The world of No Man's Sky is filled not only with dangers but also with simple people making their way through the galaxy (or galaxies). Some of these people establish settlements on planets, and you can help them grow and prosper by becoming an Overseer.
This guide will explain everything you need to know about settlements in No Man's Sky, how to manage them, and how to make them profitable.
How To Become A Settlement Overseer In No Man's Sky
To be in charge of a settlement, you must first find it. Every planet (except for abandoned planets) has at least one settlement. You may receive a distress signal to go to the settlement and save it from Sentinels, or you can find it yourself. To locate a settlement, you can also use a Planetary Chart available at a Cartographer on any space station.
When you reach the settlement, clear any attacking Sentinels in the area if needed and interact with the Settlement Hub Interface, which looks like a statue in the middle of the settlement, to become the Overseer.
You can only be the Overseer of one settlement at a time. However, you can change settlements by finding a new one and interacting with its Settlement Hub Interface.
How To Manage A Settlement In No Man's Sky
Settlements produce resources that you can collect and sell to make Units. However, most of the time, the settlement needs some additional care before producing said resources.
You can view the settlement status at the Settlement Hub Interface or the Settlement Administration Terminal.
Settlement Overview
There are a few important things in understanding the Settlement Overview:
- Productivity: Current settlement output.
- Maintenance Cost: Current settlement costs.
- Settlement Features: Perks that affect your settlement positively or negatively. You can change these perks through construction.
- Production Status: Produced resources or accumulated debt.
The main goal is to ensure that Productivity is higher than the Maintenance Cost. When Productivity is higher, the settlement will gradually clear its debt, allowing it to start producing resources. When the Maintenance Cost is higher, the settlement will accumulate debt, preventing it from producing resources.
Once you become an Overseer, make sure to tend to your settlement often. If you leave the settlement unattended, it will accumulate a large amount of debt that will take longer to get rid of.
Decisions To Better The Settlement
At the Settlement Administration Terminal, you can address random events in the settlement. These events include citizen requests, disputes, new arrivals to the settlement, policy propositions, and more. You must choose one of the two options that benefit your settlement the most. These events are a way to increase Productivity and start constructing new buildings in the settlement.
Construction To Expand The Settlement
Construction of new buildings in the settlement is done only through decisions. One of the decisions you may encounter at the Settlement Administration Terminal is two parties offering their ideas for the next building. Each building has its own effect on the settlement.
Once you choose the next construction project, head outside the Overseer's office and find the building under construction with the Construction Terminal. Every building has multiple construction stages. Interact with the terminal, deposit required resources, and wait until the stage is done. Rinse and repeat until the building is complete.
One stage takes one to two hours of real time to complete.
No Man's Sky
- Released
- August 9, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
- Publisher(s)
- Hello Games
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
- How Long To Beat
- 30.5 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Supported VR Headsets
- Sony PlayStation VR, Sony PlayStation VR2, Valve Index, HP Reverb G2, HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC VIVE Cosmos, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro
- File Size Xbox Series
- 20.36 GB (September 2024)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
