For the next free update in the ever-expanding No Man’s Sky, industrious developer Hello Games has completely rebuilt space stations. As it notes in a press release, previously these were one aspect of the game which weren’t procedurally generated, but when the update launches later today (27th March), that will all change.
“Engine improvements have allowed us to create vast interior spaces and exterior spaces, with improved reflection and metallic surfaces,” the press release reads. “Outside, space station exteriors are at a scale never seen before, and are hugely varied. Inside, stations have been transformed, and are now vast, procedurally generated, and incredibly diverse. Featuring new shops, gameplay and activities, stations are now uniquely customised based on system, race, and locale.”
Naturally, this is all going to help make the universe feel vaster and more varied than ever before. And there’s one key new gameplay element the new space stations will introduce: a ship editor. “We haven’t introduced customisation previously, because so many players love exploring to find the perfect ship already out there to purchase. In keeping with exploration, to customise their ship, Travellers gather and trade parts for their ships as they explore, salvaging the best components from wrecks and ruins.”
Elsewhere, the update will also add Guilds, allowing you to work together with your allies to increase your infamy across the galaxy. You’ll also be able to build fleets of frigates and send them away on missions, but if they get into trouble, you’ll need to warp to your squadron and engage the attackers in daring rescue missions.
And yes, as mentioned above, all of this content – the 27th major update for the game – will be free for existing owners, without any microtransactions or DLC purchases required.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 35
Looking forward to trying it all out in PSVR2. Absolutely amazing VR game
Absolutely incredible update. This game is in a very, very, very good state
@SoulChimera this and kayak VR being the best the system has to offer - PSVR 1 even makes no man’s sky an incredible experience
its crazy this game is still getting pretty big updates years later , i need to dive back into this , i haven't played in a while. but this is also another example of a game can be live service and still be good. yet people still hate live service games for some reason.
Ship optimization. Amazing!
Game must have sold great to be able to do so many free updates.
@Americansamurai1 it didn't really at the start, it's was a very mediocre game and most planets and galaxies were pretty much lifeless, current iteration of this game is literally worlds apart (pun intended)
The term procedurally generated has always struck me as a negative, i.e. as if the universe didn't really matter because it was all random and everyone had a different one. But if I now understand it correctly that is not the case - everyone shares the same universe, its just the case that the single universe was generated by a mathematic equation as such - but its the same for all and we all live and breathe and explore the same.
This makes it much more real, and much more valuable for me. And tbh is they stopped using the procedural term I think they would sell even more - it is seen as a negative not a positive.
@Uromastryx Yeah I got it at launch and it was very bare, but glad to see they stuck with it instead of moving on. Probably saved the studio
How do they have the time to work on this game and that crazy next one at the same time?
@twitchtvpat "For some reason".
How about because most of them are average to rubbish? It is basic pattern recognition to dislike live service games at this point.
@LifeGirl It certainly seems easier to just hate all live service games then having an open mind.
Xbox can keep Starfield. We're good here.
@thefourfoldroot1 O M G.
Legendary Tales, Walkabout Minigolf, Cyube......and now they do THIS and I have to pick this back up again when I thought I was done with it.
They say PSVR2 has no games. That's a good thing. The games it has requires sleeping in the thing.
Also Cyube is addictive. A little content-thin in some ways, but they're adding swords/fighting/enemies as an option (minecraft zombies) soon. I hate minecraft, but it's so pretty and zen and I can't seem to put it down. That's your fault. But now NMS is back in the mix. I remember the space stations upgrade was leaked about a year ago and then was never heard from again, I thought it was abandoned. Nope, now it's here. It's like a whole new game considering the time you spend on stations.
You really need to pick NMS up again for PSVR2 if you haven't yet. Even though you platinumed it, the version you platinumed is so ancient it's like this is a sequel. And it's just freaking amazing in VR.
@AdamNovice @LifeGirl @twitchtvpat "Live Service Game" really refers to a business model that depends on maximizing concurrently user engagement, including time wasters, and ongoing monetization. NMS just gives you free stuff for years and years. It's not a live service, it's a charity. A charity with space ships and lasers and it's wonderful.
@LifeGirl i hate when people just single out a single part of something that is written , i'm good , if you aren't going to bother to read what i wrote why should i do the same for you.
@NEStalgia
lol, I’m tempted to pick it back up every now and again but with so much else to play, and knowing the time sink it is…I’m kind of scared to pick it up in case it dominates my time honestly. Cyube is next indeed next but it’s just finding the time. The wife is currently monopolising the PS5 too, playing Helldivers2, and I can’t say anything as I’ve basically had it exclusively for years now. Might be a good excuse for the pro I guess!
@thefourfoldroot1 LOL, yeah it'll consume your life, but if you haven't played it in VR you haven't played it. Seriously, Cyube is amazing. Legendary Tales is amazing. But NMS is VR.
It was great, albeit with frequent updates and changes last year, but, man, one day I launched it in May and the visuals were just super clear for miles and it was jaw-on-floor amazing. Not sure if they implemented foveated rendering but it feels like they did. Cyube and LT definitely do. And yeah, they've added a heck of a lot since you last saw it. I think it was when they launched on switch they did a huge overhaul.
But yeah, if you try it we'll never see you again. I spent a month grinding an S class Sentinel class dreadnaught freighter and kind of stopped there. But since then there's a lot of content I haven't jumped it to. I was planning on doing more Cyube and building my little house in the woods....but now this. I have space stations to explore darnit. Only problem is I don't remember how to play lol.
Heck just from when PSVR2 launched to last May the game changed a lot. With this update? I mean Hello just dropped an update for a 6 year old game for free that does more than ND has done in any of their remakesters.
You'll like Cyube too, though it seems a lot like NMS, they're going to be adding major content as they go. PvE and weapons is a big addition still coming. Those 3 games are hard to recommend which is best. NMS is just an experience though. If you only played flat, it's like jumping into the television world.
Sounds like you do need that Pro though....you're the only one I'd recommend that to lol .
@NEStalgia not really , i feel like thats what most people think live service means, which does not. a live service game just involves regular updates , another example is assassins creed game would be a live service game for a while now. if you search no mans sky being a live service game , sites consider it one of the best live service games out there. i feel like thats why people hate it so much because its a pretty misunderstood thing.
Wow! This is the nudge I needed to jump back into this game. I spent many enjoyable hours playing it a few months ago but then got pulled away; now seems like a great time to get back into it.
@twitchtvpat It's an inconsistently applied name, but people wouldn't hate it if it was just "unlimited free stuff" like NMS. It's the business model that people hate and the game design that feeds the model. Maybe we need a new term. But investors know that GaaS means, and NMS isn't that
Assassin's Creed does apply the MTX of the model though not as severely as, say, Suicide Squad.
@Uromastryx It actually did sell well at launch thanks to the hype. Its thanks to those launch sales that they were able to provide free updates up to the Next update where it got an Xbox release and the mood around it heavily changed, i think with the extra money they made from Next meant updates became more frequent and bigger.
@NEStalgia What? AC is way worse with MTX then Suicide Squad is, so far SS only has cosmetics that consist of a very small handful of skins while AC has boosters, options to buy in game gold and mats, paid mounts, armour and weapon sets that have their own stats and abilities and way more. SS is pretty tame compared to AC.
@DennisReynolds surprising...wth is the money backend on WBs money plot is they're not actually exploriting it?
@thefourfoldroot1 Wow, visuals are even more improved than in June when I last played. It's a hard call what's the best looking game in vr2, but nms is absolutely a contender. Ultra sharp, long draw distance, it's beautiful and high fps (though that can drop heavily depending), amazing it looks like this when it was like 240x480 with 1.5ft draw distance back last Feb. Everything was so blurry right in front of you you could barely make it out. Now it's a 4k 90+fps dream. It's now on equal visual footing with red matter 2, cyube, legendary tales as the best looking things in vr2.
The new stations are quite nice looking. I guess functionally nothing changed but it feels like visiting different places rather than the same blue hallway everywhere you go. And no having to walk across the hangar to get to the trade terminal. But custom ship building..... There's the big gameplay feature!
Idk I may still prioritize cyube and legendary because I've already spent so many hours in this (sadly when it was still blurry) but wow. This should be bundled with every vr2.
No Mans Sky is 50% off in the spring sale. On sale for £19.99.
@NEStalgia
You are really making me want to experience NMS again, lol, the real problem is that, in my head, I’ve finished it, and the added stuff like base building is not really an activity that generally appeals. If there was a new story focused combat mode for example I’d be all over it (which reminds me, Vertigo2, have you tried that yet).
@thefourfoldroot1 You seriously need to play it in VR if you haven't. Whole other game. Just such an experience. It was a great VR experience when it was a blurry mess. Now that it's one of the 4 best looking games, period, it's a no brainer! We went from low res with a foot draw distance to tack sharp beyond the horizon and fluid motion to boot.
I'm kind of in the same place though, I booted it, I have a really advanced setup with a customized freighter, farming colonies, etc, every class of ship (I hope they'll add more ship slots now that they have custom ship building, I don't' want to sell any! I spent a lot of time finding those!) My inventory is loaded with massive amounts of things and I don't even remember what to do with half of them, so I"m a bit overwhelmed on jumping back in and toured the pretty new stations instead of doing something.
I'm not really into base building either (but then why are you buying Cyube?!) but I built a pretty huge base complex and min-bases for farming/mining resources which became a major component of the economy. And you don't get enough so it's a MASSIVE farm of biodomes.
I think you played before SENTINEL so there's definitely more combat than there was. Not like a story campaign so much, but hostile encounters increased. Also the corrupt planets. Combat's rarely a focus but did you play when it had the walking mech sentinels and the ability to attack capital ships? I think that was added later. Did you have the OUTLAW stuff at least?
Oh yeah, I' have Veritgo 2. I'm not finished it, but yeah that's a fun one. Basically Half-Life if you can't get Alyx lol. I think I left it in the sewer when the mold thing growing there won't let me pass until you bring him a thing. Stopped there because the barnacles kept killing me.
Also Arashi (didn't play it on VR1) has been taking my VR time a lot. As with a lot of (but not all of) VR games they did a lot of patching after the reviews that improved it. Still not the best looking game on VR2 but it's much better than it was when it was reviewed. Not the turnaround NMS is from the worst looking to the best looking game on the platform, but Arashi's a good game now.
Kind of funny. AAA games get reviewed 10/10 then they patch in mtx and features to break it so the real experience is worse. Indie VR games review 6/10 then they patch it until it's way better than that.
The work that has gone into this game post launch is nothing short of staggering.
@NEStalgia
I don’t mind base building generally, but would likely need an in game purpose, such as improving abilities / accomplishing objectives / trophy challenges / opening up a greater scope of building options etc.
I see there is a trophy for completing all in game objectives. Are these things that will take a long time and need one to experiment with all options? If so then that will give me all the direction I need to enjoy everything.
I’ll likely be getting it this weekend, although the fact they have said they are going to keep improving it makes me kind of not want to experience it yet (so as to avoid the NMS effect!). Then again, if they are adding enemies and combat that’s not really what I’m looking for, have other games for that, so maybe I should just pull the trigger.
Hope you’re still enjoying it anyway.
@thefourfoldroot1 The objectives act as both a "story campaign" and as a sort of tutorial to walk you through (nearly) all the core features of the game, including underwater base building, and I believe making it to the center of the galaxy (which I never even got to because I did so much other stuff elsewhere.
It does have objectives for building a minimalist shack of a base with certain key features (The Farmer questline) but probably not new features like shipbuilding from parts.
I'm not into base building for the fun of base building but to a degree there's an in-game need, like my massive crop farm like a greenhouse system on a snow world exists to generate massive amounts of crops to craft into items that sell for high prices. The only negative is you have to harvest each biodome individually so that's kind of a chore to do as a "daily" to craft for what cash you get out of it.
More useful is the onboard base building on the freighter when you have it, because that's where you build your "main town" for all the regular components you need, rows of refiners, transporter room, inventory room so you can access your big inventory, eventually (when you get the appropriate upgrades) accessing that big inventory remotely anywhere in-system with your freighter (kind of obsoletes haulers.)
Not sure if freighters were available when you played, but, hint: your first freighter is free, they cost crazy money after that. Don't take the first cheap freighter that comes along, if you want a bigger, nicer one, wait for one of those big ones and reject the others.
They certainly do keep adding, so there's no way to know when you're playing before something you wanted. But there's a lot of content right now, and now that it looks beautiful on VR2, and they finally dropped the space station overhaul that was leaked/rumored a whole year ago, it's probably a good time to jump in. PC People datamine the game and found the exterior shells of the new stations last spring, but the interiors apparently didn't happen until now. Big updates aren't super common as they slowed down to work on their next game. I was surprised this big update happened at all actually. But I'm sure there will be more. (I'm still just hoping for more ship spots in your hangar. We can now build ships, but can't store more ships. The bumped the number once, it would be nice if they did it again. The new stations certainly have the room. The freighter hangar bay doesn't but it already doesn't show all your ships at once. from the last slot expansion so that's not too bad.
You'll never take your VR2 off, that's for sure lol. I have so much to play and I forget so much of what I was in the middle of when I put NMS away I haven't been spending too much time in the update, but it's utterly gorgeous now. My distraction right now is C-Smash which I bought on the sale after liking the demo but not enough to buy the whole thing and it's weirdly addictive, lol. And Cyube, but Cyube is kind of an early NMS situation, it launched before half the game exists. What's there already is actually really good but their coming soon includes basic features like teleport to base, enemies, swords, so much as I like Cyube, I'd definitely say go for NMS. it's more than a complete game now.
@NEStalgia
I am so sorry. I see now I was completely not clear. I meant to ask about the objectives in Cyube, but don’t worry, you’ve written enough already which I’m sure will be very useful to lots of people!
@thefourfoldroot1 LOL - Cyube, I really like it and the tutorial is great with navigating through objectives. If you don't care about enemies you might have more than enough to have fun with it, but it does seem like another NMS where the core game is here and the rest of the game that completes it is later. If you check their website they have a roadmap available that shows you their long range feature plans, so you can see if any of that is something you want to wait for. The soon fixes are PSVR2 fixes specifically (can't say I've had problems). IMO the teleport to base thing is something important that's not there yet, you have to kind of remember where your base was as the crow flies to find your way back.
I did find myself building a "house" just because, but the tutorials so far are more like "craft the chair item for your house" rather than guiding you to craft the house. And I don't think there's doors. And I'm not creative enough to build a roof lol. Enemies might make me more creative though. But I hope it's not zombies because that creeps me out too much in the pretty world.
FWIW I hate Minecraft, loved Dragon Quest Builders. This is more like the former, but for now is just the sandbox and guided activities as a tutorial. But it's very zen and hours can disappear while mining for materials.
@NEStalgia
Sounds good. For me it’s all about that “All the objectives” challenge really. If that requires a lot of tasks to be accomplished I have my direction. Like when the earlier Yakuza games required you to fill out the entire completion list to get the plat. If there is no such task list, and instead the devs just leave you to wander aimlessly with no real reason to do anything, then I’ll likely wait and see if more stuff is added. I’ll have to research it a bit.
Dragon Quest builders and its sequel were great. Although the building seemed more of a theme than a reason for the game - which is possibly why I liked it.
@thefourfoldroot1 Yeah, it's a linear step by step more than a Yakuza checklist, but it does give you guided things to do. I agree I don't gel with "aimless, do stuff because" games, which is a big part of why I hate Minecraft, and also why NMS never clicked with me at the start when it was new. The guided missions is how I got hooked on that finally too.
DQB actually gave purpose to your building for in game mechanics, base defense, etc....it really is the only game like it.
@NEStalgia
Thanks for your insight. I’ll get it as soon as I finish my second playthrough of infinite wealth for the plat, and if I can drag the Mrs away from helldivers lol.
@thefourfoldroot1 lol I hear that. Binged Yakuza all winter. Now finally got myself to "get" FFXIV after multiple attempts. And deviated to trying xvi..... While managing cyube and half a dozen other vr games lol. First world problems.
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