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[Deified Data]

So you're the first person to ever visit this planet that's full of beacons and aggressive robots? What?

 

[Mato]

It was always a timed exclusive.

Ok, was unaware of that.

 

[Icyflamez96]

I thought that looked AWESOME! The graphics have been improved as well as the planet transitions! Man oh man this game.

Was the destruction stuff known? That's pretty awesome.

Yes

 

[Sakura]

It looks cool, I like the idea of exploring the galaxy.
But it was a little confusing. You're the first person to set foot on this planet... yet there robots and beacons and stuff? Doesn't make any sense.

 

[CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls]

Highly ambitious in concept. Not digging the execution so far. I wish Sean and the team the best, but this doesn't look interesting to me at all.

 

[amnesiac]

More info after conference. https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/610623305716887554

 

[Overside]

It will be interesting to see what the introduction of players creates in this world.

Is there any information on the games economy?

 

[Woorloog]

For "Well what do you DO!?" people:

Why couldn't we have this instead of a boring trailer/gameplay yet again?

Tells so much more.

(Though it confirms this is not a game for me, not at all, not as it is. I love exploration but not of random places and randomly generated place, i need a lot of worldbuilding, data, history to go with it, among other stuff.)

 

[Matrix XII]

Looks awesome!

People have to be able to put the right tag on something.

Will this game live up to the hype? My answer is no. Because very few, if any, actually do. Everyone's expectations are just way too high. This is a game developed by a small number of talented developers and probably a very small budget. Just keep your expectations in check.

No Man's Sky is a different approach to an exploration game and a lot of what they are attempting to do hasn't been done before (to my knowledge). I have to give them a ton of credit for this large undertaking, and if people just take the game for what it is, I think it will have a chance to become a great game that many people love and perhaps it will pioneer some new games that take what No Man's Sky does, and do it better in the future.

 

[nowheretorun]

Looked a rush like he wasn't really ready to show us anything. Don't get the point of that at all. A bit like, right "you've got 2 mins, tell them what you do". wtf? no time to do it so nothing really was shown. Stupid upper decision imo.

Anyway, still can't wait for the game.

Thought we'd have at least got a release date though :-(

 

[legacyzero]

I'M ALL IN BABY

 

[Icyflamez96]

Looked a rush like he wasn't really ready to show us anything. Don't get the point of that at all. A bit like, right "you've got 2 mins, tell them what you do". wtf? no time to do it so nothing really was shown. Stupid upper decision imo.

Anyway, still can't wait for the game.

Thought we'd have at least got a release date though :-(

There's going to be more info via interview after the show, guys.

 

[Gruso]

For "Well what do you DO!?" people:

Here's a bit of info I sorted up in hopes of making some things a bit clearer. It's all gathered from actual info from interviews, trailers etc.

What is No Man's Sky?
- In a nutshell, the goal is to earn money, get the best gear and survive the trip to the center of the galaxy. Yes, you can explore planets or stay in one forever, but if you're asking for a goal, a purpose, that's it.

Why would I want to get to the center of the galaxy?
- It's the main goal of the game, the only objective. Apparently, there will be "a compelling reason to head towards the center of the galaxy, as well as an ending that will provide you with a sense of closure. But there will be a reason to continue playing after that ending". Remember that Minecraft, Don't Starve, DayZ or even Dark Souls don't have a clear goal, they throw you into the world without telling you what to do next. 90% of Dark Souls is melee combat and walking, sounds pretty boring if you think about it that way, doesn't it.

What are the main incentives? Why would I want to play this game?
- As was mentioned, leveling yourself by ways of earning money and gear while trying to survive in a harsh environment is the main incentive, like in a vast number of games, or at least it's the main gameplay mechanic pushing you forward. The other incentive is of course pure exploration, which is enough for a lot of people but technically it might not be. You engage in a number of activities, both on the surface and in space, earn money, improve and buy gear and reach the center of the galaxy. Of course, getting money will be challenging, it will often put you in dangerous situations and you will probably die a lot.

So what do I do, what activities are there?
All of these activities earn you money, some more than others:

Non-violent:
- Exploration (discovering and naming of creatures, plants, locations, crashed ships, structures, artifacts, portals to dangerous planets)
- Resource Gathering (gather and sell minerals from a fictitious periodic table of elements using a multi-tool for scanning, a mining laser for gathering)
- Trading (buy resources cheap from one space station, sell them to another for profit)

Violent:
- Destroy Guardian Robots (gathering and killing too much alerts robots that hunt you down, you have weapons and grenades at your disposal)
- Escort and Defend (escort ships on their journey, defend them from enemy attacks)
- Destroy Ships (destroy trader ships, lone or groups of traveler NPCs, choose sides in huge fleet battles or evade them altogether, kill the local police)

There is also one "core thing" you can do for every solar system, and this "thing" is of great significance, fundamentally changes that solar system and players can choose whether or not they want to do that.

*Note: They've mentioned that killing creatures doesn't actually earn you money (discovering and scanning them does), but you can do it nevertheless.

How does exploration actually work?
- You have a galactic map with all of the stars revealed. Clicking on a star shows its basic solar system data, with more info if someone's already been there and shared it. You hyperjump to the selected solar system and then target one of the planets. As you enter the orbit, your ship's computer scans the surface and shows you essentially question marks, points of interest detected on the surface. These points of interest can be any of the aforementioned activities that earn you money while on the surface as well as trading posts, portals etc. Basically, you get rewarded for revealing what the question marks are and then do the stuff related to said activity, whether it is scanning of new species, mining resources, a dangerous trap, jump to new worlds, kill some robots etc. You can freely explore the entire planet if you want, and you'll probably find some nice things out there as well, but a few of the key locations will be marked with these "question marks".

Just imagine Far Cry 4, but instead of the towers revealing icons and those icons depicting exactly what the missions are, you reveal icons just by arriving at the planet and discover what the icons are by actually going there.

What do I do with all this cash I earned?
- Well, the main goal is to survive the trip to the center of the galaxy, so you want to make sure you can actually pull this off. There are three main things you can upgrade:
- Suit - (shields, carrying capacity, jetpack, degree of survival in toxic, corrosive, radioactive, acid and other environments)
- Weapons - (improve scanning range and type, resource gathering, laser beam, plasma grenade, energy shot, for space there are different weapons with different specialties like lasers for shields, plasma for hull damage, torpedoes for heavy damage but with slow projectiles)
- Ship - (buy new ones actually, but they can have different stats defined into three classes: Fighter, Trader and Explorer, different engines, stealth tech, different types of weapons for different occasions)

Doesn't sound all that difficult. What are the obstacles, where's the difficulty?
- If your ship is destroyed, you respawn after death without your ship and cargo but you still have your hard earned money and suit upgrades. If you get killed while on foot, naturally you loose what resources you had on you and respawn near your ship, still having your money and suit upgrades.
- Planets have different atmospheres, radiation, toxic and corrosive environments, liquid hazards like acids and alcohols so you need to upgrade both your suit and ship to survive in these harsh environments.
- Some planets have robot guardians that attack you if you exploit (as you should) the planet's natural resources, kill off wildlife etc. In other words, the robots punish you for doing everything you can to survive and improve your gear.
- Participating in conflict between factions will win favors with one over the other, meaning one faction will give you wingmen for support or trader discounts while the other will actively attack you if you're in bad relations with them.
- Attacking outposts and space stations enrages the local police. You don't get rewarded for attacking space stations but you do for killing cops (or any ships for that matter).
- Fuel is used for interstellar (hyperspace) travel and is very expensive. An easier way of getting fuel is by mining for resources, or you could do any of the other activities to earn cash and spend it on fuel. Fuel also takes up cargo space so you need to balance that if you want to do trade runs.
- Hazardous planets (or maybe all of them?) deplete your suit's oxygen levels so you need to be mindful of this when embarking on longer journeys through the inhospitable terrain.
- Portals to other planets can be extremely dangerous (you can only use them on foot) but can also give larger rewards, since you're basically warping to a high level area while you're still at a very lower level. Also, each portal requires a different weapon or combination of weapons to activate.

So will all of this actually be fun or worth it?
- Well that depends, it might get boring quickly or the variety of combinations might keep things fresh at least for a few dozen hours. People play Destiny, Far Cry 4, Dark Souls or Don't Starve, games which have extremely repetitive and annoying elements for a lot of people but are still loved by a great many people. My point is, No Man's Sky clearly has gameplay, and while exploration is directly encouraged and essential, it's not the only thing you can do in the game. It's not a walking simulator by any stretch. You earn money, have a goal you can pursue, upgrade your gear, engage in combat, have a lot of dangerous situations etc. That being said, it might turn out to be a boring game, it depends on balance, how interesting the activities are and a number of factors, one of which is the player himself. It's not a game for everyone, but those are rare anyway.

I hope this clears some things to some people, especially with posts saying there is no gameplay and such. Also, I recommend reading the NMS wiki archive on reddit that has all of this info and more.

And for good measure: http://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/wiki/archive

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD these need to be mandatory in every NMS OP.

 

[jmood88]

They keep talking about all the stuff you can do but refuse to show any of it (as far as I'm aware).

 

[legacyzero]

And for good measure: http://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/wiki/archive

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD these need to be mandatory in every NMS OP.

It sure does.

 

[xBladeM6x]

And for good measure: http://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/wiki/archive

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD these need to be mandatory in every NMS OP.

AND THIS FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

"How does No Man's Sky actually work?"

 

[KingSnake]

Words mean nothing without action. You can promise everything. In the end it's important what you deliver.

And in the current state NMS is still a huge empty sandbox (so many planets that you will never visit! Have I told you about how many planets there are? It's huge!) with no relevant visible mechanics except for finding beacons and destroying the environment. Everything else is nicely written in a bullet list.

Worse is that it's still pretty much in the same state as last year from this point of view (actions, economy, upgrades, space ship management etc.).

The positive thing is that is still seem far from release, so maybe they can still make something out of this nice idea.

 

[ColonialRaptor]

I'm loving this E3 so far but my oh my there are not enough new games... I know the industry is stuck in a sequel rut but come on!

 

[Robaperas]

Amazing, simply amazing.

 

[gosox333]

I think their issue is that they're always so eager to get up there and visually show them exploring their universe that they forget to slow down and lay down the ground rules of the game for the uneducated.

Just look at the first page or so of this thread. That has to be the third or fourth time I've seen that reaction en mass about this game.

 

[pager99]

Holyshit people still trolling with what do you do and whats the point,
Welcome to every game ever lol

 

[wild wild rice]

OK now I'm interested in the game.

 

[OrlanisWorks]

Critical interest on this game. Although... I rolled my eyes hard when he said they still don't have a release date set.

That planet-to-space and vice-versa still looks amazing. Pop-ins don't mean shit when you got a game with an engine capable of that. Brilliant.

 

[Santiako]

Hook me up with this in a vr helmet and I'll never come out. I'm so in.

 

[Bsigg12]

So 2016 seems logical since they completely avoided it.

 

[Compsiox]

Blew me away when first revealed. No longer care for it.

 

[Guevara]

Subtext was all "yeah there's a game here, with combat and objectives"

 

[AngryMoth]

Looks amazing as usual but pretty disappointing they didn't announce a release date. Hope it still makes it out this year

 

[Unicorn]

RELEASE DATE PLEASE! I need to know when I have to buy a PS4 or upgrade my PC.

 

[therapist]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzZZzzZZz

 

[Lynd7]

So is the universe the same for every player? Or is it all made up for each persons copy?

 

[Poop!]

Ok, was unaware of that.

The PC version has been talked about since the reveal.

 

[wanderingprostheyltite]

Sean looked burned out af presenting. Body language seemed like "is this thing done yet? Am I really presenting again?"

I know he mentioned at one point next time we'd see him the game would be shipped, wonder if development hit a snag?

 

[rouken]

i think he really had no idea how to explain it's mechanics without confusing people,

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Surprised people are still having difficulty coming to terms with how people enjoy an exploration game like this. A whole galaxy with landable planets, sounds fucking great and truly 'next gen'.

Amen. This is a game I've been dreaming about. The ability to fly from planet to planet and land and walk around....that alone has me sold.

 

[Calcium]

I am incredibly hyped about this game, but that demonstration was pretty boring. I guess he just got unlucky on the planet he landed on. He seemed pretty deflated about there not being alien life there.

 

[jmood88]

I think their issue is that they're always so eager to get up there and visually show them exploring their universe that they forget to slow down and lay down the ground rules of the game for the uneducated.

Just look at the first page or so of this thread. That has to be the third or fourth time I've seen that reaction en mass about this game.

They get that reaction because they keep showing the same shit over and over again. Why is it so difficult for them to show the other parts of the game? We've even seen the same-looking planet with red trees over and over again.

 

[lastplayed]

Surprised people are still having difficulty coming to terms with how people enjoy an exploration game like this. A whole galaxy with landable planets, sounds fucking great and truly 'next gen'.

lol we had that in the early 90s.

But still I'm looking forward to this.

 

[Not]

So sweet. I thought he said he scanned for life though. There were fish and goats

 

[OrlanisWorks]

lol we had that in the early 90s.

But still I'm looking forward to this.

Please explain please. In the early 90's? This is quite different.

 

[FutureZombie]

I would be more excited if the planets weren't procedurally generated. What that means to me is there are going to be a lot of very boring planets. The scope of the universe is cool, but if that demo shows what the planets are like, it certainly looks like it will get boring quickly. I hope it is a great game, but it was a very boring demo that I think hurt the game's identity more than it helped.

 

[lastplayed]

Please explain please. In the early 90's? This is quite different.

Frontier: Elite II had a procedurally generated galaxy with landable planets and moons.

 

[Haines]

Pretty cool but I have serious doubts it will all come together I a cohesive package.

 

[RedSwirl]

This sounds like the kind of game people won't "get" until YouTubers are allowed to post 45-minute off-the-cuff videos of it.

Please explain please. In the early 90's? This is quite different.

Probably talking about Frontier Elite II.

 

[blackjaw]

Just want a date!!!

 

[Admiral Woofington]

you sold me guys, just give me a date already

 

[Somnid]

I still can't understand what people see in this game, procedural generation is cool but not only are people right to be skeptical of procedural concepts because they are often very repetitive and lackluster, but even more serious they have not in any way suggested there is much gameplay beyond walking/flying around.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Frontier: Elite II had a procedurally generated galaxy with landable planets and moons.

I think the implementation on modern hardware still makes the game really feel truly next gen compared to its predecessors.

 

[lastplayed]

I think the implementation on modern hardware still makes the game really feel truly next gen compared to its predecessors.

Oh yeah I know what it looked like, I was so obsessed with that game I'd get up early in the mornings to sneak an hour or two in before school.

 

[amnesiac]

Sean on Youtube with Geoff!