How to pick the best route to the center of the universe in ‘No Man’s Sky’

'No Man’s Sky' is a game about exploration and discovery, but eventually, you might want to actually progress through what Hello Games has to offer. We’ve compiled some tips from our travels that will hopefully help you reach the end of 'No Man’s Sky,' and avoid some pitfalls along the way.

The post How to pick the best route to the center of the universe in ‘No Man’s Sky’ appeared first on Digital Trends.

How to Play No Man’s Sky in VR on Oculus Rift & HTC Vive

Since the initial unveiling of the PlayStation VR and the gaining of hype for the recently released No Man’s Sky, there’s been a great debate as to whether or not the videogame would see a virtual reality (VR) compatible release. Rumours fuelled by developer Hello Games’ own public interest in the medium didn’t help with the expectation, but the launch has come-and-gone without even a whisper of VR compatibility. However, that hasn’t prevented third-parties jumping on the bandwagon.

No Man's Sky screenshot

Though the expectation was that the PlayStation 4 version of No Man’s Sky would be VR compatible through PlayStation VR, it’s actually the PC release that is first to benefit from the technology. A word of caution however, as Hello Games did not design No Man’s Sky with the intention of being played in VR (for a comfortable experience a number of design changes would need to be implemented) and as such the below information is intended for experienced VR gamers only.

In order to enable No Man’s Sky for VR gameplay you will need an external third-party application that provides stereo-driver injection, headlook adaptation and more. Most widely recommended is VorpX, and so this is what VRFocus will use for the below example.

  1. Download and install VorpX.
  2. Launch No Man’s Sky and adjust the in-game settings. Recommended are setting the ‘On-Foot Field of View’ to 100 degrees, the ‘Flight Field of View’ to 100 degrees and the ‘Max FPS’ to 60.
  3. Close No Man’s Sky to apply these changes. Do not Reboot.
  4. Launch VorpX.
  5. Launch No Man’s Sky, but do not enter the videogame. Instead, immediately hit the Del key to access the configuration options for VorpX.
  6. Access ‘Image Settings’ and adjust the ‘Aspect Ratio Correction’ to ‘Letterbox 2’.
  7. For additional comfort further options can be tailored to suit the individuals’ needs. For example, you may wish to adjust the ‘Separation Value’ and ‘Image Zoom’ properties.
  8. Exit VorpX’s configuration menu, No Man’s Sky and VorpX.
  9. Reboot VorpX and No Man’s Sky, now fully playable as an external application with the Oculus Rift.

Additional Note: These instructions will also make No Man’s Sky playable on HTC Vive, though additional steps are required. When booting SteamVR, ensure that ‘Steam Overlay’ and ‘Use Desktop Theater’ options are disabled.

No Man's Sky screenshot

Whether or not No Man’s Sky will receive native VR support down the line is anyone’s guess at present, but for now this is your opportunity to experience the videogame as many have desired. VRFocus will keep you updated with the future potential of an official release for VR support with Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky.

How to Play ‘No Man’s Sky’ in VR (Warning: Strong Stomach Required)

This is how to No Man’s Sky running on your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive headset using the VR injection driver VorpX. Be warned though, you’ll need to have an iron constitution before setting out.

No Man’s Sky is a game screaming for VR support, with its design goals on sci-fi immersion and an entire universe for you to explore the more I play it, the more I long to be ‘inside’ that world. Unfortunately, despite persistent rumours the game may one day receive native VR headset support, it was not to be – at least not for launch.

However, as with many things in things in the PC gaming community, someone somewhere was working on fixing this. Enter the VR injection driver VorpX and intrepid VR gamer and budding YouTuber Hoopermation VR (aka /u/hoopera on Reddit), who’s posted instructions on how to get the game running on the HTC Vive, although these instructions should apply to Oculus Rift users too and do let you experience the title in Stereoscopic 3D.

Check out the full thread over on Reddit for updates, but the core steps are below:

  1. You’ll need the VR injection driver VorpX
  2. Once you have it downloaded and installed, open VorpX Config and go to “Cloud Profiles”
  3. I recommend using the DOOM profile made by SorryAboutYourCats. This one should probably work for most OpenGL games.
  4. Add NMS.exe from steamapps\common\No Man’s Sky\Binaries to the profile under the “local profiles” tab in VorpX Config.
  5. If you’re using the Vive, pause the VorpX Watcher and start SteamVR, then unpause the watcher.
  6. Make sure Steam Overlay and “Use Desktop Theatre” is disabled in the game properties
  7. Start No Man’s Sky through Steam.
  8. Press the delete key, make sure the 3D Reconstruction is set to “Geometry”, and set the Separation value to 0.01. If you crank it higher you can make the world tiny around you, which is…strange but cool.

Fair warning though, as you may well be aware, No Man’s Sky‘s PC release has seen many complaining about performance problems, with inconsistent frame rates and other issues which will almost certainly result in comfort issues when playing with a VR headset.

Let us know how you get on in the comments below and feel free to share any tips and tweaks to help with No Man’s Sky performance and VorpX immersion

The post How to Play ‘No Man’s Sky’ in VR (Warning: Strong Stomach Required) appeared first on Road to VR.