A large update to No Man’s Sky was released last week, and with it came a number of changes. Some of these changes make the game far more adaptable and approachable, while others, such as modifications to the inventory system, have been met with mixed reactions from players.
Hello, Games looks to be making some changes to the inventory system in the game’s experimental PC release, perhaps in reaction to the feedback.
The inventory system in No Man’s Sky was recently overhauled with the “Waypoint” update. As a result, the name “inventory game” has emerged to describe the controversy. Memes, review bombs and Reddit threads with gamers debating whether the game has been “ruined” or not have all sprung up as a consequence.
The people who are complaining about the changes are valid in their concerns. Since there are now just three available slots for technological enhancements, players’ potential power is capped lower than it was before the update. As a result of the player community’s considerable dissatisfaction, developers introduced more upgrade slots to the game in an experimental release on October 10.
But even an experimental upgrade may not be enough to satisfy the thousands who have voiced their displeasure. Just on Steam, ratings have been trending toward “Mixed” recently, with many users highlighting the new inventory features as a reason for their dissatisfaction.
One Steam user said, “The most recent update practically destroyed dozens of hours of grinding.” Another comments, “After spending countless hours grinding, my inventory is now unrecognizable due to the recent 4.0 upgrade.”
Though widespread, the pushback does not hold true across the board. The changes and limits have split opinions, with some players saying that they “spent 100+ hours for improvements that are now functionally useless,” while others praise the game for being more fair and difficult.
However, it’s unclear whether the volume of complaints has swayed Hello Games to increase the number of available spaces in the beta version.
In the patch notes for the experimental release on Steam, Hello Games mentions adding “extra free technology slots” for those who have already updated to the Waypoint version as well as those who are just starting a new game. To access the experimental build of No Man’s Sky, right-click the game in your Steam library, click “Properties,” click “Betas,” input the password “3xperimental,” and then click “Experimental.”
On a fresh save I made for testing purposes, the modifications show up just fine. As was to be expected, there are only three available slots for top-tier technologies in the game’s normal, stable release.
However, the top row slots are doubled after updating to the experimental build. Since October 10, additional upgrades to the beta branch have fixed various problems many players were having with accessing inventory spaces and navigating the menu.
Although these adjustments have not yet been incorporated into the stable release of No Man’s Sky, there is currently no indication as to whether or not they will be made permanent. For their side of the story, Kotaku has contacted Hello Games.