Best Of

So pretty much a less murderous GLaDOS? I wouldn't mind seeing this!

Okay, so I think these would all qualify as polish:

FINAL VERSION: I categorized and numbered the list.

PDA:

1. I think the new "New Addition" icon system is a great move, but I don't really like the color contrast between the harsh red and soft blue. Alterra tech seems to focus mainly on blue, shades of grey, and yellow, so maybe yellow (or orange) could be the icon's color?
2. At the moment the only Advanced Theories entry on the PDA are stalker teeth. This is awkward. Either it should be removed entirely (not in favor) or a few more should be added. Crash powder, sea treader manure, and gaspods seem logical candidates at this point in time.
3. There is no indication at which location you retrieved PDA log entries. This isn't a problem, but I would like a reminder in case of lifepod logs which lifepod I got them from. It would help envision what happened to everyone post-crash.
4. Very minor, but I find the word "unlocked" when you scan anything native to the planet an odd choice of words. Fragments you unlock, sure, because those are part of Alterra's programming, but lifeforms and natural structures you "discover" or "document" or "describe".
5. I'm glad to see you are adding the ability to access the PDA in vehicles. Would it also be possible to access them while lying down on a bed or are beds set for auto-sleep?
6. It's been asked several times already, but could we get a day counter on the PDA? Right now, the only way to tell how many days you've been playing is if you're fortunate enough to get another log file late game.

Recipes

1. I recommend upping the maximum number of different ingredients per recipe from four to five, with only a few special recipes actually needing five different ingredients. The prompter for this are the freebie powercells from the Cyclops and PRAWN. Those should be part of the recipe, not be formed out of thin air what with the essentialism of energy management to the gameplay.
2. Same for the welder. As long as it requires a battery, it should cost a battery. Construction of the player's first battery could come with a PDA log emphasizing the ability to exchange batteries and operate multiple tools on one battery if necessary.
3. The rad suit should be created in three separate pieces, not all at once. Having separate icons in the fabricator menu (suits could be a separate category from equipment if need be) and perhaps noting on the product description the protection is only (X)% for each piece should be clear enough that only one part won't protect you. Plus, there's lifepod 6.
4. Any chance the knife can get a spear upgrade from the mod station to not make acid mushroom and deep shroom harvesting self-destructive? It'd be late enough in the game not to be interesting as a weapon and just timely for shroom farming.

Vehicles:

1. Anything comprehensive with the lifepod probably is beyond polishing, but if something can be done that it can be reasonably moved with vehicles, even if little by little (right now, it drifts back to its old position pretty fast), that'd be great.
2. Please make the seats in the lifepod functional. It's only logical and has the potential to be majorly useful the first few days of a fresh game. Since you've said popular vote influences what you prioritize, I refer to the number of agrees here.
3. I would like for NPCs to stop targeting vehicles that are within the moonpool. That oughta be a safezone and logically make the vehicles not "recognizable" as prey anymore. Mind that this isn't just about a vehicle not getting destroyed but also about not drawing predators to your base.
4. Now that lights cost energy, it would be great if they don't automatically turn back on when you load a game or switch out the powercell. It would also be appreciated to have some indication if the lights are on or not because you can't tell when you aren't near an object to shine a light on.
5. For that matter, I would appreciate a reconsideration of the vehicle energy drain to be just slightly more forgiving. As it is, I consider the drain anti-exploration. Even as an experienced player I have to plan my journeys tightly to get by in early game. It does not have to be what it was before, just a little more forgiving.
6. When the Seamoth is docked but there's no energy in the base, the message when hovering over it is "CyclopsNoPower" - or something like that, the Cyclops bit being the error here.
7. There is still no save game icon for when you acquire the PRAWN. There is for the Seamoth and Cyclops, but not the PRAWN (while we're at it, I don't see why the seaglide couldn't have an icon either).
8. The PRAWN has many pieces of animation that don't take their cues. The jump jet pack remains on if you park it inside a moonpool while jumping, every time it's outside and I look back quickly its lid is open, the drill animation continues if you leave the suit while drilling, etc.
9. The Cyclops 2/3rd complete message that never disappears from your fragment list even if you've already built one is still a thing.
10. The ladder side of the Cyclops's storage area is a little bare compared to the five lockers on the other side. What I'd like is one larger built-in locker on the ladder side that's 6x6 so our resource gathering vessel can bring along the seaglide or vehicle bay.
11. I would like a key that auto-resets the Cyclops's cameras to their default position. Even with the direction icon, I still take too long to manually find the front-facing direction again after taking a peek to the side.
12. I would like a key to give the Seamoth a short boost or jump of sorts to unbeach it if it has beached. It can be a killer to explore one of the islands or Aurora and to return, only to find your vehicle won't take you anywhere anymore.
13. I would like an icon cue when using the PRAWN's grappling hook as to whether what I am aiming for is within the chain's reach. My idea for it would be a triangle on the outside of the circular cursor which location indicates the distance to the target. Doesn't overlap with the propulsion cannon cue, and an estimate of the distance is important to know what your odds of reaching the targeted area is if you are in midfall or such.
14. I don't see reason that the PRAWN cannot hover about water. It doesn't need to ascend as strongly as it would in the water, but the way it basically drops like a brick when past the waves is weird.
15. Walking around on the lower deck of the Cyclops is hampered by the threshold-slopes. Trying to get up them is met with resistance on occasion.
16. If you're going to finetune the Cyclops, can the walls' hitbox be a little closer to the walls? The floating wall attachments aren't a pretty sight and the distance I need to place a bed from the wall (in the middle room) means it just gets in front of the doors.
17. Oh, and if you use Camera 3 on the Cyclops, only the fin on your right is visible, as if the camera is not placed in the center. It's small, but it bugs me.

Farming:

1. When you build the alien containment for the first time, the message you get still refers to it as the aquarium, its old name. I would like this to be updated.
2. Speaking of the alien containment, harvesting the small stuff (mushrooms, for instance) from above almost always also opens the planter PUI. Which then I have to close before I can continue harvesting. Would be great if clicking just only let me harvest.
3. Plants, or at least seedless creepvines, that need a double-storey alien containment to reach their full growth, become indestructible when they hit the ceiling of a single-storey alien containment (at about 57% growth).
4. Some aquatic plants, those being spore sacks, blue palms, writhing weed, veined nettles, membrain trees, the base of seed-carrying creepvine, and koosh bushes, are invisible during growth unless you basically touch them with your nose.
5. Very young growing seed-carrying creepvine shows seeds when looked at from a distance. It is bare when close by, as it should be because seed doesn't start growing until the plant matures.
6. Spore sacks need to be destroyed upon being knifed. As it is, one can gather two seeds from it, pick it up, then replant it, then get another two seeds, and so on. It might also be worth letting spore sacks rot, as right now they are eternal food.
7. For that matter, are the seeds for small plants ever supposed to be less than four per plant? Spore sacks give me three seeds and pygmy fans only two.
8. The knife detection box for small plants growing in an alien containment is very specific. It usually takes me multiple attempts to find an angle from which a knife hit will land.
9. Tiger Plants have been made passive in case they are planted in the alien containment, but they are still aggressive in planters and can badly damage your base while aiming for you or a fish passing by. I don't know how I feel about that, but at least a warning would be a nice gesture.

Base functionality:

1. We need some rebalancing in regards to powercells and I have the following two proposals. The first is to slightly nerf the moon pool. I think it is fair that energy is required to dock a vessel; say, 10 energy points? Undocking should be free because otherwise your base can essentially keep your vessel hostage and I doubt that would be appreciated. This will elongate the powercell charger-to-moon pool transition and give it some strategical meaning. The moon pool's insta-recharge is also not needed and awkward compared to the time the charger takes. It does not need to take as long, but I think it will improve both the charger's use and energy management in general to have a slower moon pool recharge. The other thing I propose is to make the vehicle bay require energy. Despite it needing a powercell for construction and being pickup-able, it never needs changing of the cell like the other tools need their batteries to be changed. I would suggest a hefty price of 60% for each vehicle made, but with the perk that as long as the vehicle bay is deployed it can gather energy slowly from the waves. This system would have the benefit of somewhat bridging the period between needing power cells for the first time and acquiring the powercell charger.
2. Speaking of the vehicle bay having self-recharging capability, I feel the floating pump should at least contain a copper wire like the beacon. Relatedly, I recommend for both the floating pump and pipes to be moved to the deployable section. They're currently in the equipment section, where they don't belong.
3. There's a lot of work to be done on the scanner room, so it's largely pointless to say anything about it. However, I would prefer if the cameras would have to be made separately, actually cost a battery, and for that battery to be manually replaceable.
4. The ability to build MP rooms in the center of platforms has been requested many times by the fanbase. It is a worthy consideration.
5. I don't think there's ever been a clear answer as to why hull reinforcements placed on the angles of a MP room are supposed to have a value of +14 instead of +7. If it's a bug, it's time to be squashed. If it's intentional, give a reason.
6. Some way to always check on hull integrity. Building another piece only to discover through building that you end up in the negatives is not fun.
7. On the opposite end, it would be great if pieces that require energy list their drain in the item description the same way the effect on hull integrity is currently listed.
8. No more clipping issues with the medkit fabricator. (Does the medkit fabricator even drain energy?)
9. No more water inside the base when building at surface level.
10. The bioreactor is still a hazard to use because since two updates ago opening it at an angle or too far or too near will bring up a blank PDA screen that can't be closed anymore.
11. The bioreactor still does not accept blood oil or nutrition blocks. Even though both by all means are organic material.
12. This is incredibly feelsy, but I'd like for fishes when they are put into the bioreactor to be auto-listed as dead.
13. Opening a locker (not a wall locker; a locker) from a distance brings up an invisible PDA. This one can be closed but is all the same not pretty.
14. I have no problem with the fabrication time for titanium ingots and plasteel ingots, but I do dislike that the fabricator kicks me out once they're completed. If I stay to wait, I should not be kicked out.
15. Please fix whatever it is that solar cells do that makes them double in capacity when built near the surface. That on itself is no problem, but it also doubles the energy expenses of the fabricator. And that itself is barely a problem, but very often when I am not yet at a minimum of ten points, I can already use the fabricator (since it would normally be able to fabricate at five points), but it won't make anything because it needs ten points. Instead, my energy points just disappear with nothing in return for them. That is annoying.
16. Full rotation for all base pieces. The vehicle bay also could do with a rotation ability (something I recall it had once?)
17. I would like to be able to add reinforced walls to the ends of corridors and the scanner room. It's odd it only accepts windows and portals as of yet.
18. Windows on hatches and the scanner room are too clear when looked at from the pool in the moon pool. Both creepvines are also too clear from that angle but only above a certain distance. Reinforced walls on moon pools always shine bright even when its nighttime.
19. Would it be possible to up the amount of symbols on wall lockers from ten to twelve (or more)? Examples of words that currently can't be fully written down are "reactorrods", "electronics", and "crashpowder".
20. The modification station needs some finetuning. For starters, the modules for Seamoth and PRAWN are still listed as "Seamoth upgrades" and the Cyclops upgrades icon is colored too brightly when inactive (also a thing in the cyclops fabricator menu) compared to the other icons. In general, I don't see why each item that can be upgraded has to be listed separately in the main menu when they share a category on the fabricator. Propulsion cannon and knife are both tools, flippers and oxygen tank are both equipment, and Cyclops upgrades and Seamoth upgrades are both vehicle upgrades. The main menu can be shortened by half.
21. The small bed is still unusuable.
22. I would like a simple indoors station to place a beacon on/in so I don't have to let it float outside when I use it to mark a base. The alternative suggestions to let the radio serve as beacon won't do from my POV because I like to build multiple radios per base and an entire separate device when a beacon station could add a nice bit of interactivity/additional does not strike me as more worthwhile. And yes, the easier solution is to let the beacon be placed on a shelf or some such, but between that and a specialized station we have the "emotional" difference between a "walkie-talkie" lying around vs a properly installed "telephone".
23. The fact you can repair a vehicle within a moon pool is not immediately obvious due to the player always getting out at the side with the upgrade panel, which is an area the welder does not react too. This option could do with some emphasizing. One thing I recommend is that the vehicle modification displays the vehicle's health alongside the charge state already displayed.

Acquisition & scanning:

1. It would be nice if the knife's life points would be indicated in the utility bar the same way the other tools' battery life points are.
2. Gaspods explode immediately when dropped by the player. They should have the same delay as when a gasopod releases them.
3. Let me directly scan table coral and coral tubes/slanted shell plates without first harvesting them and then dropping the loot.
4. You can scan all three sizes koosh bushes (as in, scanning one size won't make the other sizes count as scanned), but you only get one, non-updated PDA entry for it.
5. The PRAWN suit in the Aurora furthest from the stairs is still unscannable.
6. Posters (in wrecks, at least) can be very tricky to pick up. Small hitbox.
7. There are three PDAs, one outside the lowest Floater Island base and two outside the Jelly Shroom Caves base, that cannot be picked up. I do not know if this is intentional, but if they are decoration, it's highly confusing decoration that I recommend to be removed. If they are to contain messages, please add those messages (I kinda like the extra searching you need to do for them, so I hope on the latter scenario).
8. Would it be possible to add the same icon used for fixing broken machinery and cutting through doors to drillable items so you know how far you are in the process?
9. Large titanium deposits cannot be fully drilled with the PRAWN as it is. The final part is always too low for the PRAWN to reach.
10. The PRAWN currently can't break open purple pinecones, neither with claw nor with drill.
11. The repulsion cannon icon is still the propulsion cannon one with added glow. I've on occasion picked up the wrong one.

Environment:

1. There is a tunnel on the floater island that goes below the pathway between the two mountains that you can reach from climbing up on the lowest base. You can enter that tunnel, but you cannot leave it because the roof's too low. How you get in in the first place is beyond me, but it's essentially an (unrealistic) death trap.
2. There's this upwards stream pillar near the wreck in the Safe Shallows area at the tail end of the Aurora. I've never been able to figure out what it is but I suspect it's not supposed to be there.
3. A good portion of the "roof" miniwrecks (like there are many near the Aurora) and their contents either don't connect to the ground or go straight through it. The first scenario looks bad, the second makes the contents of containers unreachable.
4. The first time you go to the Aurora, it's teeming with cave crawlers. They basically all disappear by the time you leave (do they jump in the water?) and they don't come back. It takes a lot of action out of the Aurora and I'd like for their numbers to be consistent (or go down only a little; there's no corpses anymore so I don't mind a few of them disappearing).
5. Please make crash plants immune to crashfish explosions. I lose almost all crash plants in my games simply because the crashfishes explode to close by. If a player wants to remove them, it's okay for the knife to still work. Being able to withstand a spread-out force does not mean the plant has to be able to withstand cutting.
6. When batteries were first implemented, all floodlights had batteries to harvest. This was a fun little extra to reward thorough searching. After that update, you've removed most batteries from the floodlights. I don't mind not getting one every time, but there's, like, only three floodlights left that contain a battery to pick up. And all of them are on regardless if they have a battery or not, while I like the concept of not picking up the battery until you're done exploring the wreck so you have light. There's also a model floodlight that doesn't have an interactive battery holder at all. I would like more consistency and planning with floodlight-batteries.
7. Similarly, it is odd that the very first item you pick up is the fire extinguisher in your own lifepod, but that you can't get it from the other lifepods (but can from the Aurora). Those fire extinguishers should be loot-ified too and perhaps some lifepods don't have theirs anymore.
8. Crabsnakes still are immune to the stasis rifle while inside their mushrooms. Although it doesn't hurt you, they can still perform their jumpscare or leave the mushroom altogether.

Scrapped (?) models:
I would imagine this to be well beyond polishing if I didn't know the models to be ready from the Sketchfab gallery. At the moment, the wiki lists the species analyzer, the botanical analyzer, lithium ion batteries, and the accumulator as removed content. I do not know if this is true, but if so, these are my thoughts.

1. I would really appreciate for lithium ion batteries to remain a thing, even if it would be a recipe that needs to be unlocked in addition to the modification station (I believe this is already the case for the repulsion cannon?). It'd be a huge boost forward that does not affect early gameplay but would be a good late game reward.
2. I do not know if the accumulator was ever meant to be additional energy storage capacity or be necessary to store energy at all, but in either scenario, I would like to keep it. Having storage capacity that doesn't require me to build numerous energy sources would certainly tidy things up and be excellent late game material.
3. And speaking of energy; the analyzers. I imagine those have truly become superfluous, but I'd still like them in the game and I propose the following scenario. I will be the umpteenth person to say farming needs nerfing and I know you have some plans for the future that involve sea treader manure, a hard to come by resource. I would also like to suggest that growth time is at least doubled for all plants. They grow unrealistically fast at the moment. The same can be done with eggs (and reproduction of food fish). A repurpose for the analyzer models then could be growth accelerators (to current speed, not instantly) for whichever plant or egg is put inside at the cost of some energy. It would be up to the player to be patient or spend resources and time to get faster results. I imagine these would be midgame material.

Features:

1. Not sure if this is a polish thing, but if respawning resources could be considered? I really hate how I'm slowly ruining the environment in a game that is meant to offer a beautiful landscape to enjoy and gameplay that could keep going if you so choose. It can take 80+ days or so; I don't mind, as long as I can enjoy the quartz glittering at night through my Safe Shallows base's windows one day. NOTE: respawning resources includes the ability for plants to recover from damage the same way they'll eventually regrow fruit taken from them. I get itchy from not knowing if the plant I'm looking at is secretly damaged.
2. At least once a second skyray was planned. This "heavenray" is featured in the cinematic trailer. I don't know how far the critter ever came, but if possible, finish it before v1.0. It's always a tad ugly when trailer material isn't in the product and the skies are bare with only skyrays. Would also be cool if you have a base above water if the game could spawn a few birds to take a rest on it every once in a while. Could help hint at the directions of the islands too.
3. Speaking of surface events, would it be possible to have drifting items that could in theory show up everywhere? Maybe a floating fruit (like coconuts) that you have to get out of the water or ambergris as a fruit/veggie preserver? Or even a plant that takes its food from the water rather than soil? Come to think of it, the plant can be the origin of the floating fruit.

Nothing that directly insults or is rude to the player; it's funnier if it's just off-colour humor as she's just doing her job!