No Man's Sky: Synthesis update adds highly requested starship customization feature

Cal Jeffrey

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Happy Thanksgiving Explorers: Since release, No Man Sky has received eight major content updates that not only addressed bugs but added much-wanted features to the game. The latest of those, dubbed Synthesis, arrived on Thursday.

Launching the newest version of No Man's Sky on Thanksgiving Day was apropos since, as a thank you to players who have stuck with them, Hello Games gave fans a feature they have been clamoring for almost since release — customizable/upgradable starships.

Explorers can now add inventory slots and even upgrade a craft's class via a new Starship Outfitting Terminal located in any space station. The terminal also allows players to scrap unwanted ships to obtain salvage. This benefit addresses another player complaint about what to do when they want a new starship, but have reached the maximum number of craft allowed (six if you're wondering).

But HG wasn't finished there. Ever since introducing terrain modification in the Atlas Rises update, players have struggled with terrain regenerating. While fun for archaeologists digging up the ruins of long forgotten bases, the bug is a thorn in the side of players who have not abandoned their base.

For example, you dig out a cave in the side of a mountain to build a cool subterranean base only to return later to find it utterly inaccessible due to the mountain's magical regeneration abilities. Hello Games promises that this is fixed in Synthesis with "protected terrain edits," meaning once you flatten that hill, it stays flattened.

Speaking of flattening, the terrain editor now features new Restore and Flatten modes. Carving out a flat area with the previous manipulation tool was problematic at best and rarely resulted in a perfectly flat surface. The new editor makes yard building much more manageable and has unique visual effects (above).

In addition to addressing those frequently requested player concerns, HG has also implemented a few other exciting features and "quality-of-life" improvements. Players now have three slots to save customized avatar outfits at customization terminals. Exocrafts have a first-person mode, just like starships. Starship maps received an overhaul to improve clarity. Many of the most used interfaces have been streamlined to speed up the UIs. HG increased storage container capacity. Players can also own multiple Multi-Tools now, so no more trying to decide if you want to trade your favorite upgraded rifle for a cool-looking alien exotic.

The devs also added new technologies to the game, including long-distance inventory transfer to and from freighters, mid-air jetpack refueling, instantaneous emergency warping, and a personal refiner. This last one is particularly useful.

Refining in the field has always been a bit of a hassle — build a refiner, place it on the ground, fill it with fuel and the material you want to refine, remove the end product, and pick up your refiner (which takes up space in your inventory). Now refining can be done right in your exosuit (after upgrading it with the new tech).

Base building, which has probably been one of the most used features in the game, has been improved with the addition of triangular pieces, improvements to the snapping system, optimization of the current inventory of parts, and lower resource costs for construction. So, go on and build your Millennium Flacon or Pac-Man.

Of course, the update also brings the usual polish and bug fixes to the game, which you can check out in the patch notes if you're curious.

As always, the update is free. This continuing free support is what has turned No Man's Sky, which was a flop at launch, into a success that is still being played by millions of users for over three years now.

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Full credit to HG for sticking with it and (seemingly) turning things around but it doesn't change the fact that I still stand there on some weird looking planet with absolutley no idea whatsoever as to what the actual point of the game is and the objectives.

It just feels like a pointless sandbox to amuse yourself in for an hour or two at a time and nothing more.
 
Naaaaaa ...... I'm sticking to my protest. They such a sh*t job in the beginning with so many lies to the players I would never support anything they did ....
 
Naaaaaa ...... I'm sticking to my protest. They such a sh*t job in the beginning with so many lies to the players I would never support anything they did ....
NMS is an excellent gaming experience. If you and others want to cut off your noses to spite your faces, hey your loss.
 
Suck for the people who pay 60usd for it but at 30usd it's a perfect game to waste time.
 
Full credit to HG for sticking with it and (seemingly) turning things around but it doesn't change the fact that I still stand there on some weird looking planet with absolutley no idea whatsoever as to what the actual point of the game is and the objectives.

It just feels like a pointless sandbox to amuse yourself in for an hour or two at a time and nothing more.
People say the same about minecraft too, but you know that there is a big market of gamers that like this type of gameplay.
 
How you equate millions to nobody requires a jump in logic that is without reason or merit.


Bro, NMS had 80% of the people get a refund!

After that, it was all promises and hopes from Dev who was just learning about computer generated stuff. He thought He created a new universe, until two people couldn't stand in the same spot and see each other, or the same things..! (Then his whole world fell apart... and people laughed at how dumb of a salesman he was)

And many years later he learned about other games that had computer generated things... the ONLY people using this graphical software, are bored children who don't know how to game. Already been stated, that NMS is not a game, it an endless computer generated walk-threw of numbers and odd effects. A side-show!
 
I see the NMS hate-crew has arrived. No matter where you go, they'll show up to b!tch about a product they don't play as if it were their job.
 
It just feels like a pointless sandbox to amuse yourself in for an hour or two at a time and nothing more.
For me, that is the whole point of the game - because in grand scheme of things, no matter what you do or where you go or whatever 'goal' you give yourself, there's just a billion times more things out there in the galaxy thinking and doing the same thing. It is, after all, "no man's sky" and anything you do, has no really significant meaning.

And I like that :)
 
It is, after all, "no man's sky" and anything you do, has no really significant meaning.
That's not true, this and other games like it inspire creativity and critical thinking to make progress. Perhaps that's why it has so many detractors, they try it out, realize they can't measure up to the challenge and out of spite hate on the game as a way of compensating for their own iniquities.
 
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