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No Man's Sky previews (03-03-2016)

I bet that will bore a lot of gamers who want to have a campaign or plot rather than trying to imagine their own scenario to motivate them in an exploring procedural game that Murray says never ends
Considering Minecraft is like the best selling game ever, ARK and Terrarria and other sandbox survival exploration games have sold a ton, and space sims where you make your own way like Elite have made a resurgence...I'd say a lot of people will enjoy that gameplay loop just fine
 

amnesiac

Member
Did you even listen? He says "VR would be great in NMS but we are a small team, so ..." - it's not happening.

The thing is, they haven't outright denied VR. I don't see any harm in saying "at launch, No Man's Sky will not have VR support" if that was the case. Instead, we get "that's as much as I can say" comments that make it sound like VR is happening in some form.

For example:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/no-mans-sky-perfect-for-playstation-vr-says-hello-/1100-6435314/
When presented with the idea that No Man's Sky could be the game that sells PlayStation VR to PS4 owners, Murray said the ability to fully immerse yourself in galactic exploration was a childhood dream.

"I think that No Man's Sky, which is this infinite computer generated universe, and PlayStation VR, which is a headset that you put on and enter a VR space is like, it's like you've asked me when I was five what the future would look like."

Despite his enthusiasm for a VR version No Man's Sky, Murray stopped just short of announcing the game for Sony's headset.

"That's as far as I can comment," he said.
 
I bet that will bore a lot of gamers who want to have a campaign or plot rather than trying to imagine their own scenario to motivate them in an exploring procedural game that Murray says never ends

Sure, people who find something like minecraft boring for those specific reasons might not be the type of person who'd enjoy NMS. I don't see why HG should be concerned with those people though. That type of game design definitely attracts a massive audience.

You bring up good points I just think Sony believes it to be a huge title to generate momentum for PSVR and as such I think they will go to great lengths to ensure when you pick up a PSVR at launch its compatible with NMS. Just my thoughts though, I could be wrong.

Well if PSVR comes out a while after NMS then I hope they could have it ready by then.
 

darkinstinct

...lacks reading comprehension.
The thing is, they haven't outright denied VR. I don't see any harm in saying "at launch, No Man's Sky will not have VR support" if that was the case. Instead, we get "that's as much as I can say" comments that make it sound like VR is happening in some form.

For example:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/no-mans-sky-perfect-for-playstation-vr-says-hello-/1100-6435314/

He's under NDA, that's a very good explanation for "that's probably already saying too much". He can't say anything that isn't signed off by Sony.
 

Bsigg12

Member
The thing is, they haven't outright denied VR. I don't see any harm in saying "at launch, No Man's Sky will not have VR support" if that was the case. Instead, we get "that's as much as I can say" comments that make it sound like VR is happening in some form.

For example:

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/no-mans-sky-perfect-for-playstation-vr-says-hello-/1100-6435314/

I fully expect VR support for the PC version. I'm doubtful about PSVR because the footage shown as the PS4 footage was released in 30 fps with tearing and drops. I'm not holding my breath that a PSVR version will make it out.

That said, it would be awesome if it did because more people than those of us that are biting the bullet on expensive gen 1 PC VR headsets would get to experience the game in a really unique way.
 

Wreav

Banned
Did you even listen? He says "VR would be great in NMS but we are a small team, so ..." - it's not happening.

I'm glad you're here to tell us what the unannounced truth is.

Myself, I'm expecting PSVR price and NMSVR news to break on the 15th.

I fully expect VR support for the PC version. I'm doubtful about PSVR because the footage shown as the PS4 footage was released in 30 fps with tearing and drops. I'm not holding my breath that a PSVR version will make it out.

Keep in mind the minimum PC GPU for NMS is the GTX 480. I'd expect the PS4 to be able to handle it as long as they have a "VR settings" graphics mode on PS4.
 
It means it would take them a long time or a bigger team. His answer absolutely sounds like they would do it if they can

Guess nobody looks at whats unsaid... Or his body language... To me it looks like its in the works but he couldn't talk about it. So he never said no.. And just cause his team wouldn't doesn't mean it won't be a 3rd party to do it.
 
I bet that will bore a lot of gamers who want to have a campaign or plot rather than trying to imagine their own scenario to motivate them in an exploring procedural game that Murray says never ends

As others have said, sandbox games like Minecraft are hugely popular. Sure, I imagine people who only like games with deep gameplay systems and a traditional narrative campaign will be turned off by NMS. No one likes every game.

But I would also say that NMS excites me much more than Minecraft does because it's less focused on building and more on exploring rich, endlessly varied environments. There is actually an end narrative goal to NMS (get to the center of the universe), and there's limitless sub-goals which emerge out of your actions and where you decide to explore.

There's people that only want stories told to them, and people who like to make their own stories. This game is more for the latter, though I think it has enough traditional gameplay elements that it can attract some of the former.
 

Trogdor1123

Member
I can't wait to go to some gas giant and fly through it to see if there is a core or to see if I get crushed or something. It will be great!
 

DOWN

Banned
Considering Minecraft is like the best selling game ever, ARK and Terrarria and other sandbox survival exploration games have sold a ton, and space sims where you make your own way like Elite have made a resurgence...I'd say a lot of people will enjoy that gameplay loop just fine
Whether it is successful is irrelevant. My point rather is that I don't think this game's appeal can be conflated with the appeal of conventional hit AAAs
 

Cels

Member
last collector's edition game i bought at launch full price was guild wars 2, which was a good CE and a game i put a lot of time into but ultimately i dropped it. however, looking back i don't regret that purchase

this explorer's edition is gonna cost me $173.87 after shipping and taxes...hm...
 
this explorer's edition is gonna cost me $173.87 after shipping and taxes...hm...

That EE ship is nice, but yeah...pricey. It'd be cool if Hello offered a service where you could have your unique spaceship 3D printed. I imagine people will grow rather fond of their ships.
 

Akronis

Member
Elite's planets are all barren landscapes though, no? I haven't seen any planets in E:D that have flora or fauna.

Currently yes, but that shouldn't matter for scale of the planet and it'll all be LODed to hell until you break into the atmosphere (more or less a loading screen) for NMS.

Still mighty impressive though! I'm super excited :D
 

Mahonay

Banned
Yeah, it's in this fun Q&A here
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/12/12/70questionsandanswersaboutnomanssky.aspx
Funnily enough, answers no to the question about NPCs. Which goes back to GB's interview this week where he mentions having to keep really cool features secret at times
Sean's stance on concealing certain elements of NMS has been detrimental in some ways, leaving people an impression that there may not be a whole lot to the game, but it's been his way to make sure they avoid prematurely spoiling the discovery process for players when they finally get to play the game. It's obviously something he feels is absolutely integral to the vision he's trying to execute on. As we get closer to release, his sometimes infuriatingly vague ways of describing his game, suddenly makes a lot of sense.

Then there's the part of the GB interview where he talked about also not wanting to promise gameplay mechanics before they were sure they were going to make it into the game. Which most can appreciate, avoiding those Molyneux type moments in overpromising.
 
last collector's edition game i bought at launch full price was guild wars 2, which was a good CE and a game i put a lot of time into but ultimately i dropped it. however, looking back i don't regret that purchase

this explorer's edition is gonna cost me $173.87 after shipping and taxes...hm...

$114 for just an 8" metal ship is just a bit too much for me unfortunately. I'd probably spring for it if I weren't also getting a VR headset, but that VIVE is sucking up a lot of my disposable income.

Guess I'll just happily get the normal Steam version and not have to worry about shipping.
 

Dartastic

Member
So, I was two seconds away from preordering this on PS4 and then I remembered it's also coming to PC. Does anyone know anything about this game and VR support? I'd rather play on my Oculus, but I have no idea if that's even a possibility.
 

DOWN

Banned
Umm, well yeah, it's not a conventional AAA. Was anyone trying to claim otherwise?
It's priced and backed by Sony like one from a visibility standpoint, but it's actually a niche game that's dissimilar to the play and pacing popularly demanded of conventional AAAs.
 
It's priced and backed by Sony like one from a visibility standpoint, but it's actually a niche game that's dissimilar to the play and pacing popularly demanded of conventional AAAs.

I think the preorders are already proving it to be not so niche though. It's going to have a lot of pull, just not quite for the same reasons other AAAs have pull.
 
If it's running at 30fps on PS4 I doubt there is any chance of NMS PSVR.
I feel like there will be a 'VR Mode' where the graphics are scaled back a bit so it can run at 90fps for VR. Kinda like some last gen games had a '3D Mode' where the graphics took a hit in order to render in 3D.
 

RiverKwai

Member
It's priced and backed by Sony like one from a visibility standpoint, but it's actually a niche game that's dissimilar to the play and pacing popularly demanded of conventional AAAs.

You also just described Bloodborne. Were you equally as concerned about that pre-release?
 
So... are there quests/story mode and stuff to do or is it just exploration without purpose?

038ba52675ede2704fbd5dc8914f22b4.jpg
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
Not sure how I missed the $60 price on this. Well it just fell off my radar. I'm not even willing to give it a chance at full retail given what I've heard of the gameplay.
 
I feel like there will be a 'VR Mode' where the graphics are scaled back a bit so it can run at 90fps for VR. Kinda like some last gen games had a '3D Mode' where the graphics took a hit in order to render in 3D.
I'm less concerned about the GPU load than the CPU load though tbh. Like if it's a big, constantly connected world with a lot going on the PS4 CPU might have issues pushing out frames targeting 60 or even 90 fps.
 

Lister

Banned
I feel like there will be a 'VR Mode' where the graphics are scaled back a bit so it can run at 90fps for VR. Kinda like some last gen games had a '3D Mode' where the graphics took a hit in order to render in 3D.


A "bit"? That's three times the frame rate. And we don't know that GPU is the bottle neck here, in fact, I'd be surprised if it was. CPU is likely the bottleneck.
 
A "bit"? That's three times the frame rate. And we don't know that GPU is the bottle neck here, in fact, I'd be surprised if it was. CPU is likely the bottleneck.
PSVR can run at 60fps so it's only double. But yes, in a game like this I think CPU would be the bottleneck.
 
Some interesting info from the AMA here, from someone who played the game and interviewed Sean

Water physics (maybe, not clear)
I just want to know how how the physics of water work in the game. Is it running water, or just stagnant, and most importantly, will water flow into holes or canals that you dig out.
It's floating, so water flows into holes.

Some of the factions
There is a shitload of factions in there, a ton of cultures like a robo culture, that believes in the sun as their god and basically overlord societies, that control robots, so that they work for them.

Space battles
How big do the space battles get?
I don't think we are talking about Star Wars epicness, but it's still pretty fun. I've managed to almost take out a huge freighter and his "bodyguard" escort ships, but it called Space Police and they kicked my ass with like 5 ships showing up and opening fire at the same time.

Species behaviors
I was on a desert planet and followed a two meter sized guy, that looked like an Ewok from Star Wars. He was walking around and looked unhappy. When he found a river though, he made a little dance and took a bath.

Jetpack
The speed of your movement is pretty slow, but you can use a jetpack and you can heavily upgrade your jetpack to fly for a longer period of time.
 

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
I've gotten to the point in my gaming that I'm willing to get burned on a purchase in effort to stay about 98% in the dark about a game. Something about rekindling my youth and not having read or seen just about everything about a game before it releases. I know just 2% honestly, but it's a day one purchase, love the colors.
 
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