Ever wanted to play 'No Man's Sky' but just didn't have a PS4, or are rich enough to have a decent gaming computer? (Yep, I know, I'm pathetic, but I just never got into Playstation systems, and I suffer from 'Poor Author's Syndrome'.)
Your answer (if you have an Xbox One or a computer with a half-decent graphics card that hasn't been snatched up in the crypto currency mining craze) is 'Astroneer'. a Pre-Alpha game by developers System Era, available on Steam or the Xbox Store.
The Premise of the game is simple - Mine the bejeezus out of a system of planets without dying!
Easier said than done!
Not only do you have to survive your first planet, but then you have to research enough tech by finding (And kinda destroying in the name of research) artifacts to get yourself a rocket ship outta dodge.
You start in a capsule, booted off an orbital platform and safely land on a earth-like planet. Round and round and round you go, where you stop, gravity knows! if you're lucky, you'll land in a spot where you're surrounded by beautiful naked women... oh wait, wrong game.
Off we go into the great unknown, back tomorrow I hope!
The brochure said there were nekkid ladies! Where's the nekkid ladies?
To get started, you'll need to find some "compound" This then leads you to open your nifty backpack, where you'll use the built-in 3-D printer to print yourself off a small generator, which then powers your backpack right up so you can print off more game enhancing stuff!
To power this generator, you need the resource 'organic'... go mow the grass for some 'green power'! soon you'll be powered by grass clippings and pretty flowers that probably would have eventually evolved into man-eating plants.
The next most important thing - and I can't stress this enough - are Tethers. you need some compound to print those bad boys and they'll help you to survive away from home base, else you'll end up suffocating, and the world and music will sounds like you're drunk, or high, though you're actually suffering from severe CO2 poisoning until you dramatically fall and die alone on this awesomely pretty and colourful alien planet - OH THE HUMANITY!
He's Dead Jim!
Next, you'll need canisters, these collect soil which you'll find VERY useful for extracting resources using one of the modules you'll build back at your awesome base, plus Resin is the key ingredient to making said awesome base.
The start of Awesome Base!
Mine that Compound!
Got Resin Bro?
By this time, you'll have made some holes. Good for you!
Now, just in case you don't have Lassie to help you outta that hole if your name is little Timmy, you'll need to cover that hole.
Thankfully, in your handy-dandy excavation tool, there's a flatten option! this allows you to cover your holy ground.
This also helps when you build a vehicle bay and get your first rover (Also handy because they provide air and power to you away from the base and you can hook up a few like trailers and use them to transport your treasure.
Arrr! I'm a Space Pirate! This is MY BOOTY!
There are a LOT of subterranean caves, and most are easily accessible via a smaller cavern entrance that leads to the surface, or, if you're not watching where you're going, you'll find them in a huge gaping hole on the surface.
Holey Hole batman... it's a hole!
If you dig deep enough, and have enough tethers to keep your sorry ass alive, you can get to the center of the planet, a place where shit gets weird and gravity goes nuts.
I've been playing Astroneer for a little while now, okay a few months, It's a game I can happily waste hours on, mainly because I have a liking for the game, and want to see where the developers take it (And I also want to see what new glitches come out with each successive update! like THIS:
DUDE! Where's my Capsule?
Graphics are pretty raw, and remind me of the classic game 'Chuck Yeager's Air combat' (I was about 11 when I played that game!)
Gameplay CAN be glitchy, but please remember it IS a pre-Alpha game and they are working out the buggy-bugs.
It is also multiplayer, which I have yet to experience as I can't find someone to play the game with, so I've yet to experience the rage-quite inducing lag I've seen so much of in YouTube videos.
Overall, a great, fun time killer. and cheaper than 'No Man's Sky'.
I suggest, however, you TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. there is a DEMO available on Xbox One through the store.
Happy Gaming!
Rockincola is an avid gamer and Author of Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Holrror, she also write some naughtier stuff ;) You can find her GT (rockincola) on Xbox Live. shoot her a message to say hello if you're gaming.
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Hi-diddly-ho, fellow Steemeroo! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the little intro to Astroneer, I'm hoping to cover more of the game and other indie games later on/ -Rockincola
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