By Christopher Groux
Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
No Man's Sky update 3.20 released on all platforms Wednesday morning, meaning we finally got a glimpse of what the substantial download does. The game's existing Creature system has been completely overhauled to make way for pets. These Companions help you explore the universe and offer intricate opportunities for breeding. Read all about it in the official patch notes courtesy of Hello Games.
No Man's Sky update 3.20 patch notes
Animal Companions
Read More on Newsgeek
...
- Creatures that have been fed can now be interacted with to access options for milking, riding and adoption.
- Players may adopt up to six creatures at any one time. New companion slots are available to be purchased with nanites.
- Your companions can be renamed, and then customized with a new range of accessories and decals.
- Some accessories, such as the torch or mining lasers, will be used by your companion as they explore the planet.
- Each companion has their own personality, which will influence how they behave and think. Some species are more likely to have certain traits than others, but each creature is unique.
- The creature harness has a neural link with the Exosuit, enabling the rudimentary translation of your new companion's thoughts and wishes.
- Companions will assist their owners during planetary exploration but have needs of their own. They will periodically require food or attention if they are to thrive.
- Companions will need to be cared for over a long period of time in order to win their trust.
- While exploring, companions will assist their owners in a number of ways, including: scouting for resources and buildings; digging up minerals and special items; hunting other creatures; and marking hazards.
- As well as acting on their own initiative, companions may be given specific instructions via gestures from the Quick Menu.
- VR players can point directly to send their companions to a destination.
Companion Eggs
...
- Creatures that have been well-cared for will lay eggs.
- After a short time, creature eggs will hatch into a brand new creature, related to but distinct from the parent creature.
- Baby creatures have different proportions from adult creatures and will grow to maturity over time.
- Players may trade eggs from their prized companions with other players.
- Creature eggs can be taken to the Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly.
- The Egg Sequencer allows players to remix the genetic material of their growing eggs to produce unique, never-before-seen creatures.
- Overdosing eggs in the Sequencer may cause dramatic creature reconfigurations.
Creature Improvements
- New creature and companion-related titles have been added to the Appearance Modifier.
- The construction cost of Creature Pellets has been increased.
- The stack size of Creature Pellets has been increased.
- Creatures no longer require advanced bait to unlock harvesting functions – any creature that has been fed may now be milked.
- Giant creatures can now be ridden.
- Creature locomotion animations have been improved.
- The particle effects emanating from creature dung have been improved.
- Discovered creatures now have a different shaped icon in the Analysis Visor, to better distinguish them from undiscovered creatures.
- Creature icons in the Analysis visor have been offset to improve their appearance.
UI Improvements
- Players using a mouse and keyboard can now use hotkeys to directly select options in dialogue menus and interactions.
- Players using a gamepad can now use the analog sticks rather than the cursor to move between options in dialogue menus and interactions.
Optimizations
- Warp and loading times on PS4 have been significantly improved.
Bug fixes
- Fixed an issue that caused freighter 'wings' to be hidden.
- Fixed an issue that could cause an invalid system/base to appear in the teleport destinations list.
- Fixed an issue that caused the gloves to be out of focus in the Appearance Modifier.
- Fixed an issue that could cause players using Windows 10 to incorrectly report a network disconnect.
- Auto-walk is now canceled automatically when the player manually moves forwards or backward.
- The creature feeding Nexus mission has been rebalanced to account for changes to the taming process.
- Concrete base parts now require Silicate Powder rather than Carbon to build.
- Fixed an issue in the Galaxy Map that caused the Distance To Core text to be vertically clipped, resulting in a comma that looked like a period.
- Fixed an issue that could cause players to upload/download an excessive number of creative discoveries.
- Fixed an issue that caused Cronus' food to have an extremely bright glow.
- Fixed an issue that caused the Orbital Exocraft Materialiser to have an overly bright glow.
- Fixed an issue that caused base specialist terminals to snap incorrectly in specific large rooms.
- Fixed an issue that could cause an increase in load times while attempting to download base data from other players.
- Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect text to appear when harvesting food substances from some unusual creatures.
- Fixed a VR issue that caused the Exosuit backpack to be invisible in the inventory if the player's body was turned off.
- Fixed an animation issue with the player weapons in VR.
- Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect UI scaling in VR.
- Fixed a VR issue that could cause UI screens to move while the UI was closing.
- Fixed a rare hang that could occur when taking a screenshot in Photo Mode on PC.
- Fixed a networking crash on Xbox platforms.
- Fixed an issue that could cause very large save files to crash during loading on PS4.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when the leader of a herd died.
- Fixed a number of memory-related crashes on PS5.
- Fixed an audio-related crash on PS5.
- Fixed a rendering crash on PS5.
- Fixed a crash related to the preview of summoned objects (eg starships).
The main feature of No Man's Sky update 3.20 is, of course, the addition of Companions. In many ways, the changes listed above transform the exploration-based No Man's Sky experience into something that sounds a lot closer to ARK: Survival Evolved. While previous iterations of Creatures served as intergalactic eye candy or the occasional threat, this new update allows the inhabitants of various planets to actually be useful in your journey. If you find a good pet, they'll direct you toward valuable resources. Other creatures that may not be suited for harvesting might make traversal easier and more enjoyable than before.
Even if you don't want to keep a Companion with you at all times, it sounds like one could use the feature set found in update 3.20 to create a side hustle purely out of selling eggs with desirable creature traits. True to the modern Hello Games narrative, the studio's developers went quiet and emerged with an update that appears remarkably complete and thoughtful.
Looking deeper into the bug fixes and tweaks found in today's update, even those smaller adjustments will likely be appreciated by players. Most specifically, the ability to select dialogue options with traditional button presses instead of a cursor sounds ideal for console platforms. With update 3.20, No Man's Sky continues to grow and evolve into something that potentially appeals to lots of gamers. Now that a full creature breeding suite has arrived, it might usher in an entirely new audience. Just when you thought this infinite universe had finally stopped expanding, there's suddenly way more to do.
No Man's Sky is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
What are your thoughts on No Man's Sky update 3.20? Have you added any Companions to your party? Tell us in the comments section!
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines