Ah hell, here we go again. Hello Games just released another massive free update to No Man's Sky with Worlds Part I out now. No Man's Sky is rated Steam Deck Verified and works great on desktop Linux with Proton.
This looks like probably one of the best updates yet, which I'm sure I've said before, but it's been true almost every time. Giving planets a really fresh feel some have big floating islands and you might even get a few waterfalls coming down from them which looks amazing. Flying around a planet is even more interesting with their new volumetric clouds with a mixture of wispy cirrus clouds and dark, rain-laden nimbus clouds. There's much more detailed shadows, high definition dynamic water with realistic wave formations and foam generation, lots of strange new creatures across various planets, full wind simulation, more dramatic storms, frozen worlds were given a big overhaul with ice-laden trees and glittering glacial rocks, new sky colours and the list just keeps on going and going.
What I've noted there is but the tip of the iceberg. There's walking buildings, aquatic landing jets, a new mech, more water colour variety, walker battles got more interesting, new base parts, richer atmospheric effects and then lots of random quality of life features.
On top of that there's also a brand new expedition that sees you go on an alien bug hunt. Oh, and you can finally rename your discoveries any time now too.
Main update trailer below:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
Hello Games also mentioned how they refined input for touch screen interfaces with the Steam Deck and Switch being mentioned directly, along with fixing various input bugs there. Nice to see!
Check out their deep-dive video on it below:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
Clearly, Hello Games are doing some fantastic work and it seems a fair bit of this is coming over from their world-generation for their upcoming game Light No Fire. Full update notes on their website.
You can buy it on:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Dana Souly Jul 17
THEY DID IT AGAIN. 
4 Likes, Who?
Downloading it now, but I'm kind of afraid that all this stuff is gonna kill performance on older systems. I'm hopeful it'll still be playable for me, but we'll see in a bit.
Edit: To my surprise, it works fine. I haven't been in the water or into space yet, but standard early game operation seems smooth.
Last edited by Nezchan on 17 July 2024 at 4:53 pm UTC
Edit: To my surprise, it works fine. I haven't been in the water or into space yet, but standard early game operation seems smooth.
Last edited by Nezchan on 17 July 2024 at 4:53 pm UTC
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?
I suppose that depends on who you ask. There are people that love it and think it's great. Others (like me) don't like it at all. I tried it with the previous free expedition and played one session. Feeling of (space)flight is pretty bad and mechanics just don't give me anything to come back to. Frankly, it gives me the same feeling as an MMO. Long lists of tedious tasks without a meaningful story to hold things together.
4 Likes, Who?
I've never been able to shake the filth off this game in my mind since release, which is just really bad on my part I know, but I just can't seem to do it. I know I should absolutely give it another try and see what it's like after dozens of massive free updates, but .............. I think it's just a lost cause.
2 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?Well I played it for some time some years ago...
It was not bad: the planets were interesting and... beautiful. You could get more tech and build yourself a base... You could even play online coop with a friend etc...
There were issues too: The online coop mode was buggy as hell, crashing/disconnecting quite often.
But what drove me away was the fact that majority of the game was a perfect example of a so called Potemkin village game mechanics:
- when you landed on a newly discovered planet, there was nothing around you. But within minutes, the game (seamlessly) generated fauna around you, in order to make the place look alive
- when you landed on a nearby starbase (to do trade etc. with NPCs) the station was basically empty. After a couple of minutes, the game generated other starship and NPC traffic so that the base looked as if it was teeming with life :)
This meant one thing: (At least for the bigger part) the game world was not persistent! If you built a base on the planet, it was still there upon your return. Still, it happened to me once that while exploring a planet in my starship I 'accidentally' found another crashed ship, so I landed nearby, repaired the found/crashed ship and took off with the new one to test it. I was never able to find my original landed ship again :-(
(And that is also why I very much play & love e.g. X4 Foundations, which is THE exact opposite of NMS: The universe is fully persistent and fully simulated no matter where you, as a player, are and what you do. So if you see something interesting happening around you, you know it would happen regardless of you watching!
)Last edited by Boldos on 17 July 2024 at 7:44 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
Quoting: BoldosI don't know if this was always the case (got it at launch, refunded it, came back years after), but for a good few years now at least it's been possible to summon all owned ships through the menu thingy. Whatever you hopped on last is your main ship, but you do have access to all of them.Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?If you built a base on the planet, it was still there upon your return. Still, it happened to me once that while exploring a planet in my starship I 'accidentally' found another crashed ship, so I landed nearby, repaired the found/crashed ship and took off with the new one to test it. I was never able to find my original landed ship again :-(
Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?Highly depends. If you feel like just exploring planets and gathering stuff to maybe build/improve stuff is fun to you - then yes. If you're expecting a game with crunchy mechanics - no.
My take is that at launch NMS was terrible at the former, and now it's quite good at it. It'll never be good as a "proper" game, though, because that's clearly not the goal. It's more of a chill experience with some gamey bits that provide some sense of direction and progression, but that don't tie you to them if you don't care for them. Maybe grab it on sale and try it out then?
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?
Quoting: suchHighly depends. If you feel like just exploring planets and gathering stuff to maybe build/improve stuff is fun to you - then yes. If you're expecting a game with crunchy mechanics - no.
My take is that at launch NMS was terrible at the former, and now it's quite good at it. It'll never be good as a "proper" game, though, because that's clearly not the goal. It's more of a chill experience with some gamey bits that provide some sense of direction and progression, but that don't tie you to them if you don't care for them. Maybe grab it on sale and try it out then?
I can agree that NMS focuses bit more being wide than deep. It's just so wide that discovering new mechanics can be fun. Even when the mechanics are bit grindy if you interact too much with them.
There is actually a plot with few twists. And long side quest that functions as a tutorial and some of the unlocks are behind that. On top of that there's some lore than you can find.
Expedition might be good place to start as they act as semi standalone quests. As new player you start from scratch, but rewards along the way provide you enough stuff so you can complete the expedition. Longer time players can bring in some resources from their main save.
Upcoming expedition has combat focus. Combat is fine. It's not the most satisfying combat system ever and fun factor depends bit on what you're fighting with. And preview of the expedition hints that there will be at least some new enemies.
Quoting: BoldosBut what drove me away was the fact that majority of the game was a perfect example of a so called Potemkin village game mechanics:
Games are pretty much Potempkin villages. They lie and cheat, especially when you're not looking. Best ones can give illusion that the world continues to exist even when you're not around.
Sounds like NMS hasn't been just good enough in hiding the seams. I think space stations are not bad anymore and they can be populated while player is going through the entry animation. Planets can still be sometimes bit jarring. Animals might just appear out of thin air. Haven't noticed that yet with the new update, though have been played only twenty minutes after game froze.
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Luke_Nukem Jul 18
Ocean waves really transform planets with water bodies. Huge difference and planets with mostly water feel quite lonely.
But! It's a little strange to see huge waves that don't reach the shore.
But! It's a little strange to see huge waves that don't reach the shore.
1 Likes, Who?
michaldybczak Jul 19
Quoting: tfkI've never played it. Is it good?
Yes it is. I thought that this is a pure survival game and not my cup of tea, but it turned out, there is some story to follow, character and base progressions, so it feels more like RPG in open world with survival mechanics.
There is really a lot to do, and for a long time, you won't be bored, because there are so many quests to follow and things to do. It can be surprisingly addictive. Also, survival mechanics feel very satisfying, so you won't feel like grinding much.
For me, it was a very nice surprise.
Last edited by michaldybczak on 19 July 2024 at 6:24 pm UTC
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