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[keraj37]

I play this game on PSVR2, it is just a great experience.
I am 70 hours into it, and I still find myself overwhelmed by the number of features and new things I discover each playing session.

How did a small studio like Hello Games could even try to make a game like this, not being sure they are a very talented bunch?

I was working as a developer in many game projects, and I can tell you, complexity like this found in No Man's Sky, and sheer quantity of features requires very talented and mature programming skills among a big team of well managed developers, and of course, good frutile on top management.
These guys are top! We will see from them more, mark my words!

How do you see No Man's Sky today?
Do you agree it is a system seller for PSVR2? (I do)

 

[acm2000]

procedural generation, the game basically makes itself.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

For starters, it took them 7 years post-release (i think) to get to this point.

The game is great and I jump in and out every once in a while, but personally it can't hold my attention for long.

The latest PSVR2 update is amazing though. It looks really good. I should hop on again.

 

[diffusionx]

The world is done with procedural generation, and they've been working on the product for like 10 years at this point. You can do a lot in 10 years.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

The thing is it’s not really a massive game in the traditional sense, it’s just some very clever coding that makes it seem like it is.

It’s not massive in the same way a big Ubisoft game is, where huge teams spent years putting an game world together.

procedural generation, the game basically makes itself.

Pretty much this.

 

[Aaron Olive]

Easy 5 step program.

1. Hype product on national television.
2. Put out hyped incomplete product.
3. Use revenue to expand and deliver what you envisioned originally.
4. Hype some more!
5. Profit!

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Around Star Citizen Kickstarter, another game with some the same ideas got backed. It was Limit Theory. Made by one(1) man. It did not happen, but he really tried. You can see their forum and there is a lot of videos of his plans and tech for the game. Even now I still regret that he failed to make it. With procedural generation you can really go far. No man's sky did it. Great for them, and I hope that one day they use the power of the next gen consoles to make what Starfield should have been.

 

[phant0m]

First, the game is only in the state it's in because they've been continuously working on it for 5+ years post-launch.

Second, because they are small they can be very focused. Ask anyone that's ever worked in development, team size and output does not scale linearly (eg a team of 100 cannot make a game that is 10x the scale of a 10 person team in the same amount of time).

Third, their engine/development tools are built around procedural generation so every time something is added they can include it in that process to "deploy" and have a new resource or animal put on every generated planet right away vs needing a dev to place those objects or enemies manually.

 

[RoadHazard]

They're good at procedural generation, which is almost all the game was at release. There was rather little handcrafted content back then, just endless combinations of what was actually there. All the other features have been added over the years.

 

[DR3AM]

Get Sony to fund them and use ChatGPT to procedurally generate the game

 

[Aenima]

Some serious big brains at work. Spent more than 600 hours in NMS, and while the computer generated stuff follow some rules and you would find very similar planets that fit in a certain cathegory (ex: hot, cold, toxic planets, etc), from time to time, you would find something completly new and alien.

 

[bbeach123]

I waited the days they remove the asteroids-popin-in-your-face to start playing but apparently thats too much to ask .

 

[Guilty_AI]

Many such talented devs making games like this. NMS just happened to gain more spotlight than some others.

There are other examples of this like Kenshi, Factorio, Terraria, Stardew Valley, Grim Dawn, Beamng, Dwarf Fortress, RimWorld, Space Engineers, etc.

 

[keraj37]

Dwarf Fortress

Ah yes Dwarf Fortress, I heard about it, looks sick. I need to try it at some point.

 

[FoxMcChief]

At launch, the game was as barebones as a game could be. Literally no story, just procedural generated planets.

As of right now, the game is in a much better state, but still lacks some of that stuff that holds my attention, like a reason to explore.

 

[Portugeezer]

Many years of early access, and by early access I mean version 1.0.

 

[Davevil]

Massive turd ?

 

[nowhat]

How do you see No Man's Sky today?

What amazes me more than any technical aspect of the game is that a) after a disastrous launch (yes, it was very much a case of over-promise and under-deliver) Hello Games stuck with it, and b) all of the updates (which by now make the game much much more than what was initially promised) have been free. Especially the latter, I can't think of another example. I guess they still make enough new sales to make it worthwhile? Or maybe the developers at Hello Games are also procedurally generated by now.

 

[mrmustard]

1. Hype game
2. Get Sony money for exclusivity
3. Release unfinished product
4. Finish with money from sold units

 

[ahtlas7]

Fake it til you make it.

 

[naguanatak]

The usual one liners and uninformed prejudices already in here on the first page, nice

Game is a blast, always was...for me.
Yeah, it was boring in the beginning, but even then no other game gave me the feeling of actually being in a alien world...walking over a planet, taking off, flying over to a moon or another planet, landing, exploring further, scanning flora and fauna, learning words, discovering lore fragments when finding monoliths...all seamless, no loading, the world generating on the fly.
They added feature after feature and I'm always amazed what they come up with. I still play it from time to time but since release I'm wishing for a procgen focussed exploration update that adds new parts to the existing systems. A couple of times there were new biomes and possibilities, but their focus was always the community and what they engage with. Understandable, but I wish they would rather have followed their initial vision.
The generated landscapes in the beginning were interesting, much more alien and weird than the tame, realistic ones we have now. Same with the color palette. Atlas Rising was the time I enjoyed the generation and colors the most, I think.
PSVR2, especially now with the last update is just on another level. Actually 'being there' in this universe and now with the visual clarity is exactly what I wanted from video games since I was a kid

Of course there are still people claiming this game has no gameplay features and still mad about 'lying devs' and falsely claiming Sony funded them. Go on hating Hello Games or Sean Murray. I'd much rather have ten of him and his team than most of the AAA devs we have today. They managed to give me countless hours of joy inhabiting a universe of my own, always expanding features, mechanics and possibilities. They had a clear vision and took the risk to do something different, then expanded upon it (with many features I just don't like and haven't really interacted with til this day, but still quality content) and always from day one worked their asses off to bring update after update all free of charge after the initial purchase. I cannot wait for what they are cooking up next.

PS: Waking Titan was the GOAT arg for me

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Passion project

 

[Soodanim]

I've had this game in my sights recently, and I'll probably pick it up during a sale as I'm in no rush. I completely overlooked the sheer amount of content added since launch, but I'm now I'm intrigued. Starfield will only blossom in about 3 years anyway, I'm in even less of a rush for that. Hell, Skyrim needs another modded run from me first.

 

[bender]

Maths

 

[nemiroff]

I love NMS but it's mostly only "massive" on the surface so-to-speak.

The procedural universe is wide but shallow, including its game subsystems and assets (hence why it's manageable by a relatively small studio of ~50 employees).

It's definitely not a masterpiece, and had a pretty rough start. But they turned it around, and I like it mostly because it's a chill game.

 

[keraj37]

The usual one liners and uninformed prejudices already in here on the first page, nice

Game is a blast, always was...for me.
Yeah, it was boring in the beginning, but even then no other game gave me the feeling of actually being in a alien world...walking over a planet, taking off, flying over to a moon or another planet, landing, exploring further, scanning flora and fauna, learning words, discovering lore fragments when finding monoliths...all seamless, no loading, the world generating on the fly.
They added feature after feature and I'm always amazed what they come up with. I still play it from time to time but since release I'm wishing for a procgen focussed exploration update that adds new parts to the existing systems. A couple of times there were new biomes and possibilities, but their focus was always the community and what they engage with. Understandable, but I wish they would rather have followed their initial vision.
The generated landscapes in the beginning were interesting, much more alien and weird than the tame, realistic ones we have now. Same with the color palette. Atlas Rising was the time I enjoyed the generation and colors the most, I think.
PSVR2, especially now with the last update is just on another level. Actually 'being there' in this universe and now with the visual clarity is exactly what I wanted from video games since I was a kid

Of course there are still people claiming this game has no gameplay features and still mad about 'lying devs' and falsely claiming Sony funded them. Go on hating Hello Games or Sean Murray. I'd much rather have ten of him and his team than most of the AAA devs we have today. They managed to give me countless hours of joy inhabiting a universe of my own, always expanding features, mechanics and possibilities. They had a clear vision and took the risk to do something different, then expanded upon it (with many features I just don't like and haven't really interacted with til this day, but still quality content) and always from day one worked their asses off to bring update after update all free of charge after the initial purchase. I cannot wait for what they are cooking up next.

PS: Waking Titan was the GOAT arg for me

 

[Embearded]

The question is, how the studio is still going without any other major title releasing since then.

 

[Majukun]

they lied through the teeth and got a deal with sony.
this gave them both the funding and time to create the game they wanted to

kind of a heartwarming success story, if you ignore all the dishonesty involved

 

[SmokedMeat]

They released it and then fixed it, and then kept adding content over the years.

 

[Clintizzle]

You can do a lot in 10 years.

343i has left the chat.

 

[Duchess]

It's definitely a game I like to dip in and out of, especially between big releases.

I've made it to the centre of the galaxy in both normal mode and permadeath, and right now I'm doing to Starbirth quest, to grab myself a living ship.

 

[bitbydeath]

The question is, how the studio is still going without any other major title releasing since then.

It’s like GTAV but they get sales spikes with every new update.

 

[semiconscious]

First, the game is only in the state it's in because they've been continuously working on it for 5+ years post-launch.

Second, because they are small they can be very focused. Ask anyone that's ever worked in development, team size and output does not scale linearly (eg a team of 100 cannot make a game that is 10x the scale of a 10 person team in the same amount of time).

Third, their engine/development tools are built around procedural generation so every time something is added they can include it in that process to "deploy" and have a new resource or animal put on every generated planet right away vs needing a dev to place those objects or enemies manually.

thank you!...

 

[EDMIX]

Fake it til you make it.

Nah, I don't know if I'll say all that.

Lots of issues at launch with performance, but the core concept was intact. Missing the whole MP thing, but that was also stated prior to release, their biggest issue imho was not being clear about parts of the game still being worked on like those motherships, enemy worm etc

We've seen worse.

 

[lh032]

is there random encounters or events in the game yet? like if you stay in the planet is there something happening or just some usual species and robots roaming around

 

[Del_X]

 

[Scotty W]

It’s not actually impressive, it’s just your brain telling you that.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Switch version got a good update. Looks good now.

 

[Guilty_AI]

is there random encounters or events in the game yet? like if you stay in the planet is there something happening or just some usual species and robots roaming around

There are random outposts with aliens in it. On occasion you also get stuff like aliens landing close to you, meteors falling, ships pulling up to you while you travel in space, etc.

 

[violence]

Diversity and Veteran talent. Hopefully they live into their 100s so we see at least one more game from them.

Edit: I like the game.

 

[Brock2621]

Just picked it up last month for PSVR2

 

[Phase]

Holy shit the amount of

in here slagging off this achievement is wild.

 

[lh032]

There are random outposts with aliens in it. On occasion you also get stuff like aliens landing close to you, meteors falling, ships pulling up to you while you travel in space, etc.

Is there a sense of danger ? Like will you get raided or something in the planet ?

can you recruit NPC and they roam around have their own routine or something ?

I'm thinking of jumping back in sometime later

 

[In Cold Blood]

It's really, really, really bland. I got so bored with it after a few hours I uninstaller it.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Is there a sense of danger ? Like will you get raided or something in the planet ?

There are anomalies and pirates, some planets can also be classified as dangerous due to weather or afressive sentinels, stuff like that.

can you recruit NPC and they roam around have their own routine or something ?

You can have pets (some of which you can ride on) as well as recruit certain key NPCs for your base.

 

[Ozzie666]

Pretty impressive post launch turn around for that game. It took them a while, but they got there in the end. Probably a credit to their management and focus in the end. I am guessing it eventually made them some profits.

 

[Hip Hop]

Switch version got a good update. Looks good now.

is the switch version the same as the others or is there missing stuff?

 

[Kakax11]

Bank loans i guess

 

[BouncyFrag]

is the switch version the same as the others or is there missing stuff?

It recently got the Echoes expansion so should be up to date with all content.

 

[naguanatak]

is the switch version the same as the others or is there missing stuff?

Switch version doesn't have mulitplayer and settlements. Other than that, it's the same game (minus some graphical bells and whistles) and feels absolutely weird but amazing playing on that tiny machine