The hotly anticipated No Man’s Sky proved to be a problematic release when it launched in August, as many players agreed that the finished product didn’t live up to their expectations of the scale and scope of the game. Now, after months of near radio silence, developer Hello Games has announced a major update. It adds new modes, and what could be the beginnings of a dune buggy of sorts for you to ride in.
“This week Hello Games will be releasing an update to No Man’s Sky,” read the post announcing the update on the studio’s website. “We’re calling it The Foundation Update, because we have added the foundations of base building, and also because this is putting in place a foundation for things to come.”
The patch was released on Sunday morning, and response from players has been broadly positive. While the Foundation Update doesn’t address every complaint about the game, it does introduce some frequently requested features among various smaller tweaks and fixes.
The Foundation Update is headlined by the addition of two new gameplay modes; Creative and Survival. The former option removes much of the challenge from the game for players who are more interested in building and exploring than fighting for their lives, while the latter does the opposite by raising its difficulty significantly.
In game, players can now build bases on planets in order to house helpful equipment and even alien assistants. There’s also the option to construct a frigate, a huge craft that acts as a base that flies between planets, according to a report from Ars Technica.
The Foundation Update doesn’t suddenly turn No Man’s Sky into the game everyone was looking forward to ahead of its initial release, but it’s a good start. If Hello Games can follow up this patch with more updates of the same quality and ambition, the studio might be able to save face after the enormous backlash it suffered at the time of the initial release.
The patch is available now for both the PlayStation 4 and PC versions of the game.
More recently, Reddit user Eegandj found a number of files that suggest there may be a buggy (a vehicle, not a bug) in the game. Alleged leaks show an unfinished 3D model of the vehicle, as well as icons, textures, and most damningly, a folder named “buggy.” But of course, that doesn’t mean such a vehicle will make it into the final cut of No Man’s Sky. That said, you can check out what the game would look like with it here.
Updated on 11-29-2016 by Lulu Chang: Added reports of a potential car in ‘No Man’s Sky’
