Just spitballing here, but if the Settlements update does plop down unique settlements here and there on a planet’s surface, maybe that is the start of a feature that can give the planet interesting geological variation… so instead of putting down a few buildings they could generate clumps of crystals, or tectonic plates or whatever.
A guy’s gotta dream, right?
Editer
5820
You know, when I was a kid, I new something would someday turn me into a grumpy old man spewing “You kids don’t appreciate how good you have it! Why, in my day…”
I just never dreamed that thing would be computer games.
Grifman
5821
I don’t see that something like this would add all that much. You want to see a different biome, move on to another planet. To ask for huge variety on every planet (and there are millions of them, right) might be asking a bit much.
Yeah, the idea behind the game is intriguing. Infinite landscape. The thing I don’t get is the initial reaction to the game was there’s nothing to do in the game. It’s a nice screenshot generator.
I played for hours on release and I played for hours this year. The UI has changed in some places. Multiplayer was certainly added. This is significant. What I don’t understand is how the criticism that was there on day 1 is no longer valid and people changed their opinion on the game. It’s not that I don’t like the game, it’s fine few hours of seeing few different planets, but even after several hours you can see the planets repeating.
Wow! I’ve been harping on about wanting procedural buildings/cities to discover forever… and they go add a settlement sim on top of that. It’ll be basic and buggy I’m sure but still! I am so keen right now. :)
And Expedition 3 looks nice. A unique ship, and a ‘monstrous companion’ reward.
draxen
5824
Expedition 3 - Cartographers is out!
Twitch drops (2nd round) starts tomorrow!
09/09/2021 - 2:00pm BST
That’s definitely true with regard to computer tech in general, and games. I’m actually grateful that this stuff (and the Internet) weren’t a thing when I was in high school or college, or I might not have graduated from either.
Of course, in a lot of other respects (particularly with regard to the climate, but also prevailing wages, half gallons of ice cream that were actually a half gallon, etc.) we had it better then.
Re NMS, I take it this latest thing is still a free update? How are these folks making any money? Am I unknowingly mining cryptocoins for them or something?
Awesome!
focused primarily on deep exploration of a single planet
Not sure how I feel about that… I mean, flying to new planets is what I love about the game. :P
jpinard
5827
What are these Expedition things, and can I do the first two?
draxen
5828
They are like seasons from Diablo 3/Path of Exile etc. They run for a specific length of time (1st one ran for 2 months, 2nd ran for 2 weeks). When you start an expedition you start afresh using a new save slot. You’re assigned a random character and starting equipment and then are given a set of tasks to accomplish. Upon completing the tasks you’re rewarded with in-game items that are account wide and you can claim from any save slot. Unfortunately expeditions 1 & 2 have already ended and you can no longer do those. If you play on PC I think you can still use a save game editor to get the rewards. The expeditions have been a lot of fun. They’re designed to be rushed so you play to get through them as quickly as possible. When the expedition ends any expedition saves are converted to standard saves so you can continue on if you like.
I like the idea of going deep on one single planet. Do you come across other player bases and stuff?
The galaxy is so big it’s rare to find a planet not discovered by you. To find other player places you need to travel the galaxy, not the planet.
I played a bit of an expedition last night. You definitely see other player bases (but they were all so far away I didn’t think about traveling to them).
It’s been a while since I played, and the expedition does less hand holding than the regular new player experience. As a result I had to keep pulling up the controls to remember what key did what. That’s bad news when you’re standing on a toxic planet trying to figure out how to recharge your shields.
And I’m sort of frustrated with it now - there’s one task where I’m supposed to shelter in an alien building - and they have you identify one early on using your signal scanner or whatever it’s called. But I didn’t mark it and I swear I can’t see any building that is closer than 16 hours of travel by foot. And I can’t get the scanner to mark it again. I don’t think I’m necessarily stuck (because the reward for that is some planetary charts) but it’s frustrating to not be able to find that location.
I only played a couple hours but I’m really liking it. It’s kind of a neat puzzle. I like figuring out how to repair all this obscure tech, and aiming for milestones to get the rewards I need to further build something else.
Buggy though, there are someone else’s floating base bits all over my spawn.
Build an exocraft? Can you repair the launcher and fly your ship there?
Ah, maybe an exocraft is the answer. I don’t think I can repair the launcher yet. Good suggestions. My wimpy-ass jetpack sure ain’t cutting it!
Also as another option, riding creatures is a little faster than walking… ;)
Yeah, no kidding. I haven’t played in a few years and I’m having a hard time remembering stuff. I almost feel like I’m playing for the first time. Fortunately, I found my broken ship right away and have been sitting in that nice and safe trying to figure things out while a toxic storm rages outside.
The beginning is harsh because I take for granted how far I’ve come in my main game.
What I didn’t realize is that you begin with an exocraft in your inventory and can summon it straight off the bat. Makes it easier when you are trying to race around picking up storm crystals. Also keep an eye on the rewards you gain for various achievements- you get them straight away even if they’re on a higher tier but you still have to claim them.
Lol I still didn’t realize that, thanks… :)
