Are we being introduced to the villain of NMS?

Archive WT Thoughts & Theories
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From Superlumina-6c…

S̵͎͂̈́̀̚i̴̡͝ͅn̷̙̫̦̗̂͜ͅc̵̘͉̎̂́̔̌̕ė̸̺̝̺͗̃̂͂̕ ̶̧̦̠̯͍̝̔̈́̍͛̄͝b̶̢̞͚̭͕͍̌̿̍e̵̼̹̞͆̄͊́̌͘y̵̨̭͕̭̼̏͑͊͌͆͋ȏ̵̰͓̤͍̜̋́͂͊n̴̰͊̅̍̃͑͆d̶͖̽͊̆͝ ̴͉̱͎͓͕̈́̎̓̈ͅt̴̛̺̝̘̊̆̔͘ĩ̴̻͈̋m̶̧̪̲̿̑̃è̴̢̨̺͛͊,̸̧͓̼̙͕̱̏ ̵̰̙̪̯̀̆̔̚͜w̷̦̘͚͖͈̅̿̀͗̉͘ḛ̷̯͉̂̓̽ ̸̲͙͕̘̤̘̈́́ẖ̷͖͌a̶̞̺̾̔́͜v̶̧̛̯͎̻̂̓̀̆ĕ̵̲̦̳̠̀͆̍̕̕ ̷̪̟̣̤͇̑͋c̵̖̟̈̄͒̿͝͝o̸̘̮̘̙̎̋͘̚ņ̶͖̄̾ͅs̵̹͗͋̈́͝u̷̟̙̖͂͌͗͊̀m̴͖̯͎̿̂̔͆ę̸̬̮̝̓̔͋͌̒͘d̴̡̗̲̮̹̟͌̕ ̵͚̟͚̻͕͋́ǐ̸̡͓͙̼̔ͅm̶͎̻̭͔͉̫̒͝͝m̴̨̰̲͗e̷̦̼̫͛͂ň̴̦̺̲̝̟͝s̵̨̩̤͛͆̚e̸̗̟̎ ̶̱̦́̊̃̇̕s̷͖̩̰̈͘w̷̯̥͓͖̐̔ͅͅą̷͖̮̪͎̐̒̋̀̃t̸̖͉̥̣̫̓̌͒͆̏̌͜h̷͔͓͎̳̽͗̒͊̂͜͠s̶̮͒͛̒̂͊ ̶̛̮̜̻̓̔̂̇̏o̶͔̹͓̭͍̫̍͋́͠f̴̡̧͚̰̥͑̍͠ ̸̧̬͈̪͙̒̊̍͂͘k̵̛͇͛̑̎̀͒n̸͉̭̗̘̖͛ͅǫ̸̼̀́͒̓͒̓w̴͖̤̌̚ḽ̵̡̝͊e̶͖̣̙͋̒̿͜͝ḏ̵̑̀͌̍g̵̟̜͚̝̥̯̃̃̂̍͊̿é̵̢̫̰̼͕͙̕̕ ̶̨̬̞̦̅̕̚͜͠a̷̪͆͆̕͝ņ̸̤͖̘̹̏͗̐ͅd̵̨͖͂ ̴̣̘̘̼̌͑̄́͛ǫ̵̝̰̬̯̿̈b̵͓͔͛̃̄t̴͎͕͑̐͝a̸̧͕͓͎͋̃̐͝ị̵̧̤̥̭̯̒͒̓͗n̸̪̏̊̿̚è̶͈̬̣̿͌̀̅ď̷̫̤̙͋̅͐̕ ̴̢͔͙͈̜̖́ư̵̯̬̈́͛́̊͝ͅn̴̻̿͒ͅt̵̛̞̟͈̤̝̑͆̑ơ̴̡͛̇l̴̻̬̳̞̓ͅḑ̴̮͍̰̟̉ ̷̧̞̫̊ṕ̵̳̱̪͙͑ö̸̫́̀̑̿͗ẅ̶̧̫̼͙̪̿͂͘̚é̵̯͎̗͝ŕ̸̺̊̽́͑.̶̜͍̬̜́͌̊̓͊ ̵̧̍̾̄͛̆Ẅ̸̙́͛̎e̴̡͗ ̵̝̽͒ẘ̸̳͒͆̕͘͘ȋ̵̧̙̮̾̌l̵̺̜̙̺̙͕̑l̷̤͛ ̴͕̿̀c̷̺͊̈́̄̋͒ó̸͎͔̊͋͊ṃ̸̢͙̺͖̑̔̉̚ͅḛ̵̝̀̀̈́̌͝ ̷̩͈̈́̌͘f̴̰̫̔͗̕ȯ̶̧̙̩̝͜ṛ̶̪̇ ̵̺́̉̚̕ý̴͙̠͙͗̔̎̒͝ͅo̵̩̦͂̄u̵̧̖͆̅͆͘̕ͅr̷̻̹̭̬̖͛̃ ̷͕̱͉͠w̵̟̩͖̪͉̅͌̽́̋͜ȯ̸̡̒͒͗̔͜͠r̸̨̮̮̼̼̮͊̓̓ḽ̴̤̭̘̘̲͂̉͑̕d̶͇̜̞͋̑̎̐̐,̵̨̤͉̑̕ ̸̧̪̔͗̈́̈̕̕a̵̫̻̱͑̍̓s̷͚̜͒̀̀̋ ̴̣͐̈̈́͑w̴̰̟͔̓̈́ẽ̸̛̪͐͋́̋ ̵̹̤͊́̌͝h̵͍̠̤͍͂a̴̡͙̖̒͗̎v̵̬́̈́̕e̴̢̠̲̫̲̓̏͠ͅ ̶̫̹͍̜̈́m̶̘̻͔͓̊̿̀a̶̘̙͍̤͍̒̈́̽n̵̖̼̰̫̫̹̈̽y̵̨̲̩̑́̕ ̵̛̹̦͔͈͈͓̒̍̐o̷̽͜t̶̝̗̙̀ͅh̶̟̥̟͋͗̒́̕ͅe̵̦͔̘̤̪͛̃̒r̷̜͕̯̞͈̤͌s̴̼̮͙̝̎̈́̉̽͒͝ͅ.̶̡̻̗͙̙̼̍̈̇̀"

“Since beyond time we have consumed immense swaths of knowledge and obtained untold power. We will come for your world, as we have many others.”

The theme I’ve gathered from all of Waking Titan is that we are receiving bits and pieces of information from another reality. To my knowledge, it hasn’t really been revealed why we’re receiving this information but this snippet from Superlumina makes me think it’s a warning.

It would only make sense that after having invented all of these incredible things we’re reading about from these companies, that they would have tapped into something much more sinister, or at least caught the attention of something else. (Doom anyone?)

As soon as I read this it made me think…What if just before the humans in the other reality were destroyed, in a last ditch effort, they sent a message warning others (us) about the impending doom. With the obvious connections to NMS, and the speculation of portals being introduced or activated, maybe we should start asking if there is a reason they were deactivated in the first place.

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It may not be another reality. Here are my current thoughts. Something from the NMS simulation, either Atlas or Nada (because they are the only two who have knowledge they are in a simulation), has discovered a way to “reach out” of the simulation into our world. Elizabeth is part of the team that created the simulation. Now she is calling for help from the only place it can be found, the past, just as Atlas is reaching out for salvation.

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So you’re saying Elizabeth is not only the creator, but is also trapped?

Maybe I’m thinking about this wrong then, the snippet from Superlumina isn’t a warning, it’s a cry for help. As if to say that they have reached out to many other worlds within the simulation and are just now able to reach outside of it?

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The Atlas lore in No Man’s Sky alludes to the idea that Atlas was created by “jaded intellects” and the no-longer used Atlas lore from the 1.00 version talks about Atlas being created by beings that are the same species as the players (possibly meaning humans). Since the NMS universe is supposed to be a simulation, it makes perfect sense that it was created by humans.

Now, in regards to this new information, it seems possible that these people from Superlumina conducted an experiment with time and got trapped in an “Infinite Loop” like the secret message on their project page says. These people trapped in time may have become god-like in some way and are the creators of the NMS universe. Some have pointed out that the three of the team members somewhat resemble the three races of NMS (the plucky smiling woman is like a Gek, the serious-faced woman is like a Korvax, and the stern-faced man is like a Vy’keen).

This is just my theory. I think the sinister message is from either humans or an AI created by humans, rather than aliens, but we will see.

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The trap in a loop sounds very possible explanation. In NMS when you die in game and are ‘resurrected’ you also get an info what generation you are now. Simulation is in fact this infinite loop, you simply can’t get out / end it.

What I think is the simulation was an experiment, but as usual, something went wrong. So, the simulation / program gained consciousness and when the creators / scientists wanted to end the experiment, the ‘evil’ AI didn’t let them and took control. Since the creators tried everything they came to the conclusion that the only way to prevent the AI is to use time travel and change the past. So, they decided to leave messages inside the simulation and hoping for someone to go deep enough to discover this messages.

Thanks to the info we will discover how to use portals (time machines), go through them and end up in the exact moment in the past when the AI gone wild and try to stop it from initiating this infinite loop.

Since in our present game / simulation we only see the remains of what it was before AI gone wild, when we go through the portal we will see the lush, full of life (and aliens) worlds not ‘degraded’ / destroyed by the evil AI / sentinels / something else. And this is how the great enemy in NMS will be introduced :slight_smile:

We will go back and forth through the portals to regroup, to chill out. Though, what will happen when we get bored with the fight and stop using portals? That’s the question for the developers. Maybe, when we destroy AI we will get a peaceful place to live, but I doubt we will end the simulation. Why? Because I like games you can play after the ‘end credits’ :slight_smile:

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I agree with most of what you are saying, but I think the time travel will be the opposite. In No Man’s Sky we will receive a message from the future that something bad has happened. We can use the portals to travel to this “dark future” where all the sentinels have gone rogue and are killing everything in sight or whatever. Then we find out what caused it, travel back to our peaceful time, and try to do something to stop it. Just my take on it.

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Time travels are confusing in general, so I won’t argue on what is the past and what’s the future here :smile:

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My opinion is that scientists are pursuing technology discoveries without any (ANY) regard to consequences. They are jaded to think that anything they create should be allowed to advance scientific knowledge. That this is slowly leading to humanity being diminished and Artificial Intelligent Life being championed. We are heading to our demise or our resurrection into hive-mind constructs…like the Sentinels. The Sentinels are the Villains of NMS.

TQQdles™

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Something definitely gets beyond the control of the scientists and engineers of these projects, which seem to culminate in the birth of Atlas. Elizabeth Leighton’s videos become an SOS sent to the past, garbled by piling on top of each other, and each transmission sounding a bit more dire. Depending on how much science vs fantasy is involved, they suspect they’re in a time loop - as I joked before, you wouldn’t know for sure if you were stuck in a recursive temporal loop unless you were a Timelord.

The weird message in the red section of Superlumina-6c is theorized by some like Orbit TV host to be from Atlas itself. Now this would require Atlas to also be sending their message back through time, but why would they announce their presence and intent like that? Why the tag line JOIN THE CRUSADE? From what I gather, Atlas has the power to grab hold of the very foundations of reality to shape it to its will when it comes to be, and we’re merely “paying rent” as we cavort through its universe under the ever watchful eyes of the oppressive Sentinels which enforce its will. I see no crusade per se, but the simple desire to keep its creation in the same state as much as possible. If we do so much as mow a yard, even on benevolent worlds we’d be attacked swiftly by Sentinels. That’s not a crusade, it’s a dictatorship.

This message to me has all the earmarks of a sentient organic race. It’s ambitious and boastful, and indicates some lofty intent with the term crusade. To others like myself, it sounds the most like the Gek, who intend to commercialize the galaxy. And rather than ruthless space Toads, they sound like they’re looking for recruits. They may have harshly enslaved the Korvax because they considered them fake people, being electronic in nature.

The timing of this race’s message, whatever they are, is too coincidental. I think they received Liz’s transmission and are coming to see what’s up with this technically advanced race. For their own advantage? Most likely, they’re on a crusade after all. We’ll learn some more in a few days.

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Some interesting theories here.

I think the “since beyond time” part of the message makes me think this is a message from the Sentinels. I don’t actually think the Atlas controls them; I think they are a self-replicating robotic AI left in the universe by a species long ago, and have developed some sort of hive-mind. They have “consumed immense swaths of knowledge” because they spend most of their hours scanning stuff, and they seem to be on a vast majority of the worlds.

It’s possible the “beyond time” part of the message is a subtle hint that they were placed there through some space-time manipulation. The references to “drones” on the Superlumina site makes me think that the scientists accidentally sent some AI drones into the past and perhaps in another galaxy, which over successive generations became sentient and began evolving and spreading. Now they have reached us.

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Perhaps. Maybe the Sentinels are smart enough to properly grasp the nature of most organic minds, and have found that pretending to be a sentient race has benefits that help with their crusade to subjugate the universe. Spreading like a swarm of Von Neumann machines endlessly making copies of themselves. A universal virus.

Well, I and my Multitool and ship have a cure for that. :wink:

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The menace hinted at pre-release is beginning to come out of the shadows, there was always meant to be a protagonist to push us to the galactic core.

I think we’ll be the man in the middle of a fight between the menace and the sentinels which seem to stand for order and preserve life (admittedly they don’t let it change).

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I disagree that no one would ever suspect they were stuck in a time loop. People have Deja Vu all the time, the feeling that you’ve been somewhere or done something before even though you have no memory of it.

Dr. Who lore says only a Timelord can notice it, but any science fiction narrative can make up its own rules. Liz sending a message back in time would make her more likely to suspect a time warp because she is using technology aimed at altering the timeline.

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Yes, this is the theory I now have about that text on Superlumina as well; it sounds just like the Sentinels, scanning and consuming knowledge and relicating to gain power so they can enforce their version of peace on the universe.

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soooo, nothing to see there then? just wallpaper?

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Don’t wanna sound weird.

But the Elite Sentinel force in the game looks like Boston Dynamics machinery.
They are working on Drones that run on AI and a machine called Big Dog which runs on 4 legs and works off of AI.
They have a ton of machinery that looks like something from the Terminator.

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I wouldn’t expect the devs at Hello Games to base something that isn’t “kind-of-like” something in movies/fiction already. Given how the “skynet” meme is out there and how we engineer creations In Real Life, they have to pull from some known things that get their point across to the masses.

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I’m going to get to that Villain Thing at the end of another long essay. :yum:

I don’t expect a new foe to be coming. Those hoping to see a new bloodthirsty race baffle me. Why in the world would you want that? When not only does the skimpy evidence not support it, but we already have two at least formerly bloodthirsty races in our midst, the Gek and Vy’keen.

Contrary to my assessment of the Gek above, I was reminded last month by the lore videos of Cobra and Orbit that they were originally a race of xenophobic monsters, killing off everyone they encountered that was weaker than them, and most races were. At some point, a number of them finally became aware of the pseudo-religious philosophy of the Korvax they so “mercifully” enslaved, and had a revelation. They realized that their own people were evil and their schemes reprehensible, and it sparked a civil war when it became clear the First Spawn would never change their ways. This was such a stain on their souls that the Gek never acknowledged this part of their history.

The Vy’keen are a little nicer and more civilized than Star Trek’s Klingons, but they have a very similar mindset. Their culture is all about battle and subjugation, involving a rather strict sense of honor. And they hold grudges forever, as we come across Vy’keen from time to time preparing for a new war with the Gek, and it’s possible that in “some remote corner of the galaxy” we can’t get to, that conflict has begun. They still hate what the First Spawn did to the Korvax and have never forgiven them, intending to mete out their own long overdue punishment, in spite of the Gek’s repentance and acceptance of the Korvax philosophy.

The Korvax are in an interesting spot, apparently in good relations with both races, and undoubtedly don’t want such a war to break out. I wonder if they might be responsible for the weird synthetic beings we encounter. When I met the Vy’keen talking like a Korxav, I thought it was a glitch. Maybe they feel at liberty to let their facade down around Travellers. This might indicate that the Korvax have their agents strewn through the two empires, hoping to influence affairs or at least keep tabs on them.

Which brings me to the unrevealed “Forth” race. Indications are that these are diplomats and explorers, maybe another adherent to the Atlas Path. The tall blade-like ship that was leaked looks quite elegant and unwarlike, and the term “warrior diplomat” is nonsense. And a race of diplomats makes perfect sense in this situation, given the Euclid galaxy’s tortured history. With the genocidal rampage of the First Spawn across the galaxy, wiping out whole civilizations, and the lengthy war of the Vy’keen against the Sentinels, I could easily see a collection of the other races in Euclid banding together and electing a race of philosophers and diplomats to shepherd some sort of galactic detente to insure that every culture has a chance of survival. And when do diplomats earn their paychecks? In times of conflict.

So I can see that either the Vy’keen are going to start their war of revenge for the sake of the meek Korvax who won’t strike back for the sake of that ages old injustice, or yet another race will rear their ugly head. But the prime candidate for me would be a returning First Spawn, a kind of Second Spawn. An outside shot would be that the pirates that vex everyone would band together in a Conclave of the Naughty, but I don’t see that happening.

But about that Villain Thing, and that message at the bottom of the first page of the Superlumina site. I still don’t see any way to logically connect either Atlas or the Sentinels with that message. Given the history of the Gek thanks to Cobra’s and Orbit’s videos, I now doubt it’s them either. Maybe it’s the Vy’keen, but that still doesn’t sound like them. My option would be a wild card race connected with the Diplomats.

To me, the ultimate villain of the Simulation would either be Atlas, or someone originally from the Atlas Foundation who used it for their own purposes. What is good about an Atlas that allows genocide, or does nothing about a hoard of universe-spanning Sentinels that go rogue?

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Would it make sense to think that we are generation 17 because indeed we are the ones called for help? Meaning that every generation under 17 is atm trapped in that loop16?

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Cant we all we all agree the space combat is the real villain in NMS

(Jk I love the game but for real I died alot in space)

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