Home Gaming No Man’s Sky harkens back to a happier era of Sci-Fi

No Man’s Sky harkens back to a happier era of Sci-Fi

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No mans sky

No Man’s Sky blew people away when it was originally revealed and while I generally prefer games with a stronger narrative, I’m getting pretty excited to give it a whirl when it’s a released later this year. The New Yorker did a feature on Sean Murray that is really worth checking out; nestled among the human interest elements are some cool aspects about the game.

No Man’s Sky is designed as an homage to the sci-fi that Murray grew up reading – Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein. Aesthetically, it’s based on the vibrant cover images that were often designed in bulk; commissioned by publishers for a range of sci-fi books, they generally had nothing to do with the plots of the books but still hinted at something strange and unknown. Murray wants the game itself to be experienced similarly to the older science fiction stories rather than the newer approach to the genre:

But inherently what is going on is optimistic. You would read it and go, Wow, I would love to be this person—this is so exciting. Whereas at the moment a lot of sci-fi is dystopian, and you go, I would hate to be this person. How would I deal with it?

The article goes on to talk about current development and how important the E3 demo is for the game. It is frequently cited and referred to when pushing the game forward – did the ship leave the planet too quickly and easily? Did it look and feel the same way it did in the demo? Is exploration interesting and fun? When in doubt, the team chooses to err on the side of what they promised in the demo rather than what might be more correct according to the physics and the numbers. It’s an interesting balancing act that they’re doing and has made me incredibly intrigued about the game – it’s nice to hear about a company seeking to deliver on what was promised when gamers first saw the title, rather than what the game becomes during it’s development life cycle.

There is a story hidden in the game, but players can choose to delve into it or not. Want to journey to the center of the universe? Go for it. Prefer to spend your days mapping the planets in detail, one at a time? You can have fun with that instead. The choice is yours and I’m utterly intrigued.

Last Updated: May 12, 2015

52 Comments

  1. Ranting Raptor

    May 12, 2015 at 14:08

    I’m super stoked to try this out

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      May 12, 2015 at 14:14

      As am I

      Reply

      • Ranting Raptor

        May 12, 2015 at 14:18

        (Checks: It IS coming to PC right?)

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          May 12, 2015 at 14:18

          Yeah, but XBOX players can stream it from PC to their consoles come windows 10 I think.

          Reply

          • Ranting Raptor

            May 12, 2015 at 14:20

            Don’t care about Xbone and its idiotbox. I just want to make sure I can play it on my PC 🙂

          • Hammersteyn

            May 12, 2015 at 14:20

            XD it’s good news though, means almost everyone can play it.

          • Ranting Raptor

            May 12, 2015 at 14:22

            What, so that you can have 0.00003% more chance of meeting someone?

            #TrollingNow

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 14:22

            Eish, not nice Llew

          • Ranting Raptor

            May 12, 2015 at 14:26

            Sorry

        • RinceThis

          May 12, 2015 at 15:00

          I think only PS4 hey?

          Reply

          • Ranting Raptor

            May 12, 2015 at 15:40

            Don’t even joke

    • 40 Insane Frogs

      May 13, 2015 at 10:37

      Me too! I really hope they can deliver on all their promises.

      Reply

  2. Admiral Chief

    May 12, 2015 at 14:15

    In hype related news, WITCHER 3 DOWNLOAD @ 2.6%

    Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      May 12, 2015 at 14:19

      Chanting “Admiral! Admiral! Admiral!”

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        May 12, 2015 at 14:54

        3.4%

        Reply

        • rollingmol

          May 12, 2015 at 15:13

          100 ? ? … Eskom : send in the loadshedding.. #trolllolllo

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 15:14

            Janee, I’ll take a knock between 8 and 10 tonight 🙁

        • Jonah Cash

          May 12, 2015 at 15:21

          I am at 8.9%…. But I have loadshedding tonight after 22:00 if they decide to go that way.

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 15:27

            After 22:00?

            Lucky bastard. Mine is between 20h00 and 22h30

          • Brady miaau

            May 12, 2015 at 15:40

            Yeah. Again. And again. When we on stage 1, we think we are safe some nights. then they shift to stage 2 and we go down.

          • Jonah Cash

            May 12, 2015 at 15:52

            You are never going to catch me!!

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 16:11

            Well, I have a measly 2mb link, so if I win, I feel for you!

    • ReaperOfSquirrels

      May 12, 2015 at 14:45

      What’s your address? I’ll come watch you play it.

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        May 12, 2015 at 14:53

        Nr 1 Awesome Street
        SnorToria

        Bring beer

        Reply

        • ReaperOfSquirrels

          May 12, 2015 at 14:59

          You live at Cafe Barcelona? O.o
          (Refresh)

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 15:04

            Yeah, my wife runs the place

          • Brady miaau

            May 12, 2015 at 15:39

            that is amazing

  3. Admiral Chief

    May 12, 2015 at 14:17

    Dinosaurs you can ride and SPACE DINOSAURS!

    Reply

  4. Admiral Chief

    May 12, 2015 at 14:22

    Yes, it does seem like the spaceship got into orbit and space very fast, but realistically, are you going to sit and wait for minutes get from the surface to space?

    Reply

    • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

      May 12, 2015 at 14:24

      What would be amazing would be to guide the ship into the planets’ atmosphere and having to fight the different levels of friction as you come in for the landing, they could make that shine, also if you’d be able to take off in almost the same way it could be something stupendous!

      Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      May 12, 2015 at 14:26

      • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

        May 12, 2015 at 14:28

        HAHAHAHAHA!! Ah man, I miss Futurama…

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          May 12, 2015 at 14:29

          Thank heavens for Netflix.

          Reply

        • Kromas,powered by windows 10.

          May 12, 2015 at 14:31

          We all do.

          Kill all humans!

          Reply

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            May 12, 2015 at 14:34

            One of my favourites was Leela coming out of the bathroom gasping, so the professor turns to her and goes “What’s wrong Leela, did you inhale your phone again?”

    • Blood Emperor Trevor

      May 12, 2015 at 14:29

      Nope. But then you get the people who complain that they would & now their immersion is ruined!

      Reply

    • Skoobaz

      May 12, 2015 at 14:29

      K
      S
      P

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        May 12, 2015 at 14:31

        XD

        Reply

  5. RinceThis

    May 12, 2015 at 14:57

    I am actually very excited about this game. A console seller me thinks…

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      May 12, 2015 at 14:58

      Oh you

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        May 12, 2015 at 14:58

        Eh? I think it is only available on PS4, or have they said they will cover others now too?

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          May 12, 2015 at 15:02

          I think it is PS4 and PC when last I read?

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            May 12, 2015 at 15:03

            Oh cool. I wonder why not Xbone then? If they can port to PS4 (from the build on the PC) one would think they would…

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 15:07

            Maybe they don’t like boners?

          • RinceThis

            May 12, 2015 at 15:08

            Who doesn’t like a good boner?! 0_O

          • Admiral Chief

            May 12, 2015 at 15:11

            All the girls Trevor hits on?

          • RinceThis

            May 12, 2015 at 15:12

            XD BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

          • konfab

            May 13, 2015 at 10:20

            It is a timed exclusive for the PS4, the boner and masterscum will get it a few months later.

  6. sigma7

    May 13, 2015 at 09:09

    I really hope it comes out this year. Looking at later months of this year, May has Witcher 3, June has Arkham Knight, July doesn’t have a big game, neither does August, September has MGS V, October has AC Syndicate, November has Star Wars Battlefront.

    The Division is delayed, No Man’s Sky should make it in August or December.

    Reply

    • Aaron Lucas

      May 14, 2015 at 21:00

      Could be October too right? I mean isn’t AC Syndicate a sort of minor spinoff title? I think NMS could feasibly release against that and do well. I mean anybody who’s not completely hyped by now probably isn’t going to buy it anyway (and anyone who is hyped about it probably doesn’t give a rat’s about AC anymore). Hopefully we’ll find out a release date next month.

      Reply

      • sigma7

        May 16, 2015 at 09:20

        You’re right, it could definitely release in October. Lets hope they show more of it on E3. Rainbow Six Siege is also coming out in October.

        Reply

  7. konfab

    May 13, 2015 at 10:19

    My dream:
    For the next Mass Effect, Bioware licenses this engine to create the universe, then pick a couple of planets to place the story around.

    That would be it, no future games would be needed, which is why such a collaboration would never happen :(.

    Reply

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