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

[moosegrinder]

 

[gospvg]

Not sure if this has already been posted but great video showing off the beauty of this game.

 

 

[Plissken]

Keep meaning to post in this thread, as I got NMS when it came out on the XBox and never even played it until last month.  I guess a combination of hammering Elite Dangerous and the negativity around it, especially at release, really put me off.

 

So I have fired it up and... it's bloody magnificent, isn't it?  It's probably the most unique thing that I've ever played.   I don't know if it is a game, or a sandbox or what it is, really.  What I do know is that I've spent 70 hours in it, without really building a base or following the plot.  Just 70 hours of wandering and collecting and exploring.  It took me 50 hours before I ever bothered calling my ship rather than walking the 1000u or so back to it.  I can't be arsed with the exocraft, I don't like shooting the animals.  I just liked wandering.

 

Elite Dangerous comparisons are inevitable, but they both nail the idea of you, alone against the Universe.  They do it in very separate and hugely interesting ways.  ED tries to be grand and sweeping and NMS is small and personal.

 

I completely understand why it got such a slating on release. I think that it because people didn't understand what it was trying to do and arrived with a bunch of their own preconceptions.  I think this is such a singular vision and idea that you either click with it or you don't.  You can often glimpse the plates spinning underneath it all but I don't care.  I feel like I probably should follow the plot for a bit - I need a few blueprints.  Or I'll might stop soon but that's fine - I've got more than my money's worth.

 

I really do think that it is a milestone for what games can be.

[TehStu]

Oh man, don't make posts like that. My launch save is in such a wonky place that I'd need to start over, and I effectively did last summer watching my lad who played through it for as many hours as I did (~60). 

 

I was going to learn ED but I could slip into starting over on NMS like a glove.

 

 

[df0]

So I booted this up on PS5. Loaded in on a very volatile planet with thunderstorm which means Storm Crystal galore. That's the good news.

Bad news is, I remembered deleting my old base and wanting to build one of this storm planet. Apparently I gave up early, my base is nothing more than a shack with half a roof.

 

I think it's time for another restart... Was 117 hours in ffs 

[Gabe]

On 01/03/2021 at 12:48, Plissken said:

Keep meaning to post in this thread, as I got NMS when it came out on the XBox and never even played it until last month.  I guess a combination of hammering Elite Dangerous and the negativity around it, especially at release, really put me off.

 

So I have fired it up and... it's bloody magnificent, isn't it?  It's probably the most unique thing that I've ever played.   I don't know if it is a game, or a sandbox or what it is, really.  What I do know is that I've spent 70 hours in it, without really building a base or following the plot.  Just 70 hours of wandering and collecting and exploring.  It took me 50 hours before I ever bothered calling my ship rather than walking the 1000u or so back to it.  I can't be arsed with the exocraft, I don't like shooting the animals.  I just liked wandering.

 

Elite Dangerous comparisons are inevitable, but they both nail the idea of you, alone against the Universe.  They do it in very separate and hugely interesting ways.  ED tries to be grand and sweeping and NMS is small and personal.

 

I completely understand why it got such a slating on release. I think that it because people didn't understand what it was trying to do and arrived with a bunch of their own preconceptions.  I think this is such a singular vision and idea that you either click with it or you don't.  You can often glimpse the plates spinning underneath it all but I don't care.  I feel like I probably should follow the plot for a bit - I need a few blueprints.  Or I'll might stop soon but that's fine - I've got more than my money's worth.

 

I really do think that it is a milestone for what games can be.

I've only played a few hours so my opinion can safely be ignored, but - well, I don't get any of that at all. I don't see any clear vision coming through from the developers, just lots of systems layered upon each other and they don't feel interconnected or cohesive - I think the adding of 'pets' just further highlights this, adding more and more stuff for <reasons> and further muddying whatever vision existed in the beginning. I find the UI dreadful too, it's not intuitive and poorly explained (I haven't played it since late last year so I forget exactly what particular bit I struggled with, but there was something I was amazed you couldn't find out - something related to resources I think?)

 

As for the bolded, I don't agree at all. If it is such a 'singular vision' as you state, why have they felt the need to keep adding stuff to it that dilutes that experience? Out of interest, what is the game trying to do that was 'misunderstood', in your eyes?

 

I don't believe most of the slating was because people didn't 'get it', either, but wasn't quite a lot promised at by the dev team that wasn't delivered at all at launch? (I'm not considering the lying about multiplayer stuff either.) That they've added so, so much since (and for free) is admirable, but let's not pretend it wasn't to try and fix the many legitimate issues people had (c.f. this thread for lots and lots of justifiable gripes).

 

I want to like it (and I do think the soundtrack is lovely at times) but, well, I don't. I will go back and give it another try though, because there is some appeal there, but from the technical issues (obscene pop-up, janky animations, loose controls), the general plastic ugliness of it all and all those various mechanics (which I do know you don't need to engage with all of them) mean it's probably going to one I prefer the idea of, than playing.

[Stanley]

The problem with this game is that no matter how much they improve things or add new stuff, the core gameplay of gathering resources, fuel etc. is fucking tedious. I get so far with it (I think I’ve restarted like 5 times now) but I just get to a point where I’m bored and everything feels like busy work. Had some fine moments with it, but I think once you’ve experienced jetting around a few planets you’ve seen all the game has to offer. 

[Bobbi Champagne Jr]

28 minutes ago, Stanley said:

The problem with this game is that no matter how much they improve things or add new stuff, the core gameplay of gathering resources, fuel etc. is fucking tedious. I get so far with it (I think I’ve restarted like 5 times now) but I just get to a point where I’m bored and everything feels like busy work. Had some fine moments with it, but I think once you’ve experienced jetting around a few planets you’ve seen all the game has to offer. 

Why do you keep restarting it, out of interest? I don't really see the point of starting again, and going through grinding to get fuels and materials. Once you've got far enough in to the game getting huge amount of materials is really easy.

[Stanley]

56 minutes ago, Bobbi Champagne Jr said:

Why do you keep restarting it, out of interest? I don't really see the point of starting again, and going through grinding to get fuels and materials. Once you've got far enough in to the game getting huge amount of materials is really easy.

Usually just because it had been so long since I last played it that I couldn’t remember much, and because for quite a few updates my old saves were kind of fucked up with planets completely changing, bases disappearing, etc. Generally I’d start a new game with every major update since it came out. 

[Plissken]

4 hours ago, Gabe said:

As for the bolded, I don't agree at all. If it is such a 'singular vision' as you state, why have they felt the need to keep adding stuff to it that dilutes that experience? Out of interest, what is the game trying to do that was 'misunderstood', in your eyes?

 

I don't believe most of the slating was because people didn't 'get it', either, but wasn't quite a lot promised at by the dev team that wasn't delivered at all at launch? (I'm not considering the lying about multiplayer stuff either.) That they've added so, so much since (and for free) is admirable, but let's not pretend it wasn't to try and fix the many legitimate issues people had (c.f. this thread for lots and lots of justifiable gripes).

 

At the risk of rehashing old arguments, I found that a significant part of the problem upon release was that too many people had laid far too many of their own expectations - speaking about people in general and not specifics -  onto the game and then trashed it because it didn't match the ideas in their head that they had made up.  The bloke behind it all (Sean?) hadn't helped but in no way had he gone out and done a Molyneux.  It was definitely released far too early but the team behind it got an absolute kicking for things that were totally out of their control.  I always got the feeling at launch that some people were going out of their way to break the game and not to play it.  (Not that that problem is limited to NMS.)

 

I call it a singular vision because, to me, it is an actual, proper sandbox.  The traditional ideas of "score" or "peril" don't really apply and the bits that relate to it feel a bit bolted on.  I've literally died once in 70 hours of gameplay, despite spending plenty of time on Extreme worlds.  It is a game that doesn't care for your ideas of grand space opera.  It's not thrusting you into battle against the villainous Thrargajax or saving the beautiful space princess.  There seems to be little in the way of mystery or conflict.  I'm not interested in the pet thing, but this is a game where you can learn how to befriend an alien creature, rather than running around slaughtering them.  I like that.

 

Yes it is repetitive and busywork at times.  That is what I mean by glimpsing the spinning plates.  But it doesn't feel rushed or pressured like in other games. Not referring to anyone specifically here, but it feels like when I read people saying "it doesn't take long to see all there is to see" then those people are more interested in keeping score and ticking off progress on an imaginary spreadsheet in order to be ahead on some chart or other.  There is nothing wrong with that, just this really isn't the game for it.

 

I'm probably expressing it really badly.  I'm very tired of big bang kapow explosive AAA or twitchy fast driving simulators.  I've said before that my gaming tastes over the last couple of years have changed to more contemplative, interesting stuff.  I loved GTA V when it came out, utterly rinsed it on Xbox 360 and when it came onto GamePass had it as an immediate download.  Lasted about three hours before I realised that I'm no longer interested in spending time with hateful characters doing juvenile things.

 

NMS is the first game that I've piled proper time into for at least two years.  I acknowledge its flaws and I'm not going to spend much time defending them but I think that it nailed what I looking for - a slow-paced, go where you like, do what you like, no stress, no fuss sci-fi experience that takes the positive vision of those 70s book covers instead of a more cynical, aggressive approach.  I think that a small team has taken a difficult idea and really executed it well and done it on their own terms.  I've totally clicked with it but I understand why others haven't.

[df0]

Landed on a planet yesterday marked as "Webbed". Upon arrival, I was greeted by massive, throbbing leather-like schlongs... 

 

 

[df0]

Anybody else on PS5 experiencing more and more crashes?

 

- A Derelict Freighter has a 50%+ chance of crashing

- Expanding your Freighter has a chance of crashing

- And just now after I finally completed a planet Survey it crashed at the very end wiping that progress

[moosegrinder]

 

 

 

 

 

[TehStu]

Oh man, just when I think I'm done and need to take up Elite for my space-faring impulses. What I need is time, not more games

[Mawdlin]

That looks interesting and it will probably make me go back. I loved NMS but once I'd got past the survival and base building bit I felt like there wasn't enough purpose to keep me playing.

 

Expeditions may just fill that void.

[deKay]

Probably time for me to give this a third 120+ hour run then?

[pinholestar]

3 minutes ago, deKay said:

Probably time for me to give this a third 120+ hour run then?

Haha, that’s how I feel every time they release a big new update.

I’ve said it multiple times in this thread but the support this game’s received from Hello Games over the last 5 years since its release has been incredible.

[deKay]

I've said multiple times it was incredible at launch. I actually enjoyed my second run through (after base building, not sure what else) less as it added stuff I didn't like.

 

But it's still great and the new update on the PS5 will be oh so pretty and no loading!

[fragglerock]

There are nice twitch drops for NMS over the weekend.

 

https://twitch.nomanssky.com/#drops

 

you have an hour and a half to claim rainbow jetpack and a nice A ship etc.

[df0]

Old man here, what are Twitch drops?

edit: tis rather self explanatory  

[fragglerock]

You link your account with twitch, then watch a twitch stream (ie have it in a muted tab in the background) that is playing that game... watch for long enough and you get in game loot.

 

the URL above should guide you through the linking process, and give a list of streams that you will earn time on.  else use this link to them. https://www.twitch.tv/directory/game/No Man's Sky?tl=c2542d6d-cd10-4532-919b-3d19f30a768b

 

 

and you can see your progress here https://www.twitch.tv/drops/inventory

 

[df0]

What a neat system. I do wonder how this helps a streamer if I have no interest in the streamer and his/her channel. Like you said, I have it on in the background muted.

[MK-1601]

Boo, the weekend mission seems to be broken at the moment. Kept telling me to dig up and analyse an encrypted navicomp, which would give a message like "no terminal found", then delete itself from my inventory. Trying a different planet or a different system didn't help. Bit of a pain as I could do with some extra quicksilver.

[hmm]

On 01/04/2021 at 23:19, pinholestar said:

I’ve said it multiple times in this thread but the support this game’s received from Hello Games over the last 5 years since its release has been incredible.

 

I'm a bit curious about the funding model. There are no IAPs, are there? And presumably Hello aren't big enough to be working on something else at the same time, like paid DLC or a sequel. So is the incredible support keeping a steady stream of sales going or are Sony still seeing enough value in this to keep paying for it?

[MarkN]

44 minutes ago, hmm said:

 

I'm a bit curious about the funding model. There are no IAPs, are there? And presumably Hello aren't big enough to be working on something else at the same time, like paid DLC or a sequel. So is the incredible support keeping a steady stream of sales going or are Sony still seeing enough value in this to keep paying for it?

They're a really small team. Fewer than 30 people the last I heard. Compared to most games of this magnitude that's tiny. It must have raked in a fortune over time (and all power to it - I love it to bits). Edit 1: My guess is it's basically in credit - they've already returned far more on an investment than most games would have I'd imagine. On a cynical level, if this update strategy wasn't making even more cash it wouldn't be being followed. It's that simple.

 

Edit 2: The updates have to be generating more sales, possibly many through good will social networking each time a new update happens.

 

[hmm]

Sure, maybe, but even a team that small has burned, what, the best part of £10m over 5 years?

[MarkN]

10 minutes ago, hmm said:

Sure, maybe, but even a team that small has burned, what, the best part of £10m over 5 years?

I don't know what split of personnel they have - there are probably a few HR staff and admin folk to take into account, but, at a guess,  you're looking at basic wages of at least a million a year, and then you can pretty much double that when you add benefits, costs of employment etc. (although they weren't always that big, so earlier costs will be much lower).

 

They must still be earning enough from selling it to justify the updates though. Lots of new buyers still. There will be people who now own multiple copies. That will help. I only own the one PS4 copy, but I could grab it now with my Game Pass if I wanted. They'll be getting cash from that service too. And then there's an absolute shed-load of good-will being built up to counter the original shit-storm that happened on release. The main thing perhaps, is that whatever these guys do next will have a fucking enormous audience because of all of this. It could be bad, it could be good, but an awful lot of people will know about it day one, because of this groundwork. That, right there, is gold dust these days. 

[pinholestar]

It's sold absolutely millions though. According to PS4 trophy stats analysis it's sold around 5 million on there, plus however many on Xbox and PC as well as whatever deal they've got with Microsoft to have it on Game Pass. It seems to crop up in sales regularly and the excellent word of mouth over the last few years has seen it sell consistently and have a very long tail, by all accounts. They've made a hell of a lot from it so I can see how it would be profitable for a small team to continue supporting it if it keeps on bringing in the bacon.

 

The whole thing's a fascinating case study for indie development and post release support all round I think. 

[Monkeyboy]

Limmy has started playing this on Twitch.

 

 

[yashiro]

Quote

No Man’s Sky: An upcoming update adds NVIDIA DLSS for desktop and virtual reality gaming, boosting performance in desktop mode by up to 70% at 4K, substantially improving the smoothness and responsiveness of gameplay, giving GeForce RTX gamers a better overall experience.