You’re unlikely to run into another player in No Man’s Sky, but that doesn’t stop the endless space exploration simulator from featuring a robust resource-gathering and trading system. In fact, it might just mean you get to keep more goodies for yourself.
In the latest No Man’s Sky video from Hello Games and PlayStation, “Trade,” we see an explorer touch down on a grassy planet. But instead of simply wandering the surface looking for something he can use, a scanner ability appears to mark natural resources in the vicinity. Gathering the items once they’re found is as simple as holding in a button, not unlike the recent Far Cry games. Others, however, have to be extracted from rock. Naturally (or unnaturally) this means blasting them to smithereens with a laser, at which point the usable materials zip over to you like iron to a magnet.
Trading posts located on planets and larger space stations let you then sell the materials you’ve gathered or upgrade your gear. As with the open-ended nature of the game’s exploration, it looks like you’ll have to figure out which combinations of materials work best together on you own; director Sean Murray told IGN last year that players will have to “figure out” how the game’s various components interact.
Finding blueprints, however, looks like it will help to fill in the gaps. A very brief section of the video shows a downed pod holding the schematics for a “Widebeam Adaptor” and lists its necessary materials as iron, heridium, and plutonium. The tool itself allows you to mine multiple targets at the same time, as well as damage enemies who try to interrupt you.
No Man’s Sky is out for PS4 and PC on August 9.
