After months of silence and thousands of gamers abandoning the the game for greener pastures, we finally got confirmation that Hello Games was still working on new developments for No Man’s Sky . Given the studio’s track record for obscurity, I expected to be kept in the dark longer concerning features for the update. But maybe Hello Games is learning the power of keeping their users informed because only two days after the initial press release, we have a ton of info on the new features in the Foundation Update. Major ones broken down below:
New Game Modes:
The most major addition to the game are two alternate game modes. The old standard mode has been renamed ‘normal’ and it has been joined by two new ones.
Casual Mode: ‘allows players to explore the universe without limits, and build a huge base.’
Survival Mode: ‘really changes the game, creating a much more challenging endurance experience.’
Until we get to play them, we can only speculate what the new survival challenges entail, but hopefully it provides a challenge that add depth to the game instead of just making the grindy parts grindier. If the only change is getting less zinc per harvest, then count me out.
Base Building:
This update will also add base building. Base building as a concept in No Man’s Sky always confused me because much of the game seems to be about traveling further into the space and not returning to planets already visited. Unless they fix the star map, I don’t think I could find planets I left again even if I wanted to. It does look like this is addressed as the update includes ‘terminus teleporters at space stations’ so you can ‘travel to and from your base at will.’
Base building will focus on craftable modular components that you can mix and match and decorate. You can recruit aliens to work there and set up farms.
Freighters:
Building a base may be the cheapest way to make a home, but it isn’t the only option. This update will also add massive freighters to the game. Freighters will act as mobile bases and you can teleport them to your system at will.
Like bases they are customizable but can also store massive amounts of resources. It seems you will be able to send them to different planets where the trade rates are most beneficial to you. You can be sure these will cost a pretty penny.
Playability Changes:
One of the biggest problems with No Man’s Sky on release was the game had many small gameplay choices that made the overall experience increasingly painful to play. That powerful moment of finding the perfect planet was overwhelmed by swapping inventory back and forth between your suit and ship until your thumbs bleed. I think it’s safe to say if some of these small annoyances had been fixed by launch there wouldn’t have been the mass exodus away from the game after only a few weeks.
Thankfully, it looks like some of the worst of these problems will be fixed with the Foundation Update. After the update, inventory slots will be able to hold five times the amount of a resource. Wow, really wish they had made this update two weeks after the game came out instead of waiting until base building was ready. This, to me, is the single most needed patch that will take away a lot of the needless pain points from playing.
In a less crucial but equally welcome fix, you will now see specific icons for each resource when you scan for it. E.G. Carbon and Plutonium will have their own icons and not both be marked by a red lightning bolt. This will save you meaningless headaches of chasing every bit of carbon when all you need is a little Plutonium to take off.
There are a ton more smaller changes coming with the Foundation Update. While I’m excited enough to blow the dust off my disk and try it out, I can’t help but feel that some of the minor playability tweaks could have been made earlier. Regardless, this is a huge update with a lot of exciting new content. Check out the full patch notes and get ready, Foundation Update should hit this week. Will it be enough to get you back into the cockpit? Let us know in the comments.
