Home Gaming No Man’s Sky’s too big for traditional multiplayer

No Man’s Sky’s too big for traditional multiplayer

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ForeveraloneNMS

No Man’s Sky is one of those game’s that is inconceivably large. The sheer scale of it is astounding. All players explore the very same universe, starting out at random spots on the edge, and try then to work their way to the middle, discovering new worlds as they go. Because it’s one connected universe, people have been asking about multiplayer, and if you’d be able to play with friends.  Speaking to Game Informer, Hello Games boss Sean Murray explained that the game’s scale makes traditional multiplayer a tad difficult.

“People keep asking us about multiplayer and I think when people see this they are going to fully realize what it means to be that far away from somebody else who’s playing,” Hello Games boss Sean Murray told Game Informer. “People keep saying to us, ‘Yeah, but what if I knew where they were? Would I go there?’ And it’s like, yeah, but they are going to have to stay there for quite a while while you get over there. And then once you get over there you might land on the same planet and then you will say, ‘I’m on a planet the size of Earth and I am on a mountain. Where are you?’ Which is, I know, a weird thing and it’s a daunting thing.”

It’s rather different to the sort of things you’re familiar with. No Man’s Sky won’t be like other multiplayer games,  and it’s certainly not an MMO. Multiplayer will work through open lobbies – not dissimilar from how Watch Dogs worked. OR even games like Journey, and Dark Souls.

“People are coming into that lobby and leaving it – like if you play Watch Dogs or something like that. Effectively, we have players joining your discrete space,” Murray said. “We’re not trying to make an MMO where you can play with literally 60,000 people on screen. We handle the case like where other people can fly past in your game or that you can bump into other players in the game.”

“Like Journey multiplayer, that was a huge part of the game for me, but they did a good job in not describing it as a multiplayer game. Journey would have been really disappointing if you entered into it thinking it was a multiplayer game. It’s not. Dark Souls I think of as a single-player experience, but I’m really glad of the elements that they have in there. “

And while you may encounter other players, you’ll probably just think an AI has flown past you. Encountering other people on any planet’s surface is even more rare.

“We keep talking about Jack’s dad from Lost, basically just to see them in the distance. Like, ‘Did I? What?’” Murray said.

The game, at it’s core, is about exploration. Lonely, lonely exploration.It sounds, to me, like the stuff of childhood dreams. I worry though, if those dreams brought to life will be any fun. It’s out in 2015 for PC and PS4.

Last Updated: December 11, 2014

41 Comments

  1. Brady miaau

    December 11, 2014 at 08:35

    yes

    “if those dreams brought to life will be any fun”

    Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    December 11, 2014 at 08:44

    lol forever alone in the header. Maybe it’s because my screen res is 640 X 480 that I spot them so easy. Also might explain why I prefer consoles.

    Reply

    • Mr Happy Face

      December 12, 2014 at 07:02

      I assume you mean the tag?

      If so, the FE face is also pasted onto the face of the astronaut in the picture 😛

      Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        December 12, 2014 at 07:36

        I meant the picture. That’s where the 640 X 480 part comes in. Everything looks bigger then

        Reply

  3. Rock789

    December 11, 2014 at 08:45

    Sounds awesome. And it’s an utterly epic ambition… Only time will tell if it can be realised. Hell, it may simply be too big to be realised – just look at how some AAA developers struggle with open worlds that are the size of a city, let alone a universe!!

    I, for one, really hope they can pull this off.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      December 11, 2014 at 09:37

      It’ll depend on just how good their procedural generation is. If you start seeing the same, or very similar, stuff over & over again it could get dull. Everything they’ve shown looks cool so far though.

      Reply

  4. ToshZA

    December 11, 2014 at 08:46

    I’m actually really looking forward to this, tbh. Sounds like exactly my cup of tea, and with every update I get a little more excited.

    Reply

  5. Norm (@e3zype3zy)

    December 11, 2014 at 08:52

    #foreverSP?

    Reply

    • ToshZA

      December 11, 2014 at 08:58

      Where’s Trev – this game is a match made in heaven for him.

      Reply

      • Anon A Mouse

        December 11, 2014 at 09:05

        Probably somewhere…….. alone.

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          December 11, 2014 at 09:35

          Reply

        • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

          December 11, 2014 at 09:35

          [inserts “All by myself” song]

          Reply

  6. Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

    December 11, 2014 at 09:01

    This game, I must have this game!

    Reply

  7. oVg elfroot slayer

    December 11, 2014 at 09:07

    Something STAR TREK should be doing. What a crap franchise for gaming. Even Mass Effect surpassed Gene Roddenberry’s baby.

    Imagine starting at a random worm hole and its your mission to get the Voyager back to Earth.

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

      December 11, 2014 at 09:09

      I’d play that

      Reply

      • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

        December 11, 2014 at 09:11

        Go play Star Trek: The Videogame. It’s fantastic.

        http://www.lazygamer.net/xbox-360/star-trek-review-worst-contact/

        Reply

        • Norm (@e3zype3zy)

          December 11, 2014 at 09:12

          HAHA!

          Reply

        • oVg elfroot slayer

          December 11, 2014 at 09:12

          lol

          Reply

        • Anon A Mouse

          December 11, 2014 at 09:15

          Two years after the review and you still have nightmares?

          Reply

          • Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim

            December 11, 2014 at 09:21

            It still haunts me.

          • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

            December 11, 2014 at 09:25

            SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRK

        • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

          December 11, 2014 at 09:21

          Not a chance

          Reply

        • Hammersteyn

          December 11, 2014 at 09:21

          lol

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief BellatorMachina

            December 11, 2014 at 09:22

            I see your “old” account’s comments is still there…

          • Hammersteyn

            December 11, 2014 at 09:24

            Yeah, back before I underwent my transformation.

          • Spaffy

            December 11, 2014 at 10:05

            From Deon to Hammer.
            What happened? Did your balls drop?

          • Hammersteyn

            December 11, 2014 at 10:09

            hahaha

  8. Ozzh3D

    December 11, 2014 at 09:51

    Oculus Rift anyone?

    Reply

  9. Wyzak

    December 11, 2014 at 09:54

    Sounds like a crappy excuse to not implement proper multi-player features. Add a friend in-game you get an arrow pointing in his direction, he gets one pointing in your direction, meet each other half-way even if that takes weeks…

    Reply

  10. Purple_Dragon

    December 11, 2014 at 11:03

    I still don’t get the point of this game.

    Reply

    • Gavin Mannion

      December 11, 2014 at 12:01

      I have to agree with you, the more I read up about it the less I understand what it’s even trying to be.

      Seems more like an technical experiment than an open world game. More a “can we do this” than a “we should do this”

      Reply

  11. Nerkey

    December 12, 2014 at 01:56

    I really hope there is a building aspect in this game. I want to be able to build a home on my planet or planets I travel too.

    Reply

    • Comrade_Anon

      December 12, 2014 at 08:36

      I’m not sure which vid it is, but there is a gamespot interview on a show floor with Sean M. about building and how since the point of the game is discovery, they don’t want you to settle on a planet, even though you can. From the way he described it, it sounds like he expects people to just set up shop on a planet and not build anything. I imagine his vision of your “home” will be your ship. Especially considering the numerous mentions of upgrading your ship or suit. I wouldn’t go into this thinking Minecraft.

      Reply

      • Nerkey

        December 12, 2014 at 14:27

        If this is true……what a shame!

        Reply

        • Comrade_Anon

          December 22, 2014 at 17:45

          Yes, an amazingly ambitious game designed by a team of four, offering thousands of hours of discovery and frontier pioneering adventure, is completely a shame. /s

          The premise of this game isn’t the same as Minecraft’s, you’ll need to forgive their transgressions of actually trying to bring true Sci-fi back to gaming. All I have to say is, you should brush up on your sci-fi and I suggest starting with the ’66 Star Trek series. They didn’t plant their flag on the first planet they came to and call it a day. They took their ship to the great unknown, something that rang true with humanity’s desire to traverse space in actuality. That’s the draw of sci-fi, not building a colony on a rock. It’s discovery, through and through.

          Reply

          • Nerkey

            December 22, 2014 at 17:57

            Eeeeeaaaasssyy, Pycho!!

            Am I not allowed to have hopes that something that I want, could actually be in the game??

            I am not saying it has to be Minecraft BUT seeing how well Minecraft did you would think the next step would be universes.

            I am fine with what Hello Games is doing with NMS. I understand their vision. I was just thinking that I could play a TON more if there was a building aspect. I hope that this game is going to be great and that I will play it for hundreds of hours, BUT I have my concerns. They have continued to tell us that it is a game where you play how you want. The main goal is trying to reach the center of the galaxy, BUT you don’t have to! I am just saying IF I find a planet that I enjoy, why not have the option of building and making it your own??

          • Comrade_Anon

            December 22, 2014 at 18:36

            I’m not sure what a pycho is, but having hopes for something you want is definitely allowed, lol. I agree with you on some things, such as seeing how well Minecraft did, I do think the next step would be universes. That’s totally feasible, and I look forward to seeing Minecraft do that.

            From the onset, they have described this game as a discovery/exploration game, and never as a crafting one, so perhaps your hopes would be better placed in that possible “Minecraft Universe” game. In response to “If I find a planet that I enjoy, why not have the option of building and making it your own?” I would just reiterate what Sean has said numerous times, the point of the game, his desire for the gamer, is to explore. By not having a base-building feature, he pushes the gamer onward, hence why it isn’t an option. You would leave your mark on the planet though, so I guess that’s about as close as it gets.

  12. Jennifer_Reitz

    December 12, 2014 at 04:01

    No Man’s Sky is basically Starfox plus Destiny plus Elite. It is easy to understand what kind of game it is. You fly, warp, land on planets, explore the surface on foot or by jetpack, upgrade your ship and abilities, and then go back into space. In space you fly, fight, protect convoys, do bounties, and generally get into or out of trouble. Trade and mine and explore. It’s not difficult to get what this game is about.

    Reply

  13. Mr Happy Face

    December 12, 2014 at 07:19

    Now I am imagining this game crossed with principles from Age of Empires/Civilization… something like a much less forgiving version of Spore, with much less required player involvement I guess…

    Reply

  14. Ghost In The Rift

    December 12, 2014 at 09:37

    Is it a positive release for PC??Thought its PS4 Exclusive on release then maybe PC.

    Reply

    • Comrade_Anon

      December 22, 2014 at 17:54

      Yes, in most of Sean Murray’s interviews he speaks of a PS4 AND PC release. In fact, it was originally announced for PC, but the first time they gained attention was at Sony’s E3 conference.

      Reply

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