A big part of why I like No Man's Sky is the art design. It made sense when I read that the developers were inspired by 70s sci-fi art, from the likes of Eddie Jones, Peter Elson, Trevor Webb, Moebius, and the great Chris Foss. Who, notably, was also responsible for the famous black and white drawings in the first edition of The Joy of Sex.
I may not have owned The Joy of Sex as a kid - I don't know why my parents never bought it for me - but I did have a huge, coffee table book full of spaceship art. I never knew the names of the artists, but I was inspired by their designs; brightly coloured, impossible, ships depicted against neon skies, and surreal, alien ruins.
There was something distinctly empty about the images; something which No Man's Sky nails perfectly. Take a look at this gallery, and see what I mean.
I may not have owned The Joy of Sex as a kid - I don't know why my parents never bought it for me - but I did have a huge, coffee table book full of spaceship art. I never knew the names of the artists, but I was inspired by their designs; brightly coloured, impossible, ships depicted against neon skies, and surreal, alien ruins.
There was something distinctly empty about the images; something which No Man's Sky nails perfectly. Take a look at this gallery, and see what I mean.
A blood orange sky, a ship that looks like a robot bumble bee, a round thing, endless, empty plains, and some sort of alien installation. That's No Man's Sky in a nutshell. Unless you're a PC owner, in which case you can just replace this image with a screenshot of the game crashing.
70s sci-fi artists were obsessed with spheres. I mean, just look at Star Wars: the entire movie is one long trek to destroy a giant metal ball.
I remember poring over this image as a kid. What was that thing in the centre of the hangar? It looks like the handlebars of a Chopper bike. Imagine flying through space on one of those.
Again with the spheres. I don't even know what's going on here, and it doesn't matter, because it looks awesome. Those two astronauts seem terribly relaxed given the evident destruction raging all around them. They look like they're heading home from the office.
"Got any plans for the weekend?"
"I thought I might go and visit some spheres."
"Same."
"Got any plans for the weekend?"
"I thought I might go and visit some spheres."
"Same."
This could almost be a No Man's Sky screen shot. A planet on the horizon of a purple world, and a lone wanderer. That could be me. Maybe it is me. Bit weird.
And this. Look at it. It hints at so much. There's a sense of ancient history, and the promise of adventure. And some seagulls. Spacegulls.
This was another painting I recall from my youth. Two things really stood out: the ship on the right reminded me of a dinosaur. And that red thing the astronaut on the left is pushing. Is it a jelly on a plate? Is he hoovering? What's going on here?
The object just in front of him reminded me of Brian the snail from The Magic Roundabout.
The object just in front of him reminded me of Brian the snail from The Magic Roundabout.
Something I've always been inspired by is the idea of worlds on the inside of some vast technological construction. The first Halo nailed the awe such a thing inspires. It's hard not to feel they've struggled to come up with something equally powerful for subsequent instalments.
It's like a load of little planets hovering in the atmosphere of another, bigger, planet. It makes no sense. It doesn't matter that it makes no sense. It's strange, and that's what's important. Also: what a lovely, cut lawn.
Probably the biggest thing missing from No Man's Sky is cities. Even ancient, abandoned, alien cities would work for me - like the one in the 1980 TV mini-series of The Martian Chronicles. That freaked the hell out of me as a kid.
This is a painting done by the great Ralph McQuarrie for Battlestar Galactica. Which, of course, would result in legal action from George Lucas. I include it here, because the Viper spaceship looks just like the one I own in No Man's Sky.
Album cover artist Roger Dean clearly inspired a lot of the geology and topography in No Man's Sky - not to mention the movie Avatar. The latter of which would result in (unjustly dismissed) legal action from Roger Dean.
Arguably, the covers of many Yes albums were better than the albums themselves.
Arguably, the covers of many Yes albums were better than the albums themselves.
Look: floating rocks. I accidentally landed on one of those in NMS the other day, and fell off when I got out of my ship, and couldn't get back up to it. I had to reload my previous save. Maybe NMS2 could have a grappling hook? Or a big ladder? Or stilts?
Also, please can we have these big city-ship things in No Man's Sky 2? And something to drive around in? The walking is achingly slow, and having to refuel the ship every time I take off is a terrible grind.
Tuuuuuuuuuuube.
What so much 70s sci-fi art achieved - something which George Lucas nailed in Star Wars - was a sense of history, a used universe. A place where ancient civilisations had risen and fallen. And why wouldn't we take donkeys into space with us?
Among the most evocative moments in NMS is when big capital ships warp into view in front of you. This image captures it perfectly. What a lovely thing to see. What a time we live in.
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