*phew*
I kept busy…
No Man's Sky
You Are Hearing Me Talk…to Front Row
This month has seen two big new releases in the video gaming world: the highly anticipated No Man Sky, which promises an infinite, constantly regenerating universe for players to discover, and the latest instalment in the sci-fi blockbuster franchise Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. From an economic perspective, games have outperformed other creative industries for years, and they’re also nurturing the best creative writing talent.
Your Universe Awaits
No Man’s Sky is here!
Today’s that day the hype becomes real and the gateway to a galaxy of 18 quintillion explorable planets opens; I’ve been fortunate enough to write some of the lore for No Man’s Sky, contributing key text to the game itself and writing “Ashes & Iron“, an original short story for Adventures In No Man’s Sky, a pulp SF collection that comes packaged with the game’s Limited Edition release – and I am hugely excited to have been part of this ambitious new gameworld.
Check out my earlier posts about working on the project Here and Here.
You can pick up No Man’s Sky on the PS4 in the ordinary or Limited Edition versions Here, via Steam for the PC Here, or get the exclusive Explorer’s Edition Here.
Writing Under No Man’s Sky
I’ve talked about NMS previously, because of my involvement with Adventures in No Man’s Sky, an original fiction collection published by Dark Horse Comics that comes packaged with the game’s PlayStation 4 Limited Edition collection.
The universe of No Man’s Sky contains many mysteries for players to unravel and much to explore – I am reliably informed that the game contains 184446744073709551616 planets. As much as that number looks like I just mashed my hand on the keypad, I am assured it is accurate (!)
I got to write a little of the material that intrepid explorers will find in abandoned locations across these myriad worlds, as well as lore that will peel back some of the unknowns around the strange phenomena known as the Atlas – and I can’t wait to get in there myself and start visiting some alien vistas.
No Man’s Sky is out on PS4 on August 9th, and PC a few days later. Check out the official website here.
New Book(let) Day: No Man’s Sky
Check out the cover art for Adventures In No Man’s Sky, an exclusive anthology featuring the comic strip “Cargo” by industry legends Dave Gibbons and Angus McKie, and the prose story “Ashes & Iron” by me…
Adventures In No Man’s Sky will be available as part of the No Man’s Sky Limited Edition release for the PlayStation 4, and you can learn more about that Here.
Adventures in No Man’s Sky
Fast-forward a year or so. I’m in Guildford visiting another games studio and I happen to pass by the office of Hello Games; I can’t resist popping my head around the door (to be greeted by a life-size cutout of the hero of their first game, Joe Danger) just to tell them how cool No Man’s Sky looks, and how much I’m looking forward to it.
Fast-forward another few months, and out of the blue I get a call, which goes something like this: “Hey, would you like to write some fiction for the No Man’s Sky universe? Would you like to work with Angus McKie, the artist who drew the Terran Trade Authority books that influenced you so much as a kid? And also with Dave Gibbons, that guy who did Watchman and most of your favourite 2000AD comics? Would you like the opportunity to write a Heinlein-esque adventure story calling back to the golden age of 70’s SF?”
Oh. Yeah.
So No Man’s Sky is coming out in the summer (June 21 in North America, June 22nd in the Europe, and June 24th in the UK) and as well as regular-like edition for PC and Playstation 4, there’s a Special Edition slipcase pack of the PS4 that includes a steelbook case, in-game extras, a book of concept art and Adventures in No Man’s Sky, co-created by Gibbons, McKie and me!
Sometimes a project comes along that’s like a Perfect Storm Of Awesome, and for me this is one of them. Not only am I getting to work with some of my artistic heroes, but I’m also helping shape the lore of a very cool gameworld and team up with an incredibly talented group of people at Hello Games.
Check out the news page Here over at the official No Man’s Sky site for more info; the No Man’s Sky PS4 Special Edition is available now for pre-order.