I love No Man’s Sky, been so addicted to it – buuut there are certain small UI things where the game is clearly trying tooo… “be fancy”, let’s call it, but actually just makes simple things feel a bit more cumbersome than they in reality are.

Like when you enter a system and get those black bars that you have to manually make go away faster… which is pretty silly when you drop right into a space battle, Dreadnought battle, what have you – dude, it’s a space battle, stop that please.

Or when you have a waypoint on the galaxy map (maybe previously marked in your Discoveries tab because you’re trying to get an S-Class Capital Ship from a specific system… or so) that your ship can get to in a single jump… buuut the game UI still makes the navigation take you across a web of in between systems for no reason.

Or in general that the galaxy map UI is totally and entirely unresponsive until the game is done doing its dramatic whoosh and zoom camera motion – again, for no real reason.

Or how you can use a Chart in space or on a Station and it’ll immediately show you what you found… buuut down on a planet surface you have to wait for the radary scanny wave to travel dramatically before it actually tells you what it is you found, let alone where.

If me being wordy here gives off the impression I’m upset – I am not! Just being descriptive! As I said, these are little things – and I’m just suggesting… eyyy, Hello Games, I know you want stuff to “feel fancy”, but c’mooon – not when it’s impractical, eh? : P

So this game is primarily about exploration and discovery so flying through space and landing on different planets is the core gameplay loop. I had a few suggestions to make that gameplay a little more spicy without overhauling anything.

1. Animations: Little details like your guy actually climbing into the ship instead of teleporting into it, or fiddling with the ships instrument cluster when you thrust forward or switch weapons, or recharge shields or activate pulse drive etc. Think of the way your hands move in elite.

2. Immersive menus: The way elite dangerous does them, you look at a panel and interact, that pulls up the specific menu you were looking for. Wanna open the galaxy map? Look at one of your ships many panels and it opens up a holographic galaxy map like the Idroid in MGSV, so it’s still useable, but a tad more immersive. Same thing can be done with hailing messages, or byte beats even switching to third person. I believe the term Is diagetic menus?

3. Physical ships. So, instead of installing ship mods, or repairing your ship in a menu, you enter a sort of build mode go to the specific part of your ship that needs to be modified or repaired and make your additions. No more dragging things into an inventory slot. Actually get out and attach modules where you want them. They can even have their own hitboxes so they can get damaged and you’d have to fix them through that build mode and not an inventory menu.

I think that’s all I could come up with. What do you guys think? Any other immersive tweaks?

I have survived over 500 hours in PermaDeath by rigidly adhering to a few standard rules. With the latest expedition many new players are coming to PD, and I think these standards will ease some frustrations.

1. Bugs. Many avoid PD for this reason alone. But I have never seen any bug that instantly kills. That isn’t what’s happening. Unless a bug pops up that stops you from opening the menu and reloading your last save, a death caused by a bug is partially your fault. Should be an easy choice to lose a little progress vs your whole save. The moment something bugs and you fall through the floor for example, pause, reload last save. Saved.

2. Don’t end your play session saving in a hazardous environment. Only end your play saving in a 100% safe place. Space Station is best.

3. NEVER leave your character unattended, no matter how safe your setting is. Even if you’re just going to the bathroom real quick. It is not worth the risk. Reloading your save takes less time than starting from the beginning. Nuff said.

4. Play with a wired interface if possible. If all you have is wireless, you need to stay on top of your charge. Set a reminder alarm. All it takes is one disconnect while near a predator or monstrosity, and it’s curtains for you.

5. Do not play while impaired in any way. One slip of judgement is unacceptably risky in space exploration.

6. Avoid planetary hostile threats at all costs until you have at least 3 S class exosuit shield upgrades, preferably 6.

7. Avoid extreme terrain environments and heights until you have an least 3 S class movement upgrades, preferably 6, and the jetpack recharge tech.

8. Avoid pirates until you have at least 3 S class starship shield upgrades and a stack of sodium nitrate or starshield batteries. You can call in a freighter or the anomaly to escape any scans.

9. Friends don’t let friends use plasma launchers and geology cannons in PermaDeath. This one is unfortunate, but until the self-harm it inflicts is nerfed, they’re far too dangerous. I’d rather spend a bit more time dealing with grouped targets, than risk death.

10. Whispering eggs have lured many travelers to their end with nought but the promise of a few measley nanites. Not worth it. The only time you should willingly engage the monstrosities is when a mission demands it, and even then DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOFTOP!

11. Never depart without checking your supplies. Oxygen, Ion Batteries, Sodium/Sodium Nitrate, Tritium, Condensed Carbon, Warp Cells, Launch Fuel, are all things you should never run out of.

12. If you’re not sure if something is lethal, assume it is. I should do more testing with a dummy profile to determine all lethal threats. I can’t find much info pertaining to what can kill you. I know lightning and meteors can hurt you, but how threatening they are I cant say for sure. That leads to the next rule.

13. STAY OUT OF EXTREME STORMS! If all you can manage is digging a hole and waiting it out, do it. Don’t attempt enduring them until your exosuit tech is fully upgraded. And don’t attempt it at all in extreme wind events, those twisters are particularly lethal even late game.

14. Rocket boots are dangerous! They can cause a lot of unintentional forward jetpack boosts. Best to upgrade jetpack tanks and exosuit shields before using them. You’ve been warned.

15. Be extremely cautious when using glitches. Especially aboard your freighter. Always weigh the rewards of a glitch against your entire save.

16. Do not engage sentinels without nearby cover. You need a fast escape in case something goes awry. Any building or base with rooms will do.

Those are all the tips that come to mind atm.

In PermaDeath you have to take things more seriously. Every decision could be life and death for your traveler. Immerse yourself and remember every choice can lose you everything. I think the game is most thrilling with those stakes and it really forces an immersive perspective. PermaDeath is the closest experience to what exploring the cosmos would be like for us. So I encourage people to try it. I realize its not for everyone, but once you get used to the risk, things will become a nice blend of relaxing beauty and thrilling danger.

Safe Travels.