The Beautiful Void: Exploring the Worlds of No Man's Sky
Exploring Digital Worlds, Pt.1
Often in video games, the world the game takes place in is not much more than the backdrop to whatever the player is doing. In a first person shooter, it may provide cover and tactical advantage. In an adventure game, it might post environmental obstacles to be overcome. It is rare that a game’s world feels more than just a setting, but there is the odd occasions when the setting becomes a silent character in a games’ narrative.
In a new series of articles, I thought it might be fun to explore some of the video games worlds which are so well realised, that have such a sense of place, that I find myself constantly returning to them simply to explore.
Like re-visiting where you grew up or a favourite holiday location, these are the digital realms that I may know ever nook and cranny of, but always feel the call to return.
No Man’s Sky is a survival/ exploration video game released by British studio Hello Games in 2016. I’m sure many reading this will probably be aware of the controversy surrounding the games’ initial release and it’s eventual redemption, thus I’m not going to focus on that here (if you are curious though, here is a quite entertaining, if slightly outdated, video about the whole thing). However, the game has come a long way in its almost 10 year existence. Hello Games have added 31 major updates to the game, all for free, which have added a whole slew of content and improvements. Of particular interest for the purposes of this article are the updates that changed and added to the procedural generation of the worlds players can explore.
Planets, flora, fauna, landscapes, skies and pretty much everything else in No Man’s Sky is procedurally generated. Rather than give a ham-fisted explanation of what procedural generation is based on my limited knowledge, here’s the description from Wikipedia;
In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In computer graphics, it is commonly used to create textures and 3D models. In video games, it is used to automatically create large amounts of content in a game. Depending on the implementation, advantages of procedural generation can include smaller file sizes, larger amounts of content, and randomness for less predictable gameplay.
If essence, this means every planet in No Man’s Sky is unique, be it due to the flora and fauna found on it, the colour of the sky, the landscape itself, or a myriad of other variables. Due to this, it is always a mystery as to what may be around the corner on any given planet. While it is not uncommon to see the same animals on several planets, the question of which animals will appear is always unknown until the player actually sets foot on the surface. As such, each planet is always worth exploring, even if only briefly.
If you’ve been playing the game as long as I have, you’ve probably seen most of what the game has to offer ( 811 hours and counting, although I’ve yet to find a royal multi-tool). Still, the sheer beauty of the game, especially after the last few updates, continues to call players back. The astonishing vistas, but on land and in place, that the game delivers can be truly breathtaking.
With so many things to discover, from strange creatures to lost ruins and alien monoliths, crashed space freighters, space-born anomalys and gigantic sentient space jellyfish, there is always something worthwhile at the end of each journey in No Man’s Sky.
Unline other games that will be covered in this series, due to the procedural nature of No Man’s Sky, there aren’t spercific locations within the game that should be mentioed here. Instead, the beauty of No Man’s Sky is discovering things for yourself, to build your own stories around the places you find.
It’s an infinite universe, and the journey continues.
That was really interesting, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. This one ended a bit abruptly; it feels like you have a lot more to say about No Man's Sky.
This is a great idea for a series, Joe. I look forward to reading other instalments.
Would procedural generation apply to Minecraft? That was my first thought when reading the definition. I played it so often with my nephew, back in 2015/16, that Minecraft's type of landscape has lodged itself in my brain. And although it's always a unique new landscape when you start a new game, there's always a sense of "ahh, I've been here before."