No Mans Sky - Update

[Uncus]

6 minutes ago, Arthmoor said:

No, right now there is no such mechanic in place. You can't take over a planet or anything in such a way that the game will recognize it's yours instead of one of the 3 existing races.

When I said "take over" it was basically in a loose sense. I'd like to be able to build space bases and all that, but you can't do that right now and it's not clear if that's ever going to be a thing. But then it was never a thing for you to be able to take over a settlement with the system they've just announced either so who knows.

Thanks for the info mate.

[LeBurns]

I am curious (and I haven't seen anything on this yet) about one thing on the settlements.  They apparently need a lot of care and management to grow and flourish.  Okay, great.  But what happens if I make a great settlement ... and then player X comes along and ruins it?  Is it like my home base where I can lock other players out of 'my' settlement?

The only thing I can really see getting attached to in this game is the freighter ship you can get (which BTW I've never gotten).  At least you can take that with you as you explore.  Upgrade it.  Make it uniquely yours.  That I can see maybe being worth spending some time on.  But as I said I've never gotten the big ships so not exactly sure how that feature works.

[alt3rn1ty]

Settlements are new to us all so cant answer the first question.

Griefers though are a thing these days unfortunately, and very clever recently, so I wouldn't say you have no concern there, even with all the necessary multiplayer bits disabled if one is buggy it will be found by determined mischief and take HG an age to resolve.

 

The Freighter can be got free, what type it is and class depends on the system :

Ever seen a distress call with pirates attacking a Fleet?

Kill all the pirates, and the Captain of the Freighter will invite you onboard where you can accept the offer of the Captains freighter as thanks.

These occasions happen once every five warps, but only after five hours have passed between the last one happening.

Stick mostly to a specific races systems to get their type of capital Freighter (and crew race).

Also stick to those systems with 3 star classification for a better chance of getting an S Class / Bigger version of the type of freighter you are looking for.

If you come into a system with the type of Freighter you want in distress .. Immediately land on the nearby space station and do a save. This way you can reload and start helping the distressed freighter again, so that you have a chance at bagging an S Class of that type of Freighter .. If it isn't and you are determined, reload and help again, rinse and repeat until you get an S Class.

You can also buy those Freighters, if you have enough credits, but a lot less chance of getting the type / class you want.

Personal favourite ..

 

You can install a room on these things which has a beam you can send any previously made exxocraft (anywhere in the universe) down to the planet you are on .. So building one base and all the possible exxocraft you want to use in your exploration becomes a prerequisite to using this beam.

--------------------------------

One thing I am kind of looking forward to is the third of the one-off Expeditions (probably soon after the initial bug fixes), called Cartographers. HG have had a good amount of feedback since the first two, and the opening scenario sounds good at least. I dont know if there will be anything as special as the Normandy Frigate which we got in the second expedition, but the unique ship you start with sounds interesting.

One thing I do know is PVP will be turned off as soon as I start the exped', griefers are getting rather clever at making traps you cant get out of for unwitting players these days, and now have a lot more base parts to utilise in their mischief.

[LeBurns]

18 minutes ago, alt3rn1ty said:

The Freighter can be got free, what type it is and class depends on the system :

Ever seen a distress call with pirates attacking a Fleet?

Kill all the pirates, and the Captain of the Freighter will invite you onboard where you can accept the offer of the Captains freighter as thanks.

 

Pirates.  The only action I can take against pirates is to point at the closest planet and fly full speed into the atmosphere and try to lose them.  Usually however I don't make it and they kill me.  I've ever been able to kill even the easiest of pirates.

But once you get a freighter what stops pirates from attacking it and you losing it?

[alt3rn1ty]

Have you never powered up your weapon and shields with upgrades? (see also Tech Layout and Upgrades), pirates are a walkover eventually, even the basic Photon Cannon when suitably upgraded can make mincemeat of waves of pirates.

Pirates dont attack your freighter in my experience. If they did that once a blue moon, that would be a nice immersion addition to the game, especially in anarchic systems.

Another useful thing on Freighters, if you get a fleet of Frigates to escort it have at least a few which are Combat specialist. If you get attacked by Pirates in your starship, your combat frigates send out help to you automatically ..

.. Though these are nice touches, they are not really necessary, pirates once you become well established in the game are a bit ineffectual .. Hence me wanting HG to bring on what they call "fierce pirates" in the game description. Maybe one day those veteran stars on pirates will actually be something to fear.

[alt3rn1ty]

4 hours ago, LeBurns said:

~ I've had NMS since it's release (I pre-ordered) ~

Being a pre-order player you probably recognise the Bonus ship Horizon Omega (though these days at some point HG changed its name to Nojoses Crystal Folly, I edited the name to get the original back) .. If you haven't used it recently here's what it is capable of after upgrading its class and slots fully at a space station, and adding all the games possible adjacency bonuses for upgrades, it's still my favourite fighter starship (well apart from the Living ship which has better Hyper drive range for exploring after upgrading it to max)

 

 

[LeBurns]

Yeah I have the bonus ship (when I can find it).  I have upgraded it but the problem is more with my aged eye/hand coordination and fighting in a true 3D no horizon environment.  Targeting is my issue and the enemy apparently flying circles around me while I try to get a lock on them.  Out of frustration I've learned to just point to the biggest planet and run.  Would also help if I could figure out a quick one button tab to use inventory assets to replenish the shields.  Many times I'd get killed while trying to go to my inventory to find that element needed to replenish the ship.

[Arthmoor]

As far as my experience goes, running away from pirates has never failed. All you have to do is make sure that you point your ship somewhere, lay into the afterburner, ans stay on it until the combat alert passes.

Having pirates attack my frigate would be suicide right now as I have a complete fleet protecting it. Which includes the Normandy bonus ship. Early on it could be an issue but all freighters come with a set of defense turrets by default. It would take some very bad luck for the pirates to survive long enough to take all of those out.

[alt3rn1ty]

2 hours ago, LeBurns said:

~snip~ but the problem is more with ~snip~

Aah, now I understand, I am getting a bit that way too mate, the biggest attraction for me with NMS if I am honest is its not just a chill game, its also a game that long term I will still enjoy when I am no longer a split second pin-point sniper while double jumping / locking on through the virtual air ...

Eyesight is my main balk, but no doubt hand and eye coordination with ailing joints (sometimes already evident) will become a major thing in years to come. Maybe I ought to cool it with my requests to Hellogames, because I may regret them in hindsight .

The best we can do is move inventory items to the most optimal position in the inventory for replenishment of shields, so hit tab and have the mouse ready to home in on the resource to drag n drop into the shields.

A one button keymapping for this would be a very good thing.

[alt3rn1ty]

30 minutes ago, alt3rn1ty said:

A one button keymapping for this would be a very good thing.

Keymapping - Flight Controls ... R is available, I'm going to suggest it to the Zendesk

Edit : R for Replenish

Edit 2 : Suggestion made as a Diversity and Inclusion request.

[alt3rn1ty]

.. Meanwhile : Yet another Experimental update is up ..

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3044984779763588501/

Experimental Branch Update 01/09

• Fixed a crash related to placing base parts.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with cuboid rooms.
• Fixed an issue that caused the fleet debrief screen to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused the product research tree accessed in factories to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused the trading screen to close prematurely when trading with a landed NPC smuggler.
• Fixed an issue that caused the companion customisation screen to close prematurely.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with moon pools.
• Fixed an issue that prevented colour lights from being powered correctly.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with wall hangings and lights.

[alt3rn1ty]

First patch to Frontiers, 3.61 now released (all the fixes from yesterdays 2 lots of experimental fixes)

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/09/frontiers-patch-3-61/

Even GOG is updating quick :)

[LeBurns]

2 hours ago, alt3rn1ty said:

First patch to Frontiers, 3.61 now released (all the fixes from yesterdays 2 lots of experimental fixes)

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/09/frontiers-patch-3-61/

Even GOG is updating quick

Dang I was going to try to maybe load up but I suppose I should wait a week for the bug patches to clear first.

[alt3rn1ty]

Probably wise  .. Two more experimental drops today :

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3044984779767366776/

Experimental Branch Update 02/09

• Fixed an issue that prevented the Automated Mining Unit and other similar parts from being placeable or available to research.
• Fixed an issue that caused some bases to be powered incorrectly.
• Fixed a crash related to building generation.
• Fixed a crash related to terrain textures.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent games from saving correctly.
• Fixed an issue that caused standing lights to be powered incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue that caused the freighter captain interaction to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused various interactions that offered weapons to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that caused power doors to be powered incorrectly.
• Fixed an issue that could cause charts and missions that search for a settlement to be unlikely to find one.
• Fixed an issue that caused missions that look for settlements to take players to a settlement already owned by another player.

 

Experimental Branch 02/09

• Fixed an issue that could cause tutorial text boxes to become clipped.
• Fixed several crashes related to base building.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Ares' technology trade to close prematurely.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the settlement mission to become stuck in a loop if players leave the settlement before claiming it.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues with specialist base terminals.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues that could cause old-style basic parts to become blocked.
• Fixed an Xbox One specific crash.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Automated Mining Unit and other similar parts from being placeable or availabe to research.

[alt3rn1ty]

^- v3.62 has gone public with the above fixes

https://www.nomanssky.com/2021/09/frontiers-patch-3-62/

[alt3rn1ty]

7pm Friday night in the UK, and Hellogames are pushing another Experimental out, with a not insignificant amount of fixes O_o

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3044984779771171700/

Experimental Branch 03/09

• Introduced a significant number of optimisations for settlements.
• Fixed a number of glitches with settlement NPC navigation.
• Fixed an issue that could cause settlement NPCs to go outside during danger scenarios, such as during storms or Sentinel raids.
• Fixed a crash related to base building.
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to place an unlimited number of special parts (such as Exocraft geobays) within close proximity of each other.
• Fixed a number of issues that could cause power lines to fail to appear.
• Fixed an issue that caused patches of foliage to be cleared in settlements before any buildings had been placed.
• Improved the loading speed of settlements.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to be backed out of base building mode accidentally.
• Improved the use of the D-pad in base building controls, in order to minimise accidental presses.
• Snapping is now enabled by default when entering wiring modes.
• Added a recovery for players who lost their primary Multi-Tool after accepting a blank tool from an upgrade/purchase UI. Note: the appearance of this erroneous UI screen was fixed in Patch 3.62.
• Fixed an issue that caused T-shaped corridors to become blocked when snapped to other structures.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent some pre-built large rooms from receiving power correctly.
• Fixed a crash related to noise generation.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Electrical Cloaking Unit to work incorrectly.
• Fixed a number of snapping and collision issues with power doors.
• Fixed a crash related to base editing.
• Fixed a physic issue that could cause players to get snagged while moving around the Space Anomaly.
• Fixed an issue that caused short-range teleporters to function correctly without power.
• Fixed a number of snapping and collision issues with freighter rooms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some settlements to fail to generate any decisions for their Overseer. Decisions are now expected at intervals of 15 minutes to 2 hours.
• Fixed a number of UI issues with base building in VR.
• Fixed an issue that could cause long grass to spawn within settlements on scorched planets.
• Fixed a crash related to terrain generation.
• Fixed a PlayStation 5 specific issue that could cause some trophies to fail to unlock.

[Arthmoor]

Yep, I always find it's best to wait a couple of weeks while they iron out all the bugs they should have spotted in QA

[LeBurns]

Any word yet on how you keep other players from messing up a settlement you are trying to establish?

[Arthmoor]

No idea, I only ever play in SP so these kinds of issues aren't usually a thing, and if it's all procedural, it shouldn't be visible to other people when you're not in MP.

[alt3rn1ty]

I'm still busy beta testing X4 Foundations and following up on bug reports to Egosoft.

But I do occasionally dabble with MultiPlayer, on the Network options I usually have everything disabled, then when a weekend mission pops up, or an expedition .. I just turn on the top option enabling Multiplayer. With all other network options disabled I think it should be safe .. should be, but dont quote me

I dont think Settlements would need MP enabled. But then, I haven't dabbled yet so dont know for sure.

[alt3rn1ty]

More bug fixes in another experimental release for today, an hour ago, HG are working late for a Friday night

https://steamcommunity.com/app/275850/discussions/0/3044984779771171700/

I,m guessing we wont get a public release of this lot until sometime Monday, maybe later for GOG

Experimental Branch Update 03/09

• Fixed an issue that caused debug-only base parts to appear in the Catalogue.
• Fixed a crash related to settlement NPC navigation.
• While base building, the rotation option now has acceleration to allow faster turning while still retaining detailed control.
• Fixed a rare issue that could cause severe visual glitches when pushing the building and photo mode cameras into very specific situations.
• Fixed a number of snapping issues when placing fireplaces or NPC terminals to large rooms.
• Fixed an experimental-branch only issue that could cause the decision interface to become blocked when starting a new construction opportunity decision.

[LeBurns]

1 hour ago, alt3rn1ty said:

I'm still busy beta testing X4 Foundations and following up on bug reports to Egosoft.

But I do occasionally dabble with MultiPlayer, on the Network options I usually have everything disabled, then when a weekend mission pops up, or an expedition .. I just turn on the top option enabling Multiplayer. With all other network options disabled I think it should be safe .. should be, but dont quote me

I dont think Settlements would need MP enabled. But then, I haven't dabbled yet so dont know for sure.

You keep mentioning missions.  Must be something that was added after I left the game.  I can't imagine turning on MP, playing with total strangers trying to get something done, and then turning MP off again?  Missions would have to be pretty special for me to do that.

 

[Arthmoor]

I would assume that's for Expeditions. You don't need to enable MP for those. I played the second one without ever doing so and it ran just fine.

Unfortunately I missed out on the first one and they don't let you go back to play those once they're complete.

[alt3rn1ty]

@LeBurns Weekend Missions are something else in addition to Expeditions (and in addition to the usual Space Anomaly Nexus Missions).

At time of writing there is one running now until Sunday night (UK time). You have to go dig up some bones on a bit of a harsh planet (I just did it in about 40 minutes prior to popping back in here). They dont happen every weekend, sometimes you get a couple in a row and then sometimes you will not see one for ages. This weekend mission is the first I have seen pop up as an extra mission in the Space Anomaly Nexus for a while.

After starting the mission, you exit the Space Anomaly and immediately get transported to the target system (where everyone else will also be congregating to do the same mission, including pvp griefers so turn off at least pvp before you go there). On completing the objective, call in the Space Anomaly to where you are in space, and submit the completed mission to the Nexus. When you exit the Anomaly you will hyperspace again back to where you were before you started the Weekend mission, and continue your normal game.

Depends on if HG are ready for hosting them. The Weekend missions were the first Multi-player events added for Multi-players to participate in.

By doing these missions (and other Space Anomaly Nexus missions), you contribute to the "Community Research" which unlocks more Exotic items from the bot in the Nexus.

-------------------------------

Expeditions are like Weekend missions but they last longer, when they are running, you have to start a new Multiplayer game in a different save slot and they have some special rewards for completing various milestones - Once the Expedition mission phases are fully complete, save and exit. You then load up your normal long term save, go to the bot in the Space Anomaly, and the game recognises the Expedition save is present on your hard drive and gives you the option to import your Expedition rewards - Like the Normandy Frigate mentioned earlier - And it becomes part of your normal game save. These rewards are one-off, and will never again be made available or achievable making them a bit special.

 

Edit: I also just had a quick dabble with the settlements, didn't have MP enabled as per screenshot in my last post, and it seems to be working as intended. Like all the new 250 building parts we can submit Salvage data for, feels a bit steampunk influenced.

Edit 2: Concur with Arthmoor, you dont need to have Multiplayer enabled for any of these Weekend missions or Expedition Missions, and to be honest it makes the game a bit laggy if you do.

[Arthmoor]

I've done plenty of weekend missions from the Anomaly and never once had to enable MP at all for those either.

Yes, you will be able to see bases and such that other people built when you get to the target system, but you can't edit them in any way and you should never have a run-in with another player if you're in SP only.