No Man's Sky hasn't lifted off into space without some problems here and there, and developer Hello Games said today that it is making an effort on a few different fronts to address the issues quickly.
"We’re tracking a number of issues, bugs and crashes that players are reporting, and working to resolve [them] as soon as possible," said studio head Sean Murray in a post on the No Man's Sky website this morning. Hello Games has been overwhelmed by an unexpectedly high number of players and length of play sessions, and is "working quickly to adapt" to the situation, according to Murray.
A patch in the "near future" will address the "most critical issues," said Murray, although he did not provide any details on the problems in question except to say that they include crashes. It's also unclear if this, the game's first post-release patch, will bring in the previously promised base building and freighter owning features.
"We can’t give you an ETA [on the PlayStation 4 patch] as frustrating as that is, because we’re also still working to get the PC release live," reads a note on the game’s support page, where players can email Hello Games about issues they're having. (No Man's Sky is set to launch at 1 p.m. ET today on Windows PC.) "We sincerely apologise to anyone affected in the meantime," said Murray.
To handle all the problems that No Man's Sky players have been reporting, Hello Games will switch to a ticketed support system next week. The company has also hired its own quality assurance team — a group larger than the studio itself — to complement Sony Interactive Entertainment's QA operation.
For now, Murray offered a few workarounds for known issues, along with notes on a couple of difficulties with No Man's Sky's pre-order bonuses. He pointed out that if you're stuck somewhere, you can use your jetpack forever as long as you're pushing against a surface. (For instance, fly forward along the ground, not upward.) If your ship is stuck somewhere that you can't reach, head to one of the larger outposts — they'll have a beacon with which you can summon your ship (and maybe even a landing pad where you can do the same). And if you've messed up at any point, you can revert back to your two most recent saves in the Options menu.
The pre-order bonus for No Man's Sky has caused a seemingly game-breaking issue for dozens of players. It's a special spaceship known as the Domanish S84 that comes with a hyperdrive installed. Since much of the early game is focused on obtaining the blueprint for how to construct that engine, players who warp ahead with the S84 are unlikely to possess that blueprint, which leaves them stranded if they later switch to a ship that doesn't already have a hyperdrive.
Murray said that of the 135 players who have reported this issue to Hello Games so far, 107 — four out of every five — were actually able to continue on: The game figures out that they don't have the hyperdrive blueprint, and directs them to a character who will supply it. Still, 79 percent is not an ideal success rate for something that's supposed to be a bonus.
For more on No Man's Sky, check out our impressions of the first 10 hours and our comprehensive guide.