Decided, in the wake of the newest trailer and resulting questions about the purpose of the game resurfacing, that I would update and refresh this thread, try to weed out the hypotheses I made that turned out to likely be wrong, and add new information where possible.
But first! http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/12/05/take-a-30-minute-behind-the-scenes-tour-of-no-mans-sky.aspx?utm_content=buffer049fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer A thirty minute interview with the developer, including some look at (what was stressed to be an early build) of the game, though for those of you hoping for space combat, there's mostly a lot of looking around, assisted by the debug camera in some cases. x3 The video and interview is about the tech and process of developing the game, not the gameplay and such. That and he rambles a lot, so anyone hoping for a concise, PR-prepared interview is going to end up frustrated. Still, I was entertained!
Keep in mind, some of the information will be coming from a supposed leak on Neogaf on the contents of a Game Informer article coming in January, but because that's obviously a shaky source at the moment, I shall be putting any information from that leak in italics, until it is either confirmed, or I can find an official source that corroborates.
Also, it's entirely possible new details will surface in the near future, be it from the Playstation Experience, or Game Informer's promised coverage. If that happens, I will add it in bold so anyone who comes back can find it easily.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
Technically speaking, the purpose of the game is to try and reach the center of the galaxy. You start on the outskirts of it, where the planets are pretty reasonable in terms of design and threat level, and you work towards the middle, where it has been hinted that something quite interesting resides. However, this is pretty much 'the purpose' in the same way the Ender Dragon was the purpose of Minecraft; a nebulous, unspecified end goal that you could ignore, or even be unaware of, preferring instead to build golden cock'n'balls, or in the case of NMS, explore the galaxy for new sights and new experiences. Should you choose to undertake this task, however, it has estimated that going from your starting point to the center of the galaxy will take between 40-100 hours, the 40 hours presumably being if you are both skilled enough to avoid getting blown up a bunch, and don't spend any wasted time exploring or being sidetracked.
At least two constraints shown have been fuel, without which you aren't getting very far, and the penalty for death; if your ship gets blown up, you jettison in an escape pod, landing on the nearest inhabitable planet. It has been suggested that your credit balance is unaffected, but you lose your ship and its cargo, with your next goal being acquiring a new ship to get you off the ground. However, details on HOW you go about this are unclear. It is suggested that if you die on planet, you are returned to the escape pod, losing any items that you collected SINCE leaving the pod. (I.e. your suit and weapon upgrades remain safe.) Depending on how difficult it is to acquire another ship, this could make a crash landing very challenging, and on the central worlds it may be devastating.
But what are the underlying mechanics? Well, you have a ship (with weapons,) a survival suit, and a handheld weapon/tool, so pretty much everything that fits with those, be it exploration, piracy, or gathering resources to sell back at a profit. It has been suggested that most, if not all, systems will have some form of starbase or trading post available, where you can go to drop off anything you've collected, in exchange for credits. All upgrades are purchased with said credits, and rather than upgrading an existing ship, you purchase new ships with enhanced capabilities. In the case of new ship purchases, at the very least, this adds an element of chance, as different starbases will have different vessels available, with different capabilities. You can, as some have put it, 'just fly around looking at planets,' gaining credits by discovering new species and cataloging new resource sources, or you can try to become an interstellar scourge and blow shit up; there are going to be fleets and ships aplenty that are NPCs, and if you're tough enough, you might be able to steal their stuff... keeping in mind that such an action will turn their faction against you.
However, it should be noted that these mechanics aren't likely to have the same depth and complexity as, say, Eve Online, Star Citizen, or Elite: Dangerous, and might best be described as streamlined, or 'arcady.' This is based mostly off my personal guess, and might be why the developer has focused more on showing off their galaxy than any underlying flying/trading/crafting, as it doesn't look like this mechanics will be reinventing the wheel by any stretch. So somehow hoping for massive techtrees and a robust crafting system may be disappointed.
The further you get towards the center of the galaxy, the more messed up things become, with both spaceborne and planetary threats becoming more twisted and more dangerous, making it increasingly difficult to progress. You might get attacked in space by pirates, or assaulted on land by some savage creature, nowhere is truly safe. In addition, some planets are said to be populated with ancient robots, left behind to try and preserve the planet; if you're wandering around minding your own business, they'll pay you no heed, but if you begin killing animals, or mining resources, they may grow increasingly hostile.
There is no planned voice chat, as far as the leak suggests, but you may be able to see the position of your friends on the galaxy map, as well as the hint at an in-game messaging system. Details quite unclear, however.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=944662
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/21626/20140124/man-s-sky-news-5-things-know.htm
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-09-a-future-that-has-a-history-introducing-no-mans-sky
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/10/interview-no-mans-sky-and-procedural-generation/
If there's any information I missed that folks want to share, feel free. Same for any questions, if there's something I can clear up. Personally, I am both extraordinarily hyped, and yet petrified that this thing is going to fail miserably, because half of what they talk about just seems too big for anyone, let alone such a small studio, to accomplish.
But first! http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2014/12/05/take-a-30-minute-behind-the-scenes-tour-of-no-mans-sky.aspx?utm_content=buffer049fd&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer A thirty minute interview with the developer, including some look at (what was stressed to be an early build) of the game, though for those of you hoping for space combat, there's mostly a lot of looking around, assisted by the debug camera in some cases. x3 The video and interview is about the tech and process of developing the game, not the gameplay and such. That and he rambles a lot, so anyone hoping for a concise, PR-prepared interview is going to end up frustrated. Still, I was entertained!
Keep in mind, some of the information will be coming from a supposed leak on Neogaf on the contents of a Game Informer article coming in January, but because that's obviously a shaky source at the moment, I shall be putting any information from that leak in italics, until it is either confirmed, or I can find an official source that corroborates.
Also, it's entirely possible new details will surface in the near future, be it from the Playstation Experience, or Game Informer's promised coverage. If that happens, I will add it in bold so anyone who comes back can find it easily.
WHAT'S THE POINT?
Technically speaking, the purpose of the game is to try and reach the center of the galaxy. You start on the outskirts of it, where the planets are pretty reasonable in terms of design and threat level, and you work towards the middle, where it has been hinted that something quite interesting resides. However, this is pretty much 'the purpose' in the same way the Ender Dragon was the purpose of Minecraft; a nebulous, unspecified end goal that you could ignore, or even be unaware of, preferring instead to build golden cock'n'balls, or in the case of NMS, explore the galaxy for new sights and new experiences. Should you choose to undertake this task, however, it has estimated that going from your starting point to the center of the galaxy will take between 40-100 hours, the 40 hours presumably being if you are both skilled enough to avoid getting blown up a bunch, and don't spend any wasted time exploring or being sidetracked.
At least two constraints shown have been fuel, without which you aren't getting very far, and the penalty for death; if your ship gets blown up, you jettison in an escape pod, landing on the nearest inhabitable planet. It has been suggested that your credit balance is unaffected, but you lose your ship and its cargo, with your next goal being acquiring a new ship to get you off the ground. However, details on HOW you go about this are unclear. It is suggested that if you die on planet, you are returned to the escape pod, losing any items that you collected SINCE leaving the pod. (I.e. your suit and weapon upgrades remain safe.) Depending on how difficult it is to acquire another ship, this could make a crash landing very challenging, and on the central worlds it may be devastating.
But what are the underlying mechanics? Well, you have a ship (with weapons,) a survival suit, and a handheld weapon/tool, so pretty much everything that fits with those, be it exploration, piracy, or gathering resources to sell back at a profit. It has been suggested that most, if not all, systems will have some form of starbase or trading post available, where you can go to drop off anything you've collected, in exchange for credits. All upgrades are purchased with said credits, and rather than upgrading an existing ship, you purchase new ships with enhanced capabilities. In the case of new ship purchases, at the very least, this adds an element of chance, as different starbases will have different vessels available, with different capabilities. You can, as some have put it, 'just fly around looking at planets,' gaining credits by discovering new species and cataloging new resource sources, or you can try to become an interstellar scourge and blow shit up; there are going to be fleets and ships aplenty that are NPCs, and if you're tough enough, you might be able to steal their stuff... keeping in mind that such an action will turn their faction against you.
However, it should be noted that these mechanics aren't likely to have the same depth and complexity as, say, Eve Online, Star Citizen, or Elite: Dangerous, and might best be described as streamlined, or 'arcady.' This is based mostly off my personal guess, and might be why the developer has focused more on showing off their galaxy than any underlying flying/trading/crafting, as it doesn't look like this mechanics will be reinventing the wheel by any stretch. So somehow hoping for massive techtrees and a robust crafting system may be disappointed.
The further you get towards the center of the galaxy, the more messed up things become, with both spaceborne and planetary threats becoming more twisted and more dangerous, making it increasingly difficult to progress. You might get attacked in space by pirates, or assaulted on land by some savage creature, nowhere is truly safe. In addition, some planets are said to be populated with ancient robots, left behind to try and preserve the planet; if you're wandering around minding your own business, they'll pay you no heed, but if you begin killing animals, or mining resources, they may grow increasingly hostile.
There is no planned voice chat, as far as the leak suggests, but you may be able to see the position of your friends on the galaxy map, as well as the hint at an in-game messaging system. Details quite unclear, however.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=944662
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/articles/21626/20140124/man-s-sky-news-5-things-know.htm
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-09-a-future-that-has-a-history-introducing-no-mans-sky
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/12/10/interview-no-mans-sky-and-procedural-generation/
If there's any information I missed that folks want to share, feel free. Same for any questions, if there's something I can clear up. Personally, I am both extraordinarily hyped, and yet petrified that this thing is going to fail miserably, because half of what they talk about just seems too big for anyone, let alone such a small studio, to accomplish.
