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[Gruso]

If you can't run into other players then that's lame.

It would be highly interesting to run into other literal "lifeforms" while exploring the Universe.

You can, but it won't be common. So encounters may be very interesting!

 

[Pestilence11]

If you can't run into other players then that's lame.

It would be highly interesting to run into other literal "lifeforms" while exploring the Universe.

Like the guy above me said, you can. The problem is the galaxy is so insanely large that encounters with other players will be rare. Maybe closer to the center it'll be more likely but even then I think people will be very spread out.

 

[MADGAME]

There needs to be some sort of universal No Man's Sky maneuver to communicate you're a human player and not AI. Clearly this won't be necessary if you bump into someone on a planet since it will be quite obvious you've encountered someone, but in space there isn't a way to differentiate player and AI ships (that we know of).

 

[Fushichou187]

If you can't run into other players then that's lame.

My understanding is that you can run into other players but that given distances between people and the vastness of the game map, this will be highly extremely at the onset but more feasible once you get closer to the center of the universe.

There needs to be some sort of universal No Man's Sky maneuver to communicate you're a human player and not AI. Clearly this won't be necessary if you bump into someone on a planet since it will be quite obvious you've encountered someone, but in space there isn't a way to differentiate player and AI ships (that we know of).

They haven't detailed anything regarding possible interaction between players. I doubt they'll also for prox chat but it would be cool if they allowed for some sort of signaling (a la Journey) either through broadcasting sounds or perhaps colors, etc.. that might allow for some type of communication.

 

[MADGAME]

They haven't detailed anything regarding possible interaction between players. I doubt they'll also for prox chat but it would be cool if they allowed for some sort of signaling (a la Journey) either through broadcasting sounds or perhaps colors, etc.. that might allow for some type of communication.

I was assuming there was no in-game mechanic for communication. I was referring to player behavior, like a spinning barrel roll or immelmann, or some other maneuver to signal you're human. Though I suppose that could be dangerous if players can kill each other.

 

[legacyzero]

Any word yet on the flight dynamics? I'm hoping for some good hassle free controls and dogfighting.

I think youll get just that. What I love about the flight, though, is the seemingly realistic feedback that you get while in the cockpit, at least on a visual level. The ship looks as if its meeting turbulence, or rough air. I love it

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

Although the devs have said over and over again "it'll be rare that you meet up with other players, and you might not even realize it's a human player", I think they underestimate the power of social media. This is a static universe, yeah? It's pre-randomized, as far as I understand. Everyone's randomized universe will be the same.

If there are static co-ordinates for each solar system in the game (similar to what Space Engine or Elite or various other open-space games use) then it won't actually be very difficult to meet up with other players.

But even without co-ordinates, I think players will find a way to meet up. It might be difficult and time-consuming, but it wouldn't be impossible to begin charting things if each galaxy or area has certain identifiers. It all depends on what tools they offer the player. If you can sort stars by discoverer, spectral type (see screen below), size, or region, then it wouldn't be hard to figure out positioning over reddit or facebook or whatever:

At 1:42 of the E3 showing, they specify "Region"
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=1m42s

And again at 2:44, they show off "Region" and "Distance".
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=2m44s

These identifiers would allow players to theoretically identify common points in the universe and meet there. It'd take time and lots of hard work from the community, but it's perfectly possible.

And that's when things might get really interesting (or go off the rails, if the game isn't suited to handle so many players in the same local system). You'll definitely have players meeting up on purpose in large-ish numbers sooner or later.

 

[valkillmore]

I think youll get just that. What I love about the flight, though, is the seemingly realistic feedback that you get while in the cockpit, at least on a visual level. The ship looks as if its meeting turbulence, or rough air. I love it

This can't be stressed enough. It's very important for the long-term playability of the game. The bob/shake/jostle of the screen and dashboard when you engage your thrusters to enter orbit, and how it increases in intensity while you're entering the atmosphere and then levels off once you're approaching the ground, is just fantastic. It's exactly what I had hoped it would end up like. They fucking nailed it. I can get a sense of the weight and resistance of the ship/ship's controls just by watching, and I love that.

 

[Icyflamez96]

This can't be stressed enough. It's very important for the long-term playability of the game. The bob/shake/jostle of the screen and dashboard when you engage your thrusters to enter orbit, and how it increases in intensity while you're entering the atmosphere and then levels off once you're approaching the ground, is just fantastic. It's exactly what I had hoped it would end up like. They fucking nailed it. I can get a sense of the weight and resistance of the ship/ship's controls just by watching, and I love that.

Yeah i'm soooo glad they improved the planet transitions. It looked super weak in all of the other trailers.

 

[Tumeke NZ]

Ok I'm finally getting an understanding about what NMS is and its definitely intriguing!
Not 100% sold but now its got my attention I won't just skip passed new info on it.
Be interesting to see how long it takes people to get to the center of the universe but also hear about the, hopefully, crazy adventures they had getting there.

 

[DeepEnigma]

My understanding is that you can run into other players but that given distances between people and the vastness of the game map, this will be highly extremely at the onset but more feasible once you get closer to the center of the universe.

Another reason to push to get there.

Just like how we push to see other life in the universe now..

Wouldn't be something if your character was random and procedurally generated as well. So when you do run into someone, you think that is what you look like, and they think you are what they look like.

 

[kyser73]

I just want a release date now.

I'm done with the discussion, with my endless parroting about Elite.

Just gimme dat game Sean!

 

[RedSwirl]

They're not trying to cater to people who are skeptical about the game. Sean said on a recent twitch interview that he thinks he's shown off too much already, and the more that he shows, the more mystery it takes away from people. He craves the time back in the day where you'd often pick up a game knowing nothing about it and it not holding your hand in many ways that most games do today. That's why he seems to praise minecraft so much. For the skeptics who want the full picture, you guys are just going to have to wait for it to come out and read impressions or something. Nothing wrong with that.

Exactly. Murray wants this game to debut in much the same way a lot of the survival games on Steam did, where they kind of just show up and people start digging around themselves as word of mouth spreads. Hello Games doesn't want NMS to be like the AAA games where you've got hours of promotional content that tells you everything about the game before it's even out, and most of the people who ever buy the game buy it in the first month. The only major difference between NMS and all those recent indie survival games will be NMS won't go through Steam Early Access, but will basically be "done" or at least in a 1.0 state at launch. NMS probably isn't going to explode out of the gate sales-wise. Most people who buy it in the future will probably be people who watch streams and YouTube videos beforehand.

Although the devs have said over and over again "it'll be rare that you meet up with other players, and you might not even realize it's a human player", I think they underestimate the power of social media. This is a static universe, yeah? It's pre-randomized, as far as I understand. Everyone's randomized universe will be the same.

If there are static co-ordinates for each solar system in the game (similar to what Space Engine or Elite or various other open-space games use) then it won't actually be very difficult to meet up with other players.

But even without co-ordinates, I think players will find a way to meet up. It might be difficult and time-consuming, but it wouldn't be impossible to begin charting things if each galaxy or area has certain identifiers. It all depends on what tools they offer the player. If you can sort stars by discoverer, spectral type (see screen below), size, or region, then it wouldn't be hard to figure out positioning over reddit or facebook or whatever:



At 1:42 of the E3 showing, they specify "Region"
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=1m42s

And again at 2:44, they show off "Region" and "Distance".
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=2m44s

These identifiers would allow players to theoretically identify common points in the universe and meet there. It'd take time and lots of hard work from the community, but it's perfectly possible.

And that's when things might get really interesting (or go off the rails, if the game isn't suited to handle so many players in the same local system). You'll definitely have players meeting up on purpose in large-ish numbers sooner or later.

I think the real issue is going to be how time-consuming and difficult it will be to travel in this game. Unless you have a heavily upgraded hyperdrive you'll have to travel one solar system at a time, and you'll have to keep buying fuel to keep traveling. Getting to where you know your friend is could potentially take at least as long as it takes to get to the center of the universe.

 

[kyser73]

Exactly. Murray wants this game to debut in much the same way a lot of the survival games on Steam did, where they kind of just show up and people start digging around themselves as word of mouth spreads. Hello Games doesn't want NMS to be like the AAA games where you've got hours of promotional content that tells you everything about the game before it's even out, and most of the people who ever buy the game buy it in the first month. The only major difference between NMS and all those recent indie survival games will be NMS won't go through Steam Early Access, but will basically be "done" or at least in a 1.0 state at launch. NMS probably isn't going to explode out of the gate sales-wise. Most people who buy it in the future will probably be people who watch streams and YouTube videos beforehand.



I think the real issue is going to be how time-consuming and difficult it will be to travel in this game. Unless you have a heavily upgraded hyperdrive you'll have to travel one solar system at a time, and you'll have to keep buying fuel to keep traveling. Getting to where you know your friend is could potentially take at least as long as it takes to get to the center of the universe.

Just like Elite. Even when you upgrade the hyperdrive you're still limited by fuel concerns...indeed, they might even be what drives some to become pirates...stranded in a system with no drive fuel...suddenly a ship appears...you scan it and see it has fuel to harvest...what do you do?

You might have been the most moral, friendly trader or explorer until this point...what decision will desperation lead you to?

He says, after saying he's tired of talking about Elite.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

I think the real issue is going to be how time-consuming and difficult it will be to travel in this game. Unless you have a heavily upgraded hyperdrive you'll have to travel one solar system at a time, and you'll have to keep buying fuel to keep traveling. Getting to where you know your friend is could potentially take at least as long as it takes to get to the center of the universe.

Possibly. I'm not implying that gamers will be able to jump into the game and meet up with friends immediately. It'll definitely be an "end-game" situation.

That being said, there's still a central point in the game (center of the galaxy/universe) that players will all be able to point to. As players get closer to that central point, their likelihood of meeting up increases. And I'd imagine that once a player obtains a sufficiently-upgraded rig, holding fuel and/or quickly acquiring it will take the issue of distance out of the equation.

Your points are valid. But I don't see those things standing in the way of people who want to defy the whole "meeting other players will be incredibly rare" standpoint. I know that I'm one of the players who will be trying to bend and push the game to its limits.

 

[Fushichou187]

Although the devs have said over and over again "it'll be rare that you meet up with other players, and you might not even realize it's a human player", I think they underestimate the power of social media.

I think Mr. Murray and the people over at Hello Games are pretty aware at what online communities are capable of when it comes to coordination, or at least I believe they are smart enough to think through those scenarios when designing this purposefully vast universe.

But you're right in assuming that communities will form for the express purpose of trying to meet up in this new universe; we love our communities, us humans. I look forward to seeing what the human element brings to NMS.

I was assuming there was no in-game mechanic for communication. I was referring to player behavior, like a spinning barrel roll or immelmann, or some other maneuver to signal you're human. Though I suppose that could be dangerous if players can kill each other.

Yeah, communication will be another interesting X factor that will be introduced to the NMS universe when the game releases and the humans are left to run amok in it

 

[Pestilence11]

These identifiers would allow players to theoretically identify common points in the universe and meet there. It'd take time and lots of hard work from the community, but it's perfectly possible.

And that's when things might get really interesting (or go off the rails, if the game isn't suited to handle so many players in the same local system). You'll definitely have players meeting up on purpose in large-ish numbers sooner or later.

They've already stated that if somehow a large group of people are in one area you'll only see one or two, like how Journey handles multiplayer.

 

[Icyflamez96]

They've already stated that if somehow a large group of people are in one area you'll only see one or two, like how Journey handles multiplayer.

He didn't give a definite answer. He said 3 or 4, and followed up with "I don't want to tell people the exact amount because I feel like then people are just going to try it out" which was weird reasoning but yeah.

 

[Disaster Nebraska]

They've already stated that if somehow a large group of people are in one area you'll only see one or two, like how Journey handles multiplayer.

Ah, okay. Well that answers my hypothesis.

Thank you for the info.

EDIT: whether it's 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 (as was stated by Icyglamez96) that still answers my question

 

[AngryNapkin]

Maybe my cosmological and physics knowledge is lacking but wouldn't getting to the center of a galaxy mean you die a horrible spaghettified death entering a super massive blackhole?

 

[Gruso]

Maybe my cosmological and physics knowledge is lacking but wouldn't getting to the center of a galaxy mean you die a horrible spaghettified death entering a super massive blackhole?

Nah there's just bookcases and shit there.

 

[cackhyena]

Nah there's just bookcases and shit there.

But will you have an AI who saves yer butt in said bookcase?

 

[RedSwirl]

Do we know if trading posts will have "illegal" goods in NMS?

 

[dalin80]

Do we know if trading posts will have "illegal" goods in NMS?

No mention of anything like that as of yet although becoming a smuggler or dealer could be fun. The crafting system is really quite new to us so there's very few details on what you can make with it.

Looking forward to seeing the specs of the various ship classes, we know there are 3 fundamental groups but little as to how much they really differ from each other. In other space games (x3 etc.) I have always gone with trader type vessels but those games had a much lower focus on exploration. Although it's safe to say I'm just going to go with whatever looks coolest at any given time.

 

[El-Pistolero]

The logic is so bizarre and nonsensical.

Let's say you actually care enough if your life to view No Man's Sky videos, and then come into topics repeatedly and ask the ridiculously ignorant rhetorical question "but when are they going to show what you ACTUALLY do?"

One might assume that instead of wasting everyone's time to demonstrate your profound ignorance, you would take two seconds to google and browse any one of the trillions of articles that describe in excruciating detail exactly what you do and what your goals are and what gameplay elements exist, as well as view the many many trailers we've got shows elements from much of what they've talked about.

If you watch the videos and read a few articles and you're not interested, that's cool. You might share your criticisms and reasons why, and then you walk away and move on. What you don't do is repeatedly ruin every No Man's Sky topic by asking a question that has been answered over and over again ad naseum for the past year. There's no mystery here except in the storyline. We know exactly what you do, what your goals are, what the primary gameplay focus is and how you accomplish your gameplay goals. We know a lot about how various systems work (and have seen them in action) and it controls and what the game flow is like.

At this point the only way they could make it any clearer what the heck you do in the game is if they literally released the game design manual that maps out in flow sheets and programming language how they accomplished everything. Which no one ever does, sooo

You are beautiful man. Almost every post of yours is a joy to go through...

 

[kyser73]

No mention of anything like that as of yet although becoming a smuggler or dealer could be fun. The crafting system is really quite new to us so there's very few details on what you can make with it.

Looking forward to seeing the specs of the various ship classes, we know there are 3 fundamental groups but little as to how much they really differ from each other. In other space games (x3 etc.) I have always gone with trader type vessels but those games had a much lower focus on exploration. Although it's safe to say I'm just going to go with whatever looks coolest at any given time.

I would guess as a baseline:

Explorer class = huge fuel capacity, medium cargo, low weapons
Trader class = large cargo, medium fuel, low weapons
Fighter = GUNS!, medium fuel, low cargo

Within each of those categories you could play around with levels.

 

[dalin80]

I would guess as a baseline:

Explorer class = huge fuel capacity, medium cargo, low weapons
Trader class = large cargo, medium fuel, low weapons
Fighter = GUNS!, medium fuel, low cargo

Within each of those categories you could play around with levels.

Oh it will definitely be along those lines but as a stat and spec obsessive I need me some numbers!

 

[Chev]

Maybe my cosmological and physics knowledge is lacking but wouldn't getting to the center of a galaxy mean you die a horrible spaghettified death entering a super massive blackhole?

It's not a astrophysics simulator, it's a sci-fi cover simulator. You're gonna find the meaning of life or the architect or burgers or ondoyantes or other possibly awesome things in there.

 

[Prototype Viktor]

Oh it will definitely be along those lines but as a stat and spec obsessive I need me some numbers!

they'll probably never say before launch, and with the modifiers who cares really

 

[soqquatto]

I think it's more likely that the game is not made to allow many players meeting and/or interacting. like, there's no code to support four players on the same planet, or maybe there's code but once you'll be on the same planet, nothing will happen outside of "being able to see each other" - you won't even see the impact one player will have on the environment/creatures, if he's interacting with stuff and so on. you won't effectively see the same things he's seeing, if he's following a creature or if he's been attacked by a robot.

the very structure of the game (the galaxy being so inconceivably big) should prevent "large" player meetings and I think they're not preparing for it, people rushing to meet other player will probably be let down for this but I think it's only normal, I think "players being able to shake hands" is pretty low on their "to be coded" list.

 

[Dredd97]

I don't know how many galaxies there are but it will have 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets (18 quintillion). If a new planet is discovered every second it would take 584 billion years to visit every one just for a second.

Ok I'll admit it, I got a little bored so I decided to have a play with that rather large number..
It's so fantasically large, it goes beyond any reasonable comprehension.. so I'll try and comprehend it

If the player base for NMS equates to approximately 50,000,000 players (yes, it's a large number, but I'm basing it off years of adding new players, and it probably won't get to be that size) each player would have their own private stash of approx 369 billion planets to explore!.. if everybody alive on the planet today (roughly 7 billion people) all played NMS we'd all have a private stash of a measly 2.6 billion planets each...

To put a time context on it, if the 7 billion visited a single planet everyday it would take us just 7.2 million years to visit every planet.. Ok thats being generous, what if we limit it to 1 hour per planet? ok it takes just approx 301 thousand years.. still to much?

If every person on the planet visited 1 planet per second, every second of every day, as a collective it would take us a more manageable 83.5 years to visit every planet...

The 50 mill don't have it so lucky, as 1 planet per day = just over a billion years, 1 planet every hour 42 million years, or a planet every second? nearly 11.7 thousand years..

you know what GAF that is doable

Sorry for the post, I was just curious to what it would take to get the platinum trophy

 

[Dredd97]

I think it's more likely that the game is not made to allow many players meeting and/or interacting. like, there's no code to support four players on the same planet, or maybe there's code but once you'll be on the same planet, nothing will happen outside of "being able to see each other" - you won't even see the impact one player will have on the environment/creatures, if he's interacting with stuff and so on. you won't effectively see the same things he's seeing, if he's following a creature or if he's been attacked by a robot.

the very structure of the game (the galaxy being so inconceivably big) should prevent "large" player meetings and I think they're not preparing for it, people rushing to meet other player will probably be let down for this but I think it's only normal, I think "players being able to shake hands" is pretty low on their "to be coded" list.

The chances of meeting other players? that's probably never going to happen as there will be billions of planets between players... but if the locations are randomized they're a small chance you'll run into somebody...

 

[Gruso]

65daysofstatic talk about the procedural score.

No Man’s Sky: how a cult band created the game’s endless musical universe

“A soundtrack to infinity” sounds like the sort of thing a hairy bunch of proggers might say about their new album, but Sheffield post-rock outfit 65daysofstatic can actually lay claim to making one, or at least something very close. The band have been chosen to write the soundtrack for the much-anticipated PlayStation 4 game No Man’s Sky, where the player flies by spacecraft through a galaxy that, in playable terms, will be neverending: it comprises more than 18 quintillion planets, each with its own flora, fauna and, of course, lethal robotic drones, and each needs a soundscape to fit. Manic Miner it ain’t.

The difference between an ordinary video game soundtrack and this project is that No Man’s Sky’s universe is procedurally generated. Rather than designers manually building each of its myriad worlds – which would take several lifetimes – the planets are created randomly through complex algorithms. The music needs to follow a similar approach.

To do this, 65days – along with writing a collection of songs that will form a more discernible official soundtrack – have been busy assembling a vast library of loops, textures and melodies. These components will be fed into what guitarist Paul Wolinski describes as a “frankly insane audio system”, devised by the game’s musical director Paul Weir. The audio system will randomly create music to accompany the gameplay, reacting to the changeable terrain and becoming more or less menacing depending on whether a character is in danger – a form of composition widely known as “generative music”.


The problem with generative music in video games is that, because it has to respond to sudden shifts in gameplay, it tends towards the minimalist, meaning that it often ends up sounding beige. It’s a fate that 65daysofstatic and Weir were keen to avoid. “An awful lot of generative music is ambient, soundscapey stuff,” says Wolinski. “We wanted to write music that didn’t sound like that, but at the same time, because the game is so big, make music that is essentially infinite.”

The game’s complex construction means that the band have thus far only been able to work with screenshots and trailers. How well it all comes together won’t be known until No Man’s Sky’s release later this year.

“We’re massive control freaks: we never release music that we’re not happy with,” says Wolinski. “But this? This is unknowable.”

Yet, for the band, the risks attached to No Man’s Sky are vastly outweighed by the thrill of the game’s potential. Wolinski himself can’t wait to experience the game. “The idea that people could visit these planets that no one in the world has ever been to before [and hear] a version of the song that no one else will hear – and we haven’t heard before – is so exciting.” The sky is the limit.

One of the biggest draws for me, to be honest. If the gameplay turns out to be lacklustre, I'll still be flying around in a procedural universe to the soaring scifi soundscape of 65dos.

\o/

 

[Carn82]

Nah there's just bookcases and shit there.

Everything is Matthew McConaughey

 

[TheKingOfPain]

As a non-Plus player, I'd really like to know whether this is going to be a multiplayer only game (e.g. Helldivers) or not.

 

[ichtyander]

65daysofstatic talk about the procedural score.

No Man’s Sky: how a cult band created the game’s endless musical universe



One of the biggest draws for me, to be honest. If the gameplay turns out to be lacklustre, I'll still be flying around in a procedural universe to the soaring scifi soundscape of 65dos.

\o/

This, alongside the natural sound generation for the creature voices is very exciting. Btw, this stood out from the interview:

How well it all comes together won’t be known until No Man’s Sky’s release later this year.

Maybe the interview was done earlier when they knew they were going to reveal the release date, or maybe they know something we don't.

 

[Kei-]

As a non-Plus player, I'd really like to know whether this is going to be a multiplayer only game (e.g. Helldivers) or not.

Interesting question, according to everything we know about when PS+ is required in the past, i'd guess you need PS+ to play this, unless information stating otherwise has been provided.

It's not f2p, and there is no subscription, so I'd guess you need PS+ to play. Whether or not there is an offline component, if you can explore the universe without being online, I have no idea.

You can still connect to leaderboards, trophies, and other online activities without PS+,you just don't see actual player to player interaction without PS+. Maybe they have a way to flag certain characters as "unseen" by other players so that there is no possible way to interact but they can still upload planet data to the matrix.

Oh, I wasn't even aware there were gonna be leaderboards, wonder what they'll track. Distance traveled, sentinels destroyed, amount of x material mined etc. Could be interesting. And I haven't even thought about trophies, those could be really interesting.

Btw, I'm guessing yor avatar is probably Dr Katz reacting to one of Dom Irrera's many awkward and hilarious lines on that show haha. Lately I've been listening to it/watching it while falling asleep again. Such a good show for that since the dialogue is essentially stand-up bits.

 

[BigDug13]

Interesting question, according to everything we know about when PS+ is required in the past, i'd guess you need PS+ to play this, unless information stating otherwise has been provided.

It's not f2p, and there is no subscription, so I'd guess you need PS+ to play. Whether or not there is an offline component, if you can explore the universe without being online, I have no idea.

You can still connect to leaderboards, trophies, and other online activities without PS+,you just don't see actual player to player interaction without PS+. Maybe they have a way to flag certain characters as "unseen" by other players so that there is no possible way to interact but they can still upload planet data to the matrix.

 

[TheKingOfPain]

Interesting question, according to everything we know about when PS+ is required in the past, i'd guess you need PS+ to play this, unless information stating otherwise has been provided.

It's not f2p, and there is no subscription, so I'd guess you need PS+ to play. Whether or not there is an offline component, if you can explore the universe without being online, I have no idea.

Yeah, they never mentioned a single player/offline component in this game, even if their demo was of course an offline one. If this happens to be online-only, I'd be very sad.

 

[Kuraudo]

As a non-Plus player, I'd really like to know whether this is going to be a multiplayer only game (e.g. Helldivers) or not.

http://attackofthefanboy.com/news/mans-sky-can-played-offline-want/

 

[qa_engineer]

I like things in list form. I don't know how much time I can invest in this game but I'm so going to buy it.

 

[BigDug13]

Interesting question, according to everything we know about when PS+ is required in the past, i'd guess you need PS+ to play this, unless information stating otherwise has been provided.

It's not f2p, and there is no subscription, so I'd guess you need PS+ to play. Whether or not there is an offline component, if you can explore the universe without being online, I have no idea.



Oh, I wasn't even aware there were gonna be leaderboards, wonder what they'll track. Distance traveled, sentinels destroyed, amount of x material mined etc. Could be interesting. And I haven't even thought about trophies, those could be really interesting.

Btw, I'm guessing yor avatar is probably Dr Katz reacting to one of Dom Irrera's many awkward and hilarious lines on that show haha. Lately I've been listening to it/watching it while falling asleep again. Such a good show for that since the dialogue is essentially stand-up bits.

I was talking in general. In general not having PS+ doesn't stop your game from using online server features. It only prevents you from playing directly player-to-player.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

Maybe the interview was done earlier when they knew they were going to reveal the release date, or maybe they know something we don't.

I feel like it's pretty obvious that the game was supposed to be announced for sometime this year before whatever happened.....happened. Betting on an October or December date in a few weeks.

Most likely got pushed into Q1/Q2 2016 though because Hello Games is scrambling to add things to do and checklists

 

[SomTervo]

That being said, there's still a central point in the game (center of the galaxy/universe) that players will all be able to point to. As players get closer to that central point, their likelihood of meeting up increases. And I'd imagine that once a player obtains a sufficiently-upgraded rig, holding fuel and/or quickly acquiring it will take the issue of distance out of the equation.

Never thought of it that way, but I hope it's intentional. Very clever design if so. Closer to the centre is meant to be exponentially more dangerous, too, so maybe subtle moments of co-op are more necessary there. Even if the chances of seeing each other are still insanely small.

65daysofstatic talk about the procedural score.

No Man’s Sky: how a cult band created the game’s endless musical universe



One of the biggest draws for me, to be honest. If the gameplay turns out to be lacklustre, I'll still be flying around in a procedural universe to the soaring scifi soundscape of 65dos.

\o/

Amazing post and holy sheet I'm stoked for this, too, now. Even the music fits with the systemic, procedural aspect of the game's design.

Maybe the interview was done earlier when they knew they were going to reveal the release date, or maybe they know something we don't.

I think they've always said 2015 was the year, but as of the last month have been extra-mum about anything, so I reckon it could slip to 2016.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Although the devs have said over and over again "it'll be rare that you meet up with other players, and you might not even realize it's a human player", I think they underestimate the power of social media. This is a static universe, yeah? It's pre-randomized, as far as I understand. Everyone's randomized universe will be the same.

If there are static co-ordinates for each solar system in the game (similar to what Space Engine or Elite or various other open-space games use) then it won't actually be very difficult to meet up with other players.

But even without co-ordinates, I think players will find a way to meet up. It might be difficult and time-consuming, but it wouldn't be impossible to begin charting things if each galaxy or area has certain identifiers. It all depends on what tools they offer the player. If you can sort stars by discoverer, spectral type (see screen below), size, or region, then it wouldn't be hard to figure out positioning over reddit or facebook or whatever:



At 1:42 of the E3 showing, they specify "Region"
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=1m42s

And again at 2:44, they show off "Region" and "Distance".
https://youtu.be/mGy8HIYBwV0?t=2m44s

These identifiers would allow players to theoretically identify common points in the universe and meet there. It'd take time and lots of hard work from the community, but it's perfectly possible.

And that's when things might get really interesting (or go off the rails, if the game isn't suited to handle so many players in the same local system). You'll definitely have players meeting up on purpose in large-ish numbers sooner or later.

and I think you underestimate the sheer size of a universe with 16 quantillion planets.

Thats hundreds of millions of planets for each person in the galaxy, even if there are million of them. Quantillian is 1000 TRILLIONS, and we have 16000 TRILLIONS of planets. Its a ridiculous number.

If you do run into someone, it will be complete chance, or will be on purpose by developer choice. Some people seem to think the universe will compact as you get closer to the center, but there could still be a quantillion planets surrounding the center of the universe so who knows.

No doubt some form of multiplayer will be added in the future, but not in the initial release. Easy multiplayer anyway.

 

[Sakura]

If they don't really expect you to be meet other players in your travels, is the game properly equipped to handle multiple players? Like can you properly interact? Can you kill another player? Can you be a pirate and attack another player's ship? Or is it merely limited to just seeing another person doing their own thing?
It's easy to say there are a zillion planets or whatever, but most of those will never be visited, and lie rather far away from the centre. There are only going to be so many systems right next to the centre of the galaxy, and I expect to run into players rather often there.
Also is there any actual text or dialogue in the game? I get that there are space police and factions and stuff. But is it all role playing in your head? Or in the game do factions actually have reasons to war with each other, will they ask for your help if you are friendly, will the police stop you and try to get you to pay a fine or something, etc.

 

[Orgun]

and I think you underestimate the sheer size of a universe with 16 quantillion planets.

Thats hundreds of millions of planets for each person in the galaxy, even if there are million of them. Quantillian is 1000 TRILLIONS, and we have 16000 TRILLIONS of planets. Its a ridiculous number.

If you do run into someone, it will be complete chance, or will be on purpose by developer choice. Some people seem to think the universe will compact as you get closer to the center, but there could still be a quantillion planets surrounding the center of the universe so who knows.

No doubt some form of multiplayer will be added in the future, but not in the initial release. Easy multiplayer anyway.

Yup, and that's this many zero's "16,000,000,000,000,000,000"

 

[Catdaddy]

All those planets and the game size is only 5 GB. I don't know programming but that seems...off.... That's why I expected the game to be online, kinda like EVE. I like the exploration part, seems like this will be a pleasant time waster.

 

[MADGAME]

If you do run into someone, it will be complete chance, or will be on purpose by developer choice..

Calling it now, players will find a way.

 

[IAmRandom31]

Yup, and that's this many zero's "16,000,000,000,000,000,000"

yeah so say there are 2 million players within the NMS universe.

1000 Trillion / 2 million = 500,000,000

500,000,000 x 16 = 8 billion

so that is 8 billion planets per player if there are 2 million people playing. Good luck searching through all those hundreds of trillions of star systems to try and locate your buddy lol.