No Man's Sky [PS4, PS5, XO, XBSX|S, PC, NX, XGP]

[Sigfried1977]

Survival doesn't mean perma-death in the case of NM'sS, does it? Pretty much my only worry at this point. I'm quite sold on the rest.

 

[bunge]

A solo online PS4 game? I thought Home was discontinued?

 

[RenegadeRocks]

If encountering other people is so rare, why not make it a solo game with no need for an internet connection? There must be some intention for other-player interaction, maybe further in and nearer the core? Otherwise Hello Games have made life unnecessarily complex for themselves.

Nothing of the sort. SEAN Murray has said that ppl don't have to worry about game not working offline later. The online part is to hav3 a shared universe. Planets/species player name will be shared with all. Similarly major changes made to a planet by a player would b3 shared with all. The pessimism seems unwarranted.
The game can fail if the majority hates it but if anything they have simplified the whole concept not complicated it.

The inter player interaction is journey- like. Very anonymous and u realise it's a player not an NPC only by their suit.

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Survival doesn't mean perma-death in the case of NM'sS, does it? Pretty much my only worry at this point. I'm quite sold on the rest.

Nope. In fact death is very forgiving. You lose any non registered data, that's all. I was also worried of it being too difficult but though Sean has said ppl will be surprised by how much of survival is in the game, the death carries very little penalty.

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[RenegadeRocks]

A solo online PS4 game? I thought Home was discontinued?

I still remember the B3D meet up we had in @Arwin apartment in HOME . I have to say whenever the topic comes up I seem to not have any negative memories of Home. I had many meet ups in there and frankly it felt special for non MMO player like me back then. It had free games too. Wish it had continued on the ps4 as an expanded MMO like place.

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Nothing of the sort. SEAN Murray has said that ppl don't have to worry about game not working offline later. The online part is to hav3 a shared universe. Planets/species player name will be shared with all. Similarly major changes made to a planet by a player would b3 shared with all.

What exactly does that bring to the experience? If you are ahead of the rest of the players, you can name things stupid names and leave a legacy. If you're behind, you miss out on naming stuff (that I imagine gets boring real quick TBH). And if people are that spread out, they won't encounter what anyone else is discovering and naming anyway.

For some of us, coop is a huge interest in gaming. NMS could have provided that quite nicely, and seeing as its online, it' shouldn't take much to do that. I'm guessing, thinking about it just now, maybe that was the intention all along but they realised that the rate of level data update is too slow for shared experiences? You could be carving a planet up and it wouldn't show on another player's world for a while later? Otherwise, a shared adventure would be more fun for many than a solo adventure, and it's a missed trick.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

Leaving ur mark in thw world might feel useless to an action gamer but it's pretty fun for an Explorer. Who wouldn't like to do that in say fallout 4? With almost an infinite universe u WILL l3ave ur mark whether u enter first or last. Later on if we can pass Co ordinates to each other to visit our planets, it would be super cool. I am sure a lot of players are already planning to attempt that.

Not having co op doesn't end the game's appeal, it definitley will be more enjoyable if it has it. having co op is a dev's decision. Always wanted Co op in so many games out there but didn't happen. In fact Co op is what I am waiting for in UC4 and Co op is want is most enjoyable in DARK souls 3. The potential exists in so many games we play but all cannot implement it.
Maybe the reason is what u state . More importantly the reason could be that it's just a 20 man team and getting a relatively bug free game with an infinite uni verse was a higher priority for them.
I am all in for Co op even if it comes in later. Would love it. But I sure love my solo adventures too. I am not the mine craft kind at all. There are tonnes of solo survival games and the feeling of loneliness is paramount in such games. A lone space Explorer sure sounds right too. We will know when it hits our consoles soon

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[RenegadeRocks]

BTW, I pre-ordered from the US store and it comes with tonnes of avatars with it. Couldn't find those avatars in teh eu store though.

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[Silent_Buddha]

If encountering other people is so rare, why not make it a solo game with no need for an internet connection? There must be some intention for other-player interaction, maybe further in and nearer the core? Otherwise Hello Games have made life unnecessarily complex for themselves.

The only thing I can think of, is that the entire galaxy of procedurally generated starts and planets would be too large to ship or store on a single system. Especially so once a planet is discovered, at which point you have to save all data relating to that planet (flora, fauna, potential player impact, sites of interest including their location and contents, etc.) so that it can be consistent if the player revisits it. Developer's are saying there could potentially be over 18 quintillion planets. That's a lot of potential data if even a faction of that ends up getting discovered by players (developers estimate that 99.9% of planets will never be discovered).

Additionally, since it's a shared universe, it's easy for players to encounter other players if they wished. The galactic coordinates of planets can be shared and assuming you have a craft capable of reaching that location, you can presumably do so. Even if you are only interested in playing solo, you could go online and find the coordinates of particularly interesting planet that is posted online. That opens up social yet solo gameplay. Potentially quite interesting for Twitch streamers and their audience (they could give the coordinates of planets they've visited and their audience could then go and look at it themselves).

So while, chance encounters aren't likely, deliberate encounters can be arranged. Although it might take a while if you are randomly populated on the opposite side of the galaxy from whoever you are trying to meet up with.

Given all that, I think it's more a developer conceit than anything else. They want a unified galaxy that all players experience. They also want that galaxy to be mind bogglingly large. For that last point they have procedurally generated content. For the former, they have the online requirement since its tied to the latter point.

They could have had a unified galaxy for everyone to experience, but then they'd have to handcraft everything and it'd end up being small. But it wouldn't require an online connection.

They could have had a mind bogglingly large galaxy that was procedurally generated without an online connection. But then everyone wouldn't have a unified galaxy to explore.

It's the combination of the two that brings in the online requirement.

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

@Shifty Geezer

NMS doesn't need Internet connection, I think.

But to update the world atlas with your and other players discovery, you need to connect.

If not connected. You are okay. But everything will only be in your local machine.

Ugh my English getting wirse

 

[Silent_Buddha]

NMS doesn't need Internet connection, I think.

But to update the world atlas with your and other players discovery, you need to connect.

If not connected. You are okay. But everything will only be in your local machine.

I don't think that'd work with how they intend the galaxy to work. If by chance say 2 or 3 people discover the same planet (by galactic coordinates) then what happens when they come online? Likely the first would get priority for name, etc. but if the procedural generation turns out differently then will the other players that just came online suddenly find their planet changed? If there's any persistent changes that players can do on planets (I don't know if there is) will those suddenly be wiped out and replaced by the changes others have done?

I guess we'll all find out eventually. Although I'm not getting the game until I see some Twitch Streams or YouTube Let's Plays to determine if it's something I'd want. And then depending on how good it is, I'll either grab it now, wait for it to go on sale, or take a pass.

Regards,
SB

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The only thing I can think of, is that the entire galaxy of procedurally generated starts and planets would be too large to ship or store on a single system.

That's not how the procedural generation works. Each planet is built on the fly with the same exact construction every time the algorithm plays out. The only thing you need to record is changes as they happen.

Especially so once a planet is discovered, at which point you have to save all data relating to that planet (flora, fauna, potential player impact, sites of interest including their location and contents, etc.) so that it can be consistent if the player revisits it.

This all comes from the algorithm. That is, there's no random number generator here. It not a case that someone meets a planet, some virtual dice are thrown and the results used to populate that planet, and as such the data needs to be saved. The numbers defining the planet and its inhabitants will remain consistent across all applications of the creation process, whether the same player keeps revisiting or other players visit.

Developer's are saying there could potentially be over 18 quintillion planets. That's a lot of potential data...

If each planet is recorded in one byte, that's one million terabytes of data. If you need 1kb for each planet and your needing a billion terabytes of data. Hence it's all dynamically, procedurally generated.

Additionally, since it's a shared universe, it's easy for players to encounter other players if they wished. The galactic coordinates of planets can be shared and assuming you have a craft capable of reaching that location, you can presumably do so.

Okay, though that still precludes friends deliberately meeting up.

Even if you are only interested in playing solo, you could go online and find the coordinates of particularly interesting planet that is posted online. That opens up social yet solo gameplay. Potentially quite interesting for Twitch streamers and their audience (they could give the coordinates of planets they've visited and their audience could then go and look at it themselves).

Is that really any different to someone posting about a place they found offline?

They could have had a unified galaxy for everyone to experience, but then they'd have to handcraft everything and it'd end up being small. But it wouldn't require an online connection.

Nope. See above.

They could have had a mind bogglingly large galaxy that was procedurally generated without an online connection. But then everyone wouldn't have a unified galaxy to explore.

It'd be the same galaxy, just without individuals shaping it that others can see. I think it comes down to how sparse this thing is or not. If players are a rare encounter, then their impacts might be few and far between, making it kinda pointless. If players aren't that far apart and do encounter each others impact on the galaxy frequently enough, why not enable it that they can meet?

I guess one reason would be to avoid Eve type factions. You could easily have organised groups controlling space if there were means to.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

...but if the procedural generation turns out differently...

Final (unnecessary!) correction, as you've not read my above yet. Procedural creation in this case is non-random. It's the same creation every time. Like Elite on the BBC. Everyone had the same galaxy to explore with each planet being created on the fly as encountered.

 

[orangpelupa]

I don't think that'd work with how they intend the galaxy to work. If by chance say 2 or 3 people discover the same planet (by galactic coordinates) then what happens when they come online? Likely the first would get priority for name, etc. but if the procedural generation turns out differently then will the other players that just came online suddenly find their planet changed? If there's any persistent changes that players can do on planets (I don't know if there is) will those suddenly be wiped out and replaced by the changes others have done?

I guess we'll all find out eventually. Although I'm not getting the game until I see some Twitch Streams or YouTube Let's Plays to determine if it's something I'd want. And then depending on how good it is, I'll either grab it now, wait for it to go on sale, or take a pass.

Regards,
SB

they said that it wont be different. everything will be the same for all players despite it was generated on-the-fly. They say its due to the use of the same math formula. Explaining like 2+2 always equals to 4. or something like that.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Think of it like a Mandlebrot fraction algorithm.
http://tilde.club/~david/m/#zoom=1....s=1&escapeRadius=10&colorScheme=pickColorHSV3

Everyone visiting that 'location' has the same input parameters into the algorithm and the same picture drawn on their screen, without any data needing to be stored.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

The game requires you to be online from what I know. What Sean Murray said was that unlike say Destiny or others, once the servers are gone, the game will let u play offline. So u won't have a dead game after a few years just cos they are asking players to login now. That's what he said recently.


Is PSN down? Cos I wanted to chk if the description mandates psn login to play but can't enter the store at all.

Sent from my SM-N920G using Tapatalk

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Doesn't mention requirement for online nor PS+ in UK store.
https://store.playstation.com/#!/en...PlayStation+-+Brand+-+UK&EMCID=GM300000_store

 

[Globalisateur]

Doesn't mention requirement for online nor PS+ in UK store.
https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-gb/games/no-man's-sky/cid=EP2034-CUSA03952_00-NMSDGTPREORDEREU?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=psn store&utm_campaign=PX+-+PlayStation+-+Brand+-+UK&EMCID=GM300000_store

We do know we won't need PS+ to play online.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...ns-sky-will-not-require-playstation-plus.aspx

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Otherwise Hello Games have made life unnecessarily complex for themselves.

The lack of player interaction means this is rather easy. As for why, who can say. Seems like a candidate for a single player game to me.

 

[zed]

If each planet is recorded in one byte, that's one million terabytes of data.

they might even use Zero storage, i.e. the seeds are the planets coords andor surrounding objects

. If players are a rare encounter, then their impacts might be few and far between, making it kinda pointless.

yes As I posted when the game was announced, I cant see why they're doing it this way, billions of planets. It would of been far far better to have ~1000 planets, which on average would look better than the billions of planets. Eg procedurally create 100 planets pick the single best looking planet out of them, discard the other 99, repeat ~1000x. viola 1000 planets that are the creme of the crop, with lots of variation etc.
I would ditch the multiplayer aspect as well, elite didnt need it. The emptiness of space doesnt lead to social contact anyways "oh hello piece of flying metal"
1000 planets * 1 hour each = more hours playtime than 99% of games