I can start up the game just fine, and wait through the loading screen (flying through space) and can even look around while flying. But as soon as the game tries to start, the screen goes white. I can hear animals and nature sounds in the background, but then there's a loud POP sound and the game crashes. I don't even see "initializing" frame that others have spoken of.
My computer doesn't meet the exact specs, but should be able to run it in a lower-quality mode. Problem being, I CAN'T GET INTO THE GAME TO CHANGE THE SETTINGS. I've been messing with .MXML files and have dramatically increased the load time, but it always ends with the white screen and a pop. Unfortunately, there are parts of the graphics setting file I don't understand. And the loud popping sound REALLY confuses me.
Any ideas?

Can't help you, just here to say that I'm experiencing the same problems. When the title fades to the starfield, then fades to the white screen, I hear some music and maybe some sounds, but it just crashes.

I downloaded the settings file [1] from the NMS Support page [2], which drops my settings to windowed+minimum, and while it helps my FPS, still the exact same crash.

I've sent an email to Hello Games after following their PC support page [3], hoping I'll get some answers there.

We'll see.

[1], [2], [3] I tried posting links, but it won't let me.

I don't see any download. Are you talking about this page?
http://www.no-mans-sky.com/support/

No, it's on GOG's NMS support page (I can't post links, or I would link it).

On GOG, click Support > search for "no man" and it'll come up > look for "Crashing at launch - potential fix for all cards"

That page has a link to a settings file you can drop in place (I backed the original up first). It lowers the settings to minimum + windowed.

This ALMOST worked, haha. The white screen lasted about five seconds longer. Still popped and crashed, though.

I'm just going to be patient and wait for a fix at this point. I'm sure they'll be able to fix it, considering there are many that are able to play it just fine with similar builds.

Your problem sounds a little like what some describe when they have a processor that doesn't support SSE4.1 instructions. Currently those processors do not work. Hello Games posted that they are working on a patch for this, but also that many (not all) of the non-SSE4.1 CPUs do not meet the minimum requirement for the game.

That's possible, thought according to Steam's System Info, it's reporting that my card supports SSE4.1:

SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported