Last year Hello Games released No Man's Sky, an atmospheric sci-fi game set in a near-infinite procedurally-generated universe.

A universe built on math. Or, as Hello Games cofounder and Englishman Sean Murray says, maths.

At GDC 2017, he took the stage to point out how logical it is to shorten "mathematics" to "maths" rather than "math." He also described, in great detail, some of the most important technologies and interesting challenges behind generating realistic and alien terrains in No Man's Sky, using said mathematics.

It was an informative and interesting talk that went beyond the game to also dig into the technical nuts and bolts of creating and testing an infinite environment with a small team -- particularly when using programmer-generated worlds and art.

If you missed his talk in person, no worries! You can now watch it for free over on the Official GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech