No Man’s Sky Releases New Experimental Branch

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 29, 2024 5 Views 7 Min Read
No Man's Sky Releases New Experimental Branch



Key Takeaways

  • No Man’s Sky’s new experimental branch for Steam tests fixes for multiplayer and performance issues.
  • Hello Games recommends players back up saves before participating in experimental builds to avoid potential issues.
  • Regular updates by Hello Games have redeemed the game’s reputation since its mixed launch in 2016.



No Man’s Sky has released a new experimental branch for Steam users that tests some fixes for various issues impacting the game. While the changes being tested in this experimental branch are smaller, they could improve the gameplay experience for those playing No Man’s Sky in 2024.

Despite No Man’s Sky launching in 2016, Hello Games still releases regular updates to improve the game and add new content. While No Man’s Sky received a mixed reception at launch, the amount of effort put into the game over the years has made it widely regarded as one of the most impressive redemption arcs in gaming. For example, 2024 has already seen many free updates for No Man’s Sky, including Worlds Part 1, which overhauled many environmental aspects of planets, such as adding volumetric clouds and better water effects. It even added new planet types full of fresh fauna to be uncovered while exploring.


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With 2024 starting to wind down, the developer has started testing some more potential changes. On November 28, Hello Games released a new experimental branch for No Man’s Sky that Steam users can participate in. Specifically, the developer rolled out fixes for multiplayer connection problems on PS4 and crashes on PS5 when running the PS4 version. Some other fixes looked to resolve a ship inventory merging issue and poor performance on Mac. In addition, the experimental branch optimizes wind calculations, potentially creating more immersive environments in No Man’s Sky.


How to Play New Experimental Branch in No Man’s Sky

  1. Right-click on the game from the Steam Library page and select Properties from the drop-down menu.
  2. Select the Betas tab.
  3. Use “3xperimental” as the access code and select Check Code.
  4. Choose the experimental branch from the options.


When sharing the patch notes, Hello Games recommended that Steam users using the experimental build back up their save files in case of new issues that slipped through the testing phase. According to the developer, players should make “a local copy of the st_[userid] folder found here on PC: %appdata%\HelloGames\NMS\ and here on mac: ~/Library/Application Support/HelloGames/NMS/.” In addition, Hello Games encouraged players to not use an experimental save in the main branch if they decided to opt out of testing. These fixes in the experimental branch will come to other platforms “as soon as possible.”

It is impressive to see the dedication of Hello Games in updating No Man’s Sky, and the player numbers show the continued relevance of the title, with thousands still regularly playing on Steam alone. In addition, the total Steam reviews for No Man’s Sky recently moved to “Very Positive” on the platform, evidencing the improvements made since its launch.


In addition to this recent experimental branch, Hello Games recently gave fans an idea of what to expect over the 2024 holiday season in No Man’s Sky. According to the developer, five expeditions will be re-run over the holidays in two-week intervals, with Omega already underway.

No Man’s Sky Experimental Branch November 28 – Patch Notes

  • Fixed a rare issue which could cause ship inventories to become merged.
  • Optimised wind calculations.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause multiplayer connections to fail on PS4.
  • Fixed a crash that could occur when running the PS4 version on PS5.
  • Fixed an issue which caused the application to lose focus on Mac which resulted in poor performance.

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