Published , by Shack Staff
Published , by Shack Staff
No Man's Sky lets you leave your mark on the galaxy in a number of ways, but one of the best is littering star systems with your own customized names for the flora and fauna you find on the isolated planets. This guide will teach you how to scan, rename, and upload your discoveries, earning you credit and a permanent mark on the No Man's Sky universe.
Almost every planet has a wide variety of plants and animals. Planets in No Man's Sky are procedurally generated, so some of them will appear very similar, but will count as separate discoveries. Keep your eyes open for subtle differences, or just keep your Analysis Visor at the ready at all times so you can tell when it begins scanning procedures. You'll also need a working Analysis Visor, obviously, so this guide presumes you've finished the opening segment and haven't scrapped your visor.
First, identify the plant or animal you'd like to name. Press and hold R2 to bring up your Analysis Visor, and hold it over the subject you'd like to scan. All animals and most plants will stand out as obviously scannable. Be sure to attempt to scan every member of a pack of animals, because even if they look similar, there's a good chance they will count as separate discoveries due to minor variations. Once it's finished, it will identify a vaguely Latin-sounding scientific name for the subject, like you remember from your biology classes.
To Rename, go into your Options menu. You'll see all of your recent scans under the Discoveries sub-section of the Discoveries tab. Hold down the Triangle button to go into the renaming menu. Simply input the name and press R2 when you've finished.
Renaming a subject will automatically upload it to the server, earning you Units (in-game currency). If you'd prefer to upload without renaming, simply hold the Square button. Plants tend to be worth about 500 units, while animals are upwards of 1,500. These rewards are small, but they stack up, so be sure to scan and upload everything you can.
Now that you know how to name animals and plants, find more must-know information over at Shacknews' No Man's Sky walkthrough and guide.