Recent reviews by DGW

It's aight.

I don't think Starbase is a bad game. I just think it isn't ready to be played, not even in early alpha. This is more of a warning for people to watch it's development before buying it than to not buy it. I believe this primarily due to the building system but also because of the tutorial.

To start, the tutorial is inadequate. You, the player, are only taught how to use tools and the very basics of the easy build hub. The learning curve that is dropped on new players resembles more of a cliff face than a hill.

Then there are the three building systems, building with parts, the ship designer, and the easy build hub.
First, building with parts is where you assemble a ship one part at a time, bolting each piece to the last. So far I have no issue with this, sure it's tedious but it's doable. The issue is that the tutorial doesn't even hint to this mechanic of the game and results in a learning cliff.
Second, the ship designer is another function of building that has the exact same kind of issues as the previously mentioned type. Simply put using it looks more like working with the Unity game engine than playing an actual game. When using it you are searching through a file directory and working with tools that are more accustomed for 3D modeling. Of course there is no tutorial for this either. Yet another learning cliff.
Finally is the one type of building they teach you the basics of, the easy build hall. The easy build hall is an exercise in futility in all honestly. It is bugged, pure and simple. It's bugged to the point where it cannot be used unless the player gets lucky. If you place things they move into random positions where you can't get rid of them, modules (pre-made ship pieces made from parts) and parts themselves will just up and disappear wasting hours of effort, a million issues where sometimes you simply can't place modules, and much much more.

In short, Starbase is an amazing game with tons of possibilities. But only in a few months when they make a better tutorial, fix the MANY game breaking bugs, and simplify needlessly complicated systems. It's a hotbed for potential, but it's not worth spending money on until (if) that potential has been realized.