Subnautica

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JaySevenZero
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Subnautica

Post by JaySevenZero »

Here's where you can contribute your thoughts and opinions for Subnautica for potential inclusion in the forthcoming podcast.

A friendly reminder that where the feedback for the podcast is concerned, we love it - but keeping it brief is appreciated. We do want to include a breadth of opinions where appropriate, but no-one wants a discussion podcast that’s mostly reading out essays. Better to save yourself time and cut to the chase if you can.
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KarlDaFrog
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Re: 513: Subnautica

Post by KarlDaFrog »

I played Subnautica right around the time it came out of Early Access on PC. The pitch of an underwater exploration game with survival and crafting elements really floated my boat. This was before crafting in games had been overplayed. I love the terror and curiosity the ocean inspires, and a game built on this seemed like a perfect match for me.

One of the things that made the game stand out was the non-procedurally generated map. For a crafting game this was unexpected. Once I learned the map is finite, I swam as far as I could in one direction to see what happens at the edge. There’s still an invisible wall but it’s far enough away from the continental shelf that you lose any perspective of your movement and the illusion that you’re still swimming is maintained. A nice solution to the classic “invisible wall problem". Also, to deter players from running this experiment are Ghost Leviathan, the largest and most dangerous fauna in the game, patrolling the endless void.

The implicit horror of exploring the ocean is one of the most resonant qualities of the game. The steam icon of that friendly Peeper fish and cartoony scuba person seen in promotional materials don’t really communicate the amount of time you’ll be staring at an empty abyss listening to Akira Yamaoka-esuqe screeches in the dark. Even the lowly cave fish gave me a fright the first time one came careening towards me, let along the progressively toothy, moody, and spooky beasts further from my crash site. But it is the UI that is the true monster here.

The first thing that had me drifting off Subnautica was the clunky menu system. Every time I had to craft something in the fabricator I got lost. Four rows of buttons each open two more rows of buttons which then open n-number of buttons, one of which will be the button you need to press to figure out which ingredients you need for a recipe in some other combination of buttons. Certain ingredients must be crafted from raw ingredients with very little external logic; Acid mushrooms make a battery? I guess acid is inside of batteries, but I’ll have to remember that. The aforementioned cave fish stores “Cave Sulfur” in its nest, but I was spooked out of exploring “where the bad thing comes from”. You don’t go hanging around green pipes where piranha plants come out, do you? I suspect they added “cave” to “cave sulfur” as a hint for where to find this resource. Hurdles like these kept Subnautica from fitting into a comfy flow, I was constantly opening lockers and flipping through the fabricator.

But wow, the navigation outside of the menus is excellent. The joy of discovery is one of my biggest motivators in games and Subnautica fires on all cylinders. Every time I encountered a new biome I felt a rush of excitement. The world felt alien yet believable and the whole ecosystem feels carefully thought out. I am a “scanner” in games like this, and I enjoy reading the bios of the creatures found while exploring. Subnautica fully embraces players like me.

The game can be glitchy, and this is the first game I’ve played where the land sections feel worse than the underwater parts. “Floaters” can show up in unexpected places, and clipping of fish and plants through your base is common. While none of this ruins the experience, it certainly lacks a level of polish, especially given the time in early access. To my knowledge, these kinds of bugs still exist in the game long after launch.

Although Subnautica’s glitches and UI may have you needing to decompress from time to time, I certainly like the cut of its jib. It takes a minute to filter through the games systems, but it'll never leave you in the doldrums, and it has certainly made waves in the gaming community. If any of this piques your interest, I suggest you dive in!

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I’m interested to hear about Subnautica Below Zero and if it addresses any of the issues mentioned above. Despite loving Subnautica and being open to a stand alone sequel, nothing is more of a turn off for me than a snowy/arctic theme. Is it less glitchy? Is the crafting system designed differently? Am I missing out on a sleeper hit?
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Mr Ixolite
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Re: 513: Subnautica

Post by Mr Ixolite »

Despite knowing very little of it and fearing the deep sea tremendously, I decided to rent Subnautica from my local library in anticipation from this show. Try and challenge myself, throw myself into the deep end as it were.

As I began splashing confusedly around the ocean I came across some sea-cow looking aliens, and was promptly killed by their exploding poop. After respawning I poked around some caves, and were kileld by an exploding puffer-fish thing. A short while later the world was plunged into the terrifying darkness of night, and I scrambled back into my escape pod, waiting out the time to sunrise. After swimming around aimlessly for a while I found myself googling "What do you do in Subnautica?" and "Is there a goal in subnautica?". This is where I explain that survival games are a total novelty to me.
After being shocked at seeing pictures of huge home-made underwater bases I restarted the game with the hunger and thirst factors switched off, and set off to collect materials. As I picked up acid mushrooms, rocks and scraps of metal I experienced the excitement of gradually improving my gear, of getting more O2, flippers, a flashlight, a sea-glider...but after a few hours I was still poking around the starting shallows with no more base to show for it, still scrounging up copper, with a sea-glider that was running out of juice.

My brief time with Subnautica before I had to return it was certainly stimulating in a way I'm not used to, but maybe its just as well that I'm having to put it on a break for a while. At least I got to dip my toes.
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Kronnerm11
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Re: Our next podcast recording (3.4.22) - 513: Subnautica

Post by Kronnerm11 »

I have played a lot of horror games, but no game has scared the pants off me quite like Subnautica.

I bought this game in Early Access thinking it looked like a relaxing submarine base-building game in a coral reef. And for the first couple hours it is. I built my first base, I built some gear, I built a wee little submarine to explore with.

Then one in-game night I took my wee submarine out to the edge of the map where a shipwreck I wanted to explore was. While slowly cutting open the wreck, lit by my submarines headlights, I heard a terrifying roar. A second later, I was enveloped in darkness. I turn around, in time to see the light of my submarine getting dragged into the darkness by something very very big. Needless to say I took my exposed snack-sized self and swam as quickly as possible back home, through pitch black waters deep beneath the surface.

There are many experiences like that in Subnautica. The game has a light and inviting atmosphere that belies the many terrors of the deep sea. But even those terrors are inviting, making you swim ever deeper towards them as you uncover the mysteries and wonders of Planet 4546B. It is the fun kind of horror game, and while the game has it's bugs and graphical problems it is still the best example of a survival exploration game out there.
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