Non-lethal defensive options
Kitsudragon
Canada Join Date: 2016-12-15 Member: 224984Members
Canada Join Date: 2016-12-15 Member: 224984Members
I'll just start by saying that I think the "message" about weapons is being incorrectly addressed here. It's been stated that the goal for nonviolent gameplay was as a form of protest for mass shootings in the US and elsewhere. If you're not interested in my commentary, skip down below the break for my suggestions
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Commentary
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Subnautica isn't about sapient people choosing not to use lethal hardware against other sapient creatures. This is about one sapient human being choosing to turn himself into the human equivalent of a Happy Meal for the benefit of the first monster that can fight past the pocketknife. In Nature, survival is the only goal, and the victor is the one who uses whatever natural or unnatural weapons they have at their disposal. To choose to not use a lethal defensive option against a predator creature is no different from walking up to a lion and asking it not to kill you. The lion doesn't care about your personal ethical or political position. All it cares about is that you're tasty, and apparently defenceless.
While I appreciate the position of opposing violence in the world around us, I submit that Subnautica as presented is the wrong environment to make that objection. I'm not saying you need to put in guns and missiles. What I am saying is that the objection would have more merit if you were up against a sapient opponent, and had a real choice to make, instead of what we are presented with. Fundamentally, Subnautica is no different in premise than a person whose plane goes down deep in the African rainforest, with no immediate help. You have literally thousands of creatures large and small who will kill you the moment they get the chance. If you refuse to arm yourself, I already know your chances of making it out safely. Since I doubt anyone reading this would refuse to protect themselves against the worst Mother Nature can throw at us, why would we volunteer to be stripped of our options in a sole-survivor situation on an alien planet?
In any event, the ideas for nonlethal options follows.
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Break
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Given the nonlethal point of view posited in this game, I see three defensive solutions which would make the most sense for a situation where for whatever reason, lethal weaponry of any kind is simply not available - or possibly - not feasible. What I propose are three options which are feasible, given the already-demonstrated technology and capabilities shown in the game.
Option One: Stealth
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As anyone who's seen Monty Python knows, the first way to avoid being hurt is not being seen. As anyone who's seen Monty Python will also know, it's not that simple on first glance. If you're not careful to blend in with the surroundings in a believable way, it doesn't matter how hard you hide behind that shrubbery, they'll still know you're there.
For a high-tech society with the hologram and matter conversion-style technology already displayed, it should be simple enough to modify the exterior hull of any object, be it a ship, a base, or even a wetsuit, to blend in with the surroundings. The degree of the stealth capability would depend presumably on a source of power, and how fast the chameleon projection could update. A suit has to economize on a wide range of things, so the wearer might have to pick and choose what they want. But a chameleon option would allow them to passively swim through a hostile zone without the hostile lifeforms realizing there's anything edible nearby. If they don't perceive the threat, they won't try to eat it.
The danger with such a method is that if they can't see you, they aren't getting out of your way, either. If you don't give them a wide berth, they might physically hit you, at which point the jig is up. However, such a defensive option provides the best method for passive avoidance in the depths. For a suit, it would work best if combined with the generator flippers, providing a renewable power supply for deep-dive situations.
Option Two: Sonics
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Sonics make for a powerful deterrent in the underwater environment. Think of how much a high-pitched sonic shriek hurts if it goes off. Now imagine that in an underwater environment, which can amplify this effect tremendously. Obviously, for survival issues, the sonic weapon couldn't be used while the swimmer was in their wetsuit alone, because they would also be affected. This would likely be a base and vehicle defensive measure. Anything gets too close to the base, the sonics trigger and scare the hostile off. If they get too close to a vehicle, likewise. If the survivor were outside of a vehicle near a base when the sonics were triggered, it would probably hurt them as much as any other aquatic, which would make management of such a defense important. Due to the liquid medium, simply being in the water is enough to trigger the pain response when the sonics activate, which is why simply plugging one's ears would have no effect. The whole body transmits the sonic pulse to the brain simply by being in the water.
Option Three: Remotes
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The answer a lot of people are looking toward at the moment on Earth would be the third method for defending oneself from the hostile creatures in the Alterra biosphere. Simply put, to avoid being eaten, don't be tasty. If the survivor is piloting a remote-controlled vehicle instead of going there in-person, this greatly reduces the interest the various creatures will have for it. Some predators will still be dangerous simply because the unknown object is intruding on their territory. But small predators who attack living creatures will ignore it completely. It doesn't fit their genetically-programmed prey conditions. It's not yummy, and doesn't behave like a prey creature, so it is generally ignored. This would allow the survivor to explore Alterra from the safety of a nearby vehicle, which both protects the otherwise-defenceless human as well as limits their involvement in the aquatic environment.
=====
Commentary
=====
Subnautica isn't about sapient people choosing not to use lethal hardware against other sapient creatures. This is about one sapient human being choosing to turn himself into the human equivalent of a Happy Meal for the benefit of the first monster that can fight past the pocketknife. In Nature, survival is the only goal, and the victor is the one who uses whatever natural or unnatural weapons they have at their disposal. To choose to not use a lethal defensive option against a predator creature is no different from walking up to a lion and asking it not to kill you. The lion doesn't care about your personal ethical or political position. All it cares about is that you're tasty, and apparently defenceless.
While I appreciate the position of opposing violence in the world around us, I submit that Subnautica as presented is the wrong environment to make that objection. I'm not saying you need to put in guns and missiles. What I am saying is that the objection would have more merit if you were up against a sapient opponent, and had a real choice to make, instead of what we are presented with. Fundamentally, Subnautica is no different in premise than a person whose plane goes down deep in the African rainforest, with no immediate help. You have literally thousands of creatures large and small who will kill you the moment they get the chance. If you refuse to arm yourself, I already know your chances of making it out safely. Since I doubt anyone reading this would refuse to protect themselves against the worst Mother Nature can throw at us, why would we volunteer to be stripped of our options in a sole-survivor situation on an alien planet?
In any event, the ideas for nonlethal options follows.
=====
Break
=====
Given the nonlethal point of view posited in this game, I see three defensive solutions which would make the most sense for a situation where for whatever reason, lethal weaponry of any kind is simply not available - or possibly - not feasible. What I propose are three options which are feasible, given the already-demonstrated technology and capabilities shown in the game.
Option One: Stealth
============
As anyone who's seen Monty Python knows, the first way to avoid being hurt is not being seen. As anyone who's seen Monty Python will also know, it's not that simple on first glance. If you're not careful to blend in with the surroundings in a believable way, it doesn't matter how hard you hide behind that shrubbery, they'll still know you're there.
For a high-tech society with the hologram and matter conversion-style technology already displayed, it should be simple enough to modify the exterior hull of any object, be it a ship, a base, or even a wetsuit, to blend in with the surroundings. The degree of the stealth capability would depend presumably on a source of power, and how fast the chameleon projection could update. A suit has to economize on a wide range of things, so the wearer might have to pick and choose what they want. But a chameleon option would allow them to passively swim through a hostile zone without the hostile lifeforms realizing there's anything edible nearby. If they don't perceive the threat, they won't try to eat it.
The danger with such a method is that if they can't see you, they aren't getting out of your way, either. If you don't give them a wide berth, they might physically hit you, at which point the jig is up. However, such a defensive option provides the best method for passive avoidance in the depths. For a suit, it would work best if combined with the generator flippers, providing a renewable power supply for deep-dive situations.
Option Two: Sonics
============
Sonics make for a powerful deterrent in the underwater environment. Think of how much a high-pitched sonic shriek hurts if it goes off. Now imagine that in an underwater environment, which can amplify this effect tremendously. Obviously, for survival issues, the sonic weapon couldn't be used while the swimmer was in their wetsuit alone, because they would also be affected. This would likely be a base and vehicle defensive measure. Anything gets too close to the base, the sonics trigger and scare the hostile off. If they get too close to a vehicle, likewise. If the survivor were outside of a vehicle near a base when the sonics were triggered, it would probably hurt them as much as any other aquatic, which would make management of such a defense important. Due to the liquid medium, simply being in the water is enough to trigger the pain response when the sonics activate, which is why simply plugging one's ears would have no effect. The whole body transmits the sonic pulse to the brain simply by being in the water.
Option Three: Remotes
==============
The answer a lot of people are looking toward at the moment on Earth would be the third method for defending oneself from the hostile creatures in the Alterra biosphere. Simply put, to avoid being eaten, don't be tasty. If the survivor is piloting a remote-controlled vehicle instead of going there in-person, this greatly reduces the interest the various creatures will have for it. Some predators will still be dangerous simply because the unknown object is intruding on their territory. But small predators who attack living creatures will ignore it completely. It doesn't fit their genetically-programmed prey conditions. It's not yummy, and doesn't behave like a prey creature, so it is generally ignored. This would allow the survivor to explore Alterra from the safety of a nearby vehicle, which both protects the otherwise-defenceless human as well as limits their involvement in the aquatic environment.
Comments
More defensive options will break impression the devs want us to have - being frustrated after being eaten alive again!
That doesn't work though: non-violent people/nations are usually the first prey of bad people, because they are the easiest victim
For instance, Bone Sharks are sensitive to light, and will attack anything with a light on it.
So make flash bombs or a bright Strobe light to startle them and scare them off
Stalkers are attracted to shiny things, so use a torpedo loaded with magnesium and titanium dust to create a sparkly dust cloud on the impact area to lure them away from where you need to go.
Sand Sharks have a keen sense of smell, so chum torpedoes made from mashed up peepers would lure a bunch of them away and make them start fighting each other.
I recall Ark:Survival was going to try nets. They gave it up as a bad job, impossible to do well... though I can't actually FIND where I think I read that. Fact remains, though, that moving objects like lines or even TAILS glitch out a LOT in games. Large nets that move realistically and behave more or less correctly would probably murder computers, resulting in yet more people whining about system spec requirements. Like any game that goes from 32 to 64 for fidelity, then people whine because they can't replace their piece of crap because student/poor/mommy-won't-buy.
Oh my yes. How about 2 general modules for both PRAWN and Seamoth? One for Chameleon cloak, one for vibration cloak (gravity handwavium). This provides some tough choices in what you need to bring, because if you use both, you only have 2 slots remaining. But would significantly reduce aggro range for attacks, various fish could weight each one separately, fish with eyes easier to fool with chameleon, deep sea dwellers would require more sonic, and some could need both.
I saw a youtube video, of how to survive a grenade, both in and out of a pool. Shock waves in air are a relatively small deal, with shrapnel being the primary danger. Shock waves in WATER, though, break balloons that survive in air, though shrapnel is less of a danger.
sometimes you need to use violence to oppose those who would use violence if unopposed. and really, i think that's what op is saying.