personal opinion that Star Explorers is actually a better game than No Man's Sky, but as someone who can't really be unbiased, I will let the players decide whether that is true for them or not.
[h3]About the New Content[/h3]
The 5.0 Update is still a ways off. However, there have been a number of recent improvements that players should be aware of. Before I discuss that, I offer a warning. My games, though usually enjoyed, have often been described as "rough around the edges." It is a label that I once found funny, but now I appreciate that I need to move beyond, if my game development adventure is going to continue to grow. Star Explorers is indeed rough around the edges. There is a bit of a learning curve, and it has some features that could use a lot of streamlining.
With that said, I have recently included an in-game interactive guide for new players, that should introduce you to most of the game's major features. It will help new players understand the overall gameplay loop, while keeping with the open ended nature of the gameplay as much as possible.
Also, ultrawide monitor support was recently added, along with an improved screen resolution dialogue, something a long time coming. New features will be announced in more detail as they are released.
[h3]The Testing Branch[/h3]
When I am working on new features, I often upload them to the "testing" branch so they can be tried out by curious players before they make it to the default game. I plan to upload the latest version to the testing branch soon, as I am preparing and testing all the new features. Feel free to try it out once it is available, but right clicking on Star Explorers and navigating to "Properties > Betas" and choosing "testing" from the drop down menu."
Right now the testing branch has the same game as the default branch, but you should see an announcement about it in the near future.
[h3]Looking Forward[/h3]
Star Explorers is my dream project. As a game developer and artist, this is the project I love working on, and hope to continue developing long into the future. It's not always easy though. Work, family and other issues are always there to prevent me from being able to improve the game. There is a small community here and on the discord server that help to provide testing and feedback, but more are always welcome!
I have other game projects, including the nearly finished Paradox Vector, that I hope will provide enough funding to make this a sustainable business. As players, I feel like my fate is in your hands, and is directly related to how much you like or dislike my games, If you do like what you see here, and want to see more of it, please consider helping me out by doing one or more of the following.
Anyway, I do hope you all enjoy Star Explorers, and I look forward to getting the next update out as soon as possible!
Star Explorers began way back in 2013. It was an idea that has come a long way, from something purely in my imagination, to an actual game that many people have played and enjoyed. I wrote about these early days developing Star Explorers in much detail, including some of the early pitfalls and struggles that accompanied making such an ambitious game as a solo developer.
The Time I Almost Invented No Man's Sky
Yes, this game does get compared to No Man's Sky quite often. However, if you read the article, you will see that it was not a clone or copy of that game (which is amazing in its own right) but something that was invented simultaneously. It is a much smaller scale project, and I think it fills a considerably different niche in terms of space exploration sims. Some players have expressed their personal opinion that Star Explorers is actually a better game than No Man's Sky, but as someone who can't really be unbiased, I will let the players decide whether that is true for them or not.
[h3]About the New Content[/h3]
The 5.0 Update is still a ways off. However, there have been a number of recent improvements that players should be aware of. Before I discuss that, I offer a warning. My games, though usually enjoyed, have often been described as "rough around the edges." It is a label that I once found funny, but now I appreciate that I need to move beyond, if my game development adventure is going to continue to grow. Star Explorers is indeed rough around the edges. There is a bit of a learning curve, and it has some features that could use a lot of streamlining.
With that said, I have recently included an in-game interactive guide for new players, that should introduce you to most of the game's major features. It will help new players understand the overall gameplay loop, while keeping with the open ended nature of the gameplay as much as possible.
Also, ultrawide monitor support was recently added, along with an improved screen resolution dialogue, something a long time coming. New features will be announced in more detail as they are released.
[h3]The Testing Branch[/h3]
When I am working on new features, I often upload them to the "testing" branch so they can be tried out by curious players before they make it to the default game. I plan to upload the latest version to the testing branch soon, as I am preparing and testing all the new features. Feel free to try it out once it is available, but right clicking on Star Explorers and navigating to "Properties > Betas" and choosing "testing" from the drop down menu."
Right now the testing branch has the same game as the default branch, but you should see an announcement about it in the near future.
[h3]Looking Forward[/h3]
Star Explorers is my dream project. As a game developer and artist, this is the project I love working on, and hope to continue developing long into the future. It's not always easy though. Work, family and other issues are always there to prevent me from being able to improve the game. There is a small community here and on the discord server that help to provide testing and feedback, but more are always welcome!
I have other game projects, including the nearly finished Paradox Vector, that I hope will provide enough funding to make this a sustainable business. As players, I feel like my fate is in your hands, and is directly related to how much you like or dislike my games, If you do like what you see here, and want to see more of it, please consider helping me out by doing one or more of the following.
- Leave a review about why you like the game. Reviews help to draw new players, and often highlight things that I can then focus on improving.
- Leave constructive feedback in the Discussions forum. Steam has a great tool for discussing and providing feedback to developers. Please consider using this if you find something you don't understand, or feel might be a bug. I can usually fix problems once I am aware of them, but in a procedural game it's hard to test every potential outcome without a lot of people playing the game
- Join the Discord https://discord.gg/b4tkySN if you prefer that setting to leave feedback or ask questions.
- Tell your friends and share! Word of mouth is the best way to bring attention to a solo game developer like me. Without a big marketing budget, it is very challenging to get the word out. But having a group of players who are excited about where the game is heading can help a lot.
Anyway, I do hope you all enjoy Star Explorers, and I look forward to getting the next update out as soon as possible!
