Further Adventures In No Man's Sky

FURTHER ADVENTURES IN NO MAN'S SKY

Beneath me, spreading out to fill my view with the brilliance of reflected light, was an ice world. From this height, at the point where the atmosphere could be seen as a thin blue haze, I could make out mountain tops just barely peeking out of the ever-present ice and snow.

I descended toward the frigid surface. The air was clear and as I approached the ground the inky blackness of space gave way to brilliant blue, so vivid against the whiteness of the landscape. And it was not all just white. There was green here also, green from the forests that spread their canopy far and wide across this land.

I scanned the ground below me, searching for a gap in the trees where I could safely land my craft. Having done so, I climbed out and surveyed my surroundings. Unsurprisingly it was bitterly cold. Trees of many types rose their branches in defiance to the chill winds. In the distance I could make out a canyon, and beyond that the mountains. And hanging in the blue sky there was a planet reflecting sunlight from oceans of liquid water.

I headed off, making my way towards the canyon. It was while embarking on this journey that I encountered the first inhabitant of this cold world. It resembled a giant deer, slightly smaller than an elephant. Its skin was brownish, apart from its head and shoulder areas which were blue. Its most noticeable feature were its eyes. Huge, black, beautiful eyes which seemed to regard me with benevolence. The gentle giant regarded me for a moment or two, before calmly taking its leave of me in order to dine on the leaves of a nearby tree.

It did not take the animal all that long to strip the tree of its leaves. After that, it left the area to search for more food, and I watched as it left a long trail of hoof-prints like some kind of calling card.

I, too, left the area and continued on my journey. Before long I encountered my second inhabitant of this world. It came shuffling toward me upon four stout legs that looked like tree trunks. On its back was a sail reminiscent of the one some dinosaurs had. Two small eyes peered out from thick stalks that sprouted horizontally from its head. What a strange adaptation. What purpose could that serve?

Onwards I journeyed, passing trees stripped bare, perhaps by an animal similar to the one I first encountered. The air was beautifully clear, if almost unbearably cold.

A shadow racing across the ground drew my attention to something in the sky. I beheld a flying creature, beating its wings and making the most of currents blowing upwards, their gusts directed by the many hills and mountains that dominated this landscape.

If I had thought it was cold during the day, as the sun dipped below the peaks of the distant mountains I began to get some idea of just how chilly nights on this frozen planet would be. But despite the frosty winds testing the capacity of my environmental suit to keep me warm, the setting sun cast the land in a beautiful orange-red glow.

While I was standing witness to the majesty of the sunset, and contemplating whether to call for my spacecraft before the falling temperatures pushed my suit too far, a mighty below startled me out of my introspection. Thundering toward me there was....I can only describe it as a triceratops! The alien had a most remarkable convergence with that long-extinct dinosaur, with the same distinctive three horns and bony shield to protect its neck. Its powerful forelegs pawed at the ground, clawing deep trenches in the snow: An obvious display of territorial behaviour. I did not much fancy being charged by those behemoth, and was thankful to be saved from a mauling by my spaceship.

Thanks to Hello Games for the images.