Spacebase DF-9

 PC
User Score
2.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 56 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 56
  3. Negative: 39 out of 56

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  1. Bufford
    Sep 19, 2014
    0
    Double Fine is abandoning the game. They just released a new alpha build then just announced they are releasing in a month. Basically it is a barebones sandbox space game filled with bugs and very little content.
  2. Atepa
    Oct 15, 2014
    0
    Don't waste your time on this game. The developers have decided to abandon the game and ram in as much 'finished' content then can going from 0.6 to 1.0 in a month. It had a lot of potential and was very reminiscent of the fun dwarf fortress and the systems interaction of Prison Architect. However, it is not a finished gamed.

    BUYERS BEWARE!
  3. Dozmo
    Oct 5, 2014
    4
    Fun, for about an hour. Then you ask "where's the rest of the game?", only to find the answer is "there isn't one". Abandoned by its developer, and unlikely to get any more updates, it isn't worth shelling out for. Sad, because it had such great potential for an alpha. Now, an alpha is all it will ever be.
  4. Beldarak
    Dec 22, 2014
    1
    Nice technical demo ! Oh... wait...

    Don't buy this scam, and avoid Double Fine's early-access at all cost, it's a shady studio who can't handle money and PR.
  5. gentlegiant03
    Nov 3, 2014
    2
    I had some doubts about Spacebase DF-9 while playing the Alpha. I would start it up, explore the new additions to the game only to realize I was eventually only expanding my population, then quit. After a couple of patches it became obvious the evolution of this game could not be compared with Dwarf Fortress as it was originally pitched in Amnesia Fortnight.

    I would prefer to not let my    I had some doubts about Spacebase DF-9 while playing the Alpha. I would start it up, explore the new additions to the game only to realize I was eventually only expanding my population, then quit. After a couple of patches it became obvious the evolution of this game could not be compared with Dwarf Fortress as it was originally pitched in Amnesia Fortnight.

    I would prefer to not let my score be swayed by the recent news this would be rocketed forward and released as a complete title. If I'm able to look past that and still objectively view at the game and decide whether it's still worth even a mediocre score - I would still rate it a 3 at best. What has been presented here is a little more than a demo's worth of gameplay for FAR too much price-tag. I feel my opinion is only validated by the actions of Double Fine - anyone who already purchased this game received Hack 'n' Slash for free and vice versa.

    Fine, I get it, this isn't news. And the notion that they've hurt the business model of alpha access games has already been stated. Ultimately, then, I can only affirm that notion and hope to prevent others from wasting their money. The current price tag of $20 is simply egregious.    … Expand
  6. bound4earth
    Jan 25, 2015
    0
    The game is the pure definition of Vaporware.

    They released the original alpha and 5 updates to the alpha and pushed it into release. The feature set is laughable for even a $20 game. Prison Architect easily has hundreds of hours more content and it is still growing and being developed actively. Double Fine stopped after 6 months and continued to milk funds while not releasing updates.    The game is the pure definition of Vaporware.

    They released the original alpha and 5 updates to the alpha and pushed it into release. The feature set is laughable for even a $20 game. Prison Architect easily has hundreds of hours more content and it is still growing and being developed actively. Double Fine stopped after 6 months and continued to milk funds while not releasing updates. A game like this should have hundreds of items and 20-30 room types. The game has 10 or so room types less then 50 items that matter and do anything useful. The AI is still broken and people die because they like to suffocate and do not run away from pirates. Ships are not ships and instead random rooms that show up on screen randomly and you have to explore and empty pirates and hostiles and then dismantle everything before you can build.

    I won't waste too much time writing a clear, concise, or organized list because the game is atrocious and tarnishes Double Fine. Do not buy any early access for their games unless you are guaranteed to get the money back ala kickstarter. I will be ignoring them completely as they are dead to me.

    These events and the poor handling of announcements, brings into question whether Broken Age will be finished as it shows how poorly they plan out development. The game started development in March 2012 and finally release act 1 on January 14, 2014. Act 2 is not even scheduled for release until Q2 2015. Two years to release I can forgive, a year and a half or more between acts I cannot. They have either been pushing resources off one game to another, or they have the slowest developers in the industry. They obviously have no clue how episodic content is supposed to go. Stick with Tell Tale Games and ignore Double Fine Studios for episodic content.

    I could give them one slightly mishandled project. But now that Broken Age is so far behind and the disgusting mess that is Spacebase DF9, they really show how lacking they are in leadership. Double Fine needs to get out of the money handling business because they obviously need a publisher to keep them on track and continue developing games. They have turned into Id Software, well, at least Id Software waited til the product was actually complete. Anything short of full refunds means Double Fine lost all goodwill.

    TL;DR: Look into Prison Architect and ignore Double Fine giving us the finger with this game.    … Expand
  7. saulot
    Feb 3, 2015
    2
    I preordered this game and wanted it to be good so much. Alas it was not to be. The game is very minimalist in the amount of control you actually have while being harsh in terms of difficulty. Save function is save and quit so you can only have 1 base(lazy IMO) and after you get settled the lack of content is staggering. would not recommend to anyone.
  8. xlockeed
    Jan 27, 2015
    0
    Spacebase DF-9 is supposed to be a sandbox builders sim. However it fails on many fronts, I will list these all out in no particular order.

    1. Failed attempt to manipulate steam early access to pay for their development alone. See Tim's response that it didn't have enough customer support to warrant further work. 2. Complete radio silence on game development. Customers went months with    Spacebase DF-9 is supposed to be a sandbox builders sim. However it fails on many fronts, I will list these all out in no particular order.

    1. Failed attempt to manipulate steam early access to pay for their development alone. See Tim's response that it didn't have enough customer support to warrant further work.
    2. Complete radio silence on game development. Customers went months with no replies from the developors on Steam and DF's own forums minus replies from volunteer moderators in DF forums.
    3. Excuses, this company makes excuse upon excuse to avoid the honest truths. When a developer did reply they just gave everyone reassurance nothing was wrong everything is dandy.
    4. Developers never listened to bug reports or suggestions on developing game.
    5. Game had 6 major content patches and a handful of bug patches. It was then rushed to final product 1.0. The game still has major bugs that will never be addressed as DF has no one working on the game anymore.
    6. It is not a true sandbox simulator. Game default has a population ceiling of 50. After that it is nothing but bad events on bad events. The game tries to kill you very quickly after that number is hit.
    7. The given source code is nothing but the lua code. All you can do is modify behavior and numbers. Such as fixing the default kill switch of 50 to say 5000.
    8. Licenses on being able to modify is still locked and one technically shouldn't be altering the games code. DF never released fully any code period.
    9. Game breaking bugs still in game. Oxygen is a real nasty one along with having to save and exit to unlock the game from a glitch.
    10. No save menus, just a single save. They tried to make a sandbox builder game into a roguelike. Not fun at all.
    11. Price tag. $20.01. It is a bare bones skeleton of a game and they want to charge you full price on it. The game currently is probably worth $5 bucks or even better a dollar.
    12. Censorship on both forums. DF and steam, difference is DF developers are banning people on Steam and volunteer mods on DF's forums. Thankfully we have reviews to voice and warn others of this title behavior.
    13. No one is working on fixing bugs even though Tim said they would if they were game breaking bugs.
    14. DF has a problem handling funds it would seem. Steam paid off DF's indie loan in the first two weeks of early access sales. Instead of reinvesting those funds to finish the game they paid off their loan and even cut back their team of workers on this game.
    15. DF is not a small fry indie group. They have a very large employee base and should not have had an issue making this simple game.

    In closing, game has about an hour of game time to play. In reality you will probably spend three hours as you will have a hard time getting around bugs and glitches. Is it worth a buy for $20.01 no But if you still want to check it out even despite all the warnings then wait for it to be $1-$5 even on Humble Bundle just put money to 100% donations if you have to. Let this be a warning to any other developers out there, if you allow DF to publish your title expect a vocal group to avoid your game just by being affiliated with DF.    … Expand
  9. vomov
    Jun 30, 2015
    0
    So much promise... And the basic game is awesome!

    The problem is that the devs decided they couldn't earn anymore, so they abandoned it. Right now, it's playable, for about twenty minutes. No endgame, or even middle-game content, but also no way to survive for that long since the raiders come every minute or so. Even if you select a starting area that supposedly has almost no debris, no    So much promise... And the basic game is awesome!

    The problem is that the devs decided they couldn't earn anymore, so they abandoned it. Right now, it's playable, for about twenty minutes. No endgame, or even middle-game content, but also no way to survive for that long since the raiders come every minute or so. Even if you select a starting area that supposedly has almost no debris, no contacts, and no raiders, you get swamped with debris, contacts every half minute, and raiders every full minute.

    Doublefine; another player-milking fraud. Like we needed any more of them.    … Expand
  10. Gezzer
    Aug 18, 2015
    0
    Another caught by the DF shell game. Why do some developers like DF and EA see us gamers as stupid swine to chow down on what ever sht they throw in the trough? This game is nothing more than a abortion of what would of been a healthy happy baby. DF should be ashamed of themselves.
  11. Rhev
    Mar 28, 2015
    0
    DO NOT BUY THIS UNFINISHED GAME

    - Well, I can say that I will never ever buy a single double fine game again ever. This is the biggest INTENTIONAL slap in the face to a fanbase that I've ever seen a video game company do. Move over EA you've got competition for biggest scumbag video game company now. As someone who bought into the 'early access' scam they were doing for this game, I    DO NOT BUY THIS UNFINISHED GAME

    -

    Well, I can say that I will never ever buy a single double fine game again ever. This is the biggest INTENTIONAL slap in the face to a fanbase that I've ever seen a video game company do. Move over EA you've got competition for biggest scumbag video game company now. As someone who bought into the 'early access' scam they were doing for this game, I can't even begin to tell you how far off the 1.0 'release' is from what we were promised a year ago. To simply say that they're not going to follow through on their development promises because it's not cost effective? That's sickening. They had a lot of people give them money based on their development plan. Are those people getting refunds since they aren't getting the promised product or anything even remotely close to it?

    As to reviewing the actual game, it's got the great bones for a game. However with a glaring lack of features, outstanding and ridiculous bugs, and absolutely no cohesive game play, it's clear from minutes in, that this game is exactly what it is...an ALPHA build for an unfinished game. DO NOT BUY.    … Expand
  12. Hessmix
    Jun 20, 2015
    0
    Unfinished game abandoned by it's publisher. Instead of going through on their promises Double Fine instead leeches off their own reputation and gave their own fans shovelware. Double Fine titles will now be forever be tainted by their decisions
  13. jtrs0
    May 16, 2016
    1
    Some much potential, and it got wasted by the developer. Avoid at all cost. The "ran out of money" so decided not to finish it, there is a community supported mod that aims to fix it, but even then it is not great. I give it a 1 and not a 0 because of the fact it was early access and because of the community.
  14. Frojoe
    Mar 20, 2017
    2
    Spacebase DF9 is a space management simulator where a small pod of astronauts set out to create a new space colony. You have to manage oxygen, food, jobs and the happiness of your intergalactic residents. As you progress, you will need to continue expanding to make space for new residents. The game had the potential to become an enjoyable simulator, but fell short in so many ways.

    PROS:    Spacebase DF9 is a space management simulator where a small pod of astronauts set out to create a new space colony. You have to manage oxygen, food, jobs and the happiness of your intergalactic residents. As you progress, you will need to continue expanding to make space for new residents. The game had the potential to become an enjoyable simulator, but fell short in so many ways.

    PROS:
    The graphics are decent.
    The sound is fitting for the game.
    Most of the astronauts are not human, they are alien, making for more interesting looking characters.

    CONS:
    The game is very repetitive. After only an hour of gameplay, all the messages are the same, all your residents are saying the same things, everyone behaves the same etc. The game is severely lacking in variety.
    The A.I. is brutally stupid. Your colony can die because your mechanic is to depressed to fix the oxygen generators, killing everyone.
    There is quite a limited amount of things to build. Once you build each type of room, all you can do is keep making the same things as more astronauts arrive. No matter what, the gameplay is boring after the first hour or so.
    There is a lot of waiting, even when you speed things up.
    When you encounter problems, there is a fixed solution to deal with them. It gets even more boring and repetitive when you are forced to do the same steps continuously as the game progresses.

    It all comes down to is repetitiveness and a loss of interest. The game could be so much better if there were more scenarios and problems and multiple unique strategies to use. Unfortunately, this game is not worth the price when there are so many better alternatives available.    … Expand
  15. Trey82
    Mar 29, 2020
    0
    This game is straight garbage.
    It started off perfectly fine. Early access by a trusted company. Double fine has made some great games, over the years.
    Then.. they released it, patched it a tiny bit, dropped it. Just dropped it, no reason for doing so, they just didnt care enough to finish it. AND YET THE GAME IS STILL UP ON STEAM IN 2020! Ahem, anywho.. the community has released    This game is straight garbage.
    It started off perfectly fine. Early access by a trusted company. Double fine has made some great games, over the years.
    Then.. they released it, patched it a tiny bit, dropped it. Just dropped it, no reason for doing so, they just didnt care enough to finish it. AND YET THE GAME IS STILL UP ON STEAM IN 2020!
    Ahem, anywho.. the community has released unofficial patches that fix plenty of issues.
    Good on them. But over the years, that team has fallen apart and its kind of.. in limbo.
    I would say you should expect very little. Is the core game okay? Yes. But it doesnt take an expert to notice the issues inherent in the first 15 minutes.
    Skip this one, lads. Praise the community but dont ask them to solve this clusterfu~@.    … Expand
  16. vampireboar
    Nov 11, 2014
    0
    A waste of money. Developers botched this from the start. They claim they tried their hardest to keep developing, but the incredibly small amount of content added when they were still developing begs to differ. If you compare it to similar games like Rimworld (which has only a single developer), then you can clearly see that they had no commitment to the project at all. A huge ripoff forA waste of money. Developers botched this from the start. They claim they tried their hardest to keep developing, but the incredibly small amount of content added when they were still developing begs to differ. If you compare it to similar games like Rimworld (which has only a single developer), then you can clearly see that they had no commitment to the project at all. A huge ripoff for those who purchased it, and an unfinished turd of a game that isn't worth purchasing. Double Fine's good reputation seems to be largely based in games over a decade old, because based on the way they behaved towards their customers here they are neither competent nor particularly well intentioned.… Expand
  17. MusAddict
    Oct 22, 2013
    7
    The game itself appears to be a delicious mixture of Sims and Starcraft, but without the relationships or muliplayer RTS elements. Essentially, you're in space, building a space station from the ground up so that you can survive (only have 8 minutes to get something up and running before your guys lose oxygen). Once the initial threat of losing oxygen passes, you can worry aboutThe game itself appears to be a delicious mixture of Sims and Starcraft, but without the relationships or muliplayer RTS elements. Essentially, you're in space, building a space station from the ground up so that you can survive (only have 8 minutes to get something up and running before your guys lose oxygen). Once the initial threat of losing oxygen passes, you can worry about productivity, and giving your guys a better state of living.
    Since the the game is in alpha as of writing this, the things you can build are entirely cosmetic, aside from a few things like the oxygen recycler, and the refinery, which both serve the purpose of life support and productivity. Aside from those two things though, the only other things there are to experience in the game is:
    • Finding derelict stations to salvage or commandeer
    • Finding derelict stations with enemies to kill
    • Leveling up your guys to do certain tasks better
    • An endless amount of passersby that try to add themselves to your team, when you may not want any more population (note: this continues even after everyone dies, so there literally is no way to lose yet)
    The only problem is that as of Alpha 1b (10/22/2013) there is no goal to pursue, no conflict to encounter (except for the occasional raider or alien in a derelict space station), it's just a cosmetic space station builder. That in it of itself is actually pretty fun, which is why I gave it a 7, but until I see some more content for the $25 I paid for it's going to have to stay there. I look forward to updating this review with a better score once the game hits beta.    … Expand
  18. ClMick
    Nov 8, 2014
    5
    This could have been great. But the fact it's unfinished and will never be finished and some annoying bugs make this into a game that's only for the hard core fans of the genre. Perhaps mods will make this better in the future, but it was Double Fine's job to do that in the first place. As it stands I would not pay good money for it.
  19. Okami
    Sep 30, 2014
    5
    This could be a very nice good Colony-Management Game.
    But its unfinished and Buggy, and suddenly released.
    The Graphics are ok, Sound is still a bit dull. Gameplay is not very good fleshed out but could be ok. GUI is acceptable. But... There is almsot no conent. Its really fun for 2-3hours, but after that you have seen it all. Not much creativ things to do, no room for your own    This could be a very nice good Colony-Management Game.
    But its unfinished and Buggy, and suddenly released.

    The Graphics are ok, Sound is still a bit dull. Gameplay is not very good fleshed out but could be ok. GUI is acceptable. But...

    There is almsot no conent. Its really fun for 2-3hours, but after that you have seen it all. Not much creativ things to do, no room for your own building-concepts. Just add new rooms to your station and expand.

    Its a shame they did give up so early. With a bit more content and micromanagement Elements it would be cool.    … Expand
  20. Siphine
    Oct 21, 2013
    9
    Great game for only being in Alpha. Genuinely fun. All these minor little details just make me shiver with excitement. For example the way you select an area and it just generates wherever you select, no predetermined spots. Or the airlocks lights that slowly go from red to green or green to red, signifying someone is entering or leaving the station and oxygen is being refilled/depletedGreat game for only being in Alpha. Genuinely fun. All these minor little details just make me shiver with excitement. For example the way you select an area and it just generates wherever you select, no predetermined spots. Or the airlocks lights that slowly go from red to green or green to red, signifying someone is entering or leaving the station and oxygen is being refilled/depleted according to what is happening. Even the suits are different! Really all it needs is a bit more content since it's a bare bones right now, not filled out.
    Oh and before I end, love the Spaceface and how they aren't all human.    … Expand
  21. Qgal5kap
    Oct 27, 2013
    8
    The game shows great potential. Now it's all up to Double Fine to deliver some more content, and give us a delicious micromanagement experience. I can't wait to see what's next.
  22. smartbombradio
    Feb 12, 2014
    8
    The game needs work (it's in Early Release Alpha stage) but the parts that do work are VERY fun. I tend to play about 5-10 hours every update, and as it drops new updates the game gets better.

    Basically it's like Dwarf Fortress in space but with actual graphics/animations. You build a Spacebase, defend it, improve it, and read your little sims life stories until parasites or killbots or    The game needs work (it's in Early Release Alpha stage) but the parts that do work are VERY fun. I tend to play about 5-10 hours every update, and as it drops new updates the game gets better.

    Basically it's like Dwarf Fortress in space but with actual graphics/animations. You build a Spacebase, defend it, improve it, and read your little sims life stories until parasites or killbots or raiders kill everyone on board... then you start over and do it again!

    I recommend it, (and I recommend it highly during one of the sales they run.) It's a lot of fun and looking to get funner.    … Expand
  23. Hostile_Jesus
    Mar 10, 2017
    8
    this has to be one of the best games I've ever played ut the only issue is that development stopped. don't let this put you off I still have over 70 hours on this game
  24. Criiich
    Jul 27, 2019
    10
    Anything Double Fine is a treasure this isn’t their best work but they are a hardworking loving group of people!
  25. Herhj
    Dec 5, 2022
    5
    really only good for a very short time so this product doesn't have that much value

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
49

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 3 out of 4
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Jan 24, 2015
    49
    Absurdity reaches its peak when a corpse that’s been lying on the floor for a while gets some new friends and enemies. Looks like the space frontier in Spacebase DF-9 is settled exclusively by deranged people who were booted from civilized worlds. [Feb 2015]
    Read full review
  2. Riot Pixels
    Nov 27, 2014
    25
    Double Fine overestimated its abilities and failed to produce a proper management strategy game. Remember Spacebase DF-9 every time before buying anything in Steam Early Access. Even a big name is not a guarantee that a game will be actually finished.
    Read full review
  3. 4P.de
    Nov 18, 2014
    43
    Not only does it feel unfinished, even with what is there you encounter a lot of issues.
    Read full review
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