No Man's Sky
| No Man's Sky | |
|---|---|
| File:No Mans Sky logo.png Artwork released for the game. | |
| Developer(s) | Hello Games |
| Publisher(s) | Hello Games |
| Director(s) | Sean Murray David Ream |
| Producer(s) | Suzy Wallace |
| Designer(s) | Gareth Bourn |
| Programmer(s) | Ryan Doyle Hazel McKendrick Sean Murray David Ream |
| Artist(s) | Grant Duncan Jake Golding |
| Composer(s) | 65daysofstatic |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 4 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
No Man's Sky is an upcoming adventure video game developed and published by British studio Hello Games.[1] It will feature a procedurally generated open universe[2][3][4][5] with players being free to explore and upgrade their character and its starship.
The game is scheduled for release in 2015,[6] and will be a timed exclusive on the PlayStation 4, as highlighted during Sony's press event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2014,[7][8] and will later be brought to Microsoft Windows.[9]
Gameplay
No Man's Sky is a procedurally generated open universe game. Players take the role of a planetary explorer with a spacecraft, allowing them to explore the surface of numerous planets and interact with the flora and fauna, and take to space, engaging in combat with hostile forces and travel to other planets. Planets and other features of this universe are procedurally generated; though initially built based on a 32-bit number processor, the final game will use a 64-bit seeding key, with the developers stating that this allows for more than 18 quintillion possible planets.[10] The game will have online features that allow players to share details of planets they have visited with other online players, and will allow players to visit these planets through a large galactic map once they have upgraded their ship for hyperdrive capabilities.[11] In August 2014, the developers announced that the game would be playable offline.
The game will feature planetary exploration, deep oceans, space-based battles, resource gathering, and potential predators on the various procedurally-generated worlds. Each world has its own ecosystem with potentially unforgiving conditions, such as desert worlds with large carnivorous worms.[12][13] Players are initially given an uncharted universe to explore, where information about any planet's characteristics and lifeforms may be shared and updated with others.[14]
No Man's Sky does have a larger goal, to reach the center of the galaxy, driven by the availability of resources to the player, which improve as the player moves towards the center of the galaxy. Players need to collect, sell, and trade resources to acquire better ships and more fuel that lets them explore the more-centralized areas of the galaxy. Hello Games' co-founder Sean Murray stated that a player could reach the center of the galaxy with between forty to one hundred hours of gameplay without focusing on any additional exploration, but will hope players instead find themselves involved in other activities enabled by the open nature of the game, such as managing a trade route or studying all the possible flora in the universe.[15]
Development
The concept of No Man's Sky arose from Hello Games' co-founder Sean Murray sometime during the development of Joe Danger 2. Murray, a former developer at Criterion Games for the Burnout series, worried the studio would be falling into a rut of producing sequel after sequel as was the case at Criterion. When Hello Games had problems with an American publisher, Murray realized they had an opportunity to create a completely new title based on a concept he had since a child, when he had aspirations of being an astronaut.[16]
The game was a concept that the studio had had since inception. Murray described that in bringing on board Dave Ream, the team's creative director, that Murray described how there are skyscrapers in the world that are well visible but built on standard designs, and then there are smaller, minimalistic architectural designs, which is the direction that Murray wanted to take the studio. Ream agreed, but insisted that the studio at some point would make the game equivalent of a skyscraper, a game they could develop without any limitations. This proverbial game, "Project Skyscraper" was kept in mind as the studio began to expand and acquire the necessary finances to pursue other titles besides Joe Danger.[16]
With the success of Joe Danger and its sequels, Murray was able to spend a few days each week for about a year to develop the core engine of No Man's Sky in secret from the rest of team. Once the engine was completed, Murray brought in a small four-person team to work on the game directly, while Joe Danger 2 was being developed by the rest of the company. They worked in a spare room, lining the walls with science fiction imagery to help inspire them. Their work was kept in secrecy from the rest of the development team, leading to some tension within the offices, though Murray had done this specifically after seeing how small exploratory groups did not work well at Criterion Games. Further, Murray was concerned about describing the game too much, and fears that even teasing about the title would lead to misconceptions about the scope and nature of the game. Ultimately, Murray was given the opportunity to premiere the title at the 2013 VGX awards, and in preparation, created the short teaser which they shared with the rest of studio days before the awards show. As development continued, more of the team was brought on board to help complete the game.[16]
Reception
Pre-release reception
Dave Lee of BBC News felt that the game "stole the show" at the E3 2014 conference.[17] The title won the show's "Best Original Game" and "Best Independent Game" by a panel of game critics, as well as receiving the "Special Commendation for Innovation" title.[18]
See also
References
- ^ http://no-mans-sky.com/press/sheet.php?p=no_man%27s_sky#credits
- ^ "IGN No Man's Sky - Open world explained".
- ^ Gatson, Martin (7 December 2013). "Space adventure No Man's Sky is one of next-gen's most ambitious titles". GameSpot. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ Meer, Alec (8 December 2013). "Whatever You Do, Watch This: Hello Games' No Man's Sky". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ Silva, Marty (7 December 2013). "Joe Danger Dev Announces No Man's Sky". IGN. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ Newhouse, Alex (1 August 2014). "No Man's Sky Confirmed for PC, Is a PS4 Timed Exclusive". Gamespot. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
- ^ Dunning, Jason (9 June 2014). "No Man's Sky Console Debut is First on PS4, New Gameplay Video Revealed". PlayStation Lifestyle. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ^ Evans-Thirwell, Edwin (20 June 2014). "News: Hello Games isn't "currently talking" about No Man's Sky on Xbox One". OXM. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
- ^ "E270: Infinite. Epic. Indie. The inside story of No Man's Sky". Edge. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ Higgins, Chris (18 August 2014). "No Man's Sky would take 5 billion years to explore". Wired UK. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
- ^ Cork, Jeff (8 December 2014). "Galactic Map Puts Scale Of No Man's Sky In Perspective". Game Informer. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Good, Owen (8 December 2013). "Wow. No Man's Sky Just Stole The Show At The VGX". Kotaku. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ Jackson, Mike (8 December 2013). "Hello Games reveal 'next-gen' sci-fi epic, No Man's Sky". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
- ^ Carboni, Anthony (10 December 2013). "NO MAN'S SKY: Procedurally Generating Science Fiction for the Next-Generation - First Look Interview". Revision3. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
- ^ Cork, Jeff (15 December 2014). "The Path To No Man's Sky's 'End Game'". Game Informer. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Cork, Jeff (19 December 2014). "The Secret Story Behind No Man's Sky". Game Informer. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
- ^ Dave Lee (12 June 2014). "E3: How No Man's Sky took on the games industry - and won". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (1 July 2014). "Evolve takes top E3 2014 critics awards". Polygon. Retrieved 1 July 2014.