No Man's Sky version 1.2. Path Finder Update is here. There are a few neat additions to the embattled sci-fi survival game. The video starts with the thing I'm least interested in:
Permadeath Mode. All progress is wiped upon death. Tou face the risk of permanent character death with the increased hazards and dangers of Survival Mode gameplay. I'm happy for you if this is what's going to make this a winning experience for you. But for me? Yeah no.
Normal and Survival Mode difficulties have been adjusted. Damaged starships can crashland on planets in Survival Mode. And there are new trophies available for those that can master Survival and Permadeath Modes.
PS4 Pro support is enabled. We're talking 4K resolution, and improved lighting effects with HDR support, crepuscular rays ("God rays"), and ambient occlusion.
Your bases can now be shared online and visited by other players. You're still not going to see other players, though. This video isn't saying that. In-base traders have dozens of new construction modules to build with. It's a sweet-looking base they walk you through in the video.
There are also special kits (?)—like Explorer, Fighter, and Trader—that you can outfit your ship with in order to better suit your play style. Wait till you see how many inventory slots the trading ship has in the video. I'm only speculating until I can dig in for myself, but it seems like a Trader vehicle would have a much bigger inventory and a much weaker weapons loadout. Vice versa for Fighters. Explorers are probably the jack-of-all-trades types of ships, balancing inventory slots and weapon configurations, that we've had since the beginning. Just guessing for the moment, though.
The major gameplay edition, though, are the land vehicles. That's a rad little buggy. It's called the Roamer Exocraft. It can be summoned at any time. That's gotta be better than hoofing it around on foot, burning jetpack fuel. You can upgrade its effectiveness and speed, but it seems to handle its crazy little self okay. Looks like it can bash easily through smaller resources. That should keep the Sentinels unhappy. The video didn't take it into the water, so I don't know what happens then.
You can build three unique exocraft vehicles. The four-wheeled buggy type Roamer. A hovercraft Nomad. And a big resource collector called a Colossus.
Not saying No Man's Sky is trying to nick too much off Mass Effect: Andromeda, but your nickname in Andromeda is the "Pathfinder," and this update in No Man's Sky is called the "Path Finder Update." And your ground vehicle in Andromeda is called the Nomad, and in No Man's Sky, one of these vehicles is likewise called the Nomad.
Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. No Man's Sky always has been a love letter to the science-fantasy novel covers of the late 20th century. No reason it wouldn't pay homage to its contemporaries as well.
I'm most interested in the Photo Mode. This lets you finally hide menus, adjust the camera, even letting you see your ship in third-person (finally!), and changing a variety of other settings. What's crazy is that you can change not only camera lens filters, but you can change the time of day and weather effects going on around you.
I have my issues with No Man's Sky. Don't we all. But I'm going back in, if for no other reason than to finally get my dirty paws all over that Photo Mode. Taking screenshots always has been the best part of No Man's Sky.
