There are a few hidden urls on my site (/secure, /chat, /key, etc) but one I want to highlight is /pixels. This is a fun idea where the same canvas is shared by everyone who visits it, but each visitor is only able to place one pixel on the board every 30 minutes. This leads to a (hopefully) more collaborative effort or getting your friends to draw on the canvas with you.
Starbound has been one of my favorite games of all time, so I’m happy to say that I have the latest Starbound source code, last commit August 7th, 2019. I will not be explaining how I got these files. It is the actual source, not just a decompilation, and as such includes build scripts, unused stuff, old migration code, comments, a stored test player, etc.
Source Screenshots
The source has minimal comments, and the structure is reasonable. I found the code easy to read and understand, but perhaps that’s because I’ve been modding Starbound for years now and am familiar with its behavior.
Languages Breakdown (GitHub)
StarEnvironmentPainter.cpp
StarMixer.cpp (audio related)
StarTools.cpp
Building
And of course, we can build it. I compiled this version without Steam API or the Discord rich presence API, but those are easily included.
Skip to 1:10 to see the game launch
Funny Developer Comments
Here’s a look at some of the best (in my opinion) developer comments in the source. This is not intended to be a mockery, far from it, I’m ecstatic I can take a peek into the minds of the developers. Enjoy.
// message is fullbody encrypted so the response is trust worthyish// Meh, padding is hard-coded here// TODO: I hate these hardcoded values. Please smite with fire.// TODO: Get rid of this stupid fucking bullshit, this is the ugliest // fragilest pointlessest horseshit code in the codebase. It wouldn’t // bother me so bad if it weren’t so fucking easy to do right.// This was once simple and elegant and made sense but then I made it // match the actual platform rendering more closely and now it’s a big // shitty pile of special cases again. RIP.
Example: Simple Re-implementation of Vapor Trail and Sitting Toolbar Usage
At some point during development, Chucklefish had the idea to add a vapor trail when the player was falling fast. I could’ve sworn I saw a post on their news about it back when the game was in beta, but I can’t find it now. Anyway, we can add a small snippet to restore it, as an example of further engine work Starbound can benefit from.
Allowing us to use our inventory while sitting down
Further Thoughts
Future work on the engine can lead to further modding capabilities and engine optimizations. There are many potential client side performance improvements that could be made without touching any network code. This would maintain compatibility with the vanilla client. The netcode could be updated as well, but this would break compatibility once major changes were made. If both (or more) parties are willing to use a modified client, any theoretical modification could be made. The possibilities are endless.
As of 2024, there now exists a few Starbound open source community projects with the aim of enhancing the base game’s experience. : )
Microsoft enforces the policy that searching from Cortana opens the search in Bing and on Microsoft Edge. Searchifier enables you to search with whatever browser and search engine you want, seamlessly. It’s under a five second install, and allows you freedom in using a great feature of Windows 10. Lightweight (under a megabyte), unintrusive (doesn’t run in the background), and fast, it’s a necessary download for anyone looking to augment and enhance their Windows experience.