Subnautica Build 39 Released - Subnautica

SystemSystem Join Date: 2013-01-29 Member: 182599Members, Super Administrators, Reinforced - Diamond

imageSubnautica Build 39 Released - Subnautica

Making games really is not that hard when compared to diving 128m down on a single breath. Since number 20, Subnautica builds have had names. This week’s build, 39, is called ‘Molchanov,’...

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Comments

  • HughHugh Cameraman San Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
    Bump to open comment thread
  • PelargirPelargir Join Date: 2013-07-02 Member: 185857Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, NS2 Map Tester, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Forum staff
    Everything is awesome! :D Why my Steam is so slow to download the update, I want to try it out!
  • SquiddapultSquiddapult Canada Join Date: 2014-10-25 Member: 199111Members
    Been keeping up with most of this on Trello, such a great system (even if I do feel like im invading some sort of personal bubble sometimes). Love seeing the WIP animations, Mesmer is turning out to be wicked.
  • ForlornHopeForlornHope Join Date: 2003-08-01 Member: 18675Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Gold
    edited November 2014
    I'm looking forward to playing this more this weekend. I wasn't sure if it was me or limitations of the pre-release but I couldn't seem to do as much as I could in the protoypes. Do more buildables appear in the menu as you discover stuff or is the starting list of buildables the whole list for now?
  • FlayraFlayra Game Director, Unknown Worlds Entertainment San Francisco Join Date: 2002-01-22 Member: 3Super Administrators, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
    Actually ForlornHope, I'm about to make that exact change: new items will show up in the Fabricator menu once you have at least one ingredient that it needs.
  • Classic319Classic319 Join Date: 2010-11-06 Member: 74789Members
    edited November 2014
    I saw Hugh saying that Subnautica will unlikely have Multiplayer. Why not? Except some exceptions like Skyrim, no only-singleplayer game has been that successful. I know you want to make a peaceful lonely exploring singleplayer game, but then you'll definately get less players(i'll of course buy and play it, but would probably gonna quit playing after few hours because of its lonely gameplay). Why don't you then add Co-op, so that several guys cooperate to research things and to interact with environements better? Why not competetive PvP gameplay to gain control of environment to gain what each player wants for himself? It would be really really cool to see Multiplayer on Subnautica on every term. Just like minecraft(not mentioning its sandbox gameplay), people will then interact each other and decide what to do for himself and for all. Cooperation or War. It sounds for me very more interesting than just a singleplayer exploration gameplay and i think those multiplayers would fit to Subnautica's Exploration-Environment-Motto as well.
  • SquiddapultSquiddapult Canada Join Date: 2014-10-25 Member: 199111Members
    Classic319 wrote: »
    I saw Hugh saying that Subnautica will unlikely have Multiplayer. Why not? Except some exceptions like Skyrim, no only-singleplayer game has been that successful.
    Im sorry I stopped reading there... Thats just completely ridiculous.
  • SammeySammey Join Date: 2012-06-14 Member: 153266Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    I saw Hugh saying that

    I stopped reading there!

    Just kidding Hugh I'm sorry
  • Sir_zinoSir_zino England Join Date: 2014-10-09 Member: 198901Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Classic319 wrote: »
    I

    I stoped reading there!......No?

    I'll be going

  • MycroftCanadaNSMycroftCanadaNS Halifax Join Date: 2014-11-01 Member: 199263Members
    Hmmm, does this mean the bleeder has been added in?

    Reason why I ask is I can spawn it in, and all I hear is a ping but the creature isn't there.
  • Squeal_Like_A_PigSqueal_Like_A_Pig Janitor Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 66Members, Super Administrators, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer
    edited November 2014
    Hmmm, does this mean the bleeder has been added in?

    Reason why I ask is I can spawn it in, and all I hear is a ping but the creature isn't there.
    Hmm, not sure why that image was used in the post. I guess maybe because the rig was worked on for the Bleeder, but it hasn't been animated and implemented in game yet.
  • MycroftCanadaNSMycroftCanadaNS Halifax Join Date: 2014-11-01 Member: 199263Members
    edited November 2014
    Hmmm, does this mean the bleeder has been added in?

    Reason why I ask is I can spawn it in, and all I hear is a ping but the creature isn't there.
    Hmm, not sure why that image was used in the post. I guess maybe because the rig was worked on for the Bleeder, but it hasn't been animated and implemented in game yet.

    Hi.

    Okay for some reason this was my fault. I didn't realize they were so small. I just started another game, and entered "spawn bleeder", and it did spawn, I heard the ping, then once I pulled back slightly I finally saw him off in the distance. He is a ugly little guy.

    I have noticed that he doesn't do much at the moment. I spawned fifteen of them in one area, and tried to get them to suck on, but nothing. I also noticed that this little guy doesn't attach itself to other creatures. One more thing what is they natural habitat (outside of being underwater), caves?

    Thanks for the reply. Sorry about false reporting there I thought they would be far bigger.... Cheers!
  • SebSeb Melbourne, AU Join Date: 2013-04-01 Member: 184576Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Retired Community Developer
    Classic319 wrote: »
    I saw Hugh saying that Subnautica will unlikely have Multiplayer. Why not? Except some exceptions like Skyrim, no only-singleplayer game has been that successful. I know you want to make a peaceful lonely exploring singleplayer game, but then you'll definately get less players(i'll of course buy and play it, but would probably gonna quit playing after few hours because of its lonely gameplay). Why don't you then add Co-op, so that several guys cooperate to research things and to interact with environements better? Why not competetive PvP gameplay to gain control of environment to gain what each player wants for himself? It would be really really cool to see Multiplayer on Subnautica on every term. Just like minecraft(not mentioning its sandbox gameplay), people will then interact each other and decide what to do for himself and for all. Cooperation or War. It sounds for me very more interesting than just a singleplayer exploration gameplay and i think those multiplayers would fit to Subnautica's Exploration-Environment-Motto as well.

    While the delivery is a little bit... off, I do agree with him about co-op. The only thing that I have been thinking while watching/playing/hearing about subnautica gameplay is "wouldn't this be the best with co-op". Seriously, as the game develops and we see more of it, the more I want to explore that world with a friend, or 2 friends or 3. I'm sure a lot of people agree with me.
  • HughHugh Cameraman San Francisco, CA Join Date: 2010-04-18 Member: 71444NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Onos, WC 2013 - Shadow, Subnautica Developer, Pistachionauts
    Multiplayer sure is a cool feature. However, a game can't include everything. If multiplayer was to be included, we would have to think about what we would remove from the game. For example, would we remove submarines? Terraforming (ability to manipulate terrain) ? Would we shelve plans to add base-building? Cancel ecosystem work?

    Adding multiplayer support would be huge undertaking that would require us to devote substantial (certainly the majority of) engineering resources for a significant proportion of the game's entire development timeframe. It would probably require the cancellation of not just one, but several other components. Perhaps Subnautica would still be fun without submarines. But would it be fun without submarines, creatures, and terraforming, and more? What would be left behind once multiplayer had finished gobbling up time, money, and talent?

    There are many amazing single player games. There are many amazing multiplayer games. Not every game has to have single player, and not every game needs to have multiplayer. If adding multiplayer means removing much of the experience that makes Subnautica unique, fun, and engaging, then adding multiplayer doesn't seem to be a good decision.
  • MycroftCanadaNSMycroftCanadaNS Halifax Join Date: 2014-11-01 Member: 199263Members
    edited November 2014
    I don't think any one wants this to happen (cancellation of other aspects of the game), but it does stand to reason not to remove the idea entirely from the drafting table. There is much to to be said about finishing the Single Player experience, and make it as solid as it can be made, then approach the multiplayer angle at a later date.

    I'm sure it will take a couple of years ( or maybe not) to get a final, but who says it will stop there?

    Also, I am wondering if you will allow for Mods?

    Reason for my asking this is that modders out there may very well find a way to craft a frontend client or a go between. I have seen this for a couple of games out there that never supported multiplayer, and work pretty well.

    Cheers.
  • NortonNorton Join Date: 2005-01-13 Member: 35264Members
    In my opinion, coop is the ultimate game mode. And for features, its mostly just singleplayer but with 2 seats in the submarines :)
  • DohmanDohman Denmark Join Date: 2014-05-06 Member: 195839Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    There's not enough good singleplayer games in my opinion, and I am glad that we will have one more!
    I support this decision, competitive online games can be fun, but I've always had more fun in singleplayer games.
  • SebSeb Melbourne, AU Join Date: 2013-04-01 Member: 184576Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Retired Community Developer
    Hugh wrote: »
    Multiplayer sure is a cool feature. However, a game can't include everything. If multiplayer was to be included, we would have to think about what we would remove from the game. For example, would we remove submarines? Terraforming (ability to manipulate terrain) ? Would we shelve plans to add base-building? Cancel ecosystem work?

    Adding multiplayer support would be huge undertaking that would require us to devote substantial (certainly the majority of) engineering resources for a significant proportion of the game's entire development timeframe. It would probably require the cancellation of not just one, but several other components. Perhaps Subnautica would still be fun without submarines. But would it be fun without submarines, creatures, and terraforming, and more? What would be left behind once multiplayer had finished gobbling up time, money, and talent?

    There are many amazing single player games. There are many amazing multiplayer games. Not every game has to have single player, and not every game needs to have multiplayer.If adding multiplayer means removing much of the experience that makes Subnautica unique, fun, and engaging, then adding multiplayer doesn't seem to be a good decision.

    Fair enough, you guys are probably already have most of the timeframe of development laid out or something based on the way you are budgeting resources so heavily but still, I wasn't talking about competitive multiplayer, its literally just singleplayer with someone able to drop into your world.

    I would actually like to hear about how it could be done from an engineering standpoint. I really do understand that it would be a significant path that takes resources and would potentially cut other features. To build a framework, a menu, potentially new animations for 3rd person view etc yeah, its a lot of work. However, look at Fable, Saints Row or look at any of the Lego games! Those are purely singleplayer games that give you the option of playing with a friend, its done well, but its not intrusive. Its additive.

    People saying here that there are a lack of singleplayer games you are right, however, co-op doesn't stop that. There is an argument here that there aren't enough good co-op games out there as well.

    I guess what I'm trying to say is that your response makes me slightly disappointed because I don't want to see a game with such potential that comes out half finished with the promise of more features coming after launch.
  • bonagebonage Join Date: 2012-10-13 Member: 162230Members, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    I just want to jump in here quickly - I bought the earliest access edition of subnautica. It's pretty cool, i love the art style and the concept is great. But as I was playing through, all I could think about was how absolutely mind boggling it would be to have just one other person playing coop with me to experience what i was experiencing.

    I've even gone to the extent of playing the game with another earliest access buyer over mumble to experience the game together. But as you can imagine it's not the same as being in the game.

    Don't get me wrong - I am a very big fan of single player games that are strictly single player only. Each of these sp games usually involve an experience that is unique to the player. But the game mechanics in subnautica - exploration, crafting, survival - all of these key design features lend themselves to a shared experience. This is a seriously good looking game, even in this early phase of development - how awesome it would be to share these experiences with just one other person.

    As sebb said above, there are a multitude of games that have done coop over the years correctly in an additive manner. I don't think anyone here is strictly looking for a multiplayer mode - that would be unfeasible. However, in my mind a limited coop mode would not compromise the values of the single player experience that subnautica is trying to achieve. The idea behind such a coop mode would not be to slice and dice the ocean together or a have competitive mode to see who can build the biggest submarine the fastest - it would be a mode to facilitate shared experiences, a means for people to interact and share the joy of playing your game together.

    I can't speak for what is possible in unity and what is possible in terms of coding, but can a peer to peer experience (without dedicated servers) be achieved in the engine, and how much effort would it require?

    Also another idea - if a 2nd diver/human character is not desired from a design point of view - what if as a compromise the 2nd coop player inhabited a mechanical device? like a small robot orb/spectator entity that follows the diver around? In this manner, you could kill two birds with one stone.
  • SteveRockSteveRock Join Date: 2012-10-01 Member: 161215Members, NS2 Developer, Subnautica Developer
    sebb wrote: »
    I guess what I'm trying to say is that your response makes me slightly disappointed because I don't want to see a game with such potential that comes out half finished with the promise of more features coming after launch.

    That's kind of the point to our stance: we're *not* promising multiplayer. If co-op is an essential feature to you, then please do NOT buy the game or recommend it to friends. We've seen other Early Access projects crash and burn, leaving disappointed and rightfully angry paying customers. We don't want to put ourselves - or any customer - in this position.

    Anything's possible in the future, so I'd recommend signing up for our mailing list and/or following the game on Steam. But until multiplayer's actually in there, assume it is not and do not buy.
  • SebSeb Melbourne, AU Join Date: 2013-04-01 Member: 184576Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, WC 2013 - Silver, Retired Community Developer
    SteveRock wrote: »
    sebb wrote: »
    I guess what I'm trying to say is that your response makes me slightly disappointed because I don't want to see a game with such potential that comes out half finished with the promise of more features coming after launch.

    That's kind of the point to our stance: we're *not* promising multiplayer. If co-op is an essential feature to you, then please do NOT buy the game or recommend it to friends. We've seen other Early Access projects crash and burn, leaving disappointed and rightfully angry paying customers. We don't want to put ourselves - or any customer - in this position.

    Anything's possible in the future, so I'd recommend signing up for our mailing list and/or following the game on Steam. But until multiplayer's actually in there, assume it is not and do not buy.
    And that is exactly the stance I am taking. I wouldn't call it an essential feature as I play all types of games, singleplayer and multiplayer, but more of a recognition that Subnautica would (in my opinion) fit with co-op really really well. I understand you are not promising anything, in fact, judging from Hugh's comment the stance is quite the opposite for you guys, seemingly against the idea of adding co-op multiplayer into Subnautica. But thanks for the warning nonetheless.
  • Squeal_Like_A_PigSqueal_Like_A_Pig Janitor Join Date: 2002-01-25 Member: 66Members, Super Administrators, NS1 Playtester, NS2 Developer, Reinforced - Supporter, WC 2013 - Silver, Subnautica Developer
    edited November 2014
    sebb wrote: »
    I understand you are not promising anything, in fact, judging from Hugh's comment the stance is quite the opposite for you guys, seemingly against the idea of adding co-op multiplayer into Subnautica. But thanks for the warning nonetheless.
    Please don't misinterpret what Hugh was getting at with his post. There is no stance against adding co-op multiplayer, far from it. We all would love to add multiplayer, and agree there is a great amount of potential in exploring the world with a friend. And hopefully if things go well, at some point we may get the chance to add it.

    What Steve and Hugh, and I guess me, now, are trying to convey is that there is so much else that is absolutely essential to add to the game, before multiplayer, so we're just trying to be up front that you should not expect it to happen - for release, or possibly at all. Would we be sad if it didn't make it in. Probably a bit. But I can say we'd be happier having a single player game that has a world filled with lots of interesting creatures and plantlife which can be interacted with, in a variety of different fun ways, over an emptier world with not much to do or interact with that you can explore with a friend.
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