No Man's Sky release date announced.

[Rhezuss]

Ok the hype is building now. Been watching some videos lately but everyone of them seem to show the same stuff but in different environments. If there is actual content in addition to exploring and "reaching the center" this game could be awesome.

@jackstar7: Been thinking the same thing. Could a nice change of pace and like you say, a relaxing experience to just get in your ship and go out there.

 

[jackstar7]

I want that game to be good, but I somehow doubt it will be.

I remember watching a video from IGN, I think it was called "IGN First", about No Man's Sky. I'm not sure if it was a modified demo for the cameras but the version that was shown had me worrying about the "exploration" aspect of the game. You could see Sean Murray playing it, and with the press of one button (on the controller) he scanned an entire planet's worth of "points of interests". I know that I'll see a lot of disagreement on this but so be it. In exploration-based games, Points of Interests are a bane and it needs to die, or at the very least needs to be dramatically decreased.

Having PoIs on your compass/radar or just blatantly "being there" on-screen up to the horizon telling you "Look, there's something over there!" is essentially the developers doing the actual exploration work (and fun) for you. All you have to do is hop on your ship, "go there" because you already know there's something to be "discovered", land, "discover" whatever it is that the PoI was so gentle in doing for you, go back in your ship, rinse and repeat until you clear the planet's PoIs.

From the latest IGN preview:



Now it was my turn. Murray dropped me onto the planet Balari V. It’s an ice planet – over 150 degrees below zero…Celsius. Snow-powdered green pine trees dot the landscape. My suit’s thermal protection is not infinite. On-screen warnings flash that my suit is down to 75% protection from the elements, and then 50%, and then 25%, and then…frostbite. I can’t run anymore and I’m slowly dying. “It's really important to me that the game be a challenging game,” Murray says. As such, you’ll have to scrounge for resources that can be used for so many different things, from recharging your thermal suit to upgrading weapons or your ship to creating a bypass chip that will allow you to hack a building’s landing terminal and steal a ship.

“You can trade, you can fight, you can explore, [and] you can survive. It’s a giant sandbox – a universe-sized sandbox,” promises the humble Irishman. But Murray also seems to relish in the idea that No Man’s Sky is so massive that no FAQ or walkthrough could ever possibly help you. He wants you to explore it for yourself. “Nowhere out there is there a FAQ to show me where things are,” he says. “There's no mini-map. We had one but we took it out. We want people to explore. Since no one has been here before, the mini-map shouldn't exist.”

Sounds like they heard you...

 

[Subyman]

I saw a few things about it last night on Giantbomb. Some of the wonder is dripping away from the game. I'm thinking it might be too random. He was talking about the NPCs on each planet referencing the climate the live in, the name of the planet, and the resources available on the planet. They will not provide any fluff like cultural stories or anything that makes them feel like a living breathing world. Sounds a little too clinical.

Still excited to see what this game is.

 

[mnewsham]

since you're only running into people periodically

It's highly unlikely you will run into someone else.

They estimated less than 1% of players would ever find another player.

 

[maevinj]

It's highly unlikely you will run into someone else.

They estimated less than 1% of players would ever find another player.

Of course you know there are going to be some people who's only goal is to find other players, and then kill them..

 

[jackstar7]

Of course you know there are going to be some people who's only goal is to find other players, and then kill them..

I'd be amused if this were the most elaborate opt-in psychopath test.

 

[Markbnj]

hey will not provide any fluff like cultural stories or anything that makes them feel like a living breathing world.

That's sort of the main issue with procedural content generation. You can have algorithms generate things, events, even reasonably believable names, but what they can't generate is any interesting narratives to tie it all together. In multiplayer it might still work well to the extent that players or perhaps production teams generate content into the world.

 

[BoberFett]

That's sort of the main issue with procedural content generation. You can have algorithms generate things, events, even reasonably believable names, but what they can't generate is any interesting narratives to tie it all together. In multiplayer it might still work well to the extent that players or perhaps production teams generate content into the world.

It'd be interesting if people could leave things behind for other players to find, or teach the aliens new things to say.

Unfortunately I think it would end up mostly with dong shaped rock formations and aliens that cursed out new visitors that came along...

 

[Markbnj]

Watched an 18m IGN trailer tonight. While the gameplay I saw was impressive on quite a few levels, overall I was reminded of Spore, which at the time promised revolutionary breakthroughs in procedural content generation, and ended up being boring as hell, at least for me. We'll see, but honestly exploring a super-vast universe full of randomly generated places just doesn't sound like all that much fun. I'd rather have a galaxy of a hundred hand-crafted star systems.

 

[Blue_Max]

The blatant rip of Battlestar Galactica's Vipers kinda' turned me off a bit.

 

[mnewsham]

The blatant rip of Battlestar Galactica's Vipers kinda' turned me off a bit.

A generic space ship design that has been used in countless video games is the thing that turns you off to no mans sky... What a non-issue.

 

[Sabrewings]

It'd be interesting if people could leave things behind for other players to find, or teach the aliens new things to say.

Unfortunately I think it would end up mostly with dong shaped rock formations and aliens that cursed out new visitors that came along...

You do leave behind that you discovered the place. When you arrive the name of the place is displayed and a "discovered by" with their user name. I'm really hoping they have a decent username filter, though.

I'd rather have a galaxy of a hundred hand-crafted star systems.

I'd rather have both. Depending on what you feel like playing that day. A game like No Man's Sky isn't possible with mostly handcrafted content. There's supposed to be a lot of things they're not talking about that you can find, as well as the crafting system and resource gathering, shooting, space battles, etc. Then there's the over arching reason of why you're trying to get to the center of the universe.

I can see myself being quite interested in playing this game for hours. When Minecraft was first released I kept walking in a direction for as long as I could, just to see what was over the next hill. I like exploration, just to see what's there.

I would really like Elite if you could get out of the damned space ship. Horizons is a decent step in the right direction, but it's too little at the moment and limited to dead worlds (recent discovery not withstanding). The only reason in the near future I'll be going back in is to use it as the glorified galaxy touring simulation it is with my Vive.

A generic space ship design that has been used in countless video games is the thing that turns you off to no mans sky... What a non-issue.

That's like saying Galaxian sucked because they copied the Y-wing...

 

[Blue_Max]

A generic space ship design that has been used in countless video games is the thing that turns you off to no mans sky... What a non-issue.

That's like saying Galaxian sucked because they copied the Y-wing...

Cool your jets, boys... I said "a bit". Sheesh. I just don't like plagiarism, especially in such an expensive game.

 

[Sabrewings]

It's a generic starfighter design:

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net...fighter.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070603153350

http://cdn.obsidianportal.com/assets/103265/Hawk.jpg

It's also user configurable, so if you don't like it, change it.

 

[Blue_Max]

It's a generic starfighter design:

Yeah, yeah... I get it. And the more I look, the more I see it. That tri-engine design was closer to the Viper than any of these other examples, but certainly is a common nose/cockpit.

Still, it was a tiny criticism and you two ganked me good over it. I take it you're excited for the game's release?

 

[Sabrewings]

Still, it was a tiny criticism and you two ganked me good over it. I take it you're excited for the game's release?

You're right, I am. It just seemed so trivial, especially since BSG isn't where those types of designs originated in the first place. And then there's something to be said for homages to beloved steps in the genre.

 

[Markbnj]

I'd rather have both. Depending on what you feel like playing that day. A game like No Man's Sky isn't possible with mostly handcrafted content.

That's true if by "like No Man's Sky" you simply mean the vastness of the universe. All the other mechanics would work just fine in a handcrafted galaxy of even a few dozen star systems, and be a lot more engaging imo. I think procedural generation works within that framework, but it doesn't work _as_ the framework.

 

[Sabrewings]

That's true if by "like No Man's Sky" you simply mean the vastness of the universe. All the other mechanics would work just fine in a handcrafted galaxy of even a few dozen star systems, and be a lot more engaging imo. I think procedural generation works within that framework, but it doesn't work _as_ the framework.

The vastness of the galaxy is a huge part of the game, so the other mechanics are moot if it's not there. Do you simply think it isn't possible to create an engaging world procedurally? Everything I've seen of the game thus far has been different from the last, so unless there's some extreme cherry-picking going on, it looks like they can deliver.

 

[jackstar7]

I can't wait for someone to complain that all the planets are round.

The hype/anti-hype seems similar to what I saw with Battlefront. There are people excited by the prospect of the experience and some people who are not. The people who are not should not spend money on this game. Solves all their problems right there.

Then those of us that want to will do it and find out if $60 is a fair price for an infinite experience. I kinda think that it will be... but I'm also interested in this for the anti-game elements. Traditional gamers will likely hate it for those reasons. I hope they don't waste time or money playing it and then complaining about it. Go play games you like.

 

[Markbnj]

Do you simply think it isn't possible to create an engaging world procedurally?

Yes, essentially I do. Don't get me wrong: exploration is my thing too, but after awhile big and pretty wears off and there has to be something behind it. Even something as simple as "The Amari live in this quadrant, and have for 2500 years" is pretty much completely beyond the capabilities of procedural generation algorithms. I don't say it will always be, but it is now. You can hard code that stuff in and throw a few random factors at it but even with many variables the patina of reality just isn't there, especially when you scale up. Chris Crawford was involved with a project called Storytron years ago, whose intent was to generate dynamic and believable narratives to power a game playing world. I don't know what became of it, but I predicted at the time that nothing would. Stories are art, and we're just beginning to poke our way into the realm of computers creating simulations of art. Real art they will never create, at least not until they can feel joy and pain.

 

[Dahak]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/no-mans-sky-just-got-even-cooler-now-that-weve-seen-it-1762270587

Explains that there is some alien life out there that you can find, learn the language of them and speak to them. Plus the pirates, and npc on some space stations.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Mark my words, this will be like spore and incredibly boring and rubbish. It's like gamers never learn.

 

[Sabrewings]

Mark my words, this will be like spore and incredibly boring and rubbish. It's like gamers never learn.

Marked. See you in July after people have had time to mess with it for a month.

 

[jackstar7]

Mark my words, this will be like spore and incredibly boring and rubbish. It's like gamers never learn.

Then I'm not a gamer. I think I'm likely to enjoy this well beyond the average player.

But again, don't buy it. Problem solved for you.

 

[Dahak]

Mark my words, this will be like spore and incredibly boring and rubbish. It's like gamers never learn.

True, I have that concern as well, but it still seems interesting and I could see it being more interesting than spore personally