No Man's Sky has had a number of defining updates since it was launched. Both the Next expansion and theOrigins update doubled the variety in the game. With the game coming to the Nintendo Switch on October 7th, the team at Hello Games decided to use the launch as a chance to update some of the smaller aspects of No Man's Sky for its 4.0 update.
Hello Games wants to focus on some of the basics. It is wonderful to dig into that side of things and make the game nicer for new players and returning players. It's a good idea to tidy your house and bring in people.
The debut of No Man's Sky on the Switch will be the first milestone. Since it is one of the most popular games on the steam deck, the game has been played on portables before. The success of Valve's handheld helped Murray understand the appeal of playing games on the go. He says he has been curious about bringing the game to the switch. I wasn't sure if it would work on mobile, but doing Steam Deck made it click for me.
I wasn't sure if it would work on mobile devices.
It wasn't clear if the whole of No Man's Sky's expansive procedurally generated universe and all of the many updates that have come out since launch would fit on the switch The team thought they might have to create a separate branch to keep players from playing in different universes. It wasn't the case. He says it's possible to find a tree on the PS 5 and the same tree on the Nintendo.
The switch version has some notable omissions. The alien settlements that were first introduced in 2021 won't be included in the switch port. Murray says that the focus was on the game's performance and the fact that it was close to console brethren. Murray says the team will be looking at how players experience the game to decide where to focus on future changes.
The 4.0 update isn't full of new content, but rather a series of significant quality-of-life changes designed to make it easier for both new and returning players to get into the game. The save system has been changed to make it easier to jump in and out of the game for short periods of time. The in-game logs have been streamlined to make it easier to find what you did recently in the game. The pace of updates in No Man's Sky makes it difficult to come back after a long absence. There will be a new mode called "relaxed" that will reduce the stress of the experience.
The biggest shift for No Man's Sky has been when the team at Hello started pushing out constant updates rather than saving everything up for a single launch. He says that the interaction with the community changed because of that. The team has been motivated by seeing the reaction and being able to adjust.
I think this is too good to be true.
How long can this go on for? After six years of updates, Hello Games may be getting sick of No Man's Sky. Murray feels fortunate to be able to work on something that has clicked with so many players. The future of No Man's Sky is dependent on the team making it.
While both of these things are true, the team is enjoying doing it and has ideas they're excited about, and players are receptive and excited. He thinks it is too good to be true and the gig will be up next year.
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