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

Was wondering how many species would be on planets and was watching that IGN first walkthrough video. And in the space of 9 minutes, they encountered six different species of creatures (four land, one aquatic, one flying). And the comment that the fish was common would imply that there were rarer fish species on that planet.

So at least 6+ different species on a single planet

Also noticed there's some kind of ranking system tied to your ship/gear. Sean was a "Journeyman"

And getting to the center of the universe sounds like a New Game +. You can keep playing but new things become available to you.
 

Tigress

Member
I actually think the enormous scale is a negative. The games so astronomically large (no pun intended) that it's pretty unlikely that unless you seriously invest hundreds of hours diligently planet hopping that you're ever likely to encounter another player and even then you can't really interact with them. And albeit graphically it looks amazing. I'm not sold on that aesthetic hook coupled with an upgrade system being enough to keep me playing that long versus other games luring me away. In a world of infinite distractions, the hook has to be powerful.

I think if you want an MP game, this is not hte game for you. He's said it is pretty much a single player experience.

I personally like the fact that you will most likely never see another person. But I also like the fact that what other people do affect the same universe even if I may never get a chance to see them or even their effect. And that there is a chance I might see some one else (that will make it extra special if it happens). It's kinda part of the excitement to me that there are other people in this shared universe somewhere out there. Just knowing that adds a dimension to the game to me. But no, I don't want other random people playing around me. It's not the experience I want out of the game nor the experience he's been describing that he wants the game to give you.

I know he has talked about maybe adding an MP aspect to the game and I really hope that if he does that it's a seperate game or that there is a way that you can not be a part of it if you don't want to. What he described is all the MP I want out of the game and having other people around me would ruin that. Not to mention I really don't want to deal with some griefer who decides to follow me around and keep killing me for the joy of it (and honestly in my experience if you have a very open game and people playing in it they just want to treat it like an FPS and nothing else. I don't particularly want to deal with lots of PvP with people and people who do like PvP don't tend to want to leave you alone even if you refuse to fight back. Then you're just a fun easy target). That would ruin the immersion for me.
 
Wait here Sean says there are no NPCs?

And relevant to the current discussion, at 1:33 he says you CAN see other players.

He mentioned in another video for this event that they'd been working on NPC's but really didn't know if they'd turn out right. So they just said that there wouldn't be any. He said that they've tried to avoid announcing anything that they're unsure of in terms of its quality.
 
Wait here Sean says there are no NPCs?

And relevant to the current discussion, at 1:33 he says you CAN see other players.

Can't find the quote right now but last week he said something like, they previously said there were no NPCs, but that's because it wasn't something that had a set in stone place in the game, and he didn't want to promise things that might not ended up working out. He said NPCs were always intended though.
 

NotBacon

Member
He mentioned in another video for this event that they'd been working on NPC's but really didn't know if they'd turn out right. So they just said that there wouldn't be any. He said that they've tried to avoid announcing anything that they're unsure of in terms of its quality.

Ah got it, and I just realized the interview was from 2014 so that makes sense.
 

BigDug13

Member
This universe is so large, even if you could see every other player, you're never going to see any other player. In 100 hours of gameplay, you might see one other player. You might as well consider this game to have an equal amount of multiplayer as Skyrim, Fallout, and The Witcher. Which is why I can't understand why there are so many "OMG, no multiplayer? What were they thinking? I'm out." type of posts. The most successful games recently were single player experiences.

It would be nice to eventually get a "wingman mode" or something. Just like I kept wishing theY would patch in the ability for a friend to play as my follower in Skyrim. But it still never happened and Skyrim doesn't suck because of that lack of multiplayer or anything.
 

Mezano07

Neo Member
This universe is so large, even if you could see every other player, you're never going to see any other player. In 100 hours of gameplay, you might see one other player. You might as well consider this game to have an equal amount of multiplayer as Skyrim, Fallout, and The Witcher. Which is why I can't understand why there are so many "OMG, no multiplayer? What were they thinking? I'm out." type of posts. The most successful games recently were single player experiences.

It would be nice to eventually get a "wingman mode" or something. Just like I kept wishing theY would patch in the ability for a friend to play as my follower in Skyrim. But it still never happened and Skyrim doesn't suck because of that lack of multiplayer or anything.

Yup, i agree with this. For me meeting another player in the nearly infinite universe is an added bonus but i hope this doesn't mean that finding another player planets and creatures is also equally hard/impossible as sean had promised.
 
He mentioned in another video for this event that they'd been working on NPC's but really didn't know if they'd turn out right. So they just said that there wouldn't be any. He said that they've tried to avoid announcing anything that they're unsure of in terms of its quality.
And people have the audacity to call this spore 2.0. Disrespect to sean and his team. Spore was a big letdown for many reasons, peter and his pr being one of the big ones
 

MadYarpen

Member
Personally I expect that the fact, that it is so unlikely to meet someone there will increase the immersion - I mean the feeling that you are a single person in so fucking huge huge universe/galaxy. Just like when you are seeing comparisons between the size of Earth/Jupiter/sun/other stars/galaxies etc.
 
This universe is so large, even if you could see every other player, you're never going to see any other player. In 100 hours of gameplay, you might see one other player. You might as well consider this game to have an equal amount of multiplayer as Skyrim, Fallout, and The Witcher. Which is why I can't understand why there are so many "OMG, no multiplayer? What were they thinking? I'm out." type of posts. The most successful games recently were single player experiences.

It would be nice to eventually get a "wingman mode" or something. Just like I kept wishing theY would patch in the ability for a friend to play as my follower in Skyrim. But it still never happened and Skyrim doesn't suck because of that lack of multiplayer or anything.

I think the feeling is understandable though, particularly for those who haven't followed how the game's been shaping up over the past year. The early details of sharing the world, being able to see what other players have done and the admission that you could see other players themselves all made it seem like pairing up for some open-world co-op would be inevitable. There's been a lot of dancing around the subject, with vague language while the game's evolved, and that's created some confusion, similar to that around NPCs.

I've been reading as much as I can, and I'm still a bit hazy on it.
 
Personally I expect that the fact, that it is so unlikely to meet someone there will increase the immersion - I mean the feeling that you are a single person in so fucking huge huge universe/galaxy. Just like when you are seeing comparisons between the size of Earth/Jupiter/sun/other stars/galaxies etc.

Yeah I'd agree.
All I want is a space game where I can explore, trade, fight and whatever by myself in the vast expanse of space. This is basically the perfect approach to the games vision
I like how Hello Games have striven for a more Journey-esque multiplayer aspect.

I also don't want to see a bunch of xX420NoScopexX idiots whichever planet I land on lol
That all being said I'm not opposed to having friend matchmaking after the games release and the devs have the time to input more features.

There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

Missed this on the previous page.
Nice to finally see an NPC.

UI is looking clean af too, really like the slight Destiny feel to it.
 

SonnyBoy

Member
Yeah, hopefully they add the ability to explore with at least 1 friend at some point. That would be amazing and make it a timeless game for me.
 

SomTervo

Member
There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

Shit. Thanks man. This is fuckin' A.

Awesome stuff, thanks! Our first view at the alien NPCs. :)

I fiddled around with the link and found a higher resolution version where you can easily see the options and text.

Oh, and even better, thanks!

I wonder if the NPCs' appearances are procedural? Also I was kind of hoping the alien language was actually like weird symbols and not just jumbled letters

I got the impression from the previews that the sentient aliens are all hand-crafted, with specific languages and looks. I guess that's part of the game's actual lore.

I actually think the enormous scale is a negative. The games so astronomically large (no pun intended) that it's pretty unlikely that unless you seriously invest hundreds of hours diligently planet hopping that you're ever likely to encounter another player and even then you can't really interact with them. And albeit graphically it looks amazing. I'm not sold on that aesthetic hook coupled with an upgrade system being enough to keep me playing that long versus other games luring me away. In a world of infinite distractions, the hook has to be powerful.

It's difficult to know until we play it. No game has ever been this big.

What I'm hoping is that it'll give an unprecedented sense of time and place. Any time you play a game, you know that there is a limit just around the corner. Maybe the edge of the open world map, the edge of the level, the edge of the limited-travel map (like Mass Effect).

But in this game, every star in the sky will be an actual location. You'll have a complete sense that there is a world out there - a holistic sense, like we get actually standing on a real planet IRL.

It's going to be fucking exciting, even if it doesn't work out in the end.
 

Kadayi

Banned
It's difficult to know until we play it. No game has ever been this big.

What I'm hoping is that it'll give an unprecedented sense of time and place. Any time you play a game, you know that there is a limit just around the corner. Maybe the edge of the open world map, the edge of the level, the edge of the limited-travel map (like Mass Effect).

But in this game, every star in the sky will be an actual location. You'll have a complete sense that there is a world out there - a holistic sense, like we get actually standing on a real planet IRL.

It's going to be fucking exciting, even if it doesn't work out in the end.

Even with the best will in the world you're not even going to witness even a percentile of the games extent, and like Ozymandias whatever accomplishments you achieve will be dust in the wind.

You were concerned with not meeting any other players or being able to interact with them. How is that not wanting an mp game?

Did the miss this bit?

And albeit graphically it looks amazing. I'm not sold on that aesthetic hook coupled with an upgrade system being enough to keep me playing that long versus other games luring me away. In a world of infinite distractions, the hook has to be powerful.
 

Tigress

Member
Did the miss this bit?

No, I saw that. But I was responding to you saying that you thought it needed that or else it would have to have a strong hook. My basic response was, don't expect that, it's an SP game. I was addressing your they better have MP part vs. the or else it better have some other hook. Well, it's not MP so that makes your first part moot (other words you would be better off saying that it better have a good hook if it doesn't have MP).

And also pointing out for me I liked that it wasn't MP and that I wouldn't like that if it was (addressing once again the hypothetical of if it was MP). That for me I totally don't want that in a game unlike you or think that it is necessary if it doesn't have a "strong hook".

I'm not sure why I have to explain my post to you, honestly. IT wasn't that hard to understand nor is it hard to understand why I responded that way to you. You were pretty much saying it better be MP or it better have a good hook. I am not sure why that means my reply was confusing to you.
 

Raist

Banned
Also noticed there's some kind of ranking system tied to your ship/gear. Sean was a "Journeyman"

It's related to the capacity of your hyperdrive, IIRC.

And getting to the center of the universe sounds like a New Game +. You can keep playing but new things become available to you.

My guess is that it's just like the Dark Tower.
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Is it just me or has every atmospheric entry we've seen for this game sort of skipped a large chunk of the atmosphere directly to the surface? What's making me think this is every time it happens, the game goes from a space layer where you see a globe with bumps along it, directly to being a landscape with hills and mountains. There's no smooth transition. It's almost like the game takes a second to load the surface. If true, maybe they did this specifically to speed up atmospheric entry and exit. It might be what's throwing off people regarding the scale and making it hard to believe the planets are planet-sized. Maybe it also means every planet in the game will have an atmosphere.
 
Is it just me or has every atmospheric entry we've seen for this game sort of skipped a large chunk of the atmosphere directly to the surface? What's making me think this is every time it happens, the game goes from a space layer where you see a globe with bumps along it, directly to being a landscape with hills and mountains. There's no smooth transition. It's almost like the game takes a second to load the surface. If true, maybe they did this specifically to speed up atmospheric entry and exit. It might be what's throwing off people regarding the scale and making it hard to believe the planets are planet-sized. Maybe it also means every planet in the game will have an atmosphere.

Were you urged to make this post because of the transition shown in the CobraTV video that More_Badass just posted? That was one of the longer ones. I remember every transition we've seen until E3 2015 was really short. Like diving into a kiddie pool. I complained about that a lot too until I saw the one at E3, which I thought was a lot more satisfactory. I'm sure they will vary. I think HG even spoke directly about planet transitions before and making them longer.
 

E92 M3

Member
From Cobra TV, this is supposed to be new off-screen gameplay from the New Yorker Festival last year. It's planets we've seen before, but new footage on those planets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3gIGymn05o
nVDuz1q.gif

Astonishingly beautiful

Is it just me or has every atmospheric entry we've seen for this game sort of skipped a large chunk of the atmosphere directly to the surface? What's making me think this is every time it happens, the game goes from a space layer where you see a globe with bumps along it, directly to being a landscape with hills and mountains. There's no smooth transition. It's almost like the game takes a second to load the surface. If true, maybe they did this specifically to speed up atmospheric entry and exit. It might be what's throwing off people regarding the scale and making it hard to believe the planets are planet-sized. Maybe it also means every planet in the game will have an atmosphere.

The latest video had a decently long atmospheric entry, but it's definitely something I want to them to work on and make as long as possible (for planets with Earth-like atmospheres). My only small issue with the game.
 

jaaz

Member
There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

This game continues to remind me of this gem from long ago:

72qfDsc.gif


ltzqIqg.jpg


6K72kek.jpg
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
Were you urged to make this post because of the transition shown in the CobraTV video that More_Badass just posted? That was one of the longer ones. I remember every transition we've seen until E3 2015 was really short. Like diving into a kiddie pool. I complained about that a lot too until I saw the one at E3, which I thought was a lot more satisfactory. I'm sure they will vary. I think HG even spoke directly about planet transitions before and making them longer.

Really all of them. You never see, for instance, the lower stratosphere of any planet. You never seem to get to fly through and around the clouds. It always switches from low orbit straight to being right over the surface.

I imagine making atmospheres thinner is one aspect of how Hello Games is prioritizing fun over realism, like how moons will be unrealistically close to planets. Elite: Dangerous doesn't let you enter atmospheres at all yet, but compare this to Space Engine where atmospheric planets have miles of cloud cover to get through before you see an atmospheric planet's surface.
 

CHC

Member
There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

That looks fantastic!
 
Theyll never be realistically big. I was pretty satisfied with the extra 10 or so seconds it took to enter the E3 planet tbh. There will probably be some longer ones but I don't expect it to be like earth level.
 

E92 M3

Member
Theyll never be realistically big. I was pretty satisfied with the extra 10 or so seconds it took to enter the E3 planet tbh. There will probably be some longer ones but I don't expect it to be like earth level.

I'll be happy with 10 seconds or so - maybe 15 max. I just want it to feel like a journey. Also would be fun to fly high above the ground in the clouds.
 

AngryMoth

Member
I just remembered, I don't recall which interview but like a year ago Sean mentioned they were prototyping some kind of separate multiplayer mode. I wonder if anything ever came of that.
 

Kadayi

Banned
No, I saw that. But I was responding to you saying that you thought it needed that or else it would have to have a strong hook.

Seriously, you're ability to read what is not there is worrying (maybe less second guessing at what you think someone means and more focus on what's actually written) I've not given a damn about MP gaming for years. My concern is purely about the depth of the game-play as it stands based on what's been shown, and the longevity of that hook for a lot of people in terms of keeping them engaged. One presumes the intent of making a game this big is the hope that people are going to do more than play it for a few weeks before casting it aside for the next shiny that comes along. MP would add a dimension for sure (for those who like that sort of thing), but as I said in my initial post the sheer scale of the game renders even that null and void as a possibility down the road. If the game were a tenth or even 100th of the size that it is, would it be any less I guess is my point.
 

alba

Little is the new Big
There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

Man, yes every little new tidbits has me more and more excited. June is so far away :(
 

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I actually don't think there's anything stopping planets from being realistically Earth-sized, at least nothing technical stopping Hello Games from doing that. Murray has constantly said things supporting the claim of realistically-sized planets. He's said players could spend years walking around one planet, or that a million players spread out on the same planet would still have a hard time meeting up with each other.

If there's any reason they back away from Earth-sized planets, it'll be to streamline the gameplay.
 

Hoje0308

Banned
From Cobra TV, this is supposed to be new off-screen gameplay from the New Yorker Festival last year. It's planets we've seen before, but new footage on those planets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3gIGymn05o
nVDuz1q.gif


Cannot wait to get this game in my hands. Being able to explore an entire planet and its oceans, mountains, rivers, lakes, forests and valleys will be great. And to then realize that, not only are there more to explore, there are so many that I'll never see them all. Amazing!
 

Man

Member
There is a single image from the preview event. (It was found on a photographers website.)

sZbF6ej.jpg


It appears to be the dialog tree when talking with other alien lifeforms.
People are guessing the orange coloured word is the one you've learned with all others in the alien language, and you have to choose how to respond.

  • There the Entity and ..... the [suffering?]
  • Offer the [Korv..] Entity something from your inventory
  • A....... ... ...... .... you ... . ................
  • Ask for help learning the Alien's language
 
  • There the Entity and ..... the [suffering?]
  • Offer the [Korv..] Entity something from your inventory
  • A....... ... ...... .... you ... . ................
  • Ask for help learning the Alien's language

I think the first is "Thank the Entity, and take its offering" and the third is "Attempt to explain that you are a peaceful creature".
 
Any one still think this will be a PS VR title? If it is hopefully they announce it before the game launches. I'd assume it would have to be a different version and if it's going to be a VR title I would much rather hold out for that version. (Would it even have to be a different version?)
 
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