I remember when NMS was announced. I was pretty excited about it. But of course when it was released it had huge problems. But, hey, at least it came out (<i>cough</i> Star Citizen <i>cough</i>). So I skipped it.<p>Fast forward 2 years to the Next update, which by all accounts was a huge improvement in many areas. So I picked it up earlier this year and played putting a fair number of hours into it. It wasn't problem-free but honestly I enjoyed it.<p>Fast forward again to later this year and the Beyond update comes out. This has been another massive improvement. There are a couple of minor things I don't like but honestly, it's a decent way to aimlessly wander the galaxy. It still has RNG in getting the best ships, which I find annoying and tedious, but it's enjoyable.<p>One of big problems in Next was that base building had SO many problems. Beyond fixed a bunch but it's still a problem. If Minecraft has taught us anything, it's that people will invest a huge amount of time in building a base. It's an expression of identity. It's a hobby that's an easy time sink. It's something the devs really need to double down on.<p>But I really respect the fact that the devs have kept updating this game. It's easy to get 100+ hours out of this game now (and I have quite a few more than that).<p>Still, I feel like there are a bunch of lost opportunities:<p>- Climate is global on a planet or moon. Why no ecosystems?<p>- No tidally locked worlds<p>- Gravity is the same<p>- No running water<p>- No geological features (geysers, volcanoes, etc)<p>I've built a giant glass cube on some random world. I don't know how long the servers for this game will be around but it amuses me that years from now someone may randomly come across what I built.<p>So archaeology in games like this fascinates me.
"As part of my University of York Archaeology PhD thesis, I conducted a case study into what is now called the “Legacy Hub ”. The goals of the project were not only to determine if (and how) archaeology could be conducted on human settlements within a digital environment, but also delved into 3D-printing human-made architecture, creating a new kind of map, undertaking photogrammetry of sites past and present, recording epigraphic evidence, and working hand-in-glove with the Hub’s leadership, which included an ambassador for the community’s heritage. "<p>Wait, what?
I don't know if it's insane or groundbreaking to do a PhD Thesis on archaeology in a video game.
Also, NMS's subreddit is one of the most cohesive and unite community for a videogame, as far as I know.
They are extremely supportive with Hello Games and continuously give them feedback for the enhancements, which made the game much more enjoyable than when it was launched.
Similar studies could be done on long running Minecraft servers. Back when I was playing a lot of MC one of the things I enjoyed was exploring abandoned bases. It's really interesting to see what happens to abandoned bases / settlements in open world games.<p>I once had a large base on a modded Minecraft server, with multiple buildings, lots of machinery, nuclear reactors, power lines running everywhere, etc. Eventually I stopped playing and announced to everyone else my stuff was free for the taking.<p>A few months later I decided to hop on and see what was left. It was almost like you'd expect to happen in real life.<p>The buildings were mostly intact but had missing doors and broken windows. All of the most valuable stuff was stripped out. There was some worthless stuff left, like food in vanilla chests. My nuclear reactors had been partially disassembled, the most valuable parts scavenged.<p>It felt like visiting an abandoned factory in Detroit. It was once glorious and now stood in ruin.
Huh. Was listening to an archived Skyrim Addict podcast episode last night, and two of the hosts agreed that this update that destroyed all their hundreds or thousands of hours of work so that they could never play it again, but they recommended it to players who had never played it before.
Anyone interested in the topic should also check out 2b2t, which is one of the oldest Minecraft anarchy multiplayer servers. It's filled with history and ruins.
This game is such a train wreck. It’s got everything I should want and nothing that compels me to play it. Every update is a false promise. I wish it were good.
I would love to play this game so much but the colours are just too much. I can't really explain why but I tried just watching a friend playing it and it was too much.<p>I wish they would have a toned down version or Mod or something.
Was the data collected manually? As far as I can tell the author went to 30 sites and created hundreds of data files per site. The effort is impressive
Is this related to that disaster game that people complained about it at launch so much that Valve changed their return policy for this game alone to allow people get their refunds back after a longer than usual period? Why would anyone play this game anyway? Also I think Nixon was the best US president in modern history, his "A sucker is born every minute" was way ahead of its time.