"Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space."
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my all-time favourite things. It's hilarious, it's silly, and it's about travelling through space and time. Space is the scariest, most fascinating, and most brain-melting thing ever, because we know practically nothing about it. We do know a few things – planets orbit stars, stars cluster together into galaxies, galaxies come in a variety of shapes and sizes – but there's a heck of a lot of undiscovered intergalactic… stuff that just, well, exists and happens. Things millions of times bigger than Earth are exploding trillions of light years away, with potentially huge ramifications for us and for everything we know to be true. And here we are, staring at a screen, reading a paragraph that's gone on for far too long without once mentioning No Man's Sk–ah, there it is.
Sorry, got a bit carried away there. But you get my point. It's no wonder that space exploration has persisted in games since its infancy; the idea of heading out into the infinite unknown and making your own discoveries is a perfect fit for gaming. In fact – and I'm not sure you'll have heard about this – a small development team based in Guildford launched its procedurally generated, sci-fi adventure game, No Man's Sky recently. If you haven't already, check out our review – but make sure to head straight back here, because I've got some exciting news.
You see I, like many of you, have embarked on my journey through this ridiculously massive game, heading vaguely towards the centre, and probably stopping every five minutes to gawp at the sights and sounds of the ubiquitous planets. And I want you all to join me. I'd like to welcome you all to a new, weekly No Man's Sky feature that I'm calling Mission Blog.
Each week, I'll be bringing you all up to speed on what I've seen, what I've done, where I am, and how much trouble I'm in with a personal travel diary. The first Mission Blog will go up next Sunday, and subsequent chapters will be published here on Push Square every week until I finally reach the centre of Hello Games' gargantuan galactic map. You can expect a warts-and-all rundown of my adventure, with plenty of anecdotes, drama, laughs, and mistakes. My biggest fear right now is getting stuck on the least interesting planet in the whole game, my ship blown to smithereens, and only a backpack full of Madeuptonium to my name.
Anyway, I hope you'll be able to check it out. It'll be nice to have some company in the cold, hostile emptiness of space. If you like, you can even share your stories, questions, or suggestions in the comments of each Mission Blog – I'll be sure to peruse them. Y'know, as long as I'm not busy being hunted by a horde of goldfish-zebras with turquoise legs and a grudge against needlessly-long articles.
See you next Sunday for Mission Blog #1, fellow explorers.
Comments 28
Awesome article idea man. Can't wait to read them!
Love this idea, looking forward to this next week and I'm sure the comments section will be filled with people's own adventures too!
Haha, I love The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote. I haven't read that book in years - might be time to revisit it.
I really like reading the verge no man sky travel diary, I can't wait for this pushsquare articles.
Sweet idea. Assume it be written format? I'm in my second system. Bloody pirates.
Nice idea. Just got jumped by space pirates, got killed, lost all my cargo, gotta get a better ship soon.
@blah01 you can revisit your grave
Just enjoying exploring and upgrading my kit, greatest discovery yet is a species that was basically a bouncing marshmallow.
@kyleforrester87
Ah yes, thanks dude, unfortunately I warped to another system before doing this, I wonder if I warped back to the point of ambush in the previous system, would the grave marker be there.
I've been stuck in the starting system for hours now because I cannot find antimatter and can't craft it till I find some XD. I think I messed up the tutorial a bit. I got the hyperdrive blueprint and then redeemed my pre-order ship. Now I can't seem to find the free antimatter the tutorial directs you to get. So I've been searching outposts, crates, the space station, and the galactic trade network. Might try actual traders and see if they have any. The more positive note of this is that I've been upgrading stuff as I look for it and have gotten some decent upgrades.
@blah01 I'm not sure, mate! Let me know if you try!
@wolfspiderzx don't worry you can buy antimatter, wait at the space station and check the inventories of everybody coming in and they will sell it for around 50k. I actually had to check about 25-30 before I got any but it will show up.
@kyleforrester87 That's exactly what I'm gonna do next time I hop on What's funny is as I was typing my comment the thought suddenly occurred to me to check the traders for it XD It'll be nice to finally leave though. I have only one lush moon in this system and two desert planets and frankly I don't like them much. At least my standing with the Gek is pretty good.
@wolfspiderzx Yeah if my relationship with the Vy'keen gets any more special we'll be bombing Iraq together
@MadAussieBloke does it poop or dig? Because other creatures you feed dig up random stuff when you feed them I've found. Or maybe they are crapping it out haha
@MadAussieBloke That's awesome!
Great idea for a weekly article, I'll be tuning in.
Stupid question time: How do you start a new game? Not that I necessarily want to, but I missed out on a lot of naming and stuff in the beginning.
This will be fun! I found a crashed ship with hyperdrive. Repaired it. Got anti-matter from a sentry Gek five minutes later. Back to the station for a dynamic resonator, and then it's ftl time! Wahoo!
@MadAussieBloke Ah, right, thanks
I've not had any trouble with resources, anti matter etc, skipped the tutorial rubbish, just keep on upgrading your exo suit at drop pods assuming you have money, trading items at the space station at 100% profit will make you plenty of dosh.
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi I followed the Atlus route, seems there's more story content and you can always go off and do your own thing if you want too..which tends to happen lots lol
@kyleforrester87
Yep, went back, grave was there, so got all my bits and bobs back, sweet.
@blah01 good to know it remembers that stuff
@kyleforrester87 Sorry missed this question - yes, written format. I think videos could have been fun but I don't really have the setup for that!
@kyleforrester87 I'll get round to the main task eventually but that's a long long way off
@Quintumply nice, written is my preference!
@Bad-MuthaAdebisi fair play!
Just took out 3 enemy ships, barely made it out alive, the ship combat is pretty fun actually!
@Neolit I was near a space station so thought I'd try my luck, don't fancy my chances against more than 2 but managed to get all 3 just about lol. Gunna work on some ship upgrades and git gud.
I upgraded my shields after my first pirate attack because they seemed to be as useful as tinfoil. I then upgraded the firing rate of my photon cannons which made taking out those scum a breeze. I always use the laser to weaken them first because it's automatic lock-on.
I once escaped into a planet's atmosphere to escape an attack because my shields were low and one of them followed me in. Cue an awesome dogfight in the skies of a lonely world. I had a huge grin on my face when I took him out and watched him crash and burn on the surface. Another one of those truly special moments.
@Quintumply you gonna start a new game for that?
@xX_RiscazZ_Xx Yep, I've started a new game!
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