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The subject of this article is from the Expeditions update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 1 June, 2021. |
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 1 June, 2021.
| Island Chain | |
|---|---|
| |
| Type | Geographical feature |
| Description | Flat surfaced island group |
| Updated | Expeditions |
Summary[]
An Island Chain, sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster or collection of islands. It is used to refer to any island group or sometimes to a sea containing a small number of scattered islands. Island chains are one of the more common oceanic terrains.
The island chain terrain typically has a lower density of land coverage on a world, anywhere from typically less than 30% of the world covered by land vs. water. The island chains terrain is distinguished from Archipelago as they are typically much less dense and not mountainous.
Types[]
Vudokum 2 (Vudokum), Island Chain Cluster
Roton (Olenwag), Floating Island Chain
While none of them can be seen from outer space, the moment a ship closes in on an ocean chunk they will be calculated and visually represented. Their size can vary. There are island chains with many small islands and chains with midsized islands. All of them rise from the ocean floor in both shallow and deep oceans and can range from one island in several hundred units to a cluster of islands in one spot. Even though there is always a general fluctuation in the number of islands, two visual representations of the island chain terrain are mostly depending on their origin. If an island chain borders another ocean terrain it will slowly fade out with fewer and fewer islands with increasing distance until it ends. This also happens if two island terrains border each other. The island chain will fade out, stay faded out and then pick up again after a while in the next terrain. For the untrained eye this can make it hard to discern if a terrain ended or if several island chains border each other. If an island chain borders a continental terrain, it will instantly cluster and never fade towards the mainland.
A special subtype of the island chains are the floating island chains. They only appear on planets that show the archetype of gravity defying islands on land terrain and will also appear in the ocean regions. There they replace areas where reef terrain might spawn and also appear partially in the normal island chains. Planets that have these floating islands are seemingly unable to produce a reef as the floating islands always spawn on top of the water level and effectively replace it. Their actual appearance underwater however is not the same as on land, as they are indeed connected to the ocean floor. Yet they retain their odd spherical shape above the seabed.
Game application[]
In No Man's Sky, all features are procedurally generated, so the types of island chains present in the game are by definition undetermined.