Light and depth.

Bandersaur

Will we see the natural light gradually wane to nothing as we head deeper as in the following diagram? (The concept art for the thermal vents seem quite well lit for something that deep.)

Bonus question: How will pressure effect the player and the submarine at these extreme depths gameplay wise?

Squeal_Like_A_Pig

This is definitely a tricky question, as it becomes a delicate balance between realism and gameplay and visuals.

We fully appreciate how cool it can be to explore the depths of the ocean in total darkness, wondering what is lurking just beyond the range of your spotlights. However, if we followed that chart, it would mean that players were spending maybe 70 to 80% of their playing time in darkness, which can become very tedious, boring, claustrophobic, and too horror game feeling. Also, it means spending a lot of time on visuals that are mostly not seen, but still need to be there in case the player shines their lights on it.

The lighting in our game does tend to get darker as you go deeper, but we are definitely bringing the natural light down much further then in the real world, because we feel this is a case where gameplay trumps realism - and hey, alien planet We'll have areas that are mainly dark, but lit by bioluminscent plant life, and we'll have plenty of pitch black caves too explore, but don't expect to automatically find yourself in pitch blackness once you descend past a certain depth.

Pressure will have an effect on the player and subs, and likely cause your sub to start taking damage if it is un prepared for a particular depth, but many of those details have not been worked out yet.

MaverickNZ

Squeal_Like_A_Pig wrote: »

This is definitely a tricky question, as it becomes a delicate balance between realism and gameplay and visuals.

We fully appreciate how cool it can be to explore the depths of the ocean in total darkness, wondering what is lurking just beyond the range of your spotlights. However, if we followed that chart, it would mean that players were spending maybe 70 to 80% of their playing time in darkness, which can become very tedious, boring, claustrophobic, and too horror game feeling. Also, it means spending a lot of time on visuals that are mostly not seen, but still need to be there in case the player shines their lights on it.

The lighting in our game does tend to get darker as you go deeper, but we are definitely bringing the natural light down much further then in the real world, because we feel this is a case where gameplay trumps realism - and hey, alien planet We'll have areas that are mainly dark, but lit by bioluminscent plant life, and we'll have plenty of pitch black caves too explore, but don't expect to automatically find yourself in pitch blackness once you descend past a certain depth.

Pressure will have an effect on the player and subs, and likely cause your sub to start taking damage if it is un prepared for a particular depth, but many of those details have not been worked out yet.

I liked that approach, informed by realism but tweaked for immersion