Arriving over Thanksgiving weekend, No Man's Sky "Visions" is another free update in the continuing saga of The Little Procedural Engine That Could. Thankfully, in this update, there's a greater focus on No Man's Sky's original intent: exploration.
A wider color palette on planetary surfaces. Collectible exploration trophies—alien artifacts—that you can hoard back at base, showing them off to friends and family over the holiday season. Procedural crashed freighters, so every crash isn't the exact same cookie cutter freighter on every single planet. Super weird and legitimately alien lifeforms that will be hard to wrap your head around. Salvageable alien tech that can be dug up and sold, rare archaeological bone dig sites. Community missions share progress globally (I wasn't even aware community missions were a thing). Planetary biomes are a lot more varied and crazy, and even anomalous planets with all the crazy sci-fi stuff going on are a more common occurrence. Hey, you can even fire off a few fireworks to commemorate an occasion.
No Man's Sky NEXT, July's update, focused a lot on the mining and crafting part of the game. I personally found that it added layers upon layers of complexity where none was needed. But No Man's Sky "Visions" keeps the humble explorer, like me, in mind. I guess I'm reinstalling No Man's Sky for the fifth time in two years.
No Man's Sky launched on PC and PS4 in 2016, and this year on Xbox One.
NO MAN’S SKY REIMAGINES A COLORFUL UNIVERSE, INTRODUCING MORE TO DISCOVER THAN EVER BEFORE WITH “VISIONS” UPDATE
Free Update Available to All Players Thursday November 22
CALABASAS, Calif. – Nov. 21, 2018 – U.K. developer Hello Games has unveiled a new free update, “Visions,” which will be made available to all No Man’s Sky players on Steam for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on Thursday, November 22. Following “The Abyss” update released last month, which brought major changes to No Man’s Sky’s vast underwater environments, “Visions” will encourage players to return to the surface and explore new biomes and planets, all in a reimagined colour palette.
New Worlds: No Man’s Sky’s “Visions” update greatly improves the variety and diversity of planet surfaces with millions of previously dead planets now bursting with life. Players can find mysterious artefacts on alien planets and collect them as mementos or display as trophies in their planetary base.
Bizarre New Creatures: “Visions” will introduce players to new strange and curious creatures found among the stars, waiting to be discovered for the very first time. Predatory fauna and deadly flora including carnivorous trap plants wait to ensnare unsuspecting travellers and reward the cautious.
Global Community Missions: A new community research mission will allow players to share their progress as they work towards a common goal. Players can discover the “Visions” universe together and unlock the Eye of the Korvax helmet, as well as other emotes and building parts.
More to Discover and More Variety: “Visions” will bring more variety to No Man’s Sky as the universe has become more alien, vibrant and exciting for players to explore. Atmospherics and skies have been improved and rainbows added to the range of in-game weather effects, enabling more unique worlds. Players are invited to unleash their inner archaeologist and explore the galaxy for planets containing the bones of ancient alien lifeforms. Travellers can unearth the remains of fallen satellites to salvage for parts but risk drawing the attention of a new threat and danger – corrupted sentinel drones. Players who can endure and survive the most extreme of weather in No Man’s Sky may also be rewarded with previous crystal treasures that only light up in the worst of storms.
For more information about No Man’s Sky, including more detail on the free “Visions” update, please visit https://www.nomanssky.com/.
