What drew you to play No Man's Sky initially?

I've always loved space flight and sci-fi games like X-Wing, Escape Velocity, and the Marathon series, and some of my favorite parts of those games were when they let me roam around at my leisure, exploring every nook and cranny of the galaxy.

I was also a fan of classic sci-fi writers like Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein growing up, and NMS's combination of high-drama storytelling with a whimsical pulp aesthetic really spoke to my nerdy old heart.

Now that you're an experienced NMS player, what do you think of the game?

I still think it's a lot of fun and regularly come back to it for the chill vibes. I love that HG keeps supporting it and adding fun stuff to do, and I still love just exploring weird planets, then hopping in my ship and blasting seamlessly off into space whenever I want. It also has far and away the best gaming community I've ever found.

How did you become interested in base building?

I started with the tutorial missions like everyone else, then wanted a nicer home than the radioactive hell planet I originally built my base on, then found my first paradise planet and wanted a home there, and so on.

In the summer of 2020, during my participation in a weekend mission, I stumbled upon an absolutely stunning build that aroused in me such a sense of wonder and astonishment I immediately set about learning how I might do something similar.

What is it about building bases that you enjoy most?

I'm an architect in real life and generally enjoy my work, but it comes with lots of constraints like the client's needs, budget, building codes, gravity, weather, etc etc etc. Building in NMS gives me the freedom to play around with spatial concepts, massing, materials, siting, and creating spaces that I'd want to spend time in.

How would you describe your design aesthetic?

Opulent mid-century modernism with a view.

Where do you find your design inspirations?

Mostly from real-world buildings and the pantheon of Modernist architects like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Oscar Niemeyer, and Luís Barragán.

Do you usually have a clear picture of what you're going to build before you start?

I generally have some kind of concept in mind that I want to explore, whether that's a particular massing, a roof shape, a building type, or just a great view I want to capture.

How do you choose locations for your builds?

I tend to gravitate toward sites with some elevation and a view of water or dramatic mountains, and a cool planet and/or ring system in the sky is always a bonus. I also like to have plenty of trees or other vegetation around.

Tell us a little about your thought process when you begin a build.

Once I pick a general area on a planet, I'll use my ship or a flying pet to scout a relatively flat site with not too many trees that would be destroyed, then use the build camera to get myself oriented to the bird's-eye plan view of how the build will lay out.

I'll use small wall pieces to lay out a level "foundation" for the ground floor, and supplement those with piers made with arches or half arches if there's a dramatic slope to the site. As I start to build upward, I try to think "structurally" even though gravity's not a thing in NMS building. I don't go full real-world engineer, but if there's no structural system of columns, beams, bearing/shear walls, etc. it just looks wrong to me. :-)

What techniques and tools do you use?

I mostly stick with the standard/vanilla building system, supplemented with a few basic glitch building techniques like the wire glitch. I've used a few mods and other glitches in the past. but I generally don't have the time or motivation to get deep into those.

How do these techniques and tools fit into your process?

The wire glitch method lets me place parts in a composition that the vanilla system wouldn't otherwise allow, and sometimes I'll use the scale glitch for parts that aren't normally scalable. I've actually found myself needing fewer glitches now that the vanilla system allows 3-axis rotation of any part.

What are the pros and cons you encounter by using these techniques and tools?

I think glitch techniques are great when a particular assembly or effect can't be accomplished any other way, but I have to be careful not to get bogged down with trying to make them work and losing momentum on the build overall. I definitely admire the abstract and sculptural builds other people achieve that way, but I also know those are not in my wheelhouse.

What do you find most challenging about building in NMS?

The snapping system that thinks I want to place a small floor panel absolutely anywhere on the planet other than the small-floor-panel-shaped hole right in front of me.

How do you deal with a design that just isn't working?

Cut my losses and move on to something else, then come back later if another idea strikes.

Has there been any specific design type or style you've not found a way to create?

Organic curvilinear shapes, slender steel structures, post & beam timber framing and trusses. I'm sure these things are possible, but I don't have the time to spend figuring them out. Also, I can always play Valheim when I feel like building with heavy timber.

How would you recommend someone new to NMS begin learning to build?

Start small and simple. Look at how real buildings are built and how the spaces inside and outside them are laid out. Think about what makes you want to spend time in a place.

What additional advice would you give to new Builders?

Leverage the community. If you're trying to figure out how to build something, I can almost guarantee there's someone on Reddit or YouTube who has already done it and can show you how. And 90% of the time it's Beeblebum.

Any closing thoughts?

Big thanks to Distant World Tours for the invite to share with you all. Keep building, and I'll see you out there in the stars.