7 Ways No Man’s Sky Gives Us A Science Boner

5. A Universe Governed By Maths

Beyond the in-game experience, the way the universe is generated is pretty awesome too.

The NMS universe is so enormous, that you wouldn't be able to hand code the entire thing in a million years, but with the power of procedural generation, it is possible to set a few rules in motion and let the universe create itself. Although the makers have actually gotten in a bit of trouble over their alleged use of the "Superformula", developed by a plant geneticist from Belgium named John Gielis, the results are still spectacular. The formula itself is actually the modified equation for a circle, but generates all kinds of incredible natural forms - in the real world as well as in the game.

Maths copyright aside, the idea of immense complexity arising from a few simple rules will actually strike a lot of physicists as very familiar.

In our universe, matter can be essentially broken down into 17 subatomic particles interacting in different ways, and the interactions of this matter is governed by just four rules, the forces known as electromagnetic, strong nuclear, weak nuclear and gravity. From this simple set up, we get the universe.

Something similar is happening in the bowels of No Man's Sky, but with a few tweaks to make it more compelling and oh-so-pretty.