No Man's Sky's Worlds Update: Walking Houses, Enhanced Weather, and a Touch of Starship Troopers

No Man's Sky is getting a massive new update called "Worlds," bringing a sumptuous overhaul to its vast universe of planets. Using technology devised for their upcoming fantasy sim, Light No Fire, this update promises to elevate the space sim experience with stunning new features. Check out the deep dive trailer for the Worlds update below.

Stunning Visual Upgrades

The Worlds update introduces impressive visual enhancements:

• Water Features: Expect ripples, foam, and reflections that add a realistic touch to bodies of water.

• Dynamic Clouds: Clouds now form and disintegrate in real-time.

• Enhanced Weather Effects: Enjoy rolling fog, rain, and blizzards, all sculpted by a revised wind system.

• Vibrant Skies and Diverse Terrains: Skies come in more colors, ice worlds feature shinier glaciers, and deserts boast more diverse vegetation.

• Improved Lighting: Objects, from trees to clouds, cast realistic shadows based on the sun's position.
  
  

  
  
  

Exciting New Additions

Beyond visual upgrades, the Worlds update brings fresh content to explore:

• Solar Ships: Introducing new space sailboats for your interstellar travels.

• Sentient Walking Houses: Encounter these peculiar structures on weirder planets.

• New Creatures: Discover a host of new beings to add to your menagerie. "We want to do things that people haven't seen before," explains studio boss Sean Murray. "And of course, these new creatures can all be pets and mounts."
  
  

  
  
  

Starship Troopers-Inspired Expedition

The update also features a new Expedition, drawing inspiration from Starship Troopers. This Expedition includes a flamethrower-wielding mech, hinting at influences from a recent squad-based democracy management game.

Performance Enhancements

The Worlds update isn’t just about aesthetics; it also boosts performance:

• GPU-Based Rendering: Environmental objects like trees, rocks, and grass are now rendered on the GPU, allowing for denser worlds with better performance.

• Improved Detail: Planetary flora, minerals, and curiosities now have enhanced levels of detail from greater distances and broader angles.

• Terrain Generation: Rewritten to incorporate dual marching cubes voxel meshing, this improves loading speed, framerate, and memory usage.
  
  

  
  
  

More to Explore

The update includes new cosmetics, underwater base fixtures, and much more. However, be prepared for a deluge of autoplaying videos in the patch notes, which might give your device a workout.

Sean Murray shared insights into the update's inspiration, "Six months ago we announced Light No Fire. It's this insanely ambitious game. Over the last five years making games, we've learned new things, and we're feeding that back into No Man's Sky. It feels like we're bringing technology back from the future!" If you're curious about Light No Fire, Hello Games offered a sneak peek a few months back, and it looks incredibly promising. Personally, I can't wait to see more of the kingfishers.

Dive into the Worlds update for a visually stunning and content-rich experience in No Man's Sky, and stay tuned for more exciting developments.