What is No Man’s Sky?

How about playing a sandbox game the size of the universe? Don’t think it is possible? British video game developer, Hello Games has just laid a stake to that claim with their recent title, No Man’s Sky.

The highly anticipated open world game has been set for release on August 09/2016 for PS4 and available for PC on August 12th.  At present, Microsoft has not claimed to support the game for the Xbox One, partially due to its strict launch policy. But they are open to talks with the game developer.

When the game was first announced in 2013, it was originally supposed to be ready by June of this year. But has since been bumped to August. However, development issues are nothing new to the gaming community.

We are definitely willing to forgive the delay, considering this is arguably the largest video game created to the present. With an endless array of star systems, planets, terrains, and alien creatures to find and explore.

Imagine yourself on a unique planet on the edge of the universe with a broken down ship. Your prime objectives involve exploration, survival, and the ability to search and use surrounding resources. Not to mention being prepared to battle an array of enemies on your journey on land, in the depths of the sea, and in space.

While visiting alien planets, you will experience a variety of conditions to deal with including temperature, the type of atmosphere, toxicity, radiation and terrain, adding to the immediate challenges you face during gameplay.

You do come equipped with a sort of space-age multipurpose tool that doubles as a blaster. However, you will need to collect and combine surrounding elements like Carbon, Plutonium, and a few “fictional” elements to fuel your spacesuit and ship.

Need supplies or upgrades? Hack your way into an alien supply depot. Use your bounty to trade with the planetary inhabitants for improved weapons and equipment. The possibilities are endless.

Sounds like any other sci-fi game with the end result of accomplishing a certain number of missions, overcoming  villains, and collecting trophies. Then, boom you are done!  You can be assured that No Man’s Sky is much more.

No Man’s Sky Graphics Comparison PS4 vs PC

This is a game that randomly generates your surroundings as you play. Regardless of whether you are exploring a planet or in your ship heading somewhere through space. That “somewhere” will be created for you as you continue to advance through the game.

No two people will ever have the same experience. In fact, they say that this virtual universe is so large that two players on the same planet will not be able to interact. Suggesting there’s no multiplayer function in the game.

How Does No Man’s Sky Work?

Amazingly, This game does not require artists and programmers creating the designs and artwork and in advance. Rather, creator Sean Murray describes as the No Man’s Sky software as actually teaching your PS4 or PC to “generate an entire universe..and setting players loose in it”.

Essentially, you are stepping into what are called procedurally generated worlds. This means that your surrounding is not loaded but instantly generated by means of a highly complicated algorithm.

Once given the planet coordinates, players on separate devices can still participate in a shared universe. Thus, enabling them to find the same planet with the same features, lifeforms, and other aspects of the game.

It is so vast, that if you only spent one second on each planet, it would take 500 billion years to explore them all. Although it seems that it’s hard to know where to start with an infinity of worlds ahead.

What Are The PC Hardware Requirements To Run No Man’s Sky?

Surprisingly, it only needs 2GB of hard drive space to download from Steam, for example.

Your hardware, memory, and its ability to communicate quickly are major factors in your PC to provide a smoother experience when processing a spontaneously generated video game.

According to Game-Debate,  the  specs required to achieve a reliable frame per second at “1080p would be an i7-980 2.8GHz processor or possibly an AMD FX-8120″. This would allow for much frames per second at a 1080p.

The amount of memory will also play a significant role processing speed and frame quality. It was also recommended a minimum of 8GB of RAM.

As far as your video card, try considering a Nvidia GTX 480 as the minimum graphics hardware. Alternatively, an AMD HD 6970 or something like an R9 285 or GTX 960.

See The No Man’s Sky Demo & Interview Video

The idea is to work from your starting point, with the goal of heading towards the center. Allowing your universe to unfold and evolve in the progression.

The crazy part is, that as each player lives through their own unique journey, there is no way for even the developers of this game to predict your progress and experiences. Unlike the standard storylines in games like Destiny.

How Does It Compare To Similar Games?

Some have compared Star Bound to No Man’s Sky, arguing that this game also presents an infinity of potential storylines. That’s if you prefer pixelated graphics and a 2D interface.

Compared to MineCraft, No Man’s Sky is much more sophisticated. The visuals are infinitely superior and game possibilities are endless. You accomplish much more than mining and building. With vastly more ways to interact and literally effect your game.

What are your game objectives? As you can see, it could be easy to get lost in a game with no specific objective in mind to complete. So, what’s the point? An infinite universe of possibilities, what do you do first? The answer….anything you want. Essentially, every decision you make in the game will shape your experience of it.

Will You Play No Man’s Sky?

There’s no doubt that the future of gaming will continue to involve our exploration of other worlds, at least until intergalactic space travel becomes affordable.

Recently, virtual reality is becoming our next frontier, where we can be fully immersed in our gaming experience. As these technologies are developed along with games like No Man’s Sky, the future of gaming will soon be as real as life itself.

Currently, No Man’s Sky is available on PS4 and PC. With an infinite amount of possibilities, where you are the creator, are you ready to embrace your own universe and see where you’ll end up? Find it on Amazon and start playing today.