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

That's my concern - what do you do? In the above trailer for the latest update with creature riding etc, what are the motivations to go anywhere and do anything?

you can start farming - make money from it - buy ships/fleet while going to the centre of galaxy where you can claim one of systems and/or have fun building your home base or just relax in your space exploration fantasy. But yeah it's a bit tiring and I suspect that it aims at people with OCD.

In preparation for the new update I documented my home base near the centre, just in case it gets wiped out.
 
I just used the game to chillax, it’s great for winding down after a stressful day...can’t wait to play it in VR, happy days!
 
there is some story in there, and the crafting/commerce/jobs aspect seems pretty deep.
But i played in sandbox mode barely following the story or doing jobs/side quests, and still put more than 45h in it, just exploring.
i'm ready for some VR exploration ! Hope it's not too pared back visually to make it run on PSVR.
 
That's my concern - what do you do? In the above trailer for the latest update with creature riding etc, what are the motivations to go anywhere and do anything? I'm reminded of The Tomorrow Children where there was lots to do, but no real reason or motivation to. After a bit of exploration of the game, it felt empty without a purpose and attaining goals.

Basically the same with any good sandbox game. You create your own things to do. That's why people who are into these types of games love them. They are free to do whatever they want and free to use their creativity to create their own stories and adventures.

People that want more directed experiences are going to be less interested in them. The degree to which they have interest (or disinterest) depending on just how much of a guided experience they want. Open world story game lovers will often find elements that they like, but will slowly lose interest as they eventually find themselves directionless. People that love games with a strong story and direction are the ones least likely to find anything to keep their interest.

So for me. I love watching streamers that are into RP playing games like this (NMS, Conan, GTA Online, etc.) as it's fascinating to watch the evolving story that they create. But when I try to play them, I quickly lose interest.

Regards,
SB
 
What are the tools for creating your won stories though? Can you land on a planet with three friends, and someone stumbles on a giant beast in a cave that's quicker then you all so you grab some alien crabs and ride them, just staying ahead, until an acid rain cloud appears and you decide to ride into it to try and shake off the monster? With that gone, you find a stash of Something Rare and feel lucky. But when you get back to your ship, aliens have nicked your engines and guidance computer and you have to track them down into their underground base where they're really sensitive to light so you can scare them off with your flashlights and recover the ship parts and fly off to the next adventure?

Or do you and friends land on a planet, name a few similar looking plants, collect some rocks, then head to your base to add another room and make it bigger? Then off to another planet to name some plants, collect some rocks, and make you base a bit bigger?
 
The second one pretty much.
A great example of what is, in my opinion, wrong with the game is the rover you can build: your spaceship does everything the rover does, only better and faster. Plus it can fly obviously. And i don't know whether that has changed, but you couldn't even take the rover with you if you ventured into space. It's a pointless gimmick. The whole base-building aspect of the game is completely at odds with NM'sS's core gameplay loop, the exploration. And if all you wanna do is build a base, there are certainly much better games out there scatching that particular itch. Shacking up on planets was never part of the original design and it shows.
 
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What are the tools for creating your won stories though? Can you land on a planet with three friends, and someone stumbles on a giant beast in a cave that's quicker then you all so you grab some alien crabs and ride them, just staying ahead, until an acid rain cloud appears and you decide to ride into it to try and shake off the monster? With that gone, you find a stash of Something Rare and feel lucky. But when you get back to your ship, aliens have nicked your engines and guidance computer and you have to track them down into their underground base where they're really sensitive to light so you can scare them off with your flashlights and recover the ship parts and fly off to the next adventure?

Or do you and friends land on a planet, name a few similar looking plants, collect some rocks, then head to your base to add another room and make it bigger? Then off to another planet to name some plants, collect some rocks, and make you base a bit bigger?
So, what you're asking is..."What's my motivation?". I haven't played NMS but emergent gameplay of the type you're talking about would probably require millions of times the power available in a console. I don't think it could be designed into the fabric of the game engine.
 
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So, what you're asking is..."What's my motivation?". I haven't played NMS but emergent gameplay of the type you're talking about would probably require millions of times the power available in a console. I don't think it could be designed into the fabric of the game engine.
My examples were extremes. The EG coverage makes it sound more interesting. Can anyone absolute confirm that a bunch of friends can buy the game, join on PS4, and play together from the beginning without having to jump through hoops or play individually on separate planets for the first n hours until the Training Wheels protocol is disengaged? When me and two friends bought Guild Wars years ago, the first few hours limited us to only two to a party for some frustrating reason. I'm seeing that could be the case here.
 
Basically the same with any good sandbox game. You create your own things to do. That's why people who are into these types of games love them. They are free to do whatever they want and free to use their creativity to create their own stories and adventures.

People that want more directed experiences are going to be less interested in them. The degree to which they have interest (or disinterest) depending on just how much of a guided experience they want. Open world story game lovers will often find elements that they like, but will slowly lose interest as they eventually find themselves directionless. People that love games with a strong story and direction are the ones least likely to find anything to keep their interest.

So for me. I love watching streamers that are into RP playing games like this (NMS, Conan, GTA Online, etc.) as it's fascinating to watch the evolving story that they create. But when I try to play them, I quickly lose interest.

Regards,
SB

Weirdly I don’t like sandbox games and I love strongly scripted games...yet really dig this.

The second one pretty much.
A great example of what is, in my opinion, wrong with the game is the rover you can build: your spaceship does everything the rover does, only better and faster. Plus it can fly obviously. And i don't know whether that has changed, but you couldn't even take the rover with you if you ventured into space. It's a pointless gimmick. The whole base-building aspect of the game is completely at odds with NM'sS's core gameplay loop, the exploration. And if all you wanna do is build a base, there are certainly much better games out there scatching that particular itch. Shacking up on planets was never part of the original design and it shows.

I must confess to not playing recently so not sure, but the biggest bug-bear for me was making those mid-range journeys where foot took a while but ship was inaccurate and used too much fuel. I assumed the buggy resolved that?

My examples were extremes. The EG coverage makes it sound more interesting. Can anyone absolute confirm that a bunch of friends can buy the game, join on PS4, and play together from the beginning without having to jump through hoops or play individually on separate planets for the first n hours until the Training Wheels protocol is disengaged? When me and two friends bought Guild Wars years ago, the first few hours limited us to only two to a party for some frustrating reason. I'm seeing that could be the case here.

Have you seen the recent video from Sean Murray? I think he pretty much confirms this bar having to play some opening bit first (but not sure why you’d have to do that anyway).
 
update is out and it's bugfest as usual, but HG have a good track record at fixing this game so yeah ... meanwhile I discovered that disabling multiplayer have good influence on stability, 1080p output still have best framerate and my primary base was re-arranged.
 
Ok played a bit more in VR.
Resolution can drop very low, and aliasing be pretty bad, plus some framerate problems, a first for me in a PSVR game.
When all these come together it can get really distracting, plus bugs and pop in.
But that must have been a difficult task to even bring this game to PSVR, as it's the full game, everything is there, in VR, even the terrain editor.
So in the end it might be the worst IQ i've seen on PS4 Pro VR, but it's still a very nice free add-on to the full game !

 
Ok played a bit more in VR. Resolution can drop very low, and aliasing be pretty bad, plus some framerate problems, a first for me in a PSVR game.

No kidding, that is so unbelievably blurry. I really like my PSVR - what I call PlatStation Hat(tm) - except for one thing overall and that is the resolution is just too low. In some games it does not matter but in a game with a detailed UI and HUD, it's excruciating. Roll on PS5 and PSVR 2. :yes:
 
yeah and i must admit i'm now a bit spoiled by the higher res screen of the Quest so i notice more the lower resolution of the PSVR.
 
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