No Man's Sky 'stealing' from Subnautica?

HYBRID1313 · October 2018

So, earlier today No Man's Sky released their 'Into The Abyss' free content update and my god does it take some heavy 'inspiration' from Subnautica. I urge you to watch the update video, or at least the first minute of it because you'll be surprised about how much influence Subnautica has had:

https://twitter.com/NoMansSky/status/1056907726998118401

and this image:

https://twitter.com/subcide/status/1056936175896805377

So my question is this, are you guys really flattered by all of this, or a little disgruntled? I reckon it's pretty cool and am keen to hear what @Obraxis and other developer team members think about it if they have a moment. Thank for your time!

*edit: clickbait title reformation for dem views

0x6A7232 · October 2018

It's also possible both Subnautica and No Man's Sky both got inspired by a similar design. But yeah, the resemblance is more than a little uncanny, and I've wondered if it isn't almost a straight rip. I mean, look at the hab modules in, say, Osiris New Dawn. They're really similar, but very much unique to OND, and quite distinguishable from Subnautica.

So, I dunno.

Also, the helmet looks more than kinda BioShock.

For those wondering:

<h1>No Man's Sky: The Abyss Update</h1>

EDIT: Although, the glass corridors actually look a bit more HD... like the exact same thing just upgraded with a photorealism patch or something.

Skope · October 2018

I think the underwater itself is more than enough different, but a majority of the structures are too similar to truly write off as coincidences.

And things like this,

Is just...really concerning.

BlueBottle · October 2018

Come on, this is low key cheap and dog of No Man's Sky.

Hello Games is certainly earning its widespread rep. Lazy buggers.

Maalteromm · October 2018

Well, copying is the sincerest form of flattery!

Copying is ubiquitous in gaming everywhere. Since its early days.
Usually a new, innovative, game copies several aspects of other previous games and offer a few new of its own.

I find it great, as long as they don't straight out rip major mechanics or design.
Planet exploration is the major drive behind NMS and, in the early days, there were always mentions about ocean planets and heavy underwater exploration.
Unfortunately Sean Murray turned out to be a blatant liar, and this had a huge impact on the game and company name.
They are trying to glue up the shards by releasing free new content after new content, but they won't recover the community trust anytime soon. Hopefully never.
However, it is nice to see the effort they are putting into trying to amend things. Maybe, after several iterations, the game will hold a semblance of what it was supposed to be.

Kouji_San · October 2018

That swimming animation though... It's beyond ludicrous, to say the least

Also the NMS grind vs Subnautica's lack of a real grind is what sets them apart. Planet 4546B might be just a planet, but it's actually fleshed out instead of a procedurally generated area with grinding in mind.

NSM has that "more of the same vibe" where you're mostly encountering areas/creatures which do look different but are basically all the same. The game is impressive in terms of sheer scale of it's galaxy, but it becomes quite clear it's relatively superficial in terms of being immersed into it's worlds. They definitely do not have something which even comes close to the iconic status of the Peeper, Reaper and Hoverfish etc... A problem most massive procedural generated games have, on a similar level as MMO's. Just another creature doing the same thing with a different skin... A severe lack of character and true diversity. I mean these ocean planets would just be another ball in a space game littered with balls.

Where Subnautica draws the player into it's world through pure immersion (and terror?), triggering responses on an emotional level... NMS tends to do a superficial drive-by.

AnomalyDetected · October 2018

Skope wrote: »

I think the underwater itself is more than enough different, but a majority of the structures are too similar to truly write off as coincidences.

And things like this,

Is just...really concerning.

They even got the same style of ship with the helm up above it in an elevated part.

Kouji_San · October 2018

So this has been released right, I'm gon go have a look at these waterballs* TTYL o/

*If I can find one, I guess!

Seems more of the same as expected, also their other structure modules are quite similar to Subnautica's style. Seems a bit of a theme going on with space habitats in other games as well.

Sam_Starfall · November 2018

I'm not voting because that poll don't have the choice "Nothing to see here"

I'm usually very critical of plagiarism or script reuse, as well as cheap use of tropes even if I have to shit on "popular stuff" for that.
But we are dealing here with with concept far too basic to raise an eyebrow. Subnautica didn't invent underwater base built with corridor, just as it didn't invent the idea of crashing on water planet either.

If there's anything wrong here, it's not any belief there's a copy.
It's that No Man's Sky is so simplistic, homogeneous in content and lacking gameplay by itself that anything that look like actual gameplay is suspicious.

Yep, I think you got that I don't think highly of NMS. Procedural generation of boredom is nothing to be proud of. Call me when the gameplay evolve above "hoarding & craft" all the way to "Terraform planet and build ecosystem" (which will never happen, so I'm not expecting any call)

Noah1955 · November 2018

That's cheap of Hello Games :v

ShuttleBug · November 2018

“Oh, how similar can these two games be...

...

...OH GOD THEY'RE EXACTLY THE SAME”

SPIRIN1224 · November 2018

Come on, this is low key cheap and dog of No Man's Sky.

Ouch

AngusAJ · November 2018

Heard a lot of rumors that they hired someone from the dev team to do a bit of work on this update. This would make a lot of sense due to the fact that the game update is basically the same as Subnautica and shows a lot of similarities.

baronvonsatan · November 2018

Come on, this is low key cheap and dog of No Man's Sky.

So basically, NMS is releasing a Subnautica mod for their game, only without any story. That's just ass.

BlueBottle · November 2018

Come on, this is low key cheap and dog of No Man's Sky.

Too bad this seems little more than a Subnautica 'homage'. I'd really love to see some proper competition take off in underwater exploration games, but maybe in other genres though. After all, UWE really took up the ball dropped by Bioshock and ran with it.

Fallout 4 looked like it was all set for an underwater expansion. But sadly, none.

I've being playing far too much of Sunless Sea, which has a cool underwater expansion, set in a Lovecraftian Steampunk Universe. I now live in hope to see that game remade in 3D by UWE-level talent.

Then there's the whole treasure chest of traditional maritime mythology, including the truly freaky Asian stuff.

Maalteromm · November 2018

Well, copying is the sincerest form of flattery!

I don't get all this fuss.

The underwater experience in NMS remains largely the same. The sub follows exactly the same mechanics as the land vehicles already available in the game.
The underwater bases are practically the same as land based ones.
Practically everything underwater was already available on land: ships, freighters, bases, ruins. They just put some water on it.
In fact, there are some designs proposed for the SN expansion that feels very much like things that are already implemented in NMS.

NMS is a very beautiful game, only matched by its dullness, and for those who like survival and space games it can be fun for a few dozen hours. However it is extremely shallow and pretty soon you realize that everything in the game is the same, everywhere.
It's the opposite experience from Subnautica in which every minute spent in the game seems to reel you in deeper and deeper into it, until completion. And after it, you comeback over and over again trying to do things differently because even though it is small, everything is interesting.
@Kouji_San summarized it plainly:

Where Subnautica draws the player into it's world through pure immersion (and terror?), triggering responses on an emotional level... NMS tends to do a superficial drive-by.

BlueBottle wrote: »

I've being playing far too much of Sunless Sea, which has a cool underwater expansion, set in a Lovecraftian Steampunk Universe. I now live in hope to see that game remade in 3D by UWE-level talent.

I don't think it could be remade in 3D and still keep the same atmosphere. I'd love to see it adapted though, using Subnautica mechanics and looks over the setting they created for it.

HYBRID1313 · November 2018

Cheers for all the responses, but I want to clarify that the 'copying' I'm focusing on are the base module designs.

SonicCornetto · November 2018

Definitely a rip off.

PinothyJ · November 2018

You folks know that there is no copyright on game ideas, yeah?

BlueBottle · November 2018

Come on, this is low key cheap and dog of No Man's Sky.

Yeah. Legal is not the same as ethical though (else the world would be so much simpler).
Not meaning this example is any big deal, just lame.

Maalteromm · November 2018

Well, copying is the sincerest form of flattery!

HYBRID1313 wrote: »

Cheers for all the responses, but I want to clarify that the 'copying' I'm focusing on are the base module designs.

Ok, focusing on the base modules.
They are pretty much the same as the land based ones. There were several glass modules, windows and even a glass dome for farming already implemented in the game.
The underwater modules follow the same interior and exterior designs as the land modules.

NMS has many, terrible, flaws. Why focus on something that's nowhere close to an actual offense.

Kouji_San · November 2018

Speaking of flaws after playing the game for a bit once more. TBH too much, just because somehow even if it is a rather superficial and repetitive game, there is that awe in terms of exploration and I find mining and trading a pretty neat concept. However, after a while it does become tedious once more, which is the same reason I stopped playing ages ago...

So basically this is NMS summarized...

Your ship requires fuel to even lift off. So you're constantly looking for the ingredients for the fuel cells, comes across as an artificial grind thrown in there...
Each and every alien is one of a limited amount of clones in terms of interaction:
- Ship dudes solely exist to buy a new ship or get some overpriced resources not available in the local economy's "galactic store"
- Quest dudes, which only give you very basic kill, fetch, collect, scan quests
- Trade dudes, giving you the option to trade some units or resources to learn a new word, get a random gift (credits/resource) or tell you about a random point of interest in the local system
- Silly dudes, boasting about their research, gun or other random shit which you can respond to for a positive or negative reaction
Sentinels (protectors of a planet) are the most fun IMHO, you can trigger them by shooting them, harvesting resources and getting caught or by going to a hostile sentinel planet. however, the AI in this game is atrocious and easily exploitable
Xenomorphs (Biological Horror) do exist in game and scared me shitless the first time I encountered them, the big hint is that you're at an infested structure DO'H. However, they really lack any kind of character the AI is, well similar to DooM melee enemies. Meaning they cannot get to you, standing on an elevated spot (the building, your ship or a random small doodad)
Every system you warp into will either start you off with a pirate or a "save the local freighter" encounter.
There is no way to threaten a pirate foolish enough to attack you (as in for example Rebel galaxy, which has an insanely awesome soundtrack and seems Firefly Serenity inspired). You are either forced to fight or boost out of there until they give up so you're able to use your fancy speed drive once more.
Space mining is boring and limited to basic resources for a very limited amount of blueprints
Trade routes are fun for a while, going from certain systems to buy stuff to do very profitable supply runs to other types of economies requiring these resources
All space station are the same apart from type of aliens inhabiting them and exterior design
All aliens are basically all the same apart from superficial differences, which can be written off as a number game/stats
All planets are basically the same apart from the type of environmental hazards
All animals are basically the same, in this case they are just reskins
There is farming, to get some resources a bit easier. I didn't get to that because the I got tired of the base building quests
Oh and there's a story, which is rather slow paced and tedious, the base quests are usually quite unclear due the "where do I go, what do I do" syndrome...

Don't get me wrong, it's fun for a while or maybe on/off gaming. However as I said will inevitable turn into more of the same represented in a very repetitive and unimmersive way. You simply do not feel part of the universe presented in the game.

I guess it's like this:

Subnautica is "done" once you get to the end and you could play it again, mostly because grinding isn't forced on you as heavily as NSM with it's mandatory grinding
NMS is "done", either once you are done with it's repetitive nature or finish it's rather lackluster storyline.

HYBRID1313 · November 2018

Also, to respond to those saying that this is not a big deal - you're absolutely correct. The title is purely for views and the main reason of this post is just to acknowledge/appreciate the similarity found in design between No Man's Sky's modules and Subnautica's underwater modules. According to a comment on one of the trailers, apparently Subnautica developers helped the No Man's Sky team implement base building, so that could be another reason. Just thought they were some really cool, strong similarities to enjoy.

archmage94 · November 2018

I need a timeout in the naughty corner

Kouji_San · November 2018

archmage94 wrote: »

Snip

Well now, did we perhaps hit a nerve

However that "story" is extremely lackluster and shallow, it doesn't magically fix the very repetitive nature and all the other issues I've mentioned. It's simply one of those games that will most likely continue to have that "more of the same" vibe, simply because of how it's set up through procedural generation of it's Universe/worlds.

Unless of course they will finally give all those static clone like aliens more character and diversity and maybe work their way towards a proper content rich multiplayer in the form of true coop and much more diverse "quests"

Maalteromm · November 2018

Well, copying is the sincerest form of flattery!

archmage94 wrote: »

Snip

Nope, still the same "shit", only difference is that some of it comes through random quests now.
The game storyline is laughable at best. The premises are interesting, but it takes too much repetitive grinding for a few comments on the "story".
And the issue wasn't with the stuff he promised and wasn't there. The issue lies in the stuff he claimed was already implemented, when in fact it wasn't.

The effort they are putting into polishing the game is commendable, but it is still far from a good game.
It has a place in very specific niche, one that has relatively few games to compete with it. All of which are better games than NMS.

archmage94 · November 2018

HYBRID1313 wrote: »

According to a comment on one of the trailers, apparently Subnautica developers helped the No Man's Sky team implement base building, so that could be another reason. Just thought they were some really cool, strong similarities to enjoy.

While I certainly hope that's true? It won't stop people from wanting to hate on NMS cause they have nothing better to do except bitch and moan. How do we know this wasn't one of Shawn Murray's ideas that he wanted to implement but of course was on the pile of ideas that didn't make it into NMS until post-release

0x6A7232 · November 2018

^ missed a close-bracket (" ] ") which messed up your quote.

archmage94 · November 2018

Woops

archmage94 · November 2018

HYBRID1313 wrote: »

Also, to respond to those saying that this is not a big deal - you're absolutely correct. The title is purely for views and the main reason of this post is just to acknowledge/appreciate the similarity found in design between No Man's Sky's modules and Subnautica's underwater modules. According to a comment on one of the trailers, apparently Subnautica developers helped the No Man's Sky team implement base building, so that could be another reason. Just thought they were some really cool, strong similarities to enjoy.

While I certainly hope that's true? It won't stop people from wanting to hate on NMS cause they have nothing better to do except bitch and moan. How do we know this wasn't one of Shawn Murray's ideas that he wanted to implement but of course was on the pile of ideas that didn't make it into NMS until post-release

Foxy · November 2018

archmage94 wrote: »

...

Can you:
a) stop being foul-mouthed in every post you make and;
b) edit erroneous posts instead of making new ones.

Thanks.

No Man's Sky 'stealing' from Subnautica?

No Man's Sky 'stealing' from Subnautica? 30 votes

Comments