Even The Stars
July 29, 2014 12:51 AM   Subscribe

Even the Stars is a game about wandering through space without a purpose

This game uses text input commands, but you can switch to flying mode with the Space bar.

Land and write log entries on findings, some users are sharing their findings on twitter.
posted by hellojed (26 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
I've wondered for quite a while, why with all the enthusiasm for procedurally-generated worlds, that it's taken so long for someone to make something like Noctis with a less insane interface.
posted by straight at 1:16 AM on July 29, 2014 [5 favorites]


I've played plenty of games where exploring the world was at least as interesting as the story, and I had a lot of fun just wandering and seeing the sights. The GTA games and Shadow of the Colossus are two examples that come to mind.

But the thing is, those worlds had something to offer. With GTA, you've got a whole lot of busy streets to explore, and Shadow was so immersive that it was easy to believe you really were riding that horse through ruins and wind-swept planes. But judging by the screengrabs, this kind of looks like a mid-level, 1996 PS1 space game where you never have any dogfights or arrive at any particular destination. I suppose it could be... meditative? I don't know. I really don't get the appeal. Isn't it kind of Desert Bus... in Spaaaace?
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:26 AM on July 29, 2014


Plains, damn it. I can't blame the lack of an edit button this time.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 1:35 AM on July 29, 2014


I wish this one was more like Noctis, but it's not bad as is. Noctis was something amazing and is (apparently) hard to replicate.

Mirror Moon EP is another game in this space exploration vein. Puzzle-solving is at the heart of it, but, even though I'm bad at puzzles, I still enjoyed flying around for a bit, finding ancient alien machinery, and wandering around lost and lonely planets.
posted by honestcoyote at 1:40 AM on July 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Coordinates 65:43:21 has a town with various things to see, a wrecked spaceship for refueling, and a concert for alive-feeling.
posted by JHarris at 1:47 AM on July 29, 2014 [3 favorites]


I was just typing random coordinates and seeing where it took me. 99:99:99 etc. Is there a better way to explore this silly thing?
posted by pracowity at 2:07 AM on July 29, 2014


Maybe I should actually try playing the game before I start bitching. But I don't have the Unity thing installed... and I love bitching!
posted by Ursula Hitler at 2:13 AM on July 29, 2014


Very neat!

Spoiler: I love that when you finish, you get a map of all the places you visited.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 2:14 AM on July 29, 2014


Through Twitter, I think, pracowity. By hearing what others have found.

Note to people trying this: the "meat" of the game is finding planets, and finding interesting things on those planets. If a planet has rings, you can use those to help orient you and find more interesting things. To investigate something, stop by holding S near it (so its name, if it has one, is visible), then enter the command DISEMBARK. Some places then allow you another command specific to that thing.

My first game, the first planet I found, the above-mentioned 65:43:21, had a number of interesting, named things on it. But another game, some of the things had names and others didn't?

Also, are there any hidden commands? Perhaps commands that only work in some places? I notice, if you're stopped at a weird place without an obvious command, there is a dash then a blank space where that command would be in the list at the top of the screen. Hmmm.

Note, the STAY command doesn't end your game outright, it just advances the clock more than things like HANGOUT.

Here is my planet log after two games:
65 43 21 - town, concert, tree, giant mushroom, wrecked spacecraft (refueling)
01 23 45 - monolith, spacefuel station (refueling)
99 99 99 - monolith
73 73 73 - museum, city
89 51 60 - (nothing?)
10 10 10 - ruins of a big city
86 86 86 - (nothing?)
31 90 06 - (nothing?)
86 30 09 - [weird sculpture]
posted by JHarris at 2:25 AM on July 29, 2014


31 41 59 has a refueling station.
posted by daniel_charms at 3:29 AM on July 29, 2014


People who like this game might also want to try Nested. Made by Orteil, of Cookie Clicker fame.
posted by Too-Ticky at 3:50 AM on July 29, 2014 [8 favorites]


Needs more goats.
posted by flabdablet at 4:08 AM on July 29, 2014


Can't wait to try this!

Oh man, Noctis. Remember how you were supposed to be some cat creature and if you ran out of fuel you'd turn on a beacon and eventually some other cat alien would come and give you fuel? Remember how you could supposedly hunt and eat birds? Remember the weird obelisks and sliding up your visor to get a crappy pixelated view of the world instead of a blurry view? That was the shit!!!
posted by pravit at 5:03 AM on July 29, 2014 [2 favorites]


Visited a few more places:

23 23 23 - town, fuel station
01 01 01 - space saloon, fuel station, giant crystals, ancient artifact, starport
88 88 88 - fuel station, drive through
posted by daniel_charms at 5:46 AM on July 29, 2014


looking forward to giving this a shot.

Any chance its got HOTAS support?
posted by rebent at 5:54 AM on July 29, 2014


Have to wait til I get home to try it, but this looks fun. I'm also excited about the possibility of No Man's Sky, which looks similar to this.
posted by DynamiteToast at 7:43 AM on July 29, 2014


People who like this game might also want to try Nested.

Oh jeez. That's like linking people to TVtropes. Not cool, man.
posted by Solon and Thanks at 8:49 AM on July 29, 2014


*blinks in wide-eyed innocence*
I thought folks might enjoy it.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:55 AM on July 29, 2014


65 65 66 - monolith, giant crystals, and space cows
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 10:59 AM on July 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


COWS. IN. SPAAAAACE!
posted by JHarris at 11:23 AM on July 29, 2014


Every Unity game on the planet makes me motion sick. it makes playing with this stuff unpleasant as all get out.
posted by DigDoug at 11:37 AM on July 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


Space Cows? I'm going back in.

This is pretty, and small, and sad. I like it.
posted by running order squabble fest at 11:37 AM on July 29, 2014 [1 favorite]


31.80.08 is sadly empty, but there are a number of interesting planets around it (31.80.00 - 31.80.12).
posted by lekvar at 2:14 PM on July 29, 2014


If you like this, but want something with a bit more game to it, you should check out Strange Adventures In Infinite Space, and its sequel Weird Worlds.
posted by JHarris at 4:14 PM on July 29, 2014


That was exactly what I was thinking! Also, there's a new Infinite Space game in Early Access on Steam - the sandbox is there and not much else at the moment, but it's interesting to see how a 3D starmap changes your perception of the galaxy...
posted by running order squabble fest at 5:00 PM on July 29, 2014


(I really should go to MeFightclub.)
posted by running order squabble fest at 5:01 PM on July 29, 2014


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