There are a number of player formed civilizations in NMS, but the game itself doesn’t have any kind of system for forming and joining civilizations. Given the current state of multiplayer, with most players having access to the same universe, now would be a good time to implement such a system. Not entirely a new concept, but some features might include:

• The ability to form a civilization and recruit other players. Civ names can appear next to players’ gamertags/usernames that are members of a civilization.
• A governance system where players can create ranks that have different privileges.
• Players could create custom flags for their civs.
• Claiming starsystems and planets as part of a civilization.
• co-ownership and management of bases, settlements, and freighters.

Now a system like this would probably go hand in hand with a major settlement overhaul, as part of the same or separate update. Settlements could act as the hearts of civilizations as players work together to grow, maintain, and defend settlements across their civs. A settlement update might include:

• More freedom over where a settlement is established, what players can build in a settlement, the layout of settlement specific buildings, and the number of settlements a player (or civ) can own.
• Settlement requirements like food, water, hazard protection, life support, power, and housing.
• Implementing the existing farming, mining, power, and cooking mechanics in the game.
• The ability to establish trade routes via frigates between settlements and bases. Trade routes may need to be defended against pirates from time to time.
• Settlement building that serve specific functions and can be damaged or destroyed during sentinel attacks.
• Set up defenses against sentinel attacks.

What do you guys think? Is this an update you’d like to see at some point? Are there any other features you’d want implemented in a civilization update?

With all the cool updates we got over the years, this is one thing I keep hearing people put on their wishlist when speculating about the next one. And every time a new update is released and this is not included, I can’t help but be a little disappointed.

I think this is the one thing that’s still pulling NMS back graphically. This is the one thing that is still making the game look inferior to that infamous first trailer, which had better looking water animation. But even if I ignore that, just having a look at water in the current game does not do justice to the rest of the world design. Water sticks out like a sore thumb, it just doesn’t look good.

I’m guessing most people have seen the mods, we know it can be done. I know that this isn’t a gameplay feature, but I still think it would be a fundamental improvement to NMS. Do you think this is as important as I do or not really?