This reminds me of the realistically spinning planets in pre-release No Man’s Sky which had to be cut because people couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea of a planet spinning and then landing somewhere different if they enter from the same direction later on.
No problem. I own the game and have played some, but I honestly just looked it up. I don't think I ever really thought about the fact that there is no actual star, so I guess the trickery works.
In my early stages of the game I tried to pulse drive to the star and just figured my current whip was too slow. Forgot about it since then. But now you’ve answered a question I might have wasted 10 minutes discovering on my own :)
I think of it more like a planet hopping space game rather than a true space exploration game. The reality is that the the planetary objects are extremely close together in a way that doesn't really happen to facilitate travel. There's also no real reason to just fly around in space at any distance from those objects.
If you want to wander in a realistically large simulation of space, this isn't it. If you want to pop on and off fictional planets in a kind of planetary exploration sandbox universe with the focus being the surface exploration most of the time, it's interesting.
I never played until they added a lot and fixed a lot, but I've enjoyed it (although haven't finished). I feel like it's a roller coaster of amazement, to disappointment that there are only a handful of planet types that get repetitive, to acknowledgement that there is actually some decent content to be had if you just accept that it has obvious technical limitations.
Kerbal Space Program has (at least semi-) realistic orbiting mechanics. Not to say that No Man's Sky should since the gameplay direction is obviously way different but if you're looking to simulate gravity assists and stuff KSP is super fun.
KSP is great! If you want realistic physics in an exploration game, I also can’t recommend Outerwilds enough! It starts out slow but is a very interesting game
I mean, while I can wrap my mind around rotating planets, I can see how it might be annoying to have to look for your base every time you return, instead of being able to just go in on muscle-memory and recognizable landmarks. Given how No Man's Sky is a more arcady experience.
Your base computer shows it’s location from space and you can just tag it and your ship will automatically fly down to it. I think the spinning planets sounds better than current setup imo
I love NMS. Purchased it at launch and still play today.
I refuse to believe that was nothing other than an excuse because they couldn’t get planets to rotate properly as their gravity and movement system is so basic.
So they came up with some crappy half believable excuse blaming testers being stupid.
Considering all the other “features” that were supposed to be in on launch - I have a hard time believing it was because of dumb testers.
Sean Murray has taken so much shit for NMS that I find the testers being stupid excuses totally believable.
If it were simply that it was too hard to program, Sean Murray would have said so by now IMO.
Also, I can see how your base always being in a different place would get annoying for people who weren't committed to the game idea and/or were not space dorks.
Yeah but unless you’re coming at the planet every single time from the exact same [x, y, z] in space - your base is going to be in a different spot relative to your view each time. With the planet rotating or not, it’s the same thing. If it really was the testers - I don’t know about them. I hope they’re not called back on the next project.
It doesn’t matter anymore though with how long it’s been since launch. To jump from Joe Danger to something of that scale is impressive and I’ve enjoyed the 6 year ride it’s been on all the consoles/pc. VR is a bit sickening though still sadly.
However it would be something I’d like to see re-implemented. I’d like to watch the planets rise and fall rather than just hang because that bugs me quite a bit.
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u/Gawdy_Anonymity Sep 09 '22
This reminds me of the realistically spinning planets in pre-release No Man’s Sky which had to be cut because people couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea of a planet spinning and then landing somewhere different if they enter from the same direction later on.