No Man's Sky's eighth free feature update Synthesis arrives tomorrow

The unstoppable force of expansion that is No Man's Sky will swell once more tomorrow, 28th November, with the arrival of developer Hello Games' Synthesis Update, which adds a range of frequently requested features to the space exploration sim.

Synthesis, if you've not been keeping tabs, is No Man's Sky's eighth major update since launch in 2016, following on from Foundation, Path Finder, Atlas Rises, Next, The Abyss, Visions, and this summer's massive Beyond expansion. "It's called the Synthesis update," explains Hello Games, "because it's a collection of features that create a connected whole".

The developer says to expect over 300 changes and tweaks to the core No Man's Sky experience, alongside more significant highlights. VR and non-VR experiences will now, finally, have feature parity, for instance, with VR players able to ride creatures and take screenshots, while non-VR players can pilot vehicles in first-person.

Additionally, a new starship space map and Personal Refiner (the latter available directly from a player's inventory) will be introduced as part of a range of UI improvements, and there are enhancements and optimisations to No Man's Sky's terrain manipulation system, including an undo function, protection from terrain regeneration, new visual effects, and new carving tools. Furthermore, Storage Containers have, finally, had their capacity "significantly increased".

Rounding off the Synthesis update's feature highlights are new technologies and parts for base building, the option to own numerous Multi-Tools and customised avatar outfits at once, plus ship upgrades and the ability to salvage unwanted ships for scrap.

Using a space station's Starship Outfitting Terminal, new inventory slots can be purchased for ships with units, for instance, and it's possible to spend nanites to upgrade ships right up to S-Class. Salvaged vehicles, meanwhile, will grant valuable products and technology.

Full details of No Man's Sky's Synthesis Update - which Hello Games calls "a stepping stone on the way to much larger plans" - can be found in the developer's extensive patch notes. Players will be able to experience the space sim's latest batch of improvements from tomorrow, 28th November, on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4.