Best Of

The Best way I can see a map working personally would be not having it on the HUD; rather having it as a Tab on the PDA where the data can be updated as you explore an area. Maybe an upgrade to the scanner Room that would allow the topographical map can be updated. The only outside information I'd want the map to show me would be Beacon locations. no need to even show my current location as an indicator.

Subnautica actually DID have an in-game map at one point fairly early on in development. That was before I bought into early access so I don't know all the discussion around the decision to remove it (the community may not have even been a part of it), but I feel like it was a well-intentioned, if IMHO misguided decision to make the game more immersive. It also had the side effect of padding game time by making it really easy to get lost, so it was a win-win for the devs who had one less feature to develop.

In terms of gameplay and immersion, I would REALLY like to see a proper map implemented. I find it highly annoying and immersion breaking that the scanner room, seaglide, and vehicle sonar can generate highly detailed terrain maps, but for inexplicable reasons can't save them. At least there's a map mod already.

At least some of the devs agree, there's a Trello card for possibly implementing a minimap at some point.

logiboy123 wrote: »

You know there are no achievements for hardcore mode right?

We don't need achievements to play games.
Hardcore is fun, despite overly easy (not as easy as survival though).

I would like if the O2 warnings were removed again.

I recently completed the game on hardcore mode and wanted to share my thoughts. I generally enjoyed the game but think I would've enjoyed it more were things implemented or designed differently. I see so much potential for this game to become something even greater than it currently is and will discuss the various aspects of that separately.

Creatures
Creatures generally are not that much of a threat due to having a limited spawn location and patrol radius, and often you can just charge past with a Sea Glide or Seamoth. High threat creatures such as Reapers can either be avoided entirely due to known spawn locations (that you do not need to go to) or passed with rudimentary timing skills. I never had a sense of dread while playing the game unless I willingly went into a location where I knew there was a Reaper.

1. Multiple spawn locations for Leviathans with a bigger patrol radius.
2. Creatures can patrol the world more (and randomly) so that you always have to look out.
3. Packs of creatures that move together and pose a greater threat to the player.
4. Creatures a bigger threat to vehicles and bases.

Exploration and Environment
I generally enjoyed exploring the world (although I found it a bit small) and found the environments to be very nice. I also enjoyed looking for technology/fragments in the broken ship parts and on the ocean floor. Unfortunately due to previous attempts at the game I knew where a lot of the important fragments were and had hoped there was some random aspect to this to increase replay-ability. It's also very easy to reach a lot of the important tech due to it not being that deep or getting access to technology that reduces this problem such as the re-breather and the portable air refill stations (Seamoth) allowing you to too easily dive to 500m or more. Simply put you get environmental challenge negating tech too easily, too early, and it reduces the challenge too much.

1. Make Seamoth and Prawn suit less of an instant mobile air refill station
2. Environmental challenges require you to play differently, but can later be mitigated with progressively better equipment (rather than for example zero challenge depth due to early game re-breather)
3. More environmental challenges such as heat, cold, radiation (not just from the Aurora)
4. Changing environmental challenges due to story (like fixing the radiation leak)

Vehicles and items
There is some redundant tech in the game that you will rarely if ever use due to there being zero need. For example in my recent play through on hardcore didn't or rarely used the lightweight high capacity tank, ultra glide fins (the Sea Glide and Ultra High Capacity Tank are simply better), the floating air pump, Propulsion Cannon, Stasis Rifle, Pathfinder Tool and numerous other. I simply never had a situation where I needed it and this isn't simply due to my play style. I suspect much of it would be more useful with my comments on bases, exploration and creatures.

1. Reconsider Sea Glide ignoring weight (so that there is a point to Lightweight tank and Ultraglide Fins)
2. Make some of the higher end tech more difficult to get rather than just being available straight away with the modification station (this ties in to some of my base research ideas below)
3. Cyclops ability to pitch to make it more easy to get through the world
4. Make the Seamoth more difficult to get (currently too early and too cheap)

Base Building
Building a base is generally not that necessary other than getting a moon pool for upgrades or in my case a multipurpose room with thermal power plants and a water filtration unit in the lava zone. I built a base purely because I could, not because I needed to. Below is a list of ideas that would make the base building aspect more interesting and more necessary:

1. Neptune Rocket requires you to stock it up with food, water and fuel for the trip, requiring you to set up water, food and fuel production. This requires space, power and time
2. Higher end materials require production facilities such as refining or chemical reactions rather than just everything being produced from the replicator. This requires space, power and time
3. Higher end technologies require research (not to take away the fun of exploring for fragments btw!) which takes power, space and time
4. Manufacturing of components is in a factory style unit and requires power, space and time.
5. Base occasionally under attack by leviathans or the environment (this could increase as you get more advanced) which requires the player to defend the base with shield, silent modes, decoys etc. The player would have to make damage control choices such as putting out a fire that would ravage expensive systems, flooding of compartments and their repair, toxic gases from production making compartments unusable until degassed.

I am sure there are other things that will come to mind at a later date.