No Man's Sky - Waypoint | Switch version out now

[TehStu]

I definitely have to disengage my astrophysics brain to play. I'd like all of that stuff, but appreciate that's essentially how Elite works. I'll get around to progressing beyond Mostly Harmless on that, eventually.

[Fry Crayola]

I broadly agree, K, though it's clear No Man's Sky is a kind of an art book interpretation of space, all fantastical vistas with floating islands and weird creatures. 

 

Elite Dangerous goes down the hard sci fi route but is limited in what you can do through having very little planetary interaction beyond lifeless rocks and ices. With any luck, it'll progress down that route further in the coming years, though I had hoped it would be a lot sooner.

[K]

3 minutes ago, TehStu said:

I definitely have to disengage my astrophysics brain to play. I'd like all of that stuff, but appreciate that's essentially how Elite works. I'll get around to progressing beyond Mostly Harmless on that, eventually.

 

Elite has its own problems, but it does manage to put across the scale of the universe really well. And you can see the rules at work, so that if you orbit an earth-like world that's a way out from a dimmer star than the Sun, it'll have huge icecaps. It falls down a bit when you realise that you can only land on airless worlds, and that it's full of its own busywork, but a game that combined the rigour and scale of Elite with the variety of No Man's Sky would actually give you a reason to explore the galaxy.

[Davros sock drawer]

14 minutes ago, K said:

It just is, because it looks pretty.

 

That really is the answer.

 

I remember you had similar misgivings about the game from the start, and despite the changes they've made this still isn't really the game you're looking for, I'd say. It's still a Sci-fi novel cover generator, at heart - it's just that now, more than ever,  it's also Minecraft.

[K]

17 minutes ago, Davros sock drawer said:

 

That really is the answer.

 

I remember you had similar misgivings about the game from the start, and despite the changes they've made this still isn't really the game you're looking for, I'd say. It's still a Sci-fi novel cover generator, at heart - it's just that now, more than ever,  it's also Minecraft.

 

Yeah, I hate to keep banging on about it because so many people seem to love the game so much (including yourself), it's just frustrating because it's so close to being exactly the kind of thing I would love, but isn't quite there. It's not the game for me, and that's fine I guess.

[Cool Ben]

Think of it as the first of its kind.  If we had real missions and a real rpg type storyline it would be amazing too.  But it will come, one day.

[TehStu]

They can add biome variety across the land masses as long as they don't reset again. I don't really want to keep re-learning the game, I want to crack on now.

[macosx]

Talking ofMinecraft ; am I right in thinking those clouds are getting a do-over in the next patch

[CS2x]

I really appreciate how K has expressed his view, and agree it could be interesting if there were more physically accurate rules governing the universe & more logic/structure as to why planets are the way they are (given their positions and other factors.) Having said that - does No Man's Sky particularly deserve this accusation of sameyness or lack of variation between planets, or even within planets? I've seen people express that view less thoughtfully and respectfully very often, but it seems to me it could be said about any or most games really. It's like when I show the game to friends who have heard about the backlash towards NMS and are curious about it (but not really very open to more unusual gaming experiences): within 5 minutes of watching even quite a wonderful planet, which in any other game no one would probably question, they're suddenly like: "yeah, but isn't it all the same?" And then we fly to to another planet, which luckily ends up very different, but they still say, "yeah, but it's not that different." And people will question why you can't do this, or can't do that. I know many people have legitimate reasons for not liking the game, and this thread is an exception to what I'm saying - but in many other instances it seems people are strangely predisposed to finding fault from the outset.

In any other game the reuse of assets, some (or even a large degree) of continuity within a world, limits to what you can do and many other things regularly criticised in NMS are just expected. Why does this particular title get such a hard time for its own limitations? Many, many hours in, I personally have been absolutely delighted with the variety in galaxies, planets, creatures, ships, and many other aspects of the game. Sure, it could always have more variation (more varied temperaments within within a planet would be cool), and could have many of the things people are demanding it should have, but what really game offers what this one does? And again, it seems similar demands could be placed on any game.  

[TehStu]

3 minutes ago, macosx said:

Talking ofMinecraft ; am I right in thinking those clouds are getting a do-over in the next patch

From the 1.5 patch notes

 

Quote

Dynamic volumetric clouds create more realistic planetary atmospheres. Increased quality clouds will be rolling out in parity to all platforms very soon.

 

[Cool Ben]

I don't think anyone here is giving it a hard time @CS2x  I just think its getting close to people idea of a perfect scifi gaming universe.

 

Gravity would have been cool too, or lack of on some planets.

[CS2x]

6 minutes ago, Cool Ben said:

I don't think anyone here is giving it a hard time @CS2x  I just think its getting close to people idea of a perfect scifi gaming universe.

 

Gravity would have been cool too, or lack of on some planets.

 

That's true. This forum is one of the very few places where there actually is any enjoyable discussion of the game (whether people have liked it or not.) An oasis compared to any other digital location!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Davros sock drawer said:

 

That really is the answer.

 

I remember you had similar misgivings about the game from the start, and despite the changes they've made this still isn't really the game you're looking for, I'd say. It's still a Sci-fi novel cover generator, at heart - it's just that now, more than ever,  it's also Minecraft.

 

This one of my issues with it too, the Minecraft angle. It seems that it's gone more that way than ever.

That and the gun/mutitool was ripped from destiny?

 

It's almost as if the original vision has been swatted aside in favour of mining and crafting. Because that's what is:

1) popular

And

2) easier to make than proper space battles and grand civilisations

 

I fully expect a battle royal mode within 6 months. Although if you can ride I to battle on a captured creature I'm on board.

[Sie]

The more I think about how this game would be if it was structured on real astrophysics - something I too wanted to see in the game originally - the more I think would would break down and actually be less fun. As it is, each solar system is an unrestricted 'lucky bag' of variety. Not necessarily realistic but always useful to the player with a wide variety of planet types and resources to be found on them. I'm ok with reality being pushed aside so that I have access to most of what I need in a given system, and that each system has a lot of visual variation to keep things interesting/imaginative and looking like the old sci-fi art that inspired the game.

 

I think if this game's universe was more like Elite in structure, most systems would probably be garbage to visit and most planets would probably be dead. The rare planets with multiple biomes and life of them would all feel the same as the next one (because presumably they'd all have cold biomes, hot biomes, tropical biomes, desert biomes etc on the surface due to their location within the habitable zone). And how would you even begin to hunt/scan for resources reliably in that universe? Presumably, there would be little reason to venture away from any system that had a life sustaining, multi-biome planet in it because it would probably have everything you need on it.

 

That said, I think there is room for a game like that but I don't think NMS should try to be it. Also this game isn't Minecraft. It's Starbound in 3D!

[Stanley]

I just wish I was 12 again with endless amounts of time to put into this. 

[SpagMasterSwift]

Because you can fly from one planet to the next as easily as from one part of a single planet to another part I tend to view each system as a single planet with different biomes to be explored, avoided, enjoyed, etc. That may sound like I’m making excusing for the game, and perhaps I am. Tbh after this long with it I have all sorts of crazy made up shit to justify its shortcomings which if I were to explain would make me seem like a right loon (or more of a loon anyway)...plus, I’ve learned to adapt to stuff, like saving before I warp and making sure I’m in 3rd person ship view when warping to stop the game freaking out when entering a new system. There are loads of these things that I just do instinctively now. Don’t boost out of a trading station as my wing span is so wide I’ll bash into the middle bit. It won’t destroy my ship but I credit myself as a better pilot than that, rather than blame the game design for not thinking it through.

[Flub]

41 minutes ago, Cool Ben said:

I don't think anyone here is giving it a hard time @CS2x  I just think its getting close to people idea of a perfect scifi gaming universe.

 

Gravity would have been cool too, or lack of on some planets.

 

Go to a lifeless planet and activate the jetpack

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, Sie said:

The more I think about how this game would be if it was structured on real astrophysics - something I too wanted to see in the game originally - the more I think would would break down and actually be less fun.

 

Spot on. They made it like this so it was fun, and flying around was easy. Developing a realistic system for 99.99% of games is a fools errand.

 

When it feels right it feels right, be damned with realism.

[hash ampersand]

My save game has been corrupted (30hours), and is in stasis until the hot fix, so I’ve started a fresh game to get the update feels.  The base building is engaging, but I chuckle every time I go and hide inside my little wooden shantytown to escape the toxic space storms.  It doesn’t interest me as much as the pioneering, finding new planets and prospecting does.  

 

The first 5 hours are frustrating in terms of inventory management, (launch fuel!) and I’m a relentless hoarder, so it took me a while to get used to the new elements, but it’s fundamentally similar, so I’m still grinding, recharging and surviving.  I feel like a bit more flexibility with slots in exosuits during the first 5 hours would really eliminate a lot of frustration, but would remove that urgency and struggle to survive that drives you initially.

 

I can understand people’s criticisms of the consistency of the universe, and if you think too hard about it, it can ruin the pleasant illusion.  I’m happy to live the lie, as long as it keeps serving up variety.  I started to tire of the same experiences with my old save and hadn’t really played since 2016, but this feels such like a substantial update its been much more fun to play.  

 

Same as the first game, I can’t help but feel like an awkward Columbus ‘discovering’ a new system when its full of trading posts,Gek,Vykeen and Alien artifacts.

[Trumpets]

Does anyone have any tips for getting to the centre of the galaxy? What's the most efficient way to get there? I'm fifty hours in and the 'distance to centre' number is barely any lower than when I started.

 

And I don't care about your wavy red lines, spellcheck, in this country we spell it 'centre'. Cnut.

[Flub]

3 minutes ago, Trumpets said:

Does anyone have any tips for getting to the centre of the galaxy? What's the most efficient way to get there? I'm fifty hours in and the 'distance to centre' number is barely any lower than when I started.

 

And I don't care about your wavy red lines, spellcheck, in this country we spell it 'centre'. Cnut.

 

Black holes

[Monkeyboy]

I'm building a base on top of a mountain, and if I warp to the base from a space station, I land where the base computer is, as does my ship. However, the base computer is right on the edge of the mountain top, so my ship ends up wedged halfway in it, like so...

 

Spoiler

 

I then fall to the bottom of the mountain and have to jet pack up to the top, then call the ship to the top of the mountain. A waste of thruster fuel though! If I build a landing pad, would the ship land on it, if I warped there via a teleport?

[SpagMasterSwift]

Nope. 

[TehStu]

My planet has weird mountains like that, with perfectly flat tops. Almost like giant pieces of yorkie bar, dotted about. I thought about putting a base up on one, but I'm not sure it's safe.

[Trumpets]

1 hour ago, Flub said:

 

Black holes

 

I've used plenty of those and still hardly made any progress. I guess it's just a really long slog to the centre...

[Monkeyboy]

22 minutes ago, SpagMasterSwift said:

Nope. 

 

Awesome! So it always lands near the base computer? They should let you at least move it to a more suitable position! I'm probably gonna have to try and terraform some sort of ledge next to it.

 

[Flub]

I wish they hadn't made ammonia so rare. I want to make a nice explosives farm but I need a shit load of ammonia. I lucked out once at a trade station and bought some to get started but it's missing the large deposits of them on toxic worlds

 

[Talk Show Host]

Planet diversity and other science issues are, indeed, issues, but the game has never promised accurate science. Even controlling the spaceship is very arcadey. It's also full of aliens, lifeforms, black holes you can jump in and, well, teleporters that you can casually build. It's space fantasy and what matters most is the systems available, the gameplay. 

 

Elite Dangerous is based on science but it's a boring grind and quite badly designed. Even exploring is a boring experience because there is no actual danger and, frankly, very little to see and do. The feeling of being in space is great, true, but maybe NMS is so much fun because it's not bound by realism. And that's ironic because it brings me the feel of watching Star Trek, which is based on science. 

[Vorgot]

Put this on for a chill session and it turned into a mini quest mayhem section.

 

Sure it's old news to older hands, but was a nice change for me exploring ancient ruins....

 

Spoiler

Did the stones for words then found a plaque where I asked for knowledge of the past. Pointed at another ruin, mostly underground where I I had to get 3 keys to open a chest. Item worth half a million inside, sweet!

 

However, I also spotted a Gravitino Ball. Sounded exciting so I picked it up and suddenly got attacked by 3 sentinels, one of which was like a dog, that I've never seen before. Brilliant stuff. Was like a recent Black Mirror

 

So the quest was easy and profitable, but the other thing a bit scary, survived it though. This is the stuff I am loving though, the mooching around finding stuff out. 

[deKay]

6 hours ago, Davros sock drawer said:

 

There have been larger scale battles for a while, although I've never seen two sets of capital ships firing at each other.

 

This is from Feb 2017, so Pathfinder Update?

 

 

 

I had two capital ships (and several fighters per side) fighting each other with me stuck in the middle at least twice in the base game before any major updates.