Is No Man‘s Sky‘s Universe as Vast as Our Own?

As a passionate gamer and creator obsessed with sci-fi exploration epics, this is a question I‘ve constantly theorized about. Can any video game allow us to realistically traverse every star in the actual cosmos? While No Man‘s Sky comes impressively close with over 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets, I‘ve crunched the numbers to determine if it truly matches our own universe. Let‘s take a fantastical journey to the stars for the answer!

Just How Big is No Man‘s Sky?

First, we need to comprehend the scale of No Man‘s Sky‘s nigh-endless sci-fi universe. Hello Games utilized clever procedural generation to algorithmically build solar systems rather than manually designing each planet. This allowed for unprecedented variety and massive scale:

• 255 unique galaxies – Each galaxy has its own style and attributes
• 4.2 billion regions per galaxy – Every region has different configurations of stars
• 122 to 580 star systems per region – Systems contain groups of planets
• 1 to 6 planets & moons per system – Billions of possible planet types

Table showing scale comparison:

Combining the minimum numbers, we get around 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 total planets – that‘s 18 quintillion for my fellow space travellers! An exciting number, but how does it compare to the real cosmos?

The Dizzying Scale of Our Actual Universe

Now let‘s explore what science tells us about the size of our own observable universe. These research discoveries by space experts help put No Man‘s Sky‘s scale into perspective:

• The observable universe has a diameter of 93 billion light years [Source]
• There are over 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe [Source]
• Each galaxy contains over 100 billion stars on average [Source]

If we very generously assume only 1 billion planets per galaxy, we arrive at 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 planets. And that‘s still an extremely conservative estimate! According to astronomers, we‘re talking around 1 billion trillion stars possibly in the whole cosmos.

Clearly our universe dwarfs even No Man‘s Sky‘s quintillions of worlds. As amazing as the game seems, its procedural generation simply cannot match the true fundamental complexity behind every real star and planet formed over billions of years.

An "Infinite" Feeling Exploring Endless Worlds

While No Man‘s Sky is not literally larger than reality, that fact makes its technical achievement no less groundbreaking. We must applaud Hello Games for crafting an unparalleled sci-fi spectacle that evokes the feeling of near-infinite exploration:

• "Every rock, plant, animal and planet in No Man‘s Sky is different" [Source]
• "Mathematically unlikely that any players will ever visit even a fraction of the same planets" [Source]

Make no mistake – No Man‘s Sky deserves recognition alongside seminal sci-fi like Star Trek for redefining interactive cosmic exploration. While literal size comparisons fall short, its procedural engine delivers an unrivaled alien safari.

Hello Games brilliantly maximized limited computing resources to craft the most objectively "infinite" experience available today. Even if No Man Sky‘s actual game world is smaller than our tangible reality, it still succeeds at evoking that profound sense of wonder and freedom only deep space travel can inspire.

So in that regard, No Man‘s Sky has perfectly transported a new generation into the heavens as virtual interstellar cosmonauts. Its quintillions of algorithmically-crafted planets subjectively feel endless, continuous and alive. That‘s an astonishing technical achievement and timeless sci-fi legacy by any standard.