Atlas Rises!

     "No Man's Sky" keeps getting better and better. I got it right after Hello Games released the Pathfinder update. Now they've released the update called Atlas Rises. It kind of messed up my game, so I restarted. It's fine by me, since I needed to reintroduce myself to it. I just hope that the progress I've made won't get messed up with any updates next year.

     Now I have mastered farming, bought a freighter (named it Gygax), and I have a small fleet of ships; thus far, I have two fighters (Dragon's Fang and Screeching Imp), a hauler (Thunderhorse), a shuttle (Pack Mule II), and an bug-looking explorer (Starhopper).

     In addition, I've completed the Atlas Path and the new Artemis mission line - something surreal and involved holographic messages with new aliens. Now both of those mission instructions say "The Universe is yours to explore, enjoy." That is a good thing, since the heart of "No Man's Sky" is exploring the universe, anyway.

     So, now that I've left the Euclid Galaxy and am now exploring the Hilbert Dimension, I find myself wondering what I would do if I were in charge of the next update. And I've come up with new ideas.

     It would be fun, interesting, but also infuriating, if they had an update that added more variety and realism to the star systems. From what I understand of the game thus far, when a new system loads, it starts with color of that star, then number of planets, then basic layout and environment of each planet is established when you scan and land on them. If I had a say in the development of the next update, I would like to see more challenging realism in the generation of each star system.
     First, establish the number and size of stars in each system, and therefore the Goldilocks zone. Binary/Trinary stars would be cool, actually, and would make interesting habitable areas. Different types of stars would have different temperature effects.
     Second, establish the number of orbiting bodies. Usually, this would be around 10-20. In addition, this step should make size matter. This includes adding gas giants and dwarf planets, as well as different planet sizes.

     Third, from size, the program would determine gravity, expressed in a G-number. Varying Gs have a variety of effects. The most obvious effect would be that jetpacks and launch thrusters would be more or less efficient; also, jumps would be longer or shorter. In addition, this would also have an effect on falling damage and habitability.
     Fourth, have the temperature vary, depending on the latitude. The worlds would be much less homogenous.
     Fifth, those which falls into that habitable zone, and where, would have a greater likelihood of habitability.
     If solar system generation were done like this, most planets won't be habitable, but they would be good sources of minerals and crystals. These types of worlds could have large, paraterraformed domes, like stations. Also, it would make finding a habitable world more rewarding to find, and players will want to spend more time exploring each one.

     Regardless of whether or not my ideas are implemented, I've been enjoying and looking forward to seeing more of this ongoing development, and chatting with others in posts about it.