Who are we? Citizen Scientists of the Atlas Foundation’s Citizen Science Division. Why are we here? ‘The Official No Man’s Sky Gaming Forums.’ What does this mean? We are members of a secret space society existing somewhere outside space and time. We are one with Hello Games (Nada and Polo), we are the real-life incarnation of the Space Anomaly. We take our jobs as Dreamers seriously, even if this means dreaming harder with each passing update. Our role here is unique and quite a privilege. We must not fail, Dreamers.
Since an infinite universe comes with infinite possibilities, and NMS succeeds better with each passing update, and HG are always eager to expand their ever growing bucket list, and they are fueled by our enthusiasm and steady flows of thought, this can mean only one thing: Grab your 'V/ARE’™ headsets…
Dream harder than you ever thought you could wish to dream, and when you think you have nothing left to think, or no ideas to ponder, to reason, to envision, to imagine, to wish for, to dream big, “Dream Harder!”
The purpose of this thread is to share general wishes. If managing to expand a single wish into a deeper level of thought, a new thread may be created and the related posts may be merged. “Dream Harder!”
“So long as the developers and the players are enjoying themselves and don’t run out of ideas, No Man’s Sky will continue to be developed for the foreseeable future.” - Consider these interviews…
Images were created through Craiyon, an AI model drawing images from any prompt. The following were used: “scientists dreaming,” “scientist dreaming about aliens,” and “scientist with dreaming about aliens.”
Stumbling upon things you can’t have aid searching for, (ex. Portals pre-Atlas Rises).
Should HG hide ‘Secret Passages’ in various places, in Space Station, Atlas Station, Space Anomaly and Derelict Freighter walls, floors, ceilings and in and around other buildings, caves and even in the ground as we’re walking, and provide no assistance in searching? - Otherwise, if a map is provided, then only under the rarest of circumstances, and only after a fair amount of work has been invested into receiving such a reward.
They can’t be predictable though, so potential locations would have to be numerous and quite varied; and Space Stations, Atlas Stations, the Space Anomaly, Derelict Freighters and other buildings, etc. shouldn’t always feature them, either. You just stumble upon them, or you may search, but you may also not find.
The real question will be, what lies beyond…
Suddenly, I get this flashback of being chased down a corridor by -//kzzkt//- Is that a book…
№16
Why did I include the above quote from a speculations thread? Because it’s an example of something that’s not as it appears. If you expand the quote, you’ll find an edit under a ‘summery’ tag, and more if you expand that. Only then will you grasp that special books could be hidden in these secret passages, as in that thread.
№16
Why did I include the above video? Because it’s an example of something I stumbled upon without having any aid searching for it, and my goodness was it a strange, if not weird and obscure piece of audible ramblings.
No Man’s Sky, ‘The #1 Most Popular Game,’ of all time.
That’s my goal with NMS, “an infinite universe in a mobile app,” available for download on the Apple and Android app stores. Why? Because almost everyone has a smartphone: “Space? There’s an app for that!”
Of course, bringing NMS to a mobile app would be hard work, but having now brought it to Nintendo Switch and even Apple iPad as of Autumn 2022, I think the hardest part of that hard work is now over. So my speculations for 5.0 is NMS coming to smartphones Summer or Autumn 2023 or 2024. After all, with each big number change (2.0, 3.0, 4.0), NMS has always came to a new platform, and what other platform do we have left? Stadia. Otherwise, no other platform would ensure maximum accessibility, quite like mobile.
No Man’s Sky has sold 10 million+ units since launch as per official product description, (GameStop listing of Nintendo Switch; See also the Reddit discussion). According to Wikipedia, the best-selling video game to date is Minecraft, having sold 238 million copies across all platforms, and NMS has almost made ‘The Top 50 List,’ and no doubt will sometime within the next few years. That list starts around 23 million.
30 million would put NMS in the top 20. – 40M? Top 15. 45M? Top 10. 75M? Top 5.
See Wikipedia for ‘The Top 50 List’…
But mobile only holds one key to ensuring NMS achieves maximum popularity. For the other key, we have to look at what draws people to other games, and most especially other space games, but all games holding player’s attention, really. We have to look at what player’s likes and dislikes are, for this game and all other games. We then ‘bucket list’ many of those needs and wants, and prioritize all such accordingly.
Maximizing platforms, and answering many of those needs and wants, guarantees an increase in popularity. Granted, in the process of “trying to make everyone happy,” we have to be careful not to alienate long-term preexisting players, thus not making everyone happy. But, you will never make everyone happy, (I know it’s hard to digest that, but it’s true), you will merely settle into a happy balance, and everyone will settle into that happy balance with you. Will everyone be happy? No, but close enough to achieve a happy balance.
I think it is important to recognize that early on, (ex. what makes you happy, may not be what makes me happy?) However, NMS has a few advantages, such as Custom Settings and Procedural, (ex. the ability to make some star systems and planets play different than others), which can cater to different playstyles.
Strategizing maximum popularity is challenging. There’s so many different playstyles, and wants and needs, and there’s accessibility, and then there’s functionality. So maximize balance and you maximize popularity.
Questions for consideration: Why is Minecraft #1? Why are the others #2? Why are these not #1? Minecraft features a bunch of voxelated cubes, and Tetris at #3 barely offers a few pixelated squares. No Man’s Sky offers everything and then some, and with the latest tech, highest resolutions and quality standards. So…
#1
Once there, how do we expand beyond?
Humans start populating other real-life galaxies and transmitting data via ‘god-waves’ (an unapproachable light beyond the highest levels of the UV spectrum; “figured that out myself, lol”), which moves faster than ‘light-waves’ (faster than the speed of light) and safely does so without a one-point universe explosion.
We achieve an instant data transfer on intergalactic scales, (and preferably bending spacetime for an instant physical transfer, if not an instant alien-human bodily ascension), and we start transmitting NMS into the hands of other alien-human lifeforms. Alas, we haven’t quite figured all that out yet, but we’ll get there God willing. If we keep passing around the superformula, we’ll soon shift from our plans of world domination, to…
“Our plans of taking over the universe.”
Until then, we have continued with our theme of getting closer to the Atlas. Each yearly ‘major update’ has presented a book-cover featuring the Atlas coming closer into view. It started with the initial release of NMS, continued clear through Atlas Rises and would appear to have ended with Waypoint – and yet Waypoint is merely ‘another point along the way.’ It is as Sean always says, “Our journey continues!”
No, in truth, I think we are still getting closer to the Atlas, for, “How have we arrived at what is infinite, when its own infinite gameplay progression, is a broken concept of what should be infinite?” So we take a moment to consider the Atlas Path, and only then do we return to our plans of world domination.
Consider our theme of getting closer to the Atlas…
After we complete the Atlas Path questline, of reaching the center of the galaxy, or otherwise birthing a new star: “Why does the Atlas then become silent, or satisfied, as if we’ve reached our final endgame purpose?”
Atlas Path
I think a better approach would be for the Atlas Path to then motion us along an infinite gameplay loop of traveling to the next galaxy, or otherwise birthing another new star. “Galaxy Progression & Birthing New Stars,” should be NMS’s take on gameplay progression. It’s how you “level-up,” so to speak. Why? Because the Atlas is pretty much the closest equivalent to a god-like deity we have in the game, and the Atlas’ purpose is to create, to maintain and to motion us along, on our soul-seeking journey through new stars and new life.
What is the reward for reaching a new galaxy? Each time it is done – through a certain number of numerous warps, or less black hole jumps, or through a combination thereof, not save edits or portal cheats – you level-up, you reach another level, a number visualized beside each player’s name, it tics up (like ‘Crimsontine +2’).
So we need a benefit (or a reward) for leveling-up. Should we become more invincible? I don’t think so, our technology upgrades already do that. Decorations? No, something meaningful and substantial. Since our other purpose with the Atlas is to birth new stars, meaning to birth entire star-systems into existence…
“What if for each new galaxy level-up, we receive another star-system to claim, as our own?”
“Increase the Challenge?” On-foot, we also have to reach and return from a ‘mirrorverse underworld’ -{(a frightening place where everything’s out to get you)}- through an ‘inverted tower portal,’ there being only 2 per planet and on opposite sides of the planet, where upon doing so we come to obtain a most valuable item, something that allows us to claim another star system, so long as we’ve leveled-up. But leveling-up also increases our standing with the Atlas, meaning we could level-down, (even ‘-2’). This could be a use for a…
Station Override
Perhaps that’s what we receive and what is required for its usage, and how we obtain more and come to claim even more star systems. Of course, this could just be one idea of many, but I must say, it sure does fit well with galaxy progression, birthing stars and all those other concepts I wrote about, years ago…
So to add to the long wishlist we had before, I am jumping on the turrets wagon.
Every time I get a few minutes to jump into the game, my settlement is under attack. I arrive just to find everyone running for their lives. This is not really very realistic. I mean, surely someone in the settlement has the desire to defend the place and their lives. So turrets would be really nice. I would like to be able to mount them in various places like the roof of a building or on the ground or maybe even on a wall.
I think turrets makes sense. Also, Piloting a turret from a freighter or frigate would also be fitting.
I wonder if the settlers will pick up weapons to defend themselves from attackers in a future update? I am also not a big fan of defending the settlers each time I drop in. The first few times was fine but now I just ignore it and do what I was going to do and leave them there for sentinel target practice.
I also have very mixed feelings about the sentinels. I admit, I’ve never been a big fan of combat, but I can see how it adds interest and risk for a lot of players.
If, however, you are going to involve combat, surely the goal is to win? What is the point of fighting an enemy that can never be beaten, but only comes back stronger, until your only choices are to die, or run away?
At least, every planet that has sentinels now has a control pillar (most seem to have several). If you can find one of these, you can turn the damned things off.
If you have a planet you use regularly, it’s a good idea to build a little base next to the sentinel control pillar. If you leave the system, the sentinels will be active again when you come back. A base next to the pillar allows you to turn them off every time you visit.
The one that really annoys me is sentinel attacks whilst flying. There’s absolutely nothing you can do. You can’t beat them, and you can’t land. Your only choice is to run. Grab the tiny window between sentinel waves, and warp out. What’s the point?
The whole combat / sentinel thing has been very badly thought out.
Due to sentinels and pirates, I hardly ever play NMS anymore and I do miss the exploration, gathering and crafting. I feel it as a great loss sometimes as those are the game mechanics that I love and help distract me from fatigue and frustration over lack of physical stamina. Being constantly attacked by wave after wave is not relaxing. And it is stupid to have to reload a back save to get out of a nasty situation.
Except for the third planet, I very much enjoyed the latest expedition. Only consoles to have to interact with. But even though I took my time, it was over too soon. And suddenly the universe was full of interloping NPCs. Grah!
You know the difficulty and gameplay settings are now fully adjustable? If you want to play all the game except combat, it’s possible to turn it down, or off. You can make enemies weak, or entirely passive.
I choose to play on standard settings - but to be honest, that’s a pretty arbitrary difficulty level, and it keeps changing anyway. If you love the game, but you’re being put off by the combat, you can just turn it off.
You may already know but after beating the fifth wave the sentinels are disabled for you on that planet until you warp away. And they show you the position of a pillar that you can visit and mark for later if you want. It is annoying when starting a new game since the weapons are so weak, at that point you really need a cave or building for cover. It is a lot faster once you get better weapons and shields. (of course it’s annoying anytime that you don’t want to mess with them.) I have a friend that plays NMS and I think sentinels are one of his favorite features. I don’t run from them much and since this last expedition I’ve destroyed 689 of them. Last time we compared notes his count was a bit over 3000. When we play MP (not as often these days due to more frequent crashes) I know he is at when all of the sentinels near me start booking it away from me and toward him.
This one bugs me as well. In the past you could run and eventually they would give up. Lately, maybe due to slower ships, you can not out run them. You can’t land on your freighter (and I couldn’t call the nexus for an escape but that may be due to other freighters warping in). If your guns are damaged and you don’t have anything to repair them you could end up with an hour’s flight to the space station. … I just reloaded the last save at that point. These days, when I expect a fight, I call the nexus near so I have a way out, and land immediately after taking out a wave.
Relaxed Mode is my new way to play. I can wipe out sentinel waves with little effort.
If attacked from the sky, it is possible to land after destroying the current wave, if you are really quick. Fleeing to the Space Station is also possible. But I also find it very annoying not being able to get away or land when I want to.
They will follow you into buildings but they don’t shoot. Keep the door open (or use an abandoned building) to let them in and you have fish in a barrel. In some buildings the dogs can get under the building and while they haven’t shot me so far they can sometimes bang into you for some damage. My favorite is the small open Quonset huts. You can see them easily and pop in and out faster if you want to risk it or if you need them to discover you to keep from resetting the battle.
As for caves I built a cave/hut on a sentinel pillar with the terrain manipulator and they never came in . The dogs would sometimes crash through with their lunge attack so I dug down as well. I’ll have to try leading them into a cave to see if they still fight there. That may not be safe now.
Since expeditions are supposed to be a certain theme, and pose certain types of challenges. I disagree that people should just be able to turn everything off. Everyone has different play styles, and not everything should make everyone happy all of the time. Sometimes its good to go out of your comfort zone.
see I like this. Cause it gives reasons behind how aggressive they will be on each planet. You dont want to fight, avoid those planets. Personally I like not cake walking everything. I’d like more challenging environments also. Not just hot/cold… but land shakes, cave ins, lava, em pulses knocking out equipment.
Wasn’t there a time when there were no NPCs in NMS? Or am I mis-remembering? That’s what I would like. No NPCs, no forced quests, no convoluted story that never entirely makes sense, No Atlas, no Artemis, etc… I know we still can’t turn those off if we want, but though I may be alone in this, that would be my dream game.
I’m with you on this. I tried to change the options on the Expeditions, but ended up in normal mode with no Expedition. So I have skipped at least two of the expeditions.
Yep! I kept having to reload to a previous save during the last Expedition because of being trapped by fast flying hard hitting sentinel ships, unable to land, unable to flee, afraid to go into space because, iirc, then the really hard hitters show up.
I’ve been thinking that for a long time now.
Some people live outside their comfort zone and would prefer a more chill experience when playing.
I have to add, that there are rewards from the Expeditions that are exclusive., so either you do the Expedition or you lose out.
I think it would be lovely for you to have the challenges you want. That is why I, among others, am arguing for choice. The ability to remove challenges or annoyances if that make the game more fun, or the ability to ramp them up if that’s what you enjoy more.
I also like that we can have a discussion like this where we can respect the needs and opinions of each other as players.
I am with you. I would like more challenge at times but then be able to avoid it when I want to. But the same sentinel attacks again and again, I am not fond of. Varied sentinel attacks would be better
Unfortunately, that’s not an option in Expeditions. No players should be left behind (excluded) because they loathe combat.
A player should be able to make their experience harder or easier to survive. For you, you are able to bump up hazard and for aggression and more to achieve whatever challenge you want.
Don’t begrudge other players wanting to experience an Expedition (or regular game) without the anxiety producing and frustrating aggression.
We can adjust ton’s of aspects now. No Man’s Sky is not really a competition, so being able to further adjust settings should not relate to that.
It’s a matter of being more inclusive of player wants and needs. I pity the player who wants to play an expedition yet has a motor skill disability. They too deserve an equal chance to enjoy an expedition.
and they are fueled by our enthusiasm and steady flows of thought, this can mean only one thing: Grab your 'V/ARE’™ headsets…
Is that a book…
to ensuring NMS achieves maximum popularity. 
For the other key, 
“figured that out myself, lol”), which moves faster than ‘light-waves’ (faster than the speed of light) and safely does so without a one-point universe explosion.
So we take a moment to consider the Atlas Path, and only then do we return to our plans of world domination.
years ago…
