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Watch Starbase's developers break their game in an educational way

Debris debriefing

Frozenbyte's next game, Starbase, is a fairly typical space game that's new ground for the developer, but perhaps old ground if you've played Space Engineers. You'll build a ship, tweaking everything from the hull and the wiring, and then scoot around the star system worrying about it. It's a fragile, breakable vessel that could turn into a torn-open can of beans at the slightest sneeze from Tom Hanks. Which is obviously a selling point, so the Trine developers have been making trailers about the very specific things you can do to shatter their ships. Let's take a look, shall we?

This is their 'Boltcrackers' series. It starts off innocuously enough, answering a question about ships carrying other ships, but by the next episode they're bursting holes in cargo holds for fun.

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This is the sort of "community engagement" I wholly support. No need for words when the exemplary shards of a broken ship will do. Look.

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You make the best with what you have. If you have a game like Starbase, as far as I'm concerned the best thing you can do is answer queries like 'can asteroids be weaponised?', even if they can't, because seeing the attempt, and the debris-strewn aftermath, is worth my time.

I suspect Frozenbyte is aware this game will be pretty niche, and they need to appeal to that base by showing how systemic the whole thing can be. They know what people will be attempting. I know, too. I am that niche, and I feel very catered to right now.

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