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[Hobbes211]

I'm still thinking this will be the new Spore. I'm betting people will be thrilled the first time they do anything new in the game, then very, very quickly find everything is the almost the same with minor changes everywhere, quickly get bored, and the game will be cast aside and forgotten, or rather remembered as another catastrophe of the insane hype machine built on the premise of infinite possibilities, which people yet haven't learned is always bullshit. And then people will fail to learn, and get hyped again in the nearby future by another pretty-looking game pretending to offer procedurally generated infinity. Much like the Sonic cycle.

My feelings to a tee. (I still want it to be a better game than this)

 

[xamidoxhua]

It sounds like a lot of over promising and under delivering at this stage. The concept is amazing, but I just think it'll end up not feeling right or living up to expectation.

 

[kswiston]

I have no problem with indies being full price, but I spend $60 on very few games and this won't be one of them. I am interested in the game but will probably end up getting it a year from now when its on sale for $20-30

 

[SocksAndShoes]

100% in this camp, especially the wading through a sea of generic garbage factor.

The aesthetics are beautiful and I wish there was anything about this gameplay wise that pointed towards anything promising for my tastes, but alas I see nothing but utter boredom. What they've shown isn't the kind of exploration I'm remotely interested in for reasons better stated by the poster I've quoted.

As it stands, it's No Man's Buy for me.

You should probably read the many posts detailing how the procedural generation works in NMS. It's nothing like what you're thinking.

 

[michaelius]

I'm standing on wait for reviews and user opinions since it's rather expensive and there's high risk of gameplay not matching hype.

 

[MixedBeverage]

When did this FUD start again?

Every hole in the ground you make stays there, every animal you kill stays dead (unless it's eaten by another animal).

Is it FUD, though? When it comes to "leaving your mark," it seems to be true.

This quote here, and more at the link, indicates changes you make aren't shared with anyone else: http://www.gamezone.com/originals/l...mo-answers-one-question-creates-ten-more-jwmx

“Changes the player makes are saved locally,” Murray explained. “So if you start destructing the terrain, that’s saved on your own machine. And if you try and make -- what we would consider -- really significant [changes], some of those [changes] are stored on the server, along with the discoveries that you make. But in general, a lot of what you’re doing is considered insignificant. If you kill a creature, we scratch that, we save that that’s happened, but we don’t feel the need to like, kill that creature for everybody.”

To me, it's disappointing that I'll never land on another planet and see that some other player had been there before and the results of their activities. Probably not disappointing enough to skip the game, but it's a significant shortcoming to me. I suppose it depends on what kinds of stuff is stored on the global servers. Not sure if that's really been clarified yet. But even minor things, like seeing someone else's graffiti, would be really cool.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

Let's hope everyone who doesn't want to like or doesn't like No Man's Sky gets it out of their system in this thread so that when we get the official thread, those of us who understand this game and embrace its game philosophy can share our experiences free of drive-bys.

... But who am I kidding.

 

[ichtyander]

I don't think the problem is the wall of text explanations leading to people still not getting what the game is.

I think it's more your first line...that the people who don't get it just don't like these types of games. They also probably don't like rogue likes, survival games like Don't Starve etc. They're probably more like me (who gets what NMS is and understands that it's likely just not for me which is fine) who mostly only enjoy games with a clear purpose/progression/narrative and mostly only enjoy AAA games.

People saying "what do you do?" are more saying "what's the appeal of this game?" When they should just accept that it's not for them and move on.

Some people like exploring virtual worlds, gathering resources, crafting and upgrading things and working toward a vague goal with little to no narrative. Others don't. It's as simple as that.

Trying to explain what you do in the game ends up in circular posts with walls of text not because the skeptics don't get it, but because the gameplay loop just isn't appealing to them. That and the usual trolling from people that like getting a rise and egging people into wasting time writing walls of text of course. And then you get more arguments as the defenders insult those who aren't interested saying they need a ton of "Ubisoft handholding" to enjoy games etc. etc. and you get threads like this.

You definitely have a point there. I just think that if Hello Games were more transparent in showing really detailed video diaries over the years and revealing a lot of the secrets they're trying to keep hidden, there'd probably be a lot more "oh, so it's just another one of those early access survival/rogue-lites, with some space trading" comments instead of the usual "what do you do", as I think even that core concept is lost to most people.

You mine and craft to survive and upgrade your gear, earn money, buy better ships, repeat, with some exploration and mystery thrown in for good measure, so I very much think a description like The Long Dark (insert any similar game) + Minecraft (minus building) + Elite is a decent descriptive starting point, but a lot of these systems weren't really shown in depth, at length, with more frequency, in a video format, except maybe for the latest few previews where, for example, we actually saw a very brief situation of harvesting and crafting an actual item/upgrade. There's a lot of text and audio about how these systems work a bit more in depth, but for the majority of people, even those that maybe like this type of games, it's practically non-existent information, enough not to bother looking for it.

But yeah, I'm sure there are also a lot of folks that just don't find this to be a game for them, which is also totally fine.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Let's hope everyone who doesn't want to like or doesn't like No Man's Sky gets it out of their system in this thread so that when we get the official thread, those of us who understand this game and embrace its game philosophy can share our experiences free of drive-bys.

... But who am I kidding.

Yep. Hence my post about why some worry about the hype. It will end up selling to more people who just aren't in the market for it due to the buzz it's gotten and generate a lot of bitching, low user reviews etc compared to something like Elite Dangerous that didn't get much buzz outside of its niche.

Hype is good for sales for the developer, but will probably make the online community Aron d the game a bit toxic until the haters move on.

 

[Hahs]

Let's hope everyone who doesn't want to like or doesn't like No Man's Sky gets it out of their system in this thread so that when we get the official thread, those of us who understand this game and embrace its game philosophy can share our experiences free of drive-bys.

... But who am I kidding.

Don't sell yourself short, I'm in agreement with this because there will be an official NMS thread 4sure - and trolls will not be welcome; I personally won't be surprised to see/ignore a few ugly faces.

 

[Lady Gaia]

I'm still intrigued and look forward to the impressions of others when it's available. Not showing off the game while you're trying to get as much done as possible before launch sounds 100% normal, so I'm not at all surprised it wasn't at E3 (the pending lawsuit could also have played a role.)

 

[Bloodporne]

You should probably read the many posts detailing how the procedural generation works in NMS. It's nothing like what you're thinking.

No thanks. I don't feel like I should have to educate myself on a video game after everything I've watched looks excruciatingly boring and void of anything interesting besides its graphics/art design to me. I don't have any 'hype investment' in this game whatsoever so I don't need to convince myself that it'll be something I will want to play.

The post I had quoted sums up my thoughts on procedural games in general. I know some people are into that type of exploration but it's not for me like I had said. The last I read about this game was that there won't be any intricate structures/cities/buildings to really explore which was already a deal breaker for my tastes.

 

[E92 M3]

Let's hope everyone who doesn't want to like or doesn't like No Man's Sky gets it out of their system in this thread so that when we get the official thread, those of us who understand this game and embrace its game philosophy can share our experiences free of drive-bys.

... But who am I kidding.

Like with Destiny, until the mods start cracking down on it, nothing will change. We've been reading the same comments for the last 2 years.

It seems like some people get offended that No Man's Sky appeals to so many of us.

 

[Tain]

I'm cautious about the fact that the game is entirely procedurally generated, sure. I don't believe that the worlds it will make will feel particularly varied or noteworthy, and after a short period of time the novelty will be gone and I'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from future environments, creatures, etc.

More importantly, I don't have any faith that the mechanics tying these worlds together will be particularly engaging. If I read convincing impressions to the contrary, maybe I'll give the game a deeper look, but I find that I'm not very aligned with general critical tastes when it comes to smaller (or billed as smaller) productions like this.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

Don't sell yourself short, I'm in agreement with this because there will be an official NMS thread 4sure - and trolls will not be welcome; I personally won't be surprised to see/ignore a few ugly faces.

Is that a certainty? Have mods said as much?

 

[Leonsito]

Will buy in two years in a Steam sale for 80% off.

 

[Goldmund]

The skeptics are underestimating people's willingness to fill in the gaps and to love whatever once disparate mess our blood and spittle is now holding together. The cold and witless vastness of the universe is nothing against a single person's idiosyncratic desire to make sense of it all. I don't know how good this game is going to be, but I can see its ugliness by happenstance working out to be just another feature of its beauty.

 

[dragos495]

I'm still thinking this will be the new Spore. I'm betting people will be thrilled the first time they do anything new in the game, then very, very quickly find everything is the almost the same with minor changes everywhere, quickly get bored, and the game will be cast aside and forgotten, or rather remembered as another catastrophe of the insane hype machine built on the premise of infinite possibilities, which people yet haven't learned is always bullshit. And then people will fail to learn, and get hyped again in the nearby future by another pretty-looking game pretending to offer procedurally generated infinity. Much like the Sonic cycle.

/thread

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

Will buy in two years in a Steam sale for 80% off.

I'll probably end up doing the same to be honest.

 

[-Amon-]

At 99 % i will be in at day one. All depends from the state of my backlog the day No Man's Sky will be out.

 

[E92 M3]

/thread

no

 

[SocksAndShoes]

Reposting this wonderful info on the procedural generation technology so people can understand this isn't your daddy's procedural game (thanks to SomTervo and More_Badass):

You're simplifying their process here (and not giving them any credit). It's not a binary 1/0 parameter switch. The system is smarter than that. It's more fluid. It's more like the NaturalMotion Euphoria system: tick-by-tick it makes unique changes to each parameter to give crazy/unpredictable results. It doesn't just plug pre-set parameters into each other. It changes the actual parameters too.

The game doesn't work like that. Nor does it just recolor a finite group of animals

1) The game adds new things and alters its algorithms as you get closer to the center, so you literally can't see everything in your first few hours or planets.

2) There's lore, factions, and other aspects to uncover, but that's beside the point. If you've played Elite Dangerous, then you may understand that there's also a drive in being a trader or pirate or explorer or whatnot. That's the purpose, besides the "reach the center" goal

3) The game mutates and alters its base skeletal structures and animals attributes, and can then blend multiple skeletons and attributes together to form new animals, and then mutate those. It doesn't randomize a set pool. It creates new pieces in that pool to create more new pieces

I think it's Edge Magazine's preview where they discuss how it works. The way they described it is like this (I'm paraphrasing but it's exactly what they described):

'Say there's a planet with some animals who are shaped like dogs. The system has generated limb length, muscle build, limb number, head number, colour, fur type, 'accessories', etc, etc. But closer to the galactic centre the animation skeletons start morphing and warping away from what the model-type is, to increasingly extreme ends.

In this example, the computer looks at the model of the 6-legged-dog, then looks at our huge database of animation skeletons, and grabs a non-matching one (because we're near the centre), for instance the animation skeleton for a bird. It takes this animation skeleton and the model of the dog-thing, and then starts tweaking the bird animation to fit the shape of the dog, bit by bit, while simultaneously tweaking the model of the dog-thing to match the bird-skeleton, bit by bit.

It does a gradual, procedural, moment-by-moment change to create a completely new animation skeleton - which in turn creates a really weird set of movements/motions/postures for an already-unique creature.

There are multiple layers of by-degree uniqueness being introduced, basically.

 

[Hendrick's]

Im excited to try this still, but it's becoming more and more obvious there really isn't much of a game here.

 

[Vex_]

So let me get this straight...

> you were interested
> they announced it was multiplayer (which they never did)
> you became less interested
> then said you wanted to play it with your bro
> so it's eh 'because it's multiplayer' (which it isn't)

No.



I-I dont even know how to respond to what you just typed.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

I just don't think this game will be able to live up to the insane hype that has surrounded it. It could be good, but I doubt it will be that amazing.

 

[E92 M3]

Im excited to try this still, but it's becoming more and more obvious there really isn't much of a game here.

How is it obvious when they showed so much?

I just don't think this game will be able to live up to the insane hype that has surrounded it. It could be good, but I doubt it will be that amazing.

Most of us are hyped for the exploration and it's already guaranteed to be 100% better than Minecraft.

 

[Tain]

Reposting this wonderful info on the procedural generation technology so people can understand this isn't your daddy's procedural game (thanks to SomTervo and More_Badass):

This doesn't convince me that I'll be surprised or impressed by designs as I approach the center, and I have my doubts that it's an entirely new thing when it comes to procedural generation.

 

[xkramz]

Easy Pass for me.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

I just don't think this game will be able to live up to the insane hype that has surrounded it. It could be good, but I doubt it will be that amazing.

I don't think it's been overhyped just over criticised. In trying to explain to people 'what it is' we've created the expectations ourselves, expectations that were never promoted by Sean or his team. He's just expressed 'vastness' and 'scope' while we have done what this game is designed to do and provided the 'narrative'. If anything, this game will be a victim of its success.

Some people will hold the pencil and look down at the blank paper and will wonder why the paper is white, while some of us will fill that paper with our imaginations. If you can't use the pencil then don't bother looking at the paper.

 

[Robaperas]

I think I'll buy it.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

This doesn't convince me that I'll be surprised or impressed by designs as I approach the center, and I have my doubts that it's an entirely new thing when it comes to procedural generation.

I can't think of a single game that comes close to what this is doing as far as the procedural tech goes. Examples are welcome.

 

[Hendrick's]

How is it obvious when they showed so much?

They showed that there is little depth mechanically, little to no narrative content, and lack of creative outlet. Just don't see what the hook will be.

 

[E92 M3]

They showed that there is little depth mechanically, little to no narrative content, and lack of creative outlet. Just don't see what the hook will be.

It's obvious you don't care for the game, but don't go around saying they haven't demonstrated mechanics, when they fully have.

The game isn't for everyone.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Reposting this wonderful info on the procedural generation technology so people can understand this isn't your daddy's procedural game (thanks to SomTervo and More_Badass):

Whether you're running into birds, dogs, or dog-birds, this doesn't actually explain how those changes will affect the alien's interactions with the player, ultimately rendering these differences as cosmetic. Great to see the game is able to be so procedural and still look good though! There will probably be some extremely cool looking aliens coming out of the game.

 

[Listonosh]

I'm bearish :-\

I still don't get what you do in the game.

And before you link me to some giant paragraphs of text, let me just say this: almost every major title I know of puts out a "gameplay trailer." The gameplay trailer for No Man's Sky just told me so little about what I was going to be doing. It feels like almost all of the other trailers: he's just flying around, landing on a planet, and exploring.

Yeah but this is such a baseless complaint. Just because the gameplay trailer doesn't exactly detail how every system works, doesn't mean there aren't other VIDEOS that don't already do that. IGN had a whole month of unveiling new footage with new mechanics, and I believe at some point Gamespot did something similar.

It's pretty much been covered but the complaint that people don't know what it is you do in the game, obviously don't care enough about the game to look that stuff up. And that's fine. If it's not your "thing" that's completely understandable. But complaining that it hasn't been explained at all is silly at this point.

 

[Playsage]

It doesn't appeal to me.

Interested in seeing the critical (due to the Metacritic prediction contest) and commercial reception for it, though

I think the game won't live up to the high expections that most have.

 

[Bloodporne]

Whether you're running into birds, dogs, or dog-birds, this doesn't actually explain how those changes will affect the alien's interactions with the player, ultimately rendering these differences as cosmetic. Great to see the game is able to be so procedural and still look good though! There will probably be some extremely cool looking aliens coming out of the game.

When procedural games as a whole start busting out Doom levels or Anor Londo style shit, I'm in. Other than that, I'm sure it's impressive from a technical standpoint but I don't see the gameplay appeal personally.

 

[SeanTSC]

Still got my Limited Edition pre-ordered. It's probably going to be a decent game. That's really enough for me most of the time.

 

[Michael F. Assbender]

Have my digital copy preordered. And as the father of an active two year old daughter (with a son due in less than a month), a full time student, and with a full time job, this is the first game I've preordered in a long ass time. Because I rarely play video games anymore.

So you might say I'm pretty excited.

 

[PulseONE]

I'm very interested in it, basically my dream game in concept, I just hope it delivers.

 

[travisbickle]

Is it FUD, though? When it comes to "leaving your mark," it seems to be true.

This quote here, and more at the link, indicates changes you make aren't shared with anyone else: http://www.gamezone.com/originals/l...mo-answers-one-question-creates-ten-more-jwmx

Yes it's FUD, he said that planets reset after you leave. Instead it's the opposite, planets continue to rotate around suns, and life continues to exist, and every mark you do make will stay.

You're taking about something different, sharing of every piece of information which is pretty obviously limited by the finances of Hello Games for servers.

It seems the critics are the ones who have unrealistic expectations of the game.

 

[muteki]

Extremely excited and happy it isn't coming out this month.

 

[Swimmer9800]

A few months ago I would have said day one purchase. As I've marinated on the game I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Unless reviews are just straight up panning it, il buy it.

 

[Emu-Fred]

Still aboard the hype train.

Can't wait to get lost in that game

 

[dmr87]

My stance is that I don't care and I don't think it's going to do well financially. Reviews will be mixed, some high and some low.

 

[SocksAndShoes]

My stance is that I don't care and I don't think it's going to do well financially. Reviews will be mixed, some high and some low.

It was the #1 seller in Amazon-Video Games for a while. It'll do fine.

 

[cool_dude]

The NMS fanboys are really hyping it up and likely setting it up for massive failure. They are telling people exactly what they do in NMS, when in fact it is just a glorified walking simulator. People have figured out this game, just look at how much the fanboys are typing. Also, you cannot compare this algorithmic illusion to handcrafted movies!

Just look at all of the vids:
- Watch as the terrain pops up as the ship approaches the ground
- The camera movement is not natural with pop up everywhere
- Things repeat A LOT on a planet/biome
- Lots of transitions to take you out of the game, after the umpteenth time, you'll get sick of them
- Every planet has floaty dusty thingies in your face
- When shooting at resources, it doesn't get destroyed to let you know you took it
- Procedural generation is just dumb--I got a big gun, time to shoot the ground everywhere to see the caves that are present everywhere, gotta find the "rare" tech so I can leave the planet...
- ETC.

 

[SomTervo]

So let me get this straight...

> you were interested
> they announced it was multiplayer (which they never did)
> you became less interested
> then said you wanted to play it with your bro
> so it's eh 'because it's multiplayer' (which it isn't)

No.

I-I dont even know how to respond to what you just typed.

Okay then. Let's break it down, shall we?

Was interested in it.

> you were interested

Heard of the possibility of multiplayer. Then heard it was actually "multiplayer".

> they announced it was multiplayer (which they never did)

Went to a "eh".

> you became less interested

Really wanted to explore this game coop with my bro, but "eh" is all I can say.

> then said you wanted to play it with your bro
> so it's eh 'because it's multiplayer' (which it isn't)

Is the crux of your post that it was air quotes multiplayer? Ie "multiplayer"? You were suggesting that the multiplayer really wasn't multiplayer?

Your opinion is totally valid you just wrote it in a totally unclear way.

 

[SlickShoes]

What exactly have they promised that they won't be delivering? Lots of people keep saying this but I've been following since it was announced and the only misinformation has come from forums like these, not sony or the devs.

 

[E92 M3]

The NMS fanboys are really hyping it up and likely setting it up for massive failure. They are telling people exactly what they do in NMS, when in fact it is just a glorified walking simulator. People have figured out this game, just look at how much the fanboys are typing. Also, you cannot compare this algorithmic illusion to handcrafted movies!

Just look at all of the vids:
- Watch as the terrain pops up as the ship approaches the ground
- The camera movement is not natural with pop up everywhere
- Things repeat A LOT on a planet/biome
- Lots of transitions to take you out of the game, after the umpteenth time, you'll get sick of them
- Every planet has floaty dusty thingies in your face
- When shooting at resources, it doesn't get destroyed to let you know you took it
- Procedural generation is just dumb--I got a big gun, time to shoot the ground everywhere to see the caves that are present everywhere, gotta find the "rare" tech so I can leave the planet...
- ETC.

LOL I know it's difficult to grasp for some denser individuals, but perhaps, No Man's Sky fan want a game based around exploration.

I know that's a difficult concept to grasp. I've also included a definition below:

ex·plo·ra·tion
ˌekspləˈrāSH(&#601n/
noun
the action of traveling in or through an unfamiliar area in order to learn about it.
"voyages of exploration"
synonyms: investigation, study, survey, research, inspection, examination, scrutiny, observation; More
thorough analysis of a subject or theme.
"an exploration of the religious dimensions of our lives"
synonyms: investigation, study, survey, research, inspection, examination, scrutiny, observation; More