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WHY I MIGHT BE DONE WITH NO MAN'S SKY - by Mr Biffo

22/8/2016

23 Comments

 
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If you've squashed your tatty nub across the gaming landscape over the past week, it would've been hard to miss the backlash against No Man's Sky.

Said counteraction would appear to sluiced from two nozzles: the sheer amount of hype leading up to the game's release, over the past two years... and many of the promised features apparently missing from the finished product.

You could also speculate that the post-release wall of silence from NMS developer Hello Games hasn't helped; the company has scarcely Tweeted since the launch. That in itself has left a vacuum into which all manner of accusations and conspiracy theories have spewed. 

This has all happened in a climate of rank entitlement from certain corners of the gaming community, which has only served to inflame passions further.

Indeed, a Reddit user compiled a list of everything that had apparently been promised for the game, which wasn't in the final version. Though the original poster has since deleted his account, an archive of it has been stored here. 
DONE NOW?
I think I'm more or less done with my time on No Man's Sky. I've played it for more than fifty hours, and
though I don't think I'm close to the centre of the universe, it's teasing me that I'm nearly at the end of the Atlas path. I'll at least keep playing until I finish that. Probably.

Interestingly, I'm a bit bored with the game now. If I'd reviewed it at this point - rather than 30+ hours in, when I was still enjoying myself - I'd have likely looked upon it less favourably. Not least in the wake of the above Reddit dossier. I'd have felt a little cheated, to say the least.

It hasn't evolved noticeably in the time I've spent with it, and I've been frustrated by the general lack of progress - the fact I'm only on my third ship, and still don't feel powerful enough to do anything other than run away from dogfights (despite trading, and scavenging until my lips bled), has led to a grating sense of repetition.

Even so, reviewing it now that I've become jaded wouldn't have been entirely equitable - because I was still liking the game up until the point where I felt I'd gotten my money's worth. Anything after that should be a bonus, right? Yet even I can't ignore my own feelings of disappointment.

​The question is... how fair is that?
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BASIC
Well, on a basic level - it's irrelevant whether it's fair or not. It's what I feel, and that's what it is.

​Reading the broken pledges from Hello Games has left me with a sense of being cheated. And I'm more or less normal, so you can imagine how engorged with rage the entitled gaming weirdos are getting.

Strangely, the many over-promises of Peter Molyneux never really bothered me.

Molyneux always struck me as somebody who allowed himself to get too excited at the potential of a thing, rather then the conscious liar he gets painted at. And yet, somehow, the features and footage shown by Hello Games, and No Man's Sky's creative lead Sean Murray, have left more of a bitter taste in my mouth.

I've never designed a game - least of all a game as ambitious as No Man's Sky. I've no idea about the compromises which have to happen in order for a game to be released on time. I know about hard work, about giving your all to a project, but I don't know what that feels like when you're a small team dealing with enormous levels of expectation from people all over the world.

Let's face it - the hype surrounding No Man's Sky was pretty much unprecedented for a new IP. There was no way it was ever going to live up to the hopes of its rabid, sight-unseen, fans. Nevertheless, there's no denying that a lot of what we thought we were going to be getting in the game isn't there. It certainly doesn't look as good as the early demos.

Any sort of multiplayer component is absent; I stumbled into my first already-discovered solar system the other day - though there was no sign of the Columbus-like pioneer, fellatio_togo, who first discovered it. 

It made me feel a little sad at the thought we two souls, two like-minded adventurers, wouldn't have a chance to connect. Like many of the compromises and apparently late-in-the-day design decisions, it pulled away from the reality of the No Man's Sky universe as much as all those identikit space stations, and jelly mould worlds. Yes, I was disappointed. 

MURRAY MINTS
Do I blame Hello Games for my disappointment? A bit, to be honest. I still think No Man's Sky is a brilliant game, but upon reflection - as I approach my own personal finish line - it feels like a signpost on the road to something better.

While playing I've fantasised about its potential, what a sequel - or an entirely different game from a different publisher with a full-size team - could produce, building on what No Man's Sky has achieved. Judging from statements they made during the development process, Hello Games see that potential too. No doubt, they're as frustrated and disappointed - if not more so - than many of us have been.

Nonetheless, it feels like a huge PR blunder to maintain a policy of silence in the face of mounting criticism. The company - and particularly Sean Murray - were very vocal in hyping it, while the potential was still up in the air.

​Now that bubble has burst, it's hard not to feel aggrieved that they're not answering questions about the lack of multiplayer, or why other features were cut, or why it doesn't look quite as good as we'd all expected.

If they just came out, and held up their hands, admitting that time and the complexity of what they were building, was against them... people would be a lot more understanding. We all know that No Man's Sky was put together by a relatively tiny team. We all know that games development is hard. There's no shame in admitting that. Not least because what is there in No Man's Sky is still pretty remarkable.

However, the longer this silence goes on - and we don't know if we're going to get a lot of the missing features reinstated in future updates - the more the criticism and disappointment will mount. Sadly, that risks overshadowing everything the company has achieved.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
GAME REVIEWS: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO FORM AN OPINION? - BY MR BIFFO
​
THE ART THAT INSPIRED NO-MAN'S SKY
​
HOW GAMES CHARACTERS GOT THEIR NAMES​

23 Comments
Superbeast 37
22/8/2016 11:10:35 am

50 hours!

I'm a mega autistic mmo grinder but still was bored out of my face after 5 hours in NMS!

I fear you may have done yourself lasting damage spending that long in it!

I can't believe some fans still believe that it will be patched into the game they imagined. They make Star Citizen backers look sane!

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Paulvw
22/8/2016 12:23:55 pm

It seemed fairly apparent to me that this was a fantastic tech demo that blew everyone away who saw it. Hence Sony trumpeting it and issuing it as a full price release. However, they've struggled to actually squidge a game into it.

I sort of wish they had Minecrafted it a bit and put it out and let people build what they want with it. This would have allowed it to develop with time.

As you say though, it's such a wonderful setting that you have to hope someone can give life to it with a proper sequel.

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TekMerc
22/8/2016 12:36:28 pm

It really seems to me that the only issue with this game really is the asking price.

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TekMerc
22/8/2016 12:37:39 pm

Read the sentence before you push enter idiot. I don't think I needed the 18 instances of the word 'really' in that sentence.

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Phil
22/8/2016 01:03:12 pm

Really, don't be too hard on yourself

Acid_Arrow
22/8/2016 12:39:05 pm

Reading that Reddit thread, it seems they were still using the old-build footage to promote the game a month before it came out, knowing full well many features weren't going to be included. This does seem to be pretty dishonest but I'm sure they were under all sorts of pressure not to reveal the truth, maybe they'll use all the money they make to do a really great sequel or a massive overhaul patch? Or maybe they'll just use it to buy swans to roast.

I think what it most sorely lacks are some jobs to do. Just some bog-standard "go and gather me 500 gold" or "go and kill 10 crab creatures" tasks would have helped paper over the cracks a bit more.

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Wiiiiiiiiii
22/8/2016 12:40:13 pm

Not played it probably never will but as I have a wiiu but if monolith could do xenoblades chronicles x with amazing aliens and fantastic vistas, why couldn't Hello do better on this?

As far as I am aware the only constraints are self induced, there's no licensing body on a pc so maybe they just ran out of money and had to go with what they had, a game of that type is impossible to fully bug test anyway so that could be the reason, perhaps this lite version is the most stable thing they could manage.

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Darren link
22/8/2016 12:42:32 pm

Imagine if Sony had thrown a shitload of development money at this and let Hello Games expand itself to a point where it could match the unwieldy expectations of a triple-a title?

I don't know how many hows I've spent with it, but the kids and the Missus enjoy watching my adventures, which is something. However, the repetition and the constant grinding and even with god-knows-how-many slots in my exo-suit and ship, I'm still spending too much time micro-managing my inventory and this alone frustrates me.

I've figured out how to win dogfights - use your mining laser as it target the baddies automagically, but you can still find yourself in the shit pretty quickly if they hit you hard.

Yesterday, at the insistence of my daughter, who is my co-pilot and the one pushing me forward, we saw the majesty of a black hole and travelled through it. However, on the other side was more of the same and I felt no closer to my goal.

I like the breadcrumbs of a plotline scattered across a landscape, but I WANT MORE and again this can be frustrating. Do you travel onwards to the galactic centre or piss about touching magic monoliths?

But then I love the design and the actual mechanics of the game. I think the universe they've created is fantastic, but despite there being 18 quintillion planets and gawd knows how many alien species, it all feels a bit samey sometimes.

And the reason for this feeling of deja vu is because they spent too much time getting the universe to hold together and didn't spend enough time either developing a cogent plotline that was paced properly to draw the player in or create the tools and the framework to make this a proper sandbox game where you can go all Minecraft on its arse.

And so the game falls awkwardly between two stools...

This is a real shame because there's a lot of imagination in NMS and you can tell it is a work of love and it takes the dry, stultifying experience of Elite Dangerous and turns it into a psychedelic romp.

BUT...and it's a big but...it is a turn off to so many players used to structured narratives like the GTA or Assassin's Creed series.

And that's the problem with NMS. It's neither fish nor fowl and in trying to be different ended up being a little bit lost in its own universe.

I still think it is worth the money though because I find just flying around so relaxing...

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Dan Whitehead
22/8/2016 01:01:02 pm

"It hasn't evolved noticeably in the time I've spent with it, and I've been frustrated by the general lack of progress - the fact I'm only on my third ship, and still don't feel powerful enough to do anything other than run away from dogfights (despite trading, and scavenging until my lips bled), has led to a grating sense of repetition."

You can easily find new ships by using the beacons to search for transmissions. These seem to spawn whenever you do a search, so it's entirely possible to "create" dozens of new ships on any planet, with each one offering one inventory slot more than your current ship. Obviously this doesn't do much to address the "shallow" and "repetitive" criticisms, but if you do want a better ship, that's the way to do it.

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Damon link
22/8/2016 01:27:23 pm

I think saying anything would make it worse and make them more of a personal target.

People are not kind online.

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Antony Adler
22/8/2016 01:28:13 pm

Only difference in my experience was that I only took about 18 hours to get to the same point. One minute, I was having a great time, the next I suddenly realised that I'd basically seen everything there was to see (bar a black hole but whatever, I'm sure there are a few more little nuggets) and there was NO POINT WHATSOEVER in continuing.

I politely disagree with one of the above commenters about people being weaned by GTA / Asssasins Creed type games. I was more than ready for something at the other end of the scale but really, there's pretty much NOTHING to do. It's painful when you realise that, as I miss it in a way, but have no interest in playing it again.

It became clear a few years back that this going to be massive and it's a great shame that the Hello Games team couldn't have been expanded a little to address this obvious issue, just to add some sort of structure that is so lacking.

If this was an MMO, with updates coming over the weeks and months, that would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath. Allowing the game to be modded / expanded would again be great but ultimately I felt pretty quickly also that the best thing about NMS was what it heralded. This promise, however, will only be fulfilled in future games. This one's a bust sadly.

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Clive Peppard
22/8/2016 02:05:28 pm

Am I the only one enjoying thsi game for what it is rather than what it could have been?

Public Enemy explained many many years ago "Dont believe the hype" and yet, and yet I still hear more than anything else about how much better NMS could have been if it was like it was in your own personal head or how if pre release promises had been met.

Well guess what, nothings as good as the hype in your head - in my head i can still represent England at Rugby Union if i wanted too, or date Kate beckinsale, i just totally can you know, if i wanted too.

And no dev has ever lived up to their promises fully.

If you take NMS for what it is, a bloody huge universe full of stuff and just go, its an absolute joy. Ive probably put in 20 plus hours and have done the following:

Completed path of Atlas
Upgraded my exo suit to 40 slots
bought a new ship

At the most basic thats all ive done, but i did that whilst being a miner, a pirate, a trader, an adventurer and the rest.

Ive murdered sentinels for their titanium and debris cannisters

Ive rescued freighters from pirates

Ive learnt over 250 new words and uncovered the history of three distinct races.

Ive crafted all manner of combat upgrades for my ship and my 18 slot multi tool is pink and very dangerous.

and not once did i bemoan a missing feature - because i wasnt looking for them, i read very little pre release and set my expectations to realsistic, low and behold im not at all disappointed with NMS and will no doubt play a lot more.

Is it possibly a problem for people as imagination may be required?

17 quintillion planets out of 18.5 quintillion planets for me.

(now I'll read that Reddit thread and say "oh i never knew that was missing because i didnt spend forever blowing the game out of proportion in my head)

Hello Games do need to hire a PR team though, surely they can afford it now they're earning AAA money...

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Barrybarrybarrybarry
22/8/2016 07:02:46 pm

I totally agree with this. As someone else has said above, I just love flying around in my little spaceship enjoying the various environments I come across. I've occasionally had a little foray into the negative press surrounding the game (well, negative reddits and that) and I fully understand why people might be frustrated if they were expecting something else, but I just wasn't.

I've even got to the point where I'm just grinding towards the centre - a few jumps at a time, stopping off to get more materials and then off again - and I'm still enjoying myself. I don't know why I enjoy it, but I do.

Having said that, I don't know how I'd review it if I had to. I don't think I'd ever recommend it to someone and I can definitely see how it would get dull for some. I just really enjoy it. I think relaxing is definitely the word. I believe Gary (Sean) at Hello Games said the same, that it's a really 'chill' game.

Despite the fact that he clearly meant 'chilled' (anyone else frustrated that 'chill' and 'hype' are things you can be now, as opposed to 'chilled' and 'hyped (up)'? No? Just me?).

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Seano
22/8/2016 06:54:43 pm

Fro. the little I've read I think people were expecting a brand new type of game from No Man's Sky.

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CdrJameson
22/8/2016 07:12:41 pm

About fifteen years ago I stopped bothering to read previews or listen to hype for either games or films.

I've not yet found any downside to this approach.

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Scott C
22/8/2016 08:54:18 pm

^^^This

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RoboJamie link
22/8/2016 10:53:33 pm

See, articles like these are why (a) I come back here every couple of days and (b) I hated the 2-3 days agonising wait for Digitiser to be updated in the 90s.

What a well written piece that conveys well the emotions the reviewer had while playing the game, rather than a laundry list of features or recap of the plotline.

I dunno about the rest of you but when I watch the most recent episode of something like Mr Robot, I like to think about what I've watched, and then pick up the iPad and see how everyone else understood the episode. I don't want simple a recap - I know the main plot-points you stools - I want a REACTION.

Biffo - you are loved, because you express emotion. Never forget

MR T 1995 FTW


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Kendall9000
22/8/2016 11:04:14 pm

As an old Elite fanboy I'm getting flashbacks to Frontier: First Encounters. Not least because people were amazed by its procedurally generated planets back in the day (complete with super sexy Gouraud shading in 256 glorious colours!)

People expecting the kind of leap forward that Frontier: Elite II was over the BBC Micro original were being unrealistic, but there was the promise of galaxy spanning intrigue and the return of the Thargoids to build hype. I remember quite a backlash against David Braben when the epic storyline turned out to be a few strung together missions, especially as they usually broke due to bugs before you completed them.

What's frustrating with NMS is that some of the dropped features were still being mentioned shortly before its release. Surely they knew that they wouldn't make it into the game at that point?

Even if it's a good game as it is, not getting what they expected was sure to cause people disappointment.

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That guy
23/8/2016 10:24:04 am

I've played No Man's Sky for 68 hours now and I've maxed out my inventory slots, got a half decent ship and can fight just about anything that is thrown at me.

I haven't done all the atlas stuff nor the centre of the universe thing, (something I plan on doing soon) I've just been exploring the planets and collecting stuff to sell.

I think it needs more variety as after about 30+ planets you have kinda seen most of the different flora/fauna or at least the parts they combine together and when there is 18 quintillion planets you need a significant variety of everything on and around the planets to accommodate such a number, as it stands every solar system seems almost identical (I'd even be happier with dead systems, no space station dead/dying planets, just some resources scattered so you can make ward cells and crap, as this would immerse me more into the idea of space).

I do agree that the price tag is way too high for what it is however if they expand the game and listen to their actual player base I can see it getting better.

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Omniro
23/8/2016 03:58:06 pm

A game with the width of a galaxy and the depth of a puddle.

I've been playing it since release day and I feel pretty much the same way about it as you Biffo. I've completed the Atlas path, maxed my exosuit's inventory and made about 19 million units by farming a "toxic sac" planet. I was going to spend this fortune on a new ship but.. I don't really see the point. All I want to do now is get to the centre of the galaxy, and having a bigger ship won't really assist me in that. I have everything I need to get there, but even going though black holes, it's a slow process.

The sense of exploration and discovery is gone, as every system is essentially the same. Basically, the gameplay goal of NMS seems to be to expand your inventory.

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Omniro
23/8/2016 04:01:02 pm

Also, it reminds me quite a lot of Captain Blood.

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oishiiniku
1/9/2016 12:51:35 am

As somebody who worked on a procedurally-driven game for a couple of years, I feared for NMS the longer that development went on. I think its safe to say that Hello Games got drunk on the potential of procedural content and thought that the randomly generated situations created by their algorithms could be a substitute for actual game design.

From my own experiences working on this type of game, I can say one thing definitively: Procedurally generated content is only as satisfying as the game designed to incorporate it. It can create some amazing, unexpected things when used smartly, but to randomize too many elements in a game leaves you with a whole lot of indistinct, unremarkable content.

To use the creatures as an example: What is more interesting in a game? 'Limitless' varieties of creatures that can barely walk properly and have the same, small number of interaction possibilities (kill me or feed me) or, an ecology of say, 12 DESIGNED, distinct creatures all with unique behaviours that can interact with each other (and the player) in interesting and surprising ways? The latter option is much more interesting from a gameplay perspective, particularly if you populate that relatively complex ecology in randomly generated terrain.

No doubt there will come a time when algorithms CAN create the games we can only dream of today. But I feel that time is a lot further in the future than Hello Games would like us to have believed.

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Gaming Mill link
18/10/2016 05:57:36 pm

I got to the centre of the first galaxy without bothering with the Atlas path. On the second one I took the Atlas way. I enjoyed many of the aspects of the game with tens of hours of game play it gave me but on entering the third galaxy and fourth galaxies (and without major spoilers) I realised there was nothing new to do.

I wasn't bothered about any multiplayer options - after all, Sean Murray did say the chances of meeting someone else would be highly unlikely (or words to that effect) and I have been contacted via Steam by two people who found me from the discoveries I made near the centre of the first galaxy. That was nice.

I only paid about £20 for it too (I bought it 'in Russia' via a VPN) so I wasn't bitter at all about the game for the hours of fun I had with it. If I'd paid full price for it though? I wouldn't be to sure about my satisfaction. Unless there are some substantial updates though I think I'm done with it.

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