Gameplay Questions

How long is this game?

It takes about 15 to 20 hours to beat the game, depending on the difficulty level you're playing at, the character growth setting selected, and how much you explore and do side quests.

Is there any way to look at the stats of a piece of equipment before I buy it?

Yes, there is. When shopping or viewing your inventory, use the “mode button” to toggle between viewing an item's description and its stats. By default, the “mode button” is mapped to the S, X, and Tab keys on the keyboard, and the Y button of the XBox® controller.

Can I record myself playing the game and then upload it to the Interet?

“Let's Plays” where you play the game with your commentary over it, and “Long Plays”, which feature only gameplay, are popular way to enjoy and share the games you love (and/or hate) with friends and strangers alike. Not only are you welcome to make them, you are encouraged to do so! It's okay, even if the video ad-supported. (It would be great if you linked to the game when you post your video, but you don't even have to do that.)

Retailer Questions

I want this game right now! Where do I buy it?

There's a list of retailer on the “Buy Now” page.

What store is the best to buy the game from?

The Humble Widget on this site gives me the best cut in revenue (and you can even add an extra tip if you want), but you should buy it from whichever store you like the most.

Do I get a Steam key no matter where I buy the game?

It depends on who you buy the game from. If you buy the game on IndieGameStand or through the Humble Widget here on the site, you will eventually get a Steam key.

Technical Support Questions

I have OS X El Capitan, and the game won't start.

This is a known issue, however a solution to the problem is proving difficult. I am hoping to have a fix available soon, but it might be awhile yet.

I'm trying to run the Linux version of the game, but when I try to run the AnotherStar file in the game's folder, it just opens some weird text file.

As of version 3a, the Linux version of Another Star has been bundled differently in order to include all the dependencies needed to run the game without additional library installations. As part of this, a “bash script” is now used to boot the game. Some versions of Linux (such as Ubuntu) do not like to run scripts directly from the graphical interface. To get around this, you can either change your settings to run bash scripts directly, or you can just open the Data folder and run one of the binary files manually (you probably want “AnotherStar.bin.x86_64”). Hopefully future versions of the game will be able to include a better solution to this issue.

When I try to start the game, I get some error saying about being “unable to find an entry point named glGenFramebuffers in opengl32.dll”. Why won't the game work?

This is usually a problem on older laptops using Intel graphics chips. Another Star requires features from OpenGL version 3.0 or higher in order to run properly, but most OpenGL 2.1 chips can still pull it off through a feature called “extensions”. If you're getting this error, it means your graphics card probably doesn't support the features that the game depends on to draw its graphics. You may be able to fix it by updating your drivers, but it usually means the game just won't run on your system. Sorry.

When I try to start the game, I get an error about sound, or something called “OpenAL”. Can I fix this?

If you're on a Windows machine, make sure you installed OpenAL before trying to play the game. An installer are included when you download the game, in the folder called “OpenAL Installers”. If you're on a Linux machine, make sure that the file “OpenTK.dll.config” is in the game's folder.

I'm having some other problem with the game that I don't see here.

Please contact Vision Riders technical support which a description of your problem.

The game won't run on my machine at all! Can I get a refund?

Contact the retailer you bought the game from, or Vision Riders technical support.

Developer Questions

Who made this game?

The game was developed by myself, Dale Johnson, and released through my company, Vision Riders Entertainment. I did the programming, story, art, and music. (I didn't code the CRT shader, though.)

What language was the game programmed in?

The game was programmed in C#.

What libraries did you use?

The game runs on top of a custom engine, the OFE Engine (short for “Open-Ended Framework Engine”, making it a redundant acronymn). OFE uses OpenTK to interface with OpenGL for graphics and OpenAL for audio, and it also uses NVorbis to load .ogg files for music. In addition, the Steam version uses Steamworks.NET to interface with Steam.

Why isn't the game on iPhone/iPod or Android?

Because porting to those platforms is expensive, unless I completely reprogram the game from scratch. If the game does well, I might consider buying the software licenses to port the game to these platforms.

Can I get a review copy of the game?

Maybe! Contact me to request a copy, and include a link to your site.