Returning to No Man’s Sky

Just over a year ago I did something I very rarely do these days, which is buy a game at launch. Due to a daft backlog and not much time to play I tend to wait for heavy discounts before committing, but No Man’s Sky grabbed me with its early trailers and I couldn’t resist diving in to explore its universe. (more…)

Virtual photography gets easy

By which I mean that it’s technically far more achievable than previously; the ability to take good images is a whole other thing, just as DSLRs have made professional quality photography available to all without putting photogs out of business.*

I’m specifically referring to game photography here – the art of taking great screenshots, essentially. Games are inherently visual and always have been, with screenshots being part of their marketing since the earliest days. Three distinct changes have occurred which make taking in-game images suddenly more interesting. (more…)

I lost my spaceship in No Man’s Sky

I wrote a while back that I only started enjoying Far Cry 3 when I applied my own artificial restrictions to its free-form playground (in that case, using only the bow, despite the plethora of weaponry on offer). Taking an accidentally similar approach to No Man’s Sky, I gave myself a similar limiter: not having a spaceship. In this instance, though, it was entirely accidental. (more…)

No Man’s Sky reminds me of Morrowind

No Man’s Sky is more or less exactly what I wanted it to be. It could absolutely be so much more, and I hope Hello Games keep innovating and pushing it forward, but it’s already something unique and remarkable. The most surprising aspect for me is that it’s recaptured the magic of a very different game:Morrowind, the Elder Scrolls game that preceded Oblivion and Skyrim. (more…)