No Man's Sky is (almost) here: 11 things you need to know - CNET

No Man's Sky, available Tuesday, August 9, for PlayStation 4 and coming soon to PC, is one of the most anticipated video games of 2016. From its first teaser at E3 2014 to last-minute controversies over leaked game discs and extensive launch-day patches, it's been held up as an example of just how expansive, ambitious, and forward-looking games could be.

Here's what you need to know to get started.

• More than just a space shooter or an adventure game, No Man's Sky contains literally an entire universe within it. Sean Murray, co-founder of Hello Games, the game's developer, has said that there are potentially 18.4 quintillion planets within its code, each created on the fly by the game's procedural engine (which basically means the game uses preprogrammed basic rules to create new planets, galaxies and encounters as you play).
• A few of those planets have been found by early players, who somehow got their hands on retail PS4 copies of the game early. One infamous disc came from eBay, and its purported purchaser has been posting early gameplay footage on Reddit.
• The PS4 version of the game will require a large Day One patch, which makes numerous changes and fixes to the already-pressed physical game discs coming to store shelves this week. That's common for many console games, which must have a stable version running weeks or months ahead of release for certification purposes, even if there's still substantial work to be done on a game.

• If you're one of the gamers who found a copy of the game for sale early, you can technically keep your progress, but only if you play the game offline and don't download the Day One patch. If you do want to update (and you should), the developers recommend deleting the existing game save first.
• The online servers that provide new game content and share information between players (by way of a public Atlas), will be wiped just before the game launch, so everyone is started on the same page.
• The Day One patch makes several significant changes to the game, including creating three unique narrative paths to follow as you play.
• Galaxies can now be "up to 10x larger," and "creatures are now more diverse," according the the developers.
• Several exploits have been patched, include those that could generate duplicates of valuable in-game merchandise.
• Future patches, even major ones, won't require you to wipe your saved-game progress.
• This is the "first of many" big patches coming to the game, which the developer pledges "will continually update [...] this way."
• Anyone hoping to play No Man's Sky on PC will have to wait until August 12 for the game's global PC release.

The official No Man's Sky website has further details about the game's Day One patch.

Read our initial impressions of No Man's Sky.