In No Man’s Sky, one of the most beloved aspects of the game is its open-ended exploration and ability to build and upgrade your own freighter, a colossal capital ship that serves as a mobile base. Players can use it to store resources, house frigates, and command their space fleet. However, one crucial feature still missing is an Exo Garage on freighters—a dedicated space where players can park, store, and modify their Exocrafts. This addition would significantly enhance gameplay and further diversify the exploration experience. Let’s explore why the Exo Garage is a needed upgrade for the freighter system and how it could improve the overall experience of No Man’s Sky.
The Importance of Exocrafts in Exploration
Exocrafts are ground vehicles that players can deploy to explore planets more efficiently. They are essential for traversing rough terrains, collecting resources, and even engaging in combat. From the fast and nimble Nomad hovercraft to the massive and durable Colossus, each Exocraft serves a unique purpose in planetary exploration.
Currently, Exocrafts can be summoned from planetary bases or created via Geobays (special platforms for deploying vehicles), but these Geobays need to be built on planetary surfaces. This limitation means that players must either construct bases on multiple planets or carry the materials to set up temporary Geobays wherever they travel. With freighters acting as mobile bases, it only makes sense to have a dedicated garage onboard, allowing seamless deployment and customization of Exocrafts from anywhere in the universe.
Freighters as Mobile Command Centers
Freighters in No Man’s Sky are essentially flying space stations. They can house storage containers, crafting stations, refineries, and even living quarters for your crew. Since freighters can warp to different star systems, they function as a central hub for interstellar travel. But despite their advanced capabilities, freighters are still missing some critical functionality—particularly when it comes to land-based exploration.
An Exo Garage on a freighter would make Exocrafts more accessible and increase the player’s ability to explore diverse planetary environments. Imagine warping into a new star system, scouting potential planets from space, and then seamlessly deploying your Exocrafts from your freighter for on-foot exploration. This integration would make the freighter feel even more like a fully operational command center, bringing the gap between space and planetary exploration closer.
Benefits of an Exo Garage
1. Increased Efficiency
An Exo Garage would eliminate the need for constantly constructing and deconstructing Geobays on planets. Instead of wasting resources or hunting for flat land, players could simply dock their Exocrafts on their freighter, ready to deploy on any planet at a moment’s notice. This streamlined process would allow for quicker exploration and less downtime, improving overall gameplay efficiency.
2. Improved Exploration Capabilities
Not all planets in No Man’s Sky are created equal. Some have harsh weather conditions like extreme heat, cold, or toxic atmospheres. Exocrafts offer protection against these hazards, enabling players to explore longer without needing to return to their ships for safety. With an Exo Garage, players could quickly choose the most appropriate Exocraft for the terrain and climate they face, whether they’re navigating mountains, desert plains, or dense forests.
3. Customization and Upgrades on the Go
Players love the ability to customize and upgrade their ships and equipment. With an Exo Garage, freighters could also house upgrade terminals specifically for Exocrafts. This would let players install new technologies, modify Exocraft loadouts, and apply cosmetic changes while in space, without needing to visit a planetary base. Being able to upgrade Exocrafts from your freighter would add another layer of personalization and strategy, allowing for deeper customization.
4. Simplified Resource Gathering
One of the core activities in No Man’s Sky is resource gathering, whether it’s mining rare minerals or harvesting biological material. Exocrafts, especially the Colossus, are incredibly useful for this task due to their large storage capacity. With an Exo Garage, players could more easily transport and store their Exocrafts, enabling resource collection across multiple planets in a system without needing to build multiple Geobays or return to the same planet repeatedly.
How an Exo Garage Could Be Implemented
Adding an Exo Garage to freighters could be done in a variety of ways. One potential method would be to introduce a new module specifically designed for freighters that can store multiple Exocrafts. This module could come in various sizes depending on the type of freighter, allowing players to park one or more Exocrafts in their ship’s hangar bay.
Alternatively, Hello Games (the developer of No Man’s Sky) could introduce specialized freighters or upgrades that cater specifically to ground exploration. These “Exploration Freighters” could come with pre-installed Exo Garages, making them the perfect choice for players who love planetary exploration.
The Exo Garage could be a physical space within the freighter, similar to the existing hangar for starships, complete with interactive terminals for upgrading and modifying Exocrafts. Players could also have the option to choose which Exocraft to deploy, depending on the challenges presented by the planet’s surface.
Expanding the Role of Freighters
In No Man’s Sky, freighters already play a central role in managing fleets and resources. However, their potential is far from fully realized. An Exo Garage would not only elevate the freighter’s functionality but also encourage players to explore a wider variety of planets, knowing that their Exocrafts are always accessible and customizable.
The future of No Man’s Sky lies in its ability to keep expanding and adding new layers of gameplay, and an Exo Garage would be a logical next step in its evolution. With freighters acting as a mobile base, having the means to store and upgrade Exocrafts would complete the player’s toolkit for both space and planetary exploration.
Conclusion: Why an Exo Garage is a Must
As No Man’s Sky continues to grow and evolve, it’s clear that players want more control over their exploration tools. An Exo Garage on freighters would streamline the transition between space travel and planetary exploration, improving both efficiency and the depth of gameplay. By giving players the ability to store, customize, and deploy Exocrafts from their freighters, No Man’s Sky would not only enhance its exploration mechanics but also further solidify freighters as the ultimate hub for interstellar adventurers.
For the millions of players who traverse galaxies in No Man’s Sky, an Exo Garage could be the next big leap in making freighters the ultimate space-faring base.
