Thinking about buying, 2-3 questions tho

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Hey there, me and a friend are thinking about buying this game but its somewhat hard to find the exact information for a few questions that we have. alot of the information was clear from streaming vods i watched.

It looks like every planet is a finite (or infinitly expanding boundaries?) world. how do you start, or rather where? do you select a random piece of land from a map or do you just get thrown into it? we’re not interested in spawning in one of the great cities just to have to hoop trough a ton of portals and then run in a random direction untill we finally find a piece of land that can be claimed.

We played alot of “modern multiplayer takes on minecraft” (thats what we call them) and we got recommendet to this game after trying to come back to skysaga, which was shut down half a year ago. Obviously its a very different game (heavy focus on economics and having to play in a group) but we liked that in skysaga you had your own personal island (multiple actually) that you could shape however you want while also being able to easily select who can even visit it in the first place.

On the mainsite (i think) it reads something about guilds and being able to fight other players, does that mean they can somehow just raid our home?

Can a single player learn all skills or is that simply out of reach even for someone who plays alot? Are players forced to interact with the economy to even enjoy the baselevel of content? i get that some endgame things will require guilds but how about just building structures? Is there a maximum size of land that one can claim or can you expand?

thanks in advance! =)

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planets are finite - the universe can grow infinitely by adding more planets whenever there is a need for that (growing players number)
after starting the game, you land in so called Sanctum - a small closed location outside worlds, transition station you might think; from there you see a starting world in the sky (which one, depends on server you pick, for example: EU servers starting planet is called Therka); you are guided by tutorial to the moment you use your totem and a special augment attached to it - you aim at the world in the sky and pick a location (just move totem’s ray to aim at a chosen location on the planets surface); you will be able to see cities and populated areas and pick something in wilder parts)

there will be worlds in future that belong to the global universe with you having control who is allowed to visit your world; at the ame time you will have acces to entire public universe (apart from worlds like yours that you are not allowed to enter);
there will also be completely private server-worlds to rent that you can play with your friends on and chose your own settings different than in the global/public universe (maybe different progression speed or skill-cap; different block and tools durability etc.);

Boundless is primarily PvE game so its a battle for prestige of your builds and cities, to become planet’s and entire universe capitol etc.; prestige system is already in game and it counts prestige points of your beaconed areas and gives yopu ranking within a world etc.
so, no fighting other players and raiding other cities - only fighting hostile creatures and battling difficult terrain, weather and toxic atmosphere on some worlds (not implemented yet)

it is planned to add PvP element after full release - but it will rather be a secondary feature allowing players to challenge each other (or guilds) however most likely in closed designated areas

a single player wont be able to max out all skills - but its possible to have all skills on average level thus being able to do everything although not to full extent; you are allowed to have 3 characters so you can cover different areas of gameplay by specializing (for example you might have a dedicated hunter who will have all fighting skills maxed out, a dedicated miner/gatherer that will have all tool/power etc skills maxed out and a dedicated crafter who will be able to have skills to craft all there is in game)

your interaction with economy is not forced, although it does make things easier to buy from other players or trade with them if you want to get to some materials etc. faster than through your own individual playing time and grind;

as for building you are able to do that from the start - it just take time to get your hands on more expensive, high end materials that will make your builds prestigious and sophisticated etc.
the size of land you can claim and protect from thieves and world regeneration is limited by number of plots you own (they are 8x8x8 blocks each); you gain plots every time you level your character; you land with some 300 plots at level 50 but you keep getting 10 plots every time you complete lvl 50 again, so the final number of plots can grow infinitely (limited only by your playing time)

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Hi, iHaku! Welcome to the Boundless community. :smiley:

When you begin Boundless, you go through a short tutorial section where you complete objectives that give small bits of experience / coin (our currency). At the very beginning, you spawn in a sanctuary area of sorts called the, ‘Sanctum’. You are then given a tool called a, ‘Totem’ and a, ‘Warp Augment’ that you combine with the Totem. You will then point the Totem at any area on the starting planet of your region (it will be floating in space above you). You can choose to spawn anywhere. There are little stars denoting cities, so you don’t have to spawn near one. Once you make your decision, you’ll complete a portal with a, ‘Warp Conduit’ block provided for you, and spawn where you marked on the map!

I will always say that the two best things about Boundless are: the developers are in constant communication with the players here on the forum, and Boundless doesn’t try to be like Minecraft, despite being in the same genre. These are two wonderful things that greatly set this game apart and will absolutely lead to the game thriving.

To answer your second question: Guilds and PvP will be here in the future, but there is no current work on those aspects that we are aware of. I don’t believe they will ever allow players to raid our homes and kill us / loot our things. You can protect land in Boundless with a Beacon, add/remove plots to change how much land is protected, and once it is protected, other players cannot steal from you. When PvP is added, I believe I’ve heard talk about there being specific planets that are PvP enabled. We’ll know more about that some day, but I truly don’t believe it will be anything like Factions Minecraft on any normal world. :slight_smile:

A single player cannot learn all skills, even at max level (Level 50, 1,500 skill points currently). However, each account can create up to three characters to focus on different aspects of the game, so if you truly want to play enough, one person can have all of the essential skills over multiple different characters. (I currently have a gatherer build [mining, digging, et cetera…], a hunter build, and a crafter/builder build.) The reason for this is the developers want to encourage players to interact with each other, and build an economy together. It’s not necessary, but it’s a big help if you don’t want to grind multiple characters to be able to do everything in the game. (I enjoy the game enough that it was worth it to me. :slight_smile: )

To reiterate - you don’t need to interact with other players and the economy to enjoy a lot of base aspects of the game. It’s more end-game things there, so you don’t have to worry so much about that.

As you level, you gain plots. Plots are 8x8x8 areas of land that can be claimed. With each set of levels (1-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-50), you gain more plots and skill points to allocate. To initially claim land, you set down a Beacon and fuel it. (basic Beacon Fuel only costs leaves, which can be gathered easily even at the beginning.) Once you have a fueled Beacon, a plot of land in which the Beacon resides will be now yours, and you can use a Beacon Plotter tool to add more plots as you wish. So yes - there is a maximum size of land that one can claim, but that’s proportional to your level. You can also gain more plots past level 50, but no more skill points. Every level you gain past level 50 (which is only shown as level 50+) will give you 10 more plots.

I hope I was able to help, and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I’d say this community is rather friendly, and can help you with anything else you might need.

Stay Boundless, my friend!

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thanks for the replies. looks pretty good the way you 2 discribed it. im guessing that with the 3 character limit you can add land to your plot and make it available for all of your characters then? having a small mini planet whould probably what i’d prefer the most but it doesnt matter as much.
eitherway we’ll probably be getting it after were done with the current set of games that are lined up and see where it goes from there, thanks!

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yes indeed - 3 characters can put their plots together giving you close to 1000 plots when all of them reach lvl 50;

(also I only stopped editing my post now so you might like to check it again as I have just gotten to your last questions from the original plot)

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You have to be prepared to grind 3 alts if you want all the features of the game. Especially if you are more of a solo type player you might not be as happy because the game is basically being tailored to encourage as strongly as possible player MMO type play.

If you are a builder you will have some fun until you start hitting plot limits and see that the game isn’t really focused on giving builders the best advantages. It is more focused on other things. Not to say you can’t have fun building in this game but I have seen many builders quit over a few developer decisions and new ones like “Mesh limits” which now only allow you to have so many items in a chunk of space… So we have some restrictions on what we can do which is pretty disappointing to people like me and some others that want a building game not “PVE MMO” game.

Plus later on in the game you might get bored because there isn’t enough content and this is a sandbox game… so it is more up to you to create your fun. It is one of the prettiest games around though and exploring can be fun. The player base is overall a good community but many people come for a bit and then go away due to the grind and complexity of leveling. Otherwise aren’t bothered by that and have stuck around. So there is probably a core of 20 or so people that play very regularly with other waves of people that come and go.

I have 1000+ hours in the game and honestly loved it but just got bored because there is nothing to do at end game and new mesh limits and other builder restrictions just pulled the wind out of my sails to build. Overall if you have the funds I would suggest at least getting it because you will have some fun but if money is tight you might wait and see when some more content comes out and it is closer to release.

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not a problem. most of the games i play and like are very grind heavy and centric. if you can get every skill yorself on 3 characters eventually then thats good enough, altho it begs the question that, if thats possible thenwhy there isnt a mechanic that allows skills to be shared between characters so you eventually dont need to switch between them anymore. anyway

what exactly do you mean by that? im guessing hight and depth of the playfield?

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Mesh limits are a limit on the amount of blocks you can place which have meshes (anything other than the normal voxel shape for example storage blocks). Don’t worry about it though, because it can be raised if there are issues with the limit :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Its a limit of how many props (meshes), not blocks, you can have in a chunk.

See this.

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Also note, that the server you pick decides your starting world but doesnt limit you from going to or settling on amt of the worlds on any server, all players are in the same universe. If you choose not to use other players’ portals then your starti g world will be home for a bit longer, but you can live completely independent if you so wish. If you’re playing with a friend you could cover all skills (though not each have access to all of them)

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thanks for the link! so its not really a problem since nowadays i just play grindy games to sink some time in and enjoy myself slowly building up something.

yeah i know. as i said i’ve watched a couple of vods already and am aware of most things already. just some werent really covered by the gameplay.

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Well what is the limit? What number of items can you add per chunk? Was that communicated and is there any warning up to that point showing you that you are running out of space?

I would worry about it because there is no guarantee the developers will do anything about it and more likely they won’t because they have a million other things on their plate to do.

Since it affects vertical space you cannot build a multi-floor area. So now you must build huge bases spread out over many plots horizontally and make sure you split that base across a CHUNK so that you don’t risk at some unknown time running into the limit and ruining the whole build because you can’t add another object to it.

So from my perspective it is a HUGE ISSUE.

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I have to agree with ^. If the game suggest you can build how you like then there shouldnt be a limit. And i dont think they mean for there to be either. Time will tell.

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Purposeful addition. The limit is there for performance reasons. Otherwise people could build huge towers of meshed blocks which tear apart your PC whenever you go there. It could ruin a big city like Therka Market.
However, they have said that it can change.

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Now now ladies lets not get upset on this poor persons forum post, you’re all beautiful calm down.

I personally do not have an issue with the limit, I have 4 of each machine with max power and I have never once thought ‘damn I wish I could put more here.’ Actually I never had the problem. I am sorry that you all do have issues with it and have had difficulties with the mesh limit.

However due to the relevancy of this topic I please ask you all refrain of debating here :slight_smile: dont want to scare away new players now would you? Dont worry we are all nice but we are also very compassionate about our non-voxel blocks!!! :smiley:

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Well if you are worried about new players you shouldn’t start your email in a condescending tone and call me a lady when I am a man. Second you shouldn’t have diminished MY concern with YOUR non-problem with a valid issue in the game when you don’t know what my build looks like. That is taking my concern and saying it is nothing at all because you didn’t have the problem. Third, we were not debating.

I was raising an issue with a new player that could affect them which is what we owe them. My exchange showed a VERY important point of people in this community. We have a strong group of FANS that will diminish other people’s concerns with the game because “they don’t have the problem or feel the developers can fix it.” I make a small comment against the game and people swoop in to defend the game and say that the issue is minor.

We have seen this consistently in this game where new people or those having serious concerns are just pushed out by the fan community who see that this game or developers do nothing wrong.

I am not saying you or Will are that “fan” but the response to me wasn’t needed. I wasn’t going to debate or argue Will’s comments. I have a 3 floor small house that is ruined because of this mesh limit even though I don’t have many machines but a small storage area where I have all items in the game. That shouldn’t be ruined because of some new limit. So I have a right to warn a new player of a possible problem especially when my claims are valid and not ridiculous.

Additionally even though I was critical of the game I was honest and fair back to the new person recommending that they try it out if they could afford it. We have to be honest with this game in many of the severe limitations and ways people are being forced to play in a “sandbox” game.

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The issue with my tone being playful was in reference to everyone here, not specifically to you. YOU are replying to me like THIS which only makes me feel you are responding in a very defensive and hostile tone. I do not mind having opinions but now the original poster is not even commenting, which is why I asked of you to drop the topic as it’s now becoming irrelevant due to your seemingly hostile behavior. :slight_smile:

I was pointing out that I had no issue of this and in fact never encountered the issue before, my ‘condescending tone’ was misunderstood apparently which only proves that you feel some sort of irritation regarding the issue. We are all friends here, and if you wish to speak about this further I suggest making a separate topic about it.

or you can @ me on discord, however this issue is not important to me as stated above I did not even think that this existed and I make quite big builds.

I dont have any issue with you, if you are taking my words too literally I apologize. I dont specifically care about gender nor did I believe it was an insult. :stuck_out_tongue: However if it implies a tone I believe you are misunderstanding. :slight_smile: Anyway I am done with this topic, please if you wish to reply to me again I encourage it’s in a different topic! As it is irrelevant now that he is well informed! :smiley:

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As others have commented the limit is there deliberately.

Rendering meshes is significantly more expensive that the normal world voxels. (They’re higher fidelity, they’re often animated, they sometimes have VFX, etc.)

Players often comment - that the game runs great until they enter the Therka market. The Therka market is full of entities (and hence meshes). Which simply makes the game more expensive to render. Apart from this, there is nothing particularly special about the Therka market.

Originally there was no limit to what could be placed. Someone could think it was super funny to fill a chunk with huge numbers of meshes. This could significantly reduce the rendering performance for everyone in the area. (An accidental or deliberate way of ruining the experience for other players - aka griefing.)

We looked at every world chunk in the game and set the mesh limit higher than anything that already existed.

This was introduced to protect the community from a bad experience. We also decided to do it, before we introduce many new meshes for the new doors, fences, poles, beams, etc.

With the limit we have some control over the performance and experience for all players.

This is WHY we added it.

However the good news is that as we spend more time optimising the engine, reducing the cost of rendering dispatch, and add more sophisticated LOD then we will be able to increase the limits.

But I should be clear that ideally there would be no limit. The sandbox should allow whatever players wanted.

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@James I completely understand the reason for this and thank you for the explanation in the context of big cities. In smaller builds maybe it needs to be more lax because there isn’t the density of meshes.

I must have been the top person in that “chunk mesh limit” because I literally cannot add anything else after 3 months of not touching the build. I assume because I get the error that the limit is 1 mesh higher than what I have. I only have a minor set of machines and storage to support 1 column (3 storage high) row of each item in the game.

I will do a more thorough post in the suggestions area but I think if at least we had a counter that showed our current mesh number versus the max limit (like you have for plots) it would help tremendously. Additionally some way to identify where a “chunk” starts and ends.

Without this functionality it will be completely impossible for people to even plan builds because they have no idea when or where they will hit this limit. And since it stops building vertically they will only be able to expand horizontally.

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In the meantime you can check the amount of meshes you have in the debug info under current chunk

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