No Man's Sky, the massive and biggest title to grace the gaming community this year in terms of scale as it involves a massive 18 quintillion worlds, beyond what the human mind can imagine, continues to deliver surprises about its infinite universe.
On Monday, Alex Wiltshire of Hello Games released 41 interesting facts about No Man's Sky for gamers who have been eagerly awaiting its release on PlayStation 4 and PC platforms.
Wiltshire wrote on Platstation Blog, "We've been thinking, though, that No Man's Sky is pretty good at hiding its secrets, and that there are some facts about the game that might not be so obvious - facts that help it all make sense, and come alive."
Since its introduction during the E3 2014, No Man's Sky has captured the imagination of gamers across the world. The gaming community anticipated No Man's Sky's presentation at the recent E3 2015, where an 18-minute video of the game was viewed by the audience. It began with a cockpit point-of-view shot of a spaceship, and we see that this ship is viewing a space battle. The presenter states that the player can take sides in the battle, or just ignore it.
However, with all the details provided by Wiltshire, he forgot to mention the exact release date of No Man's Sky.
Here are some of the details we cherry-picked for you:
The universe isn't actually infinite - Computers don't really do infinity very well. But there are 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 planets in the universe. If you visit each one for a single second, it will take you 585 billion years to see them all, so it may as well be.
The universe isn't random - Everything exists for a reason, and is governed by maths. Maths means every detail is always consistent and makes sense, the result of hundreds of rules we've made to make a sci-fi universe we want to explore. And anyway, computers just aren't very good at random, either.
The universe isn't stored on your hard disk or on server somewhere - The world around you is generated by your PS4 at the point you visit it. Leave and it's all thrown away, but if you return it is generated again exactly as it was. This also means the game will be completely playable offline.
There are bots exploring the universe right now - Hello Games have sent a set of bots out into the void to send back to us gifs of planets. The game developers can quickly review the gifs, lots at a time, to see what kinds of things are out there, and ensure it's varied and interesting.
There isn't a story to follow - There are no cutscenes or characters, but there is a big objective: getting to the center of the universe. Hello Games does not want to tell you a story, they want you to tell your own. No Man's Sky is about your journey.
You will make true discoveries - Be the first to visit a planet, or be the first to scan a species of creature, and you will be recorded as its discoverer when you upload it at a beacon for all the world to see. You can also choose to name them. (There will be filters!)
A jetpack is an explorer's best friend - It can get you out of all sorts of trouble, and take you to places you wouldn't otherwise be able to access.
Planets are defined by their position in space - If they're close to their sun they'll tend to be more barren; further away and they'll tend to be cold. The planets in between tend to be richer with life.
Most planets are barren - Few planets will be dense with plant life and animals. Most will be barren, but even barren planets can be sources of great wealth.
Planets can be toxic - Some planets are death traps, with radiation or other hazards that will kill you in minutes. To survive you'll need to upgrade your suit.
Every distant mountain is a real place - No Man's Sky doesn't only generate the environment immediately around you. It also generates the whole planet at a lower level of detail, so every distant object on the horizon is a real place that you can go to.
Planets have days and nights - Fly down to the night side of a planet, and you'll find the land in darkness. Different creatures will be awake while daytime creatures sleep.
It's worth upgrading your ship - Ships offer varying capacity for being upgraded, whether speed, maneuverability, jump drive range, or weapon power.
You can only have one ship at a time - Choose a ship that suits what you want to do, whether trading (large cargo capacity), fighting (good speed and weapons) or exploring (a long jump drive distance). Want to do something new? You can always get a new one.
You'll shop for new ships - Space stations sell a rolling stock of ships. If you see one you want, you'll need to grab it before new stock comes in.
You can get a wanted level - Upsetting the balance of planets by mining them too heavily or killing creatures will see you being hunted down by the Sentinels, and attacking craft in space will attract the attention of the police. The more you do, the stronger they will retaliate.
The Sentinels aren't everywhere - Not every planet is policed, making these lawless playgrounds valuable sources of resources.
Space is not quiet - Factions constantly vie for territory across the entire universe. Choose to help one faction and it may reward you. Attack another and it'll remember. But you can also try to avoid conflict completely.
You can side with factions - If you're friendly enough with a faction, it can provide you with support that might protect you as you face its rivals.
Your multitool is an adaptable weapon - Multitools have a basic firing mode, but some come with different, more powerful attacks, or you might find technologies to upgrade them.
Death isn't the end - But it's a problem. If you die on a planet, you'll find yourself revived back at your ship having lost what you hadn't stowed and discoveries you hadn't uploaded. If you die in space, you find yourself revived at the nearest space station, without your ship, items and discoveries.
Units are the universe's currency - You'll earn Units for many things: selling resources at trading posts, shooting down pirates, uploading discoveries to the Atlas.
Market prices for resources vary - You might find lucrative trade routes, mining in one system and selling in another. It might be worth investing in a ship with lots of cargo space to take full advantage.
Space is busy with trade convoys - Freighters, led by capital ships, steadily travel along trade routes, sending ships down to trading posts as they go. You can choose to attack them and steal their resources, but you'll find them heavily defended, and pirates might have the same idea...
