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[GribbleGrunger]

I guess that's one of those things that's personal. Some people want multiplayer or base-building, I want really crazy AI like in Rain World. Because the more they can sell each ecosystem as "alive" and complex, the better. All the footage we've seen so far of AI is very simplistic. I'm sure Sean is holding back the good stuff (for whatever reason), but I too am not expecting anything stellar. But it's probably something they can improve down the road as the AI is not procedural.

p.s. thanks for the insider updates, DeepEnigma!

It's difficult to pin down which vid I saw it in but one of the devs (could have been Sean) said something about the animals learning new routes based on your interactions with them, and then those routes becoming part of their routine. I suppose this is to create a sense of them really being alive and not just repeating patterns. We know that once you shoot at a creature or near a creature, all the same creatures remember that and will fear you from that point onwards. I can see many possibilities with this system.

Also, improved AI isn't something that would create an anomaly, it would just fit in with creatures even though you'd seen them and interacted with them before.

My quick impressions

1. Don't expect mind-blowing graphics out the box

2. Don't expect to take off flying when the game starts. Must put in work

3. Game was extremely smooth. No frame rate issues at all

4. Expect to possibly not fire up another game for a while. I could tell in my short time that this game is gonna destroy some relationships and happy homes.

Again I apologize for bringing the hype this evening. I should of just kept it to myself but no way in hell did I expect this kind of offer.

I don't think 1 is what we think it is. Why add 'out of the box'? I'd say he's just referring to the environments not being as colourful or as varied as we've seen in trailers, BUT perhaps he's not taking into account that the planet he started on isn't the same planet everyone else will. This particular feature could give us wildly different reviews. I'm dreading it.

I believe he's also the guy who said the servers where up when he played but I think he's mistaken. Lot's of people don't know you can play this offline and I think he's just assumed it requires online to play.

 

[eyeball_kid]

You're not gonna get anything close to what's happening in Rain World. Set your expectations way, way lower than that.

To be fair Joar is probably up there with the guy who did FEAR's AI and should probably be applying that AI in the tech field or something, not just confined to games. As much as I'd love it, I dont expect any game other than Rain World to have Rain World-level AI

Yeah, Rain World's AI is far better than any other game I've seen; I guess I was more speaking in terms of fantasy NMS additions. The Rain World AI in this game would be mindblowing and probably rather scary as a FPS. I hope you're right More_Badass and they open their AI for licensing or generalize it.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

To be fair Joar is probably up there with the guy who did FEAR's AI and should probably be applying that AI in the tech field or something, not just confined to games. As much as I'd love it, I dont expect any game other than Rain World to have Rain World-level AI

More_Badass pls, why would you even put this into the universe. The game industry is in desperate need of AI geniuses, we can't lose any more to tech companies (;_

 

[supergiz]

Is it strange that I have been thinking about this game every day since this thread came out? Even after spending my time in VR and this being non-vr, I still can't wait to play it! Soo hype!!!

 

[eyeball_kid]

I don't think 1 is what we think it is. Why add 'out of the box'? I'd say he's just referring to the environments not being as colourful or as varied as we've seen in trailers, BUT perhaps he's not taking into account that the planet he started on isn't the same planet everyone else will. This particular feature could give us wildly different reviews. I'm dreading it.

Or it could be a Dungeon of the Endless situation where your ship crashes deep into the ground and you have to find your way out of a cave system before you even see the surface. That might also help prevent new players from dying from hazardous environments right out of the gate.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I don't think 1 is what we think it is. Why add 'out of the box'? I'd say he's just referring to the environments not being as colourful or as varied as we've seen in trailers, BUT perhaps he's not taking into account that the planet he started on isn't the same planet everyone else will. This particular feature could give us wildly different reviews. I'm dreading it.

I believe he's also the guy who said the servers where up when he played but I think he's mistaken. Lot's of people don't know you can play this offline and I think he's just assumed it requires online to play.

We may not start on a planet. Do we know if it is a planet, or a station/building?

And he did not assume the servers were up, the guy he purchased it from told him they were, which that guy, as we said, could be mistaken.

I will hopefully get answers tomorrow with him elaborating on the graphics comment, and framerate (if he noticed 30 or 60).

 

[CarbonFire]

I guess that's one of those things that's personal. Some people want multiplayer or base-building, I want really crazy AI like in Rain World. Because the more they can sell each ecosystem as "alive" and complex, the better. All the footage we've seen so far of AI is very simplistic. I'm sure Sean is holding back the good stuff (for whatever reason), but I too am not expecting anything stellar. But it's probably something they can improve down the road as the AI is not procedural.

They should definitely be able to tweak the AI after the game is released.

The bigger issue with NMS and AI is that creatures LITERALLY only exist when you're around them. It's hard to create both believable and complex animal behaviors if they can only happen in a relatively small area around the player. Especially since pathfinding has to be done in real-time on completely unknown terrain, rather than being intricately built and tweaked perfectly like I'm sure it is in Rain World.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

Or it could be a Dungeon of the Endless situation where your ship crashes deep into the ground and you have to find your way out of a cave system before you even see the surface. That might also help prevent new players from dying from hazardous environments right out of the gate.

I don't think they'll put us on really dangerous planets to begin with. It makes sense from a practical perspective because the last thing Hello Games want is for people to return their copy immediately and some less informed people may believe it's representative of their whole future experience with the game.

We may not start on a planet. Do we know if it is a planet, or a station/building?

And he did not assume the servers were up, the guy he purchased it from told him they were, which that guy, as we said, could be mistaken.

I will hopefully get answers tomorrow with him elaborating on the graphics comment, and framerate (if he noticed 30 or 60).

So the guy you're talking to is the guy that bought it for $2000?

 

[GribbleGrunger]

They should definitely be able to tweak the AI after the game is released.

The bigger issue with NMS and AI is that creatures LITERALLY only exist when you're around them. It's hard to create both believable and complex animal behaviors if they can only happen in a relatively small area around the player. Especially since pathfinding has to be done in real-time on completely unknown terrain, rather than being intricately built and tweaked perfectly like I'm sure it is in Rain World.

It's all math based. Sean has said when you leave the planet and return, the creatures will be further along their designated path.

 

[The1Ski]

I'm not sure I understand how this is a limitation. Aggression, self-defense, and flight are pretty exhaustive in this context. Like, I'd say almost any AI in any game can be categorized as falling into one of these slots. It hardly seems like a criticism.

I know I'm coming off as bashing a game that none of us have played but I really am interested in the game.

What I'm hoping for is more complex interactions. Maybe a certain species on planet X will follow you around and attack when there's a certain amount of the same species also following you. Maybe there's a species on planet Y that will aggressively defend a different species.

 

[xxracerxx]

I know I'm coming off as bashing a game that none of us have played but I really am interested in the game.

What I'm hoping for is more complex interactions. Maybe a certain species on planet X will follow you around and attack when there's a certain amount of the same species also following you. Maybe there's a species on planet Y that will aggressively defend a different species.

Wait...so this has more to do with what you want to see and not people on here "inflating hype," correct.

 

[Galactic Fork]

Crap, now I have to avoid the thread until release, and probably avoid the OT until I play. Avoiding the trailers is one thing (and skipping posts about them), but now that some jerk is breaking sale date and giving out impressions, there's no way not to be spoiled. So I'm out.

 

[The1Ski]

Wait...so this has more to do with what you want to see and not people on here "inflating hype," correct.

The point I'm making references backwards a couple quotes where I mention that, from what I've seen and think, animal behavior is going to be very basic. There's people referencing what devs have said about animals learning new routes based off your presence and how it will alter future behavior. Maybe that just means animals will walk around a new hole in the ground. Or not bump into your spaceship. Maybe it's more complex than that. Maybe it's not. I'm going to err on the side of caution just because other games have promised complex systems in the past and come up short.

When I mentioned what I thought were examples of more complex behavior, it's definitely stuff that I think would be awesome. From what somebody else posted, it sounds more complex predator and prey are being implemented, which is cool.

 

[theWB27]

Crap, now I have to avoid the thread until release, and probably avoid the OT until I play. Avoiding the trailers is one thing (and skipping posts about them), but now that some jerk is breaking sale date and giving out impressions, there's no way not to be spoiled. So I'm out.

You're never really out, ya know.

 

[OraleeWey]

I just checked STEAM and it's showing the 9th for the PC release date.

We PC gamers don't have to wait!

 

[jambo]

Australian Steam

 

[BarringGaffner]

It's all math based. Sean has said when you leave the planet and return, the creatures will be further along their designated path.

no way that is going to happen.... He said in the IGN preview that everything resets once you leave a planet.

It's not a big deal but it's silly to expect that. GTA games reset when you go 2 blocks down the street. Memory limitations are real. And once you are interacting and changing things it goes beyond procedural gen.

 

[CarbonFire]

It's all math based. Sean has said when you leave the planet and return, the creatures will be further along their designated path.

Yes, I'm well aware. But you can only predetermine so much. Determining "when" in a cycle an animal should be spawned in near a shady tree, or a pond, or their "nest", is relatively easy. That's only a set equation that determines the animals starting location based on a number of factors including the time, possibly what other animals are scheduled to be around, and possibly where the player is in relation to the creature.

But after that creature is spawned in? That's where the AI takes over. And that's where they're seemingly limited.

 

[GodParticle]

I'm tempted to try elite dangerous on xbone to tide me over. I love space exploration stuff, but no idea if that game is any good

 

[BarringGaffner]

I know I'm coming off as bashing a game that none of us have played but I really am interested in the game.

What I'm hoping for is more complex interactions. Maybe a certain species on planet X will follow you around and attack when there's a certain amount of the same species also following you. Maybe there's a species on planet Y that will aggressively defend a different species.

They have to draw the line somewhere. It's easy to just endlessly think of more and more complex systems. I'm glad the game is coming out.

 

[bitbydeath]

The bigger issue with NMS and AI is that creatures LITERALLY only exist when you're around them.

You sure about that?
Planets still turn when nobody is around, creatures likely still live their lives as well.

It's all in the math and the math doesn't stop when you are gone.

 

[Orochinagis]

Its ok to ask if you can chose your gender or is a default character?

 

[xxracerxx]

Its ok to ask if you can chose your gender or is a default character?

We don't even know if the player has a gender.

 

[OléGunner]

Here is some quick impressions from him...

The last point alluding to the games longevity is what makes me the most happy.
I think some of the more interesting planets might turn into whole games for myself if their varied enough in POI's and landscapes.

Sounds good so far (also never expected mind blowing graphics, the lovely old sci-fi aesthetic is enough for moi)

 

[HalfBakedProphet]

They have to draw the line somewhere. It's easy to just endlessly think of more and more complex systems. I'm glad the game is coming out.

Yeah. Imagine how easy it would have been for Hello games to fall into the feature creep trap with a game like this. There are so many possibilities, it would be difficult to not veer off on to new tangents. They've been remarkably consistent throughout development when discussing the features of game, that clear vision is only reason this is actually coming out.

Otherwise you get a Star Citizen situation.

 

[Forerunner]

I'm tempted to try elite dangerous on xbone to tide me over. I love space exploration stuff, but no idea if that game is any good

It's a good game, but it's definitely not the type of game you can just pick up and play. There's a pretty steep learning curve and the game really doesn't explain much besides some basic tutorials at the start. It pretty much just throws you out into the world. I wouldn't really recommend it if you're just going to use it to tie you over until NMS. It's a game you have to put in some serious hours in order to really understand it.

 

[CarbonFire]

You sure about that?
Planets still turn when nobody is around, creatures likely still live their lives as well.

It's all in the math and the math doesn't stop when you are gone.

Math. Yes. Math is a thing that is calculated.

When a player is in a system, the math dictates what is in that system (same math for every player). But only WHEN they are in that system. When they leave, every single bit of that system gets flushed from memory, only to be remade the next time that player, or any other player, re-enters that system. The orbits, rotations, ship paths, and everything else are all calculated based on when the player visits that system.

There are 18 Quintillion planets in NMS, but only the planets that people have visited will be recorded in the Atlas, and only the ones that currently have a player near them will actually "exist". Nothing is "running" when no one is there. It's all calculated on the fly, in real time, the same for every player, because every game shares the same seed values for every procedural system.

 

[HarryHengst]

They could probably do that with what they have now.

Minecraft for example when it first came out had only like 6 or 7 different Biome types.

New stuff was continuously added such as new Biome types and features over time.

Hello Games and Sean Murray has gone on to state they plan to do post release support of the game and add updates to it over time. So Biome variance is a possibility.

I mean even Starbound while it IS a 2D game is based on procedural generation and it's planets have multiple biomes in the release version, when originally each planet had a single biome type, they added multiple biomes for a single planet later on.

They wont do multiple biomes on one planet, as they want you to move to other planets and not stay on a single one for long periods of time. Same reason there isnt any basebuilding or such. Everything is done to move you forward towards the center.

I'm really torn on whether to get this on pc or ps4.

Any word on when the review embargo is up?

1 day before release according to some press dude on another forum.

 

[GodParticle]

It's a good game, but it's definitely not the type of game you can just pick up and play. There's a pretty steep learning curve and the game really doesn't explain much besides some basic tutorials at the start. It pretty much just throws you out into the world. I wouldn't really recommend it if you're just going to use it to tie you over until NMS. It's a game you have to put in some serious hours in order to really understand it.

Thanks for that. It does look pretty complex. Still might give it a go. Could always keep playing

 

[Icyflamez96]

LOL. Someone started a reddit thread based on my description:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/4v3po2/spoiler_leaked_twitch_footage_description/

It's because he stole my comment that I put in a previous reddit thread that I stole from you.

 

[artsi]

Math. Yes. Math is a thing that is calculated.

When a player is in a system, the math dictates what is in that system (same math for every player). But only WHEN they are in that system. When they leave, every single bit of that system gets flushed from memory, only to be remade the next time that player, or any other player, re-enters that system. The orbits, rotations, ship paths, and everything else are all calculated based on when the player visits that system.

There are 18 Quintillion planets in NMS, but only the planets that people have visited will be recorded in the Atlas, and only the ones that currently have a player near them will actually "exist". Nothing is "running" when no one is there. It's all calculated on the fly, in real time, the same for every player, because every game shares the same seed values for every procedural system.

Yeah, it's different from, let's say Arma 3 where AI will do their AI things no matter how far away you are from them in the map. They're "alive" even outside your own bubble. It's not optimal for performance, but depends on what you want to achieve.

Certainly not possible (or even necessary) with a game like NMS unless there's unlimited budget for cloud processing. A single console or PC won't be able to keep up with all those calculations in any near future.

 

[Orgun]

Of course my Steam Link decides to stop working a couple weeks before release

 

[eyeball_kid]

When a player is in a system, the math dictates what is in that system (same math for every player). But only WHEN they are in that system. When they leave, every single bit of that system gets flushed from memory, only to be remade the next time that player, or any other player, re-enters that system. The orbits, rotations, ship paths, and everything else are all calculated based on when the player visits that system.

It depends on how they're handling the time deltas. They might set t=0 every time you jump back into a star system, and thus everything will reset to its original position... orbits, creature placement, etc. Or they might be keeping track of a relative time delta since you started the game (saved locally), so when you pop into a star system it fast-forwards the simulation of that system to t=123204 seconds or whatever, generating everything for that specific time offset. That would be more realistic, but it might cause problems with multiplayer if everyone is on a separate time delta.

 

[Pit]

So for those of us not in the US and on PC, is there an easy option to VPN this thing open on the 9th? Aussie release is 11th FYI.

 

[Coxy100]

I want to buy the collectors edition in the UK... but it's sold out in 'Game'.

If I buy it from amazon.fr - does anyone know if all of the EU editions are the same? i.e. the artbook and all writing is in english?

Thanks...

 

[CarbonFire]

It depends on how they're handling the time deltas. They might set t=0 every time you jump back into a star system, and thus everything will reset to its original position... orbits, creature placement, etc. Or they might be keeping track of a relative time delta since you started the game (saved locally), so when you pop into a star system it fast-forwards the simulation of that system to t=123204 seconds or whatever, generating everything for that specific time offset. That would be more realistic, but it might cause problems with multiplayer if everyone is on a separate time delta.

It's possible both ways, though from the way Innes McKendrick talked about it in the Nucl.ai talk last year, the latter seems more likely. It would be relatively easy to keep everything synced to the atlas database clock, and then revert over to the local machine's clock when offline.

Thing is, we've seen weird time mechanics that throw any sense of syncing time out the window. In the spring preview the player was able to "sleep in front of monolith", which magically fast-forwarded time from night to day (essentially rotating the entire planet the player was on). It's unknown how they'll handle syncing the time component of the procedural generation with such mechanics in play.

 

[DistortionOfReality]

I want to buy the collectors edition in the UK... but it's sold out in 'Game'.

If I buy it from amazon.fr - does anyone know if all of the EU editions are the same? i.e. the artbook and all writing is in english?

Thanks...

I believe the writing would all be in French, from my limited experience with buying games from the amazon.fr site

 

[Sodding_Gamer]

Are there no more impressions apart from that one guy? I'm surprised there isn't more people giving mini reviews on here tbf!

 

[Plasmids]

It's procedurally generated, not randomly. There is a difference but I won't get into it, but basically the planet will generate the exact same as you first entered it, albeit due to the rotation around its star and its own rotation it will be slightly different axis

Yes, it doesn't have "day/night" cycle as in the traditional sense based on a timer, it has day and night based on its actual rotation around its star. That is how amazing this game is

Wow absolutely awesome.

 

[OuterLimits]

With some people already playing, whatever is at the center of the Universe will be leaked even before it releases. Probably by end of the weekend is my guess.

 

[GlamFM]

Wait what? Game is out in the wild?

Are there some (consolidated) impressions?

 

[Auctopus]

With some people already playing, whatever is at the center of the Universe will be leaked even before it releases. Probably by end of the weekend is my guess.

Hello Games will have been able to make sure players spawned a certain distance away from the centre. Calculating those positions with average game progression would put the speed at which the secret is revealed directly in their hands.

Could take months even with someone playing non-stop.

 

[Ferr986]

With some people already playing, whatever is at the center of the Universe will be leaked even before it releases. Probably by end of the weekend is my guess.

They are playing the PS4 version. No way anyone can reach the center that fast. You don't have infinite fuel.

 

[sirap]

Still 13th in Malaysia

At least it's cheap here. $25 is a steal. Any way we can unlock this earlier?

 

[OuterLimits]

Hello Games will have been able to make sure players spawned a certain distance away from the centre. Calculating those positions with average game progression would put the speed at which the secret is revealed directly in their hands.

Could take months even with someone playing non-stop.

I imagine the center could be reached rather quickly. By quickly I mean under 80 hours if your main goal is to rush to the center.

 

[Pestilence11]

Hello Games will have been able to make sure players spawned a certain distance away from the centre. Calculating those positions with average game progression would put the speed at which the secret is revealed directly in their hands.

Could take months even with someone playing non-stop.

They are playing the PS4 version. No way anyone can reach the center that fast. You don't have infinite fuel.

Sean estimated 40-100 hours but I'm willing to bet with some luck and the sole goal of reaching the centre first, people will do it in 20-30 hours. Those same people, at least some, would think nothing of playing that many hours straight.

From here on in I suggest everyone be careful of center spoilers.

 

[Matt Frost]

They are playing the PS4 version. No way anyone can reach the center that fast. You don't have infinite fuel.

You have infinite fuel, what you dont have is hyperdrive and turbo infinite fuel. But the regular one is nuclear powered (to say something)

 

[Danlord]

My faceplate arrived!

(I don't usually have my PS4 stood up, but for the purpose of the pic I put it like that)

 

[digoutyoursoul]

My faceplate arrived!



(I don't usually have my PS4 stood up, but for the purpose of the pic I put it like that)

Cool

 

[Kiko]

Sean estimated 40-100 hours but I'm willing to bet with some luck and the sole goal of reaching the centre first, people will do it in 20-30 hours. Those same people, at least some, would think nothing of playing that many hours straight.

From here on in I suggest everyone be careful of center spoilers.

hmmm 40-100h i somehow thought it would be longer, so that is doable for some hardcore gamers in one week just focusing on this main "goal"