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No Man's Sky previews (03-03-2016)

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Disappointed there's no Gas Giants Not only do they provide a cool backdrop but there's lots of interesting physics for the surrounding planets or moons. They can be like mini solar systems, its simply great to have a Gas Giant in the middle and hop to each planet in its orbit.. You don't have to fill the game with lone meaningless ones.

Our own Jupiter and it's active moons is such a wonder. To not even broadly simulate what it's like to explore these areas is such a missed opportunity.

To me this is like saying we don't have ice worlds or sorry we don't have comets and asteroids.

They probably could have achieved that -- Space Engine and Elite Dangerous: Horizons already kind of do, but I think they just reasoned that they couldn't figure out any interesting gameplay from the gas giants themselves.

The thing is, those little moon systems around gas giants, you'll already effectively have things like those in the game, just without the big gas giant in the center. They already confirmed groups of planets will be bunched up really close together. You can see that in basically all the videos we've seen so far. It looks like what's going to happen is you'll have all rocky planets orbiting stars, and you'll have groups of rocky planets and moons bunched up together, but those groups will be really far away from each other.

Oh, and planets will have rings, but I'm still wondering if those rings will just be rings, or if they'll actually be made of innumerable little rocks. Elite Dangerous actually already does the latter, and I wouldn't be shocked if NMS did a well.

I wonder if they'll have brown dwarfs...
 

Nice, I hadn't heard this podcast. Though I've kind of been on media blackout since E3.

Some details revealed in there I wasn't aware of:
* there are planets with ring systems (cool!)
* there are water worlds
* there are carnivorous plants (ruh roh!)
* you can see some of the larger buildings on planets from space
* no cities (not a surprise, but confirmed)
* factions tend to have their own area of control in the galaxy
* Hello is aiming for 60fps (all of their previous games have been 60, but can't guarantee it on NMS)
 
So a game is only a game if it's a shootbang murder simulator?

I think across the board, even previews that have praised or are skeptical of NMS, is the fact that it's not a game designed around something like a 30 seconds gameplay loop of fun or something like Tomb Raider/Far Cry where fans can very easily digest the concept of the moment-to-moment of leveling up, unlocking new loot/area, liberate outpost, etc which all ties together tightly.

It's not that NMS doesn't have those gameplay bits, but it's purposely far looser than a lot of other games that are fundamentally designed to easily go into that loop from the first 5 minutes. NMS is clearly prioritising the sense of exploration with the gameplay loops tied in between larger spans of just exploring and discovering at your own pace.
 

Unicorn

Member
Disappointed there's no Gas Giants Not only do they provide a cool backdrop but there's lots of interesting physics for the surrounding planets or moons. They can be like mini solar systems, its simply great to have a Gas Giant in the middle and hop to each planet in its orbit.. You don't have to fill the game with lone meaningless ones.

Our own Jupiter and it's active moons is such a wonder. To not even broadly simulate what it's like to explore these areas is such a missed opportunity.

To me this is like saying we don't have ice worlds or sorry we don't have comets and asteroids.
Honestly a gas giant dlc expansion would be worthwhile.
 

Machina

Banned
There is only one thing that concerns me about this game, and it's the parallels it has with Minecraft. I have read in previews how players have used mining into terrain as a method to look for resources, much like Minecraft. and I'm sure a big part of the game, especially early on will focus on that aspect.

It's all well and good to just wander around for awhile on a planet, find a spot that looks promising then start digging, but a big part of what made that interesting in Minecraft was the co-op aspect of it. Having multiple people working toward a common goal instead of just one player grinding away with all the work on their own heads. This could work against NMS, because as I understand it, the game isn't multiplayer, at least not in that fashion.
 
There is only one thing that concerns me about this game, and it's the parallels it has with Minecraft. I have read in previews how players have used mining into terrain as a method to look for resources, much like Minecraft. and I'm sure a big part of the game, especially early on will focus on that aspect.

It's all well and good to just wander around for awhile on a planet, find a spot that looks promising then start digging, but a big part of what made that interesting in Minecraft was the co-op aspect of it. Having multiple people working toward a common goal instead of just one player grinding away with all the work on their own heads. This could work against NMS, because as I understand it, the game isn't multiplayer, at least not in that fashion.


In NMS you can craft grenades and blow up huge holes on the planet's surface, with all the "found resources" automatically gathered from the rubble.

I think they'll tune resource needs to the fact it's single player.
 

BigDug13

Member
There is only one thing that concerns me about this game, and it's the parallels it has with Minecraft. I have read in previews how players have used mining into terrain as a method to look for resources, much like Minecraft. and I'm sure a big part of the game, especially early on will focus on that aspect.

It's all well and good to just wander around for awhile on a planet, find a spot that looks promising then start digging, but a big part of what made that interesting in Minecraft was the co-op aspect of it. Having multiple people working toward a common goal instead of just one player grinding away with all the work on their own heads. This could work against NMS, because as I understand it, the game isn't multiplayer, at least not in that fashion.

Played Minecraft for awhile. Never played multiplayer. Maybe you're projecting the one way you played Minecraft onto others as the only way to play and the one way this game is missing out on.

The one way mining was interesting in Minecraft was because of multiplayer....says you.
 
There is only one thing that concerns me about this game, and it's the parallels it has with Minecraft. I have read in previews how players have used mining into terrain as a method to look for resources, much like Minecraft. and I'm sure a big part of the game, especially early on will focus on that aspect.

It's all well and good to just wander around for awhile on a planet, find a spot that looks promising then start digging, but a big part of what made that interesting in Minecraft was the co-op aspect of it. Having multiple people working toward a common goal instead of just one player grinding away with all the work on their own heads. This could work against NMS, because as I understand it, the game isn't multiplayer, at least not in that fashion.
I have over 500 hours in Minecraft and I've never really played with other people, I play on my friends multiplayer server but usually just by myself.
I know lots of other people don't really care to play it with others as well.

It's just your own experience and so I'm not really seeing a problem there?
 
Hmm, also just noted that they seem to have dropped their own periodic table, with all talk about plutonium and the gathering of silicon. Wonder what made them switch, back I think, to the real deal. I guess it's great though, as it'll probably mean that more people will increase their knowledge in the world of chemistry.
 
Hmm, also just noted that they seem to have dropped their own periodic table, with all talk about plutonium and the gathering of silicon. Wonder what made them switch, back I think, to the real deal. I guess it's great though, as it'll probably mean that more people will increase their knowledge in the world of chemistry.

Link? I just looked through all of the articles in the OP and none of them mentioned this. A bit disappointing if true.

edit:

http://io9.gizmodo.com/no-mans-sky-j...-it-1762270587
There are still new elements.
.
 
So a game is only a game if it's a shootbang murder simulator?

No, but the criticism is that NMS has guns but they aren't implemented very well. That goes along with the general criticism I have with the game. It looks like NMS's gameplay element aren't very deep. I've heard people defend No Man's Sky by listing all the things that you can do in the game. The problem is, just like with shooting, when you look more into it those things don't look particularly fun to do.
 
Thanks!

This is even more puzzling though.
Will they add elements after the current periodic table?
If not, it would seem rather strange if they put the new elements between the current. Proton-wise that would be bonkers and I have the feeling that HG would like to keep No Man's Sky scientifically accurate in some regards even though it's fiction.
If they choose to swap some elements, which ones has to go?

So many questions, as usual with this game. Can't wait for July to get all the answers, it will be fantastic.
 

Raist

Banned
Oh. Makes sense but I thought that among all the other things they might have also expanded on that and maybe using coordinates for co-op play, considering you discover planets and space traveling-wise there's FTL tech. Too bad.

I'm pretty sure they mentioned that you can do that. Although it's likely gonna take a while before you can jump to join a friend, unless you just happened to start very close to each other.
 
No, but the criticism is that NMS has guns but they aren't implemented very well. That goes along with the general criticism I have with the game. It looks like NMS's gameplay element aren't very deep. I've heard people defend No Man's Sky by listing all the things that you can do in the game. The problem is, just like with shooting, when you look more into it those things don't look particularly fun to do.
Weapons sound pretty deep. They're basically modular tools with few to many slots that let you customize the functions of the gun/tool however you want with different attachments and parts
He talks about weapons here
https://youtu.be/hGXDCV9HiZ4?t=780
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E92 M3

Member
Only a few things concern me with this wonderful game:

- I would like to see atmospheric entry take longer and be more indepth. Right now it's very quick.

- Hopefully we can explore without having to always worry about the shield. My favorite part of Minecraft was always just walking around looking everywhere. Was never a fan of the food system.

Otherwise this and DS3 will be the best games of the year.
 

Tigress

Member
So a game is only a game if it's a shootbang murder simulator?

That's what I got out of that review. Also, he even mentions other people are loving it. And yet doesn't seem to think that maybe the problem is that it's not a game for him. I'd think it was a better review if he thought why it want for him and said if you are looking for a game like (what he looks for in a game) this isn't for you. Instead it comes off as its not my kind of game so it's not that good.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
I'm pretty sure they mentioned that you can do that. Although it's likely gonna take a while before you can jump to join a friend, unless you just happened to start very close to each other.

That's what I'd want, hopefully you're right!
 

E92 M3

Member
I hope that different planets have different types of atmosphere. Would be awesome to be flying in and seeing a storm in between the clouds.
 

Raist

Banned
That's what I'd want, hopefully you're right!

Don't hold your breath though, it will be rather difficult.
Even if you know which planet a buddy is hanging out on, you'd still need to go there, which would require an advanced ship and tons of fuel, assuming you can even reach that spot, and once you get there, good luck finding him on a massive planet :p
 
Don't hold your breath though, it will be rather difficult.
Even if you know which planet a buddy is hanging out on, you'd still need to go there, which would require an advanced ship and tons of fuel, assuming you can even reach that spot, and once you get there, good luck finding him on a massive planet :p

If indeed you can see your buddies on the galactic map, the hardest thing will be grinding for the fuel, finding ships with decent hyperdrives and being lucky enough not to die too often, as you said. But once you're in the same solar system, it'd be pretty easy. It's the equivalent of a couple of buddies arranging to meet in orbit of Earth, on the ISS, or that "boot-like peninsula" on the currently sunny side of the planet etc.

Orientation isn't that much of an issue, especially since you'd have your friends shown on the galaxy map, a compass, visual markers for tagged/important locations, the planet's relation to the sun and other celestial objects, not to mention that you'll always be near a space station, so you can just decide to meet there.

Getting your ass to the same place is going to take a while though. Although, I imagine that some people will just start flying towards each other in a somewhat straight line to decrease the distance between them as much as possible, so that'll help as well.

I think the more frustrating thing will be once you do manage to find each other. If it's a cluster of a lot of people, all deciding to get to the same place, then you might not even see your friend (they won't be in the same instance). Or you'll constantly loose one another while flying your ships, or one of you decides to go down a cave and you didn't even notice, so good luck backtracking and finding the exact location, so it'll need some coordination.

Then again, if the friend marker (from the galaxy map) carries over to your local HUD as a constant waypoint, than it makes things easier. It conflicts a bit with the idea of not even being able to discern between NPC ships and players, so who knows.
 
Don't hold your breath though, it will be rather difficult.
Even if you know which planet a buddy is hanging out on, you'd still need to go there, which would require an advanced ship and tons of fuel, assuming you can even reach that spot, and once you get there, good luck finding him on a massive planet :p

"See you in a month bro!"
 

Drifters

Junior Member
So one thing I've never heard is the online world that each player experience persistent, meaning that the universe in the game is shared with all players who play (since I'm guessing it's always online) or is it singular to the player?
 
I also realy hyped for this Game! PS4 Version Day 1 for me. But theres something that i dont like and i found it gets covered to less by Websites.

iam talking about the Fact that there are no Gasgiants or other uninhabited Planets. Every single one you find is one with Life on it. Again i like the Concept in general but having only Planets with Life reduces the Progress in the Game to a - red Planet, green Planet and Blue Planet Thing.

But also could be that iam the only one who found that anoying because iam pretty well informed how Solar Systems look like..

anyway i hope the patch something like Gasgiants and dead Rock Planets in.
 

BigDug13

Member
I also realy hyped for this Game! PS4 Version Day 1 for me. But theres something that i dont like and i found it gets covered to less by Websites.

iam talking about the Fact that there are no Gasgiants or other uninhabited Planets. Every single one you find is one with Life on it. Again i like the Concept in general but having only Planets with Life reduces the Progress in the Game to a - red Planet, green Planet and Blue Planet Thing.

But also could be that iam the only one who found that anoying because iam pretty well informed how Solar Systems look like..

anyway i hope the patch something like Gasgiants and dead Rock Planets in.

Where was it said that every planet has life? The interview I saw said around 1 out of 10 planets will even have anything of interest.
 
So one thing I've never heard is the online world that each player experience persistent, meaning that the universe in the game is shared with all players who play (since I'm guessing it's always online) or is it singular to the player?

It's not always online, but it is a shared world when you're online. Sean gave an example of how if you destroy a space station it'll be gone for everyone in the universe.
 
Where was it said that every planet has life? The interview I saw said around 1 out of 10 planets will even have anything of interest.

More like 1 out of every 10 will be the kind of utopian planets we've been seeing, not that you'll never find anything interesting in between.

I do hope there are completely barren planets and ghost star systems though, with only the faintest hint of a civilization long dead. Would be cool to stumble on a totally defunct and derelict space station hovering over a wasteland planet with a bunch of downed ships and empty hubs.
 

mrqs

Member
A lot of the UI is very Destiny-esque.

CJTLXLKWgAAQ5YA.jpg


The menu layout uses the same cursor system as well.

I find this ridiculous. I mean, i'm so hyped for the game since the reveal, really. But this is just copying Destiny's UI almost 1:1. Why? A good developer would do that? This has made me reduce my hype somehow.

I really like the concept of the game, but is Hello Games a really good developer? I don't really know.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Are factions in this game procedurally generated too?

Originally when I heard about factions in this game I imagined there would just be two or maybe a few major factions permeating the entire universe, but now it sounds like it's a bunch of small, more localized factions. That makes it seem like the minor factions in Elite Dangerous, which I believe are procedural since there are different ones in each system, usually companies or trade unions competing with each other. This makes me think the more intelligent alien races controlling systems will also be procedurally generated.
 

GHG

Member
I find this ridiculous. I mean, i'm so hyped for the game since the reveal, really. But this is just copying Destiny's UI almost 1:1. Why? A good developer would do that? This has made me reduce my hype somehow.

I really like the concept of the game, but is Hello Games a really good developer? I don't really know.

It's just a UI. Calm down.
 
There is only one thing that concerns me about this game, and it's the parallels it has with Minecraft. I have read in previews how players have used mining into terrain as a method to look for resources, much like Minecraft. and I'm sure a big part of the game, especially early on will focus on that aspect.

It's all well and good to just wander around for awhile on a planet, find a spot that looks promising then start digging, but a big part of what made that interesting in Minecraft was the co-op aspect of it. Having multiple people working toward a common goal instead of just one player grinding away with all the work on their own heads. This could work against NMS, because as I understand it, the game isn't multiplayer, at least not in that fashion.

The core of Minecraft is building: taking blocks from one place to put them in another place, making a dirt or stone house, etc.

You can't build in NMS. Yes, there is destructible terrain, but the devs have been really dodgy about whether or not the changes you make on a planet will even stick if you leave the area. I believe they said they won't, because there's no way they could save individual changes to quadrillions of planets. Planets and their surfaces are generated via algorithm as you approach them, they can't go "oh yeah and also this one mountain has been dug out and there's a big hole here" etc., because that's a lot of data on a per-planet basis.

So comparisons to Minecraft really fall flat - this game is really about exploring.


I'm pretty sure they mentioned that you can do that. Although it's likely gonna take a while before you can jump to join a friend, unless you just happened to start very close to each other.

That's what I'd want, hopefully you're right!

This is specifically what they've said about multiplayer in the past. The short version is that you should not play this game hoping to join your friends ever. They just don't want you to be able to do that.

Just to be really clear, the reason that I'm saying this is we just want to be really clear with people that it is not an MMO. All of those questions are leading toward that. There are loads of MMOs out there. People can play those. We want people to be able to get a sense of playing with other people and to see other people and feel like this is a real, live universe.

If you're thinking, “Okay, okay, I understand all of that, Sean, but let's say all my friends want to go and play together.” That's not what this is about. You've seen the galactic map. I don't want to disappoint people. I don't want to answer your question and then they will think, “Yeah, yeah, he's saying it's difficult, but I'll do it. And then we will play Destiny together, effectively. We will all run around the planets.”

No. If you want to play a first-person-shooter-sci-fi-run-around-on-a-planet game, play Destiny. It’s a really good game. Go play that. We're not trying to do that.
 
Hmm, also just noted that they seem to have dropped their own periodic table, with all talk about plutonium and the gathering of silicon. Wonder what made them switch, back I think, to the real deal. I guess it's great though, as it'll probably mean that more people will increase their knowledge in the world of chemistry.

Sean mentioned it in one of the interviews. I think the table is now a mixture of real and imaginary elements, with the real ones being used for basic stuff. Sean said that people found it easier if the elements matched up to what they expect. E.g. silicon for crafting chips, carbon for materials and plutonium for energy.

In terms of Destiny UI...I think copying is fine. UI is there to fill a functional role and if someone has found a good way to do it, why reinvent the wheel. There are design elements to it, so you could claim an IP angle...but everyone is just better off if a "standard" is used. Imagine apple had patented the idea of single tapping to open an app...and everyone on android had to double tap.
 
Am I the only one who gets the feeling this game won't live up to the hype?

There will be a group of people who insist the game absolutely lives up to every promise and they will act like they can't understand the reaction everyone is having, like "didn't you know the game would be like this for so long based on the prerelease material?! It's been clearly stated!"
 
Am I the only one who gets the feeling this game won't live up to the hype?
Depends on what you're hyped for, of course. All I want are cool worlds to explore, weird interesting creatures, and a great sense of discovery. Everything else is extra. So yeah, the game would probably live up to what I'm hyped about.
 

Shoeless

Member
Am I the only one who gets the feeling this game won't live up to the hype?

I think it's a given at this point that the game itself can't possibly live up to the hype surrounding it, especially for a more casual crowd that doesn't bother to read up on what the game is.

I've been following it closely, I'm totally on board with this game, but I also know that as a gamer that actually enjoys exploration and resource gathering and not shooting things every 10 seconds, this game appeals to those particular aspects of my gaming tendencies. I know what I'm getting into with NMS and I'm okay with that.

If all you have to go on is seeing a trailer on YouTube with a bunch of critic quotes, you may assume it's like Star Wars Battlefront or Assassin's Creed, since they usually also have quotes from magazines and websites you don't bother to read but are supposed to be a big deal in gaming, so this must be like those other games.

For that particular impulsive player, NMS will be a crushing surprise and disappointment.

For anyone that does their homework, I think the game will deliver, but I think a bigger, mainstream marketing push actually hurts the game's reputation in some regard.
 

Trouble

Banned
People put a lot of work into creating the UI for games. "just a UI" isn't a great defence of what seems pretty close to copying the work of others.

Who cares? It's a means to an end. The Destiny UI works pretty well for what it needs to accomplish. If it suits NMS as well, then why not? Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery and whatnot.
 
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