No Man's Sky

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

It is not an early release, because the release date is the 9th, regardless of who scored early copies.

The patch hits tomorrow (the 8th).

Hence, the game is going to be patched Day 1, and if you are digital only, the patched version is what you would have, regardless.

That is where I take issue with the perspective.

They are delivering a AAA product (by the logic)... just like UC4, Halo 5, etc., etc. I did not cherry pick, I just do not have time to type out 90% of the games this gen that ALL had day one patches.

[Picci]

Re: No Man's Sky

Is it worth reading the notes to ready my body, or are some things too spoilerific for someone going in blind enough (haven't watched any user videos, though as you may know I have seen some gameplay videos before).

Just like you Blzer, I've pretty much wanted less than more. The patch notes are a rehash from the early information that was released in the beginning. If you didn't stay away from it then, this info is pure icing on that. Also, all the glum faces that was encountered when the street-date play was released regarding" bugs and gameplay concerns" seems to have been addressed in this update.

[canes21]

Re: No Man's Sky

There's a reason I said, "So we're more or less getting a game that is called a finished product, but it's more like an early release..." because this game has all of the traits of your typical early release game. If you fail to see what I mean by that statement then we should just end the conversation.

[The JareBear]

Re: No Man's Sky

This is as spoiler free as I can make the notes. I am just gonna keep it as basic as possible. I took a few BIG things off the list completely and edited down a couple others.

If you watched the official NMS trailers, then I think this is completely spoiler free.

Spoiler

The Universe – we changed the rules of the universe generation algorithm. Planets have moved. Environments have changed biomes. Galaxies have altered shape. All to create greater variety earlier. Galaxies are now up to 10x larger.

Diversity – Creatures are now more diverse in terms of ecology and densities on planets.

Planets – we’ve added dead moons, low atmosphere and extreme hazardous planets.

Atmosphere – space, night time and day skies are now 4x more varied due to new atmospheric system, which refracts light more accurately to allow for more intense sunsets.

Planet rotation – play testing has made it obvious people are struggling to adjust to this during play so it’s effects have been reduced further…

Terrain generation – terrain generation has been upgraded, more interesting and diverse possibilities

Inventory – ship inventories now store 5 times more resources per slot. Suit inventories now store 2.5 times more per slot. This encourages exploration and gives freedom from the beginning.

Trading – trading is deeper. There will be unique wants and needs, based off a galactic economy. Observing these is the key to successful trading

Balancing – several hundred upgrades have had stat changes (mainly exo-suit and ship, but also weapon), new upgrades have been added.

Combat – Auto Aim and weapon aim has been completely rewritten to feel more gentle in general, but stickier when you need it. Hotsile AI has been reworked

Space Combat – advanced techniques have been introduced, like brake drifting and critical hits. Opportunities for space combat and diversity of types of conflict have been enhanced.

Exploits – Exploits found by early leaker removed People using these cheats were ruining the game for themselves, but people are weird and can’t stop themselves ¯\_(シ)_/¯
(SM taking a dig at the original leaker LOL)

Stability – foundations for buildings on super large planets. Resolved several low repro crashes, in particular when player warped further than 256 light years in one session (was only possible due to exploit above).

Networking – Ability to scan star systems other players have discovered on the Galactic Map, increasing the chance of collision. Star systems discovered by other players appear during Galactic Map flight

Ship scanning – scanning for points of interest from your ship is now possible. Buildings generate earlier and show up in ship scans

Flying over terrain – pop-in and shadow artefacts have been reduced. Generation speed has been increased two fold (planets with large bodies of water will be targeted in next update)

Writing – Things have been rewritten by James Swallow (writer on Deus Ex) and me.

[mestevo]

Re: No Man's Sky

Wondering if the cloud and temporal AA stuff is coming to consoles or PC only.

Either way, anyone remotely interested in the game should be excited for those patch notes. A lot of suggestions that the game is much more persistent than I expected.

[Cabke]

Re: No Man's Sky

I told myself I wasn't going to do it, but some streams and the patch notes sold me.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

There's a reason I said, "So we're more or less getting a game that is called a finished product, but it's more like an early release..." because this game has all of the traits of your typical early release game. If you fail to see what I mean by that statement then we should just end the conversation.

But it is not though. The game can be played and enjoyed as is. They are just improving it, not unlike Minecraft, or any other supported game.

The patch is also day 0. So it is 'complete' at launch.

How is this any more an 'early release' than 90% of all games this gen, or hell, even last gen and the PC gen before that?

That is my confusion with the 'early release' statement.

From what little I saw of this in my time following the initial leak, it did seem like it changed pretty quick. Sounds like a good move

The day/night cycles were only 12 minutes each pre-patch. So lengthening them is a plus, by far. Especially if you are spending a good amount of time on a planet.

Also, people were forgetting the planets rotated in real time, so they would lose track of their starbases when they launched into orbit, lol.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

No Man's Sky

I told myself I wasn't going to do it, but some streams and the patch notes sold me.

Yeah, I'm starting to lean towards picking this up the first day now

Edit: Decided to preorder it now to make sure there's a copy there if I want it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mestevo]

Re: No Man's Sky

I'd consider a preorder but I have to wait until the 12th for release now. So I'll have a plethora of streams to justify my purchase or persuade me from doing otherwise. Probably the biggest problem w/ a staggered launch like this. This time of year is very much in 'will wait for the winter sale' territory (though some would argue that's all year, and they're not wrong).

The refund policy probably mitigates that a bit too, can demo it for an hour or so and then get a refund and come back when the price is right.

As of now leaning towards just getting it, the $45 credit on my account from other refunds makes it a little bit easier decision.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

A great read posted today by developer Rami Ismail.

On Day 1 Patches, and Cert Process

Highly recommended for those who truly do not know the insight on how recent development works in this regard.

[canes21]

Re: No Man's Sky

But it is not though. The game can be played and enjoyed as is. They are just improving it, not unlike Minecraft, or any other supported game.

The patch is also day 0. So it is 'complete' at launch.

How is this any more an 'early release' than 90% of all games this gen, or hell, even last gen and the PC gen before that?

That is my confusion with the 'early release' statement.

Early release titles can be played and enjoyed as they are as well. When i bought DayZ Standalone the day it came out I loved it. It was bare bones, but I sank hundreds of hours into it before it even became the game it is now. The same can be said for the large number of early release titles I own. Most of them have been very enjoyable, so I don't get what you were trying to say with this game being able to be bought and enjoyed right now.

Minecraft is not your standard game. I remember playing it when it first came out and it basically was an early release title as well just under the name of a 'complete game' much like this game. I don't play it anymore and haven't for a while, but I have kept up with a lot of the updates and it's clear that the game we have now is more of a complete game and the game we first got was more or less an early release that was just titled a full game.

This isn't Rainbow Six where they are releasing new Operators and a new map every few months along with a major patch that nerfs/buffs, fixes glitches, etc. This game is a relatively bare bones game that is getting updates that completely add new mechanics to the game and lay down the framework for future additions to be added to the game that aren't even talked about yet. That is more like an early release title than a complete game.

99% of the games that I have bought over the last two decades that were full titles and not early releases did not operate like that. 99% of the early release titles I have bought do operate like that.

Call it what you want to call it, it doesn't really change anything. To me this game has more characteristics of an early release title than it does of a 'completed' game. That's my opinion and you obviously disagree with that. I'm not going to convince you to think more like me and there is no way you are going to convince me that this isn't a lot like an early release title. We can agree to disagree.

I'm not saying it is an early release title in a derogatory manner either in case you've been taking it that way this whole time. I'm not. I'm perfectly fine with what their vision is and what they plan on doing with the game. My main problem comes from Sean and HG's lack of clarity with the game up to this point and how poorly they've handled the majority of the publicity and whatnot.

[Blzer]

Re: No Man's Sky

So I stupidly did not pre-order. What are the odds that I can walk into a Best Buy the minute that it opens and pick up a copy?

I tried to select to pre-order, but I won't be able to pick it up in store if I do. I certainly don't want it shipped to me, because at this point I will not be able to get it as early as possible.

What are my options? Looks like YTG has a smart way of going about it: select a pre-order in case he can't get it in-store, and if he does get it in-store I assume he just returns the pre-order. Probably going to be my route.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

So I stupidly did not pre-order. What are the odds that I can walk into a Best Buy the minute that it opens and pick up a copy?

I tried to select to pre-order, but I won't be able to pick it up in store if I do. I certainly don't want it shipped to me, because at this point I will not be able to get it as early as possible.

What are my options? Looks like YTG has a smart way of going about it: select a pre-order in case he can't get it in-store, and if he does get it in-store I assume he just returns the pre-order. Probably going to be my route.

You will more than likely be able to get a copy I am sure. They will probably have the large cardboard display with a bunch of them stuffed in there.

[Blzer]

Re: No Man's Sky

Thanks. It looks like today I can actually select an in-store pickup option, whereas last night I could not. I don't know what changed, but now that I've selected it I should be good to go.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: No Man's Sky

Thanks. It looks like today I can actually select an in-store pickup option, whereas last night I could not. I don't know what changed, but now that I've selected it I should be good to go.

Best Buy is funky like that. It varies with them, due to sometimes not knowing the allotment for each store right away.

I have pre-ordered before, and was not able to change shipping to 'in-store pickup' till 2-3 days ahead (MLB The Show), and there are times I could do it a week ahead.