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Say goodbye to your characters: Starbound update incoming

Starbound path incoming, last character wipe

Goddamnit. I am table-flipping mad right now. Another big patch is coming to the Starbound beta, with a slew of bug fixes, a new permadeath game mode, new guns, new hats, more random encounters and possibly a few more things, but I don’t care about any of that because my beloved robot Beep Boop is going to be killed.

Worse than killed, in fact, since everyone is about to lose their characters and ships, with them being wiped from existence as if they never lived at all. Yes, this big patch brings with it the long feared character wipe, which is making me cry. Thankfully, it will be the last one, as a new save file fix will ensure that future patches leave your treasured avatars alone. Chucklefish hopes that worlds won’t need to be wiped in future, as well. 

Fixes:

  • .ds_store issue affecting OSX 9.1 users (A bug where Finder created an invisible file called .ds_store in the player folder which caused the game to crash).
  • A number of character creation/selection screen crashes related to loading corrupted save files
  • An issue that could prevent the launcher from starting (MSVCRT.dll)
  • DirectX crash bug (303 bug)
  • Several memory leaks, including the slow-but-significant server memory leak a lot of people were experiencing and GUI memory leak
  • Fixed a crash bug related to GUI controls
  • Reduced memory load of FTL animation
  • .abc files with comments no longer crash the game, plus various .abc fixes as far as key signatures/timing
  • A number of issues with players spawning underground
  • A bug where players spawned outside the ship if they’d previously saved the game while in the Captain’s Chair
  • Right shift key was not working as a shift key, now it is
  • An issue tech slots were unusable under certain conditions
  • Wiring system fixes– wires are rendered below UI elements, wires no longer break when crossed into an unloaded sector
  • Added image metadata caching, improved assets caching
  • Added a jeep mech that was supposed to have been in the last patch, but had mysteriously gone missing!
  • Object flipping issues
  • Sped up the crafting window
  • Fixed a sound issue that occurred after many concurrent weapon hits
  • Characters no longer blink while sleeping in beds
  • Assorted minor performance improvements

Additions:

  • New game modes! Permadeath and drop-everything-on-death modes.
  • Revolvers, pulse rifles, hand grenades, shivs, Floran needlers, Floran thorn hammer
  • Human guards now wear soldier uniforms
  • More decorative hats! Yay, hats!
  • More random encounters
  • Possibly more content, if it’s finished on time!

With betas, you’ve got expect these wipes, but I confess that I often entirely forget that Starbound is actually not finished yet. It’s so content rich, and I’ve been lucky enough to encounter almost no bugs and certainly no crashes, so all I can do when this happens is wait for it to rain, run outside in inappropriate clothing, and scream at the heavens.