This seems like such a simple thing... and it is. You just click the mouse on the campfire and press 'E' and then select what you want to cook. It's that simple. I just completely laid out cooking for you in a single sentence. So go cook... cook and be filled. Be filled and be merry.
I know that cooking is one of the earliest things you'll do in Starbound but I have to be honest: it wasn't easy. The main problem is that if you don't put the campfire down in the right area you won't be able to cook anything. This was the one thing they don't properly explain in the game.
After crafting some basic items and gathering some basic material, you can build the campfire. It's not a difficult thing to get done. The real trick, however, is getting the campfire down and in a place where you can clearly access it by left-clicking on it and then using it by pressing 'E'.
A window should pop up that brings you to your inventory. From there you can select the uncooked meat (or other gastronomic items you have in your possession) and then slap it in the slot so it can be turned into a delicious, alien-steak dinner. You click the button with your mouse and bam, you have freshly cooked alien meat.
One of the reasons you may not be able to click on the campfire is that something may be obstructing it. I originally ran into the problem of placing the campfire on the ground where some other light flora managed to get in the way. I imagine it's a common mistake some newbies (like myself) could make while trying to cook on the campfire.
The best thing to is clear out an area, lay down some wooden floorboards – so you have a clear area to work – and then place the campfire on top of the floorboard. Don't worry, the fire won't spill over and catch fire to your outdoor deck.
Once you get the fire thing down you're pretty much in the clear. Everything else following the meat-cooking is pretty much elementary. Furnaces, advanced crafting stations, etc., all come thereafter because you're not dead. Oh right, I forgot to mention: if you don't eat you'll end up going hungry and dying... so cooking for survival purposes isn't extremely important.
Starbound definitely takes a separate route from Terraria as far as the survival mechanics go, so it's the sort of thing that will require constant monitoring. Oh yeah, you'll also have to stay warm as well, just like DayZ... so monitoring your temperature is also a pretty important part of the survival process.
So long as you have a bow and campfire, though, you shouldn't run into any problems as far as food supply goes. Your only major trouble might be the enemies giving you a rough time, but if you're playing with a couple of friends and watching each other's backs then it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Starbound is currently in its beta testing phase and character wipes are still persistent, so if you plan on buying into the game's Early Access be warned that your character could end up being wiped. It's still a fun game if you have the time and patience to invest in the experience.
You can learn more by paying a visit to the official website.
