
No Man's Sky is Elite for the 21st century. Pointless? Maybe – but also sublime - paublyrne
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/19/no-mans-sky-elite
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ablation
This game was so over-hyped. Maybe moreso than any game I can remember. As
others have stated, the novelty quickly wears off. The procedural generation
is a nice tech demo, but it doesn't actually generate anything... interesting.
Occasionally diverting environments, but little in the way of substance,
unfortunately. It's also unforgivably buggy even after a couple of huge, game-
changing patches.

I hope Sony learns from this, and that building what was essentially an indie
game up into a triple-A game without all the support and trappings of a
triple-A studio was always going to be tricky.

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godzillabrennus
"The novelty quickly wears off"...

Isn't this what people said about Sims, Sims 2, Sims 2 Expansion packs, and
Sims 3.

~~~
shepardrtc
People had a lot more to work with in those games. NMS is little more than a
tech demo. No physics, and superfluous variety. No real goal. The game is a
fuel mining simulator, and the fuel is abundant with little effort to achieve.
The only challenge is in overlaying your imagination on top of the cardboard
box that is in front of you.

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Pica_soO
What im missing from this are procedural generated societys. Imagine a alien-
caste system that goes full circle or something alike. Of course you cant (in
reasonable time) procedural generate history, but you could use analoga to a
bacteria-growth formula too at least "simulate" different civilisational
stages and the clashing of those curves with other civilizations.

You could even have the player interact with the "bacteria" and alter the
curves forever.Remember the savages you helped out at the great hunt with your
blaster- well they conquered the planet and went to the stars "conquering" to
honor you. Disclaimer: As with all generated content, the main problem is to
have the players attention "the hot potato" wander on as fast as possible.

~~~
jsnell
The most ambitious project I know of re: procedurally generated societies is
Ultima Ratio Regum,
[http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/info/](http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/info/)

~~~
pault
Can we just pay this guy's salary until he finishes the game? I need it
already!

~~~
ben_jones
If you're actually offering I bet you can find his email in 5 minutes of
Google.

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LennyHenrysNuts
I thought Elite:Dangerous was Elite for the 21st century?

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continuational
The problem with no mans sky is that there's nothing interesting to discover
after the first hour. It's just the same few grind-like gameplay elements over
and over and over. Battles are dull. Exploration is pointless, because every
inch of the planet is just more of the same. Every space station has the exact
same layout. The only thing that varies between ships is the number of cargo
slots. There's simply no depth.

~~~
gcmartinelli
I disagree with that. I have put more than one hour in and have found many
interesting planets, creatures and geological formations. I'm also captivated
by the small stories. What are the Sentinels? What and who am I? What's at the
center?

Off course, it takes time and patience. Many worlds are barren, many creatures
as very bizarre. But if you explore enough, you finds gems. And that feeling
of discovery is something no other game I can remember gave me.

This game in fact is a different experience. I get it if it's not everyone's
cup of tea (in fact, apparently the game was built to be 'divisive' [1]).

What I recommend for people beginning is to take their time. Leave their ships
behind somewhere and walk around the planet. After you distance yourself from
your ship (enough that the return trip on foot is not an option, the only
option is finding a beacon to call it), you'll start seeing changes on the
terrain. An unexpected lake, sand dunes, cave networks, forests where there
were none, etc. The variety on the game is quite impressive, actually... of
course, some patterns do repeat. But isn't that true for the universe as well?

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tcqzg976hQ&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tcqzg976hQ&feature=youtu.be&t=5m10s)

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ben_jones
Title is disingenuous. If any gamers want probably the best retrospective of
this game I'd check out The Cynical Brit's review on youtube [1]. Personally
I'll never buy this game because the second they lied and said their
procedurally generated universe had major multiplayer elements I knew it was
complete bull shit. No way a cross platform game from an indie studio supports
multiplayer in that kind of a game.

[1]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRkHPsZak08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRkHPsZak08)

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shostack
Yeah, there is some damning evidence of outright lies at this point. I hope
Steam is allowing refunds. If they aren't, does Steam hold your account
hostage and threaten to boot you if you were to do a charge back?

The big shame is that this, Star Citizen and Elite:Dangerous all had such
potential and DO have gorgeous graphics and cool gameplay mechanics. The
unfortunate part is that most people like the idea of a gigantic space
simulator, but the reality ends up being incredibly boring for gamers that
have come to expect lots of social interaction in any game billed as
multiplayer.

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crawsible
I saw a Sean Murray interview at some New Yorker-hosted event late last year.
He was very explicit about his desire to make a modern-day Elite.

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whazor
I love that games start to become more like stories or experiences. It gives a
new dimension to traditional media.

Having said that, failing the expectations can be blamed to the marketing of
No Man's Sky.

