No Man's Sky

[MrSmirch]

That's incredible... What a pisstake from the developers.

This whole game sounds like the sort of digital £3 thing you see on the PS store.

[flamingsombrero]

One of the bigger bait and switches in recent gaming, could only have gotten more carny if Sean Murray had been ushering people into a sideshow tent to play it.

 

Edited August 25, 2016 by flamingsombrero

[hogso]

@Daweii when you say you maxed out your ship and suit, do you mean getting all components (laser/weapon, health/shield, scan, jetpack) to max, with all upgrades installed? Mighty impressive. 

I've just caved in and finally spent the 4mil I had left from the 5mil I had from sac venom/pearl farming on a new ship, loaded it with plenty of weapon upgrades so I can smash shit up, as that is my lowest ranked journey milestone, and I'd like the plat too. 

[Daweii]

@hogso Yeah at one point I had a fully maxed out ship with every upgrade at +3, still have the fully maxed exosuit/multi-tool..

I say at one point because once I started my journey to the center of the galaxy I downgraded my ship. 

My thinking was that because upgrades seem to receive a buff when they are installed next to one another. So for instance on the multi-tool having the Grenade Intensity Sigma upgrade installed in a line with the Grenade Intensity Tau and Theta upgrades (+1/+2/+3), the grenade does even more damage than if those three upgrades were not linked. Yet if you can also install all three next to the initial Plasma Launcher mod the grenade damage is even higher.

So in my head I thought the same would be true on my ship. The issue is many ships have the Hyperdrive tucked away around other ship parts that can't be broken down. So I had to downgrade my ship to one that would allow me to connect the Hyperdrive to all three (Sigma/Tau/Theta) Warpdrives. In my mind this should have been the key to warping to the center super-fast as it's meticulous and takes a lot of effort, crafting a Warpdrive Tau and Theta take time. Yet what I found though was installing them in a line granted me 50 lightyears more than just having them installed anywhere in the inventory with no thought, so the end result was not worth it.

_______________________

Nice on the new ship as well mate! Those little milestones towards the grander milestones in the game are so rewarding. I wish you all the best of fun smashing the shit out of pirates that think they can take advantage. 

Edited August 26, 2016 by Daweii
Forgot the @hogso..

[RunRickyRun]

Really enjoyed my time with this and it's largely delivered on what I was hoping for.

The endgame is really where it falls apart but this is a common problem for open-world ganmes. I think this will be addressed in time and with mods.

 

[Davkaus]

If anyone bought this on steam and is regretting it, Valve are accepting refund requests regardless of how long you've spent playing it. I can't remember the last time they did that.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Davkaus

[hogso]

It seems you can get refunds on PSN and Amazon too. 

The latest patch has fixed, amongst other things, the 100% completion for a planet with no fauna counting towards the milestone. Looks like I've got to do 4 more the hard way if I want that plat... 

[StefanAVFC]

 

[Ingram85]

Gone back to it after a weeks break and two patches. Performance is fine now, I found my first 'paradise' planet with creeks, lakes and oceans. Nowhere near as gorgeous as the e3 builds but a huge step in the right direction for me. 

Ive got my first atlas pass, first atlas stone, first anomaly and first black hole. All new stuff I'd never encountered before so I was really happy seeing this stuff. The resource management gets to me at times but it's manageable. 

Literally the only thing that pisses me off now is pirates as I'm next to useless at space combat lol.

Having a much more enjoyable time with it now, the patches plus my progress have increased the enjoyment factor tenfold!

[hogso]

Once you get your, say, third ship and with it some generous storage space, invest in 3 or 4 photon cannon upgrades. Those pirates won't stand a chance. As long as you've got some stacks of iron/titanium to boost your shield. That's what I did anyway, and I was able to take on whole hoardes of the blighters attacking cargo ships without too much trouble. 

I'm still aiming for the plat, the main challenge now being 100%ing 4 more planets. Currently on a small moon of a planet that has two moons, and the views are stunning. I'll have to try and get some good shots and share them. 

[StefanAVFC]

 

[Midfielder]

This is probably gonna be a long post. But here's my take on NMS.

I haven't read through this thread, in case there are spoilers. I did post in the lead up to the release, as I was excited before it came out. Football Manager aside, as a 38 year old veteran gamer, I haven't been "excited" by the release of a game since I was a kid, last time probably was when Streetfighter 2 came onto consoles, THAT long ago. Anyway. So, I got it on release day. I was texting mates with PS4s you have to get this it is 10/10, the graphics, the originality, the infiniteness. The this the that. 'I dunno, I might wait' etc, I kept getting. Back then, I didn't understand why people were so apprehensive about NMS. I was fed up with reading the same old questions 'yes, but what can you actually do in the game', etc.

Well, on day one, I was totally hooked. I gave it a 10/10 and put the hours in. A few days passed and by this point I had upgraded the ship, the multi tool, and the spacesuit. To an extent, I had come across news of some g1mp who got it a week early and boasted he completed it within 30 hours. So, in the beginning of playing it, I gave advancing through anything "story mission" related a wide birth so I didn't complete it too soon.

Now as I say. The prospect of this game ticked all of my boxes. I was a huge fan of Elite and Frontier (Elite II) back in the day, the days before a lot of you were probably even born! The name David Braben you'll have most likely never heard of! Anyway so I was all for this game. A total fanboy for a day, two days maybe. I had waited eagerly for it since the day it was announced ages and ages ago. Fast forwarding time, to say three days of play, it started to sink in. Right, so, what do I do now? I found myself with leisure time, sitting down to play, and thought, I really cannot be bothered flying in to a new planet, doing this doing that, as I have already done it. I mean all these planets are undiscovered, yet, there's all these uniform-appearance buildings already on them, with Geks or whoever manning them. So fly about a bit, mine some stuff, monuments, pick up a few new words here and there, check out some species, fly back out, sell stuff, kill some pirates... change star system. Repeat.

That actually sounds like a lot to do doesn't it? But it is all so samey. I stopped caring about the game then and then when mates were asking, I had to come clean and say "i think this is a fad". I have played it a handful of times since. An hour tops. On one hand, the developers have produced a visually stunning game, an ambitious project. It actually delivers exactly what it said on the tin, in that you explore, it is survival etc. all that. They haven't mislead to any extent.

However, what disappoints me is how quickly I couldn't be arsed to play it. Despite, how long I had waited for it to come out, I thought when this comes out, when it comes to game time, this will be my number one for many months. The measure is this. When Fallout 4 came out, say November time, I didn't even eject that damn disk til like March time. Two different games I know. But compare what you can do on that to NMS. That's the difference. Sure, different strokes for different folks, but in my own opinion, despite how vast NMS is there really isn't THAT much to do, and what there is to do is all so samey.

In my current save game, I met the two priest dudes, Nada and the other one. I remember them asking you have two options, follow the path of the Atlas or gain a direct route to the centre. Now, at the time, I thought (since there's minimal hint of story quests) that "route to the centre" was direct as in one-jump-and-youre-there kinda thing. Sooooo, I decided to follow the path of the atlas. Now, at the point I stopped playing, I did so as I found myself constantly turning up at this damn atlas and that being samey too. To the point I just thought, damn lets just get to the centre and get this over with. Then I realised, what so I seem to have turned down the way to the centre and am aimlessly just switching systems, with the best I can do being to get marginally closer and closer through trial and error when im 170,00 light years away or something? and cant get back to the priests? I couldn't care less about this damn atlas thing no more and stopped playing. Didn't want to start a new save with all the time invested possibly down the drain.

Anyway, as I said, a long rant. But just to say, it's probably over for me and NMS i'll keep it in case it grows over time with updates. I do hope there is a NMS2 but with more stuff to do, and even then i'll be sceptical. As said, in one way it is a truly great game. and yet on the other hand, simultaneously, is one of the biggest disappointments I have seen in gaming. Only my opinion of course. But that's my tuppence worth, or hundred tuppence worth.

Edited September 9, 2016 by Midfielder

[Ingram85]

I've pretty much had a similar revelation myself. Sold it yesterday and then spoiled the galaxy centre and atlas path for myself on YouTube. 

Massive Ending Spoilers on Atlas and Galaxy centre ahead. Do Not Read!!!!!!

or IMO do read, take some time to take it in and then trade it in and get some money back. 

Seriously, Dont read unless you want the game completely spoiled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spoiler

Glad I didn't bother now. Sean Murray should be ashamed of how he portrayed this game.

The Atlas path does nothing. At all. No tangible reward at all. Just that if you hand over the 10 stones you can birth a new star which you don't get to see, go to or hear anything about ever. You hand the stones over then go on your merry way as you were before. No revelation, no real reward. You do get to see where black holes are on the map though but that's it. Pointless, even the bit of text that pops up on handing over the 10 atlas stones is an ironic comment on it all. 'I feel unchanged', yep. I'd rather have had the 900,000 credits the stones were worth. Complete waste of time.

The less said about the "centre" of the Galaxy(ies) the better. I almost got angry when I watched it. You don't get to see anything! You don't even set foot on anything. You engage the hyperdrive to go to the highlighted centre on the galactic map like any other sector and then the camera just zooms out for 2 minutes all the way back to the outer edge again, like the opposite of the loading screen, spins round, finds a new Galaxy and then the game starts all over again in this new (same looking) Galaxy. Same broken ship, same start cutscene. Couldn't believe it at all. There's a guy who is up to 20 galaxies or more so far with no change so I'm guessing its just an infinite loop? Is the social comment from Hello Games to enjoy the journey rather than the destination? Utter utter cop out if so.

Worse than Peter Molyneux and the Curiosity thing in my eyes. The 'ending' and the bait and switch aspect of it all have really pissed me off.

 

Like I said though, I feel like it's my good deed for the day to advise you to read it just to save you time/money. I'm so annoyed by it.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Ingram85

[hogso]

The centre of the galaxy thing is even more galling when you go back and watch/read what Murray said about it before the game came out. Although there is this interview too (the bit I refer to is right at the end) where he basically says what the centre of the galaxy is - as a joke - but it basically is the actual ending. Hilarious. 

 

That's from March this year. 

Edited September 10, 2016 by hogso

[Ingram85]

Quite telling how there has been no communication from Murray or HG for nigh on two weeks now. 

I'm quite annoyed how it's all turned out but at the same time, relieved I don't have to suffer anymore.

Its such a shame as a game about space/planet exploration is everything I want in a game and technically NMS delivers but , and I mean this literally, ONCE you've done everything even one time then there is no need to experience it again. As nothing changes. The planets are boring, they all contain the same buildings/ruins and plants, things to accumulate. The animals look wonky. There is nothing worthwhile that one planet has that another hasn't got because it's all copy and paste.

I kept playing it waiting for something worthwhile that never came all while images of e3's gone past with beautiful scenery and huge animals contrasted with what I was seeing.

No sand worms, flying eels, portals, no natural animal movement, oceans etc... Just awkward scaled down, janky half arsed crap. Most of the things talked about in the build up and even just 2 months from release when ign did that video, it was all bollocks. Whatever they were playing was not the version they burned onto the gold disc. That's what has annoyed me. But I could probably just about let all that go if there was one redeeming factor about the atlas path or the Galaxy centre path. Anything. Something. But it's all pointless. The exploration would be cool if there was any point to it but all the planets are fundamentally the same so why bother?

To me, the games failings and ultimate lack of purpose hinder the 'well just explore different planets and upgrade your stuff then' argument, but knowing what I know now there is no point to anything you do in the game. At all. Upgrading stuff? No point, the guy who has been through the game multiple times did it in the dlc ship. Oh and the occasional nice view you get (while your back is turned to the out of shot awkward floating piece of Heridium you forgot to shoot or the same two winged crab insect thing you keep seeing on every planet) doesn't make up for it.

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by Ingram85

[hogso]

I have seen oceans (a nice planet with many many islands, most small, a few large, some tiny - bad thing about it is the game still spawns structures underwater) and 'flying eels', although certainly not anything like those flying eels from that trailer.

The game needs so much work too, to add more content, and with the amount of people playing dropping of a cliff, will they even bother?

I'd love to hear from the devs a few years in the future to say what really went on. It seems pretty clear to me that they had all that awesome stuff we saw in the trailers running in house, but it wouldn't run sufficiently well on the console. It was obviously rushed out too, despite being delayed - it's nailed on that Sony told them to get it our the door by x date no matter what and just patch it afterwards.

Even trying to suggest what would fix it is difficult...more uses for resources is a start. Find a planet and piece of land with a nice view, and build a base. Build your own ship. Make planets more dangerous places to be. Put in a story that can be completed as you travel through the galaxy you're in. Put in smaller stories that can be completed in single star systems. NPCs that can give you quests.

Thing is it needs so much work it would take an awful long time to get it all in, and would probably need to be re-released, in effect, which has worked in the past, FFXIV for example. Is it even possible though? I'm not sure it is. They'll make it work as is, maybe add the ability to buy ships or something, and that'll be about it.

I believe they expected people to approach and enjoy the game like Minecraft, where there is no hand holding, and you just do what you want to do. Which is mental. It's a story that will run for some time, until someone inside comes out and lays down what really went down. I hope they do.

I've heard the Sean Murray/Peter Molyneux comparison before, which is kind of amusing, although Molyneux actually delivered consistantly in his early career!

[Designer1]

Yep, I'm another person who's pretty much done with this now.

The initial week or so was interesting enough, but I can only echo the majority opinion again when I say it's just so wafer thin and repetitive. 

Elite Dangerous it is not.

[Daweii]

7 hours ago, Ingram85 said:

I've pretty much had a similar revelation myself. Sold it yesterday and then spoiled the galaxy centre and atlas path for myself on YouTube. 

Massive Ending Spoilers on Atlas and Galaxy centre ahead. Do Not Read!!!!!!

or IMO do read, take some time to take it in and then trade it in and get some money back. 

Seriously, Dont read unless you want the game completely spoiled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Hide contents

Glad I didn't bother now. Sean Murray should be ashamed of how he portrayed this game.

The Atlas path does nothing. At all. No tangible reward at all. Just that if you hand over the 10 stones you can birth a new star which you don't get to see, go to or hear anything about ever. You hand the stones over then go on your merry way as you were before. No revelation, no real reward. You do get to see where black holes are on the map though but that's it. Pointless, even the bit of text that pops up on handing over the 10 atlas stones is an ironic comment on it all. 'I feel unchanged', yep. I'd rather have had the 900,000 credits the stones were worth. Complete waste of time.

The less said about the "centre" of the Galaxy(ies) the better. I almost got angry when I watched it. You don't get to see anything! You don't even set foot on anything. You engage the hyperdrive to go to the highlighted centre on the galactic map like any other sector and then the camera just zooms out for 2 minutes all the way back to the outer edge again, like the opposite of the loading screen, spins round, finds a new Galaxy and then the game starts all over again in this new (same looking) Galaxy. Same broken ship, same start cutscene. Couldn't believe it at all. There's a guy who is up to 20 galaxies or more so far with no change so I'm guessing its just an infinite loop? Is the social comment from Hello Games to enjoy the journey rather than the destination? Utter utter cop out if so.

Worse than Peter Molyneux and the Curiosity thing in my eyes. The 'ending' and the bait and switch aspect of it all have really pissed me off.

 

Like I said though, I feel like it's my good deed for the day to advise you to read it just to save you time/money. I'm so annoyed by it.

Spoiler

 

Just going to add the game isn't infinite.. There are 256 galaxies in the game, the only thing that changes in each is the colour of the galaxies center.. Yet even that isn't randomised.. 

First galaxy - White, Second galaxy - Magenta, Third galaxy - Purple, Fourth galaxy - Lavender... And so on and so on 256 times.

No one knows if the center of the universe is even real after getting to the center of the final galaxy, I mean even the guy on PC that was using hacks so he could get to the center in 10 warps gave up after discovering 50 galaxies. His belief is that because the game seems to be using an 8=bit seed (limited to 256) the game will send you back to the very first galaxy again after getting to the center of the 256th galaxy.

Like you said a colossal waste of time. I got to the center of the first galaxy so got to witness it all first hand, I say that like I am proud but I am really not.. The "end" of No Man's Sky was the first time I have ever seriously contemplated just launching the console out the window and taking up Chess as a hobby instead.. It's criminal how oversold and underwhelming it truly is as a game..

 

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by Daweii

[Ingram85]

1 hour ago, hogso said:

I have seen oceans (a nice planet with many many islands, most small, a few large, some tiny - bad thing about it is the game still spawns structures underwater) and 'flying eels', although certainly not anything like those flying eels from that trailer.

The game needs so much work too, to add more content, and with the amount of people playing dropping of a cliff, will they even bother?

I'd love to hear from the devs a few years in the future to say what really went on. It seems pretty clear to me that they had all that awesome stuff we saw in the trailers running in house, but it wouldn't run sufficiently well on the console. It was obviously rushed out too, despite being delayed - it's nailed on that Sony told them to get it our the door by x date no matter what and just patch it afterwards.

........

That's the thing though, the only thing people can say is that some of the things, 'technically' are in the game. Large pools of water- check, Portals - check, eels - check and so on but the issue is is that the water areas look nothing like oceans but technically due to the size they are but nothing like preview builds. Portals? Yep they are in there but aren't working yet/if at all so nothing like the preview builds. Eels? Yes, there are snake like creatures flying through the air but they don't resemble, yes you guessed it, the preview builds. Cargo ships are in but you can only bounce into them or shoot them, you can't do anything with them. It's all such bullcrap. 

Its like when a fat ugly moose puts up a heavily photoshopped picture of only her face on her profile. Yes, technically it's her but the reality is a completely different let down of a beast and you have no idea until you have first hand experience and see the mess for what it is.

Wonder when Hello Games/Sony will crawl out, face this and own up?

Edited September 10, 2016 by Ingram85

[Midfielder]

Designer & Ingram, agreed on both posts. At the end of the day I did have great fun playing it until the novelty wore off. Disappointed that was so quickly. Considering how long it took them to make, and them saying they wanted to make it perfect for people... in this day and age how could they have not at any point thought:

right so we have a solid game engine and a great set of visual, inner mechanics of the game work great, the in planet flight and the space flight and warping. now, have we actually put enough content in it to keep people playing?

these guys have to think, that their product... will they themselves be playing it a month on? are they the gaming nuts they claim to be? if you spend that long on such an innovative, ambitious project, that promises so much you have to deliver. You have to pack a game with content and eliminate the novelty factor. otherwise, people will buy it and end up taking it to CEX or ebay and trading it in for something that they will play.

I will always fit playing games into my week, and if I want to play something it will be on something that keeps me coming back. I;m not even sure this was a premature release, I just think they got carried away with the grandeur in what they set out to achieve, which although they did, neglected the base element of a sandbox, to keep people coming back to play out their experience in that alternate world. an alternate reality, not a brief holiday. so yeah anyway.

Anyone still playing this then fair play, I'm glad you get out of it what I gave up on. I respect the game massively but at the same time think Sean Murray and Hello Games fell short with this. If they made cars, they produced something that looks like a futuristic Ferrari but one that has a Fiat Punto engine inside. If that was me, spending that long on a game of that near-brilliance, I would have taken longer to pack it crammed with stuff to do.

I'm sur ethere will be an NMS 2 one day and I bet it will be a hundred times more in depth than this.