No Man's Sky goes 5.0 with a sweeping tech update that's 'adding things the community has almost given up hope on ever happening'

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At this point, I think No Man's Sky might be the most developed non-MMO in history. Hello Games is hard at work on a whole new open world the size of the actual Earth, and yet, somehow, the siren song of the studio's initially disastrous (and subsequently more than redeemed) space sim keeps pulling it back for more updates.

The latest one? Worlds Part 1, or No Man's Sky 5.0. The patch notes have just gone live, and it's set to make the galaxy prettier than it's ever been before. Introducing "new technology, new flora, new fauna and new gameplay," Hello Games says it's installed a whole bunch of highfalutin new graphics tech to make the universe sizzle like never before. "I think we’re adding things the community has almost given up hope on ever happening," says Hello boss Sean Murray.

"New water technology can create waves, reflections," says the studio, meaning "ocean planets feel completely new." On top of that, planets now have simulated wind patterns, and the waves on those fancy-looking seas are now "dynamic and react to weather." There's also new "volumetrics and atmospherics" across the surfaces of planets, and "Rolling fog, rain, blizzards, lava sparks, combine with wind and clouds. It changes how planets feel to explore, [and] adds so much more life."

So, you know, a whole lot of stuff that makes planets totally pop off, but all of that comes with new gameplay stuff, too: Ships can land on water now, there's new flora and fauna, and Hello has put in a new, "very Starship Troopers-inspired" expedition for you to embark on. I'm pretty sure every game even tangentially associated with space has to stick in some Starship Troopers stuff in the wake of Helldivers-mania.

You can watch Murray go through all the changes in the No Man's Sky deep dive video (above) the studio helpfully assembled to show off all the new tech it's putting in. And don't worry, just in case you thought this one might finally sate the company's mad lust to keep developing this game (and hey, I'm not complaining), Murray notes that the update "is called Worlds Part 1, because I guess obviously… more will follow."

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.