31-05-2021
No Man's Sky
No Man's SkyCosy up and snuggle down, for tonight you explore the vastness of the known universe in No Man's Sky.You find yourself in strange and odd place. It's not somewhere you've ever been before and you don't recognise any of the trees or plants. The air smells and tastes different too, but you're not scared. Looking around you notice strange animals and can hear unfamiliar sounds. It doesn't take you long to realise you're on an alien planet. You look up to the sky and see a large moon, and another smaller moon behind it. The sky, at least, is a familiar pink and you're comforted in the knowledge that you're safe, wherever you may be. You start to look for a hut, or a sign of a village. A road maybe or something similar, but you're unable to see anything like that around you, so you start to walk in the direction of a small hill. From there you hope to get a better view of the land ahead of you and try to come up with a plan of action. You're still not sure why you're here, but you're excited by the adventure. As you begin to walk up the hill, you notice a glowing orb in what appears to be a stone sculpture. It looks as though it's beckoning you. You curiously approach it, still slightly cautious. After all, this is an alien world and you don't want to take any chances. But you needn't have worried, for having examined it visually first, you place your hand on it. The orb's light dims and in your mind you hear an unfamiliar language which quickly turns into a phrase in a language you do understand: "Welcome to Manuka" before repeating in the original language you heard. The light fades and the stone sculpture is quiet again. You try touching it again, but nothing happens. You head back towards the hill, hoping to find some one to talk to and fearing that you may have broken a special or important structure. Before you reach the top of the hill, you notice something sticking out of the strange and alien bushes. You can see that the ground around the bushes looks to have been scratched or smeared. You are so close to the top of the hill, but notice you're able to still have an overview of the landscape from near this strange looking thing. You approach, cautiously again in fear that you may be approaching a home of some kind. Maybe it's a nest for the local wildlife, you think. As you get closer, you realise this isn't an animal or plant, it's a spacecraft! It seems to have been abandoned, but it looks like it's in excellent condition, other than a few scratches. After a closer you look, you notice a panel from the side is missing. It looks as though it had had a rough landing and whoever, or whatever, had been flying it was keen to get out for whatever reason. You're delighted the cockpit's canopy is still closed, protecting the inside of the ship from the weather and environment. You resolve to find the panel and start backtracking down the hill following the upturned soil-trail the spacecraft left behind. You suddenly remember, and you've been so distracted, that you've completely forgotten to look over the hill to see if there was anyone to help. You make a note to check once you've had a look for the missing panel. Having looked as thoroughly as you can, you find nothing, so head back towards the spacecraft. As you get nearer, you notice something sticking out of a mound in the ground. You can't believe your luck, it's the missing panel you've been searching for! You grab it and race back to the spacecraft and carefully put it in place. Luckily it doesn't need much moving and, as if by magic, it clicks itself into place. The spacecraft comes alive and you jump into the cockpit, excited to explore the planet from the skies.You ascend and are able to see where you'd landed. You're surprised with how varied the landscape is and are mesmerised by the strange, towering plants that appear to form a forest. You fly over them gracefully, and quietly for your engine makes hardly any sound it seems. As you continue to fly over the landscape, your computer makes a beeping sound. You look down at what appears to be a radar of sorts. There is a word flashing on the screen, but you can't make it out. It seems to be in this strange alien language you'd heard before. Fearing that you may have run out of fuel, or that the spacecraft is more damaged than you expected it to be, you fly cautiously back to the surface. To your relief, as if reading your mind and when you're closer to the ground than you feel comfortable with, the spacecraft lands itself. As you touch the ground, something dislodges between your legs. It's a helmet. Before you put it on you realise that you're actually wearing a whole space suit of sorts. You must have been wearing it since the moment you appeared in this world but, in your excitement, hadn't noticed it. The canopy of the cockpit opens, and you jump out of the spacecraft with the helmet. You immediately put it on and it comes to life on its own. All of a sudden you can see information popping up on the screen in a language you understand. As you look around, your helmet highlights plants and minerals giving you information on their composition and their use. You are able to see all the flora and fauna through your helmet's interface, as well as places of interest. You notice that there are other place of interest across the solar system you're in. Looking up to the sky you can see icons identifying different points on different planets. You also notice a scan button on your suit. Pressing it releases a very small echo wave that scans the planet you're on very quickly. You notice that other than one more of those sculptures nearby, there is nothing here. You look up to the sky and see "Space Station". You've never been to a space station before, so you decide to head there in hope of maybe meeting someone, or something else. But before you head back to your spacecraft, you make your way to the last of the sculptures hoping, with your newfound helmet, that you may learn something new.Like before, you place your hand on it, and another sentence flashes in your mind, but this time it's clearer and seems to have been translated by your helmet - as you'd suspected. "This is a safe planet, in a safe solar system. You'll find no trouble here." You feel safer now, and head to your spacecraft with excitement and ready to leave this world. As the canopy closes, you instinctively look towards the space station you spotted earlier. It has moved in the sky, so it takes you a moment to figure out where it is again, but you helmet helps you locate it and lock its coordinates into the spacecraft's navigation system. You press the ignition button and the ship jerks up before smoothly moving forward. You notice a boost and start to climb out of the sky and towards space. But you know you'll need more power to break through the atmosphere so you press and hold a "booster" button which you can now see thanks to your helmet. The spacecraft lurches forwards, you are pushed hard back into your seat and your spacecraft climbs quickly through the clouds - the blue of the sky getting darker as you finally break through the planet's mesosphere, then the thermosphere and finally the exosphere, the last layer of the atmosphere before space. As you enter the black of space, your engines quieten significantly. You remember that you don't need any more thrust as there is no friction or gravity in space. Carrying the speed from exiting the planet will be enough to keep you on track, flying silently and swiftly towards the space station. You can't believe you're in space again, it's quiet and peaceful. From here you look behind you to the planet you've left. Its green and blue hue emanate into the darkness of space. Slowly it disappears, and you notice a variety of other planets, before your spacecraft automatically redirects itself to put you on course to the space station. You ...
