I was interested in this when it first came out, but the reviewers were so disappointed that I passed on getting. Then came the NEXT update (the 4th), and a sale at half-price, so I picked it up. I've been hooked ever since.
The scenery is beautiful. I've been on toxic planets, radioactive planets, desert planets, frozen planets, and they're all gorgeous, with strange plants and curious animals. My personal favorite is the jumping pineapple (that's not its official name). There are supposed to be some dangerous animals, but I haven't encountered any yet. It's possible to feed some of them, which is fun. I'm not sure that the histories of the 3 alien races make a lot of sense, but I enjoy going to their monoliths and ruins.
Carl has a guide up, but the developers have changed so much of the game that it's very inaccurate. I've played through the beginning several times, so here are my tips:
1. Don't shoot the sentinels. Ever. If one catches you in the act of mining, just stop what you're doing. If you do shoot a sentinel, run for your ship because a bunch of them will be coming after you.
2. Don't use Condensed Carbon for anything. You'll need it to make Antimatter for warp fuel later on.
3. Don't use your mining beam to get Carbon from trees; use Q on the keyboard instead (I guess it's like a knife or chopper). The reason is that unless you have Phosphorus, you'll have to use Carbon to recharge the mining beam, which you have to do a lot. And you have so many other things to use Carbon for -- fueling your portable refiner, making carbon nanotubes, and building the wooden walls for your base. There's plenty of Carbon around, but it seems like a waste to use it on the mining beam.
4. Always pick up Sodium and Oxygen from the flowers, and mine Di-Hydrogen and Condensed Carbon from the crystals (but remember to stop mining when a sentinel is in the area).
5. You'll get warnings about your Hazard Shield, but you won't about Life Support, which can be recharged with oxygen.
6. If you need to slow your starship down, type S on the keyboard.
7. When you pass through an asteroid field on your way to the space station or another planet, shoot at some of the asteroids on your way. You can get gold, silver, and Tritium (used to recharge your pulse engine) from them. The Tritium is the most important, but you can sell the gold and silver at the station.
Probably all of the above will be obsolete when the next update comes out, so check the date.
