No Man's Sky Making a Big Comeback

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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There is no other way to put it, No Man's Sky was a huge flop about two years ago, when it basically over-promised and way under-delivered. However, you have to give it to the Hello Games development team as they have been continually fighting back to get the game to reach the bar that was promised. At launch it has 37K average players online, with a peak of 212K. That soon dwindled to less than 1,000. As of typing this, No Man's Sky had an average of almost 12K players online with a peak of 96K in the last 30 days. One of the big reasons is that now full multiplayer is supported....as previously promised.

Game stats.

Last week, Hello Games patched in their latest update. So if you were one of the ones that bought this title at launch, now might be the time to give it another go. So just maybe it is not continuing to suck as much as we previously thought.

Patch Trailer.
 
just picked it up on PS4. Looking forward to spending some time with it (When I have some)
 
The trailer looks boring as hell, basically just walking around or flying around endlessly, no goal/meaning. What am I missing.
 
I have to say as someone who was as harsh of a critic as any, all told, this does have the potential making of a remarkable path to redemption if they continue like this. It finally won me over.
 
Never got the hype for this game, rushed out half assed over hyped under delivered piece of wank.

 
So what's the goal here in multiplayer? What's the competition?
 
So what's the goal here in multiplayer? What's the competition?

I dont think there is, really. Just seems to be a fun exploration game, so far, but I'm only a couple of hours into it. They could super easily add goals and upgrades and make it a grinder exploration - assuming thats not what I havent reached, yet.
 
Well it is quite unprecedented in this type of industry for someone to hold their hands up, admit a mistake and then spend two years trying to put it right rather than just blaming someone else and running away.

I have to give them props for that.
 
Never got the hype for this game, rushed out half assed over hyped under delivered piece of wank.

I agree 100 percent. It should have been an Early Access title with all that entails for at least it's first year out IMO.

But that's just it:

Two years later this is no longer the case to a certain degree.

Don't mistake me: There is still a bit of ways to go but if this game had come out two years ago in the shape it's in now everything would have been very different.

It was enough to make me cross from "hate" to "like" and I didn't think that would ever happen.




Well it is quite unprecedented in this type of industry for someone to hold their hands up, admit a mistake and then spend two years trying to put it right rather than just blaming someone else and running away.

I have to give them props for that.

Agreed.
 
I bought this game last Thursday, and put 12 hours in this weekend. I was onboard the hate train when the game launched 2 years ago, and had assumed HG would just abandon NMS and leave it to rot. They stuck to their guns though, and kept updating and developing. Now I'm a fan. If you're a space exploration fan, this one is fun. It doesn't have a deep story or complicated mechanics, but it does have exploration in spades, and each planet feels at least slightly unique from the others so far. I haven't seen any of the horrifyingly disfigured creatures you saw on launch. Many times, the creatures seem to have adapted to the weather on a given planet (though not always). Acid rain planets have creatures with thick skin and carapace like coverings seemingly intended to protect them from the rain.

The game is far from perfect, and I've run into a few bugs here and there, only one of which was really game stopping in any way (I couldn't properly repair a freighter until I warped to another system), but it hasn't stopped me from enjoying the game immensely. Very relaxing change of pace from a lot of the games I've been playing recently.

Good on Hello Games for sticking to it and making the game worth something. I don't regret my purchase, and look forward to seeing what else the devs do for this game.
 
Sure its more polished, it looks a bit nicer, theres more to do and it has multiplayer but it still has a lot of the problems it had before. Its really not a bad game though. It just excels in mediocrity. When playing it I cant help but think how every aspect of the gameplay in done better in other games. Given its size & scope its never going to be anything else. You dont matter, your actions dont matter and nothing you do in this game has any impact.The 'story' doesn't help either as it just emphasises that you are insignificant and theres thousands more like you out there. You can make money, buy upgrades & a fleet, build bases but it doesn't feel like you've achieved anything. Exploring planets gets boring and finding Earths or other exotic planets is often insanely hard but even if you do the experience is underwhelming. The combat gets old fast and while its improved it feels like its there just because people expected something to fight. As I said its not a bad game, I just feels like it needs to give you more of a purpose or reason to do things other than just because you can. Maybe they should add an API to let players create 'content' to do that.
 
Got sucked in with this game when it came out. Wasn't impressed and demanded a refund. Steam declined. Hello games is on my shitlist now.
 
I preordered this back in the day and spent many hours playing it. Did the Atlas path and unlocked all the achievements at the time. I enjoyed it and stopped playing after I got lost in space and could never get to the center of the universe no matter how many jumps or black holes. I fired it up recently and discovered most of my ship, suit and gun have been replaced with obsolete tech images. I landed on a few planets and the atmospheres, planet rings, and surfaces looked great. The 3rd person view is a nice touch. I am attacked by pirates every time i transit to a new world due to my cargo although that happened pre patch. I'm gonna have to start over...
 
It's not mean't for the hard core gamer from what I can tell. It's more of move at your own pace games that's more relaxing than twitch. It's setup for exploration and appreciation. Not a combat sim.

Personally I was no fan of it when it came out. It was clunky, awkward and unpleasant to play in general. With the new patch it's much more enjoyable and I even convinced a friend who like myself enjoys sandbox games like this too pick it up I've started too enjoy it again for what it is. A casual sandbox space exploration sim.
 
The peak in users is probably because it's been on sale on Steam since the Next update launched. ($29.99 until 12pm CDT today) ***extended through August 6th***
 
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I enjoyed it at launch, didn't enjoy it when I went back to it after one of the previous patches, now I've given it another go and I've been enjoying it again.
What's irritating is that they haven't rolled out the multiplayer stuff for non-Steam versions (GOG in my case).
 
I bought the game on my PS4 at launch for $60. After 5 hours of gameplay I requested my one and only return on PSN and received it. At launch it should've been a $15 game; asking $60 was robbery.

However, I have heard very positive things about the game now after the "NEXT" update. I'll probably buy the game once it dips down to $20 or less on Steam.
 
just a heads up for anyone who got the GOG version (i.e. DRM Free) ; the multiplayer patch isn't coming for this version of the game until "later". Seeing as how they didn't get the previous patch at all.... it's difficult to tell when that may be.
 
If you find "Elite Dangerous" a fun game. NMS is going to be a pretty nice offering. But anything else is a loss.
 
Played since launch, loved it since day one as it delivered what I expected, other than working portals and a few more obscure, less important mechanics. It's like a new game now though, got so much polish and additions.

Are they fully supporting AMD video cards now?? (crickets chirping..........................)
What do you mean? They were the best supported cards since launch because of the consoles. My 290x was near flawless, nvidia cards had perf issues at launch, may have heard of some polaris issues but not so common.
 
Well it is quite unprecedented in this type of industry for someone to hold their hands up, admit a mistake and then spend two years trying to put it right rather than just blaming someone else and running away.

I have to give them props for that.

Yeah it is shocking to say the least. I mean no one is buying this game any more, they aren't releasing paid DLC, so have the devs even been paid in the last 2 years?

If they were a mainstream studio, the game development would have hit full stop and code into the trash can years ago and the team reassigned.

I have to wonder if there is some tiny monetary incentive to meeting these "goals". I'd like to believe that they did it all for the love of it, but come on... people gotta eat. I mean, I wouldn't work for free, would you? And not like these guys are Tim Sweeny level billionaires or anything.
 
Well it is quite unprecedented in this type of industry for someone to hold their hands up, admit a mistake and then spend two years trying to put it right rather than just blaming someone else and running away.

I have to give them props for that.

I wouldn't call it unprecedented, Rainbow 6 Siege, For Honor and The Division all took some serious rework after being launched, especially R6 has come a long way from its less than stellar launch.
Nevertheless, I applaud developers (in this case Hello Games) that stick with their game and make it right. (and not charging a DLC to fix it)
 
can you really call it a comeback when it started by falling off a cliff? When you start at the lowest point there is no way to go but up.
 
Yeah it is shocking to say the least. I mean no one is buying this game any more, they aren't releasing paid DLC, so have the devs even been paid in the last 2 years?

If they were a mainstream studio, the game development would have hit full stop and code into the trash can years ago and the team reassigned.

I have to wonder if there is some tiny monetary incentive to meeting these "goals". I'd like to believe that they did it all for the love of it, but come on... people gotta eat. I mean, I wouldn't work for free, would you? And not like these guys are Tim Sweeny level billionaires or anything.

Of course they can fund it, they're a relatively small gaming company who sold millions of copies at no less than 15 dollars each after steam taxes. Many bought direct on launch for more (I did as I didn't wan to give steam any sheckels). So yes, they have some morals and wanted to make it right. They are selling new copies, you can even read people on [H] only just buying it now.
So the money has not dried up and it's in their best interests to do this, so that people are willing to consider NMS2 one day.
 
Is all the flight third person or can you fly in first person? I like the idea, but I hate games where I have to fly from behind my ship/plane, just seems like a kiddie game in third person.
 
Is all the flight third person or can you fly in first person? I like the idea, but I hate games where I have to fly from behind my ship/plane, just seems like a kiddie game in third person.

I bought the game day one and only played it for a week, but I thought I did all my flying in first person
 
Interesting.
Some board of directors made the developers rush this game out.
Is the same board of directors paying the employees for the past 2 years to repair the game?
Someone needed quick money? XD
 
They added quite a few new systems, or maybe systems that were there but not well advertised. Base building anywhere (pretty much) fleet management, you can get your first freighter for free, and send your frigates off on missions to get loot (and if they fail you have to fix them yourself by climbing around on them an actually repairing the broken stuff)

They split inventory up so you don't fill it up with your upgrades unless you really want to.. inventory stacks more, more aliens on space stations, procedural missions along with a couple storyline missions you can follow, or not. teleporter network so you can easily return to places you've been. you get instantly paid for any discoveries, and there's a new 'loot' system to trade a secondary currency you get for reporting planetery discoveries, allowing you to get upgrade modifiers that improve the amount of cash you get for scanning things, make your blaster more efficient /etc. procedurally generated missions if you're looking for a goal (go here, get that, kill x this, mine x thing, take a picture on an x world, infiltrate a base and steal x tech before the time runs out..etc)

Just scraping the surface.. I see myself spending quite a bit of time with this game. lots to do now. one of the biggest thing that I think brings your investment in, is the 3rd person perspective they've added.
 
Is all the flight third person or can you fly in first person? I like the idea, but I hate games where I have to fly from behind my ship/plane, just seems like a kiddie game in third person.

It defaults to first person, and can be changed to 3rd any time you want.
 
My biggest complaint so far is the visuals. I've uninstalled/reinstalled this game multiple times now. About once every six months or so, I'm probably due for another try. Every time I do and start a new game I end up on a planet with the same orange/pink/purple/green pastels for just about everything on it. I feel like I'm back running some kind of monochrome monitor from the 80's w/ screen covers to simulate colors. Even using cheat codes to hop across the galaxy didn't help much on diversity. The image for this article looked nice but the one in the middle of this page is pretty much all I ever got.

Did they fix the load times yet? On some occasions even w/ raid sata III ssd's it seemed like it took the better part of 10 minutes to load up. Odds are if I played it enough it would've built up some caches but man those 1st times took forever.

Really wanted this game to be better. Was hoping for some of the 'Trek magic. Maybe it is now, will have to wait until after my current Witcher 3 replay with the new texture mod.
 
My biggest complaint so far is the visuals. I've uninstalled/reinstalled this game multiple times now. About once every six months or so, I'm probably due for another try. Every time I do and start a new game I end up on a planet with the same orange/pink/purple/green pastels for just about everything on it. I feel like I'm back running some kind of monochrome monitor from the 80's w/ screen covers to simulate colors. Even using cheat codes to hop across the galaxy didn't help much on diversity. The image for this article looked nice but the one in the middle of this page is pretty much all I ever got.

Did they fix the load times yet? On some occasions even w/ raid sata III ssd's it seemed like it took the better part of 10 minutes to load up. Odds are if I played it enough it would've built up some caches but man those 1st times took forever.

Really wanted this game to be better. Was hoping for some of the 'Trek magic. Maybe it is now, will have to wait until after my current Witcher 3 replay with the new texture mod.

The first load when i start a new game is probably about 5minutes, after that launching it takes maybe 2mins?.

Yea the colorful nature of it isn't for everyone. Honestly I like how the planets look now with what seems to be more color ranges and more sense to them. Space doesn't feel as much like a giant paint bucket, though I do prefer the blackness of elite dangerous space but there are workshop mods to tweak that if desired.
 
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