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

[Grall]

This game was almost best-of-show-worthy for me, I'm just wondering how much actual GAME is in there. Running/flying around and just exploring quickly gets old when everything is procedurally generated; if there's no storytelling then there's not much game. Just the opportunity for multiplayer conflict in a pseudo-infinite universe, which might attract some a lot and me not so much.

It does look awesome though, and I'm very curious about what they'll finally come up with when this game's completely finished (if a procedural game can be classified as such. )

 

[zed]

I'm just wondering how much actual GAME is in there. Running/flying around and just exploring quickly gets old when everything is procedurally generated;

Yeah just like elite got boring after a while, but mate every game gets boring

Personally I dont think the story really matters that much, from what I read (and from when I tried it out on the PC) with GTA a lot of ppl didnt complete the missions etc they just killed ppl and drove around in cars doing jumps etc, the actual story was immaterial. Perhaps after 100 hours you're bored going from planet to planet shooting stuff but arent a lot of games with a story 'done' in 20 hours or under

OT - but thats what I cant understand (well I do they -- look good in marketing though & thats the reason theyre made), companies spend large amounts of cash creating cutscenes/trailers for games that dont 'really' add to gameplay .. hell ppl usually skip through them from what I see, if instead of doing these they spent the time/money/effort in making content for the actual game the consumer would be better off

 

[RenegadeRocks]

There is a thread about No Mans Sky. We have been discussing this game since the first time it was shown. Mods please merge the threads.

And yes, the trailer is definitely the most WOW thing to come out of E3. The seamless way you go from space to planet to space is simply incredible. I was expecting a transition but its just plain seamless ! And all that wildlife, well I just wasn't expecting a world so detailed !!

Do we have a release date?

 

[zed]

Sorry I didnt see that thread and no suggestions came up when I used 'no mans sky' for the title but yes merge the threads, E3 was the first I'ld heard of the game. I thought it was weird that there was no thread here when its obviously one of the 'stand out' games of E3 if not the standout game, esp since the graphics tech is very interesting to boot as well. I suppose space aint as interesting as shooting ppl on the ground [shrug]

 

[Prophecy2k]

I'm not ready to crown this game best of anything as yet, as my biggest worry is that the universe will be this huge procedurally generated environment with very little to do in it but explore (which will be fun, but not for very long).

I suppose it will be a nice little indie game distraction, but I think the premise and potential of what has been shown, shows so much more promise than what I can imagine a small team of 10 people can ever realistically produce.

I think this game will ultimately disappoint alot of folks who will let their imagination and expectations run too far away from them.

That aside, i think it looks f@#king GORGEOUSLY AMAZING!!!

 

[skmanga]

I'm thinking the variation comes from how you decide to tackle being alone in a universe.
From hearing one of the creator's speak, it seems the world will be large enough that 99% of the things you come by will be unique to your play through, and 99% of the places you visit will also be unique to you.
Their job seems to be creating the right balance and setting up the right parameters.
They are well aware of the potential for procedurally built worlds to become repetitive and boring.

But I don't think that's where all the fun will be, we will never get the chance to see all there is to see!
but for example someone that likes fish might make it his mission to find an elusive species he believes is out there!

 

[scooby_dooby]

I'm not ready to crown this game best of anything as yet, as my biggest worry is that the universe will be this huge procedurally generated environment with very little to do in it but explore (which will be fun, but not for very long).

This is my worry too. With only 4 guys, talking about 'Infinite' worlds and creatures, that just screams very random & repetitive in my mind. Without much hand-crafted experience at all.

Hopefully they pull it off though, it really looks amazing and the concept is killer.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

I also think this is one of the most exciting games about at the moment, but I also wonder whether it includes one galaxy or more – I heard references to a universe, but how big is that universe? Galaxies are actually formed of billions of stars each likely with multiple planets, and there are billions of galaxies. Presumably the game doesn’t procedurally generate a tiny fraction of this much detail? If the game only included one galaxy that’s anywhere near the size of the Milky Way and each player starts on a different planet (I remember correctly the devs suggesting that would be the case), the odds of meeting another player would be essentially zero. If the game included multiple galaxies, then you would be guaranteed to never meet another player in the game. Ever.

I’d like to know the approximate size of the game’s ‘universe’, so we can at least assume some communication. Also, wouldn’t the game need some ridiculous server to maintain all of this stuff?

 

[scooby_dooby]

If the game included multiple galaxies, then you would be guaranteed to never meet another player in the game. Ever.

This doesn't seem like a hard problem to design around. Just spawn people in clusters, so they have neighbors, and implement some sort of long-distance travel system to visit other clusters.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Just spawn people in clusters, so they have neighbors

Clusters of what? Stars around one galaxy?

implement some sort of long-distance travel system to visit other clusters.

Damn, those ships must be way more advanced than they look if they're capable of intergalactic travel.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Clusters of what? Stars around one galaxy?

People in an area of space, whether on the same planet or in the same star system or whatever needed to make contact frequent enough to be relevant.

I don't have any issue with procedural content. The right procedures can create very convincing systems (systems develop based on behavioural procedures, whether natural systems or civilisations). The problem will be making the systems exciting to be a part of, or fascinating to watch. There has to be purpose to travelling and landing and wanting to meet people etc., even if that purpose is only exploration, but that in itself will be pretty niche for a lot of people I think. Unless they go VR, and then it's like the ultimate escapism!

The could hand-craft a core experience though, similar to Elite. The starting planets and trade were designed, and the rest left to sprawl.

 

[skmanga]

I also think this is one of the most exciting games about at the moment, but I also wonder whether it includes one galaxy or more – I heard references to a universe, but how big is that universe? Galaxies are actually formed of billions of stars each likely with multiple planets, and there are billions of galaxies. Presumably the game doesn’t procedurally generate a tiny fraction of this much detail? If the game only included one galaxy that’s anywhere near the size of the Milky Way and each player starts on a different planet (I remember correctly the devs suggesting that would be the case), the odds of meeting another player would be essentially zero. If the game included multiple galaxies, then you would be guaranteed to never meet another player in the game. Ever.

I’d like to know the approximate size of the game’s ‘universe’, so we can at least assume some communication. Also, wouldn’t the game need some ridiculous server to maintain all of this stuff?

I've heard Hello Games state that the main sort of goal in the game is to reach the center of the galaxy, so I don't know if its just a single galaxy in the game, but they also keep using the term 'universe' loosely which confuses, also the term 'infinite'.

Though in regards to size, the game world seems like its gonna be the biggest yet.
I've heard them say that you could spend your whole life playing and still would only have explored 1% of the total size of the world/map, or something along those lines

From the trailers there also seems to be the capability for your ship or AI ships to 'warp jump', which is also something the developers spoke of in regards to it being a potential upgrade for your ship.

This is the interview I speak of: http://www.gamespot.com/e3/samsung-stage-1-2014/
First interview of the link.

For what its worth Hello games seems to want to make this a very personal and unique journey.
It's almost as if they feel that meeting or playing with other players will detract from your own intimate and personal experience.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Edit: removal - my calculation of possible planets to explore can't be correct.........

Edit2: Okay, so I originally calculated that with 30b galaxies with an average of 30b stars around each galaxy, with around 4 planets per star. Which is conservative, gave me the number of:

36,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets to explore, which looked stupid to me so I deleted my post and did a tiny bit of research.

According to this link:

http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2013/01/05/how-many-planets-are-in-the-universe/

My estimation is definitely conservative and they suggest:

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in our observable Universe.
So anyway, we can only assume that any of these types of games will include the smallest fraction of explorable planets.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

I've heard them say that you could spend your whole life playing and still would only have explored 1% of the total size of the world/map, or something along those lines

I guess you could easily estimate the total number of planets in their game. You'd need the total number of minutes in the average lifetime and an estimation for how long it goes from one planet to the next. Then times it by 100, assuming 1% is true.

Lifetime minutes / length to explore * 100?

 

[-tkf-]

Realistically There are only two options
1. procedurally generated
2. nothing

Also procedural stuff can sometimes give better results than handcrafted stuff, due to the fact artists dont have an infinite amount of time/patience

I think there is other options, get the basic layout, even if incredible detailed with option 1, add whatever tools that is needed to add/subtract stuff in order to make things more interesting.

Maybe they cracked it and it will actually be amazing and worth exploring everything.

 

[zed]

Mate planets are huge, perhaps you could have a handcrafted asteroid (or small planetoid) of say 50km radius but earth size youre looking at
510 million square kilometers, ok 70% water/ice/desert
say only 10% of the suface is interesting thats still 50 million square kilometers to populate. Can you imagine how many artists how many years you'ld need to make that unique, not possible.
Sure you could have a 'interesting bit of say 10x10km and with instructions to the spaceship pilot, fly there cause we spent time making this area look good. But that defeats what I believe is the purpose of the game, which is exploring.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

I just watched the trailer for this game again and I'm so inbelieveably excited about it. Not just the scope, but the beauty of it. The aesthetics of it are incredible.

 

[Ethatron]

1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets in our observable Universe.
So anyway, we can only assume that any of these types of games will include the smallest fraction of explorable planets.

I'd love to see the physics simulation of that. Damn Newton wasn't too smart.

 

[Grall]

People in an area of space, whether on the same planet or in the same star system or whatever needed to make contact frequent enough to be relevant.

Actual planets, earth-size, realistic scale - I'm not sure the game actually models things that accurately - are so large that even a million players spawning on the same world would only rarely encounter each other unless they also spawned literally next to each other.

Much less a galaxy of planets, or a universe of galaxies. That's just dumb. 99.999999+% of such a universe would go unexplored even if humanity played the game until our sun dies.

I don't have any issue with procedural content. The right procedures can create very convincing systems

Yes, but it still gets repetitive quickly, because procedural generation can only create things within the set limits of the algorithm used; it doesn't have any actual imagination.

Procedurally generated storytelling (meaning missions, quests and so on) would really only be endless variations of a couple different themes. There wouldn't, couldn't, be any genuine creativity involved, because computers aren't sentient - yet, anyway...

 

[zed]

Actual planets, earth-size, realistic scale - I'm not sure the game actually models things that accurately - are so large that even a million players spawning on the same world would only rarely encounter each other unless they also spawned literally next to each other.

true though I assume they have some sort of radar device (whats the word for radar like device i.e. something that tells you where everything is? but not using radar) but yes I do hope they bunch everything up otherwise it'll take you hours just to fly around a planet at 200m high

Procedurally generated storytelling (meaning missions, quests and so on) would really only be endless variations of a couple different themes. There wouldn't, couldn't, be any genuine creativity involved,

How is this any different than human created missions in games, they seem to be
1. goto point A
2. deliver article B at location C
3. destroy target D
repeat