Starbound #HO

We will be adding several unique features and instances where planets will not only be more unique, but potentially be more hospitable and/or uninhabitable!
Things to look forward to:

GRAVITATIONAL DIFFERENTIATION

Gravitational Differences between planets and moons will be added and each planet's gravitational pull will be based on size size. As a result, combat, traveling, and spelunking on planets will be drastically different. You may be able to jump higher and stay in the air longer, you may only be able to jump a couple of feet off the ground, you may not even be able to jump at all. Movement speed might even be affected on planets with extremely intense gravitational pulls. Even items/falling blocks/projectiles will be affected!

DISTANCE FROM SUN TO DETERMINE TEMPERATURE AND BIOME

*Tempurature and biome type will now be based on distance from it's sun.
PLANET PHSYSIOLOGY
*not ALL planets will be host to trees or plant life - this will depend on things like temperature, physiology, and atmosphere.

ATMOSPHERIC VARIATION

*Planets with rich oxygen levels will have large, overgrown forests and jungles, and monsters will grow to increased sizes.
*some planets will have atmospheres that are not breathable.
*planets can now be extremely hot as well as extremely cold. Planets with high temperatures will cause the player's energy to regenerate at a reduced rate when not equipped with proper gear, and standing out in the open will rapidly increase body temperature, eventually causing the player to burst into flames.

LARGE CITIES

*Large, racially-themed cities will now be found on large, inhabitable planets. In these cities you will (eventually, still beta) have access to ship upgrades, extensions, and be able to recruit crew members for your ship! Vendors and other types of NPCs will be added as well. Cities add a great deal of potential for possible future implementations, so look forward to lots more being eventually added.

PLANET AND CREATURE LOG/INDEX SYSTEM

*Each player will be given a way to log information about visited systems and their planets, as well the species that inhabit them. Players will be able to access planetary information via the captains chair (an extension of the navigation UI), and creature information will be accessed via a new interface (similar to a pokedex ) where players can name creatures and make notes. All of this information can be taken to a research facility (not the dungeon) in any large city where scientists will pay the player based on how much new information they offer.

BOUNTY HUNTING

*Bounties for randomly generated outlaws will be posted in cities and players can capture or kill these targets for rewards.

SPACE PORTS

We are implementing Space Ports, which give players a place to dock their ship, buy fuel, interact with other NPCs, and find local bounty postings. They may also find other various things such as vendors, black market ship part vendors, stim pack vending machines, etc. These will be located floating in space between planetary systems as well as located in various cities, and will serve in addition to cities as a player hub location for multiplayer servers.

MONSTER BREEDING -

monsters will now be able to be bred, and their traits will be combined and given to their offspring. This allows players to customize their own monster breeds and effectively create the ultimate battle companion! We _may even be considering the option for players to engage in monster battles with other players.

*Space Combat

Players will occasionally encounter hostile ships in space and may be attacked! Enemies may even board your ship! Ship damages might include: Leaking fuel Broken Booster - slower travel more to come
Some bounty hunting missions will require players to track down an outlawed ship and engage in combat either between ships or onboard the ship.

CREW MEMBERS

Crew member that are recruited in cities will be able to perform basic tasks such as :cook food, smelt ores, put things away in specified chests, and organize chests. They can also be dropped off on planets to harvest trees, mine ores, or search for civilization. If a player does this, they will be able to contact the NPC at any time, and also, the NPC will contact you if he fulfills his task, finds something interesting/valuable, or needs assistance. Crew members MAY die, and therefore players will be able to equip them with gear. Once the NPC has finished, or you order it to stop, you can return to the planet and pick him up. Only SMALL amounts of resources will be able to be gathered this way.

You've probably realized by this point that this isn't real.
But imagine if it was!