The next No Man’s Sky update makes planets feel more real

The developers of No Man’s Sky have announced their next update, which is dubbed Worlds Part I. According to Hello Games founder Sean Murray, this update will be one of the game’s prettiest yet, literally changing the way players see the universe. “In No Man’s Sky, what you see on screen is generated by the computer,” Murray wrote. “The level of variety we are achieving is far beyond what was possible before.”

The update is largely graphical, adding a host of new weather and terrain features designed to make planets feel even more real. Water will produce waves and reflections, waves will now respond to different weather phenomena, and the game will finally let ships land directly on the water. Worlds Part I will add new atmospheric conditions as well. Lava flows will belch sparks into the air while fog, blizzards, rain, and clouds make the procedurally generated locations feel more like living planets.

According to Murray, creating realistic clouds presented a unique challenge to the team. With the Worlds Part I update, new cloud technology — no, not that kind — will introduce even more variety to planets. He also shared that the update will have a Starship Troopers vibe featuring a new mech players are going to need to fight off enemies.

Murray wrote about how new technology and work on Hello Games’ next project, Leave No Trace, has allowed the team to go back and work on No Man’s Sky. “Over the last five years making the game, we’ve learnt new things, and we’re feeding that back into No Man’s Sky,” Murray said.

The update is available today, but with a name like World’s Part I, you can naturally be sure that a part two won’t be far behind.