No Man’s Sky Expeditions Update Adds a New Game Mode With Its Own Challenges and Rewards

The latest No Man’s Sky update arrived today, with plenty more for players to do in this expansive universe. The Expeditions update adds a new game mode complete with its own challenges and rewards. There will also be new weekend events, activity hubs, and plenty of gameplay fixes and quality of life improvements.

As the title of the update suggests, Expeditions is the new game mode where events begin from one point in the game’s universe. The aim is to bring players together for a “shared journey” to complete a variety of goals known as milestones. These open-ended goals can be extremely simple, or they can be far more challenging, but their aim is for players to explore different aspects of the game. As such, they can be completed in any order. Each completed milestone gets players a reward, including one of over 100 patches, as does each completed Expedition. Rewards will include a new jetpack, an exclusive ship, weapon, and a title. The Expedition routes also have dedicated Rendezvous Planets to create “dynamic hubs of activity” where players can even set up their own settlements.

The Nexus will have new weekend event missions. Polo and Nada will tell players where to go for each mission and just participating in these missions will earn Quicksilver rewards. There were also plenty of quality of life improvements to arrive in this update. You can find the full patch notes below.

No Man’s Sky Expedition Update 3.3 Patch Notes

EXPEDITION MODE

• Expedition Mode is a new game mode, accessed by starting a new game.
• In Expedition Mode there is no tutorial and the Artemis mission path does not automatically begin.
• In Expedition mode players start with a randomised ship, Multi-Tool and character customisation set. Their starting technology is also randomised.
• Every player beginning an expedition starts on the same planet.
• Expeditions are time limited. Players have a fixed period in which to complete a unique set of new challenges. Completing challenges awards a mission patch and unlocks rewards to assist your progress. These challenges, called milestones, can be undertaken in any order.
• The Expedition Page will show all earned mission patches, as well as track key exploration stats.
• Milestones can be pinned as your active mission via the Expedition Page, which offers targeted guidance towards their goal.
• Several milestones require a visit to a Rendezvous Point. These are specific points in the galaxy at which all players are required to check in in order to complete the expedition.
• Milestones are grouped into phases. Completing all the milestones in a phase will unlock exclusive rewards, such as new customisation options.
• The phase rewards for the first expedition include a new style of firework, a new banner, a new title, a new base part, an exclusive golden First Spawn helmet, a new jetpack style and a golden version of the iconic Alpha Vector starship.
• Once unlocked, these rewards can be redeemed on any save by visiting the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion on the Space Anomaly.
• When the time available to complete the expedition is up, no further rewards will be earned. However, the save will convert into a Normal Mode save and can be used to continue playing.
• Some milestones award inventory slots. These can be redeemed immediately or their token brought to the Space Station and applied via the Exosuit Upgrade Terminal.
• On key expedition planets, protections have been put in place so that resource collection is not synchronized across the entire playerbase, preventing exhaustion of the planet.

TARGET SWEEP

• Added a new mode to the Analysis Visor, the Target Sweep.
• Missions where the location of the target building is not immediately clear will no longer automatically lead players directly to the building. Instead, they will direct players to the approximate area on the correct planet.
• When players exit their ship in the correct area, they can now use the Analysis Visor to search for the exact mission location.
• Players may still use their eyes to locate the correct building from the air or whilst on foot.
• Many missions across the entire game have been reworked to make use of the Target Sweep mechanic.
• The Living Ship/Starbirth missions now use a long-range Target Sweep instead of requiring players to manually search coordinates.
• When a mission requires players collect items from specific planetary objects – such as sac venom, harvestable plants, or ancient bones – the Target Sweep will automatically detect such objects and assist in their location.
• Players can pin specific objects from the catalogue to gain the assistance of the Target Sweep in locating them.

TWITCH DROPS

• Support has been added for Twitch Drops campaigns. Watch your favourite streamers and earn in-game rewards!
• The first Twitch Drop campaign runs from April 1st – April 5th 2021.
• Sign up and learn more at https://twitch.nomanssky.com

WEEKEND EVENTS

• Weekend events have been re-enabled.
• Weekend events are now generated procedurally.
• Each weekend event will still send the entire community to a selected planet.
• Weekend events continue to award significant amounts of quicksilver.

MISSION BOARD

• The space station mission listings UI has been completely overhauled.
• The mission listings UI now more clearly displays the rewards and standing on offer for each mission.
• The mission listings UI now more clearly displays the faction that has commissioned the mission.
• Significantly improved the value and diversity of mission board rewards.
• Text and objective clarity in all mission board missions has been significantly improved.
• Missions involving repairing or locating missing targets have been reworked to incorporate the Target Sweep mechanic.
• Completely reworked the pirate-hunting missions to more clearly direct the player towards a specific target.
• Completely reworked the creature/flora/mineral scanning missions to direct the player to complete surveys on undiscovered worlds.
• Fixed a number of progression blockers that could occur if the player was sent to destroy a depot that had previously been destroyed.
• Photo missions will now precisely direct players towards an appropriate location to take their photo.
• Fixed an issue that could cause delivery-style missions to permanently block the use of an outpost trade terminal.

NEXUS MISSIONS

• The Target Sweep mechanic has been incorporated into a number of multiplayer missions.
• Added a stage to ensure players are flying nearby each to each other at the start of pirate hunt multiplayer missions.
• Rescue-style multiplayer missions now require players to look inside buried technology modules instead of the rarer salvageable scrap satellites.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect numbers to appear in the mission description of Nexus missions.
• Fixed a number of issues in depot raid Nexus missions that could cause progress to desync.
• Fixed a number of issues where depots that have been previously destroyed could block mission progress.
• Fixed a number of issues where separate groups undertaking the same multiplayer mission at the same location could influence each others’ mission progress.
• Fixed an issue where the symbol for a weekend event could incorrectly appear while the player was disconnected from the servers.
• Added some conclusion text to the end of discovery multiplayer missions.
• Added guidance to escape sentinel attention at the end of depot raid multiplayer missions.

HUD

• The HUD has been completely overhauled for a fresher, modern look.
• The new HUD has been scaled to look sharp when the game is running at 4K.
• All markers in the game have been completely redesigned.
• Mission markers are now drawn in a different style from building/planetary chart icons, to help players navigate more easily in busy systems.
• Many markers now change size dynamically to reduce visual clutter.
• The offsets and light-beams for markers have been visually improved.
• Many rare planetary items have been given their own bespoke markers, to aid identification at a distance.

BALANCE AND QoL

• Players can now use the Quick Menu to switch their primary starship while docked at the Space Anomaly.
• The Quicksilver Synthesis Companion on the Space Anomaly now allows quicker access to the shop.
• The cost of repairing broken technology on planetary drop-pods has been significantly reduced.
• The cost of repairing damaged slots on salvaged starships and recovered Multi-Tools has been reduced.
• The cost of building Exocraft garages has been reduced.
• The amount of metal mined from planetary resource deposits has been increased.
• The economy-related price volatility has been reduced for Gravitino Balls and other similar planetary items.
• The pinning system has been significantly improved. Pinning damaged components within a technology now results in more accurate and useful instructions.
• The pinning system now correctly advances past steps where the subcomponent has already been completed or the required items have already been gathered.
• The pinning system now correctly differentiates between repairs and installs and displays the correct text and item requirements.
• When pinning items that can be found on planets (such as Sac Venom), a target will be added to the Analysis Visor’s Target Sweep to assist in locating the item.
• Repair instructions for damaged technologies can now be pinned even if that inventory is currently inaccessible.
• All products in the catalogue can now be pinned.
• The damage dealt by starship rockets has been significantly increased.
• Fixed a number of occasions where the starship reported no valid landing locations when trying to land on the planet surface but near to buildings.
• Fixed an issue where the pulse drive would lock onto the space station despite the ship being aligned with a planet.
• In space combat, the distance between your ship and hostile starships is now displayed on the targeting reticle.
• The error message displayed when trying to summon your freighter to a system that it cannot access has been made more clear.
• The third-person camera now responds more smoothly in cramped scenarios.
• Jetpack customisation options now correctly display tooltips.
• The responsiveness of the Custom Marker deployed from the Analysis Visor has been improved.

PERFORMANCE

• Introduced a significant number of shader loading and memory optimisations.
• Introduced a significant number of load time optimisations.
• Introduced a number of PlayStation 4 memory optimisations.
• Introduced a number of optimisations for using PSVR on PlayStation 5.
• Introduced a significant texturing optimisation for PC and Xbox platforms.
• Introduced a number of CPU optimisations for planet generation on PC.
• Introduced a significant network bandwidth optimisation.
• Fixed a number of hitching issues related to creature physics.
• Fixed a PC-only hitching issue caused by high CPU load during terrain generation.
• Max FPS has been increased to 240FPS.

SENTINEL CHANGES

• Planetary Sentinels have been rebalanced.
• A greater number of Sentinels now spawn in combat scenarios.
• Sentinel health now scales dynamically with player weapon output.
• Sentinel Drones shoot faster and more frequently, but deal less damage.
• Sentinel Drones display a unique icon whilst repairing Quadrupeds or Walkers.
• Sentinel Quadrupeds turn and track the player more responsively.
• Sentinel Walkers are now deployed to the planet via atmospheric injection.

GALAXY MAP

• Colour blind settings have been added to the Options menu to adjust the colours in the Galaxy Map.
• Controls text and messaging in the Galaxy Map have been clarified and improved.
• The camera in the Galaxy Map is now more stable, with fewer abrupt changes.
• Use of the mouse to select a path in the Galaxy Map has been improved.

CREATURE IMPROVEMENTS

• The sprint duration of your companions is now based on their stats. Companions that are well-fed and happy will now sprint much further. Companions with high playfulness, independence or helpfulness ratings will also see an increase in their stamina.
• A teleportation visual effect is now played when summoning or de-summoning your animal companion.
• Companions now correctly sync the use of any equipped torches with the state of the player’s torch.
• An automated light has been added to interactions with animal companions.
• Companions will now speak to the player when defending their owner from hostile creatures.
• Animal companions now respond to positive and negative emotes from the player.
• The sender’s name is now displayed in the inventory when receiving a creature egg from another player.
• Fixed an issue that caused animal companion thumbnails to be misaligned for some bipedal creatures.
• Fixed a number of issues with animal companion hunting behaviours.
• Fixed an issue that allowed predatory creatures to attack the player in Creative Mode.
• Fixed an issue that caused a brief visual glitch when summoning animal companions.
• Fixed an issue that allowed animal companions to one-shot Sentinels.
• Fixed an issue that prevented wild creatures from defecating after being fed.
• Fixed an issue that caused creature flocks to all spawn from the same location.
• Fixed an issue that caused animal companions hatched from modified eggs to alter the appearance of their parents.
• Fixed an issue that caused animal companions hatched from modified eggs to alter the appearance of other creatures on the home planet of their parents.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

• New images have been added to the Mode Select UI.
• Explorer-style starships have been visually overhauled, adding significant amounts of new detail and higher resolution textures.
• The rain effect on lush and toxic planets has been tweaked to be more visible.
• The docking rotate animation on starships has been slightly improved.
• Controls for photo mode in VR have been significantly improved.
• Fixed an issue that caused the torch to stay on in VR in photo mode.
• The detail and breadth of automated chat messages has been greatly expanded.
• A new interaction has been added to Gek observatories.
• A range of specific new interactions have been added for NPCs on lava and swamp planets.
• Improved the clarity of the tutorial messaging given when the player first collects Drop Pod Navigation Data.
• Clarified the text and messaging about PvP damage settings.
• Fixed a number of issues where incorrect text was displayed when the pulse drive was blocked or disengaging.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed an issue that could cause items to disappear from refiners.
• Fixed a number of issues that could cause interactions to become blocked when a player in a network session loses connection.
• Fixed an issue that could cause terrain edits to be incorrectly synced in multiplayer.
• Fixed an issue that could cause player titles to appear twice on the player list in the Nexus.
• Fixed a networking error that could occur when sending messages to non-existent players.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the starship’s launch system to be automatically repaired when another player docks in the same system.
• Fixed an issue that caused the freighter inventory to be inaccessible when performing repairs or crafting products/technologies aboard a freighter.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect repair or install requirements to appear when fixing a technology.
• Fixed an issue that could cause starships to overlap when a large number of players start in one location.
• Fixed an issue that could prevent players from destroying all the depots at a depot site on Korvax planets.
• The climax of the Living Ship mission (Starbirth) now recognises that players have earned all relevant parts and allows them to proceed even if the components have been lost.
• Added a building prevention radius to the mission targets in the Starbirth mission chain, to prevent players blocking mission targets with bases.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Quick Menu option to quickly return to the Space Anomaly to function incorrectly when visiting a Featured Base in a different galaxy.
• Fixed a number of icon inconsistencies in the tutorial.
• Fixed an issue that caused the VR summoning arc to appear when summoning the ship outside of VR.
• Fixed a VR issue that caused the wrist stumps to be visible when the body was hidden.
• Fixed an issue that caused screenshots taken in Photo Mode in VR to be at the wrong aspect ratio.
• Fixed a rare crash that could occur on startup.
• Fixed a PlayStation 5 GPU crash.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when playing PSVR on PlayStation 5.
• Fixed a crash related to memory allocation.
• Fixed a crash related to creature pathfinding.
• Fixed a crash that could occur in the profanity filter when renaming the starship.
• Fixed a PC-only crash that could occur when quitting the game.
• Fixed a hang that could occur when warping to a new system via a black hole.
• Fixed an issue that caused portal audio to continue playing after the warp was complete.
• Fixed an issue on PC that caused system audio to be muted when launching the game with a bluetooth headset connected.
• Fixed an audio issue when repeatedly moving the sun around in Photo Mode.
• Fixed an issue that caused menu tabs to disappear after viewing the power generator UI pages.
• Fixed an issue that caused planetary sector messages to ignore any custom names players had uploaded.
• Fixed an issue that caused an incorrect planet description to appear when viewing a base from a different galaxy in the teleporter UI.
• Fixed an issue that caused the UI to be misaligned when viewing the Egg Sequencer page in widescreen.
• Fixed an issue that could cause untranslated text to appear as an option on the Starship Outfitting station.
• Fixed an issue that could cause mission icons to be duplicated on the Galaxy Map.
• Fixed an issue that could cause multiplayer sync failures when undertaking Nexus missions with players on different daylight savings settings.
• Fixed an issue that caused discovery downloads and uploads to become bloated with duplicates of the same creature at different sizes.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Xbox Live Achievements to fail to update after switching the active user.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the player to suddenly change direction when getting in and out of a vehicle in third person.
• Fixed a minor collision issue on small crystals.
• Fixed an issue that caused invalid products to appear in the recipe unlock tree.
• Fixed an issue that prevented all of the alien language from being translated in a small number of interactions.
• Removed an erroneous duplicate of the Emergency Broadcast Receiver from the Catalogue.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Soul Laser to be significantly too powerful when used as a weapon.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to fire their secondary weapons when dismissing a mission detail box.
• Fixed an issue that caused the price of deployable items to be listed in units rather than salvage modules.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the power tutorial from advancing if the player built a Solar Panel instead of a Biofuel Generator.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the power and base building tutorials to get out of sync if the player learns specific blueprints out of order.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Signal Booster from appearing in the list of base parts that can be purchased on the Space Anomaly.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the game to fail to render when using a small number of unusual resolution settings.
• Fixed an issue that could cause glitched shadows when running PSVR on PlayStation 5.
• Fixed an issue that caused a small square to appear in the centre of the screen in HDR.
• Fixed a visual issue that could cause black blocks to appear in the place of the depth of field effect on Xbox Series X.
• Fixed an issue that could cause blocky artefacts in light scattering around planets on Xbox Series X.
• Fixed an issue that could cause Artemis to appear out of focus during a particular interaction in their mission chain.
• Fixed a visual issue that could cause a seam to appear in the planetary atmosphere.
• Fixed a number of minor visual issues with planetary props.
• Fixed an issue that could occasionally cause the base computer to appear invisible.
• Fixed an issue that caused visual effects on the Space Station to be hidden when completing any interaction.
• Fixed an issue that caused distant stars to jitter.
• Fixed an issue that caused rare planetary lighting effects to be present on the Atlas Station.
• Fixed a number of visual issues that could occur when stood at the threshold of a cave.

[Source: No Man’s Sky]