In-character Hardcore survival log story. What do you all think? (Spoilers)
necmo
California, USA Join Date: 2019-02-03 Member: 250277Members
California, USA Join Date: 2019-02-03 Member: 250277Members
OOC:
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum so first I wanted to say hello.
Subnautica has become one of my favorite games ever and I grew up with some classics like Crono Trigger, Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III, Mario 3, etc.
I have beat Subnautica once on Survival and I encountered a strange death in my 1st hardcore attempt (2nd run ever) so I wanted this attempt to be more personal.
I apologize if this has been done before, but I wanted to write an in-character log of events that I encounter in the game and include my own personal feelings if I might be in this situation and my own theories/speculations.
I have not looked at any other theories posted by the community or devs — this is just me attempting to write something for the first time and using my own thoughts and experiences to formulate it. Any references to anything that has popped up before then it's purely coincidental.
Let know if you'd like to see more or not as this is my first attempt in doing anything like this or writing in general. I just wanted to do something fun and share something with everyone here.
The idea is these are personal log entries into the PDA from the protagonist in-game that you happened upon somewhere in your adventure.
Please let me know what you think and if you have any constructive criticism I'll gladly listen to it.
My goal is to write one per day. Thank you for reading.
Original reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/anz3cr/incharacter_hardcore_survival_log_assistant/
Assistant Botanist Hope Log 1
IC:
Assistant Botanist Hope reporting! It... it all happened so fast.
Standard landing procedure then a massive jolt followed by alarms. The order was given to abandon ship. I — I ran to the closest life pod that I could find. I don't know how many dead crew I passed on the way. Blood curdling screams could be heard echoing in corridors everywhere. Gnarled titanium beams, fried electrical conduits, and fire... fire was everywhere.
I kept running and made it to Life Pod 5 as the ship continued to break apart. I hurriedly managed to secure myself in my seat and was about to jettison the pod when a young lady wearing a red shirt cried, "Wait!" as she ran down the corridor towards my pod.
She must have been part of the engineering team. She...ran. She made it within a few meters of the pod when a titanium support beam broke through the ceiling and...impaled her. I just remember her glazed over eyes, full of pain and terror, staring through my soul just before she went still and... fire broke through the breach on to her body. Bloody hell.
[sounds of suppressed crying]
Should I have tried to help her? I just don't know. I launched and the G forces built as I saw the Aurora explode. Next thing I know, a panel hit me in the face and I awoke to a fire inside the pod. In a frenzy I unlocked myself and managed to extinguish it, but my emergency systems are offline and I have no comms with the Aurora or any survivors.
At least this PDA and the med kit fabrication system works.
I opened the hatch to ventilate the pod to see the Aurora with catastrophic damage to the entire stern half of the ship. Even if we miraculously repaired it, it is extraordinarily unlikely that it could take off.
Damn it, I'm a scientist not an engineer.
I suppose I should make my way towards the Aurora and check for survivors. That's the least I could do — they would do the same for me. I think...
I have a couple flares and a small ration of water and those horrid nutrient blocks, but it's certainly better than nothing. This is not enough for any extended stay as we attempt repairs. Why are there so little provisions? We'll need to think of something.
A side note: I did see strange fauna flying overhead as I opened the hatch. I do hope they are relatively harmless. There are also curious looking flora just below the surface anchored on some rock — I'm obviously in shallow water. If I were here on a scientific survey mission then I would enjoy the chance to study them.
Anyway, I am off to the ship. What choice do I have? Do I give up and yield myself to fate? Or as Yu told me once, "If life knocks you down, you must stand back up."
[Sigh] Who knows what lurks in the water below? Here goes nothing.
One thing worries me... zero life signs.
I... I just hope Yu is alright.
Stay calm... stay calm. Failure is not an option.
[Splash]
[End of log]
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum so first I wanted to say hello.
Subnautica has become one of my favorite games ever and I grew up with some classics like Crono Trigger, Link to the Past, Final Fantasy III, Mario 3, etc.
I have beat Subnautica once on Survival and I encountered a strange death in my 1st hardcore attempt (2nd run ever) so I wanted this attempt to be more personal.
I apologize if this has been done before, but I wanted to write an in-character log of events that I encounter in the game and include my own personal feelings if I might be in this situation and my own theories/speculations.
I have not looked at any other theories posted by the community or devs — this is just me attempting to write something for the first time and using my own thoughts and experiences to formulate it. Any references to anything that has popped up before then it's purely coincidental.
Let know if you'd like to see more or not as this is my first attempt in doing anything like this or writing in general. I just wanted to do something fun and share something with everyone here.
The idea is these are personal log entries into the PDA from the protagonist in-game that you happened upon somewhere in your adventure.
Please let me know what you think and if you have any constructive criticism I'll gladly listen to it.
My goal is to write one per day. Thank you for reading.
Original reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/anz3cr/incharacter_hardcore_survival_log_assistant/
Assistant Botanist Hope Log 1
IC:
Assistant Botanist Hope reporting! It... it all happened so fast.
Standard landing procedure then a massive jolt followed by alarms. The order was given to abandon ship. I — I ran to the closest life pod that I could find. I don't know how many dead crew I passed on the way. Blood curdling screams could be heard echoing in corridors everywhere. Gnarled titanium beams, fried electrical conduits, and fire... fire was everywhere.
I kept running and made it to Life Pod 5 as the ship continued to break apart. I hurriedly managed to secure myself in my seat and was about to jettison the pod when a young lady wearing a red shirt cried, "Wait!" as she ran down the corridor towards my pod.
She must have been part of the engineering team. She...ran. She made it within a few meters of the pod when a titanium support beam broke through the ceiling and...impaled her. I just remember her glazed over eyes, full of pain and terror, staring through my soul just before she went still and... fire broke through the breach on to her body. Bloody hell.
[sounds of suppressed crying]
Should I have tried to help her? I just don't know. I launched and the G forces built as I saw the Aurora explode. Next thing I know, a panel hit me in the face and I awoke to a fire inside the pod. In a frenzy I unlocked myself and managed to extinguish it, but my emergency systems are offline and I have no comms with the Aurora or any survivors.
At least this PDA and the med kit fabrication system works.
I opened the hatch to ventilate the pod to see the Aurora with catastrophic damage to the entire stern half of the ship. Even if we miraculously repaired it, it is extraordinarily unlikely that it could take off.
Damn it, I'm a scientist not an engineer.
I suppose I should make my way towards the Aurora and check for survivors. That's the least I could do — they would do the same for me. I think...
I have a couple flares and a small ration of water and those horrid nutrient blocks, but it's certainly better than nothing. This is not enough for any extended stay as we attempt repairs. Why are there so little provisions? We'll need to think of something.
A side note: I did see strange fauna flying overhead as I opened the hatch. I do hope they are relatively harmless. There are also curious looking flora just below the surface anchored on some rock — I'm obviously in shallow water. If I were here on a scientific survey mission then I would enjoy the chance to study them.
Anyway, I am off to the ship. What choice do I have? Do I give up and yield myself to fate? Or as Yu told me once, "If life knocks you down, you must stand back up."
[Sigh] Who knows what lurks in the water below? Here goes nothing.
One thing worries me... zero life signs.
I... I just hope Yu is alright.
Stay calm... stay calm. Failure is not an option.
[Splash]
[End of log]
Comments
(Original thread https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/aoaj4c/incharacter_hardcore_survival_log_assistant/ )
IC:
Assistant Botanist Hope log 2. It's as I feared. The damage to the stern half of the ship must have ruptured the Aurora's drive core. The entire area surrounding the ship is radiated far beyond acceptable levels! Any crew on board still alive would be dead by now. Not only is this grave news for any survivors in life pods, but the entire ecosystem is now contaminated!
Damn it this can't be happening!
[hollow metallic thump]
[sigh] I did not encounter any survivors on the surface, though I did have a feeling of joy when I saw a structure on the water's surface that turned out to be the end of a curious looking coral tube sticking out of the water.
On the way back, I encountered some kelp-like structures and swam to their base to investigate for life pods. I instead came across a seaglide fragment. I remember seeing the schematics in Alterra's database... I will need one, provided that I can find raw materials to make it. Looks like a scanner is required.
As I sit here on top of my pod, the setting sun is giving way to night. It's a bittersweet sight to see.
Hmm... a hypothesis: There are two moons orbiting this planet, one in very close proximity. This must cause a significant amount of geological activity on this planet due to gravitational forces pulling magma to the surface in multiple directions. It could also explain why there is so much water. Ice caps would be difficult to form under these conditions if the water is constantly being heated like a kettle. This does not bode well for massive land formations, however, if there is active volcanic activity, then small islands are a possibility. That would be ideal for us anyway.
This just occurred to me — if this planet has a history of intense volcanic activity then it must have a wide range of rare metals and minerals concentrated on its crust.
Looks like that seaglide just might be possible after all.
[crunch of a nutrient block and water gulped]
I should observe the area to see if there is anything other than titanium salvage. I also need to figure out what to do about food and water. Eating a fish carcass sounds nauseating, but what choice do I have? I only have one more day of rations left.
[sigh] Though... I — I shudder to think what predators will come out at night.
I... I hope Yu and the others are alright.
Oh, I almost forgot. If anyone finds this PDA, avoid the long, slender predators in the kelp. You'll know it when you see their teeth. Their swimming and hunting pattern reminds me of the extinct Bottlenose Dolphin on Earth. I heard a growl, quickly followed by a loud chomp behind me as I was surfacing and turned to see a fish being devoured. I didn't realize I was such a strong swimmer.
I'm going to need a new survival suit as well.
[End of log]
(Original thread https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/aonhwt/incharacter_hardcore_survival_log_assistant/ )
IC:
Assistant Botanist Hope... log 3. Time is passing painfully slow... Perhaps it's because I am suffering from sleep deficiency. The life pod seat is very uncomfortable.
Anyway, there is now good news, very good news, as well as some bad news.
The good news is the bladderfish, a very intriguing creature, can be utilized to filter out the salt in the water. It also seems to have other applications in the fabricator. Quite versatile if I may say. I will need more to create a decent cache of water for they only yield 6 ounces per fish, but I also need a more sustainable source.
I gathered some docile fish swimming around me to see which is best suited for consumption, both in nutrition and palatability, but I'm not at that point yet... maybe later tonight. The Peeper might be the best bet with their large eyeball. Eyes are notoriously rich in protein and vitamins, but the thought of eating an eye is [gag] ...nauseating. I will save my last nutrient block and one bottle of water in case I find a survivor. They will need it more than me.
The very good news is my hypothesis was correct. I struck copper and according to this PDA my chances have improved to unlikely, but plausible... thanks. With the help of some acidic aquatic mushrooms, I now have a battery for my Scanner as well as an O2 tank, fins, and thanks to Obraxis Prime — a mere survival knife. It seems this planet has ore deposits in various outcroppings... I'm not sure how this works.
Speculation: this planet formed in an extremely mineral rich nebula and ancient volcanoes ejected high concentrations of various metals onto the surface. Over time they cooled and coalesced. I wish that one girl in the red shirt were here... she would have a better theory...
[deep inhale and exhale]
The bad news is acquiring sulfur for my repair tool nearly killed me. An aggressive red fish exploded when I ventured too close. A... curious defense mechanism. How they avoided extinction through natural selection would be worth further study. Thankfully I had a medical kit on hand to mend myself.
Also it appears a highly territorial and very aggressive sand shark has taken up residence almost directly under my life pod... avoid.
At least I can repair my secondary systems and radio.
[sound of fabrication and repairs]
According to the 4546B Environment Scan, there is a bacterial pathogen...
[Increased breathing and self-scan] Normal. Good.
I... I encountered a strange Stalker covered in suspicious green skin lesions earlier when harvesting creepvine seeds. It was too aggressive to attempt a scan. Is it connected? I need to find out... at least I have a knife, but I should gather those seaglide fragments first.
Definitely bad news. Well, perhaps I can contact the Aurora.
[Repairs radio]
Great... there is no rescue coming. What else can go wrong?
[PDA — further degradation of Aurora's drive core will lead to possible quantum detonation]
Great...
[End of log]
(Original thread https://www.reddit.com/r/subnautica/comments/aozyl7/incharacter_hardcore_survival_log_assistant/ )
IC:
I am feeling melancholy and my hope is starting to falter.
[slight chuckle] It's not really living up to my family name, is it?
Why am I here? Why did I take this assignment? Why did Alterra send us here? Like every single facet of our lives, it was supposed to be profitable. All I can say is this is definitely not worth it. Is seeing the universe as one unfathomably large potential corporate profit really the best approach to life? Look where it has landed us, literally.
I find myself thinking of the works by the ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle — what is happiness and how does one achieve it?
[scoff] I'm going to have a nice, long chat with the brass if I ever get off this planet. They'll probably offer compensation, if not incarceration or worse.
Thankfully, the ocean provides a bounty of provisions that should sustain me. The gelatinous, runny texture of the Peeper eye was... problematic, but at least my stomach is satiated. It will take some definite transitioning from synthesized food. The water situation is looking better. Combining dense salt deposits found on the ocean floor and samples taken from the numerous coral tubes in the shallows yields a significant return of disinfected water. At least that problem is mostly solved.
Side note: Avoid the Mesmers. I found myself acting against my will and swam towards it as a PDA-like voice beckoned me to draw near. I somehow managed to break free of its influence with a degree of difficulty when I realized it was not this PDA speaking to me. A very terrifying and yet very fascinating evolutionary trait. They must be highly intelligent in their own right to have that ability. Could they be the next dominant life form on this planet, or an ever greater speculation, could they be controlling all life right now? Are humans an exception to this since we did not evolve here?
Anyway, I scoured the ocean floor to gather provisions, as well as fragments and materials necessary to construct my seaglide, which I must say is very handy, I found myself asking more questions.
Why am I here? Why did I volunteer for this mission? What...purpose do I have...? Is anyone else alive? Are they hurt? Are they infected?
Regarding the bacteria: I came across a Shuttlebug that also displayed symptoms of advanced infection. Scans indicated what I suspected — an infection that causes heightened aggression and unknown complications. I assume that the heightened aggression is caused by changes to the subject's brain neural network either by increased pituitary gland activity, destruction or alteration of brain tissue, or it could simply be a response to increased pain and discomfort caused by the skin blistering.
One thing I do know, it has to be treated as contagious. I don't need a scan to tell me that. Bodily waste and fluids transmitted by an infected host and/or being consumed by a predator who repeats the process will surely make this bacteria widespread.
Plus, who knows how long this pathogen has been present? Why are some organisms displaying visible signs of infection, but others are not? How many stages are there? Is it fatal? How has the entire ecosystem not collapsed, if so? Is there any cure or a way to inhibit its progression? What is the source?
So many questions. At least I didn't need to scan that infected Stalker.
Observation: I came across an interesting organism called a Brain Coral that expels oxygen at a tremendous rate. Are they the primary source of it on this planet? They are definitely a potential life saver when underwater and short on air.
If they absorb the infection underwater, then the air is likely to be contaminated as well if the pathogen has evolved to survive in the air. This would contradict what the scanner suggests, that it is only waterborne. More research is required.
[sigh] Further contact with it is inevitable, I suppose. I need to accept that and concentrate on the here and now. That's what Yu would say if she were here.
Oh well, at least the Blue Palms are aesthetically pleasing. I took a sample.
[Quantum detonation will occur in 2 hours]
Shit! I cannot get to the ship without being fatally irradiated! Anyone on board or in close proximity without proper protection would be dead. Even if they were protected from the radiation the explosion will surely make quick work of them!
WHAT DO I DO?! WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!
[End of log]