No Man's Sky

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Zoombie

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I haven't played it...but the lets plays that I have seen of it are not promising.

We may be looking at another Spore - good for what it is, awful for what it isn't.
 

cmhbob

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The basic concept of the game is going to throw everyone off. It is NOT your typical MMORPG. The devs have said it's entirely possible that you could play forever and never meet another human player. There are something like 18 quintillion planets in the game universe, and they're all generated on the fly. That's some serious gaming.

The trailers I've seen are gorgeous though. If I had the hardware to run it, I'd think seriously about buying it.

Here's a nice thread at another discussion forum I hang out at. Several trailers and linked articles.
 

VeryBigBeard

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What I've seen so far is similar to what Zoombie's seen. In a way, it is your typical MMO in that it's way too big with absolutely nothing to do in it. Effectively, they've made the world's emptiest MMO. I love the aesthetic I've seen in the trailers, too, but those 18 quintillion planets basically have just a few templates and the actual gameplay looks rote as anything.
 

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I love the concept and it sounds right up my alley (I love anything Space Exploration). I don't have my computer right now but I've been waiting for this game since it was first announced. Hopefully I'll have my machine back in a month or two... I miss my games...
 

Helix Denby

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I was eager for it but after seeing gameplay it doesn't look like it offers anything interesting when compared to other survival crafting games I've played before. The map may be infinite or near infinite but that's not that new of a concept. Other survival crafting games like Don't Starve and Minecraft have randomly generated maps that can be explored for hours and still not be exhausted. With this genre of games simply having a large map isn't enough, it's what's in the map. From what I've seen of NMS it's a lot of rather dull looking enemy/mobs and tedious item gathering. I think I'd rather just go back to playing Minecraft again. Plus the PC release is broken and I don't like supporting devs who release before they the product's finished.
 

VeryBigBeard

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I love the concept and it sounds right up my alley (I love anything Space Exploration). I don't have my computer right now but I've been waiting for this game since it was first announced. Hopefully I'll have my machine back in a month or two... I miss my games...

If you're playing it on PC I would wait for awhile. Possibly a long while. The PC port has been unplayable for some people. Various reports all over Twitter and Steam (see user comments here) of it crashing on launch. Those who do get it to launch are having massive lag and framerate dips even on good machines.

Not good. Wait for the patches. Hope there are patches, and that they work.

It's a pity, because while I think the reviews pointing out that the game is really rote are bang on, I also know I can have a soft spot for micromanagement games and while I think I'd eventually get bored with all... the... mining... I do really like the idea of just wandering around the stars. Frex, I was one of apparently only a few people who liked the Mako sections in Mass Effect.

But I'd want to buy it on PC. And my PC isn't top of the line. So the chances I could even get it to work right now don't make me want to go out and buy it.
 
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VeryBigBeard

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This, which is really just basic game design...

With this genre of games simply having a large map isn't enough, it's what's in the map.

...and this:

Plus the PC release is broken and I don't like supporting devs who release before they the product's finished.

I'm sympathetic to all devs because I know what goes into this and I even know why there can be some sense in launching and then updating/patching as you go.

But a game only gets one launch. It's one thing to launch a core gameplay that hooks people in and makes them want more. That's NOT the same thing as launching half a game and waving one's hands around when it doesn't work, isn't engaging, and people want money back for a broken product.

That just destroys consumer confidence in the games industry.
 

Zoombie

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See, I'm a huge fan of the Mako sections in Mass Effect 1 because...it felt like you were exploring a massive universe.

Now, back in 1981, there was this great little game called Starflight. If you want to play No Man's Sky but don't want to spend huge amounts of money, get your hands on Starflight. It has a procedurally generated universe, but then the devs went through it and actually constructed a plot and things to do. And added aliens that are interesting to interact with. And it really holds up, despite being more than 40 years old now.

Also, this is just me, but I vastly prefer exploring with a crew than by my lonesome.

I've been replaying it and it kicks ass. Also, has a great sound track!
 

VeryBigBeard

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There are all kinds of RTS games that create that sense of world, too. Resources, crew, management, and so on. I've heard Kerbal Space Program is supposed to be good that way.

I love the concept for NMS. It just looks like they dove into the procedural generation and never came up for air.

Thanks for the rec, too. So many games I have to check out....
 

Maxinquaye

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The problem with this game is this. It’s a pretty world, and you can fly through it, but that’s it.

You can mine, and you can look at weird creatures, and you can mine some more – and maybe build a thing that will improve your mining efficiency. Or your inventory. And then you can mine even more. In pretty landscapes. Surrounded by weird creatures who will hoot and honk and whistle. But… that’s it.

Games are a storytelling medium. Even the simplest shooter have some kind of story – even if it’s an inane one. Find out the banal reason why wave after wave of alien creature all seem to target you. Rescue the person that’s supposed to be rescued, even if it’s a cliché-all-mighty. Oh, and before you get to that person, here’s wave after wave of things to shoot at.

No Man’s sky doesn’t have that. It has the pretty landscapes. It has the mining. And that’s it.

Besides, I wasn’t able to run it for more than a few minutes at a time after I bought it. After two days of frantic and frustrating attempts to hunt down every single lead to a possible fix, I got a refund for the game. It always crashes to desktop for me.
 
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Zoombie

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No Man's Sky is...

Frustrating.

For me, it needs the following fixes.

A differentiation between planetary populations.

What do I mean about that? Well, basically, there planets that have small outposts...and more small outposts...and more small outposts...and you just keep going and you keep finding small outposes. There are no cities, but so too, are there no planets that are actually empty. Nothing kills the feeling of discovery for me quite as much as landing on a virgin world, walking over a hill, and seeing ANOTHER house exactly like the last house I was at.

I'd have preferred if there were planets with actual cities - and, as Bernband has proved, you don't need that much complexity to get across the feeling of an alien city - and planets without anyone on them.

For a game called No Man's Sky, there's a lot of people out here. I'd have prefered loneliness to the artificiality of your interactions with aliens.
 

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A few updates have happened since the game first came out. I think it's actually a half decent game now. Performance issues have been largely fixed. Planets are, well, better than they were at launch. There used to be pretty much just one shitty brown planet, but now there are about five or six types of biomes--so basically there are six types of "okay" planets you can go to instead of just one shitty one.
Animals are still lolasaurs, even if they have been improved.
My favorite new addition is the story mode. I love the new story, and it makes it worth playing the game. You are rewarded with a half-decent reward at the end, too.
I say half-decent because, if you know what happens at the center of the galaxy--well, it's still that, but without spoiling it, there is a slightly better outcome.
The game is still one or two updates away from being what was promised, but it's definitely a lot better than it used to be.
 
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I may have to fire it up. It's been sitting neglected on my PS4 for quite some time now. If they'd add a VR component, I'd be all over it again though, as PS VR is taking up a big chunk of my gaming time these days.
 
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