No Man's Sky - a procedurally generated sand box space exploration game

There was another itty bitty patch today (no mention of notes), seems to be just the exe.

boomboy2k1 said:
You have to remember it's an inde game. Only 7 people were working on this game I was told. Imagine if the developer team has 100 people working on it. What could it be?
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Going by that video that tainted posted of Hazel's presentation (which is down for copyright claims now), 7 programmers, 1 artist, 1 designer, 1 producer, and 3 other randoms.
 
krakerman said:
This only works if they are charging indie game prices for it. I understand the price is likely directed by Sony, but if you are going to charge AAA pricing for a game then you need to deliver AAA results.
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Shit happens sometimes. Even to the big guys. The rough start could have (and has) happened to AAA devs/publishers. As far as whether one likes the actual gameplay or not is down to personal taste.
 
J3RK said:
Shit happens sometimes. Even to the big guys. The rough start could have (and has) happened to AAA devs/publishers. As far as whether one likes the actual gameplay or not is down to personal taste.
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That's true, and definitely agree with whether someone enjoys the game is down to personal taste. To me it seems like the rage against Hello Games, Sean Murray, etc. isn't about the game itself, but about Sean's evasiveness, the over-promising of features, and the price (though people complain less directly about price). If this was a $20 game people would be a hell of a lot more forgiving (or I'd sure hope so at least).
 
I agree. I definitely don't like the way he's handled pretty much any aspect of PR for the game pre or post launch. However, I enjoy a lot of products, art, (music especially) by people I'd probably very much dislike if I met them. :D (and who knows, maybe Sean would be a fun guy to hang out with, but is just inept at handling PR for his game) I know a lot of software developers/coders/whatever, and the majority of them are really good at that, but lack many social and other life skills. I know I have my own deficiencies. I think where their team and a larger "AAA" team differ, is the large team hired people to manage the project, people to talk about the project, and keep the devs devving. Sony stepped in to publish and fund them a bit, but I don't get the feeling that they put their full weight behind the project. It was more a "let's see how this turns out... here's a little walking-around-money..."
 
I've been playing since Friday and still having a blast playing till 1am -- but then I did the same thing back in the day with the C64 version of Elite.

My best experience is a planet with seriously pissed off sentries that will shoot on sight and there were orbs all over the place about as common as those platinum flowers. Each orb is worth about 30k, but as soon as you picked one up you'd get a 3 star wanted rating and higher level sentries would come to take you out. It makes for extremely hectic gameplay continuously fighting for your life :D

I get that this game took some shortcuts, but unless you want to wait for forever like with Star Citizen, what do you expect?
 
DocSavage said:
I get that this game took some shortcuts, but unless you want to wait for forever like with Star Citizen, what do you expect?
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Well, it's exactly what I'd expect. I'm also waiting for Star Citizen, so now I have this to play while I wait. I tried to get into ED. I finally got the systems down, was able to pilot proficiently, but there wasn't much to explore. (that was before the planetary landing upgrade though...)
 
You know, I am surprised that Sony didn't encourage Hello Games to hire a professional PR person, that person would be able to advise Sean better how to present the game and what he should or shouldn't say. You would think that would be a smart move on their part. I am not sure if Sony actually gave them any funding... At least, I haven't heard anything about that aspect.
 
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J3RK said:
Well, I suppose we're taking the same crazy pills then.
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We must be on the crazy train! The missus and I have been playing everyday since launch on PC and PS4.

Sometimes I just want to do nothing but explore, and that's pretty much all there is to do. So I guess it works out well for us.
 
That's the thing. This isn't the only game in my library. If I want to play something with more action, more story, etc. all I have to do is click on it in Steam. If I'm in the mood to sit back and explore in a fairly relaxed environment after work, and turn off the reflexes or brain for a bit, this is great.
 
J3RK said:
That's the thing. This isn't the only game in my library. If I want to play something with more action, more story, etc. all I have to do is click on it in Steam. If I'm in the mood to sit back and explore in a fairly relaxed environment after work, and turn off the reflexes or brain for a bit, this is great.
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That's laughs cause I was going to post the exact same thing!

Couldn't agree more. I have a large Steam library and if I wanted more to do I'd just play something else.

But like you said at the end of a work day, sometimes I just want to relax and be an interloper. Lol
 
That resource table is pretty cool. I think I'll set that as my wallpaper on my secondary monitor and refer to as I play. :p
 
My review so far..

"You will only find peace when you accept that you’re never going to find what you were looking for." - Kataku

I think this is the mindset to have when you play NMS. The fact that there really is no end game, no preset goals to tell you what to do, no guide to progress in the story, comes with a bit of confusion for the majority of gamers who don't seem to like what NMS offers. In fact, I don't think they know what it offers at all, because they simply don't know how or what to uncover.

To me, NMS does something different with such a simple yet complex concept, that it literally gives you the controls and you decide to either stay or go. You determine what your objectives are, you determine what you want to do next. With barely any guide in game, it really gives the player the benefit of the doubt to see if they can find their own way and on their own terms . The end game isn't what NMS is about, it's about the journey(that you've decided to take) in between.
As alone and repetitive at times as it can seem to be, these are the times when you must try to mix things up by challenging yourself. Get out of your ship on a new planet and just roam. Try to find a destination all on foot and not by ship. Only then will you really feel how tiny you are to each planet and you'll probably appreciate the game a lot more too.

Don't rush your game progression as it will only disappoint you when you've finally reached the center of the galaxy. Instead, enjoy the time it takes you to get there.

As for Sean Murray, I tip my hat to the guy and his team. They've exceeded my expectations and gave me a new reason to explore in a video game. A feeling of responsibility and self reliance is where the satisfaction comes in to play.

Knowing that I can now survive a 20 minute or 30 minute free roam by foot on one of the most harsh environments the game offers, is rather rewarding to me. Knowing what to look for and which resource is in the distance, is rather rewarding to me. Knowing how to manage my inventory, manage my time on a planet and figuring out when I want to move on, is rewarding to me. Knowing I am the only one who gets to see this exact planet of different plants, species and environment , is rewarding to me. Doing all of this and more with an amazing and ambient soundtrack to ease my mind , is rewarding to me.

If in fact they do release a paid DLC down the road, I will buy it in a heart beat. For a game so simple and yet so vast, I can only imagine that adding new content to this game will make it better.

I'm tired of the cliche grind quests that MMOs and RPGs offer every single time. NMS let's me create my own journey, my own story and my own reason to play. Well done Hello Games, well done indeed. Looking forward to future free "patches" and or paid DLC to come.
 
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Just found a really nice, lush planet last night with larger creatures (not brontosaurus large, but pretty big) lots of water, palm trees, tons of resources, a few installations to visit, and interesting weather patterns. It looked every bit as good as any of the pre-release stuff. I'm kind of using it as a base now for the time being while I try to pick up a new ship. I'm also now in "close ally" status with two races. I'm not sure if this is the reason or not, but I tend to get more distress transmissions now.

I didn't have enough time to start messing around with the experimental branch last night, so I'll have to post thoughts on that later.
 
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J3RK said:
Just found a really nice, lush planet last night with larger creatures (not brontosaurus large, but pretty big) lots of water, palm trees, tons of resources, a few installations to visit, and interesting weather patterns. It looked every bit as good as any of the pre-release stuff. I'm kind of using it as a base now for the time being while I try to pick up a new ship. I'm also now in "close ally" status with two races. I'm not sure if this is the reason or not, but I tend to get more distress transmissions now.

I didn't have enough time to start messing around with the experimental branch last night, so I'll have to post thoughts on that later.
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I finally got moving on my Atlas quest last night and got jumped by a ton of pirates. I got both my killed 30 ships and killed 40 ships badges at the end of it. Pretty fun battles though and now I plan on carrying some iron and/or titanium (shield fuel) around for when I go planet hopping.
 
I have a theory I want to try if anyone is down. It seems the internet has "given up" on hopes that MP is actually in the game. Yet it seemed to give up after just reading a story on two random people trying to meet up on a planet.
That's it?

What about at a space station? With the way the space station loads and has multiple docks, I'm willing to bet this is where to meet.
 
Eshelmen said:
I have a theory I want to try if anyone is down. It seems the internet has "given up" on hopes that MP is actually in the game. Yet it seemed to give up after just reading a story on two random people trying to meet up on a planet.
That's it?

What about at a space station? With the way the space station loads and has multiple docks, I'm willing to bet this is where to meet.
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I'd be up for trying, but I'm not sure how to approach finding the same system. Any ideas?
 
J3RK said:
I'd be up for trying, but I'm not sure how to approach finding the same system. Any ideas?
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That's the tricky question isn't it? Lol

I'm wondering if finding each other through an atlas path is the best way?
I've already encountered several planets discovered already by other players just by going through an atlas way point of systems.


Other thing I can think of is to jump towards the center and start picking from there?

What color is the area surrounding your current solar system? Red, blue, white?
From there we can figure the Atlas paths and pin point better I think.
 
Eshelmen said:
That's the tricky question isn't it? Lol

I'm wondering if finding each other through an atlas path is the best way?
I've already encountered several planets discovered already by other players just by going through an atlas way point of systems.


Other thing I can think of is to jump towards the center and start picking from there?
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Both of those would probably work. I chose the Atlas path in the beginning, but then went off on my own. I actually visited my first Atlas Interface and Anomaly Station last night, but then immediately flew off somewhere else. I've still got those systems close by though.

I wish they had a real coordinate system, but I guess they probably couldn't put that in for this very reason. :D
 
You know what? It may just be way easier to locate and message player who's crossed paths with you or who have been close to your current location.
 
I tried keeping an open mind and got this game.
I have mixed feelings about it.
Found some moon with a crapload of gold. My capitalistic greed took over and I mined for hours and filled both my ship and my inventory. Went to some space station and sold everything. Got about 1.2mil credits now. BUT. That mining killed the lust to actually continue. I don't want to go mine anything now. I used hyperdrive to get to another star system, but that was it, found another space station, some huge ass ships and.... more planets I can mine stuff on. I don't want to continue mining, so what else is there to do?
 
Nebell said:
I tried keeping an open mind and got this game.
I have mixed feelings about it.
Found some moon with a crapload of gold. My capitalistic greed took over and I mined for hours and filled both my ship and my inventory. Went to some space station and sold everything. Got about 1.2mil credits now. BUT. That mining killed the lust to actually continue. I don't want to go mine anything now. I used hyperdrive to get to another star system, but that was it, found another space station, some huge ass ships and.... more planets I can mine stuff on. I don't want to continue mining, so what else is there to do?
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Unlock the Atlas paths and their story and get those atlas pass blueprints , discover the words from all the alien races by finding ruins and such. As you get more rep from each faction you'll be able to buy cheaper ships from them and you'll be getting a boat load of awesome blueprints along the way.
Upgrade your multi tool
Upgrade your ships defenses and warp drives
Find transmission towers and you'll be able to find crashed ships for free.
This is just a few to get you started.
 
I have a feeling upgrading now, will pay off when they add more to the game too. I wouldn't go completely overboard, but just get it so you can comfortably hop around to anywhere you want reasonably.
 
Eshelmen said:
Unlock the Atlas paths and their story and get those atlas pass blueprints , discover the words from all the alien races by finding ruins and such. As you get more rep from each faction you'll be able to buy cheaper ships from them and you'll be getting a boat load of awesome blueprints along the way.
Upgrade your multi tool
Upgrade your ships defenses and warp drives
Find transmission towers and you'll be able to find crashed ships for free.
This is just a few to get you started.
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Yeah, the thing is I didn't follow the story. Now I'm unable to craft Antimatter for Warp Drive.
Nor I know where to go. According to some Wiki, I need to follow the story to some alien who will give me some crafting materials and teach me "Electro Vapour" blueprint or something so I can build Antimatter, but there are no markings showing where he is.
I have been all over the planets mining, killing sentinels and visiting places, learned most "Theta" blueprints for ships/multitool, but now I'm tired since I'm visiting the same stupid planets in the same solar system.
 
I got the anti-matter formula on a normal space station from one of the attendants. I didn't come across the guys in question or the Atlas Interface until much later. I think you can pretty much do it any time as long as you chose it in the beginning.
 
Nebell said:
Yeah, the thing is I didn't follow the story. Now I'm unable to craft Antimatter for Warp Drive.
Nor I know where to go. According to some Wiki, I need to follow the story to some alien who will give me some crafting materials and teach me "Electro Vapour" blueprint or something so I can build Antimatter, but there are no markings showing where he is.
I have been all over the planets mining, killing sentinels and visiting places, learned most "Theta" blueprints for ships/multitool, but now I'm tired since I'm visiting the same stupid planets in the same solar system.
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Hm. Maybe you should find the orange laser beam column things (Transmission Towers) and craft bypass chips. Use those to find Colonial Outposts. That should bring you to the buildings that should have aliens in them, and from there you have to answer correctly. You should get some material blueprints (as opposed to tech blueprints). Do that a bunch of times on the same planet - don't go planet hopping just yet.
 
ghostwich said:
Hm. Maybe you should find the orange laser beam column things (Transmission Towers) and craft bypass chips. Use those to find Colonial Outposts. That should bring you to the buildings that should have aliens in them, and from there you have to answer correctly. You should get some material blueprints (as opposed to tech blueprints). Do that a bunch of times on the same planet - don't go planet hopping just yet.
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Well already talked to a bunch of aliens.
I think the pre-order ship messed it up for me. I didn't know how to access pre-order items for a while, but then I found it, and it had one charge in its hyperdrive. So I jumped somewhere. Now I can't get back :D
 
Nebell said:
Well already talked to a bunch of aliens.
I think the pre-order ship messed it up for me. I didn't know how to access pre-order items for a while, but then I found it, and it had one charge in its hyperdrive. So I jumped somewhere. Now I can't get back :D
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I would say keep looking for outposts and unlock key locations like ruins, eventually you'll run in to the Atlas. I'm pretty sure this is what I did.
I thought I skipped everything but it turns out I found a glimpse of the Atlas later on and then things got real fun.
 
Ok well, the latest patch made a WORLD of difference.

No more stuttering, Vsync actually works now.

It's actually a playable/enjoyable experience.

I'll give the game a real go tomorrow night. Too tired atm.
 
I won't bother going into all the things that were promised. Ever since Spore, I just assume nothing will be like it was promised. If someone like Will Wright can't deliver, then nobody can (except maybe Sid Meier).

This game has a hint of greatness behind it. But people mis-classify it as a Survival-Exploration game. It isn't. It's just purely an Exploration game. Crafting doesn't matter. Combat doesn't matter. Trading doesn't matter. All that matters is the Exploration. Everything else is just busy work, or horrible mini-games.

So, is this then a good Exploration game? I'd say yes and no (though more yes than no). You go to a planet, and assuming you are the first player there (which is likely), you take pictures of everything, rename everything, and then move on. Mining only exists to get you to the next planet. Once you've done renamed everything, you move on to the next system.

I like aspects of this game. And as I said, I can see the greatness it could be. But who knows where the game is headed. Will they add in things that were "demo'd"? Will they add in the ability to craft structures? Or will the game just live as it is now? I hope for the former, but fear that it's the latter.

One of my biggest pet peeves with this game right now is the "languages". Seriously, you need to learn alien languages one letter at a time? Wtf is with that? I can build a fucking hyperdrive, but I can't communicate with aliens (yet, we can understand each other enough to trade, or to understand what I want from them - like learning a single word). But then again, this is just the result of not having what was shown in any of the previous demo's (which apparently were just cinematics made to look like gameplay).
 
the PC Gamer review made an excellent point...

"Nearly all games have repetitive tasks, and repetition isn’t necessarily bad, but these are the systems that need the most attention from developers to ensure they don’t get irritating. Repetitive tasks need to at least be efficient, and here they are anything but"
 
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New patch slightly longer splash screen but smooth as silk, they must be preloading/building shader cache. In game hitches are gone and ship flies lower and launches lower. Some great write-ups and opinions above. Nice.
 
New patch helped enormously, also I had to update my DS4 tool as I was getting double-inputs / dead-zone movement that was driving me insane. The game though...meh. Even with just some rudimentary base building of any kind would do wonders for the game.

Also kinda crazy this game is only a 3gb download
 
polonyc2 said:
the PC Gamer review made an excellent point...

"Nearly all games have repetitive tasks, and repetition isn’t necessarily bad, but these are the systems that need the most attention from developers to ensure they don’t get irritating. Repetitive tasks need to at least be efficient, and here they are anything but"
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Right.


That's a repeated refrain along with (broadly speaking): Not enough meat on the bones, needs more depth to the proceedings, didn't come close to tapping into obvious potential.

^^ That's the consensus of my information overload on this game thus far. It remains to be seen how much they can do with it post release.
 
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