The PC release of No Man's Sky has been rough, to say the least.
Some major optimization issues and game crashing bugs have been reported, leading to a massive backlash against the PC version of the game on Steam. The PlayStation 4 version has been more stable, but also suffers from framerate drops and occasional crashes as well, which Hello Games is well aware of.
Hello Games director Sean Murray has responded to the issues for the game.
After apologizing for the bugs and crashes, he goes down the list of ways that Hello Games will be focusing on fixing these known bugs for the time being. He notes that a new QA team, larger than the entire Hello Games development team, was hired to work with the already existing Sony QA team. The entire team is also working on critical issues, which will be patched in the near future.
Hello Games will also be starting a ticketed support system starting Monday, and have hired someone to manage the ticket system for the time being. Murray also points to both the Sony Forums and a Steam Forum announcement for support if players need it.
Murray also provides some temporary workarounds for minor issues in-game, mostly what to do if you get stuck in an area or your ship has become inaccessible. He also dispels the rumors regarding a bug from the pre-order bonus, where the pre-order bonus ship comes equipped with a hyperdrive before the player is able to construct one, meaning they can't trade their ship in for another one due to lacking a hyperdrive. Murray notes that the issue with the hyperdrive can be solved in game, which often directs you to an NPC with a hyperdrive blueprint.
Murray also took to twitter to offer a few more bits of information to players, including a warning to restart for the Visual C++ Redist, which resolved some issues by including it in an update for players. He also listed out the latest drivers and GFX cards needed for No Man's Sky. All of this has been posted on the Hello Game's website as a quick guide for PC players.
https://twitter.com/NoMansSky/status/764166411899904000
Murray notes that the entire Hello Games team has already pulled an all nighter working on the title, promising a patch for No Man's Sky in the near future.
Update: Hello Games has released an experimental patch for No Man's Sky on Steam, as well as detailing more workarounds.
Quick Take
No Man's Sky is getting a lot of hate because of the PC issues. Admittedly, I have been playing it on the PS4 and had a few problems, some crashes and two instances of framerate dropping, but it has been a smooth experience for the most part. I can't fathom the problems people are having with the PC version personally, so I can understand some of the anger at least, although I think it's a bit premature to blow off the game completely right now.
It seems like Hello Games and Sony is doing everything in their power to get things fixed, or at least to a point where the PC version is a bit more stable. I hope they are successful sooner than later at this point.
