No Mans Sky - Update

[alt3rn1ty]

None game breaking reports arriving at Zendesk 

Staff in the Zendesk cave = 

Now you know what I mean about some bug reports just piling up and left behind for literally ages. The latest update and what it breaks becomes the priority, and slowly but surely they have a mountain of issues left behind. Occasionally Hellogames surprise us and include an ancient bug fix among the rest of the more recent ones, but we seriously wish they would one day focus on clearing the back log.

I'm just hoping before they throw the towel in they at least do a last round of polish the game fixes, it would be a crying shame if they didn't.

[Arthmoor]

Well I'm not going to hold out any hope that my one missing base will be deemed important enough for them to undo their changes on that planet. I'll just write that save off, and possibly make an attempt at importing the other main bases into the new save at some point. I hear you can actually do that and that it usually works out pretty well.

[alt3rn1ty]

Public release of v3.68 (initially on steam)

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/09/frontiers-patch-3-68/

Looking forward to trying this because there are a few fixes which are not specific about where they affect, possibly a few of my wishes among them.

@Arthmoor Your Horker island may be fixed in this update 

"Fixed an issue that caused some islands to disappear, leaving player bases floating or mission-related buildings underwater."

 

Quote

Bug fixes

• Introduced a number of optimisations for settlements and large bases.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some settlement buildings to placed outside of the flattened area.
• Fixed an issue that could cause two NPCs to occupy the same chair.
• Improved the behaviours of settlement NPCs, so that they group up and converse more often.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause the settlement mission to become blocked after changing your settlement.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the interaction with the settlement technology merchant to become blocked if they were interacted with while outside the marketplace.
• Fixed an issue that could cause two identical NPCs to be spawned for a settlement decision.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an error when supplying materials to some specific small settlement buildings.

 

• Fixed an issue that could cause multiple bases on the same planet to share screenshots when viewed on the teleporter page.
• Fixed an issue that prevented ladders from working correctly when placed in cuboid rooms.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some corner pieces from snapping correctly.
• Fixed an issue that prevented some basic floor pieces from flattening the terrain.
• The base building recolour menu now has hover tips to display the name of the colour.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to delete communications beacons.
• Fixed an issue that could count other player’s objects as your own for the purposes of planet object limits (for example, Exocraft Geobays).
• Fixed a visual issue with Short-Range Teleporter wires.
• Fixed a number of visual issues with the Race Initiator.
• Improved the snapping behaviour of a large number of base parts.

 

• Fixed an issue that caused some islands to disappear, leaving player bases floating or mission-related buildings underwater.
• Removed a number of obsolete items from the catalogue.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some head elements to be visible when playing in first person.

 

• Fixed an issue that could allow players to prematurely start the Space Anomaly story missions whilst on an expedition.
• Fixed an issue that could cause previous expedition saves to be reactivated as Cartographers Expedition saves.

 

• Introduced a number of memory optimisations for PS4 and PS5.
• Fixed a crash related to interactable objects.
• Fixed a crash related to base and settlement rendering.
• Fixed a number of physics-related memory leaks.
• Fixed a crash related to region decoration.
• Fixed a crash related to noise generation.
• Fixed a physics related crash.
• Fixed a rare issue that could block progress around mission portals.
• Fixed an issue that blocked mission progress in the Japanese version.
• Fixed an issue that could cause a soft-lock when using mods on PC VR.
• Fixed an Xbox-specific crash.

[alt3rn1ty]

v3.68 - Freighter building parts still not fixed, the main problem piece is the corner corridors ..

https://i.imgur.com/mdmJ2eH.png

https://i.imgur.com/mcLgH9T.png

To the left you can see out into space where the end should be closed.

To the right and the round edged doorway is not snapping correctly, it snaps inside the room you are in instead of the other side of the doorway.

The latter of those two causes a much bigger problem because anything you attach to it at the other end is that little bit closer than it should be. So if you attach another corner corridor in the opposite attitude, then attach room pieces beyond, then come back on your self with straight corridors to the room you start in, the last connecting piece will not fit.

Same problem if you attach ramps up / down to another level, somewhere along the way include corner corridors, and your opposite up / down ramp at the other end you cant walk up or down because your head bumps into the overhead stopping you getting through, because it ends up being positioned either a bit short or a bit far into the last adjoining room as a result of using the corner corridor along the way in your connections.

My Freighter before Frontiers had three custom built levels, using corner corridors / ramps / cross pieces / t junctions .. Once Frontiers loaded, how they all connected became messed up, ramps were not traversible, and editing it to try and get rid of the problems became so much of a nightmare .. I just went to the bridge eventually and reset the whole thing. Had to lose all storage because I had nowhere to put everything, even if I could get to half of them (and too long a job to get it all transferred planet side in a base storage if I did).

There are other minor "offends the eye" issues with Frieghter parts too, but the above is the worst.

TOP TIP: If you ever reset a Freighter, go into build mode and delete the whole of the default setup rooms to get a lot of resources (Silver etcetera) BUT beware, make sure you examine every part of the room first and delete any wall Panels / decals which are not part of the room, if you just delete the room, those panels remain behind floating in space, and prevent you building room parts through that way again.

Anyway, roll on the next update, fingers crossed Freighter build parts fubars will get some attention next time 

[Arthmoor]

4 hours ago, alt3rn1ty said:

Fixed an issue that prevented some basic floor pieces from flattening the terrain.

Oh sure, NOW they fix this I hope that means the new alloy floor panels because those annoyingly don't remove any terrain and stuff ends up growing back through the floor later.

4 hours ago, alt3rn1ty said:

Improved the snapping behaviour of a large number of base parts.

I hope this includes the lack of snapping on the alloy wall end cap ones.

And yeah, if the islands disappearing one fixes Horker Island then I can go back to my normal save again.

I don't think I've ever used those round hallway pieces. They're ugly and I never use them in land bases either. My freighter therefore has none of those.

[alt3rn1ty]

"annoyingly don't remove any terrain and stuff ends up growing back through the floor later."

Even when they are working as they should, I have seen Terrain and flora coming back through them before, depends how long / far you have been away from the base. I gave up on building anything that isn't on foundations, even underwater digging out terrain eventually it comes back, or gets really overgrown with sea flora.

I have that Beach side / underwater base still which is on an Exotic Planet with just robots for wild life on land. There is no sea life, reason I chose that (much as I would like to see sea life outside the underwater windows) is because invariably any sea life will somehow find its way inside your tubes / rooms underwater.

The base both above and below water is all perched on foundations (which also still don't work right, sigh).

Besides all of the above problems with bases, I still prefer the Freighter as a base so my major storage can keep moving forward with me .. But even that which has survived many land based fubars with past updates is currently messed up.

Really not a fan of this Frontiers update :).

[alt3rn1ty]

v3.68 - Moon pools now have foundation struts?, thats new, plus just like other foundation struts they dont quite meet the foundation pad they are supposed to be supporting 

Well at least they are no longer invisible, just cant understand why they were added to a moon pool.

Sack the pile driver builders

Bug report including DXDiag / VulkanInfo / Save game and repro steps has been sent.

[alt3rn1ty]

v3.70 just released, includes a new expedition and a lot of fixes .. Including the Freighter build parts, haven't tested yet but sounds promising

For full notes on the Emergence expedition and update have a look here https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/10/no-mans-sky-expedition-4/

Just the patch fix notes are below ..

Development Update

The team had a lot of fun putting together the Emergence expedition – we hope you enjoy the journey as much as we did! Update 3.70 is releasing today for all platforms, and the full patch notes are available below.

3.70 Patch Notes

Expedition Four: Emergence begins today, 20th October. Discover the secrets of the dread wormcult and earn terrifying rewards: new titles, decals, a colossal buildable skull, horrific new fireworks and jetpack trails, a parasitic headworm, and a sandworm companion of your very own…

• Significantly improved sandworm geometry and textures.
• Significantly improved sandworm particle effects.
• Improved a number of particle effects, including: combat frigate weapon flashes flashes, freighter explosions, distant laser impacts, creature digging effects, Sentinel Walker landing effects, meteors, and meteor impacts.

 

• Fixed a rare crash that could occur when retrieving friend details.
• Introduced a significant memory optimisation.
• Fixed a number of memory-related crashes on Xbox Series X.
• Fixed a memory related crash on Xbox Series S.

 

• Fixed an issue that could cause some settlement buildings to lose their construction terminals.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent advancement when constructing small settlement buildings.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Multi-Tool to lose upgrades when switching Multi-Tools, if the selected next tool was already active.
• Fixed an issue that caused movement and combat behaviour problems with the patrol drones aboard derelict freighters.

 

• Fixed an issue that could cause Expedition saves to download incorrect data and become corrupt if reloading from the pause menu.
• Fixed an issue where some saves would be incorrectly listed as ‘Incompatible’ if they became corrupted. Corrupted saves such as these are now recovered to the alternative manual/auto slot.
• Fixed an issue that could cause savegame loss on PC if the game crashed during a save.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash on the frontend if savedata had been corrupted.

 

• Fixed a number of snapping issues with sloping roof parts.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues that could occur in complex scenes.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues related to roof cap and gable parts.
• Fixed a visual glitch with the shadows on timber roofs.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with vertical glass tunnels.
• Improved snapping for utility parts, including refiners and solar panels.
• Fixed an issue that could cause ramps to remove their attached doorways when deleted.
• Fixed a collision issue with the shelf panel base parts.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with freighter corridor and room base parts.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with decorative saloon parts.
• The hexagonal table is now correctly grouped with other tables in the build menu.
• Improved text descriptions for a number of base parts.

 

• Fixed an issue that could cause particular species of exotic butterfly to fly into the ground.
• Fixed a number of control bindings issues for Vive controllers.
• Fixed a number of control binding issues when using a DS4 pad to drive Exocraft on Steam.
• Fixed an issue where pinned repair instructions could ask for half the necessary requirements to craft products that would be used in the repair.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent reward titles that have already been claimed from showing as owned.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent the mission to guide players to a settlement from working correctly if they declined several settlements.

 

Thank you so much for playing.

Sean

[alt3rn1ty]

Yes!, the Freighter build parts are all fixed, so I can now get my Freighter back to normal with a few levels of up / down ramps, a Mess area for the crew to gather, a private Captains quarters above, with ramps down the other side which curl back into the Mess area, and from the Captains quarters another ramp going up to the Chapel area which is above the Captains quarters level. And everything snaps correctly so that you can have up / down ramps either forward or aft of the areas, also utilizing curved corridors to keep the levels all centered, and everything connects. Plus no longer any problems getting stuck walking up or down the ramps.

 

[alt3rn1ty]

Experimental branch 22/10

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3124928124063169416/

Apparently Moonpool legs have had a fix, but no mention of Cuboid room foundation legs .. maybe they are part of the same fix, but I won't get to test this until it goes live so going to continue the Emergence Expedition, I'm now half way through phase 4 so not much left to do then I can get back to my main Normal game save and continue testing.

There's also a new Bug report thread on Reddit, which Hellogames does take note of .. https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/qdeg45/weekly_bug_report_thread/

On the experimental branch notes below there's also mention of Physics optimisations, sounds interesting, last time we had Physics fixes all the invisible walls which randomly stopped the player character from walking in the anomaly were fixed, those had been an issue for years. Wish the fix described a bit more about what this applies to, oh well, fixes are all good.

 

Quote

Fixed a number of rare instances where settlement buildings were not properly constructed.
Fixed a rare issue where a construction terminal would not be placed on a settlement building site.
Fixed an issue that could cause grass to spawn within settlement buildings.
Fixed an issue that could allow players to edit terrain within settlements in rare circumstances.
Fixed an issue that could cause settlements not to align correctly with the terrain (for example, after the terrain had been edited).

Fixed a number of base parts that were incorrectly set as able to change material or colour, without having textures that support it.
Base building wiring mode now shows only relevant building options and keeps the controls bar to the top of the screen.
Placing wires is now more responsive and does not fade out the wiring snap points.
Fixed a general issue that could cause base parts to delete other nearby parts when selected for deletion.
Fixed a snapping issue with Wall Screens.
Fixed an issue that prevented ramps from editing terrain when placed.
Building part snap points are now smaller when away from the centre of the screen and grow when pointed at.
Fixed an issue with Moon Pool legs.
Fixed a number of snapping issues with small triangle base parts.
Fixed a collision issue with pressure pads.
Fixed an issue that could cause base part snap points to display in the wrong position.
Fixed a snapping issue when connecting cuboids rooms to vertical corridors.
Fixed a snapping issue when stacking cuboid rooms.
Fixed an issue that could cause large rooms to hide their roofs when placing technology (such as solar panels) on top of them.
Fixed an issue that prevented large rooms from correctly carving terrain when placed.

Fixed a number of issues where the player would get snagged on object or terrain physics.
Fixed an issue that could cause particle effects to be cleared up too early, clipping the effect.
Fixed an issue that caused players to hover above chairs when sitting.
Fixed an issue that caused text to instantly print out rather than type out in the final box of a multi-sequence piece of dialog.
Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect collision on trees and other large plants.
Introduced a message to inform users when they are unable to connect to matchmaking because they have been banned.
Fixed a number of text and description issues in the Quicksilver shop.
Fixed an issue that caused the secondary hazard warning bar to appear misaligned on the HUD.
Fixed an issue that caused hover detection to be incorrect on the title screen in some resolutions.
Fixed a number of creature spawning issues that made it harder than intended to find rare creatures.
Fixed an issue that prevented underwater corridors from correctly carving terrain when placed.
Sandworm companions now correctly speak using untranslatable horrific text.

Fixed a rare crash on shutdown.
Introduced a number of systemic improvements and optimisations to particle effect rendering.
Introduced an optimisation to improve the speed at which settlement buildings are loaded and placed.
Introduced a number of rendering optimisations.
Introduced a number of base building optimisations.
Introduced a number of physics optimisations.

[Arthmoor]

Oh good, I hope fixing grass through the floors of settlement buildings is retroactive because mine has a lot of that through the floors of buildings I let them add. Also hoping the Cuboid Room stacking includes the bug I reported about not being able to snap a frame foundation underneath an existing one.

[alt3rn1ty]

I'm also looking forward to trying all that out, shame we dont get 3xperimental on GOG anymore to participate in betas.

Oh well there's more to come when we get it, they updated experimental branch today with more fixes, and also gave an option to tone down the strength of camera shake (for me that was just a bit too much during the recent expedition, I mean even flying your ship anywhere near a sandworm caused camera shake, bizarre).

Experimental Branch Update 26/10

• Fixed an issue that prevented expedition reward objects from being built on freighter bases.
• Fixed an issue that prevented 'Change Active Multi-Tool' from being bound to a hotkey.
• Fixed a collision issue with hanging lights.
• Fixed an issue that caused floor tiles to fail to carve out the terrain correctly.
• An option has been added to the Controls Options page to change the strength of effects that shake the camera.
• Fixed a number of visual glitches in the Exosuit Initialisation Process that occurs when starting a new game.
• Fixed an issue that caused biological horrors to incorrectly launch pounce attacks over long distances.
• The expedition milestone "Their Scent Remains" will now make use of the Target Sweep if any nearby eggs are detected.
• Fixed a collision issue with the alloy inner corner roof parts.
• Fixed a very rare UI crash.

[Arthmoor]

3 hours ago, alt3rn1ty said:

Fixed an issue that caused floor tiles to fail to carve out the terrain correctly.

Isn't this like the 3rd time now they've said this? Unless I'm missing something all the floor tiles I have access to in the build UI are properly deforming the terrain beneath them.

Whether they actually KEEP that data later on is another question because I've been having to regularly replace several floor tiles to get the terrain beneath them to disappear again. Maybe this is what they really mean? Also been having issues with actual buildings like the big square rooms and biodomes losing their terrain edits and needing to either be replaced or have foundations put under them.

[alt3rn1ty]

Deja vu moments in bug fix lists seem to be a common thing with NMS, not sure if its just the ambiguity of the short descriptions which could apply to a few of the types of items being described, and then to another set .. or they didn't fix what they thought they did first time round, or the procedural nature of the game sometimes throws them a curve ball creating another instance of where any of the previous fixes would not work in previously undiscovered circumstances idk.

But yeah, this has happened before with other fixes.

Anything that cuts into terrain I think will never be fixed. Sometimes you can go for months and your neat patio is fine, and then one day theres a pile of terrain in the corner which was previously cookie cut out of the landscape by the floor tile / wall, you are supposed to be able to make a certain amount of terrain edits that are remembered in your game save data, but reddit is full of many topics where everyone agrees its just a matter of time. Shame really, but foundations seem to be the best way, or building within the bounds of a large cave which was formed by the games math .. but even then there's always the possibility that terrain generation math may be tweaked to cause less random problems for the game generated outpost placements, and someones base becomes a casualty.

Dont know if you ever used software like Blender or much older like Sculpt 4D, Real 3D, Lightwave 3D, but there's a technique of creating "holes" within objects by placing an object to pass through another and then subtracting it. Caves in NMS are created by those worm like landscape formations you sometimes see on planet surfaces being realtime subtracted from the landscape before its rendered (I saw a tech speech given by Innes McKendrick about how they do things in the game behind the scenes). If they were to tweak the math on that then even caves aren't safe.

Edit : The only way everything will become stable in terms of terrain I guess is when Hellogames stop updating/tweaking the game, in response to thousands of players randomly finding problems in their procedurally generated universe. Then precalculated seeds will always produce the exact same results on planetary generation, because none of the subsequent processes in rendering are being tweaked.

[Arthmoor]

My problem with the terrain isn't so much that it changed - because it hasn't in years. The basic landscape around every single base I have is the same now as it was years ago when I established my first base.

It's that the terrain edits necessary to making those early bases will just up and vanish from the save at some point, leaving me with a base that has part of a slope I removed cutting into a biodome, or tiles laid down over grass that now have the grass growing through them again. When I go to correct this by removing the original piece and then laying down a new one to make a new edit, it doesn't last more than a few days and I eventually get mad, and just stop wasting time on it. Where feasible I've taken down all the structures and purposefully rebuilt them elevated above the ground on as many foundations as it takes. Even that isn't enough though because eventually you have to connect it to land SOMEWHERE and that connection point still disappears.

I even built a couple of new parts on one base last week and now the little circle that gives you the limit on terrain edits has suddenly changed to reflect I've made basically none, whereas before it was getting close to full. I now have more than 80% of the wheel left and there's no good reason for it. That editing info is supposed to be stored locally in your saves but clearly something is tossing them out on a regular basis.

It's gotten to where I just touch ground now with ramps and walls that don't actually make edits. The game can't rob me of what is never made....

[alt3rn1ty]

Yep, frustrating. Freighters are the best base for your sanity .. but even those were shaken up a bit lately.

I would just like Hellogames to round up and fix the many really old small minor issues and put big bright ideas on hold for a good period, or finally say its done. But then, I can't say I haven't appreciated everything they have added to the game since 2016, overall the update additions to game content have collectively made the game much greater, even if they do occasionally break what was previously sound.

So even more frustrating, knowing all the above, is my own desire for mooaaar!

Think I'm like a moth head butting a light bulb.

[alt3rn1ty]

3.71 is public

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/10/emergence-patch-3-71/?cli_action=1635435802.697

 

Edit: Damn, looks like we aren't getting this on gog in the UK today. 

[alt3rn1ty]

Still haven't got 3.71 but apparently GOG acknowledged there was a problem.

Meanwhile the updates roll on .. Arthmoor some more of those dejau vu fixes here

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3165461747770819726/

Experimental Branch 02/11
Fixed a rare issue that could cause NPCs in settlements to hover above their chairs.
Fixed a collision issue with timber roof corner base parts.
Fixed a rare issue where grass could grow around the edges of settlement building interiors.
Fixed a number of base-building LOD issues.
Fixed a number of rare issues that could cause planetary objects to have no collision.
Fixed a number of snapping issues with basic shape adornment parts (cubes, pyramids, cylinders, and so on).
Fixed a number of collision and terrain carving issues with small paving parts.
Fixed a collision issue with one visual variant of the timber wall with windows.
Fixed a number of issues that could occur when collecting rewards after a fleet expedition had finished.
Fixed an issue that could cause the Armourer mission to become blocked if players destroyed the targeted depot from the air, or before the mission had begun.
Fixed an number of issues that could cause settlements to be incorrectly classified on the CBAS scale.
Fixed an issue that could cause base part preview holograms to be offset.
Fixed an issue that could cause players to fall out of their freighter while constructing new rooms on board.

Introduced a significant base-building networking optimisation.
Fixed a rare issue that could cause very large player bases to crash when loading.
Introduced a number of significant base-building physics optimisations.
Introduced a significant memory optimisation for PlayStation 4.
Fixed a Xbox-specific crash that could occur when running out of audio memory.
Fixed an Xbox-specific crash that could occur when loading corrupted save data.

[Arthmoor]

Wait, isn't this like the 3rd time now they've listed NPCs hovering in chairs being fixed?

Pleased to see mention of snapping issues with things like the pyramid deco. Horker Island has several of those snapped end to end and I wasn't able to add more in other bases because they removed the top snap points.

I'm once again annoyed as all hell though. I logged in again the other night only to find every single terrain edit I've ever done has been wiped out. Again. I have at least 3 bases that are once more partially buried under terrain because their designs don't make it feasible to modify them to be all above ground. But I also think I have some idea of what's causing it now too. Making bases on mult-player planets seems to cause your terrain edits to be lost globally. Even in your single player work. Those edits got wiped out as I was placing a base down on a trade platform on the weekend mission. A base where I needed no terrain edits because I literally built it on the platform itself.

[alt3rn1ty]

7 hours ago, Arthmoor said:

Wait, isn't this like the 3rd time now they've listed NPCs hovering in chairs being fixed?

Yeah thats one of the deja vu fixes

Although to be fair the previous time they said ..

"Fixed an issue that caused players to hover above chairs when sitting."

this time it's ..

"Fixed a rare issue that could cause NPCs in settlements to hover above their chairs."

and I think previous to those it was a general problem of players sitting in chairs (different chair types maybe).

Reference lack of update to 3.71 I think GOG were having site issues on Friday (after Hellogames declared release on all platforms the day before), then the weekend happened, then Monday apparently is a national holiday in Poland (GOG Staff partying or at least having an extended weekend) .. So yesterday Tuesday would have been the first day GOG got to work on everything they need to update. So fingers crossed today will be the day.

[alt3rn1ty]

GOG is feeding us 3.71 at last, and those 1 pile/4 pile/Moon Pool Foundations are all fixed

[Arthmoor]

Great, but my bases are still screwed up because of their terrain editing bugs.

Sent them a bug report about it with my saves. I doubt they'll do anything with it though. They never have before.

[alt3rn1ty]

Fingers crossed for you, maybe 3.72 in beta may finally solve the terrain issues.

[alt3rn1ty]

Oh hey Arthmoor, another update to the beta which maybe going in the direction you need it to

Experimental Branch Update 03/11

• Fixed an issue that could cause protected terrain edits inside a player's base to occasionally be overwritten when downloading a large number of terrain edits from other player's bases.

 

Experimental Branch 03/11

• Fixed an experimental-branch only issue that could cause some powered doors to remain locked in position.

[Arthmoor]

Well that's great and all, but as I reported to them with my saves and everything, it's not JUST a case of someone else's terrain edits overloading yours. You also have to have uploaded a base to a multiplayer planet. The save that comes after that is what's triggering the wipe. I've consistently been able to fubar my expedition save bases this way. Simply loading those other bases isn't doing it.

There's no real reason for PC to have ever had a limitation like this to begin with though.