Star Trucker (2024)

Very interesting concept - you have space walks for scavenging and repairs, hauling cargo loads, trading small cargo that you arrange in your cab, interior systems management. Some sort of a storyline.

Two things ruined this game for me:

1. Having to stop at jump gates.
2. Having to dock backwards for almost every action. Shopping, job market, repairs - they all require you to do the boring docking procedure.

The most satisfying thing in games about long distance travels is the ability to gain speed and keep going in the flow state. In this game they make you stop every 5-10 minutes at a "jump gate", an equivalent of a toll gate. I hated boom barriers in ETS2 and I hate them here.

Funnily, ETS2 (set in current age) invented toll gates with wireless payment, eliminating the need to stop there. But Space Trucker forces you to stop very often. And given that there are almost no roads in space, this game just boils down to jump gate -> 2 point route to next jump gate -> some maintenance, repeat. I bail out.

I really like this game. The concept, the aesthetic and most of the gameplay are catered to me. After Death Stranding and MSF Flight Simulator I realised that I really enjoyed this kind of games in which stakes are low but there's a lot of little things to manage and maintain. And Star Trucker delivers in that front. I see that a lot of people are not happy with it because they expected a monotonous and "relaxing" game like Europe Truck Simulator, but I'm glad that it's not like that.

The best way to describe it is that your truck is constantly falling apart and your job is constantly keeping it in working conditions. Batteries deplete, filters break, fuel runs out and you're constantly hitting debris and having to go on EVAs to repair the hull. Especially in the early game, where money is tight and your truck is not upgraded, all this can result in a pretty intense experience. But eventually I got into the rhythm and got enough upgrades to maintain all that noise to manageable levels.

Which leads me to one of my main issues with the game. Truck upgrades are either pretty useless (why would I want to increase my max speed? Also.. why does my spaceship even have a max speed!?) or are the sort of upgrade that reduces gameplay, such as insulation that reduces battery drain or improved engines that used less fuel and could stay on indefinitely so I didn't need to worry about overheat. Having to manage all these systems is the core gameplay that I enjoy, why do the developers think that eliminating them is a reward worth spending my in-game money in?

Something that surprised me is that there is a story of sorts. There's a quirky cast of truckers that talk to you on the CB radio and give you missions that advance their plots and get you upgrades that open up new areas. They are all variations of hauling cargo around, which is fine since this is the only gameplay, but I wished they paid more. I eventually grew to like these fellows. Unfortunately their stories are somewhat half-baked. After some number of random small-scale jobs a big corporate intrigue plot comes out of nowhere. I liked how the various stories interact, but it felt sudden and without a proper setup.

But besides those small complains, I loved my time with Star Trucker.

This is a perfect podcast game. There's always small things to do

Now I cannot finish the job because the cargo doesn't actually fit in the delivery bay. That's two jobs in a row lost by bugs in the game.

(the bay turns green when the cargo is correctly in place)

Again, I need to learn to be patient and not play games at launch because most of them are basically open betas. I'm officially off this game at least until path 1.1 and would recommend anyone interested in it to do the same. It's a great game and has potential, but not in this state.

Now feeling a bit frustrated with this game. The problem is that I've advanced enough with the various side-jobs that the characters became interesting enough for me to want to do their missions. But because their missions pay shit, they don't advance my economy and I'm forced to stop and do random jobs to get back to a confortable place in which a single fuckup doesn't take me to the red.

Also, I've noticed that some of the upgrades are that kind of game upgrade that removes gameplay instead of making it more interesting. Things like improving fuel efficiency only removes the need to go to the fuel station as often, eliminating part of what defines the core gameplay.

I still like it, though. Those small frustrations come from a place of wanting to play and progress in the game.

star trucker is a game where you drive a truck in outer space and deliver cargo. it is also a survival game where you need to manage your truck's power, air filtration systems, and hull integrity. you can go into debt, you can die, etc.

i like this game! it's really addicting, the concept is fun, and although it seems like the most popular opinion is that the survival aspect is shit, i would disagree. yes, it's true that batteries lose power absurdly fast when playing their recommended settings. if they prove too difficult for you to manage, you are always free to restart before digging yourself into a deeper hole and picking the custom mode --> lower every power consumption setting. this is how i play, and it becomes way more manageable. I've also heard people talk about how bad the controls are. at first, it seemed this way to me too, but honestly they're seriously not that bad lol docking isn't hard either. so let me talk about the flaws that i really think affect the game's enjoyability for me.

• this is sort of an extension to the whole power consumption issue, but i really hate that there is no way to recharge batteries. would it not make sense that in outer space, while driving a truck in the middle of the literal void, that you would have some sort of charging station inside your truck so you don't die??? in this game, batteries that are dead no longer have any use. you need to drive...fly? to a shop and buy more batteries. that's great and all, but the shop prices are absurd. one good battery would cost me 1,000, and jobs pay somewhere around 1.5k right now. considering i also have to pay for gas, air filters, and some other thing i forgot the name of, managing money becomes really really difficult.

• then there's the fact that seeing safe ways to get to your destination is really difficult. there is debris all over the map which can be avoided through this game's take on roads in space. that's great and all, but considering the fact we are in space, there aren't many roads. i really wish there were more signs, maybe a little more light? sometimes i need to go to one of those jump gates and i approach through the wrong side because i have no idea which direction the gate is facing.

• the map, while COOL, is uninteresting. is there not something more that can be done to give us more to look at? i think there is.

• jump gates are cool, yeah, but "long hauls" don't feel like long hauls. you drive a little, go through a gate. drive a little more, go through another gate. this rinses and repeats. there are a million things to worry about in the truck, so why not have longer drives in between jumps? why not make it so highways automatically drive your truck for you? i don't know i just think this game really needs these quality of life changes yk

• in my opinion the truck drifts like crazy and getting into accidents is sooo easy like literally I'm minding my own business and an ai truck rams into me from the side or above and IIIII get fined??? make it make sense. i feel like i need some sort of a radar in the truck to see debris and other vehicles because otherwise it's a literal fuckfest

and that's really it for now. i like the concept of this game, and honestly it'll be easy for them to improve from here on out so i hope they listen to their players and make some good changes/overhauls where they need to be made.

Lost a good few hours to this today, feel like I'm getting sucked in now. I'm yet to play Euro Truck Simulator, but I am a sucker for simulation games, especially ones that say "hey you have to get from A to B and manage yourself along the way".

Getting out of your pilot seat to walk around your truck is neat, you can even space walk to repair your hull. I'm really enjoying fixing up and replacing electronic modules for things like oxygen, gravity, power supply etc. You can pickup and store some small items on shelves which is nice. I like getting carry cases and storing stuff in there. It's neat that you can check the different systems economy and sell your shelf stuff where there's better prices, adds an extra layer whilst you're hauling bigger stuff behind your truck.

I'm mainly enjoying just clicking all the buttons. Wish some of the buttons like the interior lights weren't behind your seat though, would be nice to access them whilst you're walking around.