No Man’s Sky is the most controversial video game to come out of 2016 — the game lacked many features boasted by CEO Sean Murray, this was followed by months of silence, they were officially investigated by the ASA and to top it all off it officially became the lowest rated game on Steam. Recently the game started getting updates giving the players some of the promised content. Although this is taking place many months after the games release its good to know that the game hasn’t been abandoned.
The first update (AKA the Foundation Update) introduced the possibility to build a base. This is a pretty key element in exploration games and one of the main features lacking in the game so far. It also looks like Hello Games will be adding land vehicles to the mix in a future update thanks to information found by data-miners. They uncovered a mountain of evidence pointing to ATV/Buggy hybrid vehicles that will have equipable Jetpacks and Photon Cannons as well as a Vehicle Boost System. Here’s an excerpt from a Google Doc containing the information.
BUGGYJETPACK1_NAME: ATV JETPACK ALPHA
BUGGYJETPACK1_DESCRIPTION: A gas-propelled vehicular jetpack system that can be fitted to the Hybrid ATV, to allow short bursts of flight.
BUGGYJETPACK2_NAME: ATV JETPACK BETA
BUGGYJETPACK2_DESCRIPTION: An upgrade to the vehicle jetpack system that increases the maximum altitude and flight range of the unit, improving the versatility of the Hybrid ATV.
BUGGYJETPACK3_NAME: ATV JETPACK GAMMA
BUGGYJETPACK3_DESCRIPTION: A further upgrade for the vehicle jetpack system, maximising the altitude and flight range of the unit, and rendering the Hybrid ATV suitable for even the most extreme environment.
BUGGYBOOST1_NAME: ATV TUNE-UP ALPHA
BUGGYBOOST1_DESCRIPTION: Improved torque and acceleration, toughened shocks, and a longer range between refuelling for the Hybrid ATV.
BUGGYBOOST2_DESCRIPTION: Improved air intakes for higher horsepower, ECU tuning, a strengthened chassis, and a longer range between refuelling for the Hybrid ATV.
BUGGYBOOST3_DESCRIPTION: A high-flow exhaust system for added speed and acceleration, active traction tyres, and maximum range between refuelling for the Hybrid ATV.
BUGGYGUN1_NAME: ATV PHOTON CANNON ALPHA
BUGGYGUN1_DESCRIPTION: Standard ATV-mounted weapons system, comprising twin small-round photon cannons with a dedicated power source.
BUGGYGUN2_NAME: ATV PHOTON CANNON BETA
BUGGYGUN2_DESCRIPTION:Improved sighting and recoil dampening, and a longer charge capacity for the Hybrid ATV’s mounted weapons system.
BUGGYGUN3_NAME: ATV PHOTON CANNON GAMMA
BUGGYGUN3_DESCRIPTION: Improved firing rate, larger capacity and maximised photonic charge for the Hybrid ATV’s mounted weapons system.
BLD_VEHICLEGARAGE_NAME: ATV STORAGE
BLD_VEHICLEGARAGE_DESCRIPTION: A proximity-locked, secure parking facility for the Hybrid ATV personal transport.
Land vehicles make a lot of sense considering one of the game’s major failings is the sluggish pace of exploring entire worlds at a time. ATV/Buggy hybrid vehicles would solve a lot of the downtime issues and could potentially make exploration a great deal more engaging. Furthermore, the presence of mounted weapons on the ATV could also point to the potential for land battles. Land combat, as it stands now only consists of fighting off sentries and aggressive wildlife but mostly when you’ve done something to provoke them.
Could the pirates that you encounter in space, eventually come down to land (and maybe settle?) on a given world. I’m just spit-balling now, but features like these would go a long way to adding some excitement to No Man’s Sky’s enormous galactic sandbox.
