Zoom out on the Map
Let’s all be honest. Despite having seen Sean Murray zoom out on the map a few times in on-stage gameplay demos, we won’t believe the sheer size of the explorable galaxy in No Man’s Sky until we’ve done it for ourselves. After all, the quest to the center of the galaxy can’t take that long, right?
With over a billion planets in its huge galaxy for players to explore (18,446,744,073,709,551,616 to be precise), No Man’s Sky’s open area is huge and is one of the key features of the game that has players so excited. Though games have had huge expansive areas of terrain before, nothing has quite tried to be on the same scale as No Man’s Sky and it’s all thanks to its procedurally-generated world. Now that you’ve zoomed out and seen the entirety of your play area in space, it’s time to narrow our sights down and start small…
Look for the Nearest Planet
While the furthest things away are going to be somewhat out of reach until you’ve picked up a Hyperdrive for your ship, nearby planets will be easy pickings for eager space explorers. What exactly lies in store on each planet is completely unknown, and that’s another huge pull of No Man’s Sky. It doesn’t matter where you are or what anything else is like around you, there could be a planet, a treasure trove if you will, of incredible items and resources for your inventory.
Yet, setting down on that nearby planet for the first time is going to be one momentous occasion. You’ve successfully just flown through space, not exploded, and are exploring an entirely new planet for the first time. Even if someone else has been there before you, seeking out what damage or marks of their existence they have left behind will certainly be an exciting experience.
Try and Shoot Something
It’s not just you out in the galaxy of No Man’s Sky. There are animals, Sentinels, and other players all roaming this galaxy both on land and in space for you to come across. While you’ll likely come across some species more often than others, you’ll still always have a moving target to try out your weapons on. Yes, No Man’s Sky is largely about exploring and reaching the center of the galaxy as your ultimate goal, but who doesn’t wanna pop a couple rounds off in the face of some weird space moose or one of those floating Sentinels who just won’t leave you alone when you’re searching for resources
As soon as you’ve landed on a planet and have your gun at the ready, you can bet your bottom dollar you’re going to see what kind of damage it can do… as well as how much your space suit can take as well!
Go For Your First True Adventure
Though you’ll have traveled a short distance trying to reach a nearby planet, nothing will come close to that first time that you set out off into the vast sprawling blackness of space on a long adventure in search of some completely random planet. Getting a feel for how your ship controls is going to be a pretty significant part of the learning process considering how long you could potentially end up sitting in the cockpit.
It’d be silly of us not to mention the other reason that you’ll want to go off on a proper adventure almost immediately in No Man’s Sky, and that’s to get an idea of just how tiny you are in this huge expansive galaxy. Yes, the map can give you an idea of how big things are, but the amount of time it takes you to get from one tiny dot on that map to another is one of the questions on every fan’s lips at the moment. At least we don’t have to wait much longer to find out.
Look for a Planet to Claim as Their Own
Visiting your first planet is going to be great and all, but the main thing everyone is going to want to do is claim their own little place in the No Man’s Sky galaxy for themselves. With that in mind, players will be exploring the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of a place that has yet to be discovered by any other player, so that they can call it their own and be known as the one to have discovered it. Of course, with the game having so much hype and popularity surrounding it even before it’s launched, just how easy this is going to be determines just how long we’re going to have to adventure for.
Regardless of how long it takes, everyone is going to want to be the first to discover a planet within their first few hours with the game. After all, who knows how many thousands of other players may stumble upon your poxy paradise in the middle of nowhere.
Go in Search of the Hyperdrive
As mentioned in a couple of hands-on previews with the game, in order for players to truly explore the vast stretches of No Man’s Sky’s galaxy, they’re going to need a Hyperdrive. This allows you to venture out further into the galaxy than your normal ship allows, although these distances haven’t yet been quantified by Hello Games. Knowing that there’s so much more that we cannot explore without the Hyperdrive makes acquiring it shoot straight to the top of the list of every wannabe space explorer.
Though this obviously will need to be found at some point in order to reach the center of the galaxy, we know for sure that it’s going to be the first thing we do so that we can go exploring whatever we want, however near or far away it may be at our own leisure.
Admire the Views
No Man’s Sky is not just impressive in its scale, but its giant galaxy is a visual masterpiece to behold, too. Sprawling green meadows run across the entirety of lush planets full of life. Strange colored rocks protrude over smooth sandy barren landscapes, and outer space swirls with mysterious, vibrant colors.
No matter where you look, No Man’s Sky has a view to sit back and just take in for a few minutes. This is a fully-realized world for you to truly immerse yourself and get lost in. Besides, sitting in your ship, staring out into the vast expanse of its beautiful space is something that will never get old in No Man’s Sky.
Try and Ride an Animal
Having finally landed on a planet after a voyage through space, you take a look at your surroundings to see rolling green meadows, and something of interest in the distance. It may be a pillar or something glistening, all you know is you want in and you wanna get there fast.
You start walking towards it and realize this is going to take a while, just as a weird chicken/sheep hybrid-looking creature bumbles past you. You know where we’re going with this…
Riding an animal to get around quicker would make planet traversal that little bit less monotonous and unnecessarily time-consuming when you wanna get somewhere quickly. Of course, the option is always there to walk, but when you can ride on the back of a weird alien creature into the sunset, who’d wanna do that?
Go in Search of a Fellow Human
The vast expanse of the universe is a lonely place. Stretching blackness as far as the eye, dotted with splodges of color in the form of planets may look pretty, but it’s no company for this epic journey to the center of the universe.
Finding another player in No Man’s Sky is going to be a difficult feat considering how much players are going to be spread out across its bazillions of planets. Regardless, finding someone else as you start the game will be the perfect reminder that no matter how lonely it may seem out there, you’re not alone in your quest to the center…. orrrr we just want to shoot at them for fun!
Pick a Fight with a Sentinel
Sentinels are the protectors of No Man’s Sky’s universe. They aren’t there to pick a fight with you unless you damage their home, which seems completely justified if you ask us. Defending such a huge universe is a tough job, and so the three different types of Sentinels are all pretty well equipped to pick a fight with you (although some are better equipped than others). Therefore, it only seems right that players see exactly what these robots are capable of when threatened.
We don’t quite know yet how common these Sentinels are or how soon we’ll see them during our adventure across the galaxy, but we’re pretty sure that many will fall in the opening hours of players’ time with No Man’s Sky.
What other things are you going to do as soon as you step into No Man’s Sky’s universe? Let us know in the comments below.
About the author
