No Man's Sky

I'm not sure why I'm so sanguine about them insisting on AAA pricing, aside from a hunch that they would plunge the cash into prolonged dev. I think I was just expecting an 'Early AAAccess' ultimately . And even though it's a punt, I kinda prefer the potential of that for a change over yet another indie Early Access that never makes it to the finish line.

It helps that they've jumped straight to the addition I wanted in Survival tho . (And that their daft vibe just make me smile on a regular basis )

Jet buggies, capital ship tech trees and a new NPC species are in the code already it seems, so that's something too. We'd all prefer for a game to drop whole. But games are weird these days...

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Ok, analysis time...

Things I'm Enjoying about Survival Mode:

• Upgrades actually mean something: Previously almost every upgrade was about reducing tedium. Faster mining, more storage etc. Now faster mining saves me from death as I dance to the next safe zone. Upgraded ships, enviro shielding, new tools like homing beacons... they're all now actually fun and impactful to unlock. (In some respects they just grant you more access to things you can do with impunity in the main game, but there's strategy to how you jump between the rolling opportunities. And what's the fun in starting OP?)
  
  
• Environmental variety matters: Arriving on a planet involves more puzzling out of its risks now. My latest surprised me by having a temperate daytime, a merely chilly night... and sporadic grade two heat storms... (It also lists Fauna as 'undetected'. Which could mean none. Or could mean burrowing into a cave network during a storm will lead to an unwelcome surprise...). Animal aggression is generally a solid unpredictable sprinkle in the mix, making binocular scanning more than just a case of credit spam.
  
  
• Multi-Use Materials change things up: It's not uber-profound, but it's refreshing to have to adapt my playstyle to fit circumstances. One minute your using some plentiful Thaumium to keep your Life Support thrumming and you running and jump-packing, the next you've sunk it all into a recipe and you've got to tread warily and place your shots with care. It needs some balancing, but on balance it's fun...
  
  
• Setting up Shop takes time: This could fall under mixed, but currently I'm liking how they've removed the easy ways to detect local markets. Scouting out the different pointers has been fun, and leaves you with that tension of accruing loot which could easily be lost. It feels fitting that it takes a while to establish your key needs at a new site.

Things I've got Mixed Feelings on:

• Fetch Quests for Base Unlocks: Lend some more classical structure, and that's good. Having more reasons to move planets is also welcome. But fetch quests in a giant procedural galaxy are a damn long loop. Possibly too much reward deferment there?
  
  
• Pirates are Bastards: The main problem here is that the flight model is still pants. But on balance I'm kinda enjoying the tension. The 'scan warning' UI gives you a fair chance to escape, and makes forays into space super tense. Much more reason to upgrade that ship too...
  
  
• The Act of Unlocking Things: Isn't necessarily fun, even if the reward increasingly is. It's not awful, you have some control over your destiny by honing in on the right type of infrastructure for the thing that you need. But lord, there's still some heavy dollops of luck and RNG here if you're after specifics. (Leaves you with a long list of desires too which can't be insta-fulfilled, but improvising with what you've got is actually fine).

Boring Bits & Wishlists:

• Hover mode: For a game that puts such a premium on launch costs and landing somewhere sensible, they could really give you a reliable mechanism for actually doing so...
  
  
• The scanner recharge time is just silly: It's still not unusual for me to be left with nothing to do but scan things and zap rocks for two minutes. Normally I go and make a cup of tea. I think it should remain as a thing, as the minor reflection periods are almost welcome, but they need to fast-forward an unlock solution or dial it down a bit.
  
  
• Etc: Much to say here ultimately (more diverse animal behaviours, an actual compelling storyline to draw you to the centre etc etc), but it's in the hands of the fey indie gods now...

Aaaaaaaand I'm back on my Rocket League addiction.

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Suspect's Reviews

Wrong thread TUS

(But damn if it isn't still my game of 2015 and 2016 )

Damn, I know.

My home planet is placid. This is where I quietly science the sh*t out of things.



Radioactive planets are where my scientist sends me to find tiny radioactive plants. And where science sh*ts on me...



I've never been gladder to crest a hill and see a tiny space cupboard to hide in...

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General story at the moment is:

The grind is real:
But having an ever-growing base to show for it makes up for a lot of it. I'm strangely proud of my collection of rare plants. (But partially because I won't have to do the specific grinds again that allowed me to plant them :/)

Base buddies add structure:
With all 4 base companions established I've got a fair list of minor missions to chose from, which adds some simple structure to each session, and pays out with some more kit or building options. It also allows you to at least multi-task while looting materials, or just fling yourself into the void to find one of the 3 rares you're after. (I still need to find a green sun again for space pearls dammit).

It mutates harder. Your feet have to think a bit:
Being sent to that uber-radioactive planet was instructive. Normally I would have just fled, but surviving long enough to find 5 plants, while avoiding the defensive fauna, and only being half-prepared for the job, was a fun challenge. I'd slapped on some rare radioactive shielding, but hadn't realised just how ferocious it was going to be. Ended up re-building the stamina-sprint function in my suit just so I could make it to safety if a storm hit. Felt good to have to take a step back and look at my options.

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*EDIT* - Nice little (long) story here about how things can go down when you get pushed to the edge...

Just another picture book here of last night's adventure.

The TLDR would be: Grind and RNG definitely in attendance, but they're not an impediment to fun at the moment, and occasionally make small victories feel well earned.

Thought Gol would get a kick out of this:

So many types of knee...

(I am strangely disappointed they didn't manage to get multi-headed hydras in )

I found a planet so pretty by night that it seems to crash my machine when I take screenshots :/

Never-the-less, here's half a story

The TLDR is: I found a new threat variant, and it's intriguing. It doesn't come across in the pix, but with its strangely swaying bobbled grass, the allure of the planet is making me want to stick around and test the edges of this new challenge. That and the mad loot

I think Ill probably lay off storyville now, in case it gets too spoilery somehow. But here are a few generic lessons I have learned:

• Combat is pretty damn easy (I'm hitting the Sentinel in that shot)
  
• High Security planets can still whittle you mercilessly, with a bot behind every bush.
  
• Planets with one single predatory species can still make you walk around on tip toes.
  
• 50% of my game time is spent farming. Like foraging for staples, either deliberately or as a detour, or girding my loins for a tough mission (of finding non-staples...)
  
• Somehow this is still working as a game.
  
• Essentially I'm playing 'Pimp my Gun / Base / Ship', and currently I reckon I'll make it to 'Pimp my Giant Cruiser' too.
  
• If you like the art style, you will feel like you're on an actual planet. Just one that's fused from children's crayons

Worth re-iterating this. On top of the 50% of time you spend gathering staples, you'll spend another 20% hiding in caves and doorways:


^^^click for a gallery of doorway shots. Seriously :/^^^

There's a Venn diagram here - you can often scoop loot and score botany points while you're waiting. And it helps that the views are often cool, and dappled by some fun alien behaviour. But you are essentially waiting. Not ideal.



I thought I was probably winding up, having hit the build limit on my base, with only an excessive botany room to fill with a few more plants (and other luxuries like a landing pad and a market portal to build).

But then I found a truly ungainly ship, which actually had slots that could be augmented (IE additions can be placed next to them for a bonus)...



And I can see a bit more game here. Being able to fly the space lanes fully loaded, and take part in the bigger space battles, are objectives I'm happy to pursue. And with my green fingers providing big cash back at the base I should be able buy a capital ship, so I'm ready to play with whatever tech trees the next update brings.

(Can also see the appeal in starting a new base afresh, especially once they've added more to the story at the centre, which the hire of a writer etc seems to suggest. The fact that you only get half your assets transported to the new site is fine by me, starting afresh could be cool, especially if they up the weirdness further into the galaxy eventually. Plus really finding an idyllic planet and spot is appealing. I chose my current planet because it's bountiful and calm. But it is also very, very, pink....)

Holy crap, I was wrong

Well... so... is this going to be the poor-man's version of NMS?

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Wow, somebody other than Golgot is posting in this thread????

Ha! Been reading it all along. I just saw that Ryan Warzecha (of Myst fame) tweeted about Astroneer saying it's a great game (early access on Steam right now). Had to check out a recommendation from a Myst developer and I immediately thought of NMS when I watched the trailer. Of course, a lot of the reviews so far (it came out yesterday) are comparing it to NMS. A lot are saying this is what NMS should have been.

But I see no outward evidence of creatures in Astroneer (yet), so that would be a big difference.

You should see the Elite thread . I treat these things like very secretive blogs

NMS acted like a Rorschach test for space dreams

I've kept tabs on Astroneer, does look cute - construction, survival, co-op etc. I'm not sold on the 3rd person view at the moment. Takes away something significant from the 'surviving on a giant rock' bit for me, but it looks intriguing

Agreed on the third person thing. It looks like the bastard space lovechild of Stardew Valley and Minecraft.

Oo sweet, the file digging was all correct, and not unearthed legacy stuff. Hello Games have stuck their earphones in again and dumped another motherlode of an update on us



Short story would be:

• High & ultra resolution textures
• Bases now 'shared' online & in Steamworks
• Ship specialisations (fighter, trader, long-range sci etc), rare varieties, & trade-ins
• Multi-ship ownership in your Freighter bay
• Land vehicle types: nippy hovercraft (can traverse water), 4x4 stylee & 'Colossus' scanner/miner/hoarder
• New traders, currency & base missions, and barter/loyalty bonus for blueprints
• Base cosmetics stuff
• Multitools now specialised as with ships, including alien variants
• New weapon types - more snipey, shotgunny options etc
• Permadeath mode, with added survival difficulties
• User-generated race tracks, shareable online with time trial competition.
• Swanky photo mode
• 'Discovery menu' in starmap for better history waypointing and planet prospecting
• More procedural music from same band
• QoL: Lower flight, possession naming, mission log, skip Milestones and dialogue etc

Looks a descent list, some meaty additions and lots of gripes addressed. Will be interesting to see if the NPC / mission / prospecting additions add much direction, but I suspect it's more a case of: more toys in the same playpit. Odds on the next update chunk will point itself more at either co-op tech or story strands and 'endgame' I suspect. Those seem like the big holes / aspirations they'd want to fill now. Still, just good to know they're gonna keep on rolling with this

Thoughts?



It still hasn't gotten on sale cheaply enough for me to want to try it, but it's getting close. If this represents a genuine step forward, and it gets < $20...