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

I am 39 and I have always wanted to be able to just land on a beautiful world or dangerous planet by entering it's atmosphere. Then explore it and take off straight out into space again without any loading. And even in space there are stations, pirates, asteroids, etc. This game achieves that dream.

Honestly, I think that anyone who loves sci fi, survival and who has a sense of wonder and discovery will more than likely fall in love. I mean shit, it has the ingredients of the ultimate final frontier game that so many like myself only dreamed about. All while looking more approachable and fun than the usual dry sim kind of game.
Personally the thrill of cresting a hill and seeing some awesome vista in the distance or making some cool discovery is as thrilling and compelling as sneaking around in a stealth game or commanding units in an RTS, blowing enemies away, jumping over gaps, etc. I always enjoyed just choosing a direction and walking through the worlds of Minecraft, RDR, GTA

And I'm 23. Don't think it's an age thing; it's an interest thing
 

Arkeband

Banned
It sounds like they're finally injecting some "game" into it. I feel like I was part of a minority that was not impressed by throwing a big number of theoretical planets at us.

I'm impressed by vistas as much as the next guy, but it's less impressive when I know it's procedurally generated. At some point I'm going to have to stop gaping with my mouth open or else I'm doomed to do that as many trillion-billion times over as the algorithm necessitates.
 

smisk

Member
Starting to get more hyped after reading these previews. But I still can't help but wonder how long exploring will stay fun. Probably gonna wait a couple days after release and read reviews.
 
It sounds like they're finally injecting some "game" into it. I feel like I was part of a minority that was not impressed by throwing a big number of theoretical planets at us.

I'm impressed by vistas as much as the next guy, but it's less impressive when I know it's procedurally generated.

See, to me, it's the opposite. It makes them feel more natural
 

Exile20

Member
No Man’s Sky has a beautiful galaxy to explore, but is that enough? - VG247

During the hands-on I found myself frequently bored, even while those around me seemed rapturous with delight. The shooting felt floaty, and, while there’s some cool tech that lets you blow holes in the ground with grenades, there doesn’t appear to be anything on the ground to actually fight beyond the droids you anger by destroying the worlds you visit.

A big argument against No Man’s Sky is going to hinge on the $60 price point and I think in terms of the work that’s gone into it, it’s absolutely worth that price. Aesthetically and technically it’s a massive achievement, and if you like the idea of exploring an infinite galaxy at your own pace then I couldn’t recommend it enough. If you were expecting an actual game under all of that framework though, you might, like me, be entirely disappointed.

Ye, don't think I am picking this up day one, no time for that. I want an actual game not a techdemo. Will see how the reviews go but for right now, it is off my radar.
 
Ye, don't think I am picking this up day one, no time for that. I want an actual game not a techdemo. Will see how the reviews go but for right now, it is off my radar.

Can we stop with this? A game can simply be about exploration. It may not make it exciting for everyone, or even good, but it's still a game.
 
It sounds like they're finally injecting some "game" into it. I feel like I was part of a minority that was not impressed by throwing a big number of theoretical planets at us.

I'm impressed by vistas as much as the next guy, but it's less impressive when I know it's procedurally generated.
The game was always there. They've been talking about combat, trading, mining, space battles, factions for a while now. Like since 2013, 2014
 

MADGAME

Member
I'm pretty sure it's permanently marked on your radar.
Hmmm ok. I thought I read some hands-on impressions where the user stated they lost track of their ship while exploring. Wondering if there is a way to ensure that doesn't happen, or if not do you get perma-stranded until you find your ship or die?
 
Hmmm ok. I thought I read some hands-on impressions where the user stated they lost track of their ship while exploring. Wondering if there is a way to ensure that doesn't happen, or if not do you get perma-stranded until you find your ship or die?
The previews say you can craft an beacon to make your ship land at an area close to you, and the ship doesn't show up when you can. The hard part is surviving the journey back to your ship if you can't summon it
 
My only concern is the shooting mechanics (they should feel fun, hopefully they get the feel of Destiny here, not as tight but somerhing close) and making a planet feel like your home. If we get all these crafting materials, and can't build simple structures or at least decorate our home planet with something that would be a little disappointing. I know the name of the game is exploring, but I would always like to come back home. Especially as you get deeper into the universes, would be nice to bring things back to your first discovered planet. Heck even if they don't allow you to build things block by block like Minecraft, I would really just like the ability to craft homes, plants and trees and just put my own mark on one of my favorite planets.
 

Akronis

Member
So forgive me as I haven't read up nearly enough in the past, but are there a significant amount of environmental hazards on the planets you'd visit?
 
So forgive me as I haven't read up nearly enough in the past, but are there a significant amount of environmental hazards on the planets you'd visit?
Both above and below
There are things like rain, dust storms, snow, blizzards, storms and a bunch of other things possible. There are also more alien weather types, effectively like radioactive and toxic hazards, and atmospheres made from different compositions to ours. This isn’t a simulation or just a tech demo though, we’re not trying to recreate every possible natural disaster!
Some seas can be very deep, yes, and they can get dark. Maybe you’ll find certain creatures down there, and other things besides – you’ll have a light on your suit that’ll help you see. But these places are likely to be dangerous. One of my favourite things, that never gets old for me, is that feeling when I find some underwater caves. There I am supposed to be testing the game, and suddenly I’m distracted 100 meters deep in a cave discovering new creatures and running out of air.
 
My only concern is the shooting mechanics (they should feel fun, hopefully they get the feel of Destiny here, not as tight but somerhing close) and making a planet feel like your home. If we get all these crafting materials, and can't build simple structures or at least decorate our home planet with something that would be a little disappointing. I know the name of the game is exploring, but I would always like to come back home. Especially as you get deeper into the universes, would be nice to bring things back to your first discovered planet. Heck even if they don't allow you to build things block by block like Minecraft, I would really just like the ability to craft homes, plants and trees and just put my own mark on one of my favorite planets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WH6VAhjxI&t=3m50s
 

Alpende

Member
Starting to get more hyped after reading these previews. But I still can't help but wonder how long exploring will stay fun. Probably gonna wait a couple days after release and read reviews.

This is my main concern. I'll wait a couple of days or a week until the hype cools down and see what people really think.
 

Thewonandonly

Junior Member
Actually sounds really really fun and I might have to get it after shitting on it in the price thread :O will watch the kinda funny video when I get home but the previews make it sounds fun. Also if it's on VR then their is no way I'm not getting it. Will still wait for reviews on it tho, not day one material for me cause I've never tried a game like it before :)
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
sounding more and more like a actual videogame and not just a abstract idea. Cant wait
 
This is my main concern. I'll wait a couple of days or a week until the hype cools down and see what people really think.
Guess it depends how much you like space sims like Elite Dangerous. This like that, with the added ability to land and do stuff on planets. If you can put dozens or hundreds of hours into Elite, I'm sure NMS would probably appeal to you
 

ironcreed

Banned
Personally the thrill of cresting a hill and seeing some awesome vista in the distance or making some cool discovery is as thrilling and compelling as sneaking around in a stealth game or commanding units in an RTS, blowing enemies away, jumping over gaps, etc. I always enjoyed just choosing a direction and walking through the worlds of Minecraft, RDR, GTA

And I'm 23. Don't think it's an age thing; it's an interest thing

In a nutshell.

The view on an uncharted world after entering the atmosphere, landing and getting out. Discovering a planet, a species, plant or even a new element and naming it. Getting chased by some massive and weird looking alien dinosaur. All of this will be it's own brand of thrilling.
 

Arkeband

Banned
The game was always there. They've been talking about combat, trading, mining, space battles, factions for a while now. Like since 2013, 2014

Talk is cheap, and tech demos I was seeing last year didn't involve any of that, they were still focusing on trying to impress people with the theoretical number of planets that could be created.

It's like if you were repeatedly trying to sell me on Shadow of Mordor by going "You can have a trillion different Orcs as your nemesis!" but you know an hour in you're hearing the same taunts, just by an orc with blue skin instead of green.

Procedurally created game worlds often end up feeling samey despite their wealth of RNG to trick the player into thinking they're playing something truly unique, but really it's just slightly different.

When I saw them demo NMS on Colbert and they did they awe-inducing camera drawback through countless galaxies to give a sense of scope, as a software engineer I know those game worlds don't exist until you create them on the fly - but the audience for that demonstration was for people who actually literally think a trillion-gazillion planets exist in the game. There's a fairly large amount of marketing with NMS that borders on deception, which is why I'm glad previews are starting to actually show the tertiary game systems involved that shift the spectacle away from the exploration aspect.
 
Talk is cheap, and tech demos I was seeing last year didn't involve any of that, they were still focusing on trying to impress people with the theoretical number of planets that could be created.

It's like if you were repeatedly trying to sell me on Shadow of Mordor by going "You can have a trillion different Orcs as your nemesis!" but you know an hour in you're hearing the same taunts, just by an orc with blue skin instead of green.

Procedurally created game worlds often end up feeling samey despite their wealth of RNG to trick the player into thinking they're playing something truly unique, but really it's just slightly different.
Except the worlds aren't just RNG

More like "when the universe formed, this sun formed here, so this planet formed here due to the gravitational nature of that sun, and the distance from that sun means this kind of atmosphere formed and these kinds of climates can occur, and because this atmosphere and climate exists, trees can grow, and due to the chemical make-up of the atmosphere and the soil and whatnot, this kind of tree can grow, and within this species of trees, the foliage can grow a certain way based on the environmental factors involved, and because this kind of flora and climate exists, these kinds of animals would exist under those conditions, and so on"

Procedurally generated isn't randomly generated. The latter takes from a pool of, say, level sections, and then snaps them together to create a dungeon in game. The former, in regards to NMS, creates something new using algorithms and such.
 

EL CUCO

Member
You do realize this game has 3.5 more months in development? Most of which will be spent fixing these issues. Its crunch time, thats what developers do!
Dropping below 30 and screen tear seems like a lot of crunch for such a small team. I hope they can pull it off tho!
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Sean is a very nice guy and a very smart one. He's also very passionate and it's clear that he has a great vision about his game. But he also comes out as a not very pragmatical guy or not very grounded in reality, in an artistic way. It's not an attack on him, I really love his passion. But I would also love to see people stop answering very specific questions to tidbits from interviews, because there is a long way from the vision to reality and the result doesn't always fit. It doesn't mean that I don't believe him or I think he's lying. But until the game goes gold there are still a lot things that can change. Especially the things not shown yet.
 

RiverKwai

Member
You can get out and walk around space stations? I thought it was going to be used cockpit menus like E:D

Yeah, they dropped some pretty big bombs today. I think they showed some interiors of the space station before, but I'm not sure it was clear you were autonomous inside them.
 

MADGAME

Member
The previews say you can craft an beacon to make your ship land at an area close to you, and the ship doesn't show up when you can. The hard part is surviving the journey back to your ship if you can't summon it
If I understood correctly:
Ship doesn't show up on radar if you are able to craft a summon beacon. If unable to craft a beacon, ship will be on radar but you have to hoof it back.

Thanks!
 

MonsieurPaul

Neo Member
Some of NMS mechanics seems ripped straight from Out There:
- crafting with atoms and blueprints
- ship's slots that can be used for cargo or upgrade
- learning alien languages

In addition, the fact that all talks about VR have been completely occulted from all the previews is a bit suspicious...
 

ironcreed

Banned
So many planets and they all look like Earth palette swaps.

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christian-bale-and-kermit-the-frog.gif
 
Some of NMS mechanics seems ripped straight from Out There:
- crafting with atoms and blueprints
- ship's slots that can be used for cargo or upgrade
- learning alien languages

In addition, the fact that all talks about VR have been completely occulted from all the previews is a bit suspicious...
I said the same thing as soon as I read about learning languages to trade and communicate properly
 

Lunar15

Member
I'm going to wait on this game, not due to price, but simply due to the fact that I'm curious about how long this kind of game will hold my attention for. It's kind of the killer for me and most open world games with low story. It's a personal thing, of course.
 
Have you played the "game"? This came from someone who played it.

If you like what you see then good for you.

The need for calling it a techdemo and not a game, or the use of scare quotes. Is it at all necessary if you personally don't find it appealing?
 
My only concern is the shooting mechanics (they should feel fun, hopefully they get the feel of Destiny here, not as tight but somerhing close) and making a planet feel like your home. If we get all these crafting materials, and can't build simple structures or at least decorate our home planet with something that would be a little disappointing. I know the name of the game is exploring, but I would always like to come back home. Especially as you get deeper into the universes, would be nice to bring things back to your first discovered planet. Heck even if they don't allow you to build things block by block like Minecraft, I would really just like the ability to craft homes, plants and trees and just put my own mark on one of my favorite planets.

You can't build stuff. The ship is the home you return to, not the planets you explore.
 

Anno

Member
For some reason I'm always pleasantly re-surprised at how gorgeous this game is every time new media rolls out. Developers are getting crazy good at using color and lighting to make games look amazing even on less than AAA budgets.
 
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