No mans sky - A journey

No Man’s Sky

Love it or hate it, and right now, more people love it than they do hate it. It’s a game that has grown over time, evolved into more than the sum of its parts, or the promise that it gave us very early on. No Man’s Sky is a journey for the developers, and players, as much as it is the titular hero of the story – the Traveller.

So, sit back, read on and join me as I take a brief look at how the game’s launch version transformed into the epic sci-fi journey it is today.

All shots in this article are taken from the current version of the game on an Xbox Series X.

Lukewarm Launch

August 2016, the PC and PS4 landed a small indie title, backed by Sony, and created by a tiny team from the UK. Hello Games. That game was No Man’s Sky, and after a marketing campaign which saw a lot of comments by a very overwhelmed Sean Murray, the game did not meet up to the gamer’s expectations – or the critics.

Me? I loved it.

Then again, I’d always wanted a space game like it since the old days of the Mercenary – not Mercenaries, by Pandemic.

This one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary(videogame)

So, for me, No Man’s Sky hit the mark for what I wanted at the time. Yet, there was a lot missing. The multiplayer and so on, the big creatures that were seen in the demos, and more. At this point in its life-cycle, the game was just a spark of what it would later become.

Essentially it was a very neat, simple, executive-toy kind of game with not much to do except land on alien planets and scan some creatures/plants etc.

Hello Games went dark for ages, we later learnt this was due to death threats and more which bombarded the small team.

Sean and co were also doing something, in that kind of British – we’re not going to take this lying down manner.

They were working in secret, without informing the gamers, or the press.

They were turning things around.

They started to patch the game, on the PC and PS4 and I watched as it slowly turned around. Minor fixes, and a few quality-of-life changes to begin with.

I was still playing at the time too, I’d fallen in love with the game and I wasn’t expecting to see the next part of the story play out, or snowball as it did.

A Foundation

27th of November 2016

A video hit YouTube which blew many of us away, especially me, since I’d been talking to some game developers about No Man’s Sky, and one of the subjects that came up for me was base construction. Many said that it couldn’t be done, or it was too ambitious.

It was this video and the promise that came with it.

Now, many people didn’t trust Hello Games back then, but I was willing to have a little faith.

Version 1.1 Foundation marked the start of a rise to the game it is today, a game that has proved the integrity, commitment, and sheer dedication of Sean Murray and his team at Hello Games.

The words?

“Today we’re excited to bring you the Foundation Update. It’s the first of many free updates to come, and we’re looking forward to you getting hands on with it. Here’s an outline of the updates – but we encourage you to dive in and discover for yourselves!”

Some gamers scoffed at this, some said it was more smoke and mirrors, but No Man’s Sky’s fanbase clung on to the hope they could get something that was the game marketing promised before launch.

They were wrong.

They did not get the game that marketing promised before launch, they got a game which vastly exceeded the marketing spiel, interviews, and more.

We got an ever-evolving science fiction game, of exploration and discovery.

Which also happens to be the best sci-fi novel cover generator of all time.

It would take until 2021 to turn this ship around and get it pointing toward the stars and beyond.

Finding a Path

No Man’s Sky continued to improve, and build on the Foundation update, with incremental patches and smaller additions until it slammed into the next phase on 8th March 2017

Path Finder

Hello Games added planetary vehicles (Exocraft), PS4 Pro support, base sharing and extra features. There was still no actual multiplayer, but little did we know it was coming, and in a huge way eventually.

1.2 rolled onto the game all wheels running!

It added a bunch of features and improvements, and took the graphics up a notch.

High and ultra-resolution textures

More accurate Ambient Lighting

Horizon Based Ambient Occlusion

High contrast lighting effects

Crepuscular Rays from the Sun

Improved post-processing with several filter options

HDR mode for compatible monitors and televisions

The Rise of the Atlas

11th of August 2017

Atlas Rises 1.3

The one-year anniversary of No Man’s Sky brought with it the Atlas Rises story update, and a bunch of new features to the game. Again, Hello Games promised that it was the next step on the journey…

They weren’t lying either; Atlas Rises was a major jump for the PC and PS4 versions of the space sim.

“Update 1.3, Atlas Rises, brings a brand new and overhauled central storyline, portals, a new procedural mission system, trade improvements, system economies, joint exploration and more.

This update marks the one year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, and a lot has changed. Please see Pathfinder and Foundation for previous major updates. This is the next step on our journey.”

By now people were returning to the game, or buying it to see what all the fuss was about. There was a story, a direction for the player to go and more on the horizon. Hello Games communicated with the fan base more, and it was a sign of things to come.

They continued to patch and improve the PS4 and PC version of the game, things were getting better. Even the spark of some limited multiplayer interactivity appeared.

There was a secret though, and many of us, myself included were not prepared for what Sean and the team would do next.

Literally…

NEXT

NEXT for No Man’s Sky

Once the beleaguered and battered title of the PC and PS4, No Man’s Sky made the leap out of exclusivity for Sony’s platform and onto the Xbox where it landed on the Xbox One. A move that blew a lot of us away, and when it launched for the Xbox One, I was there to buy it again.

17th July 2018 marked an incredible leap for the game, NEXT was a huge jump in terms of everything for No Man’s Sky. Including an overhaul to base creation.

“Update 1.5, NEXT, introduces a full multiplayer experience, near-unlimited base building, command of freighter armadas, a graphical overhaul and more.

This update marks the two-year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, and a lot has changed. Please see Atlas Rises, Pathfinder and Foundation for previous major updates.

This is an important next step on our journey.”

That’s the text which appeared on their update page, and I was blown away. I was also hanging around with DM-21 Gaming at this time and we saw the shift live as Hello Games revealed the NEXT update to a massive audience online, including reddit and more.

It was a big success too. I was blown away by many of the features, and the freighter ownership was one of those.

It didn’t come without some troubles, and bugs, but Hello Games worked hard to patch it and provide fans with Quality-of-Life changes and more all the way up to Patch 1.65.

The Xbox was now my place to play this, and I could finally play properly with friends. It was fun, and it was going to get even better. We didn’t know it at the time, but Hello Games was far from done and the rollercoaster to 2021 was just getting started.

The Abyss Calls Us

29th October 2018

1.7 – The Abyss

“Explore the terrors of the deep in The Abyss update. Introducing aquatic environments with over 5 times more variety, varied creature behaviours, improved underwater visuals and much more.”

It was now the expectation of the No Man’s Sky community, that Hello Games would drop updates to this game with a core change, and then a slew of QoL, as well as other features. This was the pattern that Sean reinforced on Twitter with clever viral marketing, hype engagement, and just being the kind of dev who interacted directly with the fans now.

Dislike of Hello Games had blossomed into a passionate, dedicated, and thoroughly protective fan-base who could see Hello Games were being true to their word and running with that ball which had been dropped a few years ago.

Abyss took the bland underwater of No Man’s Sky and made it into something else, with secrets, mysteries, and a new Exocraft to play with. The Nautilon (Jules Verne fans anyone?)

Once again, 1.7 proved that Hello Games could not only make the stars come to us, they could reach to them and beyond.

Underwater bases were now possible in a big way and again, it was just a smaller step on a larger and more impressive journey.

A Bold New Vision

1.75 Visions

“Discover a more varied, more diverse universe in the Visions update. Introducing new planetary biomes, more colourful worlds, new fauna and flora, archaeology, salvaging, and much more…”

Visions was a massive update to the game’s visuals, and planets themselves, it hinted at things to come and transformed the game into something else visually. Again, it wasn’t just a core update, there were a lot of QoL changes and features added into Visions along with the main overhauls. Hello Games continued to improve the game, and as always, they promised more to come – many of us were now used to seeing: a smaller step on a larger journey.

I loved it.

The hype was beyond real now, this was something great.

I had no idea what was on the horizon, and honestly, I don’t think many of us did.

Beyond Expectations

15th March 2019

Hello Games had something special in place for the game’s 2.0 version, they hinted at it online, and when the video for Beyond landed. Once again, it was hard not to fall even further in love with the team and the game.

Beyond was 2.0 and it was a shift once more, a huge fundamental shift in the game and many of its systems – it was once more – yet another step on a bigger journey toward the version we have in 2021.

“Update 2.0, Beyond, massively expands the multiplayer experience introduced in NEXT, takes immersion to a whole new level with fully-fledged Virtual Reality, overhauls base building, NPCs, technology trees, and much, much more.

Marking the three-year anniversary of No Man’s Sky, this is our largest update so far, broadening the experience across the entire game.

Our journey continues.”

Three years of No Man’s Sky at this point, and this is how Sean and Hello Games supports their passion-project and gives back to the fans who stuck with them post launch, as well as shows the viability of the game on Xbox.

Beyond brought with it a massive number of changes, more than I can list here, and huge QoL improvements. The Space Anomaly got much bigger, with a massive revamp as well as the biggest change.

Virtual Reality. Yep, No Man’s Sky now has VR.

Ambient multiplayer, so you can encounter other travellers on your journey, and much more.

Hello Games was not done yet either.

They supported the game with patches, updates, more QoL features and quietly worked on the next step.

Synthesis

2.2

28th November 2019

Only a few months after their biggest update to-date, Hello Games rolled out with Synthesis. They didn’t drop a video for this one, but their updated website dropped a lot of information on the actual update and what it did.

Again, features, Quality of Life updates, and more landed on all platforms.

https://www.nomanssky.com/synthesis-update/

“The Synthesis Update introduces a number of frequently-requested features and improvements to No Man’s Sky Beyond. Alongside these new features are a large number of community-led quality of life improvements, as well as general polish.”

We could now salvage ships, upgrade them, and edit the terrain in the game using our terrain manipulators in a new and exciting way. This was not a small update, yet against Beyond, it felt like a small one – but a perfect addition to the slew of updates we’d had already.

The game kept on getting better, and the developers, for free, kept on updating and adding content that anyone else would have charged the Earth for.

There were lots of QoL updates too.

Beat those Bytes

16th December 2019

2.24 – ByteBeat

Along with fixes, updates, and QoL changes 2.24 brought in the ByteBeat device. A way for NMS players to make music, and to create tracks for the game using a pretty sophisticated and impressive synthesiser in game.

Hello Everyone!

Hopefully this is a bit of a nice festive surprise for folks. We have released a neat update today, adding a full audio creation application to No Man’s Sky. We’re calling it the ByteBeat Device!

We’ve made a brief trailer to demonstrate the potential of the feature, but as always, we’re sure that you the community will take it and run with it in all sorts of unexpected directions.

Yep, Merry Christmas from Hello Games!

By now, there was a huge amount of goodwill between players and Hello Games, and this proved the developers were capable of delivering fun little updates that somehow also seemed to be big as well.

Quality of Life improvements, and a stream of fixes/patches followed.

It’s ALIVE Jim!

19th February 2020

2.3 – Living Ship

“Explore space from a different perspective with the Living Ship update. Introducing a new class of biological ship, a new story mission, mysterious space encounters, space NPCs and more.”

Space got better in this update, space encounters were added, more QoL changes, and fixes too. 2.3 wasn’t just another small update, it also dropped the Living Ship quest line and a way to get our own organic vessel. It was a long process, some found it frustrating, but overall, it was a fun way to reward players who stuck with it.

The Living Ship felt like something you earnt and it was a grand thing to show off online.

Once more, we’d got no idea what was coming – many people would have been happy to let it lie after launch when they reached this point. Not Hello Games.

Nope, they were (and are) far from done. More fixes, QoL improvements and even a few changes to the Living Ship quest line followed.

Mech Assault!

7th April 2020

2.4 – Exo Mech

“Soar and stomp across the landscape with the Exo Mech update. Introducing a fully controllable mechanical walker, new Exocraft technologies, improvements to base building, and much more.”

I love mechs, I’m a big fan of any kind of mech game, and now Hello Games added a new Exocraft to the mix. Our own pilotable mech, which came with QoL fixes and a ton of improvements to the game both mechanically, and visually. Base creation had another overhaul, and Hello Games showed no sign of letting off the gas pedal for the game as we moved into 2020.

2.4 was a big hit and allowed players to venture onto the most hostile worlds, protected better than they were before and even collect resources whilst in the safety of the Minotaur mech.

Welcome to the Party!

11th June 2020

Crossplay

https://www.nomanssky.com/2020/06/introducing-crossplay-for-no-mans-sky/

“Hello Everyone!

A couple of weeks ago, we announced that No Man’s Sky was coming to Xbox Game Pass. We can now reveal that it will enter Game Pass TOMORROW on Thursday 11th June.

To coincide with this, we are releasing a Windows 10 version of the game which will also be part of the Game Pass for PC program.

This means that millions of Xbox One and Windows PC gamers who subscribe to the Game Pass service will be able to try No Man’s Sky for the first time.”

Combined with the bombshell that No Man’s Sky was hitting Game Pass on the day Crossplay came out, things were even bigger now for Sean and the team at Hello Games. More people than ever could experience the space adventure that was No Man’s Sky, and not content with just the Crossplay update, the slew of fixes and QoL improvements came with it as per usual.

Hello Games again showed zero signs of slowing down either.

The hype train was still on full steam and the next update was a spooky one!

In Space, everyone can hear you scream

16th of July 2020

2.6 - Desolation

“Scavenge and survive in the haunted wreckage of derelict freighters with the Desolation update. Introducing procedurally-generated freighters, more story content, combat improvements, freighter customisation and more!”

Desolation brought with it, improvements to freighters, derelict wrecks to explore (procedurally generated dungeons in space) and lots of great rewards for those who dared to delve into these mini-stories. It was now also possible to customise our freighters and change their colours, as well as manage their inventory with a new system.

Combat mechanics, visual updates, lighting changes and more also came with Desolation.

An Origin Story

23rd September 2020

3.0 – Origins

“Update 3.0, Origins, dramatically expands the universe of No Man’s Sky. Explore a stranger, richer and more varied universe, with deeper planetary diversity, dramatic new terrain, a host of new creatures, new weather conditions, colossal buildings, and much more.

Our journey continues.”

I’d always thought No Man’s Sky looked good, and the updates just kept on rolling in. They improved the game mechanically, visually, and now 3.0 landed and once more No Man’s Sky evolved into something that really started to shine – even beyond what I thought was possible with the game.

It was clear now; Hello Games had a huge an ambitious vision for this title and Origins was yet another smaller step on the grander journey. New planets appeared, more QoL changes, bigger updates. The game now supported star systems with binary and trinary stars in them, landscapes became even more varied and many planets were revamped.

The User Interface got a shiny new refresh, and planets became more diverse, with a lot more to see and explore. Even new varieties of creatures appeared, providing more interesting options for players to discover.

Clouds and weather had a huge overhaul in this game, and many people were happy, all except the Cloud Guy. If you don’t know who that is, you’re better off not knowing, or Googling it.

We had mega-structures now too, with colossal archive buildings, and more.

Photo Mode got a big update and it just kept on getting better.

Even crafting had an overhaul.

Space solo wasn’t so lonely either, you could now encounter NPCs on the planet surfaces, and so on. This made a big difference to life on other worlds.

Oh, and Sandworms were finally introduced.

More patches, fixes, and QoL updates followed until…

Spooky Time!

October 26th 2020

3.05 – Halloween Update

https://www.nomanssky.com/2020/10/halloween-update/

“Hello Everyone!

Even though the drama, adventure and exotic colours of Origins are still fresh in our minds, as the nights have drawn in and the skies have darkened we can’t help but be drawn back to the lost ships and haunted wrecks of the Desolation update.”

A small update to Desolation, 3.05 made the wrecks you can explore even more rewarding, dangerous, and spookier. Once again, a smaller update, but a meaningful one which brought fixes, updates, and QoL improvements to the game.

By no there’d been 5 major updates to No Man’s Sky in a year.

“This year has been so busy for No Man’s Sky, with the release of five major updates – including the massive Origins – so we hope this Halloween update comes as a nice surprise! We’re not quite done with this year yet, and should have a bit more news to announce very soon.

Our journey continues.

Thank you so much,

Sean”

To the Next Generation!

28th October 2020

3.10 – Next Generation

“Update 3.10 brings a graphically enhanced and smoother No Man’s Sky to the next generation of consoles. All enhancements are available to PC players.

Continue your journey in a universe with bigger bases, lusher planets, more players, faster warp speeds and more – free for all existing players.”

If you were lucky to get a Next Generation console at launch, or after, or you own the PC version of the game – this was an epic moment for No Man’s Sky players. Next Gen No Man’s Sky is a truly impressive experience, and whilst Hello Games added this layer of impressive graphical and mechanical wizardry onto the game – they didn’t leave the older generation in the dark.

Playstation 5, and Xbox Series X and S benefited from a massive leap in generational tech and the extra power shows just what Hello Games can do, with a massive visual increase, and better load times – as well as impressive draw-distance and rendering quality.

Once again, QoL changes, fixes, and patches followed in the wake of this update.

Creature Comforts

17th February 2021

3.2 – Companions

“Adopt an alien creature and explore the universe side-by-side in the Companions update! Take care of your new friend as they find hidden resources and protect you from hostile aliens, or genetically modify their eggs and breed unique, never-before-seen creations!”

3.2 brought with it companions, creatures you could befriend and have help you when you explore planets. They have their own language, and you have to take care of them. Companions brought with it updates to the way bait worked, and removed systems that were no longer needed. The companions proved extremely popular, and you could even use a sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly to modify an egg to make a new creature.

Once again, more QoL improvements, additions, changes, and fixes followed – also paving the way for the next content drop.

Working to a Common Goal

31st March 2021

3.3 – Expeditions

“Update 3.3, Expeditions, introduces a brand new way to play No Man’s Sky. Start a fresh journey in a brand new game mode, master a unique set of challenges with revitalised mission mechanics, earn exclusive new rewards, visit bustling hub worlds, and much more!”

No Man’s Sky had already delivered on multiplayer previously, and the game’s idea of exploration, working with others, and a common goal would be added with 3.3. Now a new game mode landed and offered a way to earn rewards, interact with others if you wanted, and expand on the original promise of MP in No Man’s Sky.

Expeditions let the player create a new save, new set character, and ship to complete milestones to the final phase of the expedition. They’re time limited, and once the rewards are gone, they’re gone (for now).

The update also included new Weekend Event missions to allow people to earn more Quicksilver from the Nexus (Space Anomaly).

Expedition 2: Beachhead

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/05/no-mans-sky-expedition-2/

The second of these marked a collaboration with Mass Effect, with the Normandy as a frigate reward for your fleets. I missed the first of the Expeditions, but I got onto this one and finished it – so I could have this ship join my armada!

A few patches followed, some more QoL changes, and fixes.

Prismatic Joy

2nd June 2021

3.5 – Prisms

“Update 3.5, Prisms, dramatically refreshes the No Man’s Sky experience with a range of new visual features and technologies. The universe has never looked better, with reflections, new texture effects, more biome detail, improved lighting, new skies, new warp effects, creature fur, and a host more besides.”

Prisms makes No Man’s Sky look even better. A big visual refresh, with a host of tech upgrades to the game’s graphics. As per usual Hello Games delivers beyond the core update, and further refines, polishes, and improves the game’s systems. Refractions are added to glass and water droplets, as well as in-game improvements allowing players to buy crafting component recipes in exchange for Nanites.

Particle effects were reworked, and even more, again a proper laundry-list of QoL changes and more were incorporated into this update. Including flying creatures that you could now ride.

The Xbox One X, and next Gen consoles, along with PC featured improved graphics too taking advantage of Screen-Space Reflections, and more.

No Man’s Sky now looked even better than before, and Sean and Hello Games were still hard at work.

A few patches, fixes, QoL changes and improvements paved the way for the next big No Man’s Sky update in 2021

Space, the Penultimate Frontier

1st September 2021

3.6 – Frontiers

“Become Overseer of your very own procedurally generated alien settlement in update 3.6, FRONTIERS. Make choices, guide your citizens, develop new structures and defend your people from the Sentinels. Or, take advantage of a massive overhaul of base building to construct your own dream base.”

Not content with the game as-is, Hello Games continued to improve it by leaps and bounds. The next leap came in the form of Frontiers, quite a big update, and one which not only added procedurally generated settlements that you could manage, but reworked base construction in a massive way. Many old parts were moved to a Legacy section of the game for those people who had unlocked them prior to the update.

If you’re new to No Man’s Sky, these parts have been replaced by vastly superior pieces which use procedural texturing to create more impressive structures, and offer more build diversity than ever before.

Not to mention the fact they look superb.

Again, as is the norm by now with Hello Games – the update is more than the sum of its parts, and Frontiers added new nebula effects to space, plus a bunch of other QoL improvements, fixes, updates, and so much more.

Including ramping up save slots from 5 to 15.

Still, it is but one smaller step on a bigger journey for Sean and the team.

Cartographers

September 8th 2021

3.64 - Cartographers

Along with the release of the third expedition, and the fixes, patches, updates and changes that followed – Hello Games introduced more improvements to their new base construction mechanics.

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/09/no-mans-sky-expedition-3/

“Hello Everyone!

The release of Frontiers has been an intense and exciting time for the team. Populated civilisations are something the community have requested for a long time, and it’s incredibly rewarding for us to see players claiming their first settlement, meeting their first citizens, and experimenting with all the new base parts. We love seeing your process of discovery, and are often blown away by your extraordinary creativity with base building. Thank you for sharing your screenshots and stories!”

Cartographers brought with it a lot of fixes, updates and QoL changes as it followed the Hello Games patch cycle. The team worked tirelessly to move the game on.

3.64.1/3.65 to 3.68 swiftly followed, fixed things, made changes, added QoL systems to the base construction and took into account player feedback.

Walk without Rhythm

October 20th 2021

3.70 – Emergence

“Hello Everyone!

As the end of October approaches, we are thrilled to announce a new seasonal event for No Man’s Sky. Expedition Four: Emergence begins today, and will run over the course of Halloween! This is our first Expedition to feature a narrative, and is also a mini-update, bringing with it a host of enhancements for across the game.”

3.70 heralded the 4th Expedition, and just in time for Spooky Season, it brought with it more than just the Expedition itself. No Man’s Sky’s Sandworms were in for a big update. Along with QoL additions, fixes, and again updates – No Man’s Sky moved on toward the giant worms reminiscent of the ones found in Dune.

Titan Worms were here!

No Man’s Sky as of now!

3.71 landed on October 28th and once more Hello Games added features, fixed things, made base building more accessible and listened closely to fans feedback regarding certain aspects of the game.

This is the last patch that landed on all platforms.

It’s been a wild ride for the developers, and they have turned the ship around. They’re now enjoying a Steam User Review score that’s in the Mostly Positive.

2016 to 2021 and the game is vastly different to where it was at launch. No Man’s Sky is a gold-standard blueprint for how to turn a project from a disaster at launch, to a critically acclaimed and mostly loved sci-fi epic in 2021.

Sean Murray and Hello Games have managed to pull this off through the most trying circumstances, death threats, and even a global pandemic. The fact that No Man’s Sky has evolved to where it is now, and Sean has assured everyone this is just the next step on the game’s journey, is truly impressive.

It’s a game and developer that keeps on giving.

I can’t wait to see what Hello Games has in store for us next, and where No Man’s Sky will take us on the next big leg of this intergalactic science fiction adventure.

Ad Astra!