I love Jurassic Park.

This looks like a good start and I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now....but it does show how much of an early access game the original release really was. I think it's important to note that the game was sold as a $60 finished product. Now, almost half a year later, we're getting some essential features (like item stacking) and they're starting to build out the feature set. That's fine if you buy in at Early Access, but this is not the way finished video games are supposed to operate.

If they do manage to make the game worth playing I'm willing to go back and give it a shot, and even consider buying other products from Hello Games in the future, but it won't make the original release okay. The features in this current update also aren't enough to make me interested in playing again because they don't solve the essential problem of the game, which is that it's a vast universe with nothing interesting going on and only like 5 (extremely simple) things to do.

Why do people let the title "early access" excuse games being put out for money unfinished or broken? They still charge money, and some full price. Even if this was released at 45 or 50 with an early access disclaimer, you still pay money for it.

The game is finally starting to look interesting, any first hand impressions?

Not really an excuse, but it's just honest then. I don't mind it because then I know what I'm getting into. Personally with most games I will just wait until they get further along when I see Early Access. Some I may be fine with the initial vision and/or just willing to buy in early because I believe in the game idea enough. I don't love how often it is used and all but I think given how this game has gone it should have been Early Access and that's basically how it is being handled long term. At least it could have been up front with people. IMO this game should have been Early Access and like $30 or 40.

I enjoyed my time with NMS, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a disappointment. With that said, I'm not on the side of saying Hello Games knowingly lied about the game to make a quick buck. I think their passion and ambition got ahead of reality and it bit them in the ass, but I don't think they lied. Maybe NMS will never be the game people thought it would be, but I'm still interested to see where it ends up. It seems like the devs are committed to sticking with it for the time being, regardless of the circumstances. For that I'm glad I kept my copy. Lets see where this ship sails.

Well, I haven't played in months so it's like I remember nothing about the game. But, hopping back into my old save, it seems like space has more goings-on. Theres freighters and a bunch of space shipping flying around so it at least feels a little more lively. Also, stacking items is a definite plus. I'm not really sure how to build a base yet, though.

Feels like I should start over but I wonder if there is any tutorial about the new stuff. Maybe it's in creative mode. Nevermind... I just keep playing and now I see. I found a "habitable base" and that's where you can start doing that stuff. It seems neat. What would be the most interesting thing is if you happen upon a discovered planet and could see other player's bases. I'm quite sure that's not gonna be a thing though.

Good. I hope they get the game to a point where most people feel okay about their purchase. It seems imperative that they at least try, if theyre interested in selling any games after this as Hello Games.

If they turn this into an interesting, good game then I look forward to buying this for dirt cheap on a cd-key website or Steam sale because the damage is already done.

The trailer reminds me of how poor the graphics are though which is a bit of a bummer. I am sure it looked radically better when they were showing it at events.

Well it's 40% of right now. Not dirt cheap though.

I'm gonna wait until 2017 Black Friday or Steam sales, hopefully more patches by then and even cheaper. :P

I am thinking about buying a PS4 Pro next year as well so maybe I could score a used console copy for cheap.

How do you do the base building? I managed to find a freighter within about five mins of loading the game.. But I have no idea how you build a base

More than I expected. And I'm not interested.

Find a habitable base. Then it starts a tutorial on how to build a base. Only had enough resources to build a couple of rooms and then I built a construction station and hired a guy to run it. That allows you to build a beacon to teleport around.... I guess you can teleport to wherever you build a beacon. Also there's teleporting now because you can teleport from your base to the space station.

This all seems good and they put a lot of work into adding all these new things. Just not sure if I care to spend more time doing this stuff.

This is actually more appealing then I thought it would be. One of my favorite parts about Starbound is just building a cool base in my downtime while I am exploring. This seems to be very similar (explore on your ship, teleport back to your base when you get bored of that).

I dont know if I will jump back in yet, but the update seems interesting.

@handlas: Ah, thanks.

On a related note. I see the PC version still runs like crap.

It's a nice nudge in the right direction and something that probably should have been in the game from the start, but at the same time all this base building is doing nothing in terms of adding meaningful gameplay to a game most widely criticized for being bereft of purpose. Sure you can now play some Lego in this world of open worlds but putting a few empty corridors on an empty planet isn't really helping in breathing life to an incredibly vast yet basically dead universe.

Looks good and excited to dive back in. Hat tip to Hello Games who probably have put up with way more than they should have to but still kept the promise to work/expand/improve the game.

The base building is okay, but the freighter building aspect of this update seems great. Can you fly the freighter like a normal ship? Or does it hang in space like a station except you can warp it to different systems?

Actually, I guess there's not much point being able to actually pilot the freighter if you can't dock it in space stations or fly down to planets. Still, very cool addition.

Looks kinda alright, might hop back in.

I do hope this game manages to serve as a warning to publishers to not over hype, and a warning to consumers not to get over hyped, if it doesn't I doubt anything will.

The saddest thing about all of this is that it probably won't.

Edit: update is about 3.4gb on ps4

Hmm all of this seems promising, but this won't bring people back or nor will people be forgiving Hello Games anytime soon (some might say at all). This is a huge step in the right direction (one could say they probably should have delayed the game till this update), but it's too little too late for most gamers.

@oursin_360:

It's not really an excuse, if they had launched NMS as an early access game it would have greatly tempered expectations of what the game would be like at this point. The first public release of an early access game being kinda rough and empty is somewhat expected.

That's a nice attempt. I think it underscores how hopeless a situation this now is for Hello Games given just how much further they have to go before I think they could win people back. Even if they somehow magically delivered all the missing promised features in this update, I'm not sure gamers would even care anymore. Honestly I think it's too late.

Here's the bottom line:

Don't lie to your customers and potential customers. Just don't. Once you violate people's trust, it's very very difficult to ever win back.

Redoing the resources and introducing farming is a step into making a base viable and useful. I'll check it out, I just got the game recently knowing full well what I was getting into and am totally up for seeing new content.
Also, personally, I'm sad that the business is so hype driven; due to so many high expectations and then the push to be part of the zeitgeist I worry that these ideas won't be praised. Yes, its slow, no, it doesn't excuse the amount of silence and the horribly high price tag, but realistically a game should be able to update and grow slowly but surely.

This is actually fairly substantial, but I don't think that turning No Man's Sky into more of a survival game was ever going to make me interested in playing it.

This looks cool.

@slag: is there an actual list of things that hello games/sean murray specifically said would be in the game but weren't? besides what sean alluded to with potential multiplayer all i can recall is their being excessively vague about things. and the internet hype bubble which isn't entirely their fault.

game would have been better served without sony's backing/pushing and as a pc early access title given room and time to breathe and develop.

Sounds like I'm in the latter here, but the update is quite impressive given the time they've had to work on it. The alternative to the update is - well - no update at all. It makes sense to bring out smaller updates which will show they're continuing to support the game rather than larger bouts of radio silence with larger updates. I think the base building stuff is sound if you consider it to be a temporal thing - use it to grab as many elements as possible to shuttle them to your freighter.

I still do think that they had a gameplan for all of the other cool stuff but was shut out by an unrealistic release date and had to fall back to a lesser version of what was originally intended. I have hopes that we'll get the game we were promised in those early trailers. I still dip into the game from time to time but more as a way to unwind. Definitely will give this update a look though.

Edit - really quick look at the Foundation Update on PC. Things of note -

• Warping between systems is now much, much faster.
• New elements! Already spotted Spadonium.
• Scanning for elements on undiscovered planets out in space = extremely useful.
• Nice little light trails on ships now entering/leaving space stations.
• Motion blur! Photo mode!
• Might be my imagination but seeing a lot less outposts, etc.
• More aliens hanging about space stations - some needed for building, etc.
• Found a "habitable base" and need some iron to start building stuff. Might be worth stockpiling before searching.
• Numbers on elements in the UI.

@ripelivejam said:

Yeah there is

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4y1h9i/wheres_the_no_mans_sky_we_were_sold_on_a_big_list/

I don't have a dog in this race since I didn't buy the game. I did follow enough to see it was more than just some vague statements, for one there are flat out misleading information (screenshots and bullshot videos) on their actual steam page.

I just find this sort of thing to be very upsetting, which is why I keep reading these threads. I keep looking in case somehow NMS finds a way to make this right.

I hate it when consumers get taken advantage of. Gamers I feel are especially vulnerable to this due to the youth of much of the customer base and the fact the legal system seems to barely understand the products being sold so they don't enforce consumer protection laws as rigidly as they do on other products.

Now I personally don't believe HG meant to deceive at least initially, I think they were probably caught up in their own hype as much as the fans, but at some point you gotta to be straightforward and clear about the nature of the product you are selling (I'm not saying they have explicitly spoil intended surprises like the center of the galaxy but they should at least make sure everything that they do intend to mention in marketing is in fact in the game at time of sale). And they didn't do that, if anything they egged it on internet specualtion all the way up to launch. You just can't do that man if you know the goods don't back it up. If you see people throwing crazy things out there that aren't even close to true, you need to get out there and temper expectations a bit. Maybe They got scared of what would happen if they did, which is an understandable feeling and probably a valid financial concern. But that's part of running an ethical business. It ain't easy, but it's the right thing to do.

I just want games to be good you know? I want us to be cheering Hello Game's success, instead of this endless hate fest. This is a tragedy for all involved.

Well, at least it's something new after the initial shitstorm of a release and the months of fallout afterwards. I'm honestly surprised that Hello is still adding more stuff to the game when I honestly would have moved on to something else. And from what I played of the game when it released, I like the game as Minecraft-esque thing to explore for hours. I just don't $60 like the game as if it were as engaging as a Witcher or Metal Gear. So, I'll bite if it's $20 tops on Steam since, at the end of the day, this is an indie game in triple-A clothing.

I'm assuming it's meant literally, but also as a reference to Asimov. It would be in character for Murray's taste in sci-fi & what the game's lore suggests.

Foundation

As much as I would traditionally agree with you here, and I do think you make some good points, your points really highlight in my view how out of touch you and people you think are being taken advantage of are with how real business works. Watch late night TV, do you think there aren't hacnkey products selling for 19.99 targeting the lowest common denominator? Half those products don't work for shit. You know how I know that? I researched it. I looked it up. Or I talked to someone who actually bought it.

That is how business has always worked. Someone has made a product and wants your money for it. The onus is on the customer to decide if it is something they are willing to purchase or not. But in the media industry and I myself am guilty for doing this too, we set such unclear expectations and moral implications upon the companies that make the products we enjoy. You speak of running an ethical business, and if Hello Games were doing so that they would of came out to temper some expectations. While I do agree that would be a textbook example of running a morally ethical business, nowhere does it state Hello Games HAS TO run a morally ethical business. They didn't break any rules or laws. I think that is why this shit affects people so much. Because they realize the onus is on them. They were stupid for believing the hype, which is almost ALWAYS the case with anything. Nothing is as great as it sounds as the most epic regard. And just like the negative backlash this game got post release, nothing is as bad as all the negative things either.

To me the fact that Hello Games has come out, apologized for the response delay and promised and delivered on a big patch is proof enough for them. They a small indy team made a product and had no idea how the world would take the news of what that end product may look like. It spiraled completely out of control, and they probably were as you mentioned too afraid to do anything about it. That and I'd imagine their lives were consumed hours working to finish what they could of the game to get it "gold" and meet their release date. Remember they are a small team, and despite the AAA gloss over this I have to imagine a lot of hours in that studio were spent by all parties working their butts off. It's easy to forget that when we take shit out on like an Ubisoft who has 100's of people working on a single open world game. But Sean Murray was nervous on an E3 stage trying to show his ideas off to a receptive audience, trying to clarify to a rampantly fanboy audience that at times hordes and mobs over specific projects to herald them as the second coming has to be an intimidating process. I know I wouldn't want to do it. Especially since it could just make things worse. People could easily see it as you trying to then cover up that you were lying about the product etc. When I don't think HG did any of that. Yes promotional material and videso of things that are from older builds of the game were shown and none of that was in the final product, but that isn't uncommon in this field. Does the burger on the highlight board for a Big Mac look like the actual Big Mac? No.

Again it comes down to a disconnect not only between as you mention the age group of the potential consumers involved, but really nobody seems to care to help educate the consumers in question. Especially in these mediums and to me that is the problem. Because Hello Games and No Mans Sky aren't going to be the last game that somehow succumbs to over hype and then a final project isn't delivered to the specifications or desired interest of those who supported it so blindly.

They said that they improved the terrain algorithm but all I see is just more and more rolling hills.

#FlatPlanetsMatter

There is a giant list on Reddit. But I think phrasing the multiplayer thing as 'vague' as many people on this site do is super apologetic. He flat out lied. Call it what it is. It wasn't 'vague', it wasn't 'misleading', it wasn't 'alluded to', it was lies. They lied about multiplayer. There is no other word for it.

Watch this and tell me if you can call it anything else than a lie:

@devise22: HG did try and educate players on what is in the game. The day before release they created a blog post on their website where they linked to two fan made guides. These guides explained what you did in No Man's Sky based off of interview information. There were more than a few things in said guides that would not be in the final game-that was releasing the very next day! That's a very dubious thing for them to do. Either they knew those guides had misinformation in them, or they didn't bother to read them and just carelessly added gas to the fire.

I think the HG situation is beyond the usual "internet got let down because of their own hype" scenario. These guys sold misinformation up until the day of release, and (aside from the death threats) deserved the brunt of the backlash they got. Sometimes this site gives too much benefit of the doubt.

I am still surprise to see people being bitter about HG and NMS, especially from those who've never even purchased it before. Sure, they fucked up in their PR campaign (which I have a sneaking suspicion that most of it was due to pressure from Sony), and it was a bit bare bones upon release, but this update proves that the SMALL-ASS team is still trying to put out significant stuff for their project.

Do people get this upset over bad purchases? All companies try to sell you something that is suppose to be amazing, and some of those products fail to meet those expectations. Sure that sucks, but being a grumpy sore loser about it is lame.

Man, After this I got my base up and running and it's the most fun I had with the game. It actually seems banal, but a base that you can teleport into finally gives gathering rare resources some meaning since you can store them . Not to mention you also get quests for blueprints from the npcs you hire ( and you get stuff that actually has some gameplay functions rather than cosmetic!) . My progress is stunted by having the blueprint for the auto mining things be right in the middle of the ocean tho...

Survival mode is way more difficult, to the point where I finally realised how the health system worked after 60+ hours of playing on the older version where I just never got badly hurt nor died. Now, weirdly enough (and I don't want to exaggerate here, but i might), I had more stories to tell from playing 5 hours than the 60 from before, where everything was readily available and life support was more of a nuisance than anything else.

It's more like 3d Starbound! finally.

So. I never played it and everything said about it definitely turned me off.

That said, this update does look pretty damn solid and I would certainly be open to picking it up for a good price in one or two more updates. Once it came out to such disappointment I told myself that I would check back in a year and see what was up. They look well on their way to, eventually, making a game I would be happy to play.

That said, I'm kinda into Rogue Galaxy right now? It's not perfect but it delivers fun, easy, naval ship combat in a sci-fi setting and adds on trading to keep you checking prices. It's kinda slow to start? Well, it's just slow I guess. But I'm digging it. Rogue Galaxy: recommended.

It think it might one of the biggest disappointments in gaming history specifically in that it had the biggest backlash. The other great letdowns of gaming came at a time when social media wasn't really fully formed(or capable of being quite as toxic).

Its unarguably the most disappointing game of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if it won that category come GOTY time.

If this update appeals to you, you are gonna love Astroneer.

I just never understood why the public and press (including occasionally the gb staff) weren't super skeptical of this thing from the jump. Procedural generation isn't magic. To deliver on the stuff they seemed to be promising sounded like it was out the reach of even a massive AAA team, much less the company that last brought you Joe Danger.

A bit late to do this now when the game was released months ago and no one is playing it anymore. Why not finish a game and then release it. At this point the retail version now is forever the broken version unless the servers stay online forever. In the end a game developed after the fact it had a release date to make the game better seems like a waste of everyone's time especially when the bad version of the product released to majority of people is the one everyone will have played. If you can't do it right the first time then it's by far way to late to get a second chance to get people involved to play your game months after.

It's nice that they're still trying to make No Man's Sky the game they told us it was going to be, but until they fix the game's most severe issue (the lack of any real diversity in the planets or creatures), I'm still not interested in picking the game up again.

@bluefish: Apparently I just keep coming across these false references to Rogue Galaxy (which is a fantastic PS2 RPG available on PS4 right now), so I guess I'm THAT guy, but I believe you are referring to Rebel Galaxy, which is also a pretty great game.

There was plenty of skepticism to be found. I suppose it mostly got drowned out by the Sony marketing machine. It smelled funny from the beginning to me and I very much took a wait and see attitude... but that's the way I am with most games these days. Honestly, you probably have to wait until two weeks after release to get the real story of a game. That's when the think pieces start coming out and the deep flaws are being discovered. The first wave of reviews can't be trusted.

They explain the name in the video: "It's a foundation of things to come". I love Foundation, but it's not a reference.

@qrowdyy: I think that SFV might win in that category, more of the staff were really disappointed with that game. Plus it's street fighter, so there's a certain level of expectation that comes with a huge name like that.

With the 3 different game types can you keep 3 different saves? or can you switch back and forth?

They are different saves, you choose each time you launch the game