Archaeogaming

Archaeological reconnaissance of Drogradur (Lennon) in No Man’s Sky commenced on March 28, 2018. This post documents the planet’s location, size, ecology, climate, and basic archaeology in preparation for a full survey of the planet and its vacated habitations and monuments to desertion. I chose this planet for my PhD case study because it is one of the first instances (if not the first) of a shared synthetic world that was evacuated because of code-created climate change. I will attempt to document the exodus through recording what was left behind (as well as the current state of the planet, which was completely changed through the release of NMS v1.3, aka Atlas Rises), and I hope to complete my work before the release of v1.4, aka NEXT, scheduled sometime for the summer of 2018.

Location

Current Name: Drogradur NO425 (planet), aka HUB-G-211 Lennon
Original name: Saharakasa-Uihua (My base’s original name: Sahara-Miq)
Region: Rentocniijik Expanse, Euclid (galaxy)
Area: Legacy Hub (formerly Galactic Hub)
Planet Coordinates: 0469:0081:0D6D:0211
Portal Coordinates (glyph address):
bird, face, bird, bird, sunset, face, balloon, boat, tree, tent, boat, voxel
Portal Coordinates (from my signal booster): YACAJ:0469:0081:0D6D:0211

Size

Circumference: ca. 8 minutes (480 seconds) flying time just above the atmosphere at 4756u/s = 2,282,880u or ca. 2,282ku (1u = 1 Earth meter; 1ku = 1 Earth kilometer)
Diameter: ca. 726ku
Volume: 2 x 10⁸ u = 200,358,829u
Compare: The Earth’s moon has a circumference of 10,921km (or nearly 5x that of Drogradur).
Note: To calculate the size of Drogradur, I timed my flight around the planet’s equator using my beacon placed at the portal to maintain a straight line, keeping a constant cruising speed at the edge of the atmosphere at 4756u/s, then using the basic formula of d=rt (distance = rate x time).

Distance from the NMS Archaeology Dig House to the portal: ca. 1.25ku/0.78mi (15 mins. @ 5ku/hr pace)

Landscape

Heterogeneous across the entire planet: modest, smooth (not craggy) mountains and valleys dotted with shallow caves. All is snow-covered. Valleys contain occasional scrub and small, pine-like trees. The mountains are largely bare of cover and are smooth, dotted with occasional rocks and boulders. Shelter is limited to caves as mountains leave one exposed. PCG-placed structures are rare and require a spaceship or exocraft to reach safely without exposure to storms that bring extreme cold.

From the Planet Info Panel (lower-left corner of display)

Weather: Snowy (outbreaks of frozen rain)
Sentinels: Minimal
Flora: Average
Fauna: Full

Resources (special)

• Star bulb (purple): Used to craft poly fibre and star bramble
• Cymatygen (purple): Used to craft atlas seed and state phasure
• Copper (green): Called for in a wide number of technical blueprints
• Heridium (blue): Called for in dozens of technology blueprints

Resources (standard)

• Iron
• Titanium
• Carbon
• Thamium9
• Plutonium
• Platinum
• Gold
• Cave marrow

Climate

Interiors: +66.2º F (19 C)
Exteriors: Varies between -85ºF (-29 C) and -80º F (-26 C), 1–1.5 Rad, 16–17 Tox. Gets warmer at night.
Exteriors (storm): -136.9º F (-58 C), 0.7 Rad, 16.4 Tox
Storm duration: ca. 4 real-time minutes (suit protection exhausted in 90 seconds)
Time between storms: ca. 15 real-time minutes

Length of day (sunrise-to-sunrise): 1 real-time minute = 45 Drogradur minutes
32 real-time minutes = 1 24-hour Drogradur day
Dawn: 0400 local time
Dusk: 1800 local time

Life

Fauna (discovered by me): 7/11 species found so far (all vegetarian)

• Unquilavicae Nepla (rare)
• Sanceumis Dacrec (common)
• Kunoea Donosta (uncommon)
• Eamentiaea Hodagia (common, volatile temperament = will attack)
• Ussosiumera Kamiti (common)
• Miarosae Kamiti (common)
• Sikyviae Donosta (common)
• Rigatoricae Nepla (rare)

Flora (discovered by me so far):

• Methae Ayushae (common)
• Cettortosa Abeatii (common)
• Uimprea Yemstea (common)
• Ziamera Derangii (common)
• Xasarea Xesequoe (common)
• Arpaccica Nehindoe (common)
• Thumae Yidrounima (common)

Waypoints

31 Waypoints discovered (by several people total—screenshots taken).
Waypoints were all logged between Sept. 2, 2017 and Feb. 18, 2018 (Atlas Rises update was released on March 10, 2017), so none remain from the original settlement of Drogradur.

Archaeology (discovered as of March 28, 2018)

There are dozens of communications terminals to document. These were left by other players and contain brief messages. Drogradur also supports several habitable bases, most of which seem to have been abandoned after being stripped of their resources. I did locate one monolith (as well as Drogradur’s portal). NMS uses procedural generation (PCG or ProcGen to create and place other structures including observatories, factories, monoliths, plaques, and ruins, as well as broken machinery, rubbish, and crashed ships (including freighters).

Gek Monolith (found March 28, 2018): “Legacy of Kevera-Loqu” (no results found for this name in a Google search).

Signal Booster Coordinates: NOREP:0469:0081:0D6D:0211

Three Knowledge Stones:

1. Rear of monolith. Gek word for “today”
2. Front, to the left of the stairs. Gek word for “encounter”
3. Front, to the right of the stairs. Gek word for “refresher”

Activation text and options:

“My reality inverts. I am chained to the monolith, my arms are in manacles above my head and my feet are dangling several feet from the ground. A creature, its beak showing through the blackened animal hide mask, approaches on stilts. It wields a red hot metal rod.

“It pecks at my eyes, then pecks at my tongue. I must choose my punishment.”

Choose eyes
Choose tongue
Beg for mercy
Locate a portal (1 Gek Relic)

Gek Text in lower-left (some text is in English because I have already learned these words through prior exploration): advancement rakninal ervot! vuus sal knowledge. tongue sal language.

Note: Choosing a monolith answer prior to locating a portal will wipe out the chance of using this option once the monolith answer choice is made (regardless if the chosen answer is right or wrong).

[NOTE: Different text on April 2, 2018]: “Legacy of Kevera-Loqu” (same name)

Lower-left text = “First Spawn friend receive mapakkingu mem nitr executed. murder fat trader, or murder rich miner?

“I see a strange vision. Time is reverted. I am sat on a platform looking down on an execution. Two small beaked traders are kneeling before me. One is small and wiry, the other is obese with jowls that brush the wooden stage. Another lifeform, who wears a green cloth mask, readies an axe behind them.

“The traders beg me for mercy. The familiar dry, croaky voice of an ancient tribe whispers encouragement into my ear…”

Execute fat lifeform
Execute thin lifeform
Show mercy (Gek Rank: Client or above)
Locate a portal (1 Gek Relic)

Portal location given: Paid a Gek Relic and got leyline coordinates on my HUD. The leyline brought me to the main portal on Drogradur.
Correct answer given: [I chose mercy]. Received 646 units.

To Do on Drogradur

• Create a grid for the map of communication terminals left at the portal.
• Number and record data for each of the communication terminals.
• Visit and map other communication terminals.
• Discover and visit other habitable bases.
• Find and use at least one other monolith on Drogradur.
• Run searches on the names of the things I find to see if these names have changed pre- and post-v1.3.

—Andrew Reinhard, Archaeogaming