Not sure why this game is rated so highly. The game is very confusing to start and there's no help available. Glad I only downloaded the free demo.

Have you checked any of the many starter guide video's on YouTube?

If you build/craft the items the starter quests request you to build, then take a good look at the blueprint screen (which is one of the things the starter quests request), the basics of the game should become pretty clear.

Craft what's in the upper left corner. After that, use your information screens the tutorial asked you to craft to see what event (pressure, heat, etc..) you need to raise to unlock specific items.

I suggest you start a game with relaxed difficulty so you can mess around with the different information screens without worrying as much about water and food.

At the start of the game there's a list of objectives to give you an idea of what to do. If you check out the stuff in the pod there's a crafting machine that will give you recipes. Collect the materials, make the stuff you don't have, use the stuff you made to make more things and complete those objectives.

Originally posted by Cathy:

Not sure why this game is rated so highly. The game is very confusing to start and there's no help available. Glad I only downloaded the free demo.

Probably something the developer could consider for players who may not be as experience with this kind of a game. I came into The Planet Crafters with quite a bit of experience with these types of games, so I didn't need much help getting started. Others may need more guidance with what this game is all about.

It's rated highly because it's a great game.

My ONLY serious complaints about this game is that to can too easily get behind or fall through the terrain, and that the we don't have preocedurally generated planets for replayability.

Pretty damned good that a complaint list is that broad and that short in a early access game.

Originally posted by Cathy:

Not sure why this game is rated so highly. The game is very confusing to start and there's no help available. Glad I only downloaded the free demo.

Ya know Cathy, I keep coming back to your OP, and I keep asking, what is so confusing? So that's where we should start? What are you confused about?

I remember being confused in the very beginning because I did not understand that there are "things I can build" and there are things that are "crafted". That is, there are things I can build (hit the 'Q' key) and there are things that are crafted/produced by machines.

To build OR to craft, you have to have the materials on you. In your inventory. Once I got past that. I, myself, was golden. And know, there's is SOOOO much crap in this game you can make ... you're going to have a massive build menu and I think its like 5 difference crafting stations to work from.

I am not talking down to you here, but this is a base building game using terraforming as your goal to constantly grow and improve that base. Where it might be confusing is that its a "sandbox game" ... that is, "Do what you want, pretty much when you want."

The very beginning of the game is this: Collect cobalt and ice to make air and water ... then find a location that is above 25ft and start your base. Now, you can start your base anywhere you want, I'm simply saving you time by telling you to be above 25ft and find a spot that has a lot of flat surface.

Reality is, there's only one logical spot to start your fist base, and that's up on the ridge to the right of where you spawn (you don't have a compass when the the game starts, and the location is usually to the right when you stand in the doorway for your command module.)

You CAN build in the valley where you land if you want ... but that will become a lake very early in the game. 'Early' is relative ... because this is a long game to play ... you will have weeks or months (depending on how much you play) into this game before you hit a point where you're just redefining and rebuilding for efficiency before the next content release.

Anyway after you have your cobalt and ice (so you're good on air and water), and you've started building your base, you (very soon) need to start exploring for chests (so you get a decent stockpile of food). While you are looking for that food, you'll find plant seedlings (flowers and vegetables) collect them and start planting them.

This exploration is symbiotic ... you need to find the food, but you need to get the vegetable and plant seeds. You want to plant a TON of those vegetable growers/spreaders early in the game so that you get your food growers.

Once you have a constant supply of Air, water, and food ... the game is your oyster to do essentially what you want to do with the goal (right now) of getting to the fish stage. That is, fish swimming in the lakes you created.

An please ... this is a GREAT community Cathy ... not too many smart asses, and everyone is willing to help ... if you don't understand something, come up here and ask ... you'll have an answer in minutes typically.

Originally posted by Cathy:

Not sure why this game is rated so highly. The game is very confusing to start and there's no help available. Glad I only downloaded the free demo.

I honestly found it pretty intuitive, but i play a lot of survival/crafting games so perhaps that's why.

Originally posted by Cathy:

Not sure why this game is rated so highly. The game is very confusing to start and there's no help available. Glad I only downloaded the free demo.

I don't know how many survival games you've played before, but I can tell you that for me it were... Uh... Let me count... Yeah: Zero.
I don't play much in general, compared to many others here. And yet I got behind what to do pretty quickly, and I didn't even finish the demo before I bought the game because I loved it so much from the get-go.

Which makes me seriously wonder - what do you think is so confusing about it? Which part?

fandom

There were several parts that got confusing. I did set the difficulty to easy, and I made one of the things that extends your air so I could focus more on the mechanics. And picking up minerals is very easy. But even with crafting items to use up raw materials, my storage filled up very quickly.
So I decided to make a second storage container. The capsule wasn't big enough to hold it. ok, I decided to make a new "room" so I could place the storage. But it seems you cannot place the new room anywhere adjacent to the capsule. It sounds like from someone's comment above, that you need to find a new location to place it.
My experience with most games is, they're quite easy to start, with a fair amount of hand-holding, and they get progressively more challenging. So if the game is difficult, confusing, or lacks instruction in the beginning, it's only going to get harder as you progress.
So if the game is frustrating in the beginning, when the devs are trying to persuade you to buy it, then it's probably not worth taking a chance on it.
I gotta say though, I am impressed with the positive community here for this one. New players slamming a game they've barely tried usually doesn't get a favorable reply. Thanks for the support!

while its true that there isn't any kind of tutorial to speak of. Most of the modules snap together, you get a lock icon that shows you where you can place something. Also one of the things they do not tell you is you should build high up. The first time I played it I made the mistake of building in a lake.

Cathy, It is a bit confusing at the start, this is the first game of this type I have ever played. It maybe took me 3 to 4 hours to start to get the hang of it. Now after 950 hours I still love it.
Just waiting for the next update.
P.S, build your base away from the capsule, exit turn right and go up the hill.
Took me 3 hours straight to move mine up higher when the lake started forming and flooding my base...LOL

No everyone. I just tried to do a hardcore round after not playing for a few months. You can't even build water anymore. Inventory is just one square. I thought maybe this is a bug in starting a game so i went to my main save.... same issue. it's broken. I have no mods installed. I tried to verify the game files through steam and still no dice.

Originally posted by BR1 - Praetorian:

No everyone. I just tried to do a hardcore round after not playing for a few months. You can't even build water anymore. Inventory is just one square. I thought maybe this is a bug in starting a game so i went to my main save.... same issue. it's broken. I have no mods installed. I tried to verify the game files through steam and still no dice.

This is a classic example of 'Thread Hijacking'.
Nobody really cares about this and it's probably caused by you having installed MODs anyway.

Cathy;

Base modules are finnicky about being placed ON uneven terrain. They can 'clip down' into it a little bit, but not much. The easiest way to start a base is to lift it slightly above ground.

Don't worry about the '25 foot' talk for now. The Demo doesn't go that far anyway.

A couple of tips:
1. You have the blueprint for a better Crafter. This can be built in your base. And it can make anything the crafter in your pod can do plus a lot more.
First thing you should consider making is the 'Exoskeleton' as it'll give you more slots for equipment.
2. You will need to build a 'Heater', but for that you'll need Iridium, but there's none of that stuff just laying around. Up on the hillside there's a shipwreck. Collect materials for a small base(3 Iron, 2 titanium, 1 Silicon, often refered to as 321 by other players) and make a small shelter outside the ship. Then, if you have both the 'Deconstructor' chip and the 'FlashLight' chip(activated by the letterr 'F'. ) head inside. Collect anything you find and bring it back to your shelter. You should find at least 2 Heaters in there that can be 'Deconstructed'. After you've looted the ship, take a walk around and if possible on top of it, too... Never know what you might find.
3. Don't forget to 'Deconstruct' empty chests to gain some extra materials.
4. Extra rooms can be added to your base both from the outside and the inside. Just select the module and point to a wall if you're inside, and you should see a 'chain' symbol.
5. It's about survival, exploration and basebuilding. Examine everything, look everywhere. Never know where a 'Golden chest' with very, very valuablee loot can be found.
6. It's quite OK to build more than one of any machine you want. It's highly recommended, even, if you want to progress faster.
7. The Demo 'stops' at 300.000 Ti (Terraformation Index) but at that point you have reached Blue Sky and unlocked some neat stuff, and you can still have fun building your dream base. You just won't be able to reach higher levels.
8. Remember to get up out of your chair every few hours... It's bad for your back to sit too long... Says the moron who spent all last weekend playing... sitting on a wooden Kitchen chair...