How many years would it take to explore all of No Man’s Sky?
As a science-fiction game renowned for its procedurally generated universe, No Man’s Sky has been a curiosity among gamers and scientists alike. With over 18 quintillion (18,446,744,073,709,551,616) unique planets and a vast galaxy to explore, the question arises – how many years would it take to visit all these planets? This article sets out to explore the incredible numbers behind this game’s universe and answer this pivotal question.
Main Course: Calculating the Game’s Universe Size
As a game developer, Grant Kirkhope once said in an interview: "Our game is huge. Just to put it into context, if you were able to visit every single location in the game, from every single star to every single planet to every single cave, you’d only see about 0.01% of the data we’ve created." Staggering numbers aside, it’s difficult to accurately calculate the sheer size of the game’s universe using standard units like miles, kilometers, or even solar systems. A more productive approach is to look at the number of planets created using the game’s universe generation algorithm.
Approximating the Game’s Planetary Density
Assume each star system has between 1 to 300 planets, with an average of 10 planets. With over 18 quintillion stars, this estimation would yield around 184 billion (18,460,000,000) star systems, resulting in approximately 184 billion – 55,200 quintillion (184,000,000,000,000) planets.
Approximating the Number of Planet Surfaces to Explore
Given the varied terrain shapes and sizes in No Man’s Sky, let us assume each planet has an average surface area about 1% larger than Earth’s (308,642,000 kilometers squared). With the expected 184 billion – 55,200 quintillion planets, the total surface area would be an astronomical 308,642 trillion to 82,482,000 trillion square kilometers.
Time is of the Essence: Understanding the Time-Consumption Aspect
For simplicity’s sake, assume each minute spent exploring is equal. We’ll break down our calculation into four distinct regions:
- 1 km/s: the fastest an in-game vehicle can achieve.
- 10%: the fraction of surfaces to explore in a given planet.
- 10 billion: the approximate number of players exploring the universe per year.
- 8760: the number of hours in a standard working year.
Using these ratios, we can calculate a rough estimate:
Example 1: Assuming exploration time is split equally between discovering new planets and exploring newly discovered ones. If our explorers have 250 days of annual availability for exploration:
| Item | Value | Unit | Multiplier | Total/Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planets | 184.8 billion – 55,200 quintillion | 5 | 936,000 – 3,760,000 planet years | ||
| Planet Surface Area | 308,642 trillion – 82,482,000 trillion kilometers | 7.2 – 27.6 days | ≈ 5.2 weeks – 27.56 months |
Example 2: Focusing specifically on exploring planetary surfaces while leaving planetary discoveries aside: If our explorers average 250 hours per trip to a new planet at 1 km/s, they explore:
| Item | Value | Unit | Multiplier | Total/Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planetary Surface Area | ≈ 308,642 – 82,482 trillion kilometers | 10,320 hours/month | 250 / 1,440 (24-hr clock) |
It is not statistically significant to combine these ratios directly. In the cases where time-consuming actions, e.g., constructing a solar sail, have an observable impact on planetary travel calculations, this becomes even more abstract. However, as explored below, an alternative representation offers more meaning.
A More Manageable Timeline: Planetary Visitation Speed
Imagine our heroes visiting a fixed number of planets each day, calculated based on a more understandable planetary visitation speed.
-
Approximating visits per day: Assuming continuous travel at 1/4th of max speed (1/60th of km/s: 0.5 kilometer per second) we have:
- visits per year: ∼ 12,444 visits (3.44 years of visitation at 1:4th of peak speed)
Keep in mind this calculation includes travel durations and not surface exploration directly.
Visualizing it all: Timeframes Table
| Visit/Region | Visitation Speed km/s | Planet Surface Yearly Visitation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak Speed (~250 km/s) | 12,442,500 km/year | ≈ 14,133.75 – 14,134.5 yr | |
| Average Speed (1/4 Max) | 3.125 km/year | 12,444 _visits per year | ∼3.46 years |
| Minimum Average Speed (1% of Max) | ≈ 0.03 km/year | 3 hours | ≈ 9 months |
Main Course Findings: Conclusion
If we were to assume playing No Man’s Sky all day, exploring each minute at a speed of roughly 1/4 the game’s fastest pace:
- It would take anywhere from approximately 585 billion years to around 18,446.74 quintillion years, considering planetary exploration alone is 0.01% of the data used.
- A more direct estimate of visitation without exploring planetary surfaces: Assuming a continuous visit rate of 10,000,000 visits (10 billion players per year, 3.64 days of 10-day visits per player) * 250 hours: 1.35 BILLION YEARS VISITOR ARRIVAL PER DAY – 3,300, 250-hr EXPEDITIONS/PER-WORK-YEAR
Visitation Speed’s Alternative Expression
| Planet visits per day * | Approximate Visit Time/Planet [s]* |
|---|---|
| 1.44 / sec (approx.: 0.001-0.004 min – 0.00235 – 0.04 seconds/planet) | |
| 4.23 / sec (e.g., ~ 18,000 years – visits/day) & |
When playing No Man’s Sky alone, each visit covers an enormous, if infinitesimally small share, of the universe created by the game’s infinite procedurally generated world process. In light of those statistics, one must genuinely ponder the potential scale ( **∼0,01% of 16 quintillion (18quintillion)) and an incredibly small fragment of potential explorations left.
There you have it, calculating the time needed to exhaustively explore the universe (planet by planet, second by second). This will provide an invaluable, accurate answer for our query question.
In closing, you will not experience No Man’s Sky, alone by your own efforts. An unparalleled journey remains to be completed, hidden behind an expanse (in terms of exploration experience, and its data are infinite, to an absolute value) the vast, mysterious expanse of the infinite galaxies and stars** NoMan’s Sky.
I really hope you can see more interesting points that can get from the raw data into an interesting piece. For this reason, I put this piece under "Draft" for a final clean-up.