<s>
Noctis	B-Application
(	O
Latin	O
for	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
night	O
"	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
space	O
flight	B-Application
simulation	I-Application
video	O
game	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
released	O
in	O
2000	O
by	O
Italian	O
programmer	O
Alessandro	O
Ghignola	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
centers	O
around	O
first-person	O
visual	O
exploration	O
of	O
the	O
fictional	O
Feltyrion	O
galaxy	B-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
presented	O
as	O
being	O
approximately	O
90	O
thousand	O
light-years	O
in	O
radius	O
—	O
double	O
that	O
of	O
the	O
nonfictional	O
Milky	O
Way	O
Galaxy	B-Application
—	O
and	O
containing	O
over	O
78	O
billion	O
stars	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
which	O
host	O
star	O
systems	O
with	O
exoplanets	O
and	O
natural	O
satellites	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Players	O
take	O
the	O
role	O
of	O
a	O
silent	O
protagonist	O
pilot	O
operating	O
a	O
Stardrifter	B-Application
,	O
a	O
fictional	O
spacecraft	O
capable	O
of	O
instantaneous	O
interstellar	O
travel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
mode	O
of	O
transportation	O
acts	O
as	O
a	O
primary	O
game	O
mechanic	O
wherein	O
players	O
may	O
approach	O
various	O
star	O
systems	O
both	O
to	O
refuel	O
their	O
vehicle	O
utilizing	O
lithium	B-Language
ions	O
ejected	O
from	O
stars	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
physically	O
land	O
their	O
vehicle	O
on	O
exoplanetary	O
surfaces	O
—	O
barring	O
gas	O
giants	O
,	O
substellar	O
objects	O
,	O
and	O
what	O
the	O
game	O
identifies	O
as	O
unstable	O
worlds	O
—	O
and	O
then	O
explore	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
explorable	O
locales	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
feature	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
procedurally-generated	O
atmospheres	O
,	O
climates	O
,	O
flora	O
,	O
fauna	O
,	O
and	O
ruins	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Alessandro	O
Ghignola	O
began	O
creating	O
Noctis	B-Application
in	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
versions	O
I-IV	O
were	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
and	O
Assembly	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
I	O
through	O
III	O
(	O
which	O
were	O
simply	O
titled	O
Noctis	B-Application
until	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
)	O
are	O
still	O
available	O
and	O
contain	O
features	O
that	O
were	O
abandoned	O
with	O
later	O
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
was	O
originally	O
written	O
for	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
and	O
uses	O
a	O
fixed	O
display	O
resolution	O
of	O
320	O
x	O
200	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
upper	O
limit	O
imposed	O
on	O
the	O
walking	O
distance	O
from	O
a	O
planetary	O
landing	O
site	O
(	O
this	O
restriction	O
does	O
not	O
necessarily	O
limit	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
ability	O
to	O
traverse	O
the	O
planet	O
,	O
as	O
players	O
may	O
freely	O
take	O
off	O
and	O
land	O
elsewhere	O
to	O
continue	O
their	O
exploration	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
limitations	O
do	O
not	O
apply	O
to	O
the	O
Feltyrion	O
galaxy	B-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
current	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
is	O
called	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
,	O
Ghignola	O
included	O
a	O
facility	O
to	O
have	O
planet	O
names	O
and	O
notes	O
sent	O
back	O
to	O
him	O
and	O
then	O
compiled	O
into	O
the	O
GUIDE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
that	O
,	O
players	O
could	O
discuss	O
their	O
discoveries	O
with	O
others	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
explorers	O
quickly	O
emerged	O
,	O
relying	O
primarily	O
on	O
the	O
Noctis	B-Application
forums	O
for	O
contact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
community	O
often	O
vied	O
for	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
notable	O
discoveries	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
planetary	O
system	O
with	O
the	O
most	O
planets	O
or	O
the	O
biggest	O
tree	O
in	O
the	O
Noctis	B-Application
universe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
source	O
code	O
for	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
2003	O
under	O
the	O
WTOF	O
Public	O
License	B-License
,	O
which	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
a	O
fan-made	O
"	O
mod	O
"	O
to	O
the	O
game	O
called	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
CE	O
(	O
commonly	O
abbreviated	O
NICE	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
NICE	O
includes	O
bug	B-Error_Name
fixes	O
and	O
additional	O
features	O
which	O
increase	O
the	O
playability	O
compared	O
to	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
terrain	O
generation	O
code	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
altered	O
in	O
the	O
NICE	O
version	O
-	O
this	O
renders	O
many	O
remarks	O
made	O
in	O
the	O
GUIDE	O
for	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
largely	O
invalid	O
when	O
used	O
in	O
NICE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
future	O
version	O
of	O
Noctis	B-Application
(	O
tentatively	O
named	O
Noctis	B-Application
V	O
or	O
Noctis	B-Application
NoVa	O
,	O
and	O
sometimes	O
abbreviated	O
as	O
simply	O
NoVa	O
)	O
was	O
under	O
development	O
as	O
of	O
October	O
11th	O
,	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
V	O
is	O
intended	O
to	O
relieve	O
the	O
walking	O
distance	O
restrictions	O
of	O
the	O
current	O
Noctis	B-Application
platform	O
(	O
as	O
described	O
above	O
)	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Noctis	B-Application
is	O
being	O
developed	O
in	O
Linoleum	O
,	O
a	O
low-level	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
created	O
by	O
Ghignola	O
that	O
is	O
currently	O
being	O
shaped	O
to	O
better	O
suit	O
Noctis	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Noctis	B-Application
and	O
Linoleum	O
are	O
being	O
constructed	O
simultaneously	O
,	O
Noctis	B-Application
V	O
's	O
development	O
has	O
been	O
slowed	O
significantly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Screenshots	O
and	O
details	O
have	O
been	O
revealed	O
by	O
the	O
developer	O
indicating	O
that	O
the	O
game	O
's	O
rendering	O
engine	O
has	O
been	O
completely	O
redone	O
from	O
scratch	O
,	O
with	O
Ghignola	O
first	O
having	O
attempted	O
to	O
simply	O
translate	O
the	O
Noctis	B-Application
IV	I-Application
engine	O
into	O
Linoleum	O
before	O
giving	O
up	O
and	O
rewriting	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ghignola	O
has	O
also	O
mentioned	O
experimenting	O
with	O
weather	O
and	O
particle	O
effects	O
,	O
possibly	O
including	O
weather	O
such	O
as	O
snow	O
and	O
dust	B-Application
storms	I-Application
in	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
set	O
release	O
date	O
for	O
Noctis	B-Application
V	O
,	O
but	O
Ghignola	O
has	O
repeatedly	O
assured	O
the	O
game	O
community	O
that	O
he	O
has	O
not	O
given	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
project	O
and	O
has	O
no	O
intention	O
of	O
doing	O
so	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
most	O
recent	O
statement	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
an	O
interview	O
with	O
Videogame	O
Potpourri	O
on	O
May	O
9th	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
where	O
Ghignola	O
stated	O
"	O
[	O
Noctis	B-Application
V ]	O
keeps	O
living	O
in	O
a	O
corner	O
of	O
my	O
mind	O
,	O
on	O
a	O
sort	O
of	O
unwritten	O
post-it	O
note	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
earned	O
a	O
score	O
of	O
9.43	O
out	O
of	O
10	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
site	O
's	O
"	O
Top	O
Dog	O
"	O
award	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
reviewer	O
noted	O
amongst	O
other	O
things	O
the	O
magnitude	O
of	O
the	O
galaxy	B-Application
to	O
explore	O
and	O
the	O
total	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
simulator	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
less	O
than	O
one	O
megabyte	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
in-detail	O
article	O
by	O
The	O
Escapist	O
's	O
Phillip	O
Scuderi	O
noted	O
the	O
philosophical	O
depth	O
of	O
Noctis	B-Application
in	O
2006	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
action-adventure	O
game	O
No	B-Application
Man	I-Application
's	I-Application
Sky	I-Application
in	O
2016	O
,	O
multiple	O
outlets	O
compared	O
it	O
to	O
Noctis	B-Application
,	O
noting	O
that	O
both	O
games	O
featured	O
exploration	O
of	O
a	O
large	O
,	O
procedurally-generated	O
galaxy	B-Application
,	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
share	O
discoveries	O
with	O
other	O
players	O
online	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noctis	B-Application
was	O
described	O
as	O
having	O
a	O
distinct	O
sense	O
of	O
strangeness	O
and	O
beauty	O
,	O
though	O
being	O
difficult	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
modern	O
computers	O
and	O
with	O
a	O
cumbersome	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
.	O
</s>
