Late Game Base Building
Vesper117
Join Date: 2019-03-04 Member: 251513Members
Join Date: 2019-03-04 Member: 251513Members
One area I feel Subnautica lacked was late game base building. A late game base can comfortably be a few rooms for tools/storage, power, and a moonpool...which feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe this is because the intention is to use a Cyclops as your main base going forward?
Something I'd love to see in Below Zero is a bigger focus on having a 'home base'. To help focus on this you could have a bigger/better storage solution that allows resources to be pooled and moved automatically, akin to the industrial mods in minecraft. This could be an expensive system, gated behind materials and blueprints (an upgrade to a Fabricator, a piping system, high power cost etc). I like the idea that this system would store materials in a partially fabricated state, blocking access to them without power.
Personally one of the biggest gripes about late game Subnautica is still having to rummage through lockers looking for that one copper ore you know you have, running back to the fabricator and then remembering you also need a wiring kit. Something to alleviate this processes that has to be earned would do wonders for late game play.
Another interesting aspect a home base would allow for is a control room of sorts. A large room with a projected display akin to those seen in a scanner room, only larger. This could maybe be an overview of any existing and powered scanner rooms. Interaction with this map would allow players to focus in on details and potentially search a large area for materials/wrecks. Importantly this map would allow players to 'catch up' on the game if they take an extended break.
I took a few months break from Subnautica and when I returned I'd forgotten where I'd been, where I could go, and where any materials I needed were. In short this made it far harder to pick the game back up than it otherwise would have been.
Something I'd love to see in Below Zero is a bigger focus on having a 'home base'. To help focus on this you could have a bigger/better storage solution that allows resources to be pooled and moved automatically, akin to the industrial mods in minecraft. This could be an expensive system, gated behind materials and blueprints (an upgrade to a Fabricator, a piping system, high power cost etc). I like the idea that this system would store materials in a partially fabricated state, blocking access to them without power.
Personally one of the biggest gripes about late game Subnautica is still having to rummage through lockers looking for that one copper ore you know you have, running back to the fabricator and then remembering you also need a wiring kit. Something to alleviate this processes that has to be earned would do wonders for late game play.
Another interesting aspect a home base would allow for is a control room of sorts. A large room with a projected display akin to those seen in a scanner room, only larger. This could maybe be an overview of any existing and powered scanner rooms. Interaction with this map would allow players to focus in on details and potentially search a large area for materials/wrecks. Importantly this map would allow players to 'catch up' on the game if they take an extended break.
I took a few months break from Subnautica and when I returned I'd forgotten where I'd been, where I could go, and where any materials I needed were. In short this made it far harder to pick the game back up than it otherwise would have been.
Comments
I tend to disagree... there'll always be more convencience requests. Once players got used to one improvement, they'll request the next one.
F.e. if the fabricator can access resources, the habitat builder should be able to access them as well, right? This way, players wouldn't be forced to return to their base to get more supplies. Growbeds could then also be considered lockers with a nice visual representation of their content... which means fabricators should be able to access these 'stored' items as well. And just for convenience, one seed could used to regrow these plants automatically.
I could also imagine a Sea Truck module similar to the aquarium that pulls in nearby resources (like the grav-trap does). This way, players could just pilot the truck across the sea floor to gather resources. You see, endless possibilities!
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That's why I even consider to take a step in the other direction:
Rather than crushing the outcrops to get the resources right away, I'd have players gather only the outcrops (or any other harvesting node / broken item) and then force them to return to their base(s) to further process these materials (in other words: using the same 'mechanic' as with picking up scrap / metal salvage). The conversion ratio could also be different (like 1x titanium + 2x quartz out of every 3x limestone outcrops).
The fabricator could then also require way more time to extract these resources from the outcrops, similar to a filtration machine or bio reactor. This way, players would be obligued to build more fabricators (or resource extractors) to fasten the resource processing. (Using the same idea, studying alien artifacts / lifeforms could also be a time consuming process rather than scanning an item for 2s)
But all in all, there's already the option to switch between different levels of inconvenience (see: creative mode). Maybe it would be better to give the players more options.
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control room:
There's already a control room in Below Zero (creative mode only).
It contains a clock, a weather info panel and panels for hull integrity and energy consumption. It also contains what seems to be a scrollable mini map (doesn't work right now though).
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Personally, I don't like the idea of a fix control room... and even wish the devs would remove the scanner room.
That's because I want to be able to design my rooms freely. And in that regard, a scanner room is strictly inferior to a multipurpose room (MPR). The 3D map could easily be an interior MPR piece, placed at the center of the room (like a bio-reactor or alien compartment). Attached cameras could be wall modifications (like a filtration machine, a vehicle upgrade console, a window or reinforcement). This way, I could decide how many camera attachments I want and where I want them.
And in regard of the control room. All the panels could be separate items, similar to signs or picture frames. That way, I could place them where I want to see the informations they provide.
I agree with your argument about being able to customise rooms more fully, but if it's a choice between a pre-built room for something like a full map vs no map, I'll happily take something pre built.
Your response to the fabricators having access to materials is one hell of a straw man though. I don't mean fabs should magically have access to everything within a base, ideally I'd like people to have to build links between storage and the fabricator (pipes/tubing etc).
I didn't mean to criticize your idea. I just wanted to show that for some - or maybe just me - it isn't all about convenience.
I actually enjoy the opposite if it's an integral part of the game experience... like the survival mode in Fallout 4.
The idea to connect certain lockers might be more difficult to implement than to introduce additional inventory pages, 'shared storages' or a special game mode in which you don't have to store items at all (a bit like the creative mode right now).
I could even imagine a fabricator the size of a nuclear reactor that doesn't use items from your inventory but has its very own internal storage (a bit like the sea moth being a fabricator on its own).