Remember yesterday when two players met on the exact same spot in No Man's Sky, only for them to be invisible to each other? It raised questions about whether the game has any multiplayer features at all; Hello Games had previously insinuated that it does, but that it's incredibly rare that two players would ever cross paths.
Writing on Twitter, founder Sean Murray explained things a little more – but still managed to avoid the all-important question. "This has blown my mind," he said. "We added a 'scan for other players' in the Galactic Map to try to encourage this happening. We wanted it to happen – but the first day? We want people to be aware they are in a shared universe."
Murray continued that the developer added online features, but the game's servers are getting hammered, which may explain why nothing happened when the two players met up yesterday. "It is a testament to how amazing our network coders are that Discoveries are still working at all," he concluded. We're still none the wiser, then.
In fact, some people have been analysing the packet data output by the game in order to try and understand what's up. According to their research, the title doesn't send out any positional data – just your discoveries. Obviously this is still all unconfirmed, but right now we reckon that it's looking unlikely that you'll ever see another player on your journey.
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 20
How about that the game description in PSN Store reads 1 Player, and no mention of network or multiplayer features? If that's true, that's pretty disappointing. Not even a trace like the Souls series?
@AXEL314 Again, Sean Murray's suggesting that there is some form of multiplayer, but all signs point to there being none.
I only play this game for single player, I don't want another multiplayer game..
@get2sammyb OK, this is starting to sound like a hiccup. But more managerial than software.
They could have put this on Wii U and called it Planet Miiverse.
@wiiware Agreed. It's funny, almost every criticism about NMS that I read is something that I actually see as a positive! Not had that with many games before.
It's odd to me and evidently others that the question appears moot - Murray has already said previously you'll be able to see another players' location BUT you won't be able to interact with them in realtime, with a visual embodiment in front of you.
So it's like an even smaller thing than the original Demons Souls.....you can affect each other environment through a shared universe (naming rights, seeing a dot on a scanner, blowing up substantial environment) BUT NO DIRECT MULTIPLAYER.
Hope that clears that up 😏
Wouldn't everyone just meet up at the end place of the story. Wherever that is. I can't imagine even the story line is procedurally generated.
Well I was really interested in seeing how base building and other features would work once I met up with my friends!! But this is sad news if it's true! Base building etc just won't be as fun on my own!! That's what made Minecraft go from a 5/10 to a 9/10 was playing with friends
I thought the two were simply at same place but not at the same place, hence why you can pause the game?
Can't wait to boot it up. I picked it up as soon as GAME opened, got home and installed the game+update then left for work.
Just 9 more hours...
I'm not sure it is a dealbreaker but why there is no clarity on this?
Either you can or can't meet up in real time. It will all come out of the wash sooner rather than later so be clear. I wouldn't be bothered either way.
I just need to hope the hints I dropped to my wife have been heeded (they haven't but I can't afford it this month).
Are people just looking to pick holes in it for the sake of it? Wasn't it last week that Push Square yourselves said "cut Hello Games some slack"? And seriously if people wanted a Sci-Fi MP play Destiny.
@Neolit You sir, echo my thoughts. I don't what it is with NMS but people can't let just the basic information about sink into there heads, for two years people asked "what do you in it" even though we were told this yet people still asked. It ultimately comes down to the game they made vs the game people wanted them to make.
I never expected to be able to meet up with mates and explore with them in this game, I don't recall that feature ever being promised. It was just hinted you might come across other players at some point.
Seems to be a lot of moaning going on with this game and not much of people being excited about things they've discovered. Are we giving it a chance, or are we just jumping on anything that can in anyway be seen as a negative with this one?
@LieutenantFatman The latter most probably, I've had a lot of fun discovering stuff but I wouldn't talk about them because I don't think anybody would be interested anyway.
I think the issue that people have here is not that the feature does/doesn't exist, but that Hello Games have been very vague about it — almost to the point where some feel misled.
They should have really just said: "You can't see or interact with anyone online." But even now Sean Murray's kinda blaming things away on server issues, making it seem like there's a feature there that isn't.
@get2sammyb - I think any videos of Sean Murray have revealed first and foremost, a passionate, dedicated developer with an inner-geekiness for sci-fi and averse to public speaking.
In terms of him 'blaming' server issues, to me that just an anxious developer who is probably disappointed that one of the Easter eggs didn't come off, like a text or scan indicating another presence....
...maybe we should cut him some slack 😊
@Galvatron I hope you'll say the same thing about EA, Ubisoft, or Activision next time they miscommunicate one of their products.
After all, I'm sure nervous developers work for mega-corps, too.
(I LIKE SEAN A LOT, JUST CALLING IT HOW I SEE IT!)
@get2sammyb - therein lies the difference between a 10-man outfit in Guildford and a global publisher with a blatant disregard for its audience.
When Destiny miscommunicated the extent of its story and exploration focus, that was evidently masking what we know about the sudden change in its structure, writing etc - and Activision have the audacity to keep quiet on their ridiculous pay model - I know, I've bought every expansion, but that is my choice given the calibre of the play mechanics and Bungie's overall quality.
Hello Games and Sean have been generally forthright about what the game is and isn't, so I'm not really encouraging a precedent here, if anything the difference in developer tends to inform my opinion...
....but it would be fantastic to read some detailed articles outlining how the play mechanics and planetary atmospheres feel to the player - and its overall freedom and what adventures that brings.
This is truly a title I'll cherish for its exploration and freedom, which is a first really despite its procedural make-up - and the free updates will be a bonus 😊
I don't think Hello Games has ever said anything that would have led me to believe that this game's core engagement would be playing with friends. I do think that people who want to play with their friends have grasped at any straw to believe they could have the game they wanted NMS to be, rather than the game it actually is. And the same goes for shooting game fans looking for missions, or story game fans looking for a strong narrative.
The problem has to do with the aesthetics of fun, and the expectations that fun-seekers are bringing into this game: https://www.cs.northwestern.edu/~hunicke/MDA.pdf
NMS's primary aesthetic is Discovery, and I think that's been made abundantly clear from the beginning whether gamers have chosen to hear the message or not. This is not the kind of game in which there's something for everyone; NMS's focus is much more narrow than a game like, for example, Skyrim, which allows for a wide variety of aesthetics.
@get2sammyb The difference is that those companies have dedicated community managers that deal with that stuff, Hello Games doesn't.
But all the comments still doesn't change the fact they said there was a possibility you could come across another player but unlikely because of the size of the game, hence why people thought NMS had MP you would think the maker of the game would know if thay've added MP or not.
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