Just know this…if you can hang in there through the tutorialess beginnings and frustratingly scarce iron searches I gareuntee you will fall in love with this game. Just please be patient and trust in the community to help you through it. There are so many awesome players who are more then happy to help newcomers get on their feet. I’ve seen it many times.
7 Likes
Things are being worked out on the tutorial side of things. Devs are planing on having the necessary resources on starter planets to have information available to them, no specifics as to which resources. But my guess is the things required to get off planet. As Xanotos mentioned, materials have preferred biomes, but can spawn anywhere really, just that you’ll have a higher chance to get them in the designed biomes. Resources Locations this thread should prove pretty useful.
Caves are similar, but indeed they offer a nice variety. We have caves of mostly sedimentary, then there’s a variation between the three types of stones and gravel, sand on other stuff here and there. With higher ceilings, and variation to the ground.
I like the slower approach at the start compared to other sandbox games, to take time to sink in things and comprehend. I believe having a more RPG feel, greatly benefits, instead of going for a sandbox classic start, where you’re left wandering. True enough there’s aspects of the game that need improvement, but I wouldn’t call it bad, just that they could be further improved upon.
Leaves, dirt and sand, are balanced in the test version, with requiring less hits. I like as said before, the slower pace. When balance comes later on, really balance should be done before 1.0, after the progression system is worked out. The only balancing we might need right now is augmented resources, and having different settings for resource distribution on starter planets, not to keep it different, but to try different settings and discover what works best. Once that’s sorted, every starter planet, should hold the same distribution.
I feel like mining with both hands, probably should be a skill, as it requires dexterity IRL. I like having one hand at a time do an action.
I love the tools selection. And I love the slingbow, additional note, there’s also gonna be a lance. I love the blocks.
The test version is open to all of us, it currently has the last two updates, very big ones. That are to be tested and given feedback, so it can be worked on, and then moved into the live version.
To access it, do the following:
From your Steam Library, right-click on Boundless and select Properties
Click the BETAS tab, then select “testing - unstable new feature development” from the drop down
Close that window, wait for the game to update… load and play as usual!
just remember to change back to “NONE - Opt out of all beta programs” when you want to go back to the live servers
5 Likes
Welcome to Boundless, @KaKistoZ!
It’s true that without tutorials this game can feel a little daunting at first, but thankfully Boundless has an incredibly helpful community - so if you’re ever unsure of anything, just ask here or on the community Discord and someone will help out.
Tutorials are just around the corner, and as mentioned above are already implemented on the testing branch.
In the meanwhile there’s Boundless Crafting, @Jiivita’s YouTube tutorials or a host of other YouTubers you can watch as they experience and tackle the first steps of Boundless;
@Steggs101 was a blundering mess at first, but now he’s settled and even sporting something even veteran players don’t have! His videos can be found here.
@Scratchnwiff is also a new player, and a great YouTuber. I believe he’s working with @Jeffrotheswell, @EnisledLady and @Xanotos on the Elop Portas aqueducts. Here’s his stuff.
@DanBeforeTime does a mixture of building and exploring/gathering videos. If you’re looking to build a tree-house, his videos might be inspiring!
I’ve not seen a whole lot of these others, but there’s also @TheCurmudgeon; found here, and @ApoNono; here.
I hope some of that helps!
8 Likes
Thanks @Pseudonym84 for the shout-out and @KaKistoZ, I do agree the lack of tutorials beyond the beginning part is a bit frustrating, I even questioned the pick/shovel thing myself, but the potential of this game is great, as I’ve said before. Now I don’t mean empty potential like"oh this game would be sooo good if…" And nothing ever really transpires after that. The devs are implementing things bit by bit (rather large bits IMHO) on the previously mentioned testing servers. And no, they are open to all who have the game with the above instructions 
I just recently tried it myself and aside from more tutorials and entry level player friendly mechanics which I know the devs have been working on, there’s a lot that changes the feel of the game, like blocks with different durability, specific tools for specific blocks, and a whole skill system with branching skill trees so u can gear your character towards specific professions. There are also graphical enhancements but I haven’t seen them all.
Like @Pseudonym84 said I’m also a new player. I haven’t progressed further than iron tools and only just built a refinery after all this time. Yet I have already had so many cool experiences through exploring, building and meeting people and collaborating with them with my meager skills.
I think the game can be broken down to “what do you want get from it” . At this pre alpha point in time, it throws you into a populated universe and lets you choose your path right off the bat. Explore different worlds and biomes for different resources, advance your technology, build a home or a town or a city or a shop, or join a new or established city and help shape it. It may not be fully polished yet, but as you said, it’s early access.
Although it’s unfinished, I believe there is something to be said abt discovery in this game. The wiki may not be all encompassing, but @Stretchious’s crafting compendium mentioned by @Pseudonym84 is amazing and in game you can kind of test finding out new recipes by placing different materials in different machines etc if u prefer to do it yourself
The community, as I’m sure you can tell, is very helpful and friendly and I dare say rivals any gaming communities today. So I think it’s great you chime in with your thoughts here. Really hope you find what you’re looking for as the game develops and hope to see you in game sometime.
7 Likes
dude, why do you even complain?
pre alpha is pre alpha.
We shall thank developers that they allowed us to play their game.
2 Likes
As I said in your first thread about should you get into Boundless, update 161 is kinda sorting out most of the stuff that you mentioned. I’m not sure yet in what amount since I don’t play testing version.
One point on which I do agree, and it might be specific for my style of building, is that mining takes crazy amount of time. That is very penalizing for me since I build by exploring concepts, more like sculpting than having clear plan from the start. So, taking blocks off when I realize I don’t need them takes too much time, I forget what I wanted to do until I remove all the blocks I want. I hope that will be resolved with skills and that mining speed will become a bit faster (4x faster would be nice, that would make iron tools speedy as minecraft stone tools).
Anyway, I feel your pain, I have started making my builds in minecraft creative and than re-doing them in Boundless when I get the things right. As it is now Boundless feels very very very grindy to me. I hope that will change until 1.0 (btw I have almost 90 hours in Boundless, so I had time to consider how it works).
@Karokendo I don’t think that is nice way to go about discussion
5 Likes
Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth and hopefully maybe cheer you up that you are not alone. About 2 to 3 weeks ago, I was in the same shoes as you, but maybe not that serious. I had some serious problems locating enough Iron, Tech Fragments, and Tech Component.Until I found out from this forum that Vena V has all of 3 Tech Components on the entire planet and I need 2 of them to make a Spark Core. Imagine my frustrations then. But, this was also the place that I found out that Solum was the place to go to get all those components becoz there is like 1000% more Tech Components there and about 3x more Iron. So, off I go to find a cave to explore. After a few hours I found all I needed. Truly, I really understand where you are coming from. It sounds like you needed an outlet to vent your frustrations, and also a little lost as to what to do.
My personal experience with the game in live at the moment is that sometimes you really have to forget about the quests and go about doing what you had hoped to come to this game to do. I’d guess one of those things would be to build; so go build, if you cannot have the blocks that you want for the look, maybe try an alternative. The alternative is to leave the planet you are on through someone’s gateway and go off world to looks for it. Unlike most MMO, you are not prevented for taking care of yourself on a harder planet just because you are low leveled. At level 0, you can still take on a Spitter in Alturnik or Vulpto with a stone slingshot or even your standard totem, it may just take a little longer. In other MMOs, not a prayer.
In any case, I hope that you are not playing alone, or built your base in somewhere lonesome. Its more fun to have real neighbours around and find some people to build with, or come out with your own projects. You are welcome to take Jeff’s gate to Andoween and come help me start a new town there. If you need another beacon but can’t craft any, I’ll see what I can do about that. In all, just remember that this is not a game that locks you out of content if you are under leveled. You just need the right tools to get there and once you get past that mental block you will play more freely. May you find the wisdom and energy to come back after your rest.
7 Likes
I found this game easier before the latest resource distribution update. Which one I think is just… odd. So if you not start the game at Solum (US East) now, you will have a hard time if you play on your own. Its not too good for new players on other starting planets, but they are testing things so early access conditions still apply. Anyway try to meet other players and ask for help, most of us are very helpful, and one of the greatest things about this game is the outstanding community (including the devs).
4 Likes
Personally, I wouldn’t call @KaKistoZ approach here complaining, rather a respectful, frank and thought out presentation of their experience as a new player. This should be very valuable information to the devs and help to make this game better for all. From what I’ve seen so far in my two months or so as an active member of this forum, not many new players take the time to give this much honest feedback. I know some of us are very passionate about Boundless, and knee-jerk react into defending the game, but lets try not to be too hard on new folks. It can be confusing for a new player, as well as frustrating finding the needed materials to progress, particularly after the resource distribution change. I too found the game very confusing at first and it took months of coming back to it now and then, with updates, before things actually clicked for me and I fell in love. I’m confident @KaKistoZ will get there and fall in love too. =)
Overall, this thread is a great example of a helpful and informative community! Welcome @KaKistoZ! As some have mentioned, boundlesscrafting.com is the place to go for crafting information, as well as an excellent resource for finding out where “that stuff” you need may be located, at least to point you in the right direction. For details, the forum and discord are invaluable at this point as the tutorial is still quite lacking in the live version, as is the wiki IMO.
Big changes are on the horizon though! Changes that I think will push this game to the next level and make it a much less daunting experience for a new player while adding awesome progression, and much more for more experienced players. As for the timeline Boundless took to get to this point, I don’t think any of us are really well enough informed to make a fair judgement. By that I mean we don’t see the day to day challenges an indie team like this faces. Making a game is a big deal! As I understand, the game went through a total rewrite over most of last year from one programming language to another, which in itself it a monumental task. It is only recently the devs have really had the opportunity to start shaping this game into their vision, along with guidance from their community. Stick with it @KaKistoZ, you will not be disappointed! 
Forget to draw @james attention here as I think this is worthy information. 
12 Likes
Even tho I been playing boundless for a while now I do agree on the new tutorial being a little too time consuming and confusing, I dont usually know how express myself in terms game feedback but I agree with @KaKistoZ in so many stuff he said I feel the need to say so. I spent so much time just opening every single Objective just to see what it was about and wasted another bunch of time accidentally doing stuff without having the “chop trees with wooden axe” objective, I felt lost. For the moment I ve gone back to the non testing server but Im hoping this guys gets heard. Cheers!
Still love the game 
7 Likes
Ok guys I was wrong, the problem is not (mainly) with the distribution, just with the ‘what-you-want-to-leave-a-planet’ things recipes and with the tutorial, but both will be polished until 1.0!
1 Like
Err… Care to elaborate on that sentence? I’m sorry to say, but even after giving it my greatest effort over several tries; I still don’t understand that sentence lol 
I think that was meant to be what-you-need-to-leave-a-planet. 
Yep sorry my english is bad 
so the problem is with the ‘warp location picker upgrade’ (warp shard) recipe and requirements
“All the way from the gecko?”
I think it’s “get-go.” Although gecko is nice, too.
2 Likes
Geckos are cool dudes, I’d hang with them anytime.
The only problem with them is that they like to get into tight mechanical spaces that are inimical to their continued survival, such as door jambs. Compounding the problem is that they are basically tiny (often semi-transparent) camouflaged ninja spidermen lizards that are hard to notice, so things can easily get unpleasant and messy by accident, especially since they seem to have not gotten spiderman’s spider-sense for danger.
1 Like
Yeah, we’ve had a gecko population explosion at our house ever since I captured one coral snake and took it to the herpetarium, and killed the other one. My wife wears open-toed shoes and she drew the line at getting out of her car directly onto a coral snake. The downside is that since coral snakes eat geckos, we got geckos. Want a gecko? We got 'em. Our black runner snakes have come back, though (corals eat those, too), so perhaps they’ll take care of the gecko overflow.
On the other hand, geckos eat mosquitoes, and we have a lot of those, too.
Florida during the summertime. Don’t come down here–it’s not worth it.
As a newcomer I havent found the game to be that hard… I think the main difference here is the fact that I discovered if you hit ESC there is this thing called Knowledge that shows you how to do everything your wondering about…
Its been my crutch that I turn to whenever I am trying to figure out how to build X…
But I don’t think there is anything in the tutorial that points out that Knowledge bank that’s so handy and maybe something should point it out to newer players as I just sorta stumbled on it, granted very early on thank fully…
5 Likes
The Knowledge Tab didn’t exist 8 months ago. 
But great to hear you’re finding your way through the game!
Welcome to Boundless!
2 Likes
Nothing wrong with gecko’s. They are one of the healthiest insects eaters to have a round. I would love to get a barking gecko again.