Starbound Thread

[Jenosis]

Alright I've completed the game in storymode and I feel like I can give the game proper judgement:

Spoiler: Don't click if you haven't completed the storyline

So first off; the game has gotten much better than it originally was I'll say that much. When you upgrade crafting stations it actually feels like you earned it instead of the game going "lol here you go". I will say that they barely give any hint on how to get certain materials (looking at you silicon board) and I thought I had to fight robot monsters to get them.

Second: while I greatly appreciate the story missions; the scanning part is so ing annoying. I wasted at least 5k+ erichus to get to a Hylotl City where I had to scan the last of the pieces required for esther to tell me where the hylotl artifact is. Speaking of missions: Outpost feels really empty without the missions it had in Beta; I want to see some old Outpost missions return so that way there's still something to do after the storyline.That brings me to my third point: post-game is seriously lacking I feel. "But you can build and travel to other planets!" I hear you say, but what do you do when you're absolutely sick of that? I feel like there should be a saga of some sort after you defeat The Ruin. Actually wait I wanna cover the other part of storymode stuff. Cutscenes were good, until the last one. I feel like it tried to be epic/tragic and ended up not being that?

Finally: I love how they handled some crafting stuff. Organizing by tab was seriously the best thing that happened for me when crafting. Printing stuff no longer requires me to pick the item up and take it to the printer; instead I can inspect it and it's automatically added to the library.

All in all I feel like I have faith that Starbound will get better once they start doing content. For right now I say it's a 7/10.

Anyways I think I've covered all I've wanted to in this post.

 

[Marcus101RR]

A bit of Review

Terraria Vs. Starbound

Sandbox Genre

• Nothing says do what you want in a world where everything is your sandbox. The meaning of this word is just as literal as the sandbox you had when you were a kid, or not. Build, play, spawn, do whatever your heart contents that the game has to offer, even if its messing around with commands I might add.
  • Terraria: This is one of its major breakthroughs in its sandbox, you can build anything in a big world and have plenty of space and resources to do it. If you run out, just make another!
    • Rate: 10/10
  • Starbound: Starbound gives you enough places to build and your sandbox is literally a vast universe of 'infinite' generated world. Or so it seems? Has anyone reached the literal end?
    • Rage 10/10

The Engine

• Every game runs on an engine? What is an engine? The thing in your car? No, the actually backbone of the game itself. It is not the code its coded in, its what it runs on, neither/nor the system but the supporting driver that runs the entire operation. That is what is called the engine, it can determine the physics, mechanics, capabilities, and quality of a game at many levels, however it can also hinder/cripple the limits of the engine too.
  • Terraria: We know and love this game it is core, but even though it runs on one of the most disgusting and heinus engines of all time, you know it as .NET Framework or simply put C#. The framework is the actual engine, but what it is coded in is C#, that being said. It inherits the coding that was used for that engine. The .NET Framework itself isn't too bad, has its limits, but if done right its a great tool. Personally, I think its a development for mediocre and beginner aspects. So choosing this engine was a poor part on Terraria. However, given history, the game was a mere 'Hobby' project from what was going around early development, and later become a sensation by fans. Now its a game of the Indie/Retro genre as well as sandbox. My personal opinion, I have yet to see .NET be used properly and well with this game. Thus my rating is not favorable. Terraria servers still need more power than anything, so even a small server can run fine on a home machine, but if you plan going higher you are gonna need power! Be as it may, Terraria lacks multithreading this means in no way can Terraria ever handle 255 players online at a single time! EVER! Prove me wrong! Let's not forget .NET really likes to annoy people system specifications, and installation error failures, not to mention Windows Upgrading is a BIG no no!
    • Rate: 6/10
  • Starbound: The game runs on an engine that is well established, and seems to handle well. Though it requires a bit more power than your typical other engines out there for indie games. The game is coded in C++, that is a plus indeed, and based on that it runs on an engine as such. The capbabilty of this engine has proven what a game can do at a Client to Server level. Compared to Terraria, it shows that even customization requires NO additional software or hardware to make it work. This detail will go further later. The game itself is smooth and still runs solid, but it does have a few let down. It requires power for anyone planning to host a server for a few dozen people. We are not talking about your basic top of the line PC here! Servers will need a good 64 GB RAM, and 2-4 Physical CPUs at 4 Cores 8 Threads or more! So don't think you can start hosting a great server! Need an example? ILoveBacons uses 60 slots, and lets just say it as it is, Chat delay galore, and lag/framerate up the wazoo! It shows you need power, and a lot of it! The luck of this is it supports multithreading so there should be no problem getting a good server up if you got the wallet for it. There is no problem changing your hardware or graphics, this game gets the information from the core of the system rather than from a conduit. Bye Bye .NET!
    • Rate 9/10

The Graphics

• The games are both retro, so we are not expecting eye-candy-blood-spashing-in-your-face-orgasm graphics, but we still appreciate the finer things in games. that is Retro! Who can't ignore old style graphics such as Atari, Sega Genesis, SNES, and more, they revolutionized the gaming world. Why should games like these stop and go over the top graphics? They don't! Pixels are pixels, and we want more!
  • Terraria: Aside from its 16x16 blockade of 2x2 pixel detail, it could be more detailed! However, the game still gives you enough eye-candy to make out everything in the game. "Is that a toilet over there?", yeah, that is a toilet! So really, you can't question half the time what that thing is in Terraria, and if it is...get your glasses checked! Still, the graphics for the game on enemies, blocks, and characters are gorgeous. It gives you enough fun to enjoy the game and make something of it! Did I mention Pixel art!? With Terraria's minimap, pixel art becomes quite an interesting favor that to MineCraft. So, I have seen plenty of artwork and huge constructions! But, most of all, Terraria wins the Mechanical Genius of its art. With the various mechanical tools that exist, you aren't forced to do crazy sizes of wire/block methods like MineCraft. I mean literally, small areas can be used to create quite the contraptions!
    • Rate: 8/10
  • Starbound: Starbound uses a smaller detail level, but it also allows you to Zoom out or in. So the detail becomes more of an illusion at its core. This gives you the choice to see this game at any detail level you wish. Smaller zoom? Bigger details and larger views. Larger Zoom? Blow it right in your face, oh look at black dot! The customization of this gives you the opportunity to enjoy the game at any style you wish. The graphics of mobs and entities is more details for reason compared to the environment, but still backgrounds are detailed enough to give you a view of everything along with some parallax.
    • Rate: 9/10

Gameplay

• The games both run on a simple concept, make your character, make the world, and start exploring! With both games having this feature it isn't too difficult on how to proceed. Most of the functions of the game is a learning curve process, and you get introduced to new abilities as you collect and earn items that improve your character's ability.
  • Terraria: It is no doubt probably a the better of the two that has the ability to make things possible. You can fly, swim, teleport, jump, ride, and much more. The physics are just as easy as that, and they seem to be well established. Nothing beats the engine here with these. There are a few twerks, but those don't stop it from giving you endless possibilities and adapt your character on the fly with items. The inventory space is just right so you have plenty of resources to use and store at your current leisure! Need extra? Have that money trough ready! With 3 armor slots, and 6 accessories, plus prefixes you really can make your character shine in ability!
    • Rate: 9/10
  • Starbound: In here, we focus on a different concept completely. You are in a ship before you are in a world, that is in a vast universe of worlds. Compared to terraria, you are not stuck in one world, well at least not permanently. Your character has an abundance of space for items and blocks, each category has its own tab so you have way more space than you could ever need! But, it makes sense, you are in a futuristic world where thousands of items can be compacted into a molecular storage device that shrinks objects down to an atom for storage! Did I mention dynamic storage? However, the game play is basically the same for everyone. The only thing that makes a difference here is the items/objects in the game change your character's ability by a lot, but not enough. You literally only have 4 armor slots...that and augments.
    • Rate: 8/10

Story, Lore & Quests

• Both games have Lore in them, but do have quest(s), and a bit of a story to it! However, Starbound shines in all three aspects a bit more than Terraria.
  • Terraria: There isn't much of a story, literally you just get put in a world and you start off doing whatever. In addition to this, the story can't adapt itself because your world is different from the start on both instances and changes quite dramatically from various events. Lore behind Terraria is almost unexplained, but it has it. Enemies, evil spirits, and the great Moon Lord that cultists seem to praise for his return! Doesn't really give you the hype of it, but gives you a bit of background. Supposedly, this is where Otherworld will fix that gap. You can enjoy a single type quest, fishing expedition from the angler every day? What did you catch today hun'? Crap! A boot!
    • Rate: 7/10
  • Starbound: Story? Check! Lore? Check! Quests? CHECK! The game gives you the option to start a story, or skip it, but still has a story to it! Evil planetary tentacle monster, destroys worlds...That sounds familiar? Gotta stop with with 6 powerful artifacts! Lore, well that in with the environment, and the npcs, and not to mention the races. Everything is connected! Sadly, your planet wasn't the first, but won't be the last. So get to it! The game gives you enough to do, and when you feel ready, you can move on with the next quest and more story! There are also side-quests that are generated randomly, and have different requirements every time! The story is short, and possible DLC will expand quests, and story, or even a new expansion. There are plenty of un-answered questions...
    • Rate: 9/10

Mechanics, Gimmicks, & Features

• A big part of the game is how it actually all works in one. Terraria focuses mostly client based, and with that very limited customization and ability to it. In short, lots of HARDCODED stuff that cannot be changed on the fly or by mods without a good backbone to crack open! Modding support? Yeah, this is a big one!
  • Terraria: Honestly, its all hardcoded, you cannot add a new item, let alone customize it enough. Sure slap on a prefix on a wooden sword and call it legendary wooden sword with only a bit of damage improvement! So, it mostly focuses that the developers add more content to the game for players to enjoy and even experience! The diversity of these items and features really limit what an engine can do. I personally believe Terraria has its charm, but when you want to make something unique in your own server or world, it really isn't all that...Unique? Also, modding support lacks, it requires decompiling of the engine/game, and that is against the rules, but has a short leash in order to allow modding and custom content! Plus you need to have it in order to see it!
    • Rate: 6/10
  • Starbound: Have you played Borderlands? Random weapon combinations? Let me just say this: Starbound has it! It doesn't matter if its a gun, staff, wand, sword or anything of its kind. You want ice, fire, poison, or electric on it? By god it can happen! Starbound utilizes a simple but effective item randomization generator. Guess what the gimmick is? It's universally adaptive! If you have this item on your world, it can be obtained and transferred to another and it doesn't require downloading! Well aside from the server getting that information. What is even more interesting is, the modding support. Just by testing it with a command. You can spawn a godly armor, inherit the icon, the look, change the color code, change its attributes, and its buffs, status effects, even an augment on it. The best part of it all? NO MOD DOWNLOAD. Yes, if can be given to anyone, and they can use it! It works. Starbound shines with this big time, you can make a weak wooden sword, become Godly! Did I mention you can change ANYTHING on an item? Hey you see that grappling hook? I changed its name: Starbounder's Hooker. No seriously!
    • Rate: 10/10

Bottom line, both games are great, both have the features and enticing lure. Where one fails, the other shines, both seems to do it.

• Infinite round-sized worlds vs Limited end-sized worlds.
• Almost endless combinations of items/weapons/tools vs limited item types/prefixes.
• Standard issue bosses with generic dodging skills vs advanced bosses and unique abilities.

I choose Terraria for the classic lovable social world of the game itself. I can build, I can make things, and I can party up with groups of people to help them with bosses. While, starbound has gotten my interest in item customization and the unique transfer ability of these items, I join this for all its other aspects. It has its own feel to it, but Starbound attracts me because of how no mods are required to literally create-an-item on the fly in-game! Why you no do that Terraria!?

I'm not giving out a final rating for these games, because its not which game I choose over the other, its about what game I choose based on what I want to do in each game itself. Starbound feels like an MMORPG, but doesn't have the player base for it yet. While Terraria is really a Server-to-join moment for everyone. Find a group of people, and just do something!

Both games are great, and both have their own unique abilities. The wiring of Starbound at the moment however, is extremely painful!

 

[Jeckel]

it runs on one of the most disgusting and heinus engines of all time, you know it as .NET Framework or simply put C#

I could argue to my last breath against this, but will just say that, this being Red's first game, Terraria is not a good example of what can be done with the proper application of the language and framework.

lots of HARDCODED stuff that cannot be changed on the fly or by mods without a good backbone to crack open! Modding support? Yeah, this is a big one!

This is definitely one of the most glaring holes in Terraria and the place where one really can't argue against Starbound having the leg up.


All around a very detailed review and I enjoyed reading it. 10/10, great job.

 

[Marcus101RR]

I could argue to my last breath against this, but will just say that, this being Red's first game, Terraria is not a good example of what can be done with the proper application of the language and framework.



This is definitely one of the most glaring holes in Terraria and the place where one really can't argue against Starbound having the leg up.


All around a very detailed review and I enjoyed reading it. 10/10, great job.

Agreed, Terraria has its beautiful charm and with Cenx taking the lead now, she and her team have the absolute interest in expanding it. It may be hardcoded, but at least it means now content! I know that Terraria was a bad example of how to use the engine, this isn't Terraria's fault or Red's, matter of fact, from what I still remember it was just a hobby project that went gold sensation! Can't argue with that. The people have spoken, its a good game. In fact, it is.

Starbound shows something that I never thought could be possible, making an item in a game of items. I can turn that Blue Stim Pack, turn it to Pink Stim Pack and make it give all 4 buffs in one go. Best part is? It can be obtained instantly in-game no coding, and no modding needed really.

If Terraria can inherit that skill, it would really make a huge difference in its ability, but I would suspect it would need a complete rework.

I did this review in light of 1.0 of Starbound, because both games started off as Early Access, if I recall. Now, I really see what indie games can do on different levels.

 

[Sigma90]

Starbound has escaped the In Dev stage. Which means I missed out on a 'free' demo from GOG... bummer. I'm sort of on the hunt for something new, so is the game fun to play? There aren't any serious issues that are known?

We know and love this game it is core, but even though it runs on one of the most disgusting and heinus engines of all time, you know it as .NET Framework or simply put C#.

You might be surprised at how many commercially released games - mostly indie games - use C# and XNA! Some run better than others Personally, I prefer .NET (though not necessarily for games) and I think XNA had a bright future ahead of it. So needless to say, Microsoft discontinued it. And Microsoft wonders why no-one uses their tools anymore.
(And thanks for the review on Starbound!)

 

[Marcus101RR]

Starbound has escaped the In Dev stage. Which means I missed out on a 'free' demo from GOG... bummer. I'm sort of on the hunt for something new, so is the game fun to play? There aren't any serious issues that are known?


You might be surprised at how many commercially released games - mostly indie games - use C# and XNA! Some run better than others Personally, I prefer .NET (though not necessarily for games) and I think XNA had a bright future ahead of it. So needless to say, Microsoft discontinued it. And Microsoft wonders why no-one uses their tools anymore.
(And thanks for the review on Starbound!)

Starbound got kicked out of 1.0, and patched 2 days later to 1.0.1, so they are hot on fixing bugs and issues it seems. I couldn't find any issues with the game on single player or multiplayer. Only thing to note is, if you tend to play online the progress of the ark is stored in the universe rather than the player, so you would have to do the quests again, and then forcefull fail the final quest to finish the game on your single player universe. Only thing I find annoying at this time.

Stardew Valley is a .NET game as well, but like all .NET / XNA games, if .NET is poorly installed, you get the error that .NET won't run the game, and annoys you with it. You should see the countless threads in PC Support where people say they cannot start the game. If they tried another .NET game, the same issue would happen there. I explain that it isn't Terraria that is the problem. It is never the game, its the engine, or in this case .NET itself that fails. Which leads to Microsoft since this was probably the most unsupportive dependency I have ever seen.

Because of this, Repair Tools and Re-installations are not always successfully in fixing the issue. However, a 100% guaranteed fix I found is installing windows clean! Updating it via Windows Update and installing .NET Latest version with XNA first before anything else! Terraria, Stardew Valley, and any game using this engine...works flawlessly. The rest is all optimizing your gfx and cpu settings.

Since Starbound is C++, everything is retrieved from the system directly, rather than .NET, so generally speaking. Anyone can run Starbound without any issues.

 

[Sigma90]

I installed and played Starbound on the weekend. (I needed a $10 game on GOG to achieve points for a free game hehe. Starbound was just enough!)

I've now flown to my second planet, a desert world with a Ye Olde Western town... and a sewer. Complete with pipes, sewage blocks and green liquid that poisons you if you jump in it. And apparently the sewer is a really important meeting place. No fewer than 3 NPCs have gotten lost in here, plus 4 merchants. Umm... OK? Of all the places to beam down to into a planet / explore / set up shop, you choose a sewer? Well, who am I to judge?

I've been having fun so far, but I have issues with the controls and enemies. Movement feels like you're on ice and sliding everywhere and jumping doesn't feel natural. Also lots of enemies on my first planet that can 3-shot kill you... quite a few deaths until I could craft some ranged weapons.

There's a lot of obvious influence from other games: Minecraft, Terraria, Don't Starve, Pokémon.

Feels like it will be a while before I've established a good enough base to build a town and manage what feels like a huge number of items. One small step for Sigma, one giant leap for Aviankind! (I picked Avian as my race. What races do other people pick / prefer?)

 

[Gotcha!]

(I picked Avian as my race. What races do other people pick / prefer?)

I've tried four, Human, Avian, Hylotl and Glitch. Not too fond of my Glitch, but I like the other 3 races. Nice looking ships too.
In the end it's a decent enough game, I've got many hours out of it, got my money's worth. I just wish there were more missions and less of the boring scan-stuff inbetween (you'll know when you come across it).

 

[Mega Charizard Y]

One thing that really tickles my itching eyes is that all of the planets, even ones around so-called "Frozen Stars" (there are none and they should be red dwarfs) can harbor major amounts of life. Sure, it may be subglacial, but why is the atmosphere not frozen? Why are all of the planets litterally earthlike, but don't have any actual oceans? Why do all of the moons look the same? Why do they all have no atmosphere? It should be a challenge to find an earthlike planet outside of your starter system. They removed the radiation system which was actually realistic in a way (there was no heating so radiation was pointless in the long run) and made it so the most common monsters are cookie-cutter pre-made monsters instead of actual monsters that were procedurally generated like when I first played it. Then I see the gas giants.
The ing gas giants. Some of the planets are like earth is to saturn or jupiter, meaning LITTERALLY ALL OF THE PLANETS THAT ARE RELATED ARE THE SAME SIZE.

There are no mars-like planets, or selenas like mercury. Planets don't have above 1 of earth's atmospheric pressure at all. Except for the gas giants. At most gas giants have like 3 moons, no dwarf moons or circum-circumbinary gas giants. Some people may say "what about kerbal space program?" The only planets with oceans are eve, kerbin, and laythe. Laythe has supposedly liquid methane oceans and eve has supposedly something that is not water. But I see earthlike planets just orbiting right up close and personal to their BLUE stars which are called frozen stars despite blue meaning hot. Radioactive stars despite all stars being radioactive. It seems like they overlook alot of pretty obvious things.

LIKE WHY ALL LIFE ON YOUR STARTER PLANET IS SOMEHOW ON ALL OTHER PLANETS.

 

[Gotcha!]

LIKE WHY ALL LIFE ON YOUR STARTER PLANET IS SOMEHOW ON ALL OTHER PLANETS.

I agree though. Seeing the same creatures throughout the entire galaxy, it's silly.

 

[Jenosis]

-snip-

also another thing: you know how they said each planet is supposed to have their own gravity? Yeah no it doesn't feel like that AT ALL. it seems the only "planets" that have a noticeable gravity difference from others are moons and asteroid fields. The rest are like: x1.00 or x1.01.

 

[Flameofice]

also another thing: you know how they said each planet is supposed to have their own gravity? Yeah no it doesn't feel like that AT ALL. it seems the only "planets" that have a noticeable gravity difference from others are moons and asteroid fields. The rest are like: x1.00 or x1.01.

They gutted that, it seems.

Apparently, they decided to give up on the whole "procedurally generated everything" idea. The entire "multiple planets" gimmick is basically an infinite world.

 

[Sigma90]

I can understand why some of the differences may have been scaled back or removed. Gravity changes for example, could be annoying. Slight differences in gravity could mean the difference between a fall being safe or dangerous. And with size, planets that are too small wouldn't be useful and planets that are too large would be unfeasible to explore.
Still, it feels like how I'd imagine NMS if it was in 2D...

Hope these questions aren't too obvious...

• Is there a way to pause the game in single player?
• Is there a way to take in-game screenshots? (Not referring to the Windows screenshot functionality; I mean some kind of key shortcut in SB itself.)
• Is it worth spending time to set up crop / tree farms?
• Is it worth spending time setting up a settlement?

LIKE WHY ALL LIFE ON YOUR STARTER PLANET IS SOMEHOW ON ALL OTHER PLANETS.

Because life originated on Earth and the Goa'uld spread humans to other planets. So all aliens are human-like, mimic Earth cultures and speak English.

 

[Gotcha!]

Is there a way to pause the game in single player?

Nope. No idea why. Whenever I needed to walk my dog I just dug myself in and went AFK.

Is there a way to take in-game screenshots? (Not referring to the Windows screenshot functionality; I mean some kind of key shortcut in SB itself.)

Nope. You can use F12 if you're playing through Steam and have the overlay enabled. Otherwise it's good ol' print screen and dump to a paint program.

Is it worth spending time to set up crop / tree farms?

Depends on the difficulty you play on. Some food has benefits that are mighty useful during some of the boss fights and you need to eat on higher difficulties. But on casual you don't really need to bother unless you like farming. Tree farms are not that useful once you have a decent amount of wood. Wood is hardly used later in the game.

Is it worth spending time setting up a settlement?

Depends on if you enjoy doing so. I have a nice settlement with a bunch of npc's, but I really only went down there to drop loot in my storage.

Because life originated on Earth and the Goa'uld spread humans to other planets. So all aliens are human-like, mimic Earth cultures and speak English.

Well, that explains it.

 

[Sigma90]

I'm halfway through now. This game is going to be a nightmare for my completionist nature. So much stuff to find, see and collect. Some of it is official through the Codex and Collections (monsters, bugs, fish, etc.). Some of it is unofficial, such as the available tenants. As much as I'd like to build a settlement with one of every possible tenant, I have a feeling that's just not going to happen. Not without a world editor or something. Starbound's building mechanics aren't quite as polished as Terraria or Minecraft.

One thing that has really annoyed me now I have the Relocator Gun: There's no separate collections tab for critters. Why not?

I just wish there were more missions and less of the boring scan-stuff inbetween (you'll know when you come across it).

I can see how the scanning stuff would be hit or miss. Personally, I kind of like it. I like learning about the lore of races and seeing what my character has to say about them. Scanning things also provides entries for the Pixel Printer. That's not to say it's without its flaws - the Avian scanning was completed by scanning a dozen breakable pots in one abandoned temple. Boring! And Esther is annoying. I just don't like her for some reason. I bet she turns out to the be the end boss or something. (Don't spoil it for me please. )

But I can definitely understand why people would find the scanning stuff boring. Given what I said above with the collections, I think SB is more geared towards exploration and lore than combat -- especially with most monsters having little variety between them. Nearly all of them charge at you for collision damage.

They removed the radiation system which was actually realistic in a way (there was no heating so radiation was pointless in the long run) and made it so the most common monsters are cookie-cutter pre-made monsters instead of actual monsters that were procedurally generated like when I first played it.

Something that's annoyed me: How can a planet be too irradiated / cold / hot for me to visit, but there's three thriving civilisations on it anyway? (That all have no visible protection.) Supposedly this planet is cold enough to kill me and yet there are a dozen Avians walking around in loincloths.
I guess an irradiated planet could explain the origin of the Floran, but still...

 

[Gotcha!]

And Esther is annoying. I just don't like her for some reason.

I think she might be based on one of the devs, Molly or something. I agree though. The whole story is rather thin and she's not really helping.

 

[Jenosis]

The story probably would've been much better if they didn't ditch the racial stories that they were going to do in beta.

 

[Sigma90]

Performance for me is starting to suffer - does anyone else have this problem? A world with too many NPCs (e.g. the ship crew, Avian Grounded marketplaces, critters) or too many effects (e.g. heavy rain, fog, sandstorm) make the game start to lag.

I made the mistake of building a city/base on an Ocean planet. So I have critters, NPCs, heavy rain and liquid physics slowing things down. I chose Ocean on purpose. It's flat, so it's easy to build on. Just lay down a platform above the water. It's also fairly safe despite the Risky threat,so the NPCs pay more in rent. But the performance and lag are ruining things.
(You could probably also build on Arctic for the same reasons. Toxic also possible if you don't want to build below sea level. But Magma is a no-go because of meteors. I know Barren is recommended as a building planet, but it has a lower tier, so less rent. It also doesn't have anything interesting like weather, so it doesn't feel as natural.)

The whole story is rather thin and she's not really helping.

Now I've reached the end, I can see your point.
Spoilers follow!
Asra Nox is there... just because? Little of her background and motivations are explained. She could be replaced by almost anything else and it wouldn't change things. The final key is disappointing. I was expecting a trip to a ruined Earth to recover the human key. But nope, Esther had it all along.
I think a trip to a ruined Earth - especially if it revisited the starting area - would have been a powerful ending to the game. Fight part of the Ruin in the Graduation Hall and claim the human key. Enter the Ark and fight the Ruin and Asra Nox together in a two-part boss battle. Maybe the Ruin possesses Asra or vice versa. Asra wants to unleash the Ruin on all non-human races, right? Lets play out that motivation!
Possibly cliched, but that'd give closure to Asra, the Ruin and Earth.

 

[Gotcha!]

Performance for me is starting to suffer - does anyone else have this problem? A world with too many NPCs (e.g. the ship crew, Avian Grounded marketplaces, critters) or too many effects (e.g. heavy rain, fog, sandstorm) make the game start to lag.

Same. The game is horribly optimized, if at all. If I can run Fallout 4, GTA 5 and The Witcher 3 with high settings, then I'm certainly blaming Chucklefish' coding.
My two main bases and ships all have 10+ characters, making the framerate drop to ridiculously low levels.

The final key is disappointing. I was expecting a trip to a ruined Earth to recover the human key. But nope, Esther had it all along.

I share the disappointment. Most fun I had in this game was from the missions. I noticed the Apex mission already being very short and the Glitch one was pretty much just a big fight on a tiny map.
But hey, one mission left, right? With the thought savouring the moment I went off to do other things, returning hours later to do the next mission. I was very disappointed there was none. I simply can't shake the feeling that the devs decided they were bored with creating missions.
Sure, there was this final boss fight, but it's not the same. Also, I kept dying a lot trying to get to the core because the game would freeze for seconds when falling down, then splattering me on the floor with no chance of me using a jump. Poor programming indeed.

 

[Sigma90]

Starbound 1.2 was released. There's a bunch of post-end boss stuff related to Ancient Vaults. Terraformers have been added. Some performance improvements as well. (Nothing I've personally noticed, but maybe others will see a difference.) And it fixes my biggest annoyance - inventory windows opening off-screen.

Spoilers follow!
Small correction to my previous post: In my previous post, I was up to the Ruin. I've now fought the end boss and completed the game. Asra does play a minor role in the final boss fight. She still thinks the Ruin will eliminate all non-human life. Evidently she didn't know (or care) the Ruin's first and only target was Earth.
Then it ended with my least favourite ending: Killing the player character in a cutscene. The Creator restores the player to life, but I still hate these endings. It makes all your work feel pointless.