• The latest update to No Man’s Sky is once again a massive one with loads of changes.
• Space stations have been overhauled, ship customisation and guilds have been introduced, as well as new star fleet missions.
• More is still to come, says Hello Games.

At this point, it’s almost unfair that Hello Games has put out yet another free update to No Man’s Sky. The latest update represents another game-changing overhaul to a large focus of gameplay – space stations.

We think Sean and his team have earned their stay in the good graces of gamers after No Man’s Sky’s disastrous and much-covered launch, and we’re excited to see what the team cooks up with its first entirely procedurally generated fantasy planet in Light No Fire.

No Man’s Sky Orbital is the latest free expansion coming to the game – which is going for a steal at R250 right now on Steam – and sees orbital space stations receive wide-ranging changes. This includes a vast expansion of space stations in the game. Previously, every station you found in your travels was somewhat the same, now they all look distinct.

One large atrium where you parked your ship and then two higher platforms where you find shops and where you can receive missions. Now, every station has been given the procedural generation treatment and are uniquely customised depending on what system you’re in and what culture owns the station.

Interior spaces have also been made even larger thanks to improvements Hello Games has made to the engine.

But wait there’s more. The update is also finally introducing more in-depth ship customisation options by mixing and matching pieces of starships you already own. This will allow you to build “never before seen starship types,” the trailer explains.

Instead of fixing crashed ships to own them, they can now be salvaged for parts for the new ship customisation. Fixing crashed ships is one of the ways you can upgrade your existing ship in the game, but it is a tedious – if fun and rewarding – process. Now there’s an alternative if you don’t have the time.

Hello Games have also added new fleet missions, such as if you are away from your fleet and it gets attacked by pirates, you will receive a distress call and will have to warp to your fleet’s location to save it.

But wait there’s more (have we said that already?). The update is also introducing a guild system, where you can join NPC guilds you find in your travels across the galaxy, where you can buy products at discounts if you improve your reputation with them through missions.

“More will follow,” Hello Games says, seemingly not done working on No Man’s Sky and another update is probably in the wings.