Though modder Robert Prest hasn’t even played No Man’s Sky yet, he took three weeks to replicate the game in Id Software’s shooter, based only on what he viewed in trailers. Using code from another one of his projects, “DoomZ,” Prest created a spacecraft that looks beautifully terrible, with dice hanging from the dashboard and “boldly go where no man has gone before” misspelled on the display in front of him.
But when the ship breaks through a planet’s atmosphere and lands on its surface, it’s clear that this is more than just a silly joke. Like the real No Man’s Sky, the planets are randomly generated and contain minerals, enemies, and foliage. Prest also included the mining tool and jump-pack from the original game, allowing players to quickly bounce around planets and collect resources. If you come across a space station, you can even exchange your resources for other items at vending machines or opt to purchase a faster spacecraft.
The game does have some … different features from those of either Doom or No Man’s Sky. Some aliens have Neil deGrasse Tyson and creative director Sean Murray’s head, but they still have their own alien languages that you have to decipher before you can interact with them. The “center of the universe” you can reach resembles a Silicon Valley town fair, and it gives you the option to reset individual elements of the center, including the alien species and even the topography.
If Robert Prest is able to put together something this complex and hilarious in just three weeks, we can only imagine what a few months would allow him to do. The mod isn’t currently available to the public, but he promises that you’ll be able to put your own face on aliens eventually.
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