No Man’s Sky (2016) just received its ‘Prisms’ update on all supported platforms, which includes Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) on compatible NVIDIA GPUs, a bevy of visual changes, and more.

Now available on console, PC, PC VR and PSVR headsets, Prisms is a fairly substantial update to the space-faring game that brings a number of changes that focus on immersion and visual quality. Yes, you can also ride your flying companion creatures now too.

Developer Hello Games says that with the Prisms 3.5 update, No Man’s Sky “has never looked better, with reflections, new texture effects, more biome detail, improved lighting, new skies, new warp effects, creature fur, and a host more besides.”

The studio also put out a video showing off all of Prisms’ features:

SEE ALSO
Multiplayer Mixed Reality Laser Tag Comes to Quest App Lab in 'Laser Limbo'

Here’s a look at some of the VR specific stuff, either included in this update or coming soon:

  • Screen space reflections (SSR) have been enabled for PC (coming soon to PCVR), next-generation consoles, and Xbox One X
  • Volumetric lighting has been enabled in VR
  • Light refraction rendering has been enabled for all platforms except VR on base PS4
  • Fur rendering technology has been added for all platforms except Xbox One S and PSVR

As far as owners of NVIDIA RTX 20/30 graphics cards go, you’ll also now be able to use DLSS when playing No Man’s Sky, which goes for VR mode as well. DLSS mixes anti-aliasing and super sampling techniques to improve image detail at higher resolutions, without compromising framerate.

No Man’s Sky joins only a few other VR titles by enabling DLSS, which includes the Stalker-inspired survival game Into the Radius (2020) and mechanic simulator Wrench (2018).

Check out this quick comparison from NVIDIA to see how it changes perceived detail and framerate in No Man’s Sky specifically:

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Jeff Axline

    So….. does VR run any better?

    • 3872Orcs

      I’ve only been able to test it barely but turning on DLSS and setting it to Ultra Perfomance gave me a stable 90fps which was impossible before. I measured with the fpsVR tool and both the GPU and CPU frametime graphs show a stable green now :) I’ve not yet tweaked any of the graphics settings and have everything set to it’s default values which admittedly looks kinda shit but at least now there’s room to improve :) I’m optimistic!

      My specs:
      2080ti
      i9 9900k
      16gb ram

      • Jeff Axline

        I have seen a few tests with cards like 3080s etc. I think a test on a 2080ti still isn’t helpful to most people, especially with DLSS. I’m wondering about the other 98% of VR players. I don’t mean to be an ass, but my 1080ti is probably above average for the most VR user and NMS runs like poop on that. Obviously Hello Games haven’t optimized it well for VR and I was wondering if that main issue has been addressed in some way. I’m always more than a bit surprised that both Road to VR and Upload never cover the VR performance in any article about NMS updates. Never. Strange but true.

        • Ratm

          1070ti and it runs well on quest 2 using 2k per eye and no ss.
          Using the default Enchanted +16af
          I m at 90hz.
          Game lags few secs when you change areas but it runs fine.
          I m sure the pc sttugles for the 45 fps needed but its fine. The experience is clear and great.
          :)

        • DjArcas

          1080ti? Released March 10, 2017. Get something made in the right decade if you want to run modern games nicely on high-end headsets.

          • Herrrbert

            OMFG!
            This is THE ANSWER every body needs in times of GPU shortage with over duoble prices…
            I also own a 1080ti and its fine for everything you need exept Raytracing and DLSS.

        • 3872Orcs

          Only 30XX and 20XX cards support DLSS and to get the good performance you need those cards or else the game runs like crap. I’ve tested the game on my friends 1080 with a regular Vive my old 1080ti and my newest 2080ti both on an Index. Before the DLSS update it ran like shit on all hose systems. Now performance is good for me on the 2080ti Index system. And I was one of the longtime complainers on this game getting downvoted to hell every time I mentioned the bad performance and the game being a PSVR port without roomscale and terrible UI. Those last two issues is luckily fixable with a mod.

          Now my last complaint (so far) is the terrible night sky with the stars hovering around me. Hopefully that gets fixed as well, though I hope it does not take them years to address the issue :(

      • dbeachy1

        Where is option to enable DLSS in No Man’s Sky? I’m running at 3440×1440, but I don’t see any DLSS option in the game menus. Is the option only available for 4k or VR resolutions?

  • sfmike

    Tired of hearing about Nvidia cards that are perpetually out of stock. Useless.

    • bucrepus

      Yea, it’s terrible. The prices are also ‘criminal’..

      • Mary Dickey

        Amber last month I collected $19562 simply by working on PC just from-home in my free-time..(o958) I’ve figured out to do it by spending few hours in whole day consistently-computer…(o958) Of-course it is legitimate job and any-one definitely can get this as well. >>> http://bit.ly/GoogleBuzz10??o958

    • david vincent

      IKR (cryptomining is cancer).
      Same for the last new high-res HMDs. What’s the point if high-end GPUs are nowhere to be found ?

  • Ratm

    New intel gpus will have dlss and i bet they will land lower then half the monopol nvidia prices.
    Btw… What kills half the fps of the game again? Aa and what?

  • You know, one thing they could build in that they haven’t done yet, is small corridor maps to explore for loot… aka DUNGEONS! Take your RPG-style dungeon, dress it up like a research center or alien ruin, add some robots to shoot, traps to avoid, a couple of puzzles.

    These would be cool, not only on the planet’s surface, but also as space stations you could dock with. It’s easy to procedural generate them and fits right in with their infinite universe setup.

  • xyzs

    Exemplar editor.
    Years of updates to give player satisfaction when many other studio would have give up to release a v2 for a long time.

  • Trenix

    This game is so terrible, there is nothing to do within it.

    • Bruno Santos

      2016 called, they want their joke back

  • CHRIS

    I can tell you guys that DLSS is super awesome. Playing this game on my headset is like playing it on a 4k tv with DLSS. im also using it with 300% supersampling, all ultra settings with my rtx3090