System Era Softworks’ reveal of its second-ever game Starseeker likely has roused a whole lot of curiosity from fans, particularly those who have enjoyed the studio’s first game, survival sandbox Astroneer. Cue a Q&A session with creative director Adam Bromell, which seeks to give a little more insight into what the game is like.
Bromell first starts by reaffirming Starseeker’s intent to be a multiplayer-focused title where players team up with friends and those they meet along the way to engage in cooperative exploration missions. “We really want to make experiences that connect all of its players together,” he says. “Starseeker is a game about standing shoulder-to-shoulder with people. […] We’re not making an MMO, but I want to make an experience where everybody’s on the same team.”
As far as gameplay specifics, the devs aren’t ready to fully reveal expedition gameplay, but promises that more will be revealed in the summer and points out that Astroneer fans will likely be familiar with what the game’s loop will look like. That means PvE only, co-op only, and plenty of planetary deformation like in Astroneer but with added physics and materials like water, along with entirely unique things like gliding, creatures that change the game, and more interactive scanning.
At one point the devs do circle back to Astroneer, reaffirming yet again that there’s a separate team working on Starseeker and another on Astroneer and that System Era plans on “doubling down” on content that’s specific to the survival sandbox. There’s even talk of a planned livestream sometime later that will discuss what’s next for Astroneer.
The question of where the game is in terms of development was answered with a pre-alpha state, though Bromell was quick to point out that the game won’t be releasing in any sort of pre-alpha or early state, though it will be hosting beta tests and other additional tests as development moves forward, all of which can be signed up for now via Discord. “We want to push this thing all the way to a nice polished release,” comms director Joe Tirado says during the stream.
Bromell additionally confirms that the game must have an internet connection – no offline single-player in this one – but it can be played solo, while also admitting that “the game can’t help but make friends for you” in the way it connects players aboard the titular space station hub and how progress of others is showed off.
Other points of note from the Q&A portion:
- The studio cannot confirm or deny crossplay is happening due to “platform restrictions and people who have their own rules.”
- Starseeker will use procedural generation for most of the portions of the game, including planets and expeditions, but that will primarily be done for the devs’ benefit to craft things faster. The focus is on “mastery” of a planet for players in terms of familiarity with their surroundings.
- Keyboard and mouse will be supported as will gamepad support, though there will be a “controller first” focus.
- Starseeker will be a premium game with a box price. In fact, Bromell is vehemently against free-to-play as a monetization model.
- There will be some kind of narrative that moves things along. Obviously details are thin but otpimistic futurism a la Star Trek will be a North Star.
