• ROLEPLAY GUIDE: TERRANS

    ROLEPLAY GUIDE: TERRANS

    TERRAN PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

    Terrans are just… humans. No horns, no wings, no whiskers, no gills—just the full messy range of human body types, skin tones, hair textures, scars, tattoos, and fashion tribes. If you want to make a Terran read as "from Terra" in a crowd of aliens, lean on style: utilitarian workwear, sports/athleisure, streetwear, old military surplus, office-core, or whatever your character's subculture is. Terrans also tend to use their faces and hands a lot—big expressions, eye contact (or pointed lack of it), and emphatic gestures—especially compared to species that default to controlled formality.


    HOME PLANET, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

    Terrans are from Terra (Earth), a planet of huge contrasts: deserts on every continent, rainforests on most continents, and dramatic canyons/mesas that look like geology showing off. Terran history is basically "incredible creativity + constant arguing + long-term consequences," and by the time they left for the Garden they'd been through plenty of political systems (with autocracy and democracy as the big recurring poles). Culturally, Terrans are famously divided—religions, nations, ideologies, class, you name it—but they're also weirdly good at snapping into alignment around a shared goal (a mission, a deadline, a crisis, a project). They're known for comfort foods (noodles, dumplings, soups, mashed potatoes, rice dishes), for putting fun "extra bits" in food (think boba energy), and for loud cultural exports like rock-n-roll and opera. If the other species feel like they're carrying one big cultural throughline, Terrans feel like a whole grab-bag held together by "okay, but what are we trying to do?"

    The Garden in currently in the throes of a huge fad for Terrain culture from the 20th and 21st centuries, which was a particularly turbulent period in Terran history, with the invention and subsequent loss of multiple entire types of media, music, and more. Many Terrans aren't crazy about all that looking backward at something they left behind long ago, but there isn't much they can do about the rest of the galaxy.


    LANGUAGE, AND HOW TO "SOUND LIKE ONE"

    Terrans used to speak thousands of languages, and in the Garden most get by with a LinguaDot translator implant—so in day-to-day play, Terran "language" is really attitude: quick idioms, jokes, sarcasm, pop-culture-style references, and a habit of turning everything into a plan. To sound Terran, talk in goal language ("here's the plan," "what's the win condition," "two minutes," "we can do this"), use casual contractions, and don't be afraid of being a little emotionally obvious (Terrans swear, sigh, roll their eyes, and narrate their frustration). Also, Terrans love catchy slang—short phrases that spread fast—so it's very in-character to coin a term and try to make it stick.


    NAMING YOUR AVATAR

    Terran naming is a free-for-all because Terra had so many cultures: you can do "given name + family name," multi-part names, single names, nicknames-as-legal-identities, or handles/callsigns that became the real name. Family name order can vary (family-first or family-last), and a lot of Terrans in space go by what's easy to say over comms. If you want a very "Terran in the Garden" feel: pick a normal Earth-style name, then add a nickname/handle that reflects your job, a screwup, or a proud achievement—Terrans love that kind of identity shorthand.


    ROLEPLAY TIPS FOR PLAYING A TERRAN

    • Be mission-driven: even casual Terrans gravitate toward "what are we doing and why?"
    • Be socially adaptable: code-switching is normal; you shift tone depending on the room.
    • Be inventive under pressure: hacky solutions, duct-tape heroics, "it's stupid but it works."
    • Be expressive: big reactions, quick humor, occasional visible frustration.
    • Be tribal in small ways: teams, crews, clubs, fandom-like loyalties, inside jokes.
    • Use comfort rituals: food, music, tiny traditions you carry with you.
    • When you compliment someone, make it sound like a warning label—Terrans respect capability.

    TERRAN PHRASEBOOK

    • Hello / Hey: "It's time, hey."
    • Goodbye: "See you. Stay alive."
    • Yes: "Yeah." / "Copy."
    • No: "Nope." / "Negative."
    • Please: "Please." / "Do me a solid."
    • Thanks: "Thanks." / "I owe you."
    • I was wrong: "Okay. I was wrong."
    • I mean no harm: "Easy. I'm not here to start anything."
    • I need help: "I need a hand. Now."
    • Follow me: "On me." / "This way."
    • Wait here: "Hold. Right here."
    • It's dangerous here: "This is bad terrain. Eyes up."
    • Stop!: "Stop! Don't move."
    • Run!: "Move! Move!"
    • I want to trade: "Trade?" / "You buying or selling?"
    • Big compliment / hype: "You're putting the Garden on notice." (you're fierce/smart—everyone should watch out)
    ,

  • A Recruit No More – The Crucible Update

    A Recruit No More – The Crucible Update

    Welcome, Reachers, to a new interplanetary update!

    In our previous update, we shared a new game pathway to help new players explore the aspects of the game (such as mining, combat, crafting, …), but it was not completely done yet, as one last space-jump was missing: Crucible.

    The onboarding experience has now been updated as follows:

    Preamble => Hallway => Haven => Crucible => TPL Starbase and Beyond

    You must create a new character to experience this part of the new player experience. Existing characters cannot go back to Haven and Crucible, yet.

    Note: We hear the feedback that the current iteration of Haven quests is a little too theme park. We agree, but have been working on overhauling the missions framework and systems to give ourselves the tools to create more varied and custom missions. Now that most of that tooling is in place, we'll start refining and improving the mission flow to give you a little more freedom and agency.

    So, What is Crucible?

    Crucible is the planet that Haven is orbiting, and it has a very hostile environment that is not suitable for colonization, but is rich in resources. If you want to experience a nice hot tub, this could be the right place for some of you.
    Anyway, the Transplanetary League (TPL) has erected a satellite training base that you will visit on your initial journey.

    Completing your initial training on Haven and earning your PIP's (Points in Progress), you will be granted access to Crucible.

    Once you arrive on Crucible, you will be greeted by members of the TPL who assist you in surviving on the planet. You'll receive Klaatu and XP awards along the way, as well as earn your Space Suit, needed to travel to the TPL Starbase in space.

    Everything else should be self-explanatory, and if it's not, that's exactly why we're running these playtests; please let us know if anything is confusing or tedious! We'd even enjoy hearing if you think it's fun! (Or if Crucible is too hot)

     

    Systems Pioneered for Crucible

    • Enhanced our mission system to support training on the Crucible planet.
    • Introduced a group travel system for moving all players to and from a planet when needed.

     

    Gameplay Updates

    Movement

    As some of you have noted, our traversal speeds were way too fast and made moment-to-moment gameplay too slippery, and the worlds feel smaller.
    Movement speeds across the board have had a balance pass to be closer to our vision, including characters, creatures, and projectiles.

    With this change, you'll be able to see more and react to the surroundings, such as creature attacks. Slowing things down a bit opens up opportunities for us to add more ways to increase your speed in the future. We will continue to balance the movement changes as the gameplay progresses, keeping a close eye on community feedback – aka – your feedback!

     

    GravMesh

    The GravMesh has been updated to use Battery instead of Stamina, with a lower max Battery and a faster regen rate than what you're used to, so you'll have shorter but more frequent usage.

     

    Grenade Launchers

    A new weapon type has been added with a focus on arc projectiles e AoE attacks. You can acquire these via new crafting recipes that are unlocked through the crafting skill.

    The Skills menu has a few new abilities to unlock for Grenade Launchers as well as nodes to upgrade them.

    Fire a Singularity grenade to pull multiple enemies in and then use Uplift to fire an antigrav grenade to lift them into the air, where you can DPS them with ease!

    Note that the Grenade Launcher tree is still getting worked on and will have more to unlock soon.

    Goodbye, Old Weapons!

    With this update, we've started to move away from the original placeholder weapons like the Omniblaster and Companion Orbs, and are heading towards the intended design of fuller weapon trees.

    The legacy placeholder weapons will no longer be acquirable, but you can keep them if you have them until the next wipe.

     

    Ability Loadouts

    This update contains the first iteration of Customizable Abilities (a.k.a. specials or active skills) loadouts.

    You will now find Loadout Kiosks available in Camps (of all tiers) and certain pre-determined locations, like in the TPL Starbase. Accessing a Loadout Kiosk will allow you to swap out the Abilities attached to the E and Q keys on your currently equipped tool.

    For most existing tools, you won't be able to do much yet, but Pistols and Grenade Launchers have a couple of Abilities you can experiment with. Our focus for this release was the base system itself, and we're working on adding content to it next.

     

    Map overhaul

    Previously, we allowed you to create a simple ASCII-based map (2D map) to assist you in the survey game with the Pathfinder. We have moved this to a dynamic terrain map (M key) that you can unveil by surveying with the Pathfinder. Eventually, we intend to make map data tradeable, allowing you to add custom waypoints.

     

    Healix

    We updated the model used for the Healix and slightly increased its targeting radius. It should now be more effective.
    What are you waiting for? Go grab one, you squad needs healing!

    User Interface (UI) Updates

    We have been continuing to move away from how our UI worked under the hood. You will notice new graphics and an overall enhancement. Affected UI elements:

    • Public Events – Those appearing on the left side of the screen, displaying data about special events like meteorites and boss invasions.
    • Navigation points – The waypoints you see for missions and other locations in the world.
    • World UI – Emotes over creatures, and nameplates over characters.
    • Worldspace UI Updated – Nameplates and other UI you see that are not in general ui windows. This should make them more accurate, have less jitter, and the colors have been adjusted.
    • Crafting UI – The crafting screen is still in progress, so the version you will see in-game is going to have a little less functionality than the previous version. Applying this temporal change helps us solve several problems that were under the hood.
    • Chat Style – We added some simple customization options that allow you to change the color and appearance of some of the chat messages. These options can be found on the ESC menu under 'Gameplay'.
    • Key Rebinding – Yes, we heard you! Several keys can now be customized through the Controls section on the ESC menus to allow key binding.
    • Consumable Assignment – Now added to the inventory screen. On the right side, you can select consumables and then drag and drop your consumables into the radial menus for quick access with the F key.
    • Fixed a bug that would center your mouse cursor on screen when selecting tabs in the inventory UI.
    • Fixed an issue where placing Fabricator tiles would be blocked by a few areas of the UI.
    • Updated our mission tracking to include a counter in case the mission requests more than a single item.

     

    What else is in the Update?

    • Added some new movement animations for when you are going up or down a slope.
    • Improved dodge roll animations and made changes to animation time and dodge durations. Previously, it was a 0.25s animation with the same time in dodge duration. Now it's 0.5s of animation with 0.75s of dodge duration, giving players a little more defensive leeway.
    • Shields have been simplified to no longer have a passthrough damage threshold. Previously, they would only block up to a certain amount of damage from a projectile and destroy it if the projectile was weaker than that threshold. Now they'll block projectiles regardless of damage unless they break the shield's remaining capacity, in which case the projectile will keep only its excess damage.
    • Made a significant improvement to the performance of trees. Dense forest planets should give a noticeably higher FPS, as distant trees now use our new custom billboard tech. This tech upgrade will soon be applied to building blocks.
    • Fixed several issues with how we hold and animate tool swapping that could leave your arm in a very painful-looking position that the Healix power could not fix. In addition, we fixed a few issues with tools needing to be holstered/unholstered to get them to work properly.
    • Fixed a bug with tools not functioning correctly when holstering them while climbing and vaulting.
    • Fixed a bug making tools equipped on slots 2-4 not function properly after loading back into the game.
    • Resolved some issues with the collections system, making it more accurate when updating.
    • Building tiles should now have outlines around them when selected with the fabricator.
    • New 2×2 floor tile variations and 1×1 rugs have been added.

     

    Known Issues

    • When traveling through a portal, you may find yourself a short distance from it, as if you were still walking.
    • Newer creature drops sometimes show up as purple boxes while in the world.
    • Moving midair after jumping is currently still a little faster than the new walk/run speeds. This will be fixed, so enjoy your bunny hopping while you can…
    • You might occasionally see 2 public event alerts on the left side of your screen for a single event. This is visual only and goes away if you open a full-screen menu like the Inventory.
    • The new slope animations might not end (or 'exit') as early as they should in some cases.

    We thank you once again for all the feedback and bug reports you've shared with us so far. We hope you'll have a great time playing this update – let us know what you think!

    ,

  • ROLEPLAY GUIDE: GERTAN

    ROLEPLAY GUIDE: GERTAN

    GERTAN PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

    Gertans are the species everyone mistakes for "the spawns of hell" at first glance: red skin, curving/curling horns, and a generally sharp, rugged silhouette that reads dangerous even when they're being perfectly polite. They also tend to run bigger and sturdier than most species (the Skwatchi are the main ones who out-bulk them). The vibe to aim for is: built for heat, stone, and impact—like someone who grew up where "falling rocks" is an everyday hazard, not a dramatic plot twist.

     

    HOME PLANET, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

    Gertans come from Kuru, a world of active volcanoes, lava flows, caves, and constant earthquakes—a planet that basically insists you learn resilience or die. Their culture is shaped around perseverance and "make do" problem-solving: you don't whine, you shore it up; you don't panic, you brace it; you don't romanticize hardship, you get competent at it. Historically they had a strong central authority legacy called the Over Sight, and even when individual Gertans are rebellious, they often still have that deep instinct that rules, process, and duty matter when things are falling apart. They're also known for practical homegrown tech born from survival needs—especially protective force-field systems and shock-repellent technology that later spread into ship design.

     

    LANGUAGE: KURUVEK, AND HOW TO "SOUND GERTAN"

    The Gertan language is Kuruvek. The simplest way to fake it in RP is: keep sentences short and blunt, favor hard consonants, and drop in the classic interjections when you feel anything strongly. Kuruvek has two "moods" you can roleplay without learning grammar: Stone Speech (formal/official—more careful, more "regulations and liability") and Ash Speech (casual—shorter, punchier, more grunts and expletives). For sound, lean into ch (like loch), sch (like sh), and consonant clusters that feel a bit like you're chewing gravel in a friendly way. Bonus points if you treat paperwork words like sacred objects and emotions like physical forces ("that plan cracked," "brace it," "impact incoming").

     

    NAMING YOUR GERTAN

    When you're making a Gertan name, aim for something that feels like it could sit next to Kuruvek "everyday words" like Zobek, Dorken, Skove, Krath, Vail, Solkhold, Keldor, or Vekraft—short, heavy, and a bit clangy, with lots of k/v/r/d/sk/kr sounds and not much "soft" vowel music. A good rule is 2 punchy chunks (sometimes 3 for a fancy/old-family vibe), optionally jammed together or lightly hyphenated like Bond-Merrek does in the in-game accent pack; avoid anything that looks like a real Earth word, and don't overcomplicate it—Gertans don't sound flowery. If you need templates: (Chunk)(Chunk) for most people (Kranvail, Vekdor, Skovkrath), (Chunk)(Chunk)(Chunk) for somebody important (Solk-Vek-Rask), and if you want to really sell "Kuruvek mouthfeel," end on a hard stop like -ek / -en / -or / -hold / -lor.

     

    ROLEPLAY TIPS FOR PLAYING A GERTAN

    • Default to competence. If something breaks, your first instinct is to fix it, not debate it.
    • Treat danger as normal. You don't get dramatic; you get procedural.
    • Respect endurance. You might tease, but you quietly admire anyone who keeps going.
    • Be blunt, not cruel. Gertans can be direct without being mean—unless they choose to be.
    • Use "duty language" when it counts. Liability, regulations, approvals, permits—these are emotional support concepts.
    • Swear like a volcano. Your expletives are about ash, embers, scorching, crushing, impact.
    • Show care through action. You help, you brace, you carry, you patch the hull. That's affection.
    • If you want a cultural prop: soups/stews cooked "like you mean it," stone/metal gear, layered clothing, studs/buckles/spikes, and a fondness for big reverberating drums.

     

    PHRASEBOOK

    • Zobek! — Hey / hello (attention-getter)
    • Dorken. — Goodbye
    • Eo. — Yes
    • Nik. — No
    • Bit. — Please
    • Ki dank. — Thanks
    • Ki ge falsch. — I was wrong
    • Ki loke nik skarv. — I mean no harm
    • Ki larke dulk. — I need help
    • Drulk ki. — Follow me
    • Tharn dekk. — Wait here
    • Dekk esh krath. — It's dangerous here
    • Ki prave skenk. — I want to trade
    • Stak! — Stop!
    • Rash! — Run!
    • Hakergast! — "That sucks!" (classic Gertan expletive)
    • Lomeisen! — "Hell yes!" (ecstatic hype)
    • Du hakerbek. — "You crispyface." (insult; use sparingly unless you want problems)
    , ,

  • Starside Weekly – FEB.13.2026

    Your weekly update on Stars Reach

    From our current location on the moon called Haven, we can sometimes see the planet Crucible below. We've heard from the advance team that Crucible is an uncommon planet and we look forward to our first visit.

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    WHAT'S NEW

    Here are a list of things that have entered internal testing phase:

    • Advanced training missions on the planet Crucible
    • Names that include spaces
    • Keymapping (a very common request)
    • Revised movement speeds (walk, run, and sprint) for players and creatures and even projectiles. Trees have once again been left behind.
    • Improved targeting by the Healix tool
    • Chat customizations and colors
    • New creatures
    • Fixes to soft grouping
    • A new weapon type: the Battle Rifle
    • Survey maps
    • New modularity for all weapons and tools, making them more interesting and flexible to craft

    CONTROLLED CHAOS INTERVIEWS WORLD DESIGNER MEGHANN

    Controlled Chaos brought a list of questions for our world designer Meghann Bledsoe.

    He asked about the planet Jotania and its erosion issues and she explained how the biome system interacts with the materials system, etc.

    He asked about cave dynamics, erosion, rain cycles, the return of giant stone mushrooms from Pyromycis, and much more.

    He asked about Crucible and Meghann explained how she made a dangerous planet to match the name, and how the terrain can teach players about movement and how to handle lava. You should expect this planet to be volcanically active.

    You'll want to hear the parts of the interview about exceptionally alien looking planets and possible timing for larger play areas.

    PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

    The playtests have resumed their usual Thursday-morning-through-Tuesday-morning cadence.

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    LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

    We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

    • The Transplanetary League set
    • The Stars Reach logo set
    • The Infinite Worlds set

    You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

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    HOW YOU CAN HELP 

    If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. 

    ,

  • ROLEPLAY GUIDE: ELIONI

    ROLEPLAY GUIDE: ELIONI

    ELIONI PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

    Elioni are the "cat-people" of the Garden in the most readable, cosplay-friendly way: cat ears, whiskers, a furred face, and a visible tail, on an otherwise humanoid body. They tend to look built for alertness and agility rather than raw bulk, which is why they're often described as making good scouts/explorers/hunters. For roleplay, lean into quick head turns, tail tells, and the idea that personal space and personal dignity are real things you notice.

     

    HOME PLANET, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

    Elioni come from Rowwsia, where the biggest landmass is overwhelmingly desert and most people historically lived along the coasts. That geography breeds a specific kind of mindset: you don't get a lot for free, you learn to make your own luck, and you don't wait around for permission to be yourself. Their culture's "center of gravity" is independent thought and expression, plus a strong meritocracy streak—people want accomplishment to matter, even if the reality can drift into prestige, gatekeeping, and "prove it" attitudes. They're also a species that leaned hard into industrial robotics and AI (partly because so much of their world is brutal to work by hand). Even when an Elioni is friendly, there's often a vibe of: I respect you most when you show me who you are and what you can do.

     

    LANGUAGE, AND HOW TO "SOUND LIKE ONE"

    Elioni speech is designed to feel like a drawled, meow/yowl/trill cadence in text: you'll see lots of stretched sounds written with doubled letters (rr, ww, oww, urr, arr), and it comes off playful, dramatic, or intensely sincere depending on context. The easy RP trick is: avoid contractions (say "do not," "cannot" instead of "don't," "can't"), keep sentences clean and declarative, and drop in a few signature particles/words when you want to flavor it: ne for "not," ma for "do it!" commands, and ke to turn something into a question. Also: in Elioni culture, the tail = the self, so tail-related insults land as personal insults—use that for comedy or for serious escalation.

     

    NAMING YOUR AVATAR

    To make an Elioni name feel right, make it look like it's meant to be spoken with a purr: pick something 2–4 syllables, then add the Elioni "drawl" by using rr/ww and the signature endings like -urr / -arr / -oww / -roww (and doubling letters when you want it extra Elioni). Canon-shaped examples look like Dreer Mowurr, Sturrnmarr Krowwm, Phrawer Renurr, Murrr Vower, Timurr Drawermol—notice how they're readable, but they linger in the mouth. If your name starts looking like a real Earth word, twist a vowel, add an rr, or swap a syllable so it stays alien.

     

    ROLEPLAY TIPS FOR PLAYING AN ELIONI

    • Lead with self-direction. You state what you're doing; you don't ask unless you must.
    • Respect is earned through action. Competence, craft, creativity, follow-through—this is how you impress Elioni.
    • Make "be yourself" a principle, not a vibe. Elioni will defend weirdness (including your own) as long as it's honest.
    • Be allergic to "because tradition." If there's a rule, you want to know what problem it solves.
    • Use tail/body language in emotes. Tail twitch = irritation, tail high = confidence, tail tucked = genuine unease, etc.
    • When conflict happens, get direct. Not loud. Direct. An Elioni can be blunt without being crude.
    • If you want everyday flavor: coastal comfort foods (often chilled seafood), lots of practical tech/automation talk, pets like ferrets/desert rats/fish, and a taste for showing off achievement.

     

    ELIONI PHRASEBOOK

    • Hello / Hey: Purr veyy ti.
    • Goodbye: Purrdat yarrweer troww. ("go your own way")
    • Yes: Nurra.
    • No: Nerr.
    • "Please" (polite request / permission): Mi pravva liva. ("I request permission")
    • "Thanks" vibe (closest common approval): Ri purr-nurra. ("that's good / agreed / acceptable")
    • I don't know: Mi ne mewrr.
    • I understand: Mi vann.
    • I mean no harm: Mi ne ravaw hurra.
    • I need help: Mi pravva purrm.
    • Follow me: Ma trenn mi.
    • It's dangerous here: Korru inn harru.
    • Wait here: Ma kessh inn harru.
    • Stop!: Ma stemm!
    • Run!: Ma runn!
    • I want to trade: Mi ravaw barru.
    • Curse: Mreow ckhak! ("Damn it!")
    • Put-down: Growwrurr arrsus troww! ("your tail's knotted!" / "you messed up!")
    • Quick apology (pardon me): Hiss browroww arr.
    , ,

  • Starside Weekly – FEB.06.2026

    Starside Weekly – FEB.06.2026
    Your weekly update on Stars Reach

    We're hard at work on enhancements to some systems, and a number of fixes to get them ready for you to put through their paces.

    We're working on an improved shader system, an overhauled interface system, and wrangling Jotania's wobbly terra so it will finally be firma.

    We're also tuning up the text chat system, addressing an issue with spaces in names, and adding your friends list, survey maps, water erosion, and keymapping options.

    As for those wonderful toys you get to play with, we'll be adding some new weapon specials for your pistol weapons. And, when you're waiting to zone, we'll share new bits of lore on loading screens, as well as a brand new planet for advanced training!

    THAT'S NO MOON v7.1.2 MINOR PATCH

    We released a small update with a few improvements too good to wait for our next content update.

    Here's a list of improvements:

    • We have fixed one or more significant GPU memory leaks which should improve client stability
    • We have improved our exception logging to capture more useful data to improve our forensics
    • We have reduced the overall logging to slightly improve performance
    • The wormgate to planet Jotania will be opened but we invite more testing – specifically moving around on the planet for extended periods of time, and terraforming sections of the planet.
    • Planet Jotania continues to show stability problems. As we resolve issues with it, the portal may be inaccessible from time to time.

    THE STEALTH OPTION

    Sometimes you'll want to step lightly to avoid notice from creatures and other players. Whether you want to avoid combat or ensure you aren't messing someone's beauty shot, stealth is now a viable option.

    We've implemented the basics, but more sneaking features are coming in the future. Tap the control key to toggle yourself into a crouch position. You'll move slower, and stealth will eventually break, but now you can move around that pack of Heetahs in your way.

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    Above your health bar, in the area where your status effects are displayed, there is a small icon to represent stealth. No, that is not a rain umbrella – it's an aircraft with a stealth status effect or something (likely not final art.)

    What does crouching do?

    Stealth reduces the aggro radius of nearby creatures with respect to you. If you are crouched and perfectly still when they move into perception range, they won't notice you. You're effectively invisible if you stay still. Don't move until they have moved away.

    If you are crouched and moving, they will notice you when you're close and react to you unless you stop moving immediately and wait until their attention goes elsewhere.

    What are best practices for using stealth?

    Move and stop, move and stop. Pause frequently to maximize the value of your stealth while still covering ground. Watch for any creatures that drift a bit too close to you.

    For now, ignore terrain and concentrate on pure distance. Hiding behind a boulder or tree does not currently help you in this first iteration of stealth. It's purely about distance.

    When you see a creature or creatures about to pass, crouch and make a small arc around them, stopping as much as you are moving. You will develop a feel for how close and how fast to move as you practice. Good luck and good hunting.

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    For now, ignore terrain and just go by pure distance to those you wish to hide from.

    WELCOME TO DORASTAG

    From the Transplanetary League Space Station, take the red beacon gate to the newly discovered planet of Dorastag.

    As of press time, Dorastag was nearly uninhabited and there is no government as yet. No mayor, but you can request citizenship.. No signs of civilization at the portal area.

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    Mists vary in color from golden….

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    …to pink tones..

    The land is uneven, with striking vistas and interesting rock formations. The picturesque lakes are already drawing attention from visitors.

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    If you're looking for a new home or just some scenic exploration, visit Dorastag this playtest.

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    PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

    The playtests have resumed their usual Thursday-morning-through-Tuesday-morning cadence.

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    LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

    We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

    • The Transplanetary League set
    • The Stars Reach logo set
    • The Infinite Worlds set

    You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

    Image

    HOW YOU CAN HELP 

    If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. 

    ,

  • Starside Weekly – 01.30.2026

    Starside Weekly – 01.30.2026
    Your weekly update on Stars Reach

    As we are writing this update, we should mention a service interruption: Our camera is being a bit temperamental, disconnecting from characters. We're investigating now, and we'll open the servers as soon as we have a fix. Stay tuned by watching Discord, X, Bluesky, or /r/starsreach.

    THAT'S NO MOON v7.1.1

    We smoothed out a number of problems around Haven including the juvenile Ballhogs escaping from confinement in the hospital, the target dummies moving around in the shooting gallery, the bank kiosk in the Bank of Haven, the moving survey point in the park, and the disappearing grappler.

    We also fixed some things unrelated to Haven. The gravity generators seams in the Transplanetary League Starbase should be much better. We added crafting tables to the starbase too. We changed when we award you the Trowel recipe (when you unlock the Seed Planting skill box.)

    Reminder: you must create a new character to experience the Haven part of That's No Moon – the new player experience. Existing characters cannot go to Haven.

    WHAT REDBEARDFLYNN IS EXCITED ABOUT 2026

    Everyone could use a heaping helping of optimism right now, and thankfully, Redbeardflynn is ready to serve some up!

    In a new video, he features 15 MMO games to look forward to in 2026. It's likely no mystery why we're sharing it this week. (Spoiler: We got a lovely mention!)

    We're thrilled to see Stars Reach on the list, and we're in fantastic company. This year's going to be exceptionally good for MMOs!

    CONTROLLED CHAOS IS EXCITED ABOUT STARS REACH IN 2026

    Controlled Chaos gives us his list of top five things he hopes to see happen in or added to Stars Reach in 2026.

    We can't disagree with any of them. They sound great.

    MMORPG COVERS NEW PLAYER TUTORIAL BASE ON HAVEN

    Christina describes how the tutorial works and what to expect on Haven. She explains how this section fits into the greater Stars Reach experience by teaching you important basics. She also mentions other improvements outside of Haven such as chat upgrades.

    Image

    PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

    The playtests have resumed their usual Thursday-morning-through-Tuesday-morning cadence.

    Image

    LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

    We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

    • The Transplanetary League set
    • The Stars Reach logo set
    • The Infinite Worlds set

    You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

    Image

    HOW YOU CAN HELP 

    If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. 

    ,

  • Starside Weekly – 01.23.2026

    Your weekly update on Stars Reach

    THAT'S NO MOON

    A huge number of changes have been made in this update. The largest of those changes is the new training base on the moon of Haven that you encounter after you finish the Hallway experience with a new character.

    Eventually, the new player's path will be:

    Preamble → Hallway → Haven → Crucible → TPL Starbase and Beyond

    Currently, Haven is completed and we're working on Crucible, so you'll skip the Crucible step for now and move directly from Haven to the Transplanetary League Starbase.

    You must create a new character to experience this part of That's No Moon. Existing characters cannot go to Haven.

    Image

    The town of Haven at night.

    SO WHAT IS HAVEN?

    Haven is the name of a moon where a Transplanetary League training base has been built for the specific purpose of training new recruits.

    It is a thriving township built around the same concepts as the GovBot townships you have seen and built on other planets. This includes its own mayor, Bob Howard, who greets all residents personally.

    The citizens of Haven will send you on a dozen or so short missions crafted to introduce you to fundamental elements needed to understand and enjoy playing Stars Reach.

    You'll receive Klaatu and XP awards along the way, as well as earning your first tools, and even making your first weapon.

    Everything else should be self-explanatory, and if it's not, that's exactly why we're running these playtests. Please let us know if anything is confusing or tedious! We'd even enjoy hearing if you think it's fun!

     

    SYSTEMS CREATED OR CHANGED FOR HAVEN

    • Underlying mechanisms and categories we need for our procedurally-generated content missions (to be introduced in the near future), used for the first time here in Haven.
    • The BioScanner tool for doing non-destructive scans of Makers and Creatures. (You can use it to add creatures to your collection without having to kill them. They may still try to kill você though.)
      • This will be used for flora scanning soon also, but not quite yet.
    • Better NPC and NPC chat controls
    • The whole mission interface got a massive overhaul (and is used for regular Mission Kiosk missions also)
    • "Scanner" features for the BioScanner, Harvester and Xyloslicer. (TAB to select a resource, then "Q" to scan for where the closest one is in the world so you can hunt it down. Kind of like a cross between Maker Scanning and Mineral Prospecting.)

    For the rest of the update notes, including the new first-person camera perspective, please see:

    Image

    TIPS FOR HAVEN

    Tip #1: Actually read the dialogues. Seriously.

    Tip #2: Don't forget that you have a grappler. Your grappling ability will make your life better. Did you forget how to activate the grappler? Use the "R" key.

    Tip #3: When the time comes for you to build your weapon, you will have a choice of five handguns: Cryostar, Atomizer, Pulsar, Spitfire, or Voltstar. Don't worry. They will give you the parts and the recipe so you can pick any one of those five.

    Cryostar – cold damage
    Atomizer – corrosive damage
    Pulsar – kinetic damage
    Spitfire – heat damage
    Voltstar – shock damage

    This also comes at the time you are asked to hunt down certain dangerous fauna that have been threatening a group of scientists. Again, don't worry. The fauna you are asked to hunt have no immunities. Pick whichever handgun type seems fun to you.

    Tip #4: Regardless of weapon choice, hunting with a friend will help a lot.

    Tip #5: Don't be afraid to try the new First Person camera mode. In some situations, it's the best approach. You are free to switch camera distances whenever you want by simply scrolling the mousewheel.

    Image

    The new first-person camera perspective is already a crowd favorite for photography.

    PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

    We have one upcoming livestream scheduled, a Fireside Chat on Saturday, January 24, 2026, with Game Director Dave Georgeson.

    The playtests will resume at the end of the Fireside Chat and follow our usual Thursday-through-Tuesday-morning cadence.

    Image

    LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

    We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

    • The Transplanetary League set
    • The Stars Reach logo set
    • The Infinite Worlds set

    You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

    Image

    HOW YOU CAN HELP 

    If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. 

    ,

  • That's No Moon – The Haven Update

    That's No Moon – The Haven Update

    That's No Moon Update 7.1.2

    Today we are releasing a small update with a couple more improvements too good to wait for our next content update.

    Here's a list of improvements:

    • We have fixed one or more significant GPU memory leaks which should improve client stability
    • We have improved our exception logging to capture more useful data to improve our forensics
    • We have reduced the overall logging to slightly improve performance
    • The wormgate to planet Jotania will be opened but we invite more testing – specifically moving around on the planet for extended periods of time, and terraforming sections of the planet.

    That's No Moon Update 7.1.1

    The Haven update was a bit rocky, but we've smoothed the road quite a bit since it was launched.

    Here's a list of improvements:

    • You now receive a Grapple even if you skip the Hallway experience by choosing "I know what I'm doing" during character creation.
    • Resolved the "building and object offset" issue on Haven so everything is in the right place again. This had a lot to do with the inability to interact with NPCs via "G to interact" so that should also be solved, and also caused some of the rubberbanding as you collided with invisible objects.
    • The survey point in the Park will no longer move to the roof.
    • The Shootery targets now take three normal hits to destroy. This makes it easier to understand what Overcharge does when you get to that part of the mission.
    • Fixed the issue with Overcharge where it was sticking "on" after being used once.
    • Cryostar pistol now has audio.
    • Fixed a few mission dialog errors (minor typos)
    • Got the Juvenile Ballhogs (in the Hospital) and the Targeting Dummies (in the Shootery) to stay where they're supposed to be located. Juvenile Ballhogs are also now impervious to harm.
    • The Bank Kiosk has been removed from Haven because it was confusing new users as to why they couldn't access it after leaving Haven.
    • If you abandon all missions in Haven you'll be able to leave Haven (with less stuff, but you can go. 😉
    • Extended the day/night cycle so each is 20 minutes.
    • Gravity generator seams in the Transplanetary League Starbase are fixed so you should have no strange camera issues walking around.
    • The Starbase now has Crafting tables (because they don't exist naturally on planets unless GovBots have progressed)
    • The Trowel recipe is now awarded to you when you unlock the Seed Planting skill box in Farming. (And if you have that unlocked already, you should be able to now use the recipe.)
    • We are adjusting our numbering systems to match the numbering used internally by the development team. So this update is now version 7.1.1 after last week's 7.1.0. We'll all get used to it soon.

    KNOWN ISSUES: We are currently experiencing an intermittent camera disconnect issue.

    Image

    A huge number of changes have been made in this update. The largest of those changes is the new training base on the moon of Haven that you encounter after you finish the Hallway experience with a new character.

     

    Eventually, the new player's path will be:

    Preamble => Hallway => Haven => Crucible => TPL Starbase and Beyond

     

    Currently, Haven is completed and we're working on Crucible, so you'll skip the Crucible step for now and move directly from Haven to the TPL Starbase.

    You must create a new character to experience this part of That's No Moon. Existing characters cannot go to Haven.

     

    So What is Haven?

    Image

    Haven is the name of a moon where a Transplanetary LeagueTraining base has been built for the specific purpose of training new recruits.

    It is a thriving township built around the same concepts as the GovBot townships you build on other planets. This includes its own mayor, Bob Howard (who greets all residents personally).

    The citizens of Haven will send you on a dozen or so short missions crafted to introduce you to fundamental elements needed to understand and enjoy playing Stars Reach.

    Image

    You'll receive Klaatu and XP awards along the way, as well as earning your first tools, and even making your first weapon.

    Everything else should be self-explanatory, and if it's not, that's exactly why we're running these playtests. Please let us know if anything is confusing or tedious! We'd even enjoy hearing if you think it's fun!

    Image

    Systems Pioneered for Haven

    • Underlying mechanisms and categories we need for our procedurally-generated content missions (to be introduced in the near future), used for the first time here in Haven.
    • The BioScanner tool for doing non-destructive scans of Makers and Creatures. (You can use it to add creatures to your collection without having to kill them. They may still try to kill você though.)
      • This will be used for flora scanning soon also, but not quite yet.
    • Better NPC and NPC chat controls
    • The whole mission interface got a massive overhaul (and is used for regular Mission Kiosk missions also)
    • "Scanner" features for the BioScanner, Harvester and Xyloslicer. (TAB to select a resource, then "Q" to scan for where the closest one is in the world so you can hunt it down. Kind of like a cross between Maker Scanning and Mineral Prospecting.)

    Image

    What else is in the Update?

    • First-person perspective is in the game. If you scroll your mouse all the way forward, you'll move into first-person, which is super useful for tight spaces, like complicated buildings or while mining. There are some culling issues we still need to resolve, but it's so useful we wanted you to have it.
    • You can now use "L" (for mission Log) to open/close the mission log directly.
    • When an item is interactable it now has a highlight that applies. This effect is also used when you scan for something with the BioScanner, Harvester, et al.
    • Prediction on homing projectiles is tighter.
    • When Crafting, the "Can Craft" toggle is now on by default. If you want to see everything you can't actually craft at the moment, then toggle that off.
    • Mouse sensitivity slider is in the Game Options now.
    • Nights are brighter. Street lamps cast more light.
    • When you leave the Hallway, you retain the Grappling Hook you received.
    • Moved all creatures to the new shader system. (Better performance and more flexibility going forward.)
    • The Grapple is now shown on your HUD so you can see the status of its battery as you move from spot to spot.
    • When you get a Discovery, you see a flyout message that it occurred.
    • Made the first crate in the Hallway more reliably appear for players. (Tentative, but good fix.)
    • Did a visual effects sweep on the Hallway to improve minor elements.
    • "Maguffin" missions now have some more in-character items to search for
    • Added signs in the Starbase to make things a lot clearer navigation-wise
    • Creatures are no longer Discovered by killing them. Use the BioScanner instead.
    • Homestead limits (number of tiles, number of lights, etc.) are now shown on the Fabricator palette
    • New building tiles and props were added. Concave curve tiles (floor and ceiling), plus some hex lamps, a small desktop computer, and a short cabinet.
    • To make room for non-destructive scanning on the Harvester and Xyloslicer, the Seed Planting ability was moved to a new tool, The Trowel. This is a Farming implement that is available now. To make it, you'll need to acquire the recipe from the Toolmaking tree. You can use it to tree, bush, mushroom, and flower seeds.
    • Create the ability to make "Story" objects. A good example of these are the computers inside the University in Haven. These are not…yet…a player-usable feature.
    • Adjusted all ambient skies.

    Image

    EMOTES

    • You now always get a caption bubble when doing an emote, even if it also plays an animation, so that you can see which mood it was using.
    • You can no longer use freeform emotes if your chat privs have been suspended.
    • Added sigh emote (text only)
    • Added /pose as an alias for /emote

    SPATIAL CHAT

    • Say (and emotes) is now distance limited, in a radius of 25m
    • Yell is 50m
    • Whisper is 10m
    • Added a host of say alternates, see /help say for all of them. Stuff like moan, carol, accuse, implore…
    • All the speech tags should now display with the right tense (e.g, "Fizz (thinks sadly) : message")
    • Speech bubbles now have your mood and your say alternate in them

    TARGETED CHAT

    • You can now target says and emotes (and whispers). If you are using it with a say alternate, it requires the @ sign or else it will take the first word as chat text not a name. And targeting handles partial name matches! This also works with mood prefixes.

    > /say @Bob .
    Avatar – (says to Bob) :
    > /angry intone @Fizz Your doom is nigh!
    Avatar – (angrily intones to Fizz) : Your doom is nigh!

    • Your avatar will turn to face your target when you do a targeted emote at someone, or use whisper or targeted speech. It will not affect your camera.

    • To do targeted emotes, you can do /bow Bob or /bow @Bob. You can also /bow a pizza and use it as a form of free form emoting.

    TELL AND REPLY

    • Added a /reply command which automatically replies to the last person who sent you a tell
    • /r is an alias for /reply
    • /t e /dm added as aliases for /tell
    • Reply and tell also got a bit of a cosmetic makeover
    • Fixed a bug where sending a tell to yourself showed the chat log message twice.

    WHISPER

    Whisper is different from tell — others can see that you are doing it, but they cannot see what you said!

    • The whisper command requires a target player in range.
    • The speaker and the player will see the whisper.
    • Other players close by will see a whisper bubble, but only see "…Fizz angrily whispers to Cal…" inside it.
    • You can /whisper bob or /whisper @bob because a target is mandatory.
    • Whispers will go to the direct message channel

    HELP

    If you type /help you will see it now has categories:

    • Chat
    • Moods
    • Say
    • Emotes
    • Commands (all other player commands)

    You can type /help say to get all the say commands, or /help chat for general chat help.

    You can also now type /help , /help , and help which you could not previously.

    One-shot moods

    This functionality was already present, but got a cosmetic clean-up. This is one-shot setting of the mood for only that one chat, then it reverts to the underlying mood which you have set. So if you type

    > /mood angry
    Your mood is now angry
    > Hi
    Avatar – (angrily) : Hi
    > /sad Despite my anger I feel momentarily sad.
    Avatar – (sadly) : Despite my anger I feel momentarily sad.
    > And now what?
    Avatar – (angrily) : And now what?

    Permanent moods

    If you enter a mood with no words after it, it is the same as typing /mood with that mood.

    > /sad

    Your mood is now sad.

    Command chaining

    You can also prefix /mood with any form of say, whisper, or yell.

    > /sad moan I am moaning sadly!

    Avatar – (moans sadly) : I am moaning sadly!

    Known issue:

    "G" to Interact can sometimes become difficult to use.You may occasionally find it difficult to find the right distance to stand from a character or item to interact with it using the G key. Try moving your character closer/farther, try moving your mouse to mouseover different parts of the person or item, and let us know in Discord if you can't get it to work. We will want all the details so we can try to reproduce the problem.

    ,

  • Starside Weekly – 01.16.2026

    Starside Weekly – 01.16.2026
    Your weekly update on Stars Reach

    THE MOON ON THE HORIZON

    These are the last days of the Hidden Fog Update. A new update is being installed during the next maintenance cycle. Soon you will visit a new moon with the name of Haven. There is much to learn there. This is a particularly good time to start testing Stars Reach.

    Preparation for the new moon: make sure there is one character slot free on your account. You will not be able to experience the new content until you create a new character. Existing characters cannot travel to Haven.

    EVERY NEW MMO YOU CAN PLAY IN 2026

    Respected gaming content creator Force Gaming posted a video this week bucking the current doom & gloom trend among those contemplating the MMO genre. In an effort to increase positivity and hope, he discussed nearly 20 MMORPGs you can play or will be able to play this year.

    Stars Reach was right in the middle of the creation. Click here to jump in at our timestamp:

    UNEVEN SUBSTRATA

    You've picked a spot where you want to build but the location is not flat. What are your options?

    There are more options than you may think. Instead of just terraforming your way to a flat building spot, consider a multilevel build.

    Image

    In this case, Hubert designed an elaborate external staircase to move folks between the upper building and the lower building.

    Image

    The floating staircases may not be to code in your jurisdiction but they work very well on Bixis. 

    Additional highrises are already going up nearby on this hot, new settlement.

    Image

    Big thank you to Chayce and Hubert for this inspiration.

    BUG FIXES

    In the past weeks there have been improvements to camera performance – especially in confined situations like inside buildings or underground caves.

    Additional camera improvements are coming in next week's update as well.

    We have fixed both server crash bugs and client crash bugs.

    The GovBot issue from the 15th has also been fixed and should not be a problem again in the future.

    There have also been a few performance enhancements and some backend improvements to make life easier for the developers so normal tasks don't need to be done manually. This frees up more time to spend on developing or scaling the game.

    PLAYTEST SCHEDULE

    Between an unplanned outage on January 15th and a new update being installed on January 21st, livestreams have moved and playtest schedules are slightly more complicated. These times are presented in Pacific Standard Time but you can see them converted to your time zone in the official Discord's event calendar.

    Image

    LOGO MERCH AVAILABLE

    We currently have three sets of logo merchandise in stock:

    • The Transplanetary League set
    • The Stars Reach logo set
    • The Infinite Worlds set

    You can visit the store here: https://starsreach.com/store

    Image

    HOW YOU CAN HELP 

    If there is one thing you can do to help us, you can wishlist us on Steam. This makes a difference for the algorithm and also helps on the day we eventually launch on Steam. Thank you for this support. 

    ,