18 QUINTILLION PLANETS
Space sims are in this year. Hundreds seem to be flying out of the depths of deep space. From the indies of Limit Theory and Rodina to the huge, massively funded such as Star Citizen or Elite Dangerous. Personally I am waiting for one of the greatest looking games ever: No Mans sky. It is coming out later this year on PS4 and 2016 for PC, and it looks incredible. If you don't know what No Mans sky is, its probably the biggest game ever. It seems like the traditional, zip around shooty, tradey, explory space sim, until you land on a planet. Each planet is, well, planet sized. But wait! There's more! There are over 18 quintillion planets, in fact they think it may be infinite, and each planet is revolving around a sun in a beautiful solar system. How do they do this? Through procedural generation. Using a complex equation, each planet is generated according to the gas, materials and other objects on or near the planet.
They even apply the same types of equations to the animals, trees, rocks, so nothing, not even the species of animal will be the same from planet to planet. Even ships use procedural generation, switching and adapting the modular parts so you will never have the same ships as someone else. The game is based around exploration, but you can trade or fight ( if you want you can wipe out an entire species!). The will be enemy ships, robots and they are hinting at a "malevolent force" in the galaxy. The game looks beautiful so you should check it out:
My lust for planet exploration growing, I decided to play Rodina. This is a nice little indie game, with an pretty style and aesthetic, kind of cartoony. At the moment it is in early access so it is a bit limited but it still more than covers what it's worth. The story is a bit of a mystery at the moment but all I know is... actually I have no idea... I was lost in the games incredible scenery for most of it. You go around doing missions and picking up parts for your ship, your ONE ship. You don't change ships but you can modify the layout of the interior to make it yours, adding beds, toilets, scanners etc. The dogfighting is amazing, using the mouse to turn and the WASD to strafe. But that isn't the highlight! The planets are all realistically scaled, which you can get out and walk about meaning it would take months to circumnavigate it. It is amazing to stand on a mountain, and watch the sun rise, and they are so big the distance looks like a static bit map background.
There is nothing like dogfighting high in the sky, shooting an enemy down and watching them fall, trailing smoke all the way to the barren surface. As No Man's Sky is still on the horizon, and you are looking for a fun, huge space/planet exploration game, check out Rodina.
Now, back to shooting womp rats, NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS.
Now, back to shooting womp rats, NEVER TELL ME THE ODDS.