Hello Games teases 'Frontiers,' No Man's Sky's fifth anniversary expansion

[Cal Jeffrey]

In context: No Man's Sky turned five years old over on Monday. The epic space explorer had a rough launch being largely incomplete and replete with broken promises. However, developer Hello Games never gave up on its vision. Through a series of massive updates, it delivered on all its promises and more, making it arguably one of the greatest comeback stories in gaming history.

No Man's Sky has seen 16 major updates since launching on August 9, 2016. The first several were just deliveries on elements that Hello Games said would be in the game but didn't make it in time for launch. The developers didn't stop there, however. Subsequent releases included visual overhauls, group exploration, animal companions, cross-platform play, and more.

On Monday, Hello Games Sean Murray reminisced about the long road from dumpster fire to what NMS is today. Every update strived to add core game mechanics and deep content, and all for free. Many players in the community, including myself, have purchased multiple copies of No Man's Sky to thank HG for its hard work and for going above and beyond when other developers would have thrown in the towel and wrote the game off as a loss.

"It hasn't always been easy, but the thing that has been our guiding star throughout has been the players and the community," Murray wrote.

Not only has HG not thrown in the towel, but it also plans to continue delivering free content for the foreseeable future. Murray revealed that the next update, titled Frontiers, is in the works and is coming soon. However, neither Murray nor the reveal trailer (above) he included in his post gave away any details about what Frontiers would bring to the game.

"In some ways, [Frontiers] is just another update, but in other ways, it's a missing piece of the sci-fi fantasy that we've always wanted to add, and very fitting for our fifth anniversary," Murray teased. "There is still a lot we want to try, so much we are still excited for. The next step on that journey is not far off. We'll have more to share on Frontiers with travelers very soon."

The only thing that we can say for sure about Frontiers is that it should wow fans. The track record of its past efforts reflects that HG is quite capable of adding incredible experiences to its masterpiece. The fifth-anniversary update will very likely be something special.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/90725-hello-games-teases-frontiers-no-man-sky-fifth.html

 

[Neatfeatguy]

I still enjoy the few hours of time I put into this game here and there. I don't really like the base building, not my thing, but it's pretty simple to do. I like flying and exploring all the worlds.

I'd honestly have to say what I miss the most was the ability to run and jetpack far distances when exploring on foot during the initial release of the game. It was like a sprinting jetpack all in one. Now the walking feels slightly off center and sluggish in 3rd or 1st person view. I don't like 3rd person view in this game, but 1st person view feels like it's still 3rd person view... almost like they zoomed into 1st person, but you're actually looking right over the shoulder of your character and not through their eyes.

I'm still impressed they're dumping time, money and energy into it after 5 years.

 

[R00sT3R]

I'm still impressed they're dumping time, money and energy into it after 5 years.

They're not doing it out of charity, they do it because it continues to sell very well, dropping to half price every time they release a new update.

It's one of those games that intrigues people to the point where they feel they have to at least try it once, like GTA V its considered by many to be an essential purchase to have in your library.

Thing is though, only a very small minority stick with the game after a dozen or so hours. It's an enticing world they have created..in your imagination, but the reality is that its all very similar, once you've seen a few worlds, you've pretty much seen them all, the resource gathering quickly becomes tiring, the base building..pointless, and all your left with is aimless wandering.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I still enjoy the few hours of time I put into this game here and there. I don't really like the base building, not my thing, but it's pretty simple to do. I like flying and exploring all the worlds.

I'd honestly have to say what I miss the most was the ability to run and jetpack far distances when exploring on foot during the initial release of the game. It was like a sprinting jetpack all in one. Now the walking feels slightly off center and sluggish in 3rd or 1st person view. I don't like 3rd person view in this game, but 1st person view feels like it's still 3rd person view... almost like they zoomed into 1st person, but you're actually looking right over the shoulder of your character and not through their eyes.

I'm still impressed they're dumping time, money and energy into it after 5 years.

Yeah. I think you're talking about the melee/jetpack move. Very effective way to get around on foot especially if your jetpack is fully upgraded. I think that was actually a big but HG left it along because the community collectively said, 'Never fix this," and they didn't. it's still works. At least as of Expeditions. The only thing they changed in that regard is that the jump boots now work properly. They fixed that a while back. I don't mind traveling on foot as long as it's not more than 2 or 3 clicks. Anything more than that I summon an exocraft. Unless it's during a severe storm. Since they made the modification that rapidly refuels your jet pack during storms, you can practically fly indefinitely with a fully upgraded pack. I find that really fun but you have to be sure you have plenty of hazard protection material and at least an optimized hazard protection suite.

 

[Rufus]

I haven't been on it for a we while, am aiming to though. Last time I was on, I felt they had ruined base building, but I am holding out for upgrades to the large Freighters. I was always a little disappointed you couldn't upgrade them more like you can the Frigates.

 

[rogueTempo]

They're not doing it out of charity, they do it because it continues to sell very well, dropping to half price every time they release a new update.

It's one of those games that intrigues people to the point where they feel they have to at least try it once, like GTA V its considered by many to be an essential purchase to have in your library.

Thing is though, only a very small minority stick with the game after a dozen or so hours. It's an enticing world they have created..in your imagination, but the reality is that its all very similar, once you've seen a few worlds, you've pretty much seen them all, the resource gathering quickly becomes tiring, the base building..pointless, and all your left with is aimless wandering.

Interesting take, considering that the population of active users is reportedly higher than its ever been, even including the massive launch and the surge NEXT brought. Just because a game may not be your thing doesn't mean it's unpopular

 

[rogueTempo]

I still enjoy the few hours of time I put into this game here and there. I don't really like the base building, not my thing, but it's pretty simple to do. I like flying and exploring all the worlds.

I'd honestly have to say what I miss the most was the ability to run and jetpack far distances when exploring on foot during the initial release of the game. It was like a sprinting jetpack all in one. Now the walking feels slightly off center and sluggish in 3rd or 1st person view. I don't like 3rd person view in this game, but 1st person view feels like it's still 3rd person view... almost like they zoomed into 1st person, but you're actually looking right over the shoulder of your character and not through their eyes.

I'm still impressed they're dumping time, money and energy into it after 5 years.

I still enjoy the few hours of time I put into this game here and there. I don't really like the base building, not my thing, but it's pretty simple to do. I like flying and exploring all the worlds.

I'd honestly have to say what I miss the most was the ability to run and jetpack far distances when exploring on foot during the initial release of the game. It was like a sprinting jetpack all in one. Now the walking feels slightly off center and sluggish in 3rd or 1st person view. I don't like 3rd person view in this game, but 1st person view feels like it's still 3rd person view... almost like they zoomed into 1st person, but you're actually looking right over the shoulder of your character and not through their eyes.

I'm still impressed they're dumping time, money and energy into it after 5 years.

The base building was an unexpected moment-to-moment motivating in the early times, but around the time of Atlas Rises and onward, it kind of felt unnecessary. But then again, it *is* a sandbox, so there ar eplenty of thing sthat are in the game just as options.
I'm so glad to see more recognizing the issues with the movement post-NEXT though. I have never been a fan of the 3rd-person POV, but the introduction of it also altered the way 1st-person works, presumably because to the outside player you're still controlling a physical character rather than than a camera like pre-NEXT. It's unfortunate, and has impacted my enjoyment o fthe game, but I jus take it as one of the "sacrifices" most of the updates bring. Usually they are in the form of avoid-at-all-cost bugs that are introduced with each release, but unfortunately you can't really avoid a "bug" that's inherent to every movement you make.