Planetship

[h1]Stolen from a boring institutionalized Contemporary Art Museum by some indie extremists, [i][b]Planetship[/b][/i] pushes the limits of human creativity beyond God’s own creation. Forget [i][b]No Man’s Sky[/b][/i], this is the only procedurally generated Universe to be hyped for. Moving [i][b]Star Fox[/b][/i]’s hallucinatory postcards at [i][b]Faster Than LSD[/b][/i] velocities. And written with a postmodernist prose inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s [i][b]Gravity’s Rainbow[/b][/i], full of [b]subversiveness[/b] and [b]perverted jokes[/b][/h1] Few philosophical subjects are as effective in drawing inspiration for artistic creation as the concept of a vastness and ever-expanding Universe. And some of the most complex reasonings created by the human mind, like the image of a God, has been sustained in trying to discern what lies behind the devastating idea of an infinite Universe surpassing the limits of our knowledge. Maybe there are some Greek divinities playing strip poker with the human destinies. Or maybe, like in [i]Planetship[/i], you can find an ancient extraterrestrial civilization whose minds were destroyed by the overuse of drugs. Traditionally, in the sci-fi genre there have always existed two radically differentiated approaches to create the lore and own rules of a fictional Universe. On the one hand, you have the boring approach of trying to look at the current scientific theories by giving at your creation a mathematical basis. Perhaps by also looking at some classic sci-fi novels to create a common ground of recognizable references. I remember to be expecting [i]No Man’s Sky[/i] until I began to see some of its most recent video footage. So you have epic space battles with generic and conventional ship designs inspired in [i]Star Wars[/i] and another hundred of space operas, checked. You try to sculpt the surface of a distant planet, lost in the boundaries of a never-imagined before Universe, by adapting Earth’s geographical elements like mountains and seas with a different color palette, checked. And you try to invent new and exotic life forms by putting some dinosaurs and of course, the always necessary robots, also checked. I have no doubt that [i]No Man’s Sky[/i] will be a great game, and I love the ambition of its concept. But nothing in [i]No Man’s Sky[/i] is able to excite my imagination. And on the other hand you have artistic creations that use the concept of an infinite Universe that is beyond our current understanding as an excuse to sculpt an imagery outside of any past knowledge, pushing the limits of human creativity beyond God’s own creation. You can think in the final trippy sequence of [i]2001: A Space Odyssey[/i], that surpassed any previous attempt in given a visual form to the boundaries of the Universe. And you can also think in the surreal architecture and evocative landscapes that can be found in [i]MirrorMoon EP[/i]. Serving as a vivid example of the new frontiers that has reached the videogame medium in the last decade, in its attempt to become a field for artistic creation. Thankfully, [i]Planetship[/i] is most closely connected with the creativity-infused spirit of Stanley Kubrick’s [i]2001: A Space Odyssey[/i] or to [i]MirrorMoon EP[/i] than to another conventional space opera between the hundreds of recent attempts made in the sci-fi genre. But it also takes a clear reference point by looking at a fascinating past, being a love letter to the 50’s pulp novels, comics and magazines. In a postmodernist reinterpretation of the genre using a humorous take, that resembles Tarantino’s reimagining of classic blaxploitation movies. The same post-punk and pulsing spirit. Every single element in [i]Planetship[/i] irradiates ingenuity, showing the artistic ambition of sculpting an own Universe that has never been imagined before. Because in the Universe of [i]Planetship[/i] there are no LCD panels, and the old rounded tube televisors are constantly broadcasting schizoid fragments of early cheap sci-fi movies. Its combat system seems like an open world prototype created for a never released [i]Star Fox[/i], discarded by Nintendo for inciting the kids in the use of mental drugs, with some enemies being pirate Galleon ships. It has a crafting system as well balanced as the seen in [i]Don’t Starve[/i], but that is based on a Periodic Table with hundred of invented elements. There are collectibles, like in any modern videogame, but the collectibles are old 50’s pulp novels telling evocative but at the same time absurdist stories about ancient civilizations vanished by their addiction to [i]Half-Life 3[/i]. One of the most brilliant aspects of [i]PlanetShip[/i] comes in the form of an experimental use of narrative. Contrary to other games in the genre, you can’t explore the surface of the planets but you can make contact with some generally disturbing alien races. Sometimes, you need to use a voice decoder by selecting the grade of obscure obscenities used in the topics of conversation to translate every new language. At other times, you need to select between some devastating choices for establishing diplomatic relations that at the same time can lead your crew to insanity. And all of these text fragments, including the collectible sci-fi pulp novels, are narrated with the use of a postmodernist prose inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s [i]Gravity’s Rainbow[/i], one of the landmarks in contemporary American literature. Including his same degree of subversiveness and joyful games stretching the limits of language. A distinctive writing style that is highlighted with a cryptic an always intelligent sense of humor. But the aspect that truly set [i]Planetship[/i] apart from any past, present of future attempt in sculpting a representation of an entire Universe, given shape even at its unimagined limits with a mystical approach, is its use of light as a creational element. Prior to [i]Planetship[/i], the most ambitious attempt in synthesizing the entire Universe in a single art piece, was the architecture sustaining the early French Gothic cathedrals. Art pieces that relied on the idea of creating a representations of the Universe through the use of light. To suggest ethereal spaces that can contain an uppermost ideal of Divinity. Like in a French Gothic cathedral, [i]Planetship[/i] is not about the construction of concrete and figurative shapes. It’s all about the use of light to create differentiated spaces or galaxies. With each one suspended in its own reality and suggesting a concrete mood, thanks to a diverse range of luminance variations and tonalities. Becoming a fascinating experience that truly makes you feel navigating through the edges of a never explored before Universe. That is populated with ancient and mysterious civilizations who are experts in the synthesis of hallucinatory drugs. A creative use of light for imagining dreamy landscapes that works in conjunction with a mesmerizing electronic soundtrack composed by Casino Versus Japan, the artistic name for Erik Kowalski. Who reveals himself as one of the greatest musicians in the current avant-garde panorama. Thanks to a memorable selection of surreal and dissonant melodies, resembling the distinctive sound of one of my personal favorite bands, Dirty Beaches. And if you don’t feel in the mood for crafting or doing boring management tasks, don’t worry, be trippy. [i]Planetship[/i] shows all its love with a Chillout mode without combat, crafting or survival elements, only centered in the pure joy of exploring the Universe under the effects of some exotic plants. An Universe that thanks to its dazzling beauty and unusual ambition, serves to confirm the videoagames as the most interesting field in the current artistic scene for experimenting with new concepts and ideas. By stretching the limits of human creativity thanks to its interactive nature.

[NOTE: Review will become more in-depth in the future] A trippy experience, reminds me of days long past watching old Science Fiction B-movies and Twilight Zone. And some of my favorite Sci-Fi authors, such as Isaac Asimov and Philip K ♥♥♥♥. Flying around in a planetship is excessive fun, though your mileage may vary. There's a kind of crafting system in this game, where you utilize the periodic table (disclaimer: You don't need to know anything about science, though it might help as the game is very intuitive science-wise. Ex: You'll find gasses in nebulous clouds, heavy metals in asteroids, etc). With crafting, you can make things or conduct research with the available elements. Through research, you can affect the lives of those inhabiting the planetship. Research also interacts with events that occur outside of your ship. For instance, I researched something that increased repopulation exponentially. While flying around, some of our food supply got infected by a fungi. I could have dropped it, or the option I chose: Try it out as a food source! It had a reaction with our reproductive breakthrough, which allowed for spores to grow and detach from their parents to become offspring. Offspring who doubled as a food source. Sometimes you'll come across old satellites from Earth, endlessly broadcasting whatever video footage was placed on them. There's so much more. Infinite cubes, hostile planets, pissed off space moths, suns that you can fly into (or thru), black holes, worm holes. And so on.

[h1]Introduction[/h1] Planetship is one trippy experience. It might not be an experience for everyone. You play as both a planet and spaceship and your goal is to maneuver yourself through a not-so-endless galaxy in search of a new planet to settle on. It’s weird. It’s unique. But more importantly: is it any fun? [h1]Gameplay[/h1] (I’ll try my best to address as much as possible but Steam’s character limit doesn’t help so forgive me if I can’t address it all or if I can’t go into more detail than what’s written here.) As I already mentioned you control a planet that is also a spaceship - or vice versa, whichever you prefer – and you’re dropped into space, in a rather large galaxy, and the main goal is to basically find a new planet for mankind to settle on. You do this by freely moving around while at the same time scanning planets, sending shuttles, collecting materials and evading or destroying enemy forces. Scanned planets show a small menu with data that is important to determine if the planet can be used by humanity, but also to see if there are valuable resources that you can mine for your spaceship, like fuel and food, which decrease when you move around. You can send shuttles to mine materials and it’s done with the press of a button. It then returns to your ship when it’s done. Couldn’t be more straightforward. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539166579 There’s also a counter in the bottom left corner that displays the amount of people currently still living on your planet. Get attacked by enemies or run out of food and this number starts to drop. If it reaches zero then it is game over, but during my few tries it never even got close to zero. I hope it becomes more important later during the development because right now it feels like ‘just a number’ and the game also doesn’t pressure you into keeping this number as high as possible. In fact, since it’s basically a (quickly) decreasing number there’s no real tension to the whole situation at all. I know that the game is not meant to play like a survival simulator or anything, but to me it’s just a meter on the HUD. I can’t relate to the people living on my planet because I have yet to see a human being appear anywhere, rendered or drawn. I know it’s a weird game, but that doesn’t mean that it should be completely illogical. Anyway, the game has a psychedelic, very ‘drug-like’ look. It feels very crowded even though it really isn’t and I’m not a fan of these sorts of visuals, unless it’s for a short period or if I feel that it actually adds something to the game. There are plenty of other ways to show ‘weird’. While exploring you will sometimes come across enemies. Sometimes as small spaceships, sometimes as a part of a planet. You can try to destroy the smaller ones by simply shooting them, but for the bigger planets it’s wiser to either avoid them or think of a strategy first. You can’t shoot freely, by the way; the cursor changes whenever you can shoot an enemy or object (like meteors). If your cursor doesn’t change you also can’t shoot it. Simple as that. Simple, but limited. Very limited even. And disappointing, in my opinion. You will also have to use warp holes to get to other parts of the galaxy. These are first shown as ‘???’ but once you’ve traveled through they will be marked with a name so you will know where you’ve already been and where you could go to next. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539166542 You can also craft extra shuttles or a shield, for example, among some other stuff. You can do this by collecting materials (shown as chemical element abbreviations) that appear whenever you destroy enemies or meteors, or by exploring specific areas (like weirdly shaped cubes). After that you bring up a menu, press a button and voila, you have crafted something. Easy and simple, but talking from my own experience it’s currently also very limited in what you can craft. With a press of a button you can also bring up a map. The map shows you possible habitable planets as well as dangerous planets. I had some trouble navigating myself as I was frequently going in circles. But I’m sure I’ll get used to it if I put some more hours into it. Random events will also show up from time to time. This is also a part that needs some work. Like with the population I didn’t care about what was happening. This is because all you are shown is a dialog window with a little story and then a few options you can choose from. Because it’s so limited in setup people will not be able to relate to things that have just happened or will happen. ‘So what if this happens?’ Everything is shown from such a distance that as a result no one will care about what happens with your population or other parts of the universe that your choice(s) might affect. There’s no connection whatsoever. [h1]Audio & Visuals[/h1] The sound effects consist of a lot of retro voice ‘samples’. See it as random sentences spoken from 50’s or 60’s movies. It has a specific vibe and tone and while I don’t see the connection to many of these spoken lines (yet), they do sound pretty cool. Just take a look at the screenshots and you’ll see that the developer tried to imitate/emulate a psychedelic look, similar to taking drugs (I assume), combined with a bit of a retro sci-fi vibe. Unfortunately it’s too crowded with too much stuff going on. It doesn’t look half bad, though, technically speaking, but it won’t win any prices either. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=539166612 [h1]Length/Replay Value[/h1] The current version of the game can be completed in a few hours and if you haven’t completed it then it’s likely you will have seen most of what the game has to offer in about two or three hours of playtime. Fortunately the asking price isn’t too steep. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] At this moment I wouldn’t recommend Planetship unless you’re a big fan of psychedelic looks or if you’ve read the game’s description and thought it might just be what you’re looking for. For everyone else it’s highly recommended to wait for further updates that add both more content and polish. It’s a cute game in some ways, but it might currently not be enough to entertain for hours. I would personally grab it during a sale. [h1]Too long, didn’t read[/h1] Pros: + Good controls + Exploring is kind of fun, but limited + The generated galaxies are pretty big Mixed: +/- Not everyone may like the trippy visuals +/- Restrictions on using your cannon Cons: - Lacks a lot of polish in the UI department; it looks very rough and the font size is sometimes just too inconsistent - Random events are a good idea, but as of now it doesn’t feel like they have any (major) impact and it looks cheap (because of the UI) [table] [tr] [th]Please note: a Steam key for this game was provided by the developer/publisher.[/th] [/tr] [/table] [h1][b]Rating: 5.7 (out of 10)[/b][/h1] (Ratings aren’t calculated based on a formula, but on my personal feelings) [table] [tr] [th]Please feel free to join my group, [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/djs_reviews/]DJ’s reviews[/url], or follow me directly as a [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/10483089/]curator[/url]. Don’t feel like it? No worries, just click [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/markdj/recommended/]here[/url] to read more of my unbiased reviews; no subscription required. [/th] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [th]If you have any kind of feedback - positive or negative - please feel free to leave a comment (in case of negative feedback please try to keep it constructive). It would be greatly appreciated![/th] [/tr] [/table]

EDIT 3: Holy ♥♥♥♥♥♥' ♥♥♥♥! The "Death Stars," the girders in the massive comets/asteroids / dead planets, and the Fast Travel minigame?! Every time I play Planetship, there's some new content to see. And it's all ♥♥♥♥♥♥' brilliant. EDIT 2: I found space pirates hidden in a huge hive-like asteroid. I translated alien languages and then bartered with them. I blew up gas clouds, crafted drones to fight beside me, set up an Embassy on an alien planet. And I saved my game. Planetship is now less a diversion and more of a game what could have time and effort beyond the [i]now[/i] invested in it, especially with the overhaul of the map. It's still in its infancy (relatively), but now there should be no hesitation in getting Planetship. I guess I should actually write some sort of review, going back and striking through a lot of the old one. You are a brain in a jar on a spaceship that is some sort of planet. Yeah, Planetship is real "out there(, yo)." The text-events are farfetched enough to entertain even after the seventh time you've read them (there are lots of different events, but of course some are more common than others) but not enough to alienate the reader. There is lots of imagination on display that should satisfy both a certain niche audience as well as scifi fans in general. You start with a population of 10... million? Billion? Something. That number steadily declines over time, but after playing for about six hours straight, it was still hanging around 7-8 b/m-illion (and I was making bad choices intentionally). There are also events and equipment you can craft that increases your population. Your ship runs off Food, Water and Fuel. You have a pool of energy for boosting and firing (recharges pretty quickly). You have a shield that recharges independently of that. Zoom through space, scanning planets. Each has six factors: the three resources (Food, Water, Fuel) and three hazardous conditions to watch (such as Surface Temperature). Each planet also has a label (Neutral, Hostile, Friendly, Research, [Element] Source, etc.). You can send shuttles to planets, to extract resources, to attempt to make contact, to try and trigger a random event. There are several different... anomalies/setpieces/(")static(") objects. Space-cubes, clouds and "meshes" that you fly through while your scanner identifies Elements. Fields of asteroids you can destroy for Elements. Satelite-Televisions that you can float beside and watch. Pulp books that you can collect and read later. Black holes that take you to Bizarro Systems. Wormholes that take you to different systems. You use Elements in crafting. There are things that increase the birth rate with a chance of mutation, alter your population with metal teeth for times when food is scarce, increased weapon power with increased energy consumption, etc. The goal is to find a habitable planet. I've yet to. Original Review: Wow. Please, dear developer. Please. Pack this game with more content (as in text) than I could ever hope to possibly read. That [strike] (AND THE LACK OF A SAVE FEATURE)[/strike] are the only causes for hesitation I mean there are legit novel(la)s included within the game!!!, but I'm talking about the random Encounters. I just dread the thought that the infinitude of space might hold several of the same encounters with only the highlighted text changed. Game is in Early Access; them's my two cents. Also, please release this game on disk so I can buy three; one for me, one for time capsule, one to shoot up into the cosmos like that one ship that has the DNA from the (")elite people(") like Hawking and Jo Garcia (the Immortality Drive). To myself/us all: I/we absolutely recommend this game. Gameplay is so simple (I/you deduce after .5 hrs playtime) but Mr. Lawrence's dedication to this game emanates from the Planetship. [strike][Don't want to get too far into the game, lest I have to play forever to keep the progress. Once a save feature is implemented (IF ONE IS GOING TO BE - unsure how to take that intro text) I will be all over the game and will probably be able to write a review that far exceeds the character limit][/strike] EDIT: I posted in http://steamcommunity.com/app/337280/discussions/0/610574394236247951/ and the dev subsequently friended me. Again (as will always be the case) no fraternization (i.e. free copies) between dev and me. I just faun over good indie games - going all out with the positive ramblings - and some of them appreciate it (while the other gamers don't, nyeh).

I really wanted to like this game based on the trailers, my appreciation for abstract science fiction, and some of the review comments but there's too much of a disconnect between the game play and the aesthetics for me. If a game wants to indulge in trippy visuals, I would prefer it to limit both the amount and complexity of information that needs to be digested in order to make choices in game. For instance, trying to evaluate planets requires reading descriptions and bar graphs of several different attributes while the text is moving around on the screen and often in and out of view. That sounds nitpicky, but the effect is like trying to read while in the back of a car on a bumpy road. Moreover, the more demands that are made of the player to process and monitor information make all the otherwise interesting background visuals and noise into distractions. I'd have preferred if the spontaneous (and seemingly arbitrary) random encounters had a similar feel to the introduction story (something more like 2001 or Solaris) but the reference filled humour felt out of place with the premise that had been set up. I can appreciate the need for trial and error as part of the learning curve for games (particularly procedural generated games) but there is a serious lack of breadcrumbs as far as some basic mechanics in this game: The single screen with instructions informs players of how to operate weapons on the ship, yet pressing the mouse key did nothing when the planetship was under attack. A few hints as to how to scavenge food and replenish resources would be appreciated Some tutorial levels and more guided instruction as opposed to the single panel prior to gameplay would have helped. Overall, a good idea and premise with some interesting visuals that's bogged down by overly rigorous game mechanics for my taste. I'd be interested in considering future amendments to this game or other offerings from the designers based on what caught my interest with this game, however.

The game is fun. It's neat. It's... very, very trippy. The trailer does [i]not[/i] embellish. The problem is that it has a few small bugs and one huge, nasty bug. One of the conversation topics with friendly aliens results in part of the interface becoming inoperable. Sometimes first contact will glitch out and bork the interface even if a new game is started. And then there's saving... Saving is automatic when you go to the main menu. Sometimes saving will work. Most of the time it will not. This means that all of the progress you have made could be flushed down the toilet when you exit, and you won't realize until you start the game up again. You can easily spend hours [i]experiencing[/i] this game, only to have to start again at square one next time you play.

Fun little timewaster if you have an hour or so to kill. Might get boring after a while, but so does tetris. For the general audience, it's alright. Maybe this would work nicely as an IOS or android app. ...now for Stoners, fans of psychadelic art, or a big fan of music that sounds like Boards of Canada? game becomes an addiction, send help. Please.

This is a *weird* quirky roguelite that's very relaxing. If you pay a reasonable amount of attention it's not difficult to stay alive, and there's even a "chill" mode that makes the game even easier (and a harder difficulty as well), so there's significantly less stress than you might expect from the genre. The meat of the game is 6 degrees of freedom movement through a bunch of psychedelic procedurally generated solar systems, collecting resources, encountering random events and stumbling into lots of B Movie sci fi stuff played mostly for humor. Lots of the events are pretty funny, though the randomness factor is pretty high. The game can feel a bit *too* random, there's an extremely large number of crafting resources given seemingly at random, and aside from building shuttles (an important resource), what items you can craft feel pretty random and minor as well. It doesn't matter all that much when you're playing just to chill, but attempts at more directed play could be a bit more frustrating. I did not ever manage to actually find a habitable planet yet (two 1~ hour runs). A "run" is rather unfocused in this game and can take quite a while, but that doesnt' matter too much IMO since this game is better played as something to sit back and relax with than trying to "win" a la Binding of Isaac.

Once again I am writing review for a game that I am not fully completed. In this game your whole body was destoryed leaving you just the brain so you can pilot a ship to survive space travel in a procedurally generated Universe. Your ship happens to be a planet. You start with full food, fuel, some population and a small landing party ships. Your goal is guide your planet though the vast hostile and unknown universe to find new home for your people. Your planet actually travels quite fast and though scaning planet, explore planet, explore anomoly, space gods, alien ship, and astroid to get chemical elements to make and tools to help your suvvial. Though random exploration events you can unlock and research technology to upgrade your planet. There are also a lot randomly scattered sci-fi novel books that you can pick up and read about. (yes books, some are 500 pages long). By concept and creativity this game is well done enough for a indie developer. The Graphics is indie level with some cool designs. The drawing is still a bit rough and could be done better. Music and Sound effect are ok but the random repetitive sci-fi radio signal gets annoy really quick since this game is quite long even on lowest difficulty. I tried 2 different difficulty and I think creater made hard difficulty a bit too hard. I warped into the second star system and I already face 6 enemy ships and 3 hostile planets. Garthering the random material takes quite long and force you to travel to many star systems. Overall a solid 7/10 for this small space game. Not really worth to play it if you already have too much backlog. But If you getting bored with those big space title. You can try this game instead. You may find it.. Refreshing.

Extremely unique game that has ton to offer. Probably one of the craziest games I have ever played. Very, very fun!