No Man's Sky News

Dune comes to No Man's Sky in the Halloween update

The big No Man's Sky Halloween update has brought a touch of Dune to Hello Games' epic space sim, with this week's Expedition 4: Emergence adding giant sandworms to the mix - as well as the ability to ride them.

One thing is certain: there aren't enough Dune games. Despite being the template for the entire RTS genre and a huge influence on many other gaming genres too, the last notable game based on Frank Herbert's space opera was Emperor: Battle For Dune over twenty years ago. Funcom, the creator of Conan Exiles, is currently working on a Dune survival MMO to tie in with the movies - but that's still a ways away.

Now developer Hello Games has decided to readdress the balance and has brought Dune to its own space epic in the Halloween "Emergence" update. The latest Expedition adds a proper narrative - for the first time - set on the barren world of Wasan, where the player has to investigate the colossal Titan Worms and the involvement of the worm-worshipping native cult.

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How Microsoft's cloud tech helps keep No Man's Sky's Expeditions a surprise

In a talk at this year's Develop: Brighton conference Iain Brown, senior programmer at No Man's Sky developer Hello Games, has given some insight into how Microsoft's Azure cloud computing tech has helped players share the game's procedurally generated universe. And, it turns out it's come in handy in helping to bring one of this year's biggest new features to life - and then keep them a surprise.

In a case study talk with Harvey Eagle, director of Azure gaming at Microsoft at the conference, Brown explains how the service's cloud-based tech has helped keep players interested. It seems No Man's Sky's Expeditions, the shared, seasonal exploratory mode rolled into the space game earlier this year, are a great example. For context, these are time-limited events that arrive in-game on a regular basis, though each is "unique" in terms of its exact duration and the milestones (open-ended challenges) players will have to hit to complete it. So, naturally, these Expeditions are something Hello Games would want to keep a surprise until they're rolled out and ready for players to discover.

"We don't want people hacking the game client to unlock this mode early or seeing what's coming, or whatever, so all that data lives in the cloud," Brown explains, referring to the Expeditions. "It lives in table storage within Azure and then, at a given time, it will be downloaded to all the clients as they need it."

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No Man's Sky's new update lets you ride on flying worms

At this point, it has become a cliché to say that space sim No Man's Sky has come a long way since its initial release. And yet, is there any better example of its long development journey than the sandworms? Initially shown in pre-release trailers only to be cut from the release version, they were finally added in some recent updates. Now the most recent update and seasonal event adds new sandworm varieties, including rideable sandworms. The worm has indeed turned.

Студия Hello Games выпустила новую экспедицию No Man's Sky, получившую название Emergence. Основным отличием от предыдущих трёх является наличии сюжета, в котором фигурируют Титановые Черви.

No Man's Sky's latest expedition introduces ridable sandworms

A new seasonal event begins in No Man’s Sky today and it’s a new expedition.

Expedition Four: Emergence will run over the course of Halloween and is the first expedition to feature a narrative, and is also a mini-update, bringing with it a host of enhancements across the game.

In Expedition Four: Emergence, travelers will find themselves stranded on the planet Wasan, which is prone to dust storms and is infested with Titan Worms. Your job is to locate the Titan Worm impact sites, destroy the Hungering Tendrils, and collect the Vile Spawn that lingers behind.