Further interaction with the environment
trisdino
Denmark Join Date: 2012-09-16 Member: 159590Members
Denmark Join Date: 2012-09-16 Member: 159590Members
Subnautica is turning out to be a really nice, and especially beautiful game. I love many of the new additions, and must admit that while I was skeptical at first, the level of quality at display here is quite astounding. However, I do feel that the focus has thus far been slightly off center. More specifically, I feel like a lot of attention has been poured into smaller things like base building and vehicles, while the world itself has been mostly neglected. Obviously new biomes have been added, which is great, and the grand reef in particular looks fantastic, but at the moment, this sea in which the entire game takes place is, to use a well known metaphor, only as deep as a puddle. There are no ecosystem dynamics, no inter-species conflict, and predation only occurs because of scripted interactions between certain animals, with no actual bearing on things like hunger, reproduction, or territory. At this point, while the game is very pretty to look at, there is still not that much to do, for the simple reason that the world itself is rather boring. Now, I am fully aware that it is early, and that not all the features are implemented, but that is precisely why I am bringing it up at this point. I think it is important that we, or rather, the developers have a general idea of what sort of scope they are going for as goes the environment as early as possible. Here are some of my suggestions and ideas, which I personally think could enrich the game.
Hunting and extinction: In a survival situation, which is exactly what subnautica is, hunting is an obvious source of food and resources. There are plenty of "fish" swimming around, some of them harmless, some less so, but all of which could provide some sort of resource. Now, I am aware that already now we can just pick up small "fish", but that hardly counts as hunting, and is probably a placeholder. What I would like to see is both an incentive to hunt larger creatures, and a series of mechanics and features centered around it, such as nets and harpoons. The second part of this that I would love to see is the ability for species to go extinct, as I will touch on in the next segment, I think Subnautica has huge potential to spread awareness as goes real life conservation issues, in a completely indirect way. By allowing players to overexploit their environment, and making species extinction a possibility, Subnautica could simultaneously add a whole new layer of difficulty and depth, while making players think about the current plight of overfishing.
Habitat destruction and pollution: This one ties in nicely with the previous one. Subnautica has a wide variety of biomes, representing a huge diversity of habitats. I would love to see players be able to destroy them, both by intent and accident. For instance, if a cyclops crashes into a reef, I think that should create a large crater, and if said impact destroys the vehicle, the wreckage could spill toxic waste, which would pollute the surrounding reefs. Likewise, perhaps players could drill for oil or other resources in the seabed, by placing large rigs on the ocean floor. These could give access to a whole new suite of valuable materials, but would also run the risk of leaking our causing spills, resulting in yet more pollution.
Predation and hunger: While Subnautica is of course not a simulator, adding elements of realism like this would still add authenticity and immersion. Predators could hunt other species, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, and sometimes getting killed in the process. They would do this for the simple reason that they need food, and if an individual fails too many hunts, and does not eat enough, it will starve. On a larger scale, if players cause a predator's prey species to go extinct, this could cause the predators to starve, and themselves die out. This has happened in real life, such as with the Haast's eagle of New Zealand, which starved to extinction after humans wiped out the Moa.
Hunting and extinction: In a survival situation, which is exactly what subnautica is, hunting is an obvious source of food and resources. There are plenty of "fish" swimming around, some of them harmless, some less so, but all of which could provide some sort of resource. Now, I am aware that already now we can just pick up small "fish", but that hardly counts as hunting, and is probably a placeholder. What I would like to see is both an incentive to hunt larger creatures, and a series of mechanics and features centered around it, such as nets and harpoons. The second part of this that I would love to see is the ability for species to go extinct, as I will touch on in the next segment, I think Subnautica has huge potential to spread awareness as goes real life conservation issues, in a completely indirect way. By allowing players to overexploit their environment, and making species extinction a possibility, Subnautica could simultaneously add a whole new layer of difficulty and depth, while making players think about the current plight of overfishing.
Habitat destruction and pollution: This one ties in nicely with the previous one. Subnautica has a wide variety of biomes, representing a huge diversity of habitats. I would love to see players be able to destroy them, both by intent and accident. For instance, if a cyclops crashes into a reef, I think that should create a large crater, and if said impact destroys the vehicle, the wreckage could spill toxic waste, which would pollute the surrounding reefs. Likewise, perhaps players could drill for oil or other resources in the seabed, by placing large rigs on the ocean floor. These could give access to a whole new suite of valuable materials, but would also run the risk of leaking our causing spills, resulting in yet more pollution.
Predation and hunger: While Subnautica is of course not a simulator, adding elements of realism like this would still add authenticity and immersion. Predators could hunt other species, sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing, and sometimes getting killed in the process. They would do this for the simple reason that they need food, and if an individual fails too many hunts, and does not eat enough, it will starve. On a larger scale, if players cause a predator's prey species to go extinct, this could cause the predators to starve, and themselves die out. This has happened in real life, such as with the Haast's eagle of New Zealand, which starved to extinction after humans wiped out the Moa.
Comments
By the by: when it comes to hunting I am imagining a reaper leviathan heading into another biome to prey on smaller creatures or perhaps a new (herbivoric) leviathan? I do think leviathans should regularly "spawn", or rather migrate into biomes near us. Not saying the current leviathan will be pleased with that if it's still alive.
This is everything I can come up with right now, might return to this thread later~