FrozenByte, the studio best known for their Trine series of games, has officially launched a Steam page for Starbase, which is described as a “hybrid voxel/vertex-based space MMO with a fully destructible and infinitely expanding universe, with a focus on building and designing spaceships and stations, exploration, resource gathering, crafting, trading, and combat.” That’s quite a mouthful, but in essence you should just think of it as something that seeks to unite the complexity of EVE Online with the sensibilities of Minecraft.
In addition to the MMO component, Starbase includes a sandbox mode, which can be played offline if Minecraft in space is your sort of thing. You can play the sandbox mode with friends, and explore and build in their own respective universes.
Starbase has four main aspects, which FrozenByte hopes to draw players in with.
Destructible Environment
Starbase features a fully destructible environment, meaning that with the right tools and weaponry, anything and everything can be destroyed. There’s also an in-depth physics simulation enabled in Starbase, utilizing hybrid voxel/vertex-based game mechanics. This means that aspects such as combat, exploration and general flying are more creative and fun due to the added layer of physics realism. Structural and elemental durability also come into play, which requires careful construction of your superstructures.
Online Multiplayer
Starbase is looking to follow the EVE Online model, where you can join up with your fellow players and work together for various factions. Alternatively, you can fight against them instead, and conquer the known universe as you see fit. Of course, Starbase also offers relatively safe work in the form of mining asteroids and selling them to various companies, or using these resources for yourself to construct your own massive undertaking. You can also take part in the huge ongoing faction battle between the Empire and the Kingdom, or just stroll around in space covered by the insurance system, a kind of fallback if anything should happen to you out there.
Build and Design
Starbase’s biggest draw is the ability to make everything from scratch, with the smallest building unit being a single bolt. With it, you can build, repair or just modify everything from spaceships, to stations, and various other devices. Expect even the smallest of ships to feature thousands of parts, each one with their own detailed damage model. The game also features in-game programming chips that allow full automation of various processes, also coming with the convenience of innovation for new layouts.
Explore the Galaxy
Starbase will feature a vast and expansive universe, filled with stations, social hubs, and new materials to discover. You can jump in with your friends and explore this vast universe, or just head on over to a nearby asteroid field and mine everything in it. You can trade materials with other players like a respectable merchant, or start your own space age of piracy and loot from others with your superior firepower and combat tactics.
Starbase will hit Early Access sometime this year, and you can head on over to its Steam page to find out more.
