• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

IGN First: No Man's Sky 21 Minute Gameplay Demo

I'm realllllllllllllly hoping that the pop in gets worked on before release or that it's not as much of an issue on PC.

It's extremely distracting in all of the footage I've seen.

Yeah, it's insanely off putting to me, especially in a game which otherwise seems so immersive.

And it's everywhere. Every video. Flying, walking, swimming, shit popping up left and right.
 
Same here. Sean's on record saying they're hiding big things but it's still such a crapshoot.

Yeah, I don't doubt there will be awesome stuff based on what he's said, but an entire MP mode when he's been (IMO) pretty clear that we should not be expecting any kind of real MP, would be incredibly surprising to me.
 
While it would be neat to have a game with entire features legitimately hidden from the world until launch, I'm incredibly doubtful this is the case.

It would also probably negatively effect the way the game is reviewed. I can't imagine people, consumers and professional critics alike, being too kind on any game that locks an entire mode-- and one that many people have been asking about ad nauseam-- behind game "completion" as a de facto NG+.
 
Yeah, it's insanely off putting to me, especially in a game which otherwise seems so immersive.

And it's everywhere. Every video. Flying, walking, swimming, shit popping up left and right.

That strikes me as a limit on computational power. Seeing as everything is being generated algorithmically on the spot it means that this game is liable to be extremely taxing on the CPU. I'm somewhat curious if they do any caching of generated assets.

Hopefully this isn't the PC version.
 
I just started playing Elite Dangerous and can already see the tons of stuff you can do in NMS that you can't do in Elite. I'm trying to give it a chance, but Elite looks like a tech demo compared to NMS.

It's funny you say that cause Elite Dangerous is by a team size of 240 devs while No Man's Sky is 15 devs.
 
Ok, so is there a run button in this game? All footage I've seen features a slow walk. I'm genuinely starting to be concerned about this. Especially when the game is having such bad pop in moving at a snail's pace.
 
Take me now!

3o6ozz9oLuVfowmSU8.gif
 
Yeah, I don't doubt there will be awesome stuff based on what he's said, but an entire MP mode when he's been (IMO) pretty clear that we should not be expecting any kind of real MP, would be incredibly surprising to me.

True, he has said literally the opposite of that.

I'd be surprised if
ground vehicles
aren't in the game, though. Especially when there are
entire planets to explore - constantly summoning your ship and hovering around hundreds of feet at a time could break the flow a lot.
 
That strikes me as a limit on computational power. Seeing as everything is being generated algorithmically on the spot it means that this game is liable to be extremely taxing on the CPU. I'm somewhat curious if they do any caching of generated assets.

Hopefully this isn't the PC version.

I think it's likely to be present in all versions, because everything is being generated (and removed) in a sphere around the player at all times. The PC version might have a greater distance, but that's the most I'd expect.
 
I think it's likely to be present in all versions, because everything is being generated (and removed) in a sphere around the player at all times. The PC version might have a greater distance, but that's the most I'd expect.

I think the hope is that the build distance will be so flexible on PC we'll be able to brute-force it into the far, far distance
 
I'm not going have a dev sitting next to me showing me the right way to play the game when I get it. All this hand holding makes me think the devs have no confidence in their game's ability to teach the player/have decent breadcrumbs/signposting, etc.

Basically, WHAT DO YOU DO?!!?

You use your initiative, as with other games.

Sean shows us some of the things you can do in the game in this video, but when you get it (if you get it) the rest will be up to you. You know the goal of the game, you know the context of the gameplay, that it includes exploring and resource gathering, etc. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be asking that silly question anymore.
 
I love everything I'm seeing except for the wanted system. I hate it in GTA and this one seems worse since it looks like they just show up out of nowhere.
 
Looks like a relaxing game. I currently have no game that doesn't require quick reflexes at the moment, this is pretty appealing to me.
 
I love everything I'm seeing except for the wanted system. I hate it in GTA and this one seems worse since it looks like they just show up out of nowhere.

Bear in mind, the Wanted system has been tweaked for demoing and has been explicitly mentioned before, to make it easier to see and understand the range of the system itself. So on the game itself, it will be more balanced for both attaining and losing the wanted level.
 
Why would you bother naming stuff at all though? Not like other players are gonna come across it in the vast vast majority of cases.

Maybe some people enjoy the feeling of discovery, being the first person to find and name something? Personally I think the concept is neat but will most likely stick to naming planets, and only naming very unique species of life.
 
You use your initiative, as with other games.

Sean shows us some of the things you can do in the game in this video, but when you get it (if you get it) the rest will be up to you. You know the goal of the game, you know the context of the gameplay, that it includes exploring and resource gathering, etc. There is absolutely no reason for anyone to be asking that silly question anymore.
Yes and it should now be about what you can't do :]
 
Why would you bother naming stuff at all though? Not like other players are gonna come across it in the vast vast majority of cases.


Because you're going to be the only guy in the universe that runs into a giant Dick Monster so you're gonna call it Dickasaurus take a screen cap and post it to the internet.
 
Kinda feel they should've shown this kind of gameplay stuff a long time ago, more detailed UI, all of the stuff they've already talked about but haven't necessarily shown, basically not what you do but how you do it, but I understand why they did it so I'm fine with it.

As many have said before, people should temper their expectations, especially in regards to technical polish (for example the fade/pop in, the visibly janky texture seams, creature animations etc.), and I expect that stuff to remain as is. Maybe it should be compared to various indie survival titles mostly found on Steam (albeit with some more unique and grander technical feats), although not with its price, but that's a whole other topic.

Anyway, that was a much better video of what the game might be like. There's stuff I like, some other stuff maybe not so much, I just hope that they'll have certain options like higher FOV and similar basic, helpful options in there and I think I'll be good.


Regarding new stuff from the video (guess I should put this in spoiler tags for some folks),
I absolutely love those little nasty spider brain things, It's a nice example of the more weird creatures we'll run into. Also, some of the star system stats were "Atlas Connection Disrupted: Status Unknown" and "Warp Impossible: Current Location". I'm guessing the Atlas connection disruption might be that one important thing you can do to a planet or star system once you've done something enough of. There's also now an icon of the Atlas showing up saying "Warning: Sentinels Engaged" (maybe it was there in previous videos, can't remember) when Sean attacks the building. Maybe, even though we're uploading the exploration data and earn money by interacting with the Atlas database, we're not really buddies with whatever governs that system and maybe we need to/can cut off its control over a star system to decrease its power etc, although it could be the other way around really.

The "Warp Impossible" stat sounds kinda weirdly named but it sounds like it's saying whether or not you're able to quickly warp back to previously discovered planets/systems, which is something I think they've mentioned before, so that's another thing you'll probably want to figure out how to unlock as the game goes on.
 
Oh, some solid gameplay eh? Gonna check it out later today

True, he has said literally the opposite of that.

I'd be surprised if
ground vehicles
aren't in the game, though. Especially when there are
entire planets to explore - constantly summoning your ship and hovering around hundreds of feet at a time could break the flow a lot.
Why in the world did u put ground vehicles and that other part behind spoiler tags? 😑
 
I want to watch desperately, but I'm day one already regardless and now on media blackout!

I tried to tell myself I wouldn't watch it but I caved within two hours. I also keep telling myself I am going to stay out of these threads so I don't learn any new details. But here I am.
 
Graphics look kind of rough. Is there any ambient occlusion?



From my most recent understanding, you basically can't. Even if you do you can't tell them apart from NPCs and there is no real way to interact with them.

Might as well make it offline then
 
It's all so beautiful, I can't wait 2 months...
The ETA when you point at a planet is a good feature, just look at the 16:00 mark when Sean starts talking about the moon called Yavil, you can see the ETA timer count down from 16 minutes and 35 seconds Real Time and he's going like half throttle. This, and the following mind blowing demo of the galaxy map, makes my brain melt.
I mean, I know there are jump drives, hyperdrives but they need fuel, so it makes me wonder what happens if we get pushed out of a FTL travel and we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, hours of sub-light cruising separate us from resources (planets or asteroids)... the hype is killing me lol
 
No, they don't. He means that while you flew away, the planet literally does not exist as anything more than the equation you left it at until you go back.
Exactly. I went here just to say this. He meant that the engine stops rendering the planet once you leave it. But if you go back to the exact same spot you were on it will be just like how you left it (with the wall distruction and cave entrance).
 
Some thoughts. Still pre-ordered of course, but hope they can address some of these things before launch.

* At about 40 seconds into the video, Sean shows the binoculars he talked about recently. I think this is the first time we've seen them. I wish the UI for it felt more like Luke's binoculars in Star Wars, with numbers and gauges moving. Hopefully this UI is not final.

* Green grass on an ice world feels really off. I'm aware that the NMS algorithm takes into account the elements on the planet, sun type, etc. to decide on colors for vegetation, but this is the first time I've seen the result not make sense. Perhaps it's just my Earth perspective where green grass = warm climate? It feels jarring though.

* There's some weird lighting going on with the Relic, where the Relic is casting a shadow from the moon, but the shadow is partially colorized green from the Relic's glow. Looks bad. Also, sleeping in front of a Relic to heal? That's new. I guess you're safe from animal attacks and your suit running out of cold protection while sleeping there?

* The flickering shadows do look really bad, distracting once you notice it. I don't remember this being there in older builds? If they fix nothing else, they need to address this before launch.

* I like the alien design. Very Star Wars, he/she/it would fit right in at Mos Eisley.

* I have some issues with the UI design. I don't like the element/equipment icons; their glossy 3D models look don't really fit in with the rest of the design aesthetic. I'm also not a fan of what looks like the Helvetica font being used for dialogue options, as it doesn't mesh well with the thin futuristic font they're using.

* They didn't mention that Sean basically stole the Korvax's ship with that bypass chip. Surprised that didn't set off a wanted level.

* The procedural generation pop-in almost looks more severe in space. Asteroids seem to appear just a few tens of meters from your ship. This is surprising to me because there's really not much geometry to render in space versus a planet. It's strange though because some far-off asteroids are out there, but then close asteroids still seem to just pop in. I don't know if this is related to how their algorithm works, or if it's a memory or render issue.

* Those cargo pod explosions on the freighter still look dreadful. The particle effects must've taken someone two minutes to implement. Considering there's several of the Burnout team working on this project, I would expect better explosions!

* Showing the crosshair dot on the planet as the size of the demo area Sean showed really drives home just how massive these planets are.

* The Korvax trading post and the space station looked to have the exact same props – same potted plant, same table/chairs, same light fixtures. I don't know if everyone just buys from Space Ikea in this universe, but it will make the exploration experience a bit shallower if we see the exact same pre-fab decorations at every outpost we go to.
 
It's all so beautiful, I can't wait 2 months...
The ETA when you point at a planet is a good feature, just look at the 16:00 mark when Sean starts talking about the moon called Yavil, you can see the ETA timer count down from 16 minutes and 35 seconds Real Time and he's going like half throttle. This, and the following mind blowing demo of the galaxy map, makes my brain melt.
I mean, I know there are jump drives, hyperdrives but they need fuel, so it makes me wonder what happens if we get pushed out of a FTL travel and we find ourselves in the middle of nowhere, hours of sub-light cruising separate us from resources (planets or asteroids)... the hype is killing me lol

I'm guessing it just won't happen (sadly :) ). Probably the map just won't let you hyperjump to a different star if you don't have enough fuel, so you can't really deplete your fuel while hyperjumping, and besides, the jump would be almost instant or at least pretty short anyway. It would be nice though if they include some sort of encounter, different events during hyperjumps that happen occasionally, like a glitch in the ship's navigational system, a powerful energy/gravitational force that shouldn't be there, a massive alien entity etc, but I kinda doubt it.

Any news on VR with this game? Would catapult this to day1 for me.

No news, but seeing how the pop in is still very visible and the geometry/detail isn't all that "current gen", I'm not sure we can expect a VR version soon, but who knows. Maybe for the PS4K. I'm guessing the game is very taxing for the CPU, even though it might now look like it visually and technically, but it's just one of the downsides of such procedural generation systems.
 
Calling it now, the profanity filter for the naming convention is going to get tested to the max.

If the games is so big that no 2 humans will probably ever go to the same planet. You could spend all the time in the universe thinking up cool names and then no one ever reads it.
 
I wonder how varied the life forms will be.. I didn't see any animals with a fur coat, you'd think an environment that cold would have some kind of furries. Come to think of it, I've only noticed reptilian-ish land creatures so far. I hope they have more variety in store.
 
*throws $60 in ones at the computer screen hoping a download code appears*

This feels like a game for me as it does not focus extensively on multiplayer. Is it always online? I'm looking forward to this game and hope it turns into more of an experience over time with additions like base building and the ability to revisit planets. I wasn't going to buy this game day one but now I'm leaning towards it after this video.
 
Top Bottom