The Future of the Arts

www.forbes.com

www.forbes.com

Kolton Quick, A&E Editor

Video games are the future, and the Sony PS4 exclusive “No Man’s Sky” is proof. “No Man’s Sky” is a procedurally generated universe, which means the expansion of the universe will be limitless. If the player wanted to travel to every planet for just one second, it would take five billion years to complete the game.

Hello Games is the Indie Company behind No Man’s Sky. In 2013, on Christmas Eve, a nearby dam broke in Guildford England, flooding their studio’s office. The Hello Games twitter page posted, “Everything in the office has pretty much been lost.” They lost their PC’s, equipment, laptops, development kits, furniture, and more, but that never slowed them down. The company began working from their homes on a game that could be an evolutionary mark in the arts.

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“No Man’s Sky” is a mystery, and everything the player can achieve is unpredictable. The style differs from the traditional science fiction war games, and instead focuses on science fiction from the 1960’s, where the player depends more on exploration and the unknown than anything else. Everything in the game is created procedurally, with each planet and asteroid containing a living diverse ecosystem of some sort.

The creator of Hello Games, Sean Murray, argues that “No Man’s Sky” needs players with “Intelligence, imagination, and co-operation.” The game will take players on an adventure to the center of the universe. Throughout the game, Murray says reaching the center of the universe will be difficult, and the life forms will appear more wild and unusual. The player can build their gameplay off of certain resources found on their journeys, and there will be plenty of challenges along the way.

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“No Man’s Sky” is technically a multiplayer game, but the universe is so large that it is unlikely players will actually meet. The game actually has planets that are realistic in size compared to actual planets. Most planets are larger than Bethesda’s open world adventure “Skyrim,” and that game was a fan favorite for years, even winning game of the year in 2011.

The combat of “No Man’s Sky” can take place anywhere, as the player can either wander around on foot or fly in a custom built spacecraft. According to Murray, once “No Man’s Sky” hits shelves, the game will still continue to expand, as Hello Games will continuously add additional content into the game.

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There’s never been a video game like “No Man’s Sky,” and procedurally generated games may be the future for gaming. The game is an obvious huge step, and it has the potential to win Game of the Year and outlast the majority of video games current today. If more games like “No Man’s Sky” are built, then video games will take over entertainment, and become the future of the arts, as there are currently 1.2 billion gamers in the world.