Home Gaming No Man’s Sky is unfathomably large

No Man’s Sky is unfathomably large

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Nomansky

E3 darling No Man’s Sky is trying to do something that’s never been done in a videogame before; create a procedurally generated entire universe. And it looks like it’s succeeding; the developer, Hello Games, has had to fire off bots in to the far reaches of its virtual space to send back screenshots of distant digital worlds.  It’s a game of unprecedented scale, making Minecraft look a bit silly.

"No game has made it possible to fly down to a planet, and for it to be planet-sized, and feature life, ecology, lakes, caves, waterfalls, and canyons, then seamlessly fly up through the stratosphere and take to space again. It’s a tremendous challenge," said game creator Sean Murray in an interview with MIT’s Technology review.

Each of the tens of millions of planets that make up No Man’s Sky’s universe is unique, procedurally generated upon discovery. Each is beholden to the laws of the solar system its in, and the laws of physics that govern as a result. The procedurally generated fauna and flora that inhabit each of those worlds breed and mutate dynamically over time. It’s a virtual world of a scale we’ve never encountered before. 

It all sounds like the stuff of dreams; each of the millions of planets unique, with a scope and expansiveness that seems as if the game was coded by magic.

"If you were to visit one virtual planet every second then our own sun will have died before you’d have seen them all," says Murray.

It seems impressive as hell as a game of exploration – but I wonder how much of it will actually be fun as a game beyond all of that. Yes, there’s an element of space combat, but when it comes to the ground is there more to it than just finding new things, marking them off and flying off elsewhere?

It’s coming at some point in the near future to the PlayStation 4 as a timed exclusive, and could find its way to other platforms later.

Last Updated: July 24, 2014

No Comments

  1. Admiral Chief Saxon

    July 24, 2014 at 14:31

  2. Hammersteyn

    July 24, 2014 at 14:39

    Still gonna try to find the restaurant at the end of the Universe

    Reply

    • ToshZA

      July 24, 2014 at 14:40

      Please, take an upvote. It counts for 10 in my opinion, but one will have to suffice.

      Reply

      • Kensei Seraph

        July 24, 2014 at 14:54

        Agreed.

        Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 24, 2014 at 14:41

      Milliways

      Reply

    • Spaffy

      July 24, 2014 at 14:50

      Classic. And brilliant.

      Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

      July 24, 2014 at 14:51

      hahahahaha. GG

      Reply

    • Morne Nell

      July 24, 2014 at 14:55

      Hope you reach it before the DLC gets released

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 24, 2014 at 15:03

        Only if my ship has an improbability drive

        Reply

    • Anon A Mouse

      July 24, 2014 at 14:57

      As long as you don’t let anyone make a movie about it.

      Reply

      • ToshZA

        July 24, 2014 at 14:58

        They never did get to the 2nd book.

        Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          July 24, 2014 at 15:03

          Which is Bullshit.

          Reply

          • ToshZA

            July 24, 2014 at 15:04

            Agreed.

        • Anon A Mouse

          July 24, 2014 at 15:35

          Never liked what they did with Hitchhiker to be completely honest.

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            July 24, 2014 at 15:35

            It wasn’t all bad. I thought the casting was spot on. Especially Zaphod

          • ToshZA

            July 24, 2014 at 15:37

            Zaphod was epic. Loved the movie, still do. It’s not the books, certainly, but still really fun to watch. Marvin is my favourite, tbh.

          • Brady miaau

            July 24, 2014 at 15:38

            Nah, I thought the movie was crap. I liked Marvin, but the movie felt forced.

          • Anon A Mouse

            July 24, 2014 at 15:39

            Almost started to feel like I was alone in this. *PHEW*

          • Brady miaau

            July 24, 2014 at 15:40

            Ah yes, but you and I like at least one play by the Bard, so I think our opinions may not count for much

        • Brady miaau

          July 24, 2014 at 15:38

          Good on them!

          Reply

    • Rince&pop

      July 24, 2014 at 15:00

      I’m in the corner waiting with your beer. Now, hurry up! The show starts soon!

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 24, 2014 at 15:02

        Hahaha

        Reply

        • Rince&pop

          July 24, 2014 at 15:06

          And when I say show, this one ends/starts with a BANG!

          Reply

    • Brady miaau

      July 24, 2014 at 15:23

      My comment of the week, easily.

      Well played

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 24, 2014 at 15:31

        😉

        Reply

    • Axon1988

      July 24, 2014 at 15:26

      Isn’t it just past the end of the universe? Also take this towel…

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        July 24, 2014 at 15:34

        O_o apparently it is the nearest restaurant in space but not time

        Reply

    • Morne Nell

      July 24, 2014 at 15:34

      They should really add the ability to up vote multiple times………or
      Maybe the ability to vote for comment of the week.

      Reply

  3. Morne Nell

    July 24, 2014 at 14:41

    The colours in this game is so weird, know were it comes from but still ultra weird

    Reply

    • Maxiviper117

      July 24, 2014 at 18:09

      That makes it Unique, with millions of planets, theres millions of alterations and differences between them, not all life bound planets you’ll find in that game will look like earth.

      Reply

  4. Morne Nell

    July 24, 2014 at 14:46

    This game seems to be for those that does not get out of there houses ever.
    So what are you gona do today?, not in the mood for video game. Thinks I will take my space ship and explore a bit.

    Reply

    • Marius Nell

      July 24, 2014 at 14:50

      Sounds like the perfect life for me. Now if only I can make space babies my plans for world domination will be complete

      Reply

      • Morne Nell

        July 24, 2014 at 14:58

        Going to be one fugly looking alien, with yellow hear and bluish, yellowish skin.

        Reply

    • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

      July 24, 2014 at 15:19

      So what does that say about someone like me who would actually play it?

      Reply

      • Morne Nell

        July 24, 2014 at 15:29

        Hi my name is “Sir Rants A Lot Llew” I don’t have real friends, and play with dinosaurs :):)
        And the silence is then deafening………..

        Reply

        • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

          July 24, 2014 at 15:37

          Dinosaurs are awesome!

          Reply

          • Morne Nell

            July 24, 2014 at 15:38

            Now you sound like my real life brother

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

            July 24, 2014 at 15:39

            No seriously lol. I love anything dinosaur. I missed the Sandton Dino expo and I was actually disappointed….

          • Morne Nell

            July 24, 2014 at 15:40

            My kids went there with the wife, it was apparently awesome

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

            July 24, 2014 at 15:41

            Seems like everyone except me went 🙁

          • Anon A Mouse

            July 24, 2014 at 15:46

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

            July 24, 2014 at 15:46

            …….

            GG

          • Marius Nell

            July 24, 2014 at 15:40

            Agreed we need more dinosaurs! Everything is better with Dinosaurs, and boobs

          • Sir Rants A Lot Llew

            July 24, 2014 at 15:41

            hoor hoor!

          • Morne Nell

            July 24, 2014 at 15:41

            No wonder you struggle to get a Wife, dinosaurs with BOOBS, eish

  5. Spaffy

    July 24, 2014 at 14:47

    Sounds repetitive.
    Sounds repetitive.

    Reply

    • Maxiviper117

      July 24, 2014 at 18:17

      The same could be said for Minecraft, World of war Craft, league of legends, Dota 2, Cod, BF, Counter strike, Watch Dogs, Borderlands, Halo, Assassins creed, Skyrim, Forza, Gran Turismo, Need for….. any racing game for that matter, All GTA’s, Mass effect, Mortal Kombat, Angry Birds, Pac man, the dreaded and mindless Candy crush Saga…… etc etc

      Wake up and smell the roses. This notion in gaming is nothing new.

      Reply

      • Spaffy

        July 25, 2014 at 08:26

        Stinky roses you are sniffing on.
        Minecraft, World of war Craft, league of legends, Dota 2. I agree 100% That’s why I don’t play them.
        BF, Counter strike, Watch Dogs, Borderlands, Halo, Assassins creed, Skyrim. Accompanied by a good story one does not notice the repetitive nature of these games.
        Forza, Gran Turismo, Need for….. any racing game for that matter. Well, they are racing games. What did you expect. You go around a lap. You go around a lap. Etc.
        All GTA’s, Mass effect. For real? If you couldn’t have fun in either then stick to
        Angry Birds, Pac man, the dreaded and mindless Candy crush Saga etc.
        There are repetitive games out there, I agree. But if a game has good build, good story and enough things to keep you busy it’s a winner. No?
        And this game thus far sounds like the planet exploration side quests in Mass Effect 1. Tedious and no point to it. But I’m not judging yet. It has potential, if the developers can add a good story to the planet exploration bits.

        Reply

        • Maxiviper117

          July 25, 2014 at 11:43

          Yes one might excuse the repetitive nature of a game in enjoyment of it, but that doesn’t make the repetitive nature disappear.

          Borderlands for instance, the entire game is simply , go there, shoot some bad guys and come back. Yes it was fun but I excused the repetition until i finished the game 3 times then it become boring. Its rare tyo find a game that is void of repetition even if its not noticeable the for the first play-through.

          Ya i can see this game could become repetitive in nature but when your presented with an environment on galactic scale with millions of possible alterations and differences in everything you discover. Thats never been done before, Ya i know Spore had this kind of thing but not to the detail and true to size scale with planet sized planets.

          Reply

          • Spaffy

            July 25, 2014 at 12:09

            It does sound brilliant. The whole concept. And I will definitely give it a go.
            All I am saying is it needs a good story to back it up. Otherwise what’s the point?

  6. Alien Emperor Trevor

    July 24, 2014 at 14:49

    Header win!

    Reply

  7. Sir Rants A Lot Llew

    July 24, 2014 at 14:50

    If it comes to PC I’d play the heck out of it

    Reply

  8. Kensei Seraph

    July 24, 2014 at 14:53

    “Each is beholden to the laws of the solar system its in, and the laws of physics that govern as a result.”
    This could mean that some planets will have entirely different laws of physics.
    I didn’t really care before but now I’m intrigued.

    Also time to go play Destiny.

    Reply

  9. Morne Nell

    July 24, 2014 at 14:54

    The perfect end of the month solution, no money to go out? Tired of video game?, try no man sky.
    It is not a Game it is an adventure!!!

    Reply

  10. Rince&pop

    July 24, 2014 at 15:00

    I am very excited about this. Even if it is jut exploring.

    Reply

    • ToshZA

      July 24, 2014 at 15:00

      And we all know how you like to explore “jut”s.

      Reply

      • Rince&pop

        July 24, 2014 at 15:01

        You KNOW it 0_O

        Reply

        • ToshZA

          July 24, 2014 at 15:01

          Well I don’t have first ‘hand’ experience on the matter.

          Reply

          • Rince&pop

            July 24, 2014 at 15:04

            You said hand *giggle

          • ToshZA

            July 24, 2014 at 15:04

            I’m sure hands do make you giggle. Do they tickle?

          • Rince&pop

            July 24, 2014 at 15:05

            You ARE hands? 0_O

          • ToshZA

            July 24, 2014 at 15:06

            I edited, because I was too busy laughing at you to type the one word.

    • Hammersteyn

      July 24, 2014 at 17:03

      My sentiment exactly, especially when I walk into Teazers

      Reply

  11. Maxiviper117

    July 24, 2014 at 18:22

    Its crazy to think that this game is so large that you could play the game with it connected to the internet for like a year for example, and possibly never come across another person in game, because its so huge.

    Reply

    • sproketz

      January 10, 2015 at 17:30

      You’ve missed the scale. You could play for 100 million years and not come across anther person.

      Reply

  12. bethcwhitehorn

    July 25, 2014 at 13:45

    Start working at home with Google! It’s by-far the best job I’ve had. Last Wednesday I got a brand new BMW since getting a check for $6474 this – 4 weeks past. I began this 8-months ago and immediately was bringing home at least $77 per hour. I work through this link, go? to tech tab for work detail

    ?????? Jobs700.Com

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    Reply

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