Kid mode - Free play mode for young kids
Racer1
Join Date: 2002-11-22 Member: 9615Members
Join Date: 2002-11-22 Member: 9615Members
I'd like to see a free play mode that even 2 year old kids could play. No oxygen limits, enough tech to have fun, monsters that are "annoying" at worst (no death). Still, there needs to be interaction with the world, allowing limited experimentation. Also, it would be nice if the game could somehow limit use of the game menu and other "adult" stuff while in this mode.
For bonus points, maybe even add a few mini-games. For example, the outlines of 4 fish would show up at the top of the screen and the player would have to go around and collect each of those species fish. Once that happens, the game would play happy music and maybe show fireworks or something.
This could really open up the game to a new market, without much extra effort.
For bonus points, maybe even add a few mini-games. For example, the outlines of 4 fish would show up at the top of the screen and the player would have to go around and collect each of those species fish. Once that happens, the game would play happy music and maybe show fireworks or something.
This could really open up the game to a new market, without much extra effort.
Comments
I suppose having a level where the creatures behavior could be trimmed back a bit meaning no violence between the different species, and no violence against the player. More like a free build mode sort of deal where younger folks can play without the shock.
I don't see anything wrong with that request, makes sense in a way since this game is about exploration.... Just have a exploration tab on the main menu, and let them roam, explore, and build things.
I'm all for it.
So i wouldn't mind if this was in the game at all.
Not sure about 2 years old though, seems a waste to use Subnautica as a virtual fishtank - sounds like it would be more appropriate to say 5+
If Subnautica does have "educational mode" would also love to have editor to create and share more realistic biomes (Sargasso Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Molokini crater)
@Nairit I too was hoping some eduactional stuff would be added at some point. But that is admittedly much to ask from a team that has a tight budget and huge existing goals that will already be hard to attain.
For example even at 4 my son would find Subnautica boring, unlike some more kid oriented underwater themed games
As for education, hard to be certain but it seems the game will be educational as it is - just not toddler. More like for when kid is ready to discuss things like habitat, behavoral patterns, ecology, sustainability, scientific methods, field research, etc. Expect around 8 might be earlier
Kids probably see much more gore and blood on National Geographic, I doubt a game like Subnautica would do much other than spark an interest in diving.
I do like the proposed minigame though. It just needs to be weaved in the games theme a bit more to make it feel less added on. You are a scientist and part of your mission is to study the environment. So why not create explicit "quests" based on that? Like:
Discover a species by swimming close for a while. Grab fish, release somewhere else, see what it does. Craft camera. Take photos of species. Craft lab equipment. Take DNA sample of species. Analyse DNA (might require additional materials like solvents or batteries). Craft fishtank. Catch fish. Put in fishtank. Feed? Breed?
You can have the same basic quest chain for every fish in the game. They can be progressed in parallel. For the bigger fish you'd modify the grab&release quest to a lure quest or something. IMO there is plenty of opportunity for these kinds of quest in the game.
I know that some people detest quests. Probably because quest interfere with their creative freedom. But I'm sure lots of people prefer a little bit of guidance and perceived purpose. I'd like to compare it with LEGO. You can follow the instruction if you want. As you become more skilled you can also just ignore the instructions and do your own thing.
The real issue with quests is rewards and gating. Remove both and you have a system where completing quests is entirely optional and voluntary. Yet it gives guidance to those in need.
What do you guys think? Use agree/disagree buttons to let me know!
I'd like to make Subnautica intrinsically rewarding - it's fun and worth spending your time on for it's own sake, not because a game designer wants me to feel some sort of fake-progress. I've never liked CRPGs though (but I LOVE paper RPGs as they are player-driven).
My next project was very much about making the game and a free simple mode for kids
Turning blood off would be easy. Lifeforms be made undestructable to avoid dissection.
Being eaten by predators might be too shocking for age under 6, adults like would love the experience. Predator agrression and behaviour could be moddable.
So how much programming effort would be wasted?
I really like having the game explicitly acknowledge when I've noticed something new though. The camera in beyond good and evil was great for this. I'd see something cool, take a picture of it, and then the game would tell me what I'd found and add it to the database.
I'd prefer it if I didn't know the name of a fish, until I had photographed and caught one. Then I had to catalogue it. This would bring up all basic data.
Taking a DNA sample would then give me advanced data on the lifeform.
--edit--
Maybe they'd also contain general species data that would only be gained after examining X number of a certain species.
--edit2--
Combine Flash Light, Battery, scrap metal and carbon to make a camera, that is required for cataloguing.
edit:
You can even add this suggested camera catalog thing onto it... just let the dolphin screech(like ecco does in the video at times) at other creatures to "take a picture" and at the creature to the catalog.
I don't know if kids need to play a dolphin or if this makes sense in subnautica, but some things in the movie would be good for the game:
- dolphinlike lifeforms that could act as helping companions, including attaching to companions to carry you, or defending you
- sonar weapons, tools and predators (sonar is unbloody and kid-friendly)
- sonar hit effects (if you are hit, sight gets blurred and control axes get switched to simulate disorientation)
- the ability for high speed jumps from underwater out of water (like dolphins are capable)
I also like the idea of a ecosystem database, where you gather data of a lifeform. Taking photos or dna of a fish, samples of a plant, or dig and uncover a fossil, extracting possible dna to revive an extinct species. So you could play hunting and searching for rare species. Maybe trade the collected items with others if rare enough.