No Man’s Sky creator, Sean Murray, to bring a really big calculator to the Game Developers Conference.

You can say what you like about No Man’s Sky, but there’s no denying that the algorithms and formula upon which the game is built are super-impressive, even if they do occasionally nose-dive a shark into the ground.

The technology that generates the No Man’s Sky‘s planetary terrain and alien wildlife will be the subject of a newly-announced talk by Sean Murray, founder of Hello Games, at the Game Developers Conference.

In ‘Building Worlds Using Math(s)’, Murray will reveal how the small development team at Hello Games created and tested a procedurally-generated – and near-infinite – universe.

Attendees will get an understanding of the knowledge required to create, render and populate their own planets, as well as an insight into the development challenges and future potential of using such techniques.

GDC returns to the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, running from February 27 to March 3, 2017. If you are looking for a little inspiration on which of the 350 sessions, tutorials, roundtables and bootcamps to attend, read our GDC 2017 preview.

If you’re thinking of attending Sean Murray’s No Man’s Sky talk may we also recommend this article on the problem with procedural generation by our very own, Tom Baines.