No Man’s Sky ‘Companions’ update now available

Hello Games has released the “Companions” update for No Man’s Sky, which adds the ability to adopt and explore the universe alongside an alien creature, and more.

Here is an overview of the update, via its official website:

Companions: Introducing Update 3.2

Adopt an alien creature and explore the universe side-by-side in the Companions update! Take care of your new friend as they find hidden resources and protect you from hostile aliens, or genetically modify their eggs and breed unique, never-before-seen creations!

• A Galaxy of New Companions – The infinite and varied creatures you find roaming the universe can now be tamed and adopted as your companions. Once bonded to you, your new friend can be summoned anywhere – even aboard the Space Anomaly.
• Nurture the Young – Baby creatures will inherit looks and traits from their parent – but they are never exactly the same! They will need your care as they grow from spawn to maturity…
• Form Your Bond – Earn the trust of your companion by playing with them, feeding them, and giving them attention. A handful of Creature Pellets can go a long way!
• Explore Together – Keeping your animal companion well cared for brings a host of practical benefits, including: scanning for resources; marking hazards; providing torchlight; hunting hostile creatures; locating buildings; digging up valuable treasures; and deploying their own shoulder-mounted mining lasers.
• Unique Personalities – A creature’s personality is shaped by their species and ecosystem role, but their individual personality is one-of-a-kind. Their personality influences how they behave as well as how they think.
• Alien Neuro-Translation – The creature harness has a neural link with the Exosuit, enabling rudimentary translation of their thoughts and wishes. Companions may share their feelings towards their owner, comment on the lifeforms and geography they encounter, or simply express their inner world.
• Play Together – Your companion reacts to your every move! They will run alongside you, or play in response to your own gestures. Use specific command gestures to issue orders to your co-explorer. When your companion meets other creatures or companions they might become inquisitive, playful—or even aggressive, depending on their personality.
• Companion Customization – Accessorize your companion with a range of functional and decorative adornments. Accessories can be recolored and customized with decals.
• Expand Your Collection – Up to six creatures can be adopted as companions. The Companion Register screen provides an overview of your collection, including their mood, trust, and personality traits. Your companions can be renamed, should you wish to give them a name reflective of your time together. Or, if your friendship has come to an end, you can even abandon them from your collection…
• Raise a New Generation – Creatures that have been well-cared for will lay eggs! Incubate the egg in your Exosuit until it’s ready to hatch into a brand new lifeform.
• User Interface Improvements – Players using a mouse and keyboard can now use hotkeys to select options in dialogue menus and interactions. Players using a gamepad can now use the analogue sticks to quickly move between options in dialogue menus and interactions.
• Wild Creature Improvements – The bait system has been streamlined – any creature that has been fed may now be ridden or milked. Cooking strange eggs has never been easier! Riding has been enabled for giant creatures, granting a new and dramatic perspective when exploring planets.
• Genetic Trading – Players who have found particularly rare or desirable creatures may wish to trade eggs from their prized companions with other players.
• Gene Re-Sequencing – Genetic material can also be taken to the new Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly. The Egg Sequencer allows players to remix the genetic material of their growing eggs to produce unique, never-before-seen creatures. But beware—overdosing eggs in the Sequencer may cause dramatic creature reconfigurations…

And here are the full patch notes:

Animal Companions

• Creatures that have been fed can now be interacted with to access options for milking, riding and adoption.
• Players may adopt up to six creatures at any one time. New companion slots are available to be purchased with nanites.
• Your companions can be renamed, and then customised with a new range of accessories and decals.
• Some accessories, such as the torch or mining lasers, will be used by your companion as they explore the planet.
• Each companion has their own personality, which will influence how they behave and think. Some species are more likely to have certain traits than others,
• but each creature is unique.
• The creature harness has a neural link with the Exosuit, enabling rudimentary translation of your new companion’s thoughts and wishes.
• Companions will assist their owners during planetary exploration, but have needs of their own. They will periodically require food or attention if they are to thrive.
• Companions will need to be cared for over a long period of time in order to win their trust.
• While exploring, companions will assist their owners in a number of ways, including: scouting for resources and buildings; digging up minerals and special items; hunting other creatures; and marking hazards.
• As well as acting on their own initiative, companions may be given specific instructions via gestures from the Quick Menu.
• VR players can point directly to send their companion to a destination.

Companion Eggs

• Creatures that have been well-cared for will lay eggs.
• After a short time, creature eggs will hatch into a brand new creature, related to but distinct from the parent creature.
• Baby creatures have different proportions from adult creatures and will grow to maturity over time.
• Players may trade eggs from their prized companions with other players.
• Creature eggs can be taken to the Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly.
• The Egg Sequencer allows players to remix the genetic material of their growing eggs to produce unique, never-before-seen creatures.
• Overdosing eggs in the Sequencer may cause dramatic creature reconfigurations…

Creature Improvements

• New creature and companion-related titles have been added to the Appearance Modifier.
• The construction cost of Creature Pellets has been increased.
• The stack size of Creature Pellets has been increased.
• Creatures no longer require advanced bait to unlock harvesting functions – any creature that has been fed may now be milked.
• Giant creatures can now be ridden.
• Creature locomotion animations have been improved.
• The particle effects emanating from creature dung have been improved.
• Discovered creatures now have a different shaped icon in the Analysis Visor, to better distinguish them from undiscovered creatures.
• Creature icons in the Analysis visor have been offset to improve their appearance.

User Interface Improvements

• Players using a mouse and keyboard can now use hotkeys to directly select options in dialogue menus and interactions.
• Players using a gamepad can now use the analogue sticks rather than the cursor to move between options in dialogue menus and interactions.

Optimizations

• Warp and loading times on PS4 have been significantly improved.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused freighter ‘wings’ to be hidden.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an invalid system/base to appear in the teleport destinations list.
• Fixed an issue that caused the gloves to be out of focus in the Appearance Modifier.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players using Windows 10 to incorrectly report a network disconnect.
• Autowalk is now cancelled automatically when the player manually moves forwards or backwards.
• The creature feeding Nexus mission has been rebalanced to account for changes to the taming process.
• Concrete base parts now require Silicate Powder rather than Carbon to build.
• Fixed an issue in the Galaxy Map that caused the Distance To Core text to be vertically clipped, resulting in a comma that looked like a period.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to upload/download an excessive number of creative discoveries.
• Fixed an issue that caused Cronus’ food to have an extremely bright glow.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Orbital Exocraft Materialiser to have an overly bright glow.
• Fixed an issue that caused base specialist terminals to snap incorrectly in specific large rooms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause an increase in load times while attempting to download base data from other players.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect text to appear when harvesting food substances from some unusual creatures.
• Fixed a VR issue that caused the Exosuit backpack to be invisible in the inventory if the player’s body was turned off.
• Fixed an animation issue with the player weapons in VR.
• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect UI scaling in VR.
• Fixed a VR issue that could cause UI screens to move while the UI was closing.
• Fixed a rare hang that could occur when taking a screenshot in Photo Mode on PC.
• Fixed a networking crash on Xbox platforms.
• Fixed an issue that could cause very large save files to crash during loading on PS4.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when the leader of a herd died.
• Fixed a number of memory related crashes on PS5.
• Fixed an audio related crash on PS5.
• Fixed a rendering crash on PS5.
• Fixed a crash related to the preview of summoned objects (eg starships).

No Man’s Sky is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store.

Watch a trailer below.