If this scenario is applicable, you can fix the issue by forcing a file integrity check via Steam.

Game file corruption – As a lot of Steam users are reporting, you can also expect to see this issue due to some kind of corruption that is affecting the local installation of Starbound.

Several affected users have reported that the issue was finally resolved after they have successfully updated their graphical drivers to the latest version available.

Outdated GPU driver – It’s also possible to encounter this issue due to a severely outdated GPU driver that makes it impossible for your PC to render the game.

Since you cannot get to the main menu in order to disable this feature, you can only resolve this problem by modifying the main config file of Starbound (nfig) in order to force Vsync to stay Disabled. More specifically, when this graphical feature is enabled on a low-end PC configuration, the game might refuse to launch.

Vsync is Enabled – One of the most common culprits that are known to trigger this issue with Starbound is VSYNC.

How to mod starbound steam