Since the game’s initial release back in 2016, No Man’s Sky has been offering fans an array of major updates, bringing base building, multiplayer, alien pets, and more to the sprawling sci-fi adventure. Today, the game got its latest lineup of new additions, with the free No Man’s Sky: Prisms update offering players some huge graphical improvements and quality of life changes. It’s worth noting that not every feature is available for all players, with PC users getting Nvidia DLSS support, while next-gen, PC, and Xbox One X players will get access to the update’s new screen space reflections.
In terms of everything away from the visual upgrade, the range of tameable creatures players can adopt has been vastly increased, while they’ll now be able to ride low-flying fauna. Freighters can also now be moved, hazardous weather conditions spawn rare resources, and a new “recipe station” aboard the Nexus will trade crafting component blueprints for nanites.
However, the main addition here is No Man’s Sky’s graphical overhaul, with players able to see most of the major changes through a new trailer uploaded to Hello Games’ YouTube channel. First, the footage highlights the game’s new volumetric lighting effects and updated caves, showing off a cavern filled with luminescent fungi and glowing plants. It’s clear it’s one of the biggest parts of this new update and the result creates visually rich underground environments filled to the brim with atmospheric plant life. After emerging from the cave, the trailer focuses on the changes made to the surface, noting that new rain effects leave wet surfaces that refract light and the increase in hair and fur rendering makes creatures look more realistic.
The clip then sees the player hop into a ship, taking off while showing the update’s new parallax occlusion mapping, light refraction, planetary detail, star effects, and warp effects. Arriving at a nearby space station, the clip then proceeds to offer a meaty look at the new screen space reflections and general visual overhaul applied to the hub ship. The main addition is reflective surfaces, offering new depth to the station’s massive, metallic interiors. The same upgrades will be applied to Atlas stations, freighter hangers, derelict freighters, and Space Anomalies.
Finally, the overview quickly covers everything not initially shown during the trailer, including increased biome detail, new particle effects, and photo mode improvements. It appears to be a substantial new look for No Man’s Sky, offering a more up-to-date visual experience for the ongoing game. The title has been adding lots of new features recently, including new expeditions and even a ship modeled after the Normandy from Mass Effect.
No Man’s Sky is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Hello Games
