No Man's Sky NEXT Trailer Released. The Update Releases NEXT Week!

I'm home sick with food poisoning but I set an alarm for 10:55 EST because I knew this trailer was coming out at 11. It was worth waking up for.

We've known for a little while that NEXT was coming, and that it was going to be the biggest update yet, and include more fleshed out multiplayer (the Atlas Rises update gave us a very rudimentary version with "glitches in the simulation" that were other players). This trailer is our first real peek inside.

The NEXT update is free, no paid DLC here, and it launches along with the Xbox One version coming the same day, July 24th.

UPDATE! I initially listed the changes I could see in the trailer, but Sean has posted some info on the Playstation blog. Here's a peek at the changes:

Multiplayer

Team up a small team of friends and explore the universe together, or be joined by random travellers.

You can help friends to stay alive, or prey on others to survive.

Tiny shelters or complex colonies that you build as a team are shared for all players.

Fight as a pirate or a wingman in epic space battles with friends and enemies.

Race exocraft across weird alien terrains, creating race tracks and trails to share online.

Character customisation allows you to personalise your appearance.

Visual Overhaul

The game is fully playable in third or first person, both on-foot and in ship.

Planetary rings and improved space visuals make space more beautiful than ever.

Dramatically improved planetary terrain generation, ground textures, water and clouds bring the environment to life.

Significantly more detail added to ships, NPCs and buildings.

Unlimited Base Building

Bases can now be built anywhere on any planet.

Dramatically increased base building complexity and size limits.

Hundreds of new base parts.

Own multiple bases.

Command Freighters

Assemble and upgrade a fleet of frigates and command them from the bridge of your freighter.

Send your fleet out to into the universe, or deploy them to help you as you explore a specific system.

Improved freighter base building allows a truly custom capital ship.

Invite your friends aboard and take on challenging multiplayer missions from the Galactic Commision Station on your bridge.

I'm looking forward to the lore that ties all this together. How can we suddenly see other simulation test subjects? Are there still multiple galaxies (which could fracture the playerbase and limit multiplayer)? What other small fixes and changes are there? Lots of questions are still present but this should stimulate your appetite for more No Man's Sky!

Sean's full blog post: https://blog.us.playstation.com/2018/07/17/no-mans-sky-next-is-a-massive-free-update-launching-july-24-on-ps4/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/17/2018 at 07:12pm

Ok at first, before watching the trailer, I wasn't too thrilled about the multiplayer, I just didn't feel like it was something I really needed. But after watching the trailer, I think it looks cool! In the first part, I thought (and hoped) that what the players were wearing was underwater gear, because the normal gear sucks underwater, at least swimming does. I knew this update was coming for a little while. I'm looking forward to jumping back in the game when this releases, I may start a fresh game again.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/17/2018 at 10:14pm

I might jump back in the game as well to check this out. We might have to set up a CG group in game!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/17/2018 at 10:42pm

Greg I agree that swimming always felt clunky but it also kinda makes sense that you move slower in water. Even if they do nothing else with swimming, I think the third-person camera will help. Seeing the swimming animation may make it feel less cumbersome.

But I’m hoping for some more water improvements too. It looks like you can build bases underwater now so I’m hoping that extra.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/17/2018 at 10:42pm

And Adam: yes. Most definitely!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/17/2018 at 11:34pm

I see that, Travis. I hope they fixed it, too, but it does make some sense as you say. Also, I hope you feel better soon! I overlooked that part when I left my first comment.

I agree with Adam as a CG group is great idea. I wonder how we'll go about meeting up. I wonder if they'll explain how to when they release the update, or if they're just going to leave it up to us to figure out (I kind of doubt that though).

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/18/2018 at 12:24am

I’m sure they’ll explain it somehow, and it’ll probably be pretty intuitive. As it stands right now, it’s kinda hard to find people but they haven’t had that focus before. The teleporters in stations and bases could have an option or something.

And thanks for the well wishes! Some bad shrimp.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2018 at 01:51am

This update looks to fix nearly all the criticism leveled at the game at launch.

I imagine each person called this game "No Mans Lie" will retract their further statements and now call it "No Mans Actually The Full Game Will Come Two Years Later."

Jokes aside, this looks like they are getting ever closer to the 3D version of Starbound.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/18/2018 at 02:17am

I wonder what those bipedal mech looking things are. Are they things that we hop in and go walking around in or is it something that maybe we pilot remotely?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/18/2018 at 02:47am

They look like larger sentinels. If you really anger the sentinels they send out walkers that look like that but they’re about 1/3 the size. Since there were a few people running with them, I’m imagining it’s something we can hack to work with us or something.

And yeah Jon, the SEAN LIED ABOUT MULTIPLAYER rhetoric was overblown but based in truth. Basically all the other launch complaints had been worked out except for this one.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/18/2018 at 03:02am

Check out this trailer mashup on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/8zmo0u/how_this_game_has_changed_3/

They basically re-created the original trailer with the new stuff. Interesting to see how far the game has come but... even still I'd love to play the game with that original art style/color palette. By the time the game released they'd changed quite a bit.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/18/2018 at 03:06am

Also Greg-- you mentioned how they might implement playing together. If you check this screen there's a clear portal placed on someone's base. That's absolutely new, and looks more like the portals you find out in the world and activate with glyphs, rather than the teleporters that are automatically in bases and space stations

https://i.redditmedia.com/zmP-UQpa9RJGYQgbSmhdSj3FB4citN5gaXHZowcFAM4.png?fit=crop&crop=faces%2Centropy&arh=2&w=960&s=bbc3a5d1fe97e32212e217c6a2e4603f

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/18/2018 at 03:41am

@Travis, oh yeah, I see it! I forgot about sentinels, although it did look like those were with the players. Perhaps, like you said, we can hack them and turn them toward our favor. What would they do for us? Scouting perhaps? Man it's been so long since I've played, it's been 10 months.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/20/2018 at 12:58pm

Wow here’s a list of some minorish changes coming.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2018/07/20/28-changes-coming-to-no-mans-sky-with-next

That sounds like they’ve made multiplayer very easy and added some depth to the game.

And not only that, NMS is getting free weekly updates from here on, with new missions and events each week.

And a new website is launching, Galactic Atlas. It will show in-game events on the map and let you warp there straight from the site. Somehow‽

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vqk3f4bL3E

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/20/2018 at 09:19pm

Man that looks exciting! I thought I saw on the website that it was coming on the 26th or 28th. Did you see this, too? I didn't see it when I went back to look. I want to know when it's coming.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/21/2018 at 04:53am

Tuesday, the 24th:
https://www.nomanssky.com/2018/05/no-mans-sky-next-multiplayer-and-release-date/

I should have put that in the post. On it!

In addition, since the Xbox version of this is a new release for the console, the new update is on the disc. There may be some updates on release day, but the core of it is definitely there. And as frequently happens, the street date was broken. So, if you want to search them out you can find videos of the new stuff.

A couple highlights I noticed:
The water is so great. It’s way improved over the current water. And it looks like it reacts to things. You can fly right over it and tip your wing into it and it will create a ripple effect.

Space stations have been heavily redesigned and kinda look like the Citadel from Mass Effect. There’s way more going on now. It actually looks like a space station instead of ... a boring place that people land.

Freighters have gotten a redesign and some new missions to spruce them up. You can build specific things for them to get new abilities.

We knew clouds would cast a shadow but it seems that storms actually follow cloud formations properly, and some really great weather effects have been added.

Building seems to be much easier than before.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/21/2018 at 06:08am

Thanks, Travis! I should have dug a bit more for that. I found it some time ago, but I guess I lost it. Anyway, all of that sounds really good, I'm looking forward to jumping back in the game.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/24/2018 at 08:31pm

It’s out! Yaaaaaayyy! Can’t wait to dive in tonight.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/25/2018 at 01:19am

I like how the scanner works now. I forgot about keys such as X and Z. If you want to change to first person you have to use the X menu, go to Utilities, and select the camera view option. Z is used to build things, although you can also pick some things back up and carry them with you. I tried numerous times to spawn a new game on a planet that wasn't hazardous, but that didn't work, so I settled. I eventually left the planet. Minerals are constantly changing names with these updates. They've added some things that make playing a bit more involved, like having to refine minerals. Building is different, you start out by building wooden things. For some reason I couldn't get through my door, or even find nearby ground that was flat enough for a building. In the end....things are different, although perhaps for the better overall.

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