Starbound Change Character Appearance Mod -

Vanilla Starbound hairstyles are... basic. Mods like Human Tops and Human Long Hair add 50+ new hair sprites. These aren't just re-colors; they're entirely new pixel art styles that blend seamlessly with the game's aesthetic.

Starbound is a game about exploration, but the most important frontier is your own identity. No one should feel trapped by a hairstyle they chose at 2 AM during character creation. With mods like Dynamic Character Customization, the power to evolve your look is just a crafted item away.

Whether you’re a roleplayer aging your weary Glitch knight, a builder who finally found the perfect aesthetic, or just someone who wants purple hair to match their rainbow cape, the mods are out there. They are stable, easy to install, and brilliantly maintained.

Install Appearance, visit a mirror, and become the spacer you were always meant to be. The universe won’t change itself—but you can.

Safe travels, and may your pixels always be plentiful.

Before we get to the dedicated appearance mods, it’s worth mentioning the Starbound Patch Project and Universal Uncrappifier—mods that fix under-the-hood bugs. However, the true king of appearance modification is a dedicated tool.

Overview

Key Features

  • Persistence: Changes are saved to the player’s character file and persist across deaths, saves, and multiplayer sessions (server permitting).
  • Multiplayer considerations: Server-side enforcement optional — server admins can restrict editing or require tool permissions.

    • Technical Summary

  • Save format: Writes changes to player.character file fields used by Starbound’s player API, compatible with standard save parsers.

    • Usage

    Known Limitations & Compatibility

    Security & Safety

    Modder Notes (for maintainers)

    Credits & Licensing

    Example Short Description (for a mod page) "Change Character Appearance" adds a craftable Appearance Editor that lets you change your character’s body, face, hair, skin, and clothing at any time. Save presets, preview edits live, and switch looks without remaking your character — works with most races and cosmetic mods.

    If you want, I can:

    players, the lack of an in-game "barber" or "plastic surgeon" is a long-standing frustration. While there isn't one definitive "Appearance Mod," several tools and specialized mods solve this problem in different ways. 1. StarExtensions (Highly Recommended) StarExtensions starbound change character appearance mod

    is widely considered the best modern solution for changing your character mid-game. Steam Community What it does

    : It isn’t just a cosmetic mod; it’s an engine extension that unlocks several "hidden" features, including an in-game character editor. Key Feature : You can type /editor open

    in the chat to reopen the full character creation menu at any time.

    : It’s safer to strip off your cosmetic clothes before using it to avoid potential resets of your worn items. 2. Starcheat (The Classic Power Tool) If you prefer an external program with surgical precision, is the community standard for save editing. What it does

    : It is a standalone GUI application that lets you open your

    save files and manually change hair, colors, and even your race or name. The Review

    : It is incredibly powerful but slightly more technical than an in-game mod. Always back up your save folder

    before using it, as corrupting a file is possible if you aren't careful. 3. Cutebound (The Visual Overhaul) If your goal is to change how characters look rather than just your specific hair color, is the most popular choice. Chucklefish Forums What it does Vanilla Starbound hairstyles are

    : It replaces the default vanilla sprites with more "chibi" or "cute" versions, including better faces and expressions. The Review

    : It’s highly rated and "single-handedly" keeps some players engaged for hundreds of hours. However, it can conflict with other mods that modify human or race-specific sprites. Steam Community 4. Manual Save Editing (For Mod-Free Players)

    If you don't want to install mods, you can manually swap appearance data by editing JSON files. Steam Community How it works : You use tools like dump_versioned_json (found in the Starbound folder) to convert your encrypted file into a readable The Review

    : This is the "hard mode" of customization. It gives you total control over every stat and appearance value but is very easy to mess up if you aren't comfortable with code structures.

    Here’s a full-feature guide and overview for changing your character’s appearance in Starbound using mods, since the base game doesn’t allow post-creation edits.

    Use Appearance Gun (Steam Workshop ID 729426699). It’s safe, reversible, and takes 30 seconds.

    If you refuse to use mods or play on a vanilla-only server, you can edit your character file manually.

    How to do it:

    Warning: This is extremely fragile. One wrong comma or missing bracket can corrupt your save. Also, changing your race this way will break your ship layout 90% of the time.