No Man's Sky 'Beacon' Update Has Landed! Here's What's New | Gaming-DB
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No Man's Sky 'Beacon' Update Has Landed! Here's What's New

No Man’s Sky ‘Beacon (5.7)’ Update Lets You Build Deeper Galactic Empires!

Hello Games has just rolled out a colossal update for their ever-expanding space exploration epic, No Man’s Sky, dubbed Beacon (5.7). This patch doesn’t just tinker; it significantly deepens existing game mechanics, with a major focus on settlement management, the introduction of a mysterious new race, and crucial cross-platform enhancements. Travellers, get ready to expand your planetary empires with more options and intricate details than ever before.

Rule Over Multiple Colonies: Expanded Settlement Management

One of the standout features of the Beacon update is the ability for players to now become the Overseer of up to four different settlements. This opens up the strategic challenge of managing multiple towns across diverse planets, each with its unique inhabitants, challenges, and potential.

  • Detailed Management Missions: Each settlement will now have its own distinctly named management mission, with specific details about its status available in the Mission Log.
  • Retirement Option: Stepping down as Overseer of a settlement is now possible.
  • Sentinel Threat Balancing: Managing multiple settlements will distribute the Sentinel alert level among them, meaning the number of attacks requiring player attention won’t increase proportionally with the number of settlements managed.

Settlement Classification, Resource Production, and Buildings Revamped

The core functionality of settlements has been overhauled, offering players greater strategic depth and control:

  • Reworked Classification: The algorithm determining settlement class has been completely reworked and rebalanced. Veteran players might see a slight shift in their existing settlement’s class but will also find that upgrading to an S-Class settlement is more achievable and predictable. Settlements owned before the Beacon update will receive a special “Pioneer Spirit” trait.
  • Customizable Resource Production: Overseers can now choose which resources their settlements will produce. The selection is influenced by the settlement’s dominant race and its buildings, with higher-class structures unlocking more lucrative production options. Produced resources can be sold directly from the settlement management screen.
  • Building Upgrades and Increased Functionality: Each settlement building now provides a constant contribution to the settlement’s happiness, population, and productivity levels. Buildings can be upgraded to improve their appearance and the settlement’s class. A permanent terminal has been added to every settlement building, providing access to its information page and some special utilities:
    • Towers: Can be used to scan for points of interest on planets and in space, and will generate a small amount of navigation data daily.
    • Marketplaces: Will host an emissary from the local system’s leading guild.
    • Factories: Will generate a Multi-Tool Crate with refreshed contents daily.
    • Farms: Will feature plantable plots.
    • Saloons: Allow the Overseer to set the menu and adjust the ByteBeat track on the jukebox.
    • Landing Pads: Offer the ability to locate crashed ships and scrap starships.
  • Fishing in Settlements: The option to construct fishing pools has been added to all settlements. Fish quality will improve as the pool is upgraded.

Meet the Autophage: A Mysterious Robotic Race

A new, enigmatic robotic lifeform, the Autophage, has been introduced, inhabiting settlements constructed from scrap and crystal.

  • Discovery and Management: Travellers who discover Autophage lifeforms can become Overseers of these unique settlements. Players who complete the “They Who Returned” mission may receive a special invitation to visit an Autophage settlement from one of their own.
  • Autophage Synthesis Terminal: These settlements feature an Autophage Synthesis Terminal for trading Void Motes and assembling your own Autophage Staff.
  • New NPCs and Settlement Traits: Autophage settlers with their own unique titles, dialogues, and thoughts have been added. Autophage settlements will always start with a special trait that reduces Sentinel attention.
  • New Base Parts: Around a hundred new Autophage-style structural and decorative base parts, purchasable from the Space Anomaly, have been added.

Deeper Citizen Interactions and Management Decisions

Interactions with settlers and management decisions have also been significantly enriched:

  • Citizen Personalities and Historical Records: Unique information pages have been added for settlers, providing insights into their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Additionally, a history page has been added, offering a summary of achievements and events during the Overseer’s tenure.
  • Expanded Decision Pool: The variety of settlement management decisions in each category has been increased, and the decision interface can now present two to four options. Existing citizen dispute management decisions have been completely reworked, offering clearer scenarios and a wider range of resolution options.
  • New Decision Types: New types of decisions have been added, such as commissioning a piece of art, naming a newborn citizen, accepting a gift from a specialist, or utilizing an existing settlement boon.
  • Fireworks Celebrations: Significant events like settlement festivals, new citizens, and successful expeditions will now be celebrated with fireworks in the town center.

New Threats, Defense Mechanisms, and Quality of Life Improvements

Planetary life is now more dynamic and dangerous:

  • Diversified Sentinel Forces: Sentinel forces attacking settlements now include repair drones, summoners, and waves of heavy, corrupted, and standard drones, promising more tactical combat.
  • A New Threat: The Vile Brood: “The vile brood queen and her swarm” can now also attack your settlement.
  • Squadron Support: Pilots of Travellers who own a Squadron will now scramble their ships to defend the settlement against pirate raids.
  • Weathered Construction Materials: New weathered and rusted appearance options for wood, stone, and alloy surfaces for bases have been added.
  • Audio Options: An option for a male voice for the Exosuit AI (currently English only) or to disable the voice entirely has been introduced. Different tones and character voices for player vocalizations (grunts, breaths, etc.) can also be set.
  • Intel XeSS Support: Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) support has been added for PC players, delivering higher performance and exceptional image quality.
  • Improved Structure Snapping: The snapping mechanism for structural base parts has been significantly improved, especially when placing them on a plane beneath the player.

Nintendo Switch 2 Support and Full Cross-Save Rollout

  • Nintendo Switch 2 Version: A dedicated version for the next-generation Nintendo console has been announced. This version will feature full multiplayer support (including in-game chat and friend list display), beautiful high-resolution graphics, touch controls, increased planetary detail, higher frame rates, a high-resolution user interface, gyroscopic aiming, and cross-play & cross-save support to continue your existing journey. Current No Man’s Sky Nintendo Switch owners will be able to upgrade to this version via a free upgrade pack on the Nintendo eShop.
  • Cross-Save Now Fully Available: The Cross-Save feature is now available to all players. This allows you to seamlessly continue your adventure on any platform where No Man’s Sky is available.

The No Man’s Sky Beacon (5.7) update, with its countless new features and improvements, offers a wealth of new content for both new and veteran players to explore. The update is available to download now on PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Mac, and Nintendo Switch.