UPDATE: Sean Murray releases Twitter Statement clarifying the Superformula is not used in No Man’s Sky.
No Man's Sky doesn't actually use this "superformula" thing or infringe a patent. This is a non-story… everybody chill
(シ_ _)シ— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) July 23, 2016
I wish Johan Gielis, the author, all the best in future. We're going to meet and chat maths once the game is out
— Sean Murray (@NoMansSky) July 23, 2016
Original Story is below:
At the heart of all video games is the cold hard data that it’s comprised of. For the procedurally-generated No Man’s Sky universe, the mathematical equations are the governing dynamics are what gives it life.
Jump back to 2003. Belgian plant geneticist Johan Gielis introduced a “superformula” equation, that’s capable of describing a wide variety of natural objects. Now in 2016, the Dutch research company Gielis founded, Genicap, says Hello Games uses this superformula in No Man’s Sky. Genicap uses the superformula in technical applications, and aims to explore usage of it in 3D printing among other things.
Sean Murray is cited as using the superformula in the game according to an interview for The New Yorker:
He began simply, creating walnut-shaped forms that floated in an infinite grid over a desert. The image resembled a nineteen-eighties album cover, but the over-all look was not the point. Whenever he refreshed the rendering, the floating shapes changed. Many were asymmetrical, marred by depressions and rivulets. Game designers refer to lines of code that require lots of processing time as “costly.” The Superformula is cheap.
“One of the hardest things for us to do is to create coherent shapes,” he told me as he worked. In order to produce varied landscapes, a formula must be able to cope with a wide range of random information without generating mathematical anomalies that cause glitches.
This would line up with No Man’s Sky‘s overall development philosophy of minimal (but effectively used) code being able to create a maximum desired amount of game content.
Gielis is confirmed as having the patent on his superformula, according to records.
“In some preferred embodiments, a new kind of graphical editor is provided. Preferably, the graphical editor utilises the SUPERFORMULA™ formula. In some preferred embodiments, a graphical editor can be used to, e.g., create 2-D images, 3-D images and/or animations.”
In a statement to Eurogamer, Genicap’s Jeroen Sparrow said the following:
It would be great to exchange knowhow with Hello Games. We believe No Man’s Sky is the beginning of a new generation of games. What Hello games did with the formula is very impressive. Johan Gielis, the founder of Genicap and the one who discovered the superformula, is extremely proud.
If Hello Games used our technology, at some stage we will have to get to the table. We have reached out to them but understand they have been busy. We trust that we will be able to discuss this in a normal way.
For Hello Games, they would likely hope the discussion is about an exchange of an ideas and not litigation. The Eurogamer article itself goes on to specify that Sony’s relationship with the No Man’s Sky developers is based on the physical product distribution of the game, with Hello Games being in charge of the digital versions.
The game recently went gold a few weeks ago, according to a tweet from the developers. One would hope that solidifies the planned August 9th release date of the game for PS4 and PC. For up to date news about the game, check their website, Facebook, and Twitter.
