No Man's Sky

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 1:37 pm

Yeah, I don't have strong feelings about it one way or another. Given some of the conversations I've participated in here on OO, I suspect others might feel differently.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 5:28 pm

If you've played a game for more than 10 hours it seems a little disingenuous to ask for a refund. I can't imagine playing a game for 50 hours and then expecting a refund. I must have gotten something out of the game if I stuck with it that long.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 7:34 pm

Moliere wrote:If you've played a game for more than 10 hours it seems a little disingenuous to ask for a refund. I can't imagine playing a game for 50 hours and then expecting a refund. I must have gotten something out of the game if I stuck with it that long.

The very nature of this game means it takes a long time to figure out that the promised features (multiple multiple features) are missing. Hell, even Forbes is saying they should be accepting unconditional refunds in light of the fact that that galactic center is such a massive bust.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 8:06 pm

Even if I hated a game I wouldn't request a refund after two hours either.

I can sense the frustration but really it's bad form. I can say that any future games coming from Hello Games won't be so warmly received. The damage has been done. Those trailers are very different from the game.

But I played it for hours, got my enjoyment out of it and moved on. No Man's Sky 2 isn't in my must haves in the future.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:04 pm

msduncan wrote:
Moliere wrote:If you've played a game for more than 10 hours it seems a little disingenuous to ask for a refund. I can't imagine playing a game for 50 hours and then expecting a refund. I must have gotten something out of the game if I stuck with it that long.
The very nature of this game means it takes a long time to figure out that the promised features (multiple multiple features) are missing. Hell, even Forbes is saying they should be accepting unconditional refunds in light of the fact that that galactic center is such a massive bust.

It takes about one hour of review perusal, tops.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:19 pm

People often choose to ignore reviews they don't like.

NMS seems more prone to this than most.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Thu Sep 01, 2016 9:53 pm

Your updated post makes much more sense than the initial draft.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Sep 02, 2016 12:07 pm

Zaxxon wrote:Your updated post makes much more sense than the initial draft.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Fri Sep 02, 2016 2:40 pm

about 130 hours in with a lot more to go.

Overall, a great game with some significant flaws. This brief impression is based on the game that is installed.

Pros:
This game kinda reminds me of Sundog. You get your ship and fix it up and go to various planets for getting stuff. This game just takes that concept further. It actually plays like an rpg more than a sim. I am horrible at space sims and to date I have yet to master flying just about any of the ships in those games. Not this game, its a simple button pusher and for that I am glad. Also in the RPG mode, instead of an avatar you have 3 things to increase in level, gun, ship and suit., And I like building my stuff up to get to the max level. There are a lot of things to put into your 3 objects and I will explore that more fully after I max out. The sense of exploration and discovery is almost prefect in this game. There is a nice variety of plants and animals in the various worlds and couple that with varied atmospheres, and sentinels sensitivity and the worlds do seem mostly unique. There is a lot to do and explore and if you take this game as an open world RPG there can be plenty of hours of game time for you.

Cons.
The developers have a hubris that seems to me anti gamer. Any developer that limits save games is suspect to me. But while you can save anywhere you really only have two save slots. One out of the ship and one when you reach a destination and save game.

(note: this was a life saver because one time when I lifted off, I accidently (known bug) lifted off into outer space and literally had a continuous pirate and sentinel battles (over 10) until I died. Losing a battle in space means you lose all your resources on ship. So I just reloaded my last save destination game and lifted off in a regular manner)

Also this game is billed as open world, exploration survival. Why would you not have a map and compass incorporated into game play? Developer Hubris.

I actually like looking for better ships, guns and suits via the various game mechanics. What I don't like is how the ship, gun and suit internal configurations are stuck in stone. Why didn't the developer allow the gamer to place the internal mechanics of your gun, suit, ship in any order you want. Developer Hubris.

While the developers did a good job at having a nice variety of planets, they vastly underplayed their hands. First off except for a couple exceptions, the galaxy is just about all Human scale. No giant worlds or tiny worlds just worlds that are all based on the human scale. Where are the gas giants? When I last checked a very significant number (most?) of discovered planets were gas giants. They didn't have to be explore-able but they would have made a realistic set piece in this game in galactic discovery. Why do all the worlds have day and night cycles? Some planets never change their orientation from the sun. Real astronomy is a fascinating science and I wish these guys would have used far more in building their game play.

I don't like that I am the only sentient being exploring the surface. It would have been nice to bump into a prospector looking for minerals and a scientist doing research while I am out on the surface doing my thing. And no, I do not count the guy in the environment modules as being on the surface.

So there you have it.
I like this game and I will actually be going back to it after I post this. But the amount of missed opportunities for gameplay with their current game engine just boggles my mind.

added note:
I don't trust these developers and will wait for reviews and word of mouth before I buy another one of their games

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sat Sep 03, 2016 7:41 am

All of your points are valid. I enjoyed the game but you are correct, I can not help but feel like they really missed out on a lot of potential. That doesnt mean I think I should get a refund after playing 10, 20 or 50 hours. Its on the consumer to do their due diligence on a game like this and there was plenty of information on the internet, even pre release that outlined what the game was capable of and highlighted the deficiencies. If you buy a game pre-ordered or on release day, thats on you. Theres a saying that has been around for centuries.... "buyer beware". Do I wish I had paid less for the game? Of course I do but I still got many hours of entertainment out of it and I would feel morally wrong to ask for a refund at this point.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Sep 03, 2016 1:36 pm

I absolutely agree with what you've said and I'm beginning to think Sony was really pushing the issue and that they wanted a "do or die" delivery date on this.

Incidentally, here are the 1.07 patch notes:

Spoiler:

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun Sep 04, 2016 6:55 pm

150 hours in and still having fun.

But my game is probably almost over. The way I am playing the game I am ship hopping till I get the 48 slot ship. I am at ship 45 right now and looking for 46. After I get the full compliment of slots (suit and gun are full) I will work on getting the right configuration for all my equipment (gun, suit, slot). I guess after I get that figured out it will be a race to the center.

One of the things I discovered is that many of the component items will stack. But you have to initiate a forced stack. So for example dynamic resonators: If you have one sitting in your inventory and your inventory is full. If you buy or come across another dynamic resonator it will stack when you add it to your inventory. The things I have gotten to stack are vortex cubes, graviton balls, dimensional matrix, neutrino modules, carit sheet, and Micro fabric. Stacking is critical when you take over a new ship. Both in the taking it apart and in building your components.

A couple of words of caution. When you try to stack and you have two components in separate slots, it typically will not stack. Additionally, some times when you "buy" a duplicate component it will not stack. However, it has always stacked for me when I am taking apart my current ship to move into another ship. Another thing, typically when I move into another ship I have some spare elements I can not take with me to the new ship. However, if you have your stacks in order you can make a whole bunch of supplies and stack them with your excess elements (I have over, 30 carit sheets and micro fabics and maybe 10 dimensional matrics). I wish I would have started this earlier because I threw away a lot of elements in the early game.

Oh, unfortunately I can not get Warp cells to stack.

Welp, On to the search for ship 46.
(note: ship 46 went for 150,000,000 at the space port)

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sun Sep 04, 2016 9:23 pm

So, I did something I did not think I would do - I asked Amazon.com for a return on my limited edition. When I first got the game, I very much enjoyed seeing all the new creatures, all the interesting tech, all the aliens, all the ships, and all the different buildings and areas. But three weeks in, I realized that all of those things were endlessly repeated, over and over, no matter what. Even the vistas looked the same on every planet. The same rock outcroppings of the same four of five materials. The same plants on slightly palette shifted terrains and skies. The ships began to look the same. The aliens said the same thing. I kept getting the same upgrads and techs (leading me to believe the tech tree is very small). Getting higher Atlas passes was impossible, or highly dependent upon the RNG.

But I was still prepared to keep the game. I had a decent ship and had nearly maxed my inventory. My multitool was amazing and mined with great speed without overheating. Sentinels were more of an annoyance than a challenge. Pirates were no big deal. I was still irritated at the "sameness" and the lack of the "living universe" (as promised by the developers and the promotional materials). But this was a relaxing thing to play sitting while the baby napped on me (and I did not need the sound on).

Today, however, changed that. My brother-in-law was here and I played the game while the baby napped and he watched. He commented on how pointless the game looked. I tried to explain what I liked about it, but it all sounded a bit hollow. I had upgraded my hyperdrive and was going straight from one Atlas Interface to the next (two upgrades makes the hyperdrive godly), because I wanted to see what happened at the end of the Atlas path. The dialog for the Atlas interface, however, began to be a bit... odd... and my BIL and I noticed a trend.

Spoiler:

Despite some unease, I soldiered on. I wanted to see what happened when I finally finished the path. I got to the final jump, slide into the last interface, and deposited my stones. Then... the tipping point.

Spoiler:

At this point, feeling completely betrayed and let down, I boxed up the game and requested the return. I felt cheated in some way. I was not interested in getting to the core (I figured I could Youtube it). I might be interested in the game when it dropped in price and after some patching to add variability or new things to do, but at this stage, the game is not worth the price. Yes, you can argue it was about the journey, but the journey was only great for the first week or so, before the sameness kicked in.

So I did what I did not think I would do. I processed a refund on the game I was most anticipating for this entire year.

msduncan · Post by **msduncan** » Mon Sep 05, 2016 1:02 am

baelthazar wrote:So, I did something I did not think I would do - I asked Amazon.com for a return on my limited edition. When I first got the game, I very much enjoyed seeing all the new creatures, all the interesting tech, all the aliens, all the ships, and all the different buildings and areas. But three weeks in, I realized that all of those things were endlessly repeated, over and over, no matter what. Even the vistas looked the same on every planet. The same rock outcroppings of the same four of five materials. The same plants on slightly palette shifted terrains and skies. The ships began to look the same. The aliens said the same thing. I kept getting the same upgrads and techs (leading me to believe the tech tree is very small). Getting higher Atlas passes was impossible, or highly dependent upon the RNG.

But I was still prepared to keep the game. I had a decent ship and had nearly maxed my inventory. My multitool was amazing and mined with great speed without overheating. Sentinels were more of an annoyance than a challenge. Pirates were no big deal. I was still irritated at the "sameness" and the lack of the "living universe" (as promised by the developers and the promotional materials). But this was a relaxing thing to play sitting while the baby napped on me (and I did not need the sound on).

Today, however, changed that. My brother-in-law was here and I played the game while the baby napped and he watched. He commented on how pointless the game looked. I tried to explain what I liked about it, but it all sounded a bit hollow. I had upgraded my hyperdrive and was going straight from one Atlas Interface to the next (two upgrades makes the hyperdrive godly), because I wanted to see what happened at the end of the Atlas path. The dialog for the Atlas interface, however, began to be a bit... odd... and my BIL and I noticed a trend.

Spoiler:
It kept talking about how I was an automaton, compelled to follow the Atlas path with no free will or purpose. It was basically saying I had no choice and that my time was pointless - not something that you want to here when you start to feel like the game is already missing a point or goal.
Despite some unease, I soldiered on. I wanted to see what happened when I finally finished the path. I got to the final jump, slide into the last interface, and deposited my stones. Then... the tipping point.

Spoiler:
After spending a month and lots of time working towards the Atlas path goal, I was greeted with... a short text box with some nonsense about a star being formed for another hapless player trapped in a pointless rat race. I don't know if it actually spawned another star, maybe or maybe it was just spin. I did not care. I did not get any cool graphic, nor sense of accomplishment. I walked away with a text box and when down the same path, to my same ship, that did the same exit animation, to the same hyperspace map that was sending me on the same trip, only this time to the core. It had the same sense of accomplishment when I liberate a castle in Super Mario Brothers, back in the 80s. A pat on the back and a text box (only it took about 10 minutes to liberate the castle, not several weeks).
At this point, feeling completely betrayed and let down, I boxed up the game and requested the return. I felt cheated in some way. I was not interested in getting to the core (I figured I could Youtube it). I might be interested in the game when it dropped in price and after some patching to add variability or new things to do, but at this stage, the game is not worth the price. Yes, you can argue it was about the journey, but the journey was only great for the first week or so, before the sameness kicked in.

So I did what I did not think I would do. I processed a refund on the game I was most anticipating for this entire year.

Welcome to what all the 'but I like this game, not sure what you were expecting' crowd is ignoring. It's like the ending is a big ass joke among the developers. It's fraud. They should be forced to refund everyone's money. I'll never trust a word that piece of shit Sean Murray says again.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Mon Sep 05, 2016 8:04 am

I haven't seen the ending and have been ignoring stuff about it. I'm surprised to read this.

I've been trying to play lately but my wife hates watching because she says the planets look almost complete the same and nothing interesting happens. I couldn't argue against her point.

At least the fixing the navigation of the galactic map now.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Wed Sep 07, 2016 7:28 pm

Well, I think I broke the game.

After sandboxing the game for 150 plus hours I finally decided to follow the atlas path. At least to get the atlas pass. But I no longer am getting any anomaly notices nor special atlas monoliths. So I tried monolith hopping for two days. I learned a lot of new words but got nothing in the way of any special notice. I tried jumping to a bunch of systems but curiously that did nothing either. I even filled up my hyper drive and went to as many systems as the fuel would take me and still nothing. Interestingly, one warp cell took me to about through about 6 planets where as a full hyper drive (about 5 warp cells) only took me to an additional two planets), OTOH, with all that warping, I did get into a lot of space battles and ended up getting the fighting achievement.

(note: early in the game I did get the anomaly notice and the special atlas monoliths - but although I agreed to follow the atlas path, at the time it was more important for me to build my suit and ship up)

BTW, the galaxy is huge. Try the galactic map when in space and move about it freely. There are a lot of stars and it really does seem like a gazillion stars. Getting to the center of this game galaxy with out some kind of assistance does not seem possible.

So really I have nothing else to do in the game other than explore. All my equipment is built to the max. I have all the technologies and about 10 mill in funds. One thing I think might shake up the game engine is that I found one vender selling atlas stones. If I can find and buy one maybe that might open up some new game paths to the atlas pass (s).

In any event, I had fun, but Deus Ex is waiting.

Suitably Ironic Moniker · Thu Sep 08, 2016 12:28 am

I uninstalled yesterday, and don't think I'll be going back for quite a while.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 3:28 am

Suitably Ironic Moniker wrote:I uninstalled yesterday, and don't think I'll be going back for quite a while.

uninstalled. What is that???
I don't think I have uninstalled a game on a rig for over 10 years. My current rig in addition to No Mans Sky, has Fallout, Skyrim, Witcher 3, Risen 2 & 3, Deus Ex, X-Com, Bioshock and 30 or 40 hidden object games and my hard drive is still only half full.

As far as the Atlas Path. I am now back on it. After 5 jumps in a row I finally got the space anomaly to show up. From there I was directed to an Atlas station and well, I am on my way. . . . With Atlas pass V1 in hand, schematically speaking. I can hardly wait to open up those canisters laying next to the destination flags . . . . . . feel my wrath metal barrels.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:28 pm

Some player walked completely around a planet and ended up back at his ship.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Sep 15, 2016 10:00 pm

What level was his inventory?

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:20 am

I guess the buzz is dead on this game. So long No Man's Sky.

Lorini · Post by **Lorini** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:26 am

It's always the next new thing. I'll still be playing it because I don't need buzz to play a game.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:35 pm

I too am still playing. Now it's all about getting to the center of the galaxy. And it is turning into a very long haul.

According to the "map" I am 150,000 miles . . .

... from the center.
A typical warp jump takes me about 500 miles closer
A black hole jump from the mysterious anomaly gets me about 800 miles closer
and a random black hole jump only gets me about 200-500 miles closer

the curious thing about the random black hole jumps is that the resultant readout after the jump says I jumped a million miles and yet I only get 200 miles closer.
It's kinda like football where the running back has to run 50 yards (to the side line) to get a 2 yard touchdown.

Bottom line for me. It's a wonderful game of exploration, but the game engine was woefully under used. Seems like it will not be hard at all to build a more comprehensive game with this same game engine.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Sep 18, 2016 10:12 pm

Scoop20906 wrote:I guess the buzz is dead on this game. So long No Man's Sky.

The buzz turned negative about 2 days after release. Still,if you're having fun with it, that's all that matters. My hope is that they'll patch in some things in the future that would make me want to play it again. But until then, I doubt I'll touch it.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon Sep 19, 2016 12:29 am

if the whole 'lack of varied content' thing can be dealt with, i would be interested in checking this out.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:53 am

New patch. It renders D.A. Lewis' inventory strategy guide obsolete as it removes the "exploit" of stacking non-stackable items.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Mon Sep 19, 2016 1:11 pm

GreenGoo wrote:New patch. It renders D.A. Lewis' inventory strategy guide obsolete as it removes the "exploit" of stacking non-stackable items.

It angers me but it doesn't surprise me. I've had a problem with these developers since day 1. And it had nothing to do with missing features. To make a game about exploration and not include a compass and some kind of automap is game development malfeasance. It speak to a type of hubris that says I know what good for you and you don't in spite of the fact that conjecture is false. The game is full of elements that seem anti gamer to me. I expect some patch in the near future will have the jetpacks running on fuel . . . since that is more realistic

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:03 pm

I watch a YouTube video about what happens when you reach the core. If I was PO'ed by the end of the Atlas Path, I think I might have thrown my controller at a wall if I had finished the Core path. Glad I got the refund. So disappointing.

Post by **FishPants** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:03 am

Yikes less than 950 people playing http://i.imgur.com/napbNoZ.png the game now. I'm glad amazon Canada allowed my return, wish everyone did -- otherwise what's to prevent this in the future around another hyped game? I had fun, but 950 people world wide?!?! Wow.

jztemple2 · Post by **jztemple2** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 12:21 am

I was going to pre-order this game but because I was going to be on vacation when it was released I decided against it. Glad I did

. I might still pick it up on a deep discount.

Frnk55 · Post by **Frnk55** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 9:00 am

This game cracks me up. It is such a train wreck. When I'm bored I go over to the steam forums and read people bitch and bitch.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Fri Sep 23, 2016 10:21 am

It is an indie game that grossly oversold its features. We only have ourselves to blame.

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Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 11:54 am

Game and company now being investigated for false advertising

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 12:01 pm

I imagine the developer has been having a delightful time with this. From the "MUST HAVE" game to suddenly absolutely vilified.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 11:09 pm

The ASA can have advertising it deems misleading withdrawn permanently. While complaints have been made specifically about the game's presence on Steam, any ruling would also apply to advertising using the same footage or images on other platforms, such as YouTube, TV, or the PlayStation Store

So if they rule against Hello Games then they have to remove their marketing permanently?

Seems like the damage done by this marketing has already been done.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:13 am

I remember hovering my mouse over the preorder button on this one before it came out. It's one of the few times I've successfully resisted this level of hype.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:15 pm

Paingod wrote:I imagine the developer has been having a delightful time with this. From the "MUST HAVE" game to suddenly absolutely vilified.

doesn't help that he's practically been MIA since release.

He had everyone fooled, made lots of money, but gamers remember, he'll have a hard time making another game.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:49 am

This is the last post on their website.

DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Hello Games | September 2, 2016
Hello,
Over the last few weeks since No Man’s Sky released we’ve been inundated with feedback and discussion about No Man’s Sky.

No matter what feedback you gave us, you have been heard and we are listening carefully. Thank you.

Here’s what we’ve been busy with in the weeks since release:
• A community/support management team has been brought on board.
• Support issues raised are been categorised by that team, and we are fixing them in order of priority.
• We’ve released a bunch of patches for PC and PS4.
• We’ve written up patch notes for all those patches. You can find them here.

What matters now, as always, is what we do rather than what we say. We’re developers, and our focus is first on resolving any issues people have with the game as it is, then on future free updates which will improve, expand and build on the No Man’s Sky universe.

This is a labour of love for us, and it’s just the beginning.

If you have suggestions please mail

Thank you,
Hello Games

This sounds like an earnest attempt to say they care about the game being a great experience.

I'm sure they are extremely gun shy to say anything after the follow out from the actual game versus the promoted game. I think it is a mistake not to acknowledge the differences and talk about what they can do to improve the game but I also know in our litigious industry any admission could cost them money (returns,court cases, etc.) The problem is the perception is fooling their fans is going to haunt them forever and hiding from it won't change that.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 9:55 am

I do want to add this I find it extremely irritation that this sizzle video of game play is still up on their website and does not represent the game play I or anyone else has experienced. This video alone sold me on this game it drives me nutz that it isn't the game I got. I think they should at least take it down or acknowledge they are working to bring the game up to this level some day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZO40WBNA60

MAN! Why didn't I wait to read the reviews? DUMB!

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:29 pm

I'm still naively hopeful about the game, as long as we don't hear the devs say they're pulling the plug on support and future updates. I think the price should've been lower but I still had fun with the hours I put in. I stopped playing only because each new system visit was seeming like more and more of a cookie-cutter experience. If they patch in some new content or any kind of new variety, I'll happily jump back in again.