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[adecoy95]

look, i like starfarer (starsector), i really do. but its been in early access for over four years. i personally joined in early 2012 after it got some attention from a few youtubers.

the typical response is that its just one guy developing, but there are a lot of indie games that manage to release quicker than this.

there isint really anything i can do about it i guess i just want to vent disappointment that it is taking so long to see starsector become feature complete. this game is one of the reasons i dont support any form of early access anymore. its probably just like any other creative process, once you start showing it  and receiving hype (or the initial big sales) you lose more and move motivation to see it to the end.

[Dark.Revenant]

Starsector is a large enough game that it would comfortably fill a 2 year development cycle, given a team of 10 developers, artists, and testers paid full-time.  Alex is one guy with a couple part-timers to help.  No *** it's gonna take a long time, and anyone who believed otherwise in 2012 is delusional.

[Alex]

Hi there - just wanted to respond on two of your points real quick.

but there are a lot of indie games that manage to release quicker than this.

All games aren't the same, you know? Starsector is big, and I want to do it right rather than just tick of all the feature boxes.

its probably just like any other creative process, once you start showing it  and receiving hype (or the initial big sales) you lose more and move motivation to see it to the end.

I'm super excited to be working on the game. Finally implementing features that have been in the plan for years feels pretty incredible - motivation is, if anything, at an all-time high.

(Not that motivation is required to keep working on something, but that's a more philosophical question.)


That said, I do understand that you'd like to see the game be completed sooner. I mean, I would too

[Dri]

I also joined way back in 2012 and I also made a thread about this sort of topic in the past. Those 8+ month waits between patches are brutal and, to be blunt, are something I view as unacceptable. Wish Alex would hire a second hand but if he hasn't already done so after all this time (David and Stian work on commission), it isn't gonna happen.

But ain't nothing we can do, bro. Alex has kept the game off Steam Early Access for a reason, it seems! So we wait, and wait, and wait...

[Schwartz]

At the risk of white-knighting here: When you buy early access, you buy the game in the state it is at the time. Yeah, you can reasonably expect delivery on promises made, but beyond that everything else strikes me as an unreasonable demand.

this game is one of the reasons i dont support any form of early access anymore.

Wow. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. Completely the opposite. SS is one of the prime examples of early access done right. You get a -very- playable game at discount, not a bag full of air and promises. And you know he's going to finish it. Even if it takes a long time.

[Sproginator]

How does one find out how they've been on the forum for?

[Dri]

You've been on the forum since May 05, 2012.

Just click on your name from one of your posts.

[ahrenjb]

I've been waiting a long time, but I knew I would be, and I've certainly gotten more than my moneys worth out of the game already. The fact that I will continue to be able to enjoy subsequent versions is even better, and never once has Alex gone out of his way to actively market the game or set unrealistic guidelines for hype. This is something I really appreciate out of an early access project. He may be a perfectionist, he may set his own pace, but the quality of the work and stability of the game speaks volumes. Just read one of the blog posts if you're not sure what I mean. Every change, every mechanic is thought out and carefully fit into the larger picture of the game. The release schedule and inclusion of new features has also happened at a pretty consistent rate over the life of the project (at least as long as I've been following it) which is a rare thing on it's own in these types of projects.

Living with a software developer, I've gotten to see first hand what it's like to take even a small a project from concept to completion (even that being a relative term), and it's given me a huge amount of respect for the amount of work a project as ambitious as this represents for a single programmer. I watched four people work almost full time job hours over multiple months just to make a reasonable demonstration of an engine tech demo. It's not easy.

All games aren't the same, you know? Starsector is big, and I want to do it right rather than just tick of all the feature boxes.

That pretty much says it all.

I'm very, very eager to play the complete version of this game. That doesn't take away from what I get out of it already. Sorry if this sounds too much like "Fractal Softworks Internet Defense Force", but I would hate to see this attitude become pervasive in the community.

[majorfreak]

I'm super excited to be working on the game. Finally implementing features that have been in the plan for years feels pretty incredible - motivation is, if anything, at an all-time high.

gee, no charges for expansion/patches. i'm happy to shell out ...what? $20 to play for years. This game is exactly what i was looking for. be neat to see 'industry' skills fleshed out at some point but no rush

[736b]

this game is one of the reasons i dont support any form of early access anymore.

Wow. I'm just trying to wrap my head around this. Completely the opposite. SS is one of the prime examples of early access done right. You get a -very- playable game at discount, not a bag full of air and promises. And you know he's going to finish it. Even if it takes a long time.

That's my take on Starsector as well. It was the first game I bought in development and because it's done so good I also started buying other in development games.

[Bastion.Systems]

It's only 15$.
Not comparable to some kickstarter project with wild promises and 2000$ reward tiers.

[BillyRueben]

You know you aren't forced to play only one game right? You aren't cheating on StarSector if you play something else for the "dry" months between updates.

[VuNut]

I don't entirely understand that mentality, I bought SS somewhere around two years ago. Played a bit then put it down when something else grabbed my interest. I've been picking the game back up every update since, and the progress made (and steady increase in how long I keep playing every time) is very satisfying to see.

In terms of raw price-per-hour of entertainment, SS utterly blows finished games out of the water for me, and I'm far from done with it.

[Euphytose]

And you know he's going to finish it. Even if it takes a long time.

This may sound rude, but no, we actually have no proof whatsoever that he's going to finish it other than his word. And somebody's word is worth nothing to me. That being said, the state the game is in right now is already lots of fun. When you play a game for more than 6 hours straight without stopping you know something is done right.

But by wanting to create a huge game, with only one guy, it will take an equally huge amount of time, and at some point you have to let go.

[Schwartz]

I take his everyday involvement in the forum, his attitude towards support, bugfixing and community input as pretty conclusive evidence that he wants to finish his game. I suppose that's more of a heavy-handed hint rather than actual proof, but if we're going by that margin no dev, early access or otherwise, has ever lived up to scrutiny beyond a reasonable expectation of them not lying to their audience. That's like asking for proof that money has intrinsic worth - damn near impossible when you think about it.