The Wrong Questions about No Man's Sky

@mysterysheep: when it comes to informing consumers, I agree that details are important, but thats the job of reviewers. When the press are drilling these guys on whether or not their infinite project contains recognizable tropes from older, finite game models, it undermines the gravity of what they've accomplished.

I'm questioning the notion that this game hasn't already delivered. We're all clamoring for specific quests and things to do, and burying the fact that they procedurally generated an entire universe! It's like asking if your friends new rocketship has air conditioning. No, maybe it doesn't have some of the niceties you've come to expect, but its still a rocketship! Who cares if it has air conditioning?

Yep. Pretty ridiculous way to actually start a discussion, assuming you don't just want to condescendingly insult people.

Cool rocketship, betterbucklup, what are we going to do with it?

NO YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I BOUGHT A ROCKETSHIP!!!

Yeah, that's awesome and all, but now what are we going to DO with it? Are we going to go to space? Are we just going to sit here and look at it?

WHY ARE YOU SO CONCERED WITH WHAT WE ARE GOING TO DO WITH IT, ITS A ROCKETSHIP!!!

Yeah, I get that, it's pretty amazing. But I've seen other rocketships before, and they were doing stuff. Just having a rocketship is only going to be fun for so long,.

I BET YOU JUST WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE AIR CONDITIONING!!!!

Air condit- dude, no one is even talking about that. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THE ROCKETSHIP?

...ITS A ROCKETSHIP!!!!!

Jesus Christ....

@betterbuckleup: I think the issue is that those are really cool procedural and simulated systems to have in an already fun to play game. While we've been given all these details on these really amazing systems within the game, what someone actually does in the game has yet to be properly explained. If exploration is the focus, I want to know what pieces the developers are putting in place to really add to that motivation to explore. How do you keep exploring in an endless procedural universe fun for a long time before eventually the novelty of seeing different combinations of scenery wears off, for instance? It'd be fine if the developers said this game is just exploring these simulated worlds but they've clearly hinted at there being more to it which is why people aren't leaving the topic alone. People are curious as to what type of game this actually is and whether it might satisfy their tastes specifically.

I disagree that informing people of what your game is is just the job of a reviewer. I'm sure the developers of this game want the people that this game is for to notice it so that they can experience it, and that requires a bit more detail, which I'm sure will come eventually.

@betterbuckleup: Thing about this game is that it will be insanely divisive when it comes out regardless of anything. I'll agree that I don't want to see a quest log or any of that shit in this game. When I hear Patrick or Jeff say that, I just kind of shake my head. I don't want Sean & the gang at Hello to make something specifically for any of us.

I want them to stick with their guns and make the game they want to make. That's what's exciting about this game. That being said, there's a distinct possibility that I won't care for this game one way or the other and I'm sure I'll be joined by a lot of other people. However, there's probably going to be an equal amount of people who adore it! And that's great! I hope I'm one of them but I don't know!

I'm very pumped for this game and I'll buy it and play it regardless of anyone's opinion on it. There hasn't really been anything like this game before (I realize there's been plenty of procedurally generated games before, but not really in this vein). That is going to come with baggage and backlash. Be ready for it.

And if you love it, than fuck what me or anyone else says!

My big question right now is, can I shoot dinosaurs from my spaceship and go on an awesome flying safari hunt? Also, can you build Dino Park Tycoon? How about crafting things....from dinosaurs? I'm pretty fixated on the dinosaurs. I wonder how random the creatures will be.

is there hats in this game?

@betterbuckleup: You're talking as if No Man's Sky is some rebellious slap in the face to repressive game design expectations, and that people are just clamouring to warp the game to fit their preconceived notions else their tiny brains explode.

The reality is, every single games writer I've heard talk about No Man's Sky gushes about its potential. But that's the key word, "potential", because that game is potentially anything. And the problematic part is that the Hello folks have so far refused to be clear about any specifics. People ask these questions because they just want to know how you interface with their world and what you can do in it, not because they want to change or restrict it into some specific known type of game.

It's like you asking someone who's never seen a puppy before if they want to pet one. They ask if it's anything like a kitten, and you punch them in the face.

Judge the game when it exists, not the people curious about it.

Post 3DS, thats probably the only question that matters.

DINOSAUR HATS.

THIS is the most condescending thing I've read in a while.

My main fear for no mans sky is that its ambition lies with attaining vastness, but I'm afraid it will end up being a really empty feeling vastness. That there will be so much of it, but in the end it will feel like a hollow experience.

Yes, there is nothing more enthralling than a world randomly generated with algorithms rather than hand-made by human beings using taste and imagination (everyone knows computer programs are the best game designers). Especially when it appears there is nothing more to do than aimlessly fly around collecting materials and occasionally fight enemies in battles that I can only assume are utterly dull and uninteresting considering they have avoided showing or talking about the combat system beyond "you can shoot stuff". Discovering randomly generated planet #45736 and collecting the 50 units of iron on its surface will no doubt be a truly amazing and emotional experience fit only for the most sensitive and artistic of players.

Ok so if those are the "wrong questions", what are the right ones?

I think at this stage people are so enthralled with the idea of exploring strange new worlds, to go where no one has gone before that they don't seem as eager to hear that the game might not be that game as much as just an aspect of the game. It's been made clear so far that exploration is a good part of the game and they have mentioned different ships to accommodate different play philosophies (exploration vs combat). But even as recently as the GB panel, Sean Murray from Hello Games alluded to you not necessarily ever escaping the threat of combat in some form (basically, the universe is a dangerous place). And he also seemed much more intro the notion of blasting stuff in space than the way they've made the game appear so far in marketing.

Judging by interviews, it seems they are so eager not to tell you a "right or wrong" way to play the game, but in doing so they also sort of not show you anything. The problem with that sort of marketing is you're leveling the entire marketplace's sense of imagination against your game, and that'll never end up in your favor. The game has exploration, combat, some form of economic/upgrade system as far as I can gather. Another big point they never show in trailers is the amount of planets you'll encounter that'll be barren and lifeless. According to a Polygon preview/interview Sean stated that about 90% of planets will be void of life and only about 10% of planets will have a full ecology (and 10% of those will have crazy mutations, and so on). But if you look at trailers, it sort of makes it seem like it's the opposite.

But it's sort of their own mess to fix, I just hope the game lives up to just a fraction of what their vague PR alludes to.

Everyone's got different taste, no one is right or wrong. Nobody has to like this game just as nobody has to hate it. It's either for some people or it's not. And if asking those questions is their way of expressing their taste in video games, then let them inquire, but don't try to berate them, instead, just explain what it is this game IS attempting to invoke, rather than what it can't do.

Let's all stop being cynical towards our differences.

Honestly, this game just looks mad pretentious to me, much like the OP. Yes, you are discovering things. And that is neat. But to what end? Why are you doing this? Nothing is limitless, much less a game being made by a small team for consoles with predetermined power. Games like LittleBigPlanet, Project Spark or even Disney Infinity are much more exciting and are actually closer to having "limitless potential" than this game with procedurally generated worlds.

You hit the nail on the head.

Procedurally generated.

Yes, even if the game was simply "see the jaw-dropping pretty" of infinite worlds, I feel like that would be all the hook I'd need at least for a fashion. I do kind of wish there was less vagaries with the talk about the game though, and if they wanted to intentionally keep it vague as part of the gameplay hook of discovery, just say that.

Every question about this game is valid, considering it's so vague and full of buzzwords. My best bet is that it'll be boring within an hour or less, basically on par with exploring minecraft.

I get your point. But games can only be so good when their mechanics aren't properly implemented. Games are about interactivity at their core. No Man's Sky is of limited interest to me if the shit I can do isn't fun or engaging for me.

They said there's some malevolent force in the universe of the game, and there will be actively different types of things to fight. Hopefully they build in a sort of way to have goals and things to build towards and some kind of economy(there is trading but hopefully there can be something more over-arching at some point) after release. Though what they've said so far sounds pretty good. Yeah I like the style of the game but hopefully there's more to do than look at it and fly around, because if so it won't have much lasting value at all.

The Wrong Way to Try to Convert People to Your Side with a Blog Post

i find it really weird that people are so quick to throw all their hopes onto this game. the idea caught a lot of peoples imaginations but there is no concrete idea of how you actually interact with this game or if it is in any way interesting beyond the incredibly interesting premise. i also feel like people, perhaps because of the fact that not much is known, are expecting wildly different things out of the game. like i think jeff said something about going to planets and annihilating everything.

if it just turns out to be procedurally generated pokemon snap where my only interaction with the creatures and worlds is viewing them/recording them in some log i have no interest.

NSM needs to give me things to do that aren't just flying around looking at dinosaurs and going into cave formations. There has to be things for me to discover in those cave formations that makes it worth my while going in to them.

"Ebullient."

Is anybody actually asking any of these questions though? Why are people assholes for wanting to know how they will interact with an interactive game?

If I start playing this and I have to start hitting a tree to collect wood to make tools so that I can fight off zombie-like foes that are more dangerous during the night, a controller will snap in half.

It's silly to demand that every game conform to our specific tastes, or that a game should make itself appealing to everyone. Trying to do this is how formulaic overproduced AAA games happen, and how people started crying out about games all being too easy.

I love Minecraft, and I love exploring. I know people who hate it, who are goal oriented, and need a flag at the end to aim for. Theres nothing wrong with that. If you are wary of open ended exploration - just don't jump into this game at launch, wait for reviews or the quick look. With the small amount of informaiton out there, i'm reluctant to jump on the hype train around it as well. Even in Minecraft, I found the main game to be boring, and rely on mods to keep it interesting - the Minecraft model requires constant new content to keep players interested.

You really shouldn't get so excited about a tech demo.

In Minecraft you could explore and create stuff, this is basically just exploring. Also, Minecraft did have an adventure mode patched in at some point, just to give most of the players a goal in the game.
My hope is that there's some big death penalties in the game, like; you could explore this world on foot, but if some big bad beasty will get you and you die, you have to start all over again, so better be careful!

@dussck: well in the e3 trailer the player takes off into his ship and gets out of there when that Dino starts charging through everything, so maybe

@betterbuckleup: Who has been asking those questions? The only things I've heard asked of them is "is this a real thing" and "will it really be as grand as you say it is?"

Prettily written but an overshoot, OP, even with the sarcastic tone. I want to know how to play the game, that doesn't make me an uncultured philistine, dagnabbit!

If we take them at their word it seems pretty clear hello game is going way beyond what has been done before in terms of systemic world generation, beautiful visuals and sci fi inspirations. It's just that the most important part of a game, in my opinion, is the part where you play it. They need gameplay dept to match the dept in other facets of the game or it's going to be shallow with uninteresting crafting system and progression.

And no, people won't be happy if the gameplay is mainly travelling around looking at stuff. In fact, that's the main concern with this game.

People bringing up Minecraft are missing the point. In Minecraft, the main gameplay hook is shaping the world in any way you see fit. Its got exploration elements and conflict that reinforce the core gameplay concept to make the whole thing compelling. The point is: it's not about looking at stuff, it's about interacting with the stuff in cool ways.

The whole exploration thing didn't really appeal to me in minecraft because the worlds in minecraft weren't as varied as the worlds in no man's sky appear to be. I can jive much more with exploring planets in a galaxy like I'm some kind of space explorer/pioneer than I can as some dumb minecraft dude walking around in legoland looking at different variations on a couple biomes with the same few animals. Of course in no man's sky suffers from the same sort of problem then I doubt people will stay interested in it.

This game has captured people's imaginations and of course questions about the game are gonna come out of the every corner and concern.

Also, I can't help the feeling that the high expectations and hype growing around NMS won't or can't be met.

@stryker1121: I don't think you're an uncultured philistine. And I'm really flattered by all the attention and comments thus far about a game that has clearly captured peoples imagination and interest.

I just wanted to emphasize the magnitude of this 5-person team's accomplishment in what appears to be the greatest achievement in procedurally generated content, ever. Its a technology that opens up greater game worlds for a fraction of the cost/ dev team, and to dismiss that and skip straight to "well, what do I do?" undermines the breadth of that breakthrough.

Presumptions about what people might expect interactive entertainment to be are always going to upset me. If they just want to make a space exploration game, I think thats fucking rad. More than anything I wanted to express how spectacular their proof of concept has been thus far, in contrast to the mundane questions being asked. I think I did that, I communicated how beautiful and impressive the game looks. I'm saddened that a lot of people don't seem to appreciate that and can only think about the moment to moment gameplay loop.

+1

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. This game still could end up being poop.

Posted on No Man's Sky Facebook Today:"I hope we've gotten that across!" says Murray. "The idea, with the gameplay that we showed, is that the planets are dangerous. It hurts me that some people think we're making this ambient indie game that you walk around and look at trees and scan them, like some universal Pokemon Snap. What we're making has core action. I hope we got that across. When you're on a planet, there are creatures that are dangerous."

I don't know why people are taking such offense to this forum post. But we really don't know much either way. I doesn't look anything like minecraft to me. Resource gathering and upgrading is nothing new in games. Long before minecraft.

I've started to learn about fractals and it's a amazing idea that makes a lot of sense for 3D procedural worlds.

I see your point, but endless wandering isn't what I want from a game, games to me are about skill, competition and/or a good story, this game doesn't seem to have any of these things at this point.

"But how will I teabag people??"

@l33t_haxor: ima teabag the universe.

The Right Questions to Ask:

What do those space stations look like on the inside and can I hire NPCs to help me mine resources?

Will we or wont we be able to play with other people?

Can I punch a dinosaur in the face?

If you really think about things mechanically and look at the information available it's not too hard to picture what the gameplay is going to be like, not to say there isn't plenty of stuff left ambiguous but it's not a completely unknown quantity, especially if you compare it to other space sims.

Got to be honest, so far this game does nothing for me.

GOD YES!

Thanks for making this. I've been hopped up mad about every fucking press guy tryna relate this game to everything else. how about jeeeez LOOK AT THIS THING heck look dinosaurs, space, SPACE DINOSAURS. why would you not just be content to hang out on these worlds that looks amaaazing, exploring shit and relaxing??? Aaaaaargh

Somebody get me the feed of procedurally created boob GIFs being taken by the AIs running around the known NMS universe to make sure the boobs aren't too similar.

I think it's a little early to go on about the game as if it's already accomplished this outstanding feat. I really hope it does, but it hasn't yet. The premise of this game is something that I've dreamed about for a long time. I was always depressed at the idea that such an expansive and seamless universe would be a technical impossibility, at least at the time. Again, it hasn't accomplished that yet. The game has to come out first. I hope it's everything I've ever dreamed of, but one step at a time. Expectations are an unruly beast, my friend.

Press X to discover planet.

I don't know if this is a "wrong" question or whatever, but I really want to know what this game is actually about? I mean besides just wandering off aimlessly.