No Man's Discovery

No Man's Sky has been one of the more hyped releases in a long time. There has been some noted (See: elsewhere) differences between what we were told we would get, and what we got. Backlash ensued. There are many who have attempted to find new and interesting ways to shit on Hello Games, and their ambitious project. Like stowaways on the hype train. Products of all varieties are often misrepresented in advertising. As consumers we know this by now. I'm not saying it's ok. That it exist and we should adapt accordingly. For example, do you believe menu boards in fast food restaurants? No. No one does. We know that it is just advertising. Demonstrating the absolute best case scenario. You could purchase a quintillion cheeseburgers before you find one that looks anything like it's advertising material. We've adapted to advertising like that in other facets of life. But we believe the demonstrations at Trade Shows?

The amount of content is this game is a too much by design. 18 quintillion planets. That number is impossible to comprehend. To see each one for only 1 second would take a 585 billion years. It's been said that these planets are mostly quite similar. That there isn't a stark level of differentiation between them. As if they all came from a single source. Which is exactly what we were told would be happening. All of these planets have been generated by an algorithm. A set of rules to define an entire universe. Even in "reality" there are scores of humans trying desperately to understand the physical and biological algorithms that have created the universe our flesh vessels exist within.

All of these planets don't even exist in the game or on a server. There something to be said that in a game of this scale most of the data is audio. Pieces for the audio engine to pull from as it procedurally generates music for your experience. Instead planets are generated by a system of seed numbers on your gaming machine when you're there. Not stored and loaded information. When you leave a system it no longer exists. The next time you go there it will be recreated exactly the same.

If you find my home system, it will be the same to you as it is to me. When no one is there, it doesn't exist. Some changes are logged in the servers to call forth when a player enters. The destruction of space stations is an example from Wikipedia. Interestingly enough, the PS4 version and the PC versions log everything on separate servers. So there are two parallel universes being explored. Comparing the two after a few years could be an interesting way to show the differences human interaction can create over time.

A purpose in this game is to discover new planets, animals, rocks and so on. All logged on the servers so that other players may wander through the universe and find evidence of your existence in it. I want ask though. How much merit is there in discovering something inside a virtual universe? To me it doesn't seem like a great deal right in 2016. Just one of the mechanics in a game I am playing. However as our technology develops and people find themselves increasingly engrossed in additional realities these questions may find importance.

Some people don't consider E-Sport to be legitimate competition because it happens within a virtual reality. Do you think E-Sport achievements deserve recognition within the physical world? Are we all competing against each other for discovery within No Man's Sky? Does this legitimise being the first to make the discovery. Even if the discovery was just a new, unique expression of a mathematical algorithm? You had real competition and you won!

I am relatively grounded in this reality. This physical world is the first one I experienced. It is my "Mother reality". It will always be, for me, the standard to which all other (Alternate, Augmented, Virtual) realities are compared to. This may not be the "Mother Reality" for all humanity in the future however. No Man's Sky is never going to be the world someone first learns how to exist within however.

Let's use the Matrix for an example. If while plugged into the Matrix, you discover a new plant no one has ever seen before. That discovery would be a real one for everyone plugged in. That's the only reality available to them. To them, it is their "Mother Reality". They would be credited (hopefully) and recorded in history within that reality. It has merit right? But in Zion, does that merit carry over? Even for the same person? By extension, it totally counts that I have a level 100 Tauren Warrior right?

How does, if at all, human achievement translate between realities? Do realities have their own historical records. Separate to each other. On different servers perhaps? What happens if you compare the two. In the case of No Man's Sky, the time of discovery is relative to the date in our "mother reality". How will that happen if the game is released on Xbox however? If I discovered something one month into the games release, So it has been discovered 1 month after the recording of history in that universe. It then comes out a year later on Xbox, and the same thing is discovered 1 week after its release. Only a week after the beginning of recorded history in that universe. Although it's a year later in the timeline of "mother reality". Its all relative to itself, but how do they relate to each other, and how do we relate to it?

No Man's Sky has inspired me to spend more time in thought, then playing it. Invited me to think a little more on what our conciousness is. Is it just a sum of sensory inputs, recalled memories and social ideas? Is it a great multidimensional force. A soul. Even now I only feel a mild call to explore this interactive wallpaper generator. I may find a cool planet to share with people. Possibly an interesting species, or something that looks like a dick. I've heard that playing only to "pass" the game will be unrewarding. Jumping from new planet, to new moon, to new system will ultimately find none of them fulfilling. The more time expanding your understanding and knowledge of fewer planets has seemed to be more enjoyable for me and others. Far more gratifying for sure.

There is no reward system built into this "game". Some of the backlash is towards that. It will not reward your efforts. I feel the point is to be free to explore a universe. How are you free to do anything in a game, while an objective exists? Even then your free exploration is a defiance to the objective. There are some games where you could hear "I played 40 hours before touching the main narrative." There is a bit of a difference. There is usually still someone else telling you what to do. Scripted side-quest. A stumbled upon escort mission. An out of place, poorly voiced, NPC. Sweet Lewt. Someone will give you direction. Meaning. Purpose. No Man's Sky doesn't hold your hand and tell you how to spend your time. It understands that it is your time to spend. However you please. It just provides a vast, kinda bland space to do it in. Sometimes it's relaxing to exist within a space were no one will tell you what to do, absolutely nothing matters, and yet you still feel a little engaged.