RaffiKhatchadourian

Yes, there is combat in the game, and I was able to watch some of it. While I was in the studio, there was a great moment that i did not have space for in my story. I was hunkered down at a table opposite Sean, and suddenly David Ream who is focussing on gameplay jumped out of his seat and said something like "this is a game!" That morning he was working on laser cannons for a ship, and he was also working on ship handling. As a test, he shot at a freighter, and then descended to a planet. A few minutes later, police ships began firing at him on the planet's surface. At first he thought it was a glitch, but then realized that the police had tracked him down because he had fired at the freighters in orbit while testing the lasers. It was one of those moments where you could feel the many various aspects of the game coming together, and his excitement was really genuine. So yes, combat, yes!

The timing of the release — that’s difficult for me to answer. I’m not an expert on video-game development, and so it would be hard to abstract from what saw and make a prediction when it will be ready. As I mentioned in another answer, I think making this kind of prediction is especially hard in the case with a game like No Man’s Sky where the design is so interconnected, so it is not like I can tell you: “Hey guys, I saw five full levels in the Hello Games studio!” Everything in the game sort of evolves together, and the thing is taken apart and reassembled as it is being developed. Both Sony and Hello Games are sticking the position that the game will be launched in 2015. That is the official position. Do I think it is possible that deadline will not be met? Yes, I do think it is possible. It is a hugely complicated, ambitious game, and Sean is committed to making it with a small team, and, from my point of view, I think that it is good thing. What I did witness was the studio working immensely hard, and in an organized and productive fashion, and — I want to emphasize this is my personal view — if the deadline does happen to slip to 2016 I imagine it will be because the studio wants the game to live up to the standard that they have set for themselves for it.

shad lav!

I didn't know what to expect when I went to Hello Games. I got to explore some of the planets on the E3 build. That system is older as you know. So there are some gameplay features that have not been added to it. As Sean has said exploring in the game will not be entirely ambient. There is a system of beacons now in place in the master build, and when you go to the planets and you can collect them and there will be rewards for that. (Some will be at the highest mountain, or deepest part of the ocean.) The version of the game that I played did not yet have those features, but it was nonetheless absorbing to wander around these mathematical landscapes. As for events, I know there is a lot on the calendar this year, but these guys are also furiously working on the game, so I really don't know what they will or will not end up attending

The idea came from me. I had read about the game, and I was struck by the ambition of it, and really wanted to know how a dozen or so people could create a universe in a bottle, for lack of a better term. I pitched it to The New Yorker last year, but then had to take care of some other projects. This year I pitched it again, and the magazine said yes.