Get ready to start playing Starbound for keeps

Final character wipe due in ‘about a week’s time’

Starbound is fantastic. Its scope is enormous, and it could easily keep players exploring for years to come. At least, it can once progress is no longer reset every few weeks. Thankfully, that date is soon approaching, with a Starbound development blog post yesterday promising the next patch in “about a week’s time.”

This patch contains the fix to save files that makes each one forward compatible. In other words, the character wipe that will happen with this patch should be the last one ever. On a slightly unsettling note, Chucklefish has added that there is a possibility for worlds to be wiped in the future, but that those “hopefully” would be safe from deletion as well. So it still may not be wise to start working on a massive futuristic fortress in case the planet chosen for real estate makes like Alderaan and blows the joint.

Also included in the upcoming patch are options for more severe penalties for dying (drop all items and permanent character death), more weapons (revolvers, shivs, and alien weapons), and more decorative hats (hats). Has it been a week yet?