Astral Terra

[spoiler]Please, keep in mind that this is only an opinion of mine and each of us has their own, unique, thoughts. The review describes my expression of the game and nothing more than that. This particularly review holds more formal nature and form. May 20th, year 2016. The copy was obtained from Tethys Interactive LLC.[/spoiler] To be honest, this is one of the most ambivalent reviews I am writing so far even though there aren't so many in general. If I were to describe the game in a catch-phrase it would probably sound like "An all-round cake with superious taste ... which is yet to be cooked". And that may somehow convey the first expression after you decide to give Astral Terra a try. Further saying, there are many things to be changed and some to be completely redone even before developers could move this project to "road to release". If you want to support AT and give it your own thoughts after playing, think twice. It is indeed mentioned that the game is currently being in Alpha (which I still can't really justify for an Early Access title as there should be some limit of "done'ess" to consider title be worthy of opening it to mass public). In my opinion, the present build would be much more welcomed as a closed Pre Alpha testing to a limited pool of enthusiasts. But enough with negatory grunt for now. As it was said earlier, Astral Terra has an immense potentional and headway (the main reason I decided to give it a thumbs up) and despite being quite a mess it slowly buy steadily progresses towards that kind of sandbox "toy" you wouldn't feel tedious to play with. There is already diverse arsenal of possibilities to try: for instance, you are able to terraform natural surroundings and create completely different biomes within others (lets say a lovely oasis garden lying midst rough wilderness), give a try to building mass constructions of various form, nature or caliber in general. Also, you could rather devote yourself to grinding and combining elements to then act as blacksmith, carpenter or "The Creator" of some sort. There are three races in-game but naturally it doesn't matter which one you decide to choose as the changes in gameplay are non significant at all less said bring any influence. Techically, as you may have guessed yourself this title is far from anything certain. I first started playing Astral Terra when the team came up with a "huge, epic update" so I am hardly to imagine how it looked like before but even then I had to face several unpleasant issues distorting game experience quite significantly. Thus, I needed to relaunch it a few of times being unable to load the world/hero, I got stucked in the textures twice having to do the same RE thing. The most annoying thing though was constantly dissapearing cursor which was absolutely necessary to be on-screen for a building mode. Another point is a control scheme or just the character/interface controls in general: you can use the common A/D to turn the hero while Q/E only let you run obliquely in zig zags; meanwhile, right mouse button should be trapped to use as a regular camera view while just mouse is purposed for navigating through menus and building. This wholeness is rather peculiar in my opinion and could be replaced with easier and more user-friendly concept later. Not sure if it's worth of mentioning, but there is also an already dead multiplayer in the game too (couldn't load other player's online world, so can't speculate on that). [h1]What was enjoyable:[/h1] [list] [*] - Huge opportunities ... > [*]Ability to terraform earth and add a plentiful amount of different elements (including water) [*]Many materials and forms to create buildings with (still, they will likely have simplified form due to overall small scale and lack of complex structure) [*]Presence of surprisingly advanced crafting system (weapons, misc and so on) [*]Online mode (even so it's not working properly for me at least) [*]A visible progress towards improving, seemingly active and mindful developers [/list] [h1]What proves lacking:[/h1] [list] [*] - > ... Within far crippling boundaries [*]Countless small bugs in all aspects of the game to polish, overall feeling of colossal incompletess even for an "Alpha" version of the game [*]Hunger system which proves absolutely out of the place at such early stage of development and seems hasslesome for players [*]The [strike]patient[/strike] RPG system is more likely dead than alive [*]Poor animations while the surrondings seem static [*]Highly resourceful and "system crushing" in the current state, especially on GPU [spoiler](for the sake of your mediocre PC's wellbeing, don't try to set everything on max and then create water)[/spoiler] [*]Cropped and lacking sounds effects [/list] _____________________________________________ [b]4 "Oh stop rolling from me damn logs!" out of 10 (which is still a positive mark, yes). [i]Far from being far of finishing, fairly bum and incomplete in many ways sandbox voxel creation with a small hint of becoming worthy title to enjoy in the nearest future; 'le gachis de idees' if one can say.[/i][/b]

[b]Review Written on Thursday, May 19th, 2016[/b] [h1]Review[/h1] Astral Terra is a Indie Sandbox game, where you can build your construction and the world is randomly generated like Minecraft. It has crafting and building while it also mixes this with an RPG aspect (combat and survival). The world of Astral Terra looks great. As you play, you explore the world, while also building and destroying everything. The game has single player and multiplayer, which you can use your own created world for mulitplayer. This Game shows a lot of promise, but it is still in Early Access / Alpha and the dev is giving the game some attention by giving timely updates. It looks very promising and I look forward to the game when it finally comes out of Early Access! [h1]Rating:[/h1] 6.5/10 [h1]Pros:[/h1] [olist] [*]The gameplay and environment looks great. [*]It is easy to understand. [*]The Dev is very proactive with fixing the bugs in the game. [*]Excellent replay value. [/olist] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [olist] [*]Crashes / Bugs. [*]Lack of a tutorial. [*]The controls could be better. [/olist] [h1]Hardware Information[/h1] [table] [tr] [th][u]Hardware[/u][/th] [th][u]Type[/u][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Monitor[/b][/td] [td]Dell IN1910[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Headphones[/b][/td] [td]Logitech G930[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Keyboard[/b][/td] [td]Logitech G19[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Controller[/b][/td] [td]Xbox One[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Mouse[/b][/td] [td]Logitech G700[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Microphone[/b][/td] [td]Logitech G930[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Motherboard[/b][/td] [td]MSI Z97-Gaming 7 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 Motherboard[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]CPU[/b][/td] [td]Intel Core i7-4790K Devils Canyon QuadCore 40 GHz[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]GPU[/b][/td] [td]2x GIGABYTE Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]RAM[/b][/td] [td]CORSAIR Vengeance Pro 16GB 2 x 8GB [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]OS[/b][/td] [td]Windows 10[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]HDD[/b][/td] [td]Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 25 480GB SATA III SSD[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h1]Disclaimer:[/h1] [code]Source of consideration: Tethys Interactive LLC[/code]

No updates since a 2020 update that reportedly broke much of the game, zero communication from the devs, and the Tethys Interactive website has vanished. Game is abandoned. DO NOT BUY.

Super buggy its not worth the price and i dont think the devolpers will ever finish it after watching the forums etc so i have requested a refund

[table] [tr] [th][i]DISCLAIMER: Tethys Interactive LLC has provided me a key to try out this game. My review, however, is not affected by this action and will rate this game accordingly.[/i] [/th] [/tr] [/table] [h1][b]REVIEW[/b][/h1] There are tons of survival games out there, and most of them offer the same content over and over again without any new features or changes at all. And given that statement, I believe Astral Terra has what it takes to stand out than the rest. Even though the game has been on development for quite some time, it still needs more polishing and probably more content. I could only suggest this game to those who are willing to help out the developers on finishing this one. They could really use some help from the community feedbacks. So if you’re not that type of person, I do suggest that you wishlist this game and maybe check it out again in a couple of months. [b][h1][u]PROS[/u][/h1][/b] [list] [*][b]Terraforming[/b] – I think this is the selling point of this game, and one of the most unique features compared to the other survival games. [*][b]Dedicated developers[/b] – I’ve checked the developer’s website and found out that this game was on Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight on 2013. And up until now, they try to update the game as constantly as possible. Not everyone has the patience to develop games that long. [*][b]Gorgeous Graphics[/b] – With more than a decent rig and the highest quality settings possible, this game simply stands out than most of the survival games out there. [*][b]RPG Elements[/b] – You can choose your race and your gender upon character creation and it all comes with different character spells and a levelling system. [/list] [b][h1][u]CONS[/u][/h1][/b] [list] [*][b]Not User-Friendly[/b] – I had a hard time starting off to be honest, took me quite some time before I understand the mechanics of the game. I suggest you read some guides in-game or find a wiki on the internet. [*][b]Lacks Customization[/b] – I’m aware that the gameplay does not revolve around the character customization. But the only options you get when creating a character is choosing a race and its gender. [*][b]Low-end Rigs[/b] – If you can’t run this game and have a stable fps, I highly suggest that you look for different game instead. You’ll just be annoyed with the graphics and constant stutters. Not only that, but it also requires a DX 11 to run the game.

ok so this game has come a long way, really enjoying it so far. there's plenty of worlds to explore (haven't explored them all yet) and the race customization is pretty diverse. oh and terraforming is awesome! :D

ATTENTION, REMBOURSEMENT STEAM IMPOSSIBLE >> le jeu agit comme un virus, il reste ouvert en tache de fond meme si vous le fermez, donc sauf si vous redémarrez l'ordinateur il vous sera impossible de demander un remboursement, vous aurez obligatoirement dépassé les 3 heures requises pour ça. c'est ce qui me marque plus de 100 heures de jeu alors que je ne l'ai testé que pendant trois ou quatre heures environs. Jeu médiocre, les images pour nous le faire acheter étaient jolies, mais en fait, ils n'ont travaillé que sur ces images depuis 2 ans, jamais sur le jeu. -Pratiquement jamais de mises à jour. -Controles complêtements inadaptés qui rendent le jeu injouable (vous regardez a droite ou a gauche avec les touches q et d, et vous devez ramasser une a une le peu de choses que vous farmez avec la souris en plaçant celle ci au bon endroit sur l'objet sinon vous ne pouvez rien faire , chose impossible sauf si vous etes un extra terrestre). -Le terraforming et les constructions buguent et le jeu n'est qu'une suite de crashs incessants. (pour info j'ai une tres grosse config et tourne en épique sur tous les autres jeux). -J'ai eu beau me forcer, afin de découvrir au fil des mois les évolutions de ce soit disant jeu, je n'y ait trouvé aucun plaisir. Bref passez votre chemin, gardez votre argent et achetez autre chose si vous voulez vraiment jouer!

This looks very interesting concept. Controls are bit off for my taste and would love to rebind my movement keys. I like the fantasy setting and went to read about lore of the game. I understand this is still early access and would love to see how this is gonna develop. Devs seem nice and responsive on community discussions. Let's see how this plays out.

[b]Review Written on Monday, July 11th, 2016[/b] [h1]Review[/h1] Astral Terra is another entry into the openworld sandbox crafting/gathering game with some light rpg elements. It can be played solo or multiplayer. I only played solo. The worlds are procedurally generated and can contain some very interesting landscapes. The rocks, trees, plants and animals that populate the landscape are impressive graphically. Most of the cons listed below will hopefully be cleaned up yet in this Alpha stage. I would urge only people prepared to accept an alpha game for what it is to purchase it at this time. However it wouldnt take very long to get your $15 out of it if you enjoy exploring a new fantasy world. [h1]Rating:[/h1] 6.0/10 [h1]Pros:[/h1] [olist] [*]The procedurally generated biomes had the potential to make some very fantastic worlds that were fun and interesting to explore. [*]The building is a little clunky right now but I like what I see and hope to see more options in the future. It looks like you can probably create some impressive builds. [*]The one piece of music was very pleasing and I quite liked it the first 50 times I heard it, after that I was really wishing there were additional songs. [*]Fun and unique spells and abilities for your character to play around with. [*]The races you can play are very neat looking and I liked the lore on the character creation screen. [/olist] [h1]Cons:[/h1] [olist] [*]Character control feels off. I found it extremely frustrating. The animations are hopefully just a work in progress as the running and turning animations made it feel like I was skating around the terrain. The movement speed seemed very slow and made exploration tedious. [*]Gathering is a pain, after equipping the correct tool for the job holding down the mouse button just gathers 1 drops worth then you have to click and hold down again. That combined with needing to click every individual drop that flies off the rock or tree or whatever. Very tedious and unfun. [*]Crafting interface was also a pain, its just a long list of what you can craft in no apparent order and no easy way to see what items I currently had the materials on me to craft. [*]Inventory is very small, just wandering a bit hitting a rock or a tree here and there and being told my inventory was full all the time was not enjoyable. I can raise and lower the very earth but I cannot carry more than 18 items. I did eventually find a merchant and bought a chest that holds 21 items. But there didnt seem to be a backpack or anything to expand my personal inventory. I like to wander like a nomad when I play these kind of games but the inventory made it very limited. [*]No character customization at this time. Hopefully this gets added. [/olist] [h1]Hardware Information[/h1] [table] [tr] [th][u]Hardware[/u][/th] [th][u]Type[/u][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Monitor[/b][/td] [td]asus for one and scepter for the other[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Headphones[/b][/td] [td]sony something who remembers[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Keyboard[/b][/td] [td]Logitech G510[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Controller[/b][/td] [td]logitech something I dont use it if I can help it[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Mouse[/b][/td] [td]Razer Deathadder chroma[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Microphone[/b][/td] [td]audio-technica[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]Motherboard[/b][/td] [td]MSI[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]CPU[/b][/td] [td]IntelR CoreTM i5-4690K CPU 350GHz[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]GPU[/b][/td] [td]GeForce GTX 970[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]RAM[/b][/td] [td]16 GB[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]OS[/b][/td] [td] Microsoft Windows 10 build 10586 64-bit[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]HDD[/b][/td] [td]500 SSD[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h1]Disclaimer:[/h1] [code]Source of consideration: Tethys Interactive LLC[/code]

This game is largely unplayable for many people. Constant hangups on the loading screen and crashesh within seconds of finally getting a new game going. The game is still in Alpha. I'm sure others have had better luck getting the game going than I have. But for now, my entire "playtime" has been just getting the game to load. So far, none of the workarounds listed on the forums have worked for me. I'll come back at a later date to review this again. Hopefully, the game will then have at least fixed the loading/crashing issues that many people are still reporting. I DO understand that this is still being worked on and hope to enjoy it in the future. For now, you may want to save your money.