My feedback and future ideas
Xavandier
VA, USA Join Date: 2015-04-25 Member: 203812Members
VA, USA Join Date: 2015-04-25 Member: 203812Members
I'd like to start by saying that Subnautica is already an incredibly innovative and stunning platform to build upon. Subnautica really benefits from its futuristic, sci-fi style, and it was a very clever design decision to use it. I personally don't like the futuristic "style", but it really covers up the common flaws survival games tend to have such as unrealistic crafting. Anyway, I will list my personal points of interest within the game below, but also point out now that I don't know what the developer's dream of Subnautica actually is.
1: Issue: The largest limitation the game possess at the moment is the size of the small, sterile environment you can play within. This is surely obvious to most of you, and plans to improve this are probably already made. Still, it must be said. In my opinion, Subnautica's greatest strength is its unique, gorgeously crafted underwater environments. The "wow" factor of discovering new life-forms, and "biomes" in this completely alien world is a truly powerful gaming experience. This and its visual style/graphics are the assets that set it farthest apart from the other three hundred indie survival games it is competing against now. Who wants to be trapped within a one square mile on an (presumably)uninhabited and beautiful ocean world?
Advice: Make the world(s) larger. Adding content which increases what a player is capable of will certainly enrich this world, but without expanding its actual size, everyone will experience what a fish tank feels like sooner or later. Using a procedural system isn't necessarily the answer with this title I think. The ocean is inherently alien and unrecognizable to most people already without also being on an alien world. Having set maps might take away from the exploration experience however. Eventually players will map out set maps entirely and share them online. I don't know enough about game design to elaborate further. If somehow this feat is impossible, please at least add invisible walls that prevent access to the bottomless pits around the "world-island". They are a complete immersion breaker and suck the fun out right out of the experience.
Additions: (1)An in-game geographic mapping system will be very convenient. I'm not entirely sure why an advanced submarine wouldn't already have such a system built in anyway. (2)Renewable resources will extend the life of every biome. (3)Although the fact that resources do not respawn is not inherently wrong, it becomes a problem due to the current size of the world. Within my first two hours of play, the initial biome I spawned in (coral/reef perhaps?) was completely barren and lifeless. At 16h food had become scarce aside from Creepvine. (4)The amount of power the cyclops needs to move is rather baffling. In the current stage of the game, its but a minor nuisance as far as survival is concerned due to the size of the world. Later when more is added, this should truly be revisited however.
2: Issue: The way the Seamoth is controlled is pretty rough for those using trackball mice. Without the ability to set mouse sensitivity for vehicles separately from regular movement, piloting the Seamoth is a jerky nightmare.
Advice: (1)Add a separate mouse sensitivity slider for the Seamoth. (2)Add an option to lock the player's crosshaires to the center point of Seamoth's cockpit.
3: Issue: The pacing of resource gathering versus hunger/thirst deterioration rates is a tad too fast for players who have supplied bases. Without the ability to collect the resources faster than by hand, survival gameplay ends up being roughly 50% hunting for food/water. While this is absolutely great in the beginning of the game, it becomes a repetitive and limiting burden to the players who have otherwise established themselves. Changing this pacing in the current build of the game will not necessarily benefit gameplay whatsoever without additional content. It is also a tad silly from an immersion standpoint that the player can craft a submarine for their personnel disposal, but is simultaneously limited to gathering resources by hand.
Advice: As added content increases the overall lifespan of survival playthroughs, add craftable devices which allow established players to collect food/water quicker. Simply decreasing the hunger/thirst deterioration rate will fix this issue, but will also change the pacing of the game(likely for the worse). One idea I have is for a device used on the bottom of large subs(the Cyclops), which will harvest nearby Creepvine using suction and fan like blades. Fish traps are also very conceivable. Large submarines could be outfitted with a water purification system. Perhaps there could be a device that draws the nutrients out of the nearby area slowly, like microscopic lifeforms from water, or nutrients from the seafloor, then condenses them into a solid form. Perhaps algae/plant farms like those in space craft? Balancing the effectiveness of these type of automatic systems will likely be required.
General input:
Some people have trouble with sandbox games due to a lack of implied/expressed completable goals for one to achieve. While I personally do not have this problem, nor do I think they ~deserve~ a place in Subnautica, adding events or long-term projects will give people more to do. Assuming the player was a member of the ship's crew, perhaps a terraforming mechanic could be added for the player to work on. Perhaps the terraformer can be used to create land masses/structures for future colonization, which could be recorded by the game by a percentage counter based on a total area. Perhaps the creation/alteration of such structures will aggravate local creatures, who then try to destroy your work, requiring you to defend it. Perhaps a space ship requiring a lot of components, some of which very rare, could be made for an attempted escape? Some of the rarer components could be hidden in trenches and guarded fearsome creatures. Just a few ideas.
Additional customization options for the Cyclops, and naturally more large sub designs would be awesome!
Larger station modules will make them more appealing for practical use. The corridors currently in game don't provide much space for storage to justify use.(The devs are aware of this, no doubt.)
Umbilical cords to provide O2 so that a player can work on relatively stationary tasks for long periods would be convenient and thematic. However with the Seamoth's maneuverability, it isn't a neccesity or priority at all.
It sure would be nice to be able to deal damage with something other than a knife for those who wish to be violent or combat dangerous species. I would suggest a harpoon gun, but considering the technological level of the items used by the player, that would be a tad silly. In the game's current state, there is no need for this though. This could interfere with design choices too; nothing wrong with non-lethal force.
Mining capabilities for underwater stations would be neat.
That's all I've got for now. Feel free to contribute any constructive input you have on this post. As a final note, I'd like to say that working to flesh out the mother-ship is a very reasonably and worthy goal. As mentioned in the news section on steam, it naturally is a huge lure and point of interest to players. You guys are really knocking this game out of the park! Thanks for the great game Unknown Worlds! Good luck with your pursuits!
1: Issue: The largest limitation the game possess at the moment is the size of the small, sterile environment you can play within. This is surely obvious to most of you, and plans to improve this are probably already made. Still, it must be said. In my opinion, Subnautica's greatest strength is its unique, gorgeously crafted underwater environments. The "wow" factor of discovering new life-forms, and "biomes" in this completely alien world is a truly powerful gaming experience. This and its visual style/graphics are the assets that set it farthest apart from the other three hundred indie survival games it is competing against now. Who wants to be trapped within a one square mile on an (presumably)uninhabited and beautiful ocean world?
Advice: Make the world(s) larger. Adding content which increases what a player is capable of will certainly enrich this world, but without expanding its actual size, everyone will experience what a fish tank feels like sooner or later. Using a procedural system isn't necessarily the answer with this title I think. The ocean is inherently alien and unrecognizable to most people already without also being on an alien world. Having set maps might take away from the exploration experience however. Eventually players will map out set maps entirely and share them online. I don't know enough about game design to elaborate further. If somehow this feat is impossible, please at least add invisible walls that prevent access to the bottomless pits around the "world-island". They are a complete immersion breaker and suck the fun out right out of the experience.
Additions: (1)An in-game geographic mapping system will be very convenient. I'm not entirely sure why an advanced submarine wouldn't already have such a system built in anyway. (2)Renewable resources will extend the life of every biome. (3)Although the fact that resources do not respawn is not inherently wrong, it becomes a problem due to the current size of the world. Within my first two hours of play, the initial biome I spawned in (coral/reef perhaps?) was completely barren and lifeless. At 16h food had become scarce aside from Creepvine. (4)The amount of power the cyclops needs to move is rather baffling. In the current stage of the game, its but a minor nuisance as far as survival is concerned due to the size of the world. Later when more is added, this should truly be revisited however.
2: Issue: The way the Seamoth is controlled is pretty rough for those using trackball mice. Without the ability to set mouse sensitivity for vehicles separately from regular movement, piloting the Seamoth is a jerky nightmare.
Advice: (1)Add a separate mouse sensitivity slider for the Seamoth. (2)Add an option to lock the player's crosshaires to the center point of Seamoth's cockpit.
3: Issue: The pacing of resource gathering versus hunger/thirst deterioration rates is a tad too fast for players who have supplied bases. Without the ability to collect the resources faster than by hand, survival gameplay ends up being roughly 50% hunting for food/water. While this is absolutely great in the beginning of the game, it becomes a repetitive and limiting burden to the players who have otherwise established themselves. Changing this pacing in the current build of the game will not necessarily benefit gameplay whatsoever without additional content. It is also a tad silly from an immersion standpoint that the player can craft a submarine for their personnel disposal, but is simultaneously limited to gathering resources by hand.
Advice: As added content increases the overall lifespan of survival playthroughs, add craftable devices which allow established players to collect food/water quicker. Simply decreasing the hunger/thirst deterioration rate will fix this issue, but will also change the pacing of the game(likely for the worse). One idea I have is for a device used on the bottom of large subs(the Cyclops), which will harvest nearby Creepvine using suction and fan like blades. Fish traps are also very conceivable. Large submarines could be outfitted with a water purification system. Perhaps there could be a device that draws the nutrients out of the nearby area slowly, like microscopic lifeforms from water, or nutrients from the seafloor, then condenses them into a solid form. Perhaps algae/plant farms like those in space craft? Balancing the effectiveness of these type of automatic systems will likely be required.
General input:
Some people have trouble with sandbox games due to a lack of implied/expressed completable goals for one to achieve. While I personally do not have this problem, nor do I think they ~deserve~ a place in Subnautica, adding events or long-term projects will give people more to do. Assuming the player was a member of the ship's crew, perhaps a terraforming mechanic could be added for the player to work on. Perhaps the terraformer can be used to create land masses/structures for future colonization, which could be recorded by the game by a percentage counter based on a total area. Perhaps the creation/alteration of such structures will aggravate local creatures, who then try to destroy your work, requiring you to defend it. Perhaps a space ship requiring a lot of components, some of which very rare, could be made for an attempted escape? Some of the rarer components could be hidden in trenches and guarded fearsome creatures. Just a few ideas.
Additional customization options for the Cyclops, and naturally more large sub designs would be awesome!
Larger station modules will make them more appealing for practical use. The corridors currently in game don't provide much space for storage to justify use.(The devs are aware of this, no doubt.)
Umbilical cords to provide O2 so that a player can work on relatively stationary tasks for long periods would be convenient and thematic. However with the Seamoth's maneuverability, it isn't a neccesity or priority at all.
It sure would be nice to be able to deal damage with something other than a knife for those who wish to be violent or combat dangerous species. I would suggest a harpoon gun, but considering the technological level of the items used by the player, that would be a tad silly. In the game's current state, there is no need for this though. This could interfere with design choices too; nothing wrong with non-lethal force.
Mining capabilities for underwater stations would be neat.
That's all I've got for now. Feel free to contribute any constructive input you have on this post. As a final note, I'd like to say that working to flesh out the mother-ship is a very reasonably and worthy goal. As mentioned in the news section on steam, it naturally is a huge lure and point of interest to players. You guys are really knocking this game out of the park! Thanks for the great game Unknown Worlds! Good luck with your pursuits!