Returning from a year in the abyss with a question

SpacedInvader

I bought this game a year ago and played it avidly for a few weeks, but decided to take a step back because I didn't want to burn out on the game and/or burn through all its content before it was even close to finished. Since then I've quietly watched developments on the trello, waiting for at least the story content to be fleshed out, if not the final release of the game. Unfortunately, as seems to be the case with EA / continuing development games, the completion date keeps getting moved back and my wait becomes more and more elongated. This isn't meant as a criticism of life UWO, as ice always felt it's better to release a completed game late than a half finished game on time, but it does mean that as time goes on, I'm starting to question whether it's worth continuing to wait for completion or if I should just come back and play the game in blocks as they are released... and therein lies my question.

I've noticed in a couple of the more recent updates that they seem to be structured in a way that is conducive to playing through the updates rather than forcing you to go back and play through from the beginning to get the story content. Is this true, and if so, is now a decent time to come back and play the game, or should I confine my self imposed exile until the story update or even release for fear of ruining my game content experience?

Thanks

0x6A7232

Wait until the next update, then start playing. At that point, I *think* most of the story should be in, and they'll be focusing on quality of life improvements / optimization.

Yeah, you can continue your saves, if it doesn't work quite right, just delete the CompiledOctreesCache and CellsCache folders (aka clear your cache) in your SavedGames\slot00xx folder, and that will force a regen of the latest terrain and resources (your stuff will stay intact, however).

Roadmap (columns are releases): https://trello.com/b/KbugnSRJ/subnautica-roadmap

SpacedInvader

0x6A7232 wrote: »

Wait until the next update, then start playing. At that point, I *think* most of the story should be in, and they'll be focusing on quality of life improvements / optimization.

Yeah, you can continue your saves, if it doesn't work quite right, just delete the CompiledOctreesCache and CellsCache folders (aka clear your cache) in your SavedGames\slot00xx folder, and that will force a regen of the latest terrain and resources (your stuff will stay intact, however).

Roadmap (columns are releases): https://trello.com/b/KbugnSRJ/subnautica-roadmap

OK, thanks for the input, I'll hold off a little longer.

SpacedInvader

Bumping this back to the top rather than writing a whole new thread:

So its almost been two months and I've noticed that there is no longer a "story" update scheduled in the Trello. I'm curious if most (if not all) of the discoverable story content has been implemented now (minus the "blast off sequence" which I'm guessing is the ultimate end-game) and if its a good time to return and begin a new playthrough of the game?

Thanks again.

jeod

How long has it been since you left?

SpacedInvader

jeod wrote: »

How long has it been since you left?

I last really played in Feb 2016, so its been a while. Like I said in the op, I set it aside because I didn't want to burn out on the game before it was feature complete and then not have the energy / desire to play it when it was ready.

scifiwriterguy

As far as I know, most of the story is in place, but I don't think the finale is in yet. That said, I don't think you'll even recognize the game anymore; a lot has changed since last February.

SpacedInvader

scifiwriterguy wrote: »

As far as I know, most of the story is in place, but I don't think the finale is in yet. That said, I don't think you'll even recognize the game anymore; a lot has changed since last February.

Oh, I've kept up with the changes by reading the update notes, but I've intentionally avoided reading much more than the outline so there is still stuff to explore. For example, I know there is quite a bit fleshed out about the human bases already on the planet, but I've not seen any detail at all about who / what / when / etc. it involves. That said, I'm really just looking to see if I were to start a game today, is it likely that I'd have close to the feature-complete experience that we'll be getting on launch, or are we still quite a ways from that and as such, I'd find myself needing to replay lots of content because there are still large changes coming down the pike. If that makes any sense?

scifiwriterguy

Makes perfect sense.

The last few changes have been previous-save friendly, so while the V1.0 release has been pushed back to fall, you'll probably have a fairly complete experience. They'll be adding and finishing off the plot over the next few months, but by my estimation (which is just a personal opinion, mind) you won't be putting yourself at a disadvantage starting a new game now.

Higuide

meh just burn it out, better off literally immersing yourself into the game rather dividing your attention, leaving it be until they make a more stable build (then they add more stuff), or which ever comes first. even if they did make you start over its not very difficult to hoard materials and find blueprints. even i tolerated the slideshow of X1 version, worth a go at this point. i gladly would come back to it if they made updates to polish or add stability. thats just the x1, tripple those reasons if its the pc version (if only i cared).