Amazon kindly delivered my PSVR yesterday. I hadn't tried it, or any of the other VR options before hand I just knew I wanted to give it a go and I have to say, I'm hooked! Sorry for the long post, but had to talk about my experiences :smiley:

I tried Ocean Decent on PSVR Worlds first, mainly because I knew it was just a stationary experience but also because it was something that felt familiar having seen it in so many videos. Immediate thoughts were about the quality of the display, I wasn't too sure to start out with, but I think that's a lot to do with it being your first experience, you look at all the details because you have all those thoughts about "Have I set this up right", "Am I positioned right" "What is this even meant to look like", and yes it's not the sharpest image in the world, but I'll tell you, when those first fish swim up to you in the cage, and that sea turtle hangs just outside looking at you, all that goes away and in the PSVR, with your headphones on, you're just there. Watching the video clips on youtube just don't do it justice, it's something you simply have to try to appreciate.

After that first tentative step I threw myself fully into it with EVE: Valkyrie and yes, a couple of moments made the stomach go, but the feeling of being in a ship is amazing, when you enter the launch tube for the first time and the lights come up in the ship it just feels solid around you and the sense of scale is something again you can't appreciate until you play it. I sunk an hour or so into that and even though I generally don't go for multiplayer games, I loved it. Just make sure you look into those turns, it's something you don't have to do when you're playing on a TV but it really helps to combat any motion sickness in VR.

Finally, I had to fire up Batman and yes, people may call it a tech demo, but what a tech demo. I won't spoil anything but after the menu screen, where I spent longer than you'd think! the first scene was something I didn't expect as I hadn't watched any video playthroughs and for something so simple, it was again amazing to see....or be a part of!

So, should you buy it, if you can afford it yes. I don't feel that VR is just another add-on which will end up gathering dust, the experiences are just too vivid for that and if this is the start of the VR revolution, I can't wait to see where it goes! And now I've sat in the cockpit of a space ship, how can I go back to just looking at it on a screen.

Oh, and if anyone fancies teaming up for some EVE: Valkyrie, or anything else, I can't promise I'll be that good, but it would be cool to hang out with some fellow EZAs in VR. My PSN should be in my signature.

Now so long real world, I'm going back into the virtual one!

@McDillard great, really looking forward to hearing how your story is playing out and your thoughts on the lore you're coming across.

Anomaly

Possible (early game) story [SPOILERS] so accompanying images hidden

The Atlas restored life to me on a barren planet somewhere on the edge of the galaxy. I don't remember anything from my previous life, who I am, where I've come from, what I'm doing here, but the Atlas offered me guidance through this vast universe so I decided to follow it.

After travelling around a few systems learning about a couple of the species that inhabit this universe I've begun to understand that there may be more to them than it at first seems, the Gek for instance, who look small and insignificant, and always a little angry when you talk to them! The monoliths suggest they were once a hugely powerful and destructive race, maybe they still are? But what about the Atlas, what is it, where did it come from, and why did it bring me back.

After jumping to my third system I received a signal, something strange in a nearby system, so I fueled up my warp engine and jumped, only to find.

This looks slightly ominous. A huge Atlas Interface the size of a space station. I've only previously come across ruins and small monuments, nothing like this. I'm slightly nervous about what I'll find if I land there, but you only live once right...or maybe not.

So I fly in and come face to face with the Atlas.

Is this the Atlas, or is it just a piece of the Atlas? It provides me with more cryptic information, more knowledge of other races, but also an 'Atlas Stone'. I don't know what this is, what I can do with it, maybe sell it for more money, no, I think I'll hang on to this for a bit. And then it sends me on my way, once again alone out into space. But wait, another strange signal? I jump again only to find another strange space station:

Here I find Nada and Polo, a Korvax and Gek, the first time I've seen multiple races together. They seem friendly and talk to me in my own language. How do they know that language? have they met me before? are there others like me out here? I talk and fill Polo in on the lifeforms I've found. They seem like explorers, travelling the galaxy in search of knowledge, but when Polo offers me some tech at quite a price I wonder if he's not also some sort of galactic con-man. Still, when you've got your own 'Death Star' to maintain I guess you need the odd bit of help with finances. Plus, I receive an Atlas pass, I can now get to those mysterious locked areas of space stations...or at least some of those areas.

I end my visit to their station wondering if I'll see them again in another system somewhere else in the galaxy, but I still have more questions than answers about my place in this story. And one other thing is troubling me, as I explore planets I'm beginning to find abandoned structures overrun by an organic infestation.

This doesn't trouble me by itself, I would expect to see overgrown abandoned outposts out here. But I am concerned about the computer interface. It always says something like 'User identified' or 'Returning user' and the accompanying message log, that looks like bad news. Again, have I been here before? perhaps in a previous life? Am I spreading this infestation?

Maybe I'll learn more as I continue to the centre.

Gotta catch 'em all

Turns out there is a lot of life out there in the universe. Sure you find some barren planets, but actually there is a lot of life about and although most of it wants to eat you, especially those fast moving crab things I always seem to come across in caves, there is plenty that's friendly:

When you land somewhere your computer provides you with details on the number of different creatures inhabiting the planet and although I've always scanned a few before moving on, having watch Brandon plays Pokemon I decided that when I set down on 'Pinogr Ieh Ubotas':

I really should harness my inner Pokemon trainer and see if I can log every creature on the planet. Unfortunately though it isn't that easy, we're on a full sized planet here so there are a lot of places to look. Plus, at -58 degrees, it's pretty chilly outside and although I could cruise round in my ship that only allows you to spot large creatures. So I packed my suit with plenty of Plutonium....which fills me with a mild concern as apart from the single known benefit to Plutonium, allowing a DeLorean to travel through time, I don't think this is an element you want to be carrying around in your pockets. But it keeps me warm I suppose!...and set of on foot into the snowy wilderness in search of animals.

Flying animals are a real problem. For whatever reason my whizzy scanning binoculars were obviously not designed with birds in mind and I cannot get one to register and it turns out I'm not alone, looking through Twitter Ian Hinck has had the same issue. Only one thing for it, although I wanted to be like David Attenborough I'm going to have to do the unthinkable and shoot one of these things as it turns out you can scan them when they're dead. So I knock one out of the sky and go to scan it, which leads to an awkward situation where I'm scanning the dead body of a bird when a Sentinel turns up to investigate. I try to play it cool, act like I'm also investigating to see what happened to this poor creature, but he doesn't buy it, he looks at me, scans me, this strange person who has a fascination with dead animals and pockets full of Plutonium and figures quite rightly that I'm up to no good.....and I'm off, jet packing across the hills with multiple angry Sentinels in pursuit. It's just lucky they get bored of the chase!

After a long time scouring the planet I'm left with one elusive creature to find. I've had several near misses, it seems there can be different looking versions of the same species on a planet and they don't count as individuals. And there are also bugs, tiny, flying, blink and you'll miss them bugs that hover around bushes. But still, I can't find that last creature.

I take to the skies, hunt around and decide to stop at a shelter to grab some stuff and as I come back out of the shelter what should I find. Finally, the last creature standing right in front of me. Turns out, it's a dinosaur, and he's decided he really likes my ship:

Scan in the bag and final creature ticked off the list I decide to wait him out, but nope, he's not budging from my ship. So, not wanting to shot this fine beast I decide on the tactic of sprinting out of the shelter, jumping up and down in front of the weird T-Rex thing, followed by a comedic chase around the shelter modules and me leaping into the my ship and blasting off into the atmosphere leaving my very angry friend behind me.

I think you really do have to have a certain mindset for NMS. Yes I could have just got back into my old ship and left the new one, but I'm finding its far more fun to actually make mistakes and get yourself out of situations than do the usual thing of simply restarting from previous check point if things get hard.

If you want to take advantage of some of the glitches people have found, get money quick and race to the centre of the galaxy then that's fine, but I actually think it's a more rewarding game if you turn off your usual 'Gamer' mentality of needing to complete it and just enjoy the journey, wherever it takes you.

And as for pictures, yes I'm beginning to grab more screenshots as I play now as it's really great to chart everywhere I've been and all that I've seen.

Here she is, the Aizuhofe S91 I salvaged resting happily on a new planet

There are plenty of threads, videos and discussions about NMS here and all over the web at the moment. People are chatting about bugs, how to get money and resources quick, how to get to the centre, what's at the centre and was it worth it, can you meet other players...... but through all of the development one thing I Sean made clear was that NMS was about your adventure, what you decided to do, whether that was to never leave the planet you start on and just gaze up into the night sky wondering what's out there, or to embark on a career as a space pirate!

Because of this I thought I'd start a thread where people could share the adventures they're having in the game if they wanted, be they short snippets or long sagas. If you want to contribute the choice of how you want to write things is up to you, just a description of your situation, or a full blown short story told from your characters point of view, just like NMS, it's up to you how you want to do this, the only thing I would say is, keep it grounded in the game, what we want are stories that actually happened to you in game to give others an idea of what they might see or experience.

I'm also putting together a small album with various images from my travels here: Imgur Album

Be wary of potential [SPOILERS], NMS is so vast and massive it is almost certain that no-one will have exactly the same experience, although they may share similar story strands so if you think you'll spoil a discovery for others, make sure you warn people.

So on that note....

Stranded

I started off slow in NMS, I wanted to appreciate having my own freedom within a huge universe without the immediate need to follow objectives. So after waking up next to my damaged ship I took my time to get my bearings, the planet was fairly barren, a few creatures and plants but mostly unending rock as far as the eye could see.

I traveled the world on foot for a while, exploring deep caves, collecting resources, and observing Sentinels as they went about there business. What are they, why are they watching me and why do they seem so concerned by me mining for rocks? After a while I came across signs of civilisation, abandoned shelters and storage depots. I wondered who they could belong to, until I came across a large settlement...The Korvax. I met my first alien....or was I the alien? We exchanged pleasantries, although it's difficult to tell when you don't have a grasp on the language and then I left, finally returning to my crashed ship and setting about its repair. After juggling my resources and finding those final key things I fired her up and blasted off into space.

I took my time exploring that first system, visiting the space station, scouring the 3 planets for relics and monoliths to learn more about the mysterious Korvax, but the galactic map called to me, what else is out there, who else is out there? I fueled my newly built Hyperdrive and jumped.....

5 planets and 1 moon, a space station and plenty to explore. I settled down in this next system for a while, I upgraded my suit for some more valuable inventory space but one issue remained. My first ship, it was low on fire power, which I discovered after a close call with a couple of pirates who ambushed me between planets, and it was low on storage space. I admired some ships that landed at the space station, but they were too expensive for me and besides, did I really just want to buy a ship?

It was on a barren planet in this system that I found her. I came across a crash site, an Aizuhofe S91. Not exactly the greatest thing that has ever flown, but it looked great, had some more storage space and importantly, had some decent fire power.

I hadn't changed ships before so I didn't quite know how this worked but I went for it, transferred some inventory items across, discarded some others and set about my repairs. Launch thrusters check, shields check, weapons check, pulse engine....oh, Zinc, I'm sure I had some of that....wait, is that what I discarded? Oh well, I only need the pulse drive to speed up my travel times, I'm sure she'll fly without it.....or maybe not! No problem, lets go and find some Zinc......

....it has become pretty clear that there isn't any Zinc on this planet!

What do I do now. I can't take off in my new ship! Okay, I could switch back to my old ship, go and find a settlement that hopefully has a galactic terminal then come back. But how will I find this crash site again, it's not marked anymore? Okay think. Lets look around a bit, try and find a beacon where I can search for an outpost or something.

Now the trouble is, while it seems planets in general do have quite a few points of interest, when you're on foot it can take quite a while to find them. So off I went, from shelter to shelter, beacon to beacon, an old mining outpost that I broke into whilst hiding from sentinels, a monolith that taught me more history of this world, but the one thing I was missing was a galactic terminal, I just needed to find one so I could hopefully buy some Zinc, if they sold it.

Then it happened, I stumbled across a beacon which marked a settlement for me that showed signs of life, there would surely be a galactic terminal there, just how far away is it.....30 minutes! I'm already around 20 minutes from my ship. Oh well, lets go.

So I set off again, wondering desolate rocky hills until I reached one of my lowest points, a jagged mountain range where misjudging my bursts from my jetpack led to many close calls with long drops and injuries. If I somehow make it to this outpost am I going to make it back to the ship? What if they don't even have a galactic terminal!

About 10 minutes out from my destination I found it...In a crater hidden in the mountains I came across a point of interest, a floating metal ball I'd never seen before. I approached it and. It's a galactic terminal!!! Out here in the middle of nowhere. I fire it up and there in the list of for sale items is Zinc. I grab all I can, who knows if I'll get another chance. But now what, I'm probably 30-40 minutes from the ship, but only 10 from the settlement. Oh well, I'm in it for the long haul I guess, lets just continue on and see what's there.

Battered and bruised I make it to the settlement. The friendly Korvax greets me and we exchange some items, I grab some more precious Zinc from his galactic terminal, just in case! and get ready for the long walk back.

...Hold on though, there's a landing pad outside. I approach it and a 'Call Ship' option appears. Will this work, I cross my fingers, press the button.....there is the sound of an engine and my newly found damaged ship sets down on the pad. I've never been so relieved. I hop in, fix the pulse drive and fire up the engine. We're up!

I glance behind as I fly away from this desolate planet. I'll certainly remember this place. I aim towards the distant space station and engage my newly fixed pulse drive. This is only my second system, what have the rest got in store for me?

As I zoom towards the station an alarm goes off, I'm being scanned, valuable cargo...Space Pirates in bound!

Don't worry, I charge the weapons, I'm ready this time!