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No Man’s Sky Is About More Than Just Space Exploration
No Man's Sky Is About More Than Just Space Exploration,No Man's Sky has come a long way from its humble and rocky beginnings. Now in its stride, it seeks to expand its horizons.

No Man’s Sky Is About More Than Just Space Exploration

Hello Games' ambitious and infamous No Man's Sky was marketed as an infinite galaxy full of worlds to discover and anomalies to find. It promised endless exploration and content for intrepid deep space travelers. Despite its incredibly rocky and widely-mocked launch in 2016, Hello Games has continued to supplement the game with constant updates and frequent overhauls to the point where the game is almost unrecognizable from the original build.

Amid No Man's Sky's myriad improvements to the galactic exploration premise, in recent updates, Hello Games has begun to stray from its original vision for the game. Various updates have upgraded the NPC behaviors, faction relationship systems, and the more civil and culture-based parts of the game. The Expeditions update brought about a new community-focused game mode about reaching specific goals in a shared universe with other players. No Man's Sky has changed to accommodate styles of play that don't revolve around simply flying and exploring unknown planets.

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No Man's Sky Focuses on Starships, Piracy & Combat

When exploring No Man's Sky's varied and randomized planets, sometimes players can happen across absolutely stunning and beautiful worlds that could make for a wonderful home. Alternatively, players may wish to be the trailblazers in establishing new civilized settlements on distant planets. No Man's Sky's Frontiers update perfectly allows this fantasy to come to life, as it added settlements and the ability to become the mayor of a town.

Those familiar with Fallout 4's similar mechanic may feel right at home, though No Man's Sky's take on the settlement building mechanic is a lot more bureaucratic in nature. Players build their settlements building by building, based on their settlers' needs. They can hold festivals and events to boost morale and must resolve conflicts that may pop up between disgruntled settlers. Additionally, players must also watch their budgeting, oversee what resources the town produces, and keep the town not only happy but productive and functioning.

Money, Trade & Commerce Have Found Their Place in No Man's Sky

Of course, a game about conquering the stars and beyond doesn't always have to involve fighting or legislature. If there's money to be had, then there will be people out there to amass as much as they can. In addition to a living and breathing galaxy, No Man's Sky also boasts a living and ever-changing separate economy for every single system. With a freighter, a hauler ship in tow, and good market sense, players can spend all their time (and money) being a merchant or a hauler in No Man's Sky.

No Man's Sky's markets are independent of the trades and whims of the population at large, but the player's actions do have an effect on them. None affect the markets more than the surrounding environment of a system. Systems can be separated and sorted by their monetary standing and the goods with which they deal. For example, a tech-based system sells its tech at low prices, whereas an intrepid player could sell the same tech at a premium in a research-based system that will really need it. As they sell, players can buy research materials, which in turn sell high in a mercantile system.

No Man's Sky was once branded as the ultimate space exploration game, inviting the most curious of spacefarers to its reach, but the times have changed. As of late, with the newer updates like Outlaws bringing an official stance on space piracy, Sentinel, which adds more lore and depth to ground combat, and Endurance, an overhaul to the freighter system, it's evident that the game has reached a point where it wants to expand past simple "exploration." No Man's Sky is quickly becoming a title for everyone interested in the stars, and there has never been a better time to jump in.