My dad is trying No Man’s Sky and who knows what will happen

(I put this in the general discussion area but I guess it would also fit in the Off Topic section as well ¯_(ツ)_/¯)

So… the day has finally happened. I have convinced my dad to play No Man’s Sky. Well, it hasn’t happened yet, but that’s exactly why I’m posting this.
You see, my parents are not video game people. My mom absolutely hates them and my dad says he finds them interesting but could never play them.
However, recently my dad has been reading a lot of science fiction, so his interest in all that is very high. On top of that, I’ve been talking a lot about the game with the whole ARG and updates going on (it’s usually a pretty one sided conversation unfortunately :frowning_face: )
So we were in the car one day waiting for my mom to finish shopping for God knows what, when he randomly started asking about the No Man’s Sky. This took me by so much surprise as well. That was the first time he ever actually started a conversation about video games. He seemed really interested in the game and (get this) said he would even give the game a shot when the update dropped.
However, here’s the big thing: he’s not a video game fan because he says that “he’s old so his reaction time is bad” (those exact words too) . This has prevented him from playing any of the other games because he just refuses to try them. It’s really good that No Man’s Sky is really a chill game. I think it’s perfect because the only real “action” parts are the space battles and occasional Sentinel attack, without getting even a little bit boring.

Honestly I just hope I can finally have someone to talk to at home about video games without being ignored.

13 Likes

Edits are just me fixing grammar and spelling mistakes. It’s 1:53 AM at the moment so my typing skill is a little off :laughing:

1 Like

Tell him that video games can help him to have bette reactions time :wink:

5 Likes

Mrs MadHatter hadn’t picked up a game controller since the days of Atari but was so intrigued by NMS, that last November I set her up a profile on PS4 and off she went.
We tweaked the controller settings to suit her (she likes inverted like me) and I guided her about as she got the hang of it.
Patience is key when teaching an older noob.
We took it in turns playing and we now both have big hour games in normal mode.
Its a steeper learning curve for older people but certainly do-able. NMS is a great game to start out on. Also using a creative save to learn the ropes would be really beneficial to getting a feel for the controller.
Good on him :+1:
I hope he gives it a solid go and gets into it.

10 Likes

No mans sky suddenly becomes uncool and unpopular, as with anything a parent tries in an effort to reach the kids :joy: that’s what’s gonna happen, Mark my words. Haha, couldn’t resist. That’s great news, I spent a good portion of my youth trying to get my dad into videogames but never worked. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

And if your dad has any resignations about age, send polyphemus or linshell his way :wink:

10 Likes

I have been playing NMS on a PC for two years now and at my age (almost 73) have become an expert in it lol. My granddaughter( 9 years and also plays NMS) is in awe of my videos and tells me she tried out some tricks I did but did not succeed yet.

She plays on a PS4 and I now recently started playing on a PS4 too and have to really restart from the very beginning again, trying to get that feeling for the controller. Still not very good at it.
Flying a spaceship is very difficult, let alone fighting pirates.

Guess it will take me another two years of practicing with a controller before I really have that in my fingers :wink:

15 Likes

I’ve tried to talk some family members into giving NMS a try but they’re as stubborn as rocks in saying “NO” to games in general.

8 Likes

My father plays No Man’s Sky and has decided after trying all the modes during the past year, that Creative mode is he one he enjoys most. He doesn’t have to spend long hours trying to chase goals that he has no time to finish.

He has an extremely busy and absorbing life outside the game including a lot of gardening among other things. We’ve always been a science fiction fans enjoying movies and stuff. Yet not really readers of science fiction.

There is great fun in simply discovering new landscapes and curious creatures which I guess taps into our real love of the the outdoors. The game seems to combine the two and can at times look like an extraordinary work of art in picture mode. Remarkably each world is different and you can actually fly there, land and walk about. Amazing!

I guess that most humans enjoy exploring and discovering new things and that I guess is the essence of the game and Creative mode is just brilliant for that.

Creative mode doesn’t demand a non regular user of computers to achieve impossible feats of dexterity with a game controller or keyboard. But it does allow my father to be extremely creative with base building without painful grinding for resources and to enjoy zooming off across the stars to boldly go where no eighty three year old has gone before.

One wonderful thing about Creative mode is using Portals to travel freely anywhere as all the Glyphs are unlocked for you. No need to dial in resources either to use them. You can still follow the story and do tasks needed to collect recipes and craft certain things. Visiting bases and locations has never been such fun. Oh and predators can not bite you!

We set up race tracks for one another sometimes too lol.

Hello Games should be applauded for creating a game that doesn’t have to be competitive and playable by anyone of any age. Great for those moments when we have some idle time to spend together.

9 Likes

@heartphone
My tip for the PS4 controllers is to ensure you use 4 fingers on the trigger buttoms instead of the instinctual 2 for flying. Sooo much easier combining rolls and speed.

8 Likes

Thank you :smiley:

Am still looking too much at my fingers on the controller and watching the game. It is not a natural flowing movement yet.
But will try that and hope it gets more fluid while practicing a lot…

6 Likes

Great! Guess am going to start up a game in creative mode then to get myself used to handling a controller the proper way on the PS 4 .

Base building is one of my favourite items in the game and am still in awe of many beautiful planets I visit :slight_smile:

8 Likes

My first introduction to games was at the age of about 6 yrs old, when my dad got into the first consoles and Home Computers at the time. Not only video games, but mostly coding and trying to see what else you could do with a computer. I was of course too young to afford computers or games myself. I am thankful for having been allowed to play around with it. Back in these days we as kids relied on our parents. Although once this started, friends helped expand the collection of course :smiley:. I guess the same is somewhat true nowadays, as you grow up, relying on your parents to get into anything computer related. Only difference is that nowadays pretty much everyone owns a computer for whatever purpose. When I grew up, these things were new technology! Those were great times.

When I was a bit older, a teenager, it was actually my grandmother who turned out the biggest fan of video games in my family. You can imagine how much I loved paying a visit and play games till late at night. Some of my fondest memories was being introduced to games like Myst, The 7th Guest, and more on the CDi. It got even better when my grandmother decided to get a Commodore 64 which I only knew from friends, as my parents used to have Atari and MSX.

In my opinion, playing games or messing around on a computer is for any age. Give it a try, don’t be shy, afraid, or think it’s inappropriate for your age, it’s not! You may enjoy it :wink:

12 Likes

It is just great when you have someone in the family who inspires you. In my case it was my father who received a magic lantern from an English soldier, just after World War 2.
He was very proud to show us, little toddlers (my sister and me), animated movies on a wall in our living room.
Then came television, movie cameras and when he retired he received a MSX computer from where he worked, which happened to be the Philips company, lol, the inventer of the MSX.
And so he could mix different multimedia in one go and I enjoyed the next 10 years with him, he making movies and gamelike stories with my children in it lol.
Still have the videos and able to watch them. What a memory!

He witnessed me buying my first PC and later on a Amiga 500. I stood at the beginning of the 3D Virtual Reality with the 3D Construction Kit and with that official member club from England we had such a lot of fun, making games, playing each other’s games and able to port Amiga games to the Atari and to the PC. We had our own multimedia magazine on a website and were one of the first members of that WWW in the beginning of the nineties.

Those really were the days for me and luckily I have quite some videos left from that period on my youtube channel.
And so my kids were proud to have learned computer skills from their mother and now I am the only grandma playing games with my grandkids and they like it much lol
And I of course too :rofl:

Happy to now also have a PS4 to play games on, cause that’s where my grandkids play on most of the time…

10 Likes

Thank you for the reminder about Creative Mode!

I’m nearing 70 myself. And have found creative mode very useful for trying stuff out that I can incorporate into my more challenging Normal Mode play. (Though some may not view Normal Mode as particularly challenging --lol)

@Ospredox: You can teach old dogs new tricks! I think it’s wonderful that he wants to try it.

I hope you and your dad have many wonderful adventures together in NMS! (And I would get him the game and get him started in Creative Mode before N E X T hits.) :heart:

9 Likes

I have to say I just love the fact that many older people still have the heart of a child (like me) and play this game,
there are times when I feel I am to old to play, but then again, I would rather play video games then watch TV.

11 Likes

GL to Him( your dad)

XDragon

2 Likes

I bought a copy of No Man’s Sky for my father recently. He’s a few years older than you, 77 I think. He’s a big PC gamer, mostly interested in the Tom Clancy type games and flight/train simulators and such.

When I heard the NEXT update was going to include full multiplayer, I knew I just had to get my dad a copy! Hopefully, he’ll become interested, though I may have overwhelmed him with all of the Waking Titan talk. I did send him a link to the CSD forums here, so maybe he’ll find his way here!

Can’t wait to explore the galaxies with my dad!

6 Likes

Awesome to hear you and your dad are going to experience NMS together!

5 Likes

Great to read ! The more people playing at this age the merrier and am sure we all will find each other on this forum :grinning:

Yes the Waking Titan ARG is overwhelming for me too. I read it all but haven’t a clue lol.
Overall I find it an interesting read and learn a bit from it too . There are some very clever people here figuring all this out…

5 Likes

Your story reminded me of the space core lines from portal 2 relating to space and fathers XD

Fortunately someone made an animation using the dialogue but I recommend everyone listen to every quote by the space personality core from portal 2, and yes that is every modern video video game protagonist, Nolan North, doing the voice.

5 Likes