Summary
Hello Games has finally revealed its next big project, and it is massively ambitious on the scale ofNo Man’s Sky. The story ofNo Man’s Skyis often used as a cautionary talewhen referring to over-hyped video games that end up falling far short of player expectations, and Hello Games' new project,Light No Fire, could fall into the same trap. Considering how greatNo Man’s Skyhas become thanks to the hard work of Sean Murray and the rest of Hello Games, though, hopefully the studio can keep its momentum going and deliver an excellent experience from day one.
What Is Light No Fire?
Light No Fireis an open world game in the most literal sense. It seemingly takes one of the most commonNo Man’s Skyplayer requests, more diverse biomes on individual planets, and runs with it; the game is set to take place on an actual Earth-sized planet where players can build, explore, and survive together.
No Man’s Skypromised players a gargantuan procedurally generated universewith millions of planets to explore, whileLight No Firepromises a singular life-sized world. To give a better sense of the scale of such an undertaking, it is helpful to look at the scale of some other games.
Below is a sample of some of thebiggest maps in all of gaming:
How Big Will Light No Fire Be?
The surface area of planet Earth is 197 million square miles, and one could fit the province of Skyrim in that space roughly 13.5 million times over. For a more useful comparison, the averageNo Man’s Skyplanet is around 80 square miles, which surface area would need to be multiplied nearly 2.5 million times to be comparable to the IRL Earth.
Creating an Earth-sized game world is an absolutely staggering undertaking, especially for a small team like Hello Games. This could create a situation where Hello Games is once again a victim of its own ambition. On the other hand, if theNo Man’s Skydeveloper pulls it off, it could be something exciting and special.
Another way to put the ambitious scale of the game into perspective is by looking at Sean Murray’s claim that there will be mountains higher than Everest. According to various sources, it takes around 2 months for a round trip to the summit of Everest. Players will be able to spend years exploring such a massive world.
Lessons Learned From No Man’s Sky
Light No Firehas already been in development for 5 years, and the first trailer shown at The Game Awards 2023 is certainly impressive. The biggest danger is that the massive world will feel empty and bland, much likeNo Man’s Skywas when it first released.It has taken years of meaty updates forNo Man’s Skyto recover from its infamously disastrous launch, and one can only hope thatLight No Firedoesn’t end up treading a similar path.
Fans ofHello Gameshave come to the consensus that Sean Murray has learned his lesson from theNo Man’s Skydebacle, and isn’t going to make promises that he and his team can’t back up.Light No Fireprobably isn’t coming out any time soon, but when it does, it could either be a massive success or a disappointing flop, depending on how well it lives up to the lofty expectations that fans already have for the game.
