No Man's Sky [PC, PS4] - June 24th 2016

[Dabs]

This is the first time I've felt an almost child-like excitement after seeing a game trailer in a long time. Given its insane ambition, it seems like it has equal potential to disappoint as it does to absolutely amaze. But I'm an optimistic, so I'd like to believe in the latter.

There's a preview here:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... o-mans-sky

And a trailer and introductory video:





Seems like a real labour of love and I wish them all the best, for our sakes as well as theirs.

[DjchunKfunK]

Not sure this belongs in the console folder as it is a PC game as well. However, yeah it looks promising, butI am not quite sure where the gameplay is. They talk a lot about talking to the Minecraft generation ie those who make their own fun. However in Minecraft you can build stuff so there is still something to do. If this game is just about exploring and little else then I'm not sure how much fun I will get out of it other than a few hours. Eventually I need something to actually do, a goal beyond just finding another planet.

[Dabs]

I erred on putting it in the action or general folder, but it hasn't been announced for the PC (or XB1) yet.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014- ... o-mans-sky

That's not to say it won't come to the PC (I hope it will), but at the moment, it's only been confirmed for PS4.

[Lee]

Oh it was mentioned quite a while ago to be pc then it went onto the sony machine

[DjchunKfunK]

Hmm I thought they had announced it for the PC, but it seems that right now the plan is PS4 with a possible PC release, but they can't confirm that yet.

[Raid]

It'll be a shame if it doesn't come to the PC; it's a game that certainly has my attention, although I'd need to see what the meat of the gameplay is going to consist of.

[eVoL]

I feel a bit sorry for the guys because there's no way it can live up to the idea it builds in people's minds and I've even seen "pro" games press saying things about it that's just 100% wrong. The guys that make it aren't even bigging it up, they're just showing what they have and being humble and everyone else is all ZOMG! and "imagine if you could x" is becoming "you can do x" in people's brains.

[Lee]

Yea I agree eVol. It looks fun and interesting but there is very very little known beyond you flying and walking around planets and discovering things. I suspect the dev's may have to come out soon and set it very clearly what it is their aiming for and nip this before it goes even further out of control in the media hype frenzy.

[DjchunKfunK]

I think they have been pretty clear in what they are aiming for by talking about producing an experience similar to Minecraft. In that the game isn't directed. The media has then just started to hype the game up beyond belief. I'm not sure what if anything Hello Games can do to stop this.

[eVoL]

They could sell ships for $1200.

[DjchunKfunK]

New gameplay trailer.

[Raid]

It's extremely pretty, but it still looks like a tech demo; what do you actually *do* in it?

[Papa Lazarou]

It seems like you just kinda travel around, collecting credits to get various upgrades that allow you to travel around more. That alone is fairly cool, as it seems to have a great style and atmosphere, and the scope is mind-boggling. It sounds like it's one of those 'experience' rather than 'objective' games. I don't see the Minecraft connection though, I'd say it is almost the opposite - that game is about being able to affect every part of the world and build anything, whereas NMS' world doesn't have that - it doesn't promote creativity so I can't see it having the same mass appeal. Procedural generation is the least creative way of making stuff. Knowing that an artist or a user made something is what makes games like Minecraft and LittleBigPlanet amazing - knowing this universe is just a fancy bit of code removes a lot of that artistic appeal.

I hope something about it plays really well, or the music is really catchy... it needs something to make people coming back once they've got past the tech demo 'test'. I'm expecting many players will fly to a few planets to confirm the tech, say 'yep, this is certainly unfathomably massive', and then lose interest.

I'm sceptical... but still very interested!

[DjchunKfunK]

The 'goal' is to reach the middle of the Universe, which you do by earning credits in order to upgrade your character and craft as the planets become more difficult the further you travel in.

[Papa Lazarou]

If it is procedural and infinite, the starting point for each new player would surely have to be pretty damn close to the middle already in order to make that a remotely achievable goal, in which case all the stuff in the opposite direction (i.e. most of it, or if infinite...technically all of it? ) is kinda pointless... unless you are specifically rewarded for travelling away from the centre too...