No Man’s Sky is a game that blew away the minds of everyone who can even grasp how the game is made. For those not in the know, it is an entire universe that is procedurally generated using math. For example, plants are generated using a template that follows a recursive L-System algorithm which then simulates plant growth by shuffling some digital DNA and then applying the algorithm. Animals and other things are also based on templates and are generated based on skeletal types, atmospheric composition and environmental factors of the hosting planet.
If that’s a mouthful, just watch Stephen Colbert mesmerised at the grand scale of things.
The universe in No Man’s Sky is so big, in fact, that even the creators of the game have no idea what is out there, and send digital probes to check for anomalies in the algorithm. It’s a game I am looking forward to getting my hands on, and escape from planet Earth for a very long time.
Enjoy the trailer.
Source: Kotaku
