GrinWithoutaKat wrote:...It's pretty unforgiving at the start! Kept dying due to radiation/toxicity before I even knew what was going on...
It is very tough at the start, Grin - it's hard to tell what is going on and you're not quite sure what to do. When the game was first released it was - IMHO - easier to get into, and I think that's because planets are now more likely to be hot / cold / toxic than before.
It took me a while to get into it last night. Things have changed... probably for the better, but it takes time to adjust. The third-person view is cool and I'm sticking with that at present. Repairs can now be done in stages and there are more "things" / material types to collect and use. Inventory spaces have changed too. I'm kinda glad that I decided to start afresh as I am so rusty on things.
Right now I gotta get an object (some kinda seal) for the ship and I haven't worked out how to make it yet.
GrinWithoutaKat wrote:...Reached the point now where my ship is fixed up and ready to go into space, but I want to hang about a bit and gather more resources before leaving. Can I fly around the planet in my ship, or would taking off just start a sequence where I jump to another? I can see some resource deposits but at the moment they're too far to walk to and get back to my ship before my environmental protection depletes...
You can go and fly wherever you want, Grin. By all means you can stay on your starting planet for a while; wander around and look at different things. You may find that you need other equipment / abilities in order to mine / collect some things... and that's where the adventure begins!
GrinWithoutaKat wrote:...I guess I also need to figure out what sort of planet is good for building a base on. From what I understand it, planets either look nice, or are rich in resources, but very, very rarely both?
Yeah, as I touched on before, I don't think there are as many "all round friendly" planets as there were at launch. On most planets there will be some form of environmental challenge. No one planet will be perfect; you gotta work out one where, for you, the pros outweigh the cons.