No Man's Sky's next free update has arrived, and it introduces a feature developer Hello Games has been wanting to bring to the game for a long time: fishing.
The Aquarius update, which arrives alongside patch 5.10, adds fishing as a new core feature. “Players can now explore the universe to find their perfect spot by the water, jumping in with the fish. Sit back and relax alone with your thoughts, or stay alongside other travelers as you admire alien landscapes and wait for a bite,” reads the expansion’s description.
Players can now add fishing gear to the Multi-Tool that allows them to fish in bodies of water. There are over 160 varieties of fish in the game, spread across the game's many planets. Some types of fish only spawn at set times of day and in specific weather conditions. Players can fish from shore or head into the water aboard an Exo-Skiff to fish for creatures in deeper waters.
Players can use regular bait to catch standard fish or craft special bait to attract rare fish, including “legendary” fish types. Players can also hang messages in a bottle containing information about players who have previously fished at certain locations.
Fish caught by players can be cooked and eaten, and the Aquarius update introduces a variety of new recipes to choose from. Additionally, the game's catalog of wonders now contains a section dedicated to fishing feats, detailing things like the types of fish caught, their weight, and how to catch specific types of fish.
The Aquarius update also lets players deploy autonomous floating fish farms to collect fish while they're on the go. A new event called the Aquarius Expedition, which begins today, September 4, challenges players to catch fish from across the galaxy over a six-week period. Players who complete the expedition will unlock special customization pieces for their boat, as well as an underwater jetpack and a nifty fishing rod called the Lost Angler.
Be sure to read the full Aquarius update blog post for all the essential information on what’s new in this update for fishing and more. The full patch notes follow below.
No Man's Sky 5.10 Patch Notes
- Players can now install fishing gear into their Multi-Tool, allowing them to cast their line into any body of water and begin fishing. Purchase fishing gear blueprints aboard the Space Anomaly.
- There are over 160 varieties of fish available to fish. Finding each fish will require exploring different planets, fishing at different times of day and in different weather conditions, and fishing across a wide variety of depths.
- Your catch history, including weight records, is saved in the new Fishing section of the Wonders catalog.
- Craft specialized baits and apply them to your fishing gear to attract specific fish.
- Additionally, any edible food can be used as bait. Experiment with different cooked items to find the most effective bait for your fishing food.
- A wide range of new seafood recipes have been added for the Nutrient Processor.
- Those who do not wish to consume or sell their catch can release their fish back into the water.
- Sometimes, inanimate objects can be retrieved from the water in place of fish. These objects include procedurally generated messages in bottles and water-damaged tech upgrades.
- Automated traps are available for research in the Space Anomaly. These autonomous units are an alternative to manual fishing and will attract fish based on the water conditions in which they are placed.
- The Exo-Skiff is a new deployable technology, summoned from the Quick Menu after installing its interface into the Exosuit. Research the appropriate blueprints aboard the Space Anomaly.
- The Exo-Skiff hovers just above the water's surface and reacts to wave motion to create the perfect deep-sea fishing platform for those seeking deep-water fish.
- The skiff comes with a dedicated cold storage inventory, allowing players to easily store their catch.
- The Exo-Skiff can be recolored via its own internal customization interface.
- Fishing is fully compatible with first and third person gameplay and features unique casting mechanics for VR players.
- New music tracks have been added to accompany the fishing experience.
- Expedition fifteen, Aquarius, will begin soon and will last approximately six weeks.
- Rewards include new posters, stickers and titles; a scuba diving suit customization set; the unique Lost Angler's Rig fishing rod; and the exclusive Aquarius Flight Pack.
- Water reflections are now enabled for PSVR2.
- PCVR now supports reflections on water when running with reflections set to Ultra.
- Fixed an issue that could make it difficult to interact with certain objects on the Space Station in VR.
- Jetpack effects used underwater have been improved.
- Fixed a number of water related rendering artifacts.
- Fixed a number of issues that could allow ships to spawn with incorrect landing gear status.
- Fixed a visual issue with icons when changing pages in the catalog.
- Fixed a minor visual issue with the Liquidator mech.
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause items to be transferred to an outdated inventory when quick transferring to a full exoskeleton inventory.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a STEEL label to incorrectly display on mineable items.
- Fixed an issue where the Left/Right handed option was not immediately applied to the third person camera.
- Allows the Multi-Tool to remain drawn in Photo Mode in a multiplayer game.
- Removed obsolete Shutter Door base part from catalog.
- Fixed a number of water rendering issues with some specific base parts.
- Fixed a number of water smearing issues when playing in VR.
- Fixed an Xbox specific texture rendering issue.
- Fixed an issue that could cause black spots in depth of field effects when playing with screen space shadows enabled.
- Fixed a rendering corruption issue with spaceship cockpit screens.
- Fixed an issue that could cause grain on PS4.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the ship to shake while warping.
- Fixed a crash related to dialog interactions.
- Fixed a PS4 specific memory crash.
- Fixed a PS5 specific crash related to shader loading.
- Fixed a crash related to explosion effects.
- Fixed a number of issues related to loading freighters and frigates.
- Messaging around some Vulkan-based GPU compatibility issues has been improved.
- Fixed a crash/hit when switching between inventory pages.
- Introduced a number of optimizations when accessing inventory.
- Introduced a minor optimization to planetary rendering.