Subnautica Earliest Access - The State of the Game - Subnautica
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Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond
Subnautica Earliest Access - The State of the Game - Subnautica
(Written by Charlie) A year ago, we decided to commit our company’s future to Subnautica. We made quite a few prototypes (which are included with the Special Edition), and felt...
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All these great promises
With regard to fleshing out the story of Subnautica, I think this might be one game where audio logs would work very well as a device. They make sense in the game fiction, since your starship crashed and could have contained black boxes. Perhaps these could be scattered among the wreckage. I also think the opening monologue would be better served as an optional audiolog aboard your lifeboat. It could grow tiresome hearing the same message over and over at the gamestart.
I think you could take it a step further,
From what I have played sofar with the crash, it would be amazing to have an AI computer compainion, kinda like how Tony Stark has Jarvis - who is there from the get go, you got knocked out in the crash and seem to have a bout of amnesia, so he fills in the details - i.e. you have crashed from orbit and he downloaded himself to your escape pod when you ejected. He tells you the reason you are here is to *ERRORMISSINGDATASEQUENCEPLEASECONTACTTECHNICALSUPPORT*.. or maybe not, seems his computer databanks were damaged in the crash - he doesnt know any more than you do. Perhaps you will be able to find something out there in the deep that will bring you both some answers...
Charlies post is very interesting and im liking the direction ideas although part of my brain (the paranoid sysadmin part) thinks that maybe people pick a type for their game because not having one doesnt work. Having said that i did spend a lot of time is some of the prototypes gathering and building and exploring, so it is enough to make me spend hours in a prototype.
Keep going UWE! We love your work!
Also, I like what Wisp suggested about the audio logs, they could be scattered like the metal pieces and would make sense in the game world. I hope you'll be able to explore parts of the Aurora and find some bigger pieces of history there. And I hope there's a backstory about the planet, maybe some ancient civilization and if they're still there. Or if they vanished and then why? Environmental catastrophe in the ancient past? There's so many possibilities
Keep up the great work!
I think that is a really bad idea to be honest. Currently, subnautica has a sense of isolation, which adds to its atmosphere and feel. You may be crashed on a beautiful ocean world brimming with life, but you have nobody to share it with. I feel that adding any sort of intelligent thing to interact with, even if it is just a semi-sentient AI, would be to the games detriment.
I think that it could be a very good method of providing some direction to what you need to do. Keeping in mind this depends on how much of a narrative is truly going to be a part of this game.
Lets say that this AI is very human like in that it can have a form of amnesia. This AI was thoroughly briefed before launch about what could be known about this planet. More so about what could be seen near the surface or by probes sent before it. Upon crashing some damage was caused that gave it this amnesia and it is not really certain of what its purpose is. As you start to explore and find materials and fish, and it sort of clues in. "Ah I remember this fish, science probe x123 was able to perform some experiments on it and found that it has these very interesting properties that may be used as an ingredient," etc. with more fluff. Now the AI is not all knowing, but it knows enough in the early stages of the game to give you a direction.
As you go deeper or find more rare things, that is where the AI becomes much less actively useful. It may turn more into your scientist that is back in the sub. You go exploring and bring these rare things back, but you have no clue what you could do with them, but at this point you have been able to create a module that you attach to this AI's concious and it allows him to interact with what you brought back. He can now perform experiments on these items and give you a better idea of what they could be used for. This could also explain how a diver knows how to make species of mushroom that he has never seen before into silicone. He has an AI that is smart enough to figure that out.
Now whether or not this AI is fundamental in the end game is difficult to say.
I'm with trisdino on the AI companion idea though, I don't personally want a talking AI telling me how various creatures work, interact or what they can provide. I don't want it giving me goals (and therefore introducing the extrinsic rewards issue or tasklist scenario) or comedic relief (like Borderlands claptrap). I want my exploration to be my own, taking my time and pursuing what interests me. Any computer tool type thing in my opinion ought to be non-interactive and could just provide a list of materials collected or mapping (though mapping a 3D space is difficult) or note taking ability in game either freeform for ones own notes or displaying discoveries that the player has themself found.
Terraforming would be interesting as it could open up possibilities to create one's own space, provide protection (if needed), store materials and such (though that might be better done on one's sub or in an underwater base of some sort if those are able to be built). Could be especially fun if you can plant or make conditions right to allow certain plant or animal life to take up residence. Having everything be interactive and be useful as an ingredient to something would be very cool, as would varied biomes since those would provide whole new lifeforms and resources to discover, explore and understand. DNA extraction and how that can be used for other creatures or oneself is a very interesting idea and I'd like to see how it develops.
A great way to teach players about the fragility of ecosystems in real life is to let them loose on a virtual one. Players would no doubt wreck havoc upon them, falling for the "infinite abundance" fallacy, and strip mining everything, so the point where they suddenly realize their mistake would serve as a stark reminder.
It is also just a cool idea in general, so I think everybody can get behind it.
Supported you guys for NS2 from the beginning and was not let down. So I absolutely have no problem with supporting you again with that Earliest Access thing.
I love to see you change around and shape another game.
Also, I (almost) have a master of science in biology and specialized on molecular ecology - so naturally I work a lot with DNA and animals (did a little bit of tropical reef ecology too). If at any point you need some advice or background information, feel free to ask and I'll try to help you out as best as I can.
I am also hoping to see more adventure/challenging style mechanics added to this world. Just as much as we want the world to feel our impact on it, I want to feel it's impact on me the player!
I am a little concerned about at what "state" this vision will actually come to fruit.. Will we get a half backed vision due to no fault of their own for the reasons he just listed funding etc, like so many early access titles.
we have to be realistic, this is a small team on this project probably half of what they did to make their other titles, yet a open world with so many features in vision takes a TON of work... Either way I wish the team the best for if anyone is going to bring us a new vision styled game it will be a independent house like this...