After The Cataclysm: An Old Traveller's Telling

Don’t know where that link came from??? Was using my phone & must have tapped ‘.’ instead of ‘space’. I went back and removed it. Thanks for mentioning it.

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A sad and moving ending to a tale of many moods. Well told! This was a turn of events I did not expect (well, except I saw your post in the other thread that you were about to restart soon :P). I believe your story reflects the experiences that many players are having as they attempt to carry on after the update. I think you’re right about the many bugs introduced. In addition, I also have some concerns about the direction of the game.

It seems that some of the additions (missions, factions, conflict sectors, dynamic economy) could be taking NMS into the territory of games like Elite Dangerous, etc., and away from a focus on the wonder and mystery of exploring and inhabiting a nearly endless universe. Elite is a great game, but it’s not the kind of experience that I personally want from NMS. That being said, I’m thrilled with the experience I’ve had so far after restarting with update 1.3. It’s my fervent hope that the additions will ultimately enhance the game, and not detract from it.

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I’m actually going to take a break from NMS for a bit. My new save is at the begining stages of base building and I think I shall wait to pick it up again until bug fixes and all the various issues are ironed out.
It’s such a great game; I want to give it a chance without getting annoyed.
I have other interests I’d like to get back into and over the last 40+ days I’ve invested a LOT of time into Waking Titan, ETARC and NMS. It has been a sort of holiday for me but I should address my other hobbies too.
I will probably go a bit quiet but I’ll keep popping back to see how my fellow ETARCian Citizen Scientists are doing and to watch progress as NMS is tidied up.

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Hey @TravelEcho

For what it’s worth, I’ve seen a lot of players wipe their 200+ hour, Day 1 saves to start again, and they’ve done it with a smile too. Upon starting again they are saying its the best thing they’ve ever done.

My own experience is slightly different. The update dropped on Friday, I didn’t download it until Sunday, so 1.31 was out. I was a little nervous about loading up my game seeing all the horror stories of bases being underground, up in the sky etc. Seeing all that hard work erased.

I felt a little bit like being on holiday and hearing from a relative that your home has been burgled and you’re not due home for a few days yet. Should you go home now? Should you try to enjoy the rest of your holiday? Have family rallied round to make it a little better? What are you coming home too? And then you get home and see it for yourself and home doesn’t feel like it did before. Violated.

A lot of people had been discussing how they were going to start again to ‘get the full 1.3 experience’ and to be honest I was open to the idea.
I’m not overly happy with some of my planet or System names, (I named a couple with System at the end so when you view it, it says, “Shindorna System System”)

So when I loaded my game up I was fully prepared to start again, I wanted to survey the damage as it were and see it for myself. I only played for about an hour and it honestly felt like a new game, so much had changed but thankfully, everything was still intact, my base, my ship, plants, storage, (I already had 1000 Coryzagen in one of my storage containers, from what I’m hearing that will come in handy :wink:

I remember when my current save, (Day 1) had the base building bug whereby a mission would spawn underwater. I had to move base to one without water to remedy that. We can overcome!

I was a little disappointed that my lush planet had changed into a freezing ball of snow, (relocation is top of my list, but once base quests are done as this is bugged atm) but other than that it is a strange new world.

I wrote a brief back-story to cope with and explain in my head why it’s all changed, it would have annoyed me too much otherwise.

I am having my second go tonight and I will be actively ignoring the Artemis/Atlas quest lines which are reportedly bugged at the moment, besides, there’s so much more to see now. I’ll just do what I do best, explore and get lost in the game, find new things, go to the Winchester and wait for all this to blow over.

That being said, I am still open to the idea of starting again, even now. Just to have Photomode at the start of the game would be amazing.

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Yes, Oshoryu. This. Strangely I feel as though I have been going through a grieving process over this. Your analogy, brings it home, so to speak. ;`)

I racked up close to 300 hours in game in about a month of playing. I thought I’d found heaven. The feeling for players like you who got to be in the game from the beginning, playing in that multiverse for over a year… I can hardly imagine the grief at such a terrible change for those who were immersed in their own story.

I did read your back-story and was moved and inspired by it. (Also hearted it) Thank you.

I have started my own now, since I am not willing to start over. (Stubborn!) I have gotten stuck in Normal Mode at the Farmer, whom I am instructed to “leave the Gek alone”, etc.

I know HG is working on fixes, so I started a new Creative Mode and after over a hundred (literally) restarts gave up looking for a pleasant starting world, and flew off a few parsecs and found two lovelies together in a system; one being my first ever water world. So until the bugs are fixed in the old game, I’m back to wandering on foot (if I have feet?) but in Creative and writing my back story for the Normal.

I really appreciate the encouragement I see in these forums. It is not easy being an explorer-completionist in an ever-changing world, but the wonder is there along with the pain. Such is the human condition.

Thanks again!
“Chill Experience”? Indeed. /s Hahah.

No Photomode? O.O – Ow! Fortunately we can do both (keep the old and start again) if we can back up our old game save and pop it back in when we get nostalgic. ;`)

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I’m glad you’ve taken some positives from both my post and others. Hopefully the newly released 1.32 patch will go some way to you progressing or redoing the missions.

Now that the patch has dropped I might relocate sooner, I drew up my base plan on excel for just this reason.

From the screenshots I’ve seen there’s now even more beautiful worlds to find.

Alas playing on PS4 I have no way of reloading my old save from last year. I had dreams of journeying back to my starting planet, but two galaxy reseeds later have left it no doubt unrecognisable.

I can’t wait to read your backstory, I hope you include photos too.

Beautiful post man. Nice to see people encourage others and spur them on into the unknown by takin great leaps :slight_smile: Jus twanted to say, your head-cannon for why your planet has changed, I’d love to hear it :slight_smile: And also, without spoiling too much, the new story gives explanation to why everything is changing and in flux :wink:

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Oh sorry about your save file… :`(

Thanks! It will be awhile. I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer and find that the narrative thread often takes it’s merry time to show up. Having completed NaNoWriMo nine times though (drafts) I have learned to trust that process. The goddess Narrativia eventually does show up and bless the work. <3

And yes. There will be pics. :`D

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I thinks its great that so many people have invested emotions in their game & to the extent that a back story gets created to help deal with such alterations.
I know a few (including myself) who have penned tales to effectively record the events, which just goes to show how different NMS is to the regular game. It’s just something very special.
I’m sort of glad the hater/losers have snubbed the NMS game and gone on to other things. I don’t think they had the vision or foresight to comprehend the type of game NMS is. We now get to enjoy it without the trolls and idiots, disscussing things civilly and enjoying the odd joke along the way.
I’m forcibly holding back from returning to Euclid while I await the various bug fixes (many already sorted with 1.32) so I can get a clean run. It wont take long until I’m back in the thick of it.
I look forward to seeing pics of others finds and maybe the odd tale too.

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Thanks so much for this! Like most travelers, I love a good story. As I read through your posts, felt an affinity for your experience, and it was like a soothing balm to my weary soul. Please keep posting, sharing your experiences and telling your story.

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Yes, as @tajay suggests, please do consider continuting your writing. I really love what @Malveka & you are putting out for others to enjoy. As a writer myself, it’s inspiring! Who knows, maybe at some point my creativity will allow me to join in and write some of my own to share. :wink:

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@LilLadyD76 & @tajay
Thank you for you kind words. I’m touched.
Alas, I feel my traveller’s tale is done for now. To expand more after its conclusion might demean the emotion that fed the tale. Perhaps I may find that same emotion in my restart…we’ll see. :slight_smile:
@Malveka has a tale that tells of a new begining which I’m enjoying myself and look forward to the next installment.
Might I suggest you simply begin a tale of your own. My experience here among the ETARC community is of one that welcomes creative thinking and many enjoy a story. I read everything from tales to thoughts, to theories to jokes. I enjoy them all.

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@Mad-Hatter I really enjoyed your story. :grin: It was good and moving. It has helped inspire my own journey into No Man’s Sky.

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@Mad-Hatter I just want to make a suggestion.

I noticed you mentioned you like to write and type stories.

I personally think the above would make a good book.


For this story and any others you think of, you could share on ETARC &/or…

BookBaby BookShop is a site you can self-publish direct to readers…

_**An Error Has Occured.

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As I hold off my new restart I find myself elsewhere. I feel my story may not yet be done after all.
M.H.

**INCOMING TRANSMISSION>>>>> **
ENT:17…
INTERLUDE…. patience…. darkness….
The echo of the red circle glows in my memory as I dream.
I’m not in the sequence. Black envelops me as a reach for knowledge beyond my nothingness.
I dream as I wait. Codes. Portals. Glyphs. Despair. Loss. Rebirth.
I wait and dream…
The vehicle streaks across the wasteland, dust and stones spewing in its wake. The rattle of debris and the howl of the primitive engine is raw delight. It is the opposite of the purity as one explores a pastel cosmos. It is rust and chaos and violence. It is where I am as I wait. I swerve between hulks of wreckage; the ugly diamonds of a repulsive landscape.
Another vehicle comes up beside me, singing in cannon to my own machine. There is the crunch of metal and sparks fly as it drags its armoured hull and spiked wheels against mine. I veer away then swing back, ramming hard, sending steel, and shielding tumbling in the gravel. A semi naked warrior leaps across but before he attacks, the blast of my ancient weapon throws him back to tumble between the war rigs. My companion dispatches my combatants machine in a fiery explosion.
I slide sideways to a stop as the tumbling burning carcass of my former foe comes to rest nearby. Hot flames, black smoke. Scrap… Silence…dust…. darkness.
Darkness, as I wait.
Dreaming of glowing skies and crystal views. Of crafting my home. Of exploring an expanse of stars. Of one day approaching the grey towers and finally stepping through the swirl of a portal.
Yet still I wait and dream. I must wait. The patchwork quilt is not yet stitched.
Almost. But not quite.
I dream more…
The city stretches away, fading into smoke and distance while the wind plays with my cloak. My bladed weapons are secure. Below me the citizens go about their business as I perch unnoticed on the rooftop. I easily clamber down the walls to leave. Still unnoticed despite the bright light of day. There is clarity yet I am bored, restless. I make my way to the docks and the ship that awaits.
I’m briefly accosted and murder is done. As the peasants exclaim and squawk like chickens, the rest of the town carries on in docile logical patterns. Too docile. Too logical.
I leave the town behind as the ships sails fill with salty air.
Open ocean ahead yet it feels small; contained.
My ship bears down on the schooner, pirate colours flying and with dark intentions. The silent figurehead glares at my victim then stares past it as we come alongside.
The cannons bellow and the cycle of attack repeats.
The unnoticed Man-O-War pummels my ship and in my hands my ship is near ruined. The two pirate hunters that bear down on me take full advantage. As the Man-O-War froths and disappears into the rolling waves… my vision destabilizes as I desynchronise… I’ve lost… I am bored. Darkness.
More dreams. More boredom.
The Citizen Scientists bubble in my absence. The patchwork grows. The process is stabilizing. The galaxy is bigger now, more complex. There is much to learn. Much to know.
Patience. Waiting. Longing.
Darkness.
……
END TRANSMISSION.

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@Mad-Hatter Ent 17 - interlude- gave me the shivers! Thank you.

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**INCOMING TRANSMISSION>>>>> **
ENT:18…
The dizziness left me staggering as the dream sequences disappeared into obscure fractured memories and I found myself once again stranded and alone beside a broken-down star ship. My vision wavered and I felt like I was still reconnecting with reality. Strange visions of an island, an imprint in my wrist and dangerous lizards fading as the environment around me came out of the blurry mist. The world congealed into something I could actually comprehend as my vision cleared. Around me stretching to the horizon, was a grey splotched yellow hardpan landscape, the only features being the giant fungi so common on these types of sickly worlds. It reminds me of spoiled food and I can’t help but find it disgusting. I feel like I’m in a pile of refuse.
In my head, the synthetic voice went through systems checks and uncaringly informed me of all the faults it found with my equipment, sounding annoyingly like an over disciplined mother assessing a child’s work.
Bits and pieces of wreckage and equipment lay strewn all about the crash site, the smoke of the fried pulse drive rising into the sky above the ship; pathetic smoke signals to probably nobody. Thankfully the lack of oxygen has prevented the meltdown from becoming an all engulfing inferno or else my new journey would be on foot.
My memory has survived the transition and I was briefly overcome with the bitterness of the sacrifice I’d had to make yet there is also a joyfulness that I once again exist and am not dust lost in time.
A long hard journey lays ahead of me. It would be better to have not remembered but there I stood, remembering… until the warnings of toxicity from my suit jerked me to awareness and I scuttled to my ship. Of course, it was my ship. I didn’t really recognise it but I knew it was mine. It is the way things are sometimes.
As soon as I was moving I could feel the fluidity of my stride and the youthfulness of my body. Gone were the old aches and pains that come with a long lifetime; replaced now with vitality. Old memories in a new body.
New also was the pitiful multitool I had and to add insult to its already useless capacity was the fact it was broken. Nothing new is as robust as old equipment, is it? No point lamenting what is lost.
Gone too is the burning red glow in my mind and the presence of the Atlas. That I don’t miss.
I’m starting anew and the galaxies are ripe and waiting.
Better get this ship sorted.

ENT:19…
The intelligent design of the shuttle meant repairs were straight forward. Cold Mother as I’ve come to know ‘her’, had blandly informed me of the damage to the ships systems in her metallic uninterested voice. Once, I’d repaired the multitool, the task of getting the shuttle repaired was simple enough. None of the repairs were overly complicated, just mundane and somewhat ritualistic.
The chores of my new existence helping me to move on from my old life.
There seemed a personal irony then, when only minutes after lifting off in the newly repaired craft that I stumbled across another wreckage. I couldn’t help smiling when I set down beside the other ship and found myself looking at an A class version of my lost Mossie 3. In contrast to the outstretched wings I was familiar with, this one had upright asymmetrical stabiliser wings but the curved front shield and silver gleaming body was identical, glistening in the sunlight. It felt like a gift from the Gods, to have given up so much, then to find this treasure. I have immediately set about getting this ship repaired. Although it doesn’t have the capacity of Mossie 3, it does have extra technology ports common on modern ships and once I get organised I should be able to repair the storage systems.
The local sentinel population seem very strict regarding resource gathering. More than once I’ve angered them and had them hover in my face and flash me. It would seem my new youthful body harbours both my ancient, less tolerant warrior past and the over eagerness of my new youth in equal abundance. Several Sentinels have been firmly informed of my displeasure, their little existences blown to pieces and often it is me who has fired first. Their valuable parts go into my stores.
In this desert of giant mushrooms there is no one to scold me for poor etiquette.
Above me the stars await.
END TRANSMISSION.

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If ever a grind sounded like a thrilling epic!

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@Mad-Hatter I really enjoy your writing! Thank you for sharing your traveler story.
(I suppose this means you’ve started a new game?)

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Yup @TravelEcho
It’s a slow process…:roll_eyes:

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