No Man's Sky Lore | The Atlas Explained

[@FrozenPantiezzz]

So... Sean Murray is the "Atlas" and we are the "Travellers" in this "Simulation", which is really just a story of Sean making the game and all of us playing and exploring it. GOT IT! That's fucking sick

[@iTz_Nao]

comment stolen from reddit

[@trigger0403]

People arnt even real anymore don't even have there own comments hahahaha so sad

[@warlock5309]

Lmao your gay ahh really thought you could copy paste a comment from reddit and no one would notice huh 🤣

[@tophus5583]

First time playing the main questline I thought to myself, that the story was a bit underwhelming. But after diving deeper into the lore by exploring the galaxy, I was surprised how deep, dark and philosophical the game actually was. I even cried when I read the last "Rememberance" entry about the remaining few minutes of the Atlas. It was heartbreaking and sad, but also a kind of happy ending for the Atlas.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I had a similar experience. It's so well hidden and not spoon fed to the player. It gets deeper and deeper as you go as well. Glad you delved in, there's much more!

[@TheSandboxMaster]

The one that got me was when the Atlas was "crying out, afraid" to us

[@SaiScribbles]

When they first introduced the meta story of the universe being simulated I thought it was a bit of an asspull. But Hello Games has made it so compelling, so abstract, so mystical that it really ended up adding so much to the feel of the game.

[@TheKiroshi]

The only time ive ever looked at a youtube ad and thought "hmm. Looks interesting"

[@DreadCaptainJames]

That made my day!

[@aihereplia]

It would be really cool if the game keeps updating and then there a new questline where the number sixteen finally countdown to fifteen.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Agreed. I think they still have a pretty significant roadmap planned even with Light No Fire being as prominent as it is in their development plan. I'm looking forward to both, and I know No Man's Sky will have some seriously cool lore drops inbound in the future!

[@thedeekabides]

So far I’ve just bullied the Atlas every time I meet him.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

😂🤣

[@JohnDoe-bx1bw]

What hint all the lore at the end of 2024. I never expected the nms stroy and lore be so beautiful and depressing at the same time. That feeling of loneliness in adrift redux was so intense and tangible that it took me a day to recover. Imagine being the last living human being in the universe

[@sagelovescoffee]

I enjoyed this game so much and when i completed the story i was blown away. We as a player can choose to explore and catalog the plants and animals, or base build etc. But theres a deeper story if we choose to follow. Its very similar to real life. Some people are fine with living their lives and never questioning our existence, and others can choose to seek the answer. The game doesnt punish the player for choosing what to do.

[@DollaryDooz]

Dude I love the way you describe things! And the music matches your style perfectly!

[@CELFriendsGaming367]

Very well done! Your audio editing and voice recording are very well rounded. The video editing while basic still has a refined feel to it. Short and to the point execution with no filler makes for a brief but knowledgeable experience. Keep up the amazing work, and I can see your channel going places!

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I REALLY appreciate this kind of feedback, thank you for taking the time to tell me, it means a lot!

[@CELFriendsGaming367]

@Dread Captain James No problem! I've done podcasts and video editing for years. I'm also working on developing my own video essay channel for lore of one of my favorite series myself, so I always enjoy seeing smaller channels that can create quality content that rivals the mid to larger creators.

[@Pendragon667]

Great video, thank! On point and with the perfect length. And it answered one of the most pressing questions i've always asked myself: there _is_ actually something outside of the computer, the simulation we are in.

[@LackOLibrium]

As always, you put out a short, sweet, and to the point video that is fascinating and fun!! Thank you!

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Thank you for taking the time to check it out and leave such a nice comment!!!

[@Loreweavver]

Dude. Just had a wild thought while playing Stellaris. Thought it may be something to keep in mind. Stellaris is space Civ. One of the races extinct races is that of a people who believed they were in a simulation and the only way out was mass suicide/extinction events that would upset the system. The running gag in the community is that they were onto something as late game lag becomes unbearable due to the accumulation of data the game is tracking. So what is something similar happened with the Atlas. As it created more and more stuff the system started lagging and the sentinel protocol activated and they started culling planets. This isn't anywhere in NMS lore that I'm aware but there's only so many ways a system can self regulate.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I LOVE this idea! That's a cool parallel and it would make for a great story for sure!

[@futhark6569]

Nice idea, I like it!

[@Loreweavver]

As you're putting these together can I recommend you read up mythology on Izanagi and Izanami. I believe they are the archetypes for the Atlas and Atlantid. Thanks for making the video. Been looking for more deep dive.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I will 100% check it out for sure!

[@floofyy_]

Underrated video man, awesome stuff

[@sambruh1410]

WHAT I never knew the NMS story is so deep and epic

[@yolobird8764]

Great video man, can't wait for more lore!

[@GodsMistake1985]

I think you as the player met the same fate as Artemis. When I put Artemis into that computer in the Anomaly I started to see some similarities. Artemis/Player ; Computer/Atlas ; Creator/Nada or Player. I think the way you talk to the Atlas mirrors the way Artemis talks to you when he is in the simulation. The original computer was neglected by his creator and started to die. If Nada is the creator he could have no interest in the computer and didn't care about it or he died at some point. If the player is the creator he could have left the galaxy like in the end of the mission. If it is like in inception then with every simulation in a simulation the time runs faster. So the 16 minutes the original computer has left could be billions of years in your simulation.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

This is such a cool take! Love this theory!

[@rroneuspyludoneus8162]

I have lost count of the number of hours I have played it. Yet, I know and care about it so little. Hence it is possible to play this game for a long time, and understand NONE of it.

[@sagelovescoffee]

Which I think is done on purpose. We as humans exist in this universe and many do not care to know how or why the universe was created and they're fine with that. But the lore and story is there if you decide to seek it out. 😊

[@Bird-0]

Why would an obscure blend of the descriptions of a heart and simulated reality be the description a mirror would form in that way?

[@Seon892002]

I wanna break out and try and save Atlas

[@lurkerincognitus9688]

Story time with the Captain

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I feel like we are about to reignite Reading Rainbow lol

[@CombativePlays]

Despite not having ever played the game, No Man’s Sky is one of my favourite games. And this video makes me like it even more! Great video!

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Thank you so much! That made my day!!

[@FrozenPantiezzz]

I hope you get the chance to play this amazing game!

[@CombativePlays]

@@DreadCaptainJames Np!

[@CombativePlays]

@@FrozenPantiezzz Thanks!

[@The_Watch_Mister]

What's the music you use at the beginning?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I was using some stock music unfortunately, and it's been so long I don't think I could pull that back up. Sorry!

[@havoc2638]

Great job!

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Thanks man!

[@FerliardNerquan]

Is Glass or is it Crimson?

[@thatweaseldood]

YEEESSSSSSSS I am so excited for mor!!!

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Thanks man! This was a blast, I'm excited to delve deeper!

[@willlopez2349]

Awesome... never looked at the game like this.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I think this is gonna help establish a good baseline for us to all understand the story better. Thanks for checking it out, lots more on the way

[@ODBxPokesX]

Well done

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Thank you very much!

[@Iam2000yearsold]

So atlas was created by its creator for the original creator to understand itself ? If the travellers are projections of the creators mind then it would make sense that atlas splits the creators mind into fractal pieces of itself to interact with eachother, travel and thus understanding why it exists in the first place and therefore completing the mystery of itself ?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

100% as far as I can tell. Also, it seeks to understand why it was left behind when humanity left earth. It's pretty wild. AI seeking to understand itself and its purpose.

[@Iam2000yearsold]

@@DreadCaptainJames so what if we are travellers in this real world ?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

The what ifs are the best part! Nothing to say we're not!

[@nb6792]

Atlas is an actual supercomputer, an AI, that was left behind by it's creator. It's dying, alone, and afraid. So it created the simulation to understand why its creator left him.

[@I_Am_Transcendentem]

I wish the atlas could turn us into a physical vessel.. and.. that we could free it.

[@nb6792]

I'm almost 200 hrs in the game and I just got to the point in the story where I found out what 16 means and not gonna lie I shed a few tears. Poor Atlas :(

[@DasMonstor]

Waht is the name of your ship This is fanzy

[@DreadCaptainJames]

That was an interceptor, and they're really nice. I love them! It's sentinel tech, just added in the Interceptor update.

[@Filsoh]

What about the Sentinels killing everyone?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

The one universe where they exterminated life in under an hour? Yeah, that's definitely something on my radar, looking for more detail on it. 💯

[@TeaganL1701]

How do you get that ship ?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

It's an interceptor, it's sentinel tech. It's pretty late game stuff, but I do have a video if you want that can show you how to pick them up pretty easily. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpjEo2CmjJt1rtU I hope that helps, let me know!

[@SandorSan-u5i]

This game has now delivered on all its promises, but there's one thing no one talks about that will never make this game what it could have been for me. This thing was there from the beginning and I didn't like it even then and it ruined the whole thing for me. This thing is the storyline. Why the fuck did you have to point out that the whole game, with all the worlds, everything, is a simulation? I can't get into it, it's all kind of pointless. I had the same problem with the Assassin series, somehow it kills the game for me. Are there others like me with this thing?

[@5andWitch]

Well, that's annoying me a little bit. But then I remember that I have so much fun exploring Atlas's universe, that's the main point i play this game, exploration not the storyline, it is what it is, i choose to have fun.

[@vince67724]

I never much pay attention to its story to think its this kind of deep geez...

[@DreadCaptainJames]

It goes SUPER dark too. I'm shocked regularly by little tidbits we get

[@Joseph-wh5of]

Well it has been a long 16 minutes.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

💯 facts

[@jrich4376]

ITS ALL A SIMULATION???????

[@DreadCaptainJames]

You made me laugh out loud in public, I appreciate you 😂

[@DK-zl5gb]

Once I discovered the universe I was in was a simulation, I was kinda done with it.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Really? In a video game? Interesting. The line being crossed wasn't with the big purple aliens, or the reptilian creatures, or the small solar systems, but the fact it all wasn't real did you in. Fascinating.

[@DK-zl5gb]

@@DreadCaptainJames Out of all the Baskin Robbins 31 flavors, why did you choose salty?

[@DK-zl5gb]

@@DreadCaptainJames Also, no need to sound like a 8 year old beginning troll thinking they're edgy by saying "interesting" and "fascinating." You might as well be wearing a fedora to complete the mental image :)

[@DreadCaptainJames]

Calm down buddy. Not sure what a fedora has to do with this, or how I triggered you with a single word, but now it's even more fascinating. Tell me more. Also, you left a really stupid comment. You found out that a video game isn't real and that was too much for you... Did I misunderstand this?

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I got to tell you man, for someone claiming another person is salty you sure came back here a lot... Feels like this might be living rent-free in your head.

[@agresseur7184]

I just want to play a decent space game and all this mumbo jumbo non-exisitence existence detracts from that goal.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

It really doesn't. The player is 100% in control of whether or not they get involved with this story. Also, I gotta say, a space game with no story to get involved with is a pretty tall order. I guess one could argue that Star Citizen would kinda fit that bill, at least at the moment. Superb game, very involved and more sim-like, not sure if that is helpful. Elite Dangerous is also another contender for a game where you're in complete control over the story progression, also very sim-heavy. Both are fun and very different in their own right. Perhaps try those if you haven't already?

[@agresseur7184]

​@@DreadCaptainJames Both of those alternate games I have played. Elite since my Apple II days in the late 80's, then Elite Dangerous and recently Star Citizen but got stuck in their little tutorial room and gave up because of its quirky lagging. The no man's sky game was picked by a group of online players I have been playing other games with for years. While easy to learn No Man's Sky actually gets the player lost in all this lore and its vagueness playing out in the missions generated. It is not a simple game of conflict, industry or building. It is some sort of matrix type scenario which does not make much sense. To be honest, I thought the Atlas was sort of a Zorg-the-Merciless (Fifth Element character) type of bad guy area that you had to be cautious about using. Its ominous bases coupled with red and black dark features appears threatening. Only to find out is just another spot to stop and shop without playing a sinister role is disappointing.

[@danielcain7740]

The atlas is obviously the zero point from fortnite. The galaxy you are exploring is the one from fortnite(aka where all fictional realities reside).

[@DreadCaptainJames]

*slaps forehead* OF COURSE! How did I miss that?! 😆

[@danielcain7740]

And further more, the zero point is constantly under attack. Which then means it makes the decision to end all fictional realities(the planets you see are dead realities), and then go into hiding under the identity ATLAS. The zero point is to damaged to live much longer, hence why it is dying in no mans sky. This means chronologically no mans sky is the last game to ever take place.@@DreadCaptainJames

[@DreadCaptainJames]

@@danielcain7740 It's the entirety of all fictional multiverses. I kinda dig this thought process, and the meta that it presents would be incredible. Good thinking, I love it.

[@danielcain7740]

And the traveller is a member of the seven😉😉@@DreadCaptainJames

[@Recon777x]

I've been incredibly frustrated with the presentation of the story in NMS. Been thinking of just giving it up, but your video actually helps me think maybe it's not just nonsense held at arm's length to us forever. Maybe I should hang in there and keep poking at it until the pieces fall into place. I've suspected something kind of similar, like the game universe being simulated, but all this stuff about the Atlas being a god just rubbed me the wrong way. Especially when it started talking about multiverse because I _hate_ multiverse stories in cinema and TV.

[@DreadCaptainJames]

I've been doing a lore heavy play through, and when you only focus on certain aspects, it's actually presented to you sequentially. I had NO IDEA, and it's a different style of story telling, one that makes the player seek out lore rather than presenting it plainly. The multiverse exists, but in this game, it's the similarities that exist and are focused on, specifically in our iteration rather than focusing on all the other possibilities. Atlas is an AI, but became worshipped as a god by the KORVAX and Aerons. It's a super deep story, allegorical, and incredibly dark in spots. Blows me away each time I delve deeper. Keep poking, it's pretty cool! Also, there's a player journal that keeps track of EVERY interaction and tidbit you read, and it does it sequentially so if you want to review what you've learned, the game has kept track of it meticulously. Keep at it!

[@Recon777x]

@@DreadCaptainJames I should probably take a look at my player journal. Haven't been. My expectations for this game were so vastly different from what I experienced, but your video is exactly what I needed to hear for it to make sense. In fact, I just got done making a video for my gaming channel _about_ your video, so you'll be getting a massive shout-out and promotion from there shortly, where I talk about my journey with the game so far and how your video has helped me get past some pretty critical frustrations. My NMS series on youtube is 50 episodes long now, and I've misunderstood quite a lot about the game. I thought the resource collecting had a goal. I've been so frustrated by the fact that nothing seems to actually matter, so I instead switched to the story but then that didn't make sense either. Finally, I got to where I think the only thing left for me is to just explore. But even that was frustrating because of several game mechanics that made it feel like exploration never really revealed anything new and I never felt far from home. But now even _that_ makes sense thanks to your explanation of the Atlas. Will pop that video up soon. Thanks again.

[@Recon777x]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqXUp3ugp555iM0

[@ILikeBlackholes77]

I knew it was created by humans, like just the human looking skins were called "anomaly" and also the anomaly's interior (the station not the skins) was outside the normal universe made me think even more about the simulation even before i found about atlas I basically predicted the ending before i experienced it