Another No Man Sky's patch has appeared on Steam, this one relatively minor in most aspects but significant in one particular way: Responding to complaints from players who experienced trouble with the game while using unsupported mods, Hello Games has added a "mod detection" function that will display a loading screen warning when mods are detected. The update also features a new method for installing mods that should prevent future updates from breaking the game.
The patch notes in full:
- Following reports of some people experiencing issues with the game while unsupported mods are installed, we’ve added mod detection which will show a warning screen on loading when mods are detected. A mouse click or button press will dismiss this screen. We have also introduced a new method for mod installation which should prevent player’s games from breaking when a new update is released. For details please see the ‘DISABLEMODS.TXT’ file in the \GAMEDATA\PCBANKS folder.
- Allowed remapping of the build menu and quick menu commands to support Azerty keyboards.
- We’ve enabled a temporary workaround for the SLI issues people are experiencing. If you are running in SLI, please disable TAA and the game should run. We are looking into a more permanent solution to this issue.
- Fixed an issue which, in some rare cases, prevented NPCs from giving you mission critical dialogue.
- Fixed a bug which could cause core items to be transferred from exosuit inventory to starship inventory.
- Fixed a number of rare crashes (if you continue to experience crashes, please send a crash report and include your crash dumps).
- Fix for monitor detection on PCs with 3rd party remote desktop or screen sharing applications.
- Running the game via the .exe file should no longer give Steam Init errors.
- Fixed an issue where underwater buildings could spawn without doors which in rare cases would mean the NPC missions could not be completed. (Note: If you are still being pointed to missing facilities during the NPC questlines, you can either claim a new base and re-build the NPC terminal, or if you have a Freighter, remove the NPC terminal from your base and rebuild it in the Freighter. The NPC should then give you new coordinates. We are still working on a more permanent fix for this issue).
After long stretches of silence about the state of No Man's Sky, which led many players to assume it had been abandoned outright, it still feels strange to see these updates coming so frequently. But it's also a big step in the right direction. No Man's Sky may have been disappointing, but I think a lot of the unhappiness had as much to do with Hello Games' unwillingness to acknowledge and address complaints as it did with the game itself.
There's still a lot of ground to make up, but if Hello Games can continue to bring NMS closer to what was originally promised—and keep players in the loop while it does—then maybe there's still hope for a comparatively happy ending.