No Man's Sky is a solid space exploration game that is made even better with mods. Players use mods for many reasons, but generally, the mods are there to improve experiences within the game. There is no shortage of things to do in No Man's Sky, even more so with the Outlaws update to No Man's Sky. However, there are a lot of overlapping systems for a game as large as it is. Mods can enhance a particular aspect of the game.
Many of the mods are quality-of-life mods. They don't radically change the way the game plays, but they do make it a little easier or quicker to do certain tasks. The game is large, so saving time is welcome. There are also graphical mods. Those players who have powerful PCs can take advantage of some of these mods. Space in No Man's Sky is already beautiful in the base game, but certain mods can make it look breathtaking. Players have so much to explore, and space is the new open-world pursuit for gaming.
No Man's Sky even won the game award for the best ongoing game in 2020. There is much more content now than when the game was first released. The best part is that it thus far has all been updates and not paid DLC. Players don't need to spend additional money beyond the base game to access the content. The game can be even better with the help of player-made mods, and the modding community is still going strong years later. It's important to note that the following mods are available on PC and not to those playing No Man's Sky on consoles.
Installing Mods in No Man's Sky
Mods for No Man's Sky are easy enough to find. One of the most popular is nexusmods.com. There is a bit of work to install the mods, but it isn't too complicated.
- First, navigate to the No Man's Sky folder, then the GAMEDATA folder, then PCBANKS.
- Within PCBANKS is a file named DISABLEMODS.TXT. Either delete it or rename it to something such as ENABLEMODS.TXT.
- Create a new folder in the PCBANKS folder named MODS.
- Place any mod .pak files into the MODS folder.
Keep in mind that mods may cease functioning when the game updates. The current version of the game is version 3.89, which was released on May 3, 2022. Newer updates can cause mods to stop working. The game gives a warning that players are using a modded version of No Man's Sky and that it may cause problems. If a mod does cause problems, players can delete it from the MODS folder or wait until the mod is hopefully updated.
The Best Mods of 2022 For No Man's Sky
- Fine LOD – There are plenty of graphical mods out there. This one doesn't change the graphics but instead adds several improvements to the game. Mainly, it increases the draw distance of the game. This means that players will not see rocks and flora popping around the player as they move around the world. For those with less powerful computers, it will unfortunately likely cause a lower framerate. To some degree, players can get around this by changing other settings like lowering the shadow quality. However, this is great for high-end machines in No Man's Sky that can handle the demands without sacrificing framerate.
- Better Planet Generation – There are somewhere around 18 quintillion planets in the universe of No Man's Sky. It is effectively infinite as it would take hundreds of billions of years to visit them all. However, as players traverse the cosmos, some worlds may start to look similar. This mod adds more variation on planets. These include things like new biomes and changing how environments are generated. Worlds can have extraordinary complexity, but there are worlds that are simple too.
- Increased S Class Ship And Freighter Spawn Chances – Outlaws – S Class ships are ships that are found in wealthy systems and are very rare. These ships have the best stats and most inventory space. They are also expensive, but there are ways to make money fast in No Man's Sky. The most challenging part is finding one to purchase. Players will have to wait at a starport for the S Class version of a ship they like to land. Since it is random, it can take hours if players look for a particular type of ship. This mod reduces the grind, making S Class ships spawn more frequently where they would typically appear.
- Reduced Launch Cost 2.2 – This is for those players who love exploring but hate the resources it takes to launch the ship each time. Launching the player's ship takes fuel, which means players will at some point need to spend time collecting resources for fuel. This mod lowers the amount of fuel required to launch in No Man's Sky. Players can change the amount it reduces, meaning they can simply launch a ship for less fuel, or have it so that it costs no fuel to launch for a more free play mode.
- Fast Actions 4.3 – In the base game, when players want to craft something or perform other actions, they must hold down the mouse. It has been one of the constants of the game, and it's strange that the developers still haven't added a setting allowing for clicks instead. Luckily, the mod disables this, so players can click instead of holding down the mouse. This is especially appreciated when crafting components for high-tier items. There are even different versions of the mod, which make the delay instant, fast, or even change the size of the cursor.
- Exosolar's Beyond Base Building – One of many activities is building bases in No Man's Sky. However, there are some limitations in how and where players can build their bases. This mod removes these restrictions. Even better, it is fully compatible with multiplayer. This means that players can build complex, interesting bases, and show them off to other players. Some of the changes the mod makes are that many parts can be scaled, built above and below water, the parts can change color and material, and are able to be built in places usually not allowed. Still be sure to take pictures or video, because if the mod becomes incompatible with a future update, it can change players' bases in unintended ways. Unfortunately, that is the nature between mods and updates no matter which game is being played.
No Man's Sky is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.