Support NeoGAF

[Amir0x]

as somone who only recently got caught up into hype for this game i have a question. Back in the day there was this game called Daggerfall, game two of the elder scrolls. in it you had this massive world, with something like 90k square miles of area, with 15 thousand villages/cities/ dungeons and what not. Nearly a million NPCs. Sounds amazing right? except it was for the most part all randomly generated and had the personality of stale white bred. the way i see it, it was such a failure that the folks at Bethesda went in the completely opposite direction when making Morrowind ( a much better game). So my question in this. Is this colossal randomly generated universe going to have any soul in it?

I'm not sure what "soul" means, but given your prior explanation it suggests you want a more hand designed world with more specifically tailored challenges. In a game trying to reflect the randomness of reality and the scale of the universe, that's not an option that's available to them as you know. Designing a game like that with this scale would take billions of years.

That said, the amount of "soul" that applies to this concept will be directly related to how impressive their randomizing algorithm is. They claim that so far they have yet to see two planets that are alike, and that their engine has made an insane variety of different creatures based on an ever increasing number of data variables. The developers have put in specific challenges that you have to overcome to get to the center of the universe. So there is some hand crafted element, in that in order to get to the center you'll have to play by certain rules and follow a certain path. But the game is meant to be as open as possible, so that the experience of getting to the center of the universe is unique for each person.

In other words...

- Less "soul" in the overall world design, lots of empty expanses. In fact, 9 out of every 10 worlds will be devoid of life (this number is probably significantly higher than the actual percentage of world's that have life, so we should be pleased *wink*). But they can still be used for mining resources and many of them still have robot guardians that will defend the ecosystems once you start mining. So if you're the 'break out and just explore aimlessly' type, you might find the lack of "soul" to be distracting.

- More "soul" if you decide to stick to the main objective of the game, which is to get to the center of the universe. Then you will experience tailored challenges, more space battles and big ground combat scenarios, and find bits of story and more frequent alien architecture to discover. The closer to the center of the universe you go, the denser the stuff you find and the more difficult the challenges you face.

 

[whoszed]

Haven't we had the No Man Sky conversation like a hundred times already? There's nothing to discuss anymore.

 

[Nameless]

It's a game where you explore a gigantic universe. I mean, who could someone not be excited is more like it..

Yeah, but what do you do -- you know besides exploring a Universe filled with trillions of planets?

As someone who spent hours with apps like Universe Sandbox, and still thinks fondly on Colony Wars, Rogue Squadron, and similar titles, this does indeed sound like a potential dream game. It certainly excites me in ways Bro-shooter #451 or Nintendo platformer #2736 do not. Throw in future Morpheus support and the ability to use custom music via Spotify and NMS sounds like a bona fide Heaven Simulator. To each their own, I suppose.

 

[Amir0x]

Haven't we had the No Man Sky conversation like a hundred times already? There's nothing to discuss anymore.

No, we haven't. This is the first time.

*cough*

So what do you DO in No Man's Sky?
How excited are you for No Man's Sky?
No Man's Sky could be the "Spore" of this generation.
70 Questions and Answers about No Man's Sky
Please help me understand No Man's Sky

There's like a hundred more topics where someone will post some interview or video of No Man's Sky and immediately the thread will turn into a "What is No Man's Sky anyway?" health clinic, but if we started including all of those it would be... well every No Man's Sky topic on GAF.

And maybe this will help some GAFers:

Coping with the Hype of No Man's Sky Interview with Sean Murray

Also, re: the OP's edit

A good and informative post, thanks. If you are having similar questions to me, please read above quote.

You quoted my post but not what was actually in it, so nobody can read the "informative" aspect of it.

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

Not sure given there's been no gameplay, just flying around landscapes which is about as exciting as washing the dishes from what i've seen so far. I think it's because it's procedural people are excited but l think it will look samey after a while.

Ughhhh. *headdesk*

 

[Netherscourge]

I haven't actually heard much about NMS in a few months.

Where is it at? Any gameplay videos? Hands-on previews?

 

[Relativ9]

It appeals to my desire to explore the universe, discover it's secrets and understand it's beauty. I most likely won't be able to experience this in real life, so No Man's Sky will have to do.

It's a romantic game that's made as a love letter for science geeks and adventure fans. It's not for everyone. It's for the type of person who considers "and that's all you do" to be a positive statement rather than negative.

 

[Amir0x]

I haven't actually heard much about NMS in a few months.

Where is it at? Any gameplay videos? Hands-on previews?

The last big string of videos we got for the game was at PSX, so three months ago. At that time we got two different gameplay videos (one at the Videogame Awards and one at PSX 2014) plus an entire hour concert about the music of No Man's Sky.

That's pretty good and a lot of stuff to have out there for a small indie developer also simultaneously trying to launch a game. But that's the latest stuff.

But while I was looking it up, I stumbled upon a video called No Man's Sky - A Complete Explanation, which describes in video form a lot of what we've discussed ITT. So maybe that'll help some of the people here... because there's so much stuff out there guys!

 

[RoadHazard]

Oh cool, it's this thread again! Sigh...

I think you just have to be of a certain mindset to get excited by this game. You need a sense of wonder, an urge to explore and discover the unknown. I'm shitballs madly super turbo edition excited, and to me it's unfathomable how anyone can NOT be. Limitless space, countless planets to seamlessly land on and explore, space battles, trading, mining, etc, etc. And yes, there is a story and a goal, although you're extremely free in how you choose to (or not to) tackle that stuff. That just doesn't appeal to some people, I guess. They need direction, map markers, a straight line to follow to the next XP reward. And that's fine. But don't tell me I shouldn't be excited.

 

[Felspawn]

That said, the amount of "soul" that applies to this concept will be directly related to how impressive their randomizing algorithm is. They claim that so far they have yet to see two planets that are alike, and that their engine has made an insane variety of different creatures based on an ever increasing number of data variables. The developers have put in specific challenges that you have to overcome to get to the center of the universe. So there is some hand crafted element, in that in order to get to the center you'll have to play by certain rules and follow a certain path. But the game is meant to be as open as possible, so that the experience of getting to the center of the universe is unique for each person.

Ok thanks that part pretty much hits it on the head as to what i was asking. Randomly generated isnt bad per say to me but if every 5th planet is essentially identical then it would get old hat pretty quick. Hopefully they deliver on their promises. I'm looking forward to checking it out

 

[Amir0x]

Ok thanks that part pretty much hits it on the head as to what i was asking. Randomly generated isnt bad per say to me but if every 5th planet is essentially identical then it would get old hat pretty quick. Hopefully they deliver on their promises. I'm looking forward to checking it out

Honestly that's the line I'm up to. Their success or not is going to be directly related to just how fancy this randomizing algorithm is, and some games do it waaay better than others. Given how important Hello Games have made this feature though there is going to be a lot of extra pressure to pull something special out of their designing algorithm, because if we start exploring and after ten hours we start seeing enemies that are mere pallet swaps then it's going to get tedious quick.

So I'm at the "if they deliver on their features announced so far and their randomizing algorithm is impressive, I think I'll enjoy this a lot" stage.

 

[threelights]

These discussions are a big part of the reason why the Ubisoft formula still works so well...

Anyway, I'm excited because I like to explore worlds and they've shown us that their "procedural generation" CAN make countless of visually interesting areas (e.g. literally any video on the game), and we already saw a lot of the content that those worlds will have (exploration, collection, trades, etc), so I'm not just walking around in a concept art.

My concerns currently are related to them saying that each planet would only have one kind of material (is this true? I could be wrong here), and that the combat is shooting (I hate shooters).

I actually don't quite understand what people want from this game, do you want a quest marker telling you that there's stuff to do there? Do you want setpieces in space? People don't understand what this game is, and I don't understand what people don't understand...

 

[Stimpack]

I'm guessing you never subscribed to GAMEFAN or walked away from a good book/movie review. My little brother cannot be this cynical!

lol, nope! Back in the day I never got into game reviews at all. Never subscribed to any magazines or followed any kind of outlets. It was only 2-3 years ago that I started paying attention to NeoGAF. I definitely feel like I missed out on all of this when I was younger, but I still don't find myself paying much mind to critics in any medium.

 

[Nappuccino]

I'm a bit late, but my answer is "Promise."

 

[Kuraudo]

For me, part of the appeal is because it offers a unique experience. I can understand why publishers are so reluctant to take risks these days, considering the hostility NMS seems to trigger in some people. And I can understand why some people experience that hostility - the familiarity of conventions are comforting. But it is precisely because NMS doesn't adhere to prominent conventions that excites me. When I was a kid every new game seemed to offer something new, but that happens less and less as development costs skyrocket and publishers need to ensure that their game appeals to millions of buyers in order to break even. NMS offers something different and the potential of that unfamiliarity is exciting.

The other part of the appeal is that, again when I was a kid, one of my biggest fantasies was the idea of being a lone starpilot hopping from planet to planet in my one-man starship. NMS seems to capture that more than any other game.

 

[mdubs]

Also, re: the OP's edit

You quoted my post but not what was actually in it, so nobody can read the "informative" aspect of it.

Added full thing. I figured it was long to add to the OP, but you're right, it is there now.

 

[RedSwirl]

I'm gonna try to be succinct about this. For me at least, the appeal comes from two main things:

1) Exploration. Basically, the idea of discovering places no one has ever seen before, not even the developers. We're hoping they get the procedural generation down to a point where we get an acceptable number of interesting places that stoke a sense of wonder. This is a game for the people who ask "what's over there? I wonder waht's in that star system." Hello Games has already confirmed there won't just be landscapes, but also dangers like enemies to fight.

2) It's sort of going to be Grand Theft Space Ship. NMS comes from the same British sandbox design tradition that originally spawned GTA. Both games are heavily inspired by Elite, where you fly around the galaxy doing whatever you want. You know how most people who play GTA like to just drive around and cause chaos while also earning money, completely ignoring the main storyline? No Man's Sky (as well as other space games like Elite) is that, but with space ships.

 

[GobFather]

They have explained it in depth and shown it extensively. Yes, we get it - people want a full A to Z two hour gameplay demo showcasing every feature back to back so there is no confusion. That is simply not a natural reality for most games this far out from release, or that have been in development for this period of time. They're working on things and tweaking things, showing a gameplay demo too early will get people confused as to the state of the product (i.e. 'why isn't this visual effect in place yet?' or 'why isn't that gameplay feature ready yet when you said it would be?'). Yet still they have shown many videos and articulated at length boundless amounts of data as to what the game is.

Read over the details. YOU may like what the game is, you may not. But we know what it is, and nobody should be desperate to figure out what it is since it has been so clearly stated a zillion times and all that's left is either to not believe them about what they're saying or to wait patiently for the game to approach release so that we can get even more gameplay demos.



Nonsense to the tenth degree.

I don't know who is serious anymore so forgive me if you're just pulling legs and whatnot, but this has got to stop already. It's straight up fantasy from people who simply refuse to acknowledge what we know about the game. You don't have to follow the product, you don't have to like what it is. People do need to stop pretending as if Hello Games has been secretive and "all promises." So far they've listed endless explicit details about the game, have demonstrated much of it in video form and frankly have far more information out in the ether that you can research and grasp for yourself than most games that have been in development as long as NO MAN'S SKY has been.

Again, it's totally OK to not enjoy No Man's Sky open ended approach to game design; it's perfectly satisfactory to believe that the features it has announced and demonstrated will not perform well or be fun to play. It is not OK to go around telling everyone they're excited because nobody knows anything about the game and journalists say it's cool, because that's not reality.





Find resources:

Trading:

Dogfights:

Land combat:

Discovering and sharing:

Planet portals:

This is VERY INFORMATIVE. Thank you.

 

[Icyflamez96]

This is VERY INFORMATIVE. Thank you.

bless your soul for reading

 

[EBE]

i still dont get it. bah humbug.

 

[Amir0x]

This is VERY INFORMATIVE. Thank you.

it's so beautiful *sniff*

*hugs GobFather

 

[spannicus]

I can't help but wonder if Sony is setting people up for disappointment with this game by making it so prominent in their advertising and conferences.

Seems to me that it's an indie game made by a small team of 10 people and yet consumers have AAA expectations of some complex story and gameplay mechanics.

It's a game about flying around space and shit.

lol

 

[RedSwirl]

I actually don't quite understand what people want from this game, do you want a quest marker telling you that there's stuff to do there? Do you want setpieces in space? People don't understand what this game is, and I don't understand what people don't understand...

Funny part is, it will have quest markers. Sort of.

We know for a fact that each planet will have around six "points of interest." These are things you discover for resources or presumably monetary reward for having discovered them. If you look closely you can even see the HUD markers for one planet in one of the trailers.

 

[Amir0x]

lol

I mean... it is

 

[spannicus]

I mean... it is

hehe you're right. That post was funny. Looking forward to the game though. I'm excited about all games.

 

[RiverKwai]

Good talk everyone. See you in next week's NMS thread.

 

[kyser73]

Not sure given there's been no gameplay, just flying around landscapes which is about as exciting as washing the dishes from what i've seen so far. I think it's because it's procedural people are excited but l think it will look samey after a while.

Ever play Frontier? Possibly going back a bit further Elite?

Same concept. slightly different execution.

 

[Amir0x]

Good talk everyone. See you in next week's NMS thread.

Why next week? We should have one tomorrow just in case.

 

[NinjamicWZ]

You quoted my post but not what was actually in it, so nobody can read the "informative" aspect of it.

What does Amir0x even do? I still don't get the hype surrounding this post in the OP. Doesn't seem all that informative to me.

Video game companies are shooting themselves in the foot by letting people know their product exists.

Great logic. I've been thinking about posting a thread trying to figure out the hype around grocery stores for ages but my own way of thinking has held me back. You've freed me.

Who's that guy and why is he mad at the other guy? So many plot holes. This would never happen in real life.

What's the deal with airline snacks?

 

[RiverKwai]

Why next week? We should have one tomorrow just in case.

Well there is a NMS GDC event tomorrow. So ok. See you tomorrow!

 

[Icyflamez96]

to have the same discussion....

 

[kyser73]

as somone who only recently got caught up into hype for this game i have a question. Back in the day there was this game called Daggerfall, game two of the elder scrolls. in it you had this massive world, with something like 90k square miles of area, with 15 thousand villages/cities/ dungeons and what not. Nearly a million NPCs. Sounds amazing right? except it was for the most part all randomly generated and had the personality of stale white bred. the way i see it, it was such a failure that the folks at Bethesda went in the completely opposite direction when making Morrowind ( a much better game). So my question in this. Is this colossal randomly generated universe going to have any soul in it?

There's a desert world with sandworms.

Yeah, you too can be Muad'dib.

 

[Icyflamez96]

Ayy

 

[RedSwirl]

Ever play Frontier? Possibly going back a bit further Elite?

Same concept. slightly different execution.

This is the reason so many people are confused. Other than the European console version of Elite 1, this kind of space game basically hasn't appeared on a console.

If you show most people on GAF a couple minutes of gameplay of a new FPS, they can fill in their own preconceived notions about what the game is going to be. Most of the people confused about NMS however seem to have never played games of this genre, so have no frame of reference. It's like showing two minutes of Dragon Age footage to someone who has never seen an RPG before.

Now, Elite 1 and Frontier are actually free to download. I downloaded them and actually got a pretty good idea of what the gameplay loop in NMS might be like. I invite anyone who would like to get a good frame of reference to go and check out Frontier.

Problem is, Frontier's controls and systems are way too goddamn complicated for the people confused about NMS. I can't do combat at all in that game because of the newtonian physics model. This is a main point of appeal for NMS. It's basically taking Frontier's gameplay, adding terrain exploration, and making the whole thing more accessible for mainstream gamers.

 

[system11]

But, what do we do with them?

Anything, anything we want.

 

[MattKeil]

It is so weird to me that people don't seem to understand what this game is.

 

[Amir0x]

What does Amir0x even do? I still don't get the hype surrounding this post in the OP. Doesn't seem all that informative to me.

Video game companies are shooting themselves in the foot by letting people know their product exists.

Man you are onto something

Well there is a NMS GDC event tomorrow. So ok. See you tomorrow!

Oh perfect! Maybe announce NMS Xbox One edition already so that we know it's going to launch within a certain timeframe!

 

[King Tubby]

it's a game for the minecraft generation

nbd homie, not every game is made for you

It's funny because I could never get into Minecraft, but I am very excited for No Man's Sky. It just seems pretty and trippy.

 

[kyser73]

This is the reason so many people are confused. Other than the European console version of Elite 1, this kind of space game basically hasn't appeared on a console.

If you show most people on GAF a couple minutes of gameplay of a new FPS, they can fill in their own preconceived notions about what the game is going to be. Most of the people confused about NMS however seem to have never played games of this genre, so have no frame of reference. It's like showing two minutes of Dragon Age footage to someone who has never seen an RPG before.

Now, Elite 1 and Frontier are actually free to download. I downloaded them and actually got a pretty good idea of what the gameplay loop in NMS might be like. I invite anyone who would like to get a good frame of reference to go and check out Frontier.

Problem is, Frontier's controls and systems are way too goddamn complicated for the people confused about NMS. I can't do combat at all in that game because of the newtonian physics model. This is a main point of appeal for NMS. It's basically taking Frontier's gameplay, adding terrain exploration, and making the whole thing more accessible for mainstream gamers.

This is all true - the NES/SNES kids in the US had a completely different gaming upbringing to Europeans, but the guy I was replying to has the tagline 'The Amiga Brotherhood' so should be well aware of what this game involves.

 

[family_guy]

Just hope there's a clear progression system where you can actually beat the game. Maybe have a central story and the exploring other planets outside of that is optional.

 

[Amir0x]

Just hope there's a clear progression system where you can actually beat the game. Maybe have a central story and the exploring other planets outside of that is optional.

They do have a clear progression system. On top of forwarding the storyline and finding more and more alien architecture, the closer to the center of the universe you get, the more complex the obstacles and challenging the enemies. There is an ending and everything.

 

[Icyflamez96]

Just hope there's a clear progression system where you can actually beat the game. Maybe have a central story and the exploring other planets outside of that is optional.

There's not going to be a guided narrative, but the goal would be to get to the center of the galaxy. The game gets more hostile/dangerous/alien the closer to the center you get.

 

[Admiral Woofington]

Can somebody write a code for GAF that when somebody types "no man's sk" it instantly just takes them to Amir0x's post?

 

[Amir0x]

Can somebody write a code for GAF that when somebody types "no man's sk" it instantly just takes them to Amir0x's post?

It's pretty funny how circular these discussions are.

 

[system11]

It's pretty funny how circular these discussions are.

But what do you actually do in these circles?

 

[Icyflamez96]

But what do you actually do in these circles?

Only the Sky Man Knows

 

[Amir0x]

But what do you actually do in these circles?

No Man Knows.

 

[Tigress]

For me? I'm excited cause it seems a space exploration simulator. I like the open world of it and the fact that it allows you to trade, take part in combat or try to avoid combat, explore, upgrade stuff, mine stuff for materials.

For me I'd liken it to a flight simulator where you aren't really given a goal but just given the airports and landscape and planes to fly and you go figure out what you want to do (you can pretend to fly certain flights for airlines, you can pretend to fly your own plane, you can just do stunts that you'd never try in real life cause in real life you are sane ).. Except in this there is a goal if you want to achieve it (or not).

I like roleplaying games nad the more roleplaying I get to do,the more I enjoy it. I like games that require me to use some imagination to pretend I'm there and give me the tools to make it easy to immerse myself into pretending I'm in that situation.

From everything I've seen, this game will do that. Save a little disappointment cause it sounds like the crafting is simplistic (and I wish we could upgrade ships, not just buy new ones).

I'm honestly confused why people keep wondering what you do in it when I think it's been explained a lot. Or at least the basic premisis of the game, enough to know what you'll in general be doing. Granted, I'm only going by what the developers said and it is true maybe the game won't actually reach the goals they wan it to or it won't do what they say. But going by what they say, it sounds like it has great promise.

 

[Naked Lunch]

Not everyone has to like everything. That said, the hype behind this game is absurd. They are pushing this thing to be the be all end all game - at least thats the impression I got when it was unveiled. The creator behind it nearly breaks down in tears everytime he talks about it.

Personally, I think itll give the Elder Scrolls a run for its money in videogame boredom. Might be a good sleep supplement.

 

[Mass One]

I wish I had to ability to create a webm of that scene from office space where they ask that guy what do you here. But its Sean Murray's face is over Toms and Dr.Cox keeps asking him what do you here in a loop.