Mr. Jasmann raised an interesting point regarding tidal power systems as an in-game feature, but they do take up a lot of space and pose a hazard to navigation.
There are ways to work around this. One system called 'Salter's Ducks' is basically rows of linked, floating platforms that generate electricity when moved by wave action.
Another undersea power generator is called OTEC. This takes the form of a large, vertical tubular structure, usually moored in deep water. Uses the temperature differential between shallow water and deep water to boil ammonia (or a similar working fluid) in a closed circuit, which drives an internal turbine that generates electricity.
An OTEC platform would be ideal for powering future developments in Subnautica. It has a relatively small surface footprint, and could be used as the core of a deep-water research outpost. Might have to bend the science a little to transfer power to various installations without dragging cables all over the sea-floor, though. Sounds like a good opportunity to throw in a bit of Tesla tech, specifically wireless microwave power transmission. Attach masts and receiver dishes to all sub-surface installations... Problem solved! Might be a good idea to put warning strobes on the masts too, just in case.
Moon Pool
A Moon Pool is a feature used in undersea structures (and some surface vessels) that permits divers and submersibles to enter the water directly without passing through an airlock. ( Just like Deepcore's submarine bay in 'The Abyss') Atmospheric pressure inside an undersea base would have to be greater than the external water pressure for this system to work. Unfortunately, any significant decrease in pressure would flood the base almost instantly, killing the occupant. There is some benefit in being able to dock the Seamoth inside player bases using a moon pool, but it could also be a liability. Hostile marine life would also be able to enter the base, unless the moon pool has been equipped with armoured doors.
About moonpole, I must agree with you, but it's I don't think we really using it at very big depth, until they add the pressure sytem (if they did so...).
Selkirk's log entries more or less mirrored how I felt at the time. The story practically wrote itself.
Playing Subnautica reminds me of my early scuba diving days, and I can easily relate to some of the sensations that the survivor might be experiencing.
(Apart from being hurled out of a crippled starship in an escape pod, of course!)
Also, I figured the story could be read as a roundabout way to draw attention to some possible changes that could be made to the actual game.
It's still a bit rough around the edges, but that's also an important part of the experience.
I've always been a fan of undersea exploration, submarine warfare, construction and survival games, so Subnautica is exactly the sort of game that I've been waiting for.
Reckon it's going to be fun to stick around and watch it evolve.
Sorenp has raised a valid point about the need for a larger-scale water purification system.
His idea of using a reverse-osmosis filtration unit is a perfectly sound method for the current Subnautica survival scenario.
An RO plant could be fabricated out of the following materials: 2 x Titanium, 2 x Glass, Computer Chip, Advanced Wiring Kit.
The finished plant could be built as a dispenser mounted on an internal wall/bulkhead of the Cyclops or undersea base, and would require the following consumable
items in order to remain in operation: 2 x Silicone (for the RO membrane cartridges) and a Power Cell.
For the purposes of game mechanics, a freshly-loaded RO plant could produce 10 to 15 units of pure water before the RO membranes and power cell are fully depleted.
Of course, the existing water purification method would have to be retained as an emergency backup, should the player be unable to find sufficient raw materials to replenish the RO unit.
I had an idea totally out of the blue. I'm a rpg player, so I love stories and stats (like bugzapper wrote), but I fall in love with games where we can build things thanks to our environment.
All that say, and since there is health, oxygen, and food (and hopefully a rest mechanic), why not some skills that can be leveled up by using it (like in skyrim, even if this game bore me a lot...). I think about :
body skills : swimming, strenght,
endurance skills : better hunger/rest/oxygen/temperature "managment" (sorry don't have the right words in english),
technical skills : reparing, uses of machines and vehicles, understanding what we see (and don't use an alien panel (if there) like we sleep), foound a fauna/flora farm (and not construct something and planting some seeds)
mind skills : studies of the planet, make an escape plan (how to do it, made a beacon on the planet, a satellite, don't want to ? etc), be warned by our actions (if so) on environments and their consequences, petting fauna, draw a (very rough) "mental map) of where we already go (and fading slowly at a pace if we don't go often to an area)
These are rought ideas and are just thrown for the sake of brain storming and new ways to play. The game as it is is good for an alpha (or beta ? never know the state ^^) and the devs for now take a good path, but brain storming is not a bad thing (except perhaps for our neurons)
Okay, I don't know much about your game yet, but I was wondering why not focus on the surface as well as the seafloor. Maybe make an option to place a base on the surface, utilizing the floaters as a technology. I saw the floating island and wondered if we could have a mechanized version of that. Maybe with the same technology as the sea bases, with farms and submarine docks (at least that is what is suggested in the comments). It doesn't necessarily have to be a build your own, like the sea bases, but there could be a a main hub, with several optional modules along the edge. You could even enable it to move, or to connect to your undersea base anyway, with an undersea elevator. You could also design a "skimmer", a unique ship that would be far faster than a seamoth, but could not dive at all, or only up to a few meters. It could use hoverfish in its construction. It would be a scouting vessel, as I noticed that exploration in the game requires sufficient planning, or being forced to use a relatively slow cyclops. You could also use it to get from base to base much faster. I know your game is focused on going deeper and deeper into the sea, but I would find this option enjoyable
If the weather is like the ones in caraibes or polynesia (and if they implement "physical" wind), we will have big storms, I don't think it's a good idea to build a base on surface, just some structures that will provide infos (and a land panel for my aircraft ) The seabed is much more safier (even with hungry currents) than the surface, IMO.
I can see why this idea might fail, especially if they implement weather. It would require constant care in storms, and I can see why people would dislike the maintenance required. I stated this just as an option. I saw people playing the alpha and beta and simply thought up the idea. I do think that a surface structure would break up the gameplay and provide new challenges. Maybe instead of defending yourself from fish you defend yourself from avian predators. i also stand by my idea to use the native wildlife in order to develop new technologies, using the native flora and fauna to develop new technology. Thank you for your criticism, however, I actually didn't consider weather playing into base building. Thank you:)
I can see why this idea might fail, especially if they implement weather. It would require constant care in storms, and I can see why people would dislike the maintenance required. I stated this just as an option. I saw people playing the alpha and beta and simply thought up the idea. I do think that a surface structure would break up the gameplay and provide new challenges. Maybe instead of defending yourself from fish you defend yourself from avian predators. i also stand by my idea to use the native wildlife in order to develop new technologies, using the native flora and fauna to develop new technology. Thank you for your criticism, however, I actually didn't consider weather playing into base building. Thank you:)
What if a bad weather season was like a kind of instanced game zone where you could go for like a super hard core challenge?
Personally I love the idea of weather changing the behaviour of predators and prey alike. Think of it!
You get through a bad storm and all the large predators get moved or beached and then the peeper population or whatever explodes in a big bad way and suddenly the passive and cool peepers are a swarm and are dangerous! They go all feeding frenzy and attack everything.
Maybe they go into mating mode and fill the water with their....fluids and it becomes toxic to swim in without protection from a special suit or sub.
Just a thought. I do see your reservations though, all this above stuff would be an absolute bitch to code properly.
Okay, I don't know much about your game yet, but I was wondering why not focus on the surface as well as the seafloor. Maybe make an option to place a base on the surface, utilizing the floaters as a technology. I saw the floating island and wondered if we could have a mechanized version of that. Maybe with the same technology as the sea bases, with farms and submarine docks (at least that is what is suggested in the comments). It doesn't necessarily have to be a build your own, like the sea bases, but there could be a a main hub, with several optional modules along the edge. You could even enable it to move, or to connect to your undersea base anyway, with an undersea elevator. You could also design a "skimmer", a unique ship that would be far faster than a seamoth, but could not dive at all, or only up to a few meters. It could use hoverfish in its construction. It would be a scouting vessel, as I noticed that exploration in the game requires sufficient planning, or being forced to use a relatively slow cyclops. You could also use it to get from base to base much faster. I know your game is focused on going deeper and deeper into the sea, but I would find this option enjoyable
I think I should have a title of "police officer of subanautica forums" LOL considering how often I explain things to new comers
Its simple:
the game is basically about water
They dont want to spend extra time on surface mechanics too much (there are already islands BTW)
I personally don't want time spent on a lot of surface things because the deep ocean areas are simply far more interesting to me
cheers
Okay, I don't know much about your game yet, but I was wondering why not focus on the surface as well as the seafloor. Maybe make an option to place a base on the surface, utilizing the floaters as a technology. I saw the floating island and wondered if we could have a mechanized version of that. Maybe with the same technology as the sea bases, with farms and submarine docks (at least that is what is suggested in the comments). It doesn't necessarily have to be a build your own, like the sea bases, but there could be a a main hub, with several optional modules along the edge. You could even enable it to move, or to connect to your undersea base anyway, with an undersea elevator. You could also design a "skimmer", a unique ship that would be far faster than a seamoth, but could not dive at all, or only up to a few meters. It could use hoverfish in its construction. It would be a scouting vessel, as I noticed that exploration in the game requires sufficient planning, or being forced to use a relatively slow cyclops. You could also use it to get from base to base much faster. I know your game is focused on going deeper and deeper into the sea, but I would find this option enjoyable
I think I should have a title of "police officer of subanautica forums" LOL considering how often I explain things to new comers
Its simple:
the game is basically about water
They dont want to spend extra time on surface mechanics too much (there are already islands BTW)
I personally don't want time spent on a lot of surface things because the deep ocean areas are simply far more interesting to me
cheers
Dont those same mechanics translate to interiors of subs and bases as well? Those are pretty much all ironed out too, not like a few weeks ago when the base corridor sections were all buggy and you would sink through them.
Myself Id rather have a ridable animal than a skimmer craft. But thats not for everyone.
Well, it wouldnt make sense to have a base use pressure mechanics on the surface now would it... There is always SOME difference in creating something that IS different
Well, it wouldnt make sense to have a base use pressure mechanics on the surface now would it... There is always SOME difference in creating something that IS different
I agree completely. Having a pressure mechanic would be absolutely sweet, make use of different gases and have to have bases at specific levels you have to stay in to normalize the gases in the blood. Oh hell yeah, Id love that.
I think surface structures are essentials for some basic infos like meteo (if they implement it of course, as well as current, pressure, and others essential mechanics)(it seems that I contrary myself, but no, it's just a matter of what againts what mechanis). Even if we really don't use them, in the end it serves a purpose of surviving in an unknown environment, and especially if we want to laucnh a rocket for a satellite or space beacon.
Exploring the sea is essential in this game, but since we have access to very high technology from the beginning, wether they limit the amount of ressources (wich is the case at the moment, but it's more beaucause of the state of the game), wether they make technology very hard to obtain, or wether they make certain specific techs unusable on the planet (like radio, which can be easily disrupt in certain condition).
All that must be in accordance with the kind of wolrd they make, and I think they must focus on mechanics like weather rather than add a new zone that serve, for the moment, nothing.
This idea is straight out of Irwin Allen's 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.
A flying submarine would be an ideal vehicle for aerial reconnaissance of undersea terrain. Currently, exploration involves plodding through the ocean in a Cyclops, each sweep covering a very narrow corridor of visibility. The Seamoth is more useful for covering large distances, although without an accurate and meaningful navigation waypoint system, this can be a very frustrating exercise. At the moment, I have marked out the four cardinal points of the compass, plus a few beacons assigned to interesting locations. The extreme N,S,E,W points also mark where the temperature drops to 0.0 degrees. (That's a pretty serious thermocline you've got there). Even so, the number of beacons flashing away is visually chaotic, and doesn't actually provide that much useful information. A HUD 'pipper' showing the distance to each beacon would be a HUGE improvement to gameplay.
Back to the Flying Sub. Let's call it a 'Manta', out of respect for an extinct sea critter that used to live on Earth-That-Was.
The Manta is a larger, flight-capable version of the Seamoth. It also has a built-in defensive weapon (Stasis Rifles) a standard cargo locker and an automated mapping system. Ideally, the Manta could also be capable of dropping sonar buoys and beacon markers from a 'bomb bay' while hovering. The Manta would require a special landing-pad and a recharging station, as it would be too large to dock with the Cyclops, unless a dorsal (top-mounted) docking collar could be retro-fitted to the Cyclops.
Sonar Buoys
If you're living inside a relatively fragile tin can, it's probably a good idea to have advance warning of any large sealife that may be wandering too close to your installation(s).
To this purpose, I suggest laying a perimeter of sonar buoys that will identify any large or potentially hostile lifeforms so that an appropriate course of action may be taken. The buoys could be either built on-site with the hand-held Constructor tool, or built onboard the Cyclops and loaded into the Manta's storage locker for later deployment.
Mako Fighter Sub
Sooner or later, the Survivor will encounter some of Subnautica's heavy hitters... However, the heavily-armoured Mako's primary function should be to incapacitate and/or repel rather than kill, otherwise the surrounding ocean would be turned into a lifeless, bloody chum-bucket in the twinkling of a Eyefish's eye. The Mako cannot dock with the Cyclops, requiring a dedicated landing pad and recharge station, powered by a separate generator. Internally, the Mako would have a similar sensor suite to the Manta flying sub, as well as an onboard storage locker. To make gameplay a little more balanced, the Mako and Manta subs should be extremely expensive and complex to build.
Suggested operational depth rating for Manta and Mako: 1000 metres. Crush depth: 1500 metres.
This idea is straight out of Irwin Allen's 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.
A flying submarine would be an ideal vehicle for aerial reconnaissance of undersea terrain. Currently, exploration involves plodding through the ocean in a Cyclops, each sweep covering a very narrow corridor of visibility. The Seamoth is more useful for covering large distances, although without an accurate and meaningful navigation waypoint system, this can be a very frustrating exercise. At the moment, I have marked out the four cardinal points of the compass, plus a few beacons assigned to interesting locations. The extreme N,S,E,W points also mark where the temperature drops to 0.0 degrees. (That's a pretty serious thermocline you've got there). Even so, the number of beacons flashing away is visually chaotic, and doesn't actually provide that much useful information. A HUD 'pipper' showing the distance to each beacon would be a HUGE improvement to gameplay.
Back to the Flying Sub. Let's call it a 'Manta', out of respect for an extinct sea critter that used to live on Earth-That-Was.
The Manta is a larger, flight-capable version of the Seamoth. It also has a built-in defensive weapon (Stasis Rifles) a standard cargo locker and an automated mapping system. Ideally, the Manta could also be capable of dropping sonar buoys and beacon markers from a 'bomb bay' while hovering. The Manta would require a special landing-pad and a recharging station, as it would be too large to dock with the Cyclops, unless a dorsal (top-mounted) docking collar could be retro-fitted to the Cyclops.
Sonar Buoys
If you're living inside a relatively fragile tin can, it's probably a good idea to have advance warning of any large sealife that may be wandering too close to your installation(s).
To this purpose, I suggest laying a perimeter of sonar buoys that will identify any large or potentially hostile lifeforms so that an appropriate course of action may be taken. The buoys could be either built on-site with the hand-held Constructor tool, or built onboard the Cyclops and loaded into the Manta's storage locker for later deployment.
Mako Fighter Sub
Sooner or later, the Survivor will encounter some of Subnautica's heavy hitters... However, the heavily-armoured Mako's primary function should be to incapacitate and/or repel rather than kill, otherwise the surrounding ocean would be turned into a lifeless, bloody chum-bucket in the twinkling of a Eyefish's eye. The Mako cannot dock with the Cyclops, requiring a dedicated landing pad and recharge station, powered by a separate generator. Internally, the Mako would have a similar sensor suite to the Manta flying sub, as well as an onboard storage locker. To make gameplay a little more balanced, the Mako and Manta subs should be extremely expensive and complex to build.
Suggested operational depth rating for Manta and Mako: 1000 metres. Crush depth: 1500 metres.
Whats the Mako armed with? Like a stasis rifle or a pair of them?
Maybe theres a serrated ventral spine, and you ram stuff?
1000m dive depth is lower than anything currently in the game. Nothing against that, good ideas really.
In fact, I find the seamoth very versatile because of is tiny size and powerfull efficiency in this size. It can be combined with a lot of "extension" than always making a new vehicle. But it's my lego-loving character who speaks
The manta is a very good thinking, but why don't craft the wings of the manta, and let him have the ability to dock with the seamoth ? This way we can run around the surface, and drop the seamoth for further exploration. The docking will be with an extensible crate (or why not a gravity beam ?), the manta will have the ability to stand in place (with more energy consumption than the flying mode). it will be piloting from the seamoth, no other cockpit will be made but an AI will take the control until the player return.
But the wings will be huge to support all the components and power it need, I think about 6 by 7 meters for each wings, plus the central portions with all intruments and the dock for the seamoth (or the cockpit if you don't want it ). We can allow it to dock on a special surface structure, or provide it with (native or upgrade) ability to land on sea (and this way we no more need the docking at distance system for the seamoth, and no more energy consumption while waiting).
About the mako fighter, stasis rifle (large version for large foe), hormone emitter/capsule launcher (someone taught about it, don't remind who was it, sorry), sonic rifle, and for the really big one foe, a blackhole generator ! (the last is a joke for those who don't follow me ).
Since we have a good varietty fauna, some will be very resistant to a type of weapon (even to stasis rifle). So all this arsenal is a must have to defend ourselves (wether be a vehicle or a turret, the best is both).
And no it's not exaggerate, and yes it's not implemented nor in a trello card (as I know...)
Don't know why but I imagine it spherical or ovale, is center wil be command bay, surround by weapons.
But I still prefer to build my own vehicle with parts (in the game Red Sky, a flight similation, we can do that with no problems, in a wide variety of forms).
I think some new vehicles would do you some good. More biomes for the deep. Many new animals, including land animals. I would also like to see the Cyclops' depth limit increased, to reach the the underwater bases at lower levels. I would also like a way to increase the player's inventory space. Better item stacking would also do the game some good.
My biggest demand is for the underwater bases.
- Floating platforms that can carry solar panels, or wind turbines.
- Larger, more complex rooms.
- Move the power generator inside, with it's own designated room. (With possible "wear and tear" effects that need to be taken care of.)
- Oxygen scrubbers
- Oxygen generators that are much harder to build than the scrubbers
- Bulkheads in the corridors that can close automatically when there's a leak, to close off flooded areas. (Which can be repaired from the outside.)
- Designated storage rooms, with storage spaces mounted onto the walls. It can also have your crafting devices added to designated locations on the walls, like the reinforcements.
- A massive room that can be used to dock the cyclops/seamoth
- A hydropower plant, that uses natural or unnatural water currents.
- A biodome that can be used to grow plants and food.
- An aquarium to collect pets/food
- Lighting fixtures designed to be placed inside the base, as well as designs to be placed outside the base to light up the area.
- Bedrooms, where the player can rest for the night
- A kitchen so the food can be processed/cooked
- Windows that can be mounted on the floors and ceilings.
- Reinforcements that can be mounted on the floors and ceilings.
- An elevator addon that can help expand bases up or down.
- A permanent beacon that can be built onto or inside the base to help find your way back.
- Stairs, so if you have the resources and the space, you don't need ladders.
- Larger storage units to hold the larger devices.
- Hydrothermal Generator, to generate power from underwater volcanoes.
Maybe some cool houses that can be built above water on an island to do research or just to have a different place to live.You could also then be able plant food or plants and maybe find a few different types of animals that you can examine.These houses could also allow you to buid small boats or docking stations to park a submarine,or possibly even just a small drivable vehicle that can be driven around a large island.
Other cool things can be added to bases underwater such as a kitchen or docking station for a submarine.Also maybe adding some more decorative things like couches or TV's would be quit fun to have,or building things like a bed or bathroom just to give a place a more homley feel.Maybe also a large underwater dome made of glass or somthing that can be used to grow plants.
Other types of rifles that can kill fish such as a harpoon gun.
Customizable craft so you can make your own submarine with the components that you would like in it.Maybe also adding a weapon to a submarine.These could also include beds where you can sleep for long journeys and could contain a kitchen.
Different types of weather patterns including rain,cloudyness,sunshine,heavy rain,thunder and lightning storms and even some extreme elements such as typhoons or other weather stuff that can effect you submarines or houses depending on thier depth and location,as well as how well they are reinforced.
Ways to examine and document fish and plant types into your HUD or something.And maybe creating a 3D map model of your surronding terrain.
Automatic drills that can help you to gather resources and minerals.
A way to get more oxygen without having to build like 9999999999 tanks of oxygen.
An unmanned submarine to use for dangerous exploration before you enter a cave or somthing.
More types of submarines(this includes custom subs.)
A type of head tourch that can be used without having to hold the flashlight ietself.
i only want three things in this game, farms of some type, a butt tone of monsters aggressive and neutral, and a use for building bases, maybe different rooms do different things like a port for your subs or a farm a lab were you study fish and plants, a bed room, a dinner room something that makes making huge bases meaning full.....(and maybe full mod support wen its done so the community can make there own additions
Arbhall asked some questions about the Mako fighter sub:
Whats the Mako armed with? Like a stasis rifle or a pair of them?
Maybe theres a serrated ventral spine, and you ram stuff?
1000m dive depth is lower than anything currently in the game. Nothing against that, good ideas really.
The Mako could be armed with twin arc cannons. Essentially 'lightning guns', designed to stun large creatures at their highest power setting and repel them at the lowest setting.
Although it would be extremely tempting to start blasting one's way through the food chain, it wouldn't be a good idea to scoot around picking fights with Reaper Leviathans just because you can. Remember that this is an alien world with an already established ecology. Picking off all of the absolute apex predators could have disastrous results in a real-world situation, although that particular mechanism is unlikely to be applied to Subnautica. However, just imagine if it did have a knock-on effect, though... You drop out of the Cyclops' lockout hatch one bright and sunny morning and instantly find yourself covered in Bleeders, or facing a posse of hungry Bone Sharks out cruising for brunch. Checks and balances are what Nature's all about. Remove one key predator from a food chain, and all hell will break loose.
Under Pressure
I have resisted the urge to go any deeper than the crush depth of any of the submersibles I'm currently using. There's a very sound reason for that. I don't want to die.
It might seem like a bit of a hoot to run around patching hull breaches as your Cyclops sinks shrieking into the abyss, but there's a definite downside to that.
Hint: It involves building another Cyclops and refilling it with all the goodies that you've collected.
Same goes for base design. In the real world, the effects of water pressure are merciless, swift and absolute. Every 10 metres (approximately 33 feet) that you descend, another chunk of sea-level atmosphere (1 Bar or 14.7 pounds per square inch) gets dumped onto your body. My base is built at a depth of 30 metres. This means that there is 58.02 pounds per square inch or 4.079 kilograms per square centimetre acting on every component at the bottom of the structure. Now multiply those numbers by the total underwater surface area of your base. Remember to recalculate the basic pressure for every level of the base that is underwater.
Please feel free to use a calculator. This is the part where it gets really scary.
Building your base in relatively shallow (less than 50 metres) water is a very good idea. Building a fairly compact base is also a very good idea. If the water pressure and oxygen supply mechanics are applied to bases in later stages of game development, everyone with a monumentally large or an extremely deep base isn't going to have a good time.
You'd better keep a welding torch handy.
Artificial Gills
Dive tanks are getting to be a real pain, inventory-wise. Thirty seconds of O2 from each tank isn't even realistic, unless one was doing a lockout dive at around 2000 feet.
A standard steel SCUBA tank holds around 72 cubic feet of air pressurised to 2,250 pounds per square inch. This would provide about 30 to 40 minutes bottom time at 30 feet, depending on the diver's breathing rate. It would be possible to dive to around 120 feet and have a bottom time of 10 minutes, although the safety margin involved would be barely adequate for a safe return to the surface. Frankly, my eyes would be glued to my tank pressure gauge and watch during this particular dive.
Artificial Gills are the answer.
Using a complex system of silicone membranes to filter dissolved oxygen out of seawater, the Artificial Gill could take the place of multiple tanks and enable deep diving with ease.
This technology is already possible (Wikipedia quote: "They are generally thought to be unwieldy and bulky, because of the massive amount of water that would have to be processed to extract enough oxygen to supply an active diver, as an alternative to a scuba set. An average diver with a fully closed-circuit rebreather needs 1 liter (roughly 1 quart) of oxygen per minute. As a result, at least 192 litres (51 US gal) of sea water per minute would have to be passed through the system, and this system would not work in anoxic (no oxygen present) water."
For the technology used in Subnautica, this would be no problem. The AG unit would require the inventory space currently occupied by two dive tanks, and could be constructed from the following materials: 1 x Rebreather, 2 x Dive Tanks, 4 x Silicone, 2 x Computer Chips, 1 x Advanced Wiring Kit, 1x Power Cell.
Let's be generous with the bottom time when using an Artificial Gill. Exploration is the name of the game, after all. A fully charged Power Cell should provide enough juice for at least 30 minutes at extreme depth. The only real limit placed on the AG is that it will need to be recharged after each dive, preferably in dedicated charging stations onboard the Cyclops or an undersea base.
The deeps are a particularly scary place at the moment. I don't mind dropping the Cyclops down close to its crush depth, but I'd rather not attempt a bounce-dive to the sea floor with only 3 minute's worth of air.
I still call the stuff in the dive tanks 'air' by the way. In real-life diving, it's just not possible to breathe pure oxygen below about 30 to 45 feet. It becomes toxic. The nitrogen percentage in normal air becomes a problem around 100 feet down. It causes 'nitrogen narcosis' ('Rapture Of The Deep') and could even cause decompression sickness ('The Bends') if the diver's return to the surface isn't done in a sequence of carefully-timed stages, with stops planned at various levels of depth.
De fabrication so you can break down components back into resources. Or to correct mistakes. Should give back less than original cost to make.
Alien Civilisation, perhaps a deceased one, with story and explorable areas.
Within the starting area, Desalination Plant, to make salt and water more available, difficult to make.
Additional Inventary space, like diving nets made from seagrass.
Fishing nets and fish traps made from sea grass.
Crustations and edible crab like things.
Some kind of anchored sea worm, like an explanation of all the tube structures around the life pod.
Rechargable power cells, so you don't need to keep making them over and over. These would be charged via the generators.
Surface Boats, Dingy..
Possibly flying craft, balloon, something none sophisticated and limited to an anchored point, to extend radar beacon range, give player a birds eye view.
Robots to assist the player.
AI controlled survivors, enemy survivors who've decided to wipe out all alien life..
Underwater domes, for plant cultivation.
Aquariums for pets and visuals, somewhere to keep specimens.
Research based on the fish and other objects which improve player stats or allow progress of items. Like the analyzer but with more recipes. Make the player work without boring them. eg A fish that camouflages itself, might yield a camouflage component for the player, would be handy near sand sharks.
Life Pod - Should completely deconstruct. It becomes a useless item once you build a sea base. Except for the analyser.. unless you make mistake of deconstructing it ;P
Cyclops: Removal of fixed lockers, to create a space for player to fabricate own creations, lockers etc for mobile storage.
Able to dive deeper than 200m without panicking. Recipe should be much more difficult to complete. It's amazing what you get for 5 plas-steel and 5 enameled glass.
In general, although it's just balance, but fairly soon, a more balanced food/water cycle for sustenance period, atm it's far too short, I spend more time looking for salt and making food and drink than I do anything else.
Slight reduction on Crash Fish damage.. should take 2 to kill you outright.. same with blood sucker.. maybe add a poison dot on player instead, which causes disorientation instead of outright death.
Scaling darkness in underground tunnels, not the current insta dark.
Fissures in ground pushing water/player upwards, like the lava pit, but less dangerous.
Stronger Currents near seabed.
Underwater lighting, cabling, flares are abit basic.. a more permanent solution needed.
Misc:
Speedometer on subs to show current speed. Automove function to save on holding keys down. Perhaps an integral speedup/slow function. Inventory counter. Bed/hammock for sleeping in. Radar/Sonar complete with pinger. Fishing finder.. perhaps.. detailing what lies below. (in the same way an actual sonar/radar works, no need for detail)
Dive tanks should stack, so if you have 2 you get a dual tank graphic, 3 a tri tank graphic, 4 a dual dual tank graphic. Should limit player to 4 tanks max. I think weight should carry a speed dynamic as well, carrying more tanks should slow you down.
> Could make combination tank graphic 1.5 times bigger than area of 2 tanks, same with 3 and 4 tanks, so player isn't loosing all his inv to air.. and at same time increase speed loss on more air use so player needs to decide between swimming slowly with more air.. or fast with none.
Maybe add in damage and wear/tear on equipment, like knife breaks, same with flippers, tanks etc.
Few things i think could be achieved relatively easily: (well, it's easy for me to say... )
- Windows on base corner pieces.
- Ability to rotate Ladders as other pieces can, ATM they can't be rotated and most of the time they are blocking way.
- Use of Enameled Glass to make window that does not lower hull integrity so much.
- Basic rooms for sea base. Nothing fancy, just something make base layout nicer.
And i know, whole sea base-thing is still wip... But i cant wait to get more things to build!!!
- When crafting, ability to make multiple items.
- Sound level in the Options.
- Speargun to hunt for the smaller fish.
- Edible meat from the larger fish. (Easiest might be: after fish death, activating corpse opens a container where meat is).
- Any reliable way of getting water. ATM, water needs either Airsack or Salt and Coral. Now days i have to really travel far to find any salt and same goes for the Airsack. And while eating fish without Salt is option, there seems be to few options for acquiring water.
- Some kind of renewable low-level food not requiring salt. I have also seen that fishes are getting more rare closer to base. It seems they dont respawn after player catches them.
Otherwise, this is awesome already, despite being Early Access! Keep up the good work
In the red weed area you'll find spade fish, they don't cost you hydration to eat raw, use the gun to stun them, then pick them up, you can also eat mushrooms and sea grass which will give small amount of water, also there's jelly somethings in red grass area as well. Spade fish seem to be the best source for food, cooked they give 40+ food + water. I expect once game area expands there will be more salt to find I am having similar problem, I only eat mushrooms, sea grass and spade fish, saving all salt for water making.
In evening and dawn, the airsack fish can be more easily seen, you can also hunt them around the sea grass during the night with a torch. If you hear the snapping stalkers just dodge left and right to escape them. Usually don't come to harm.
I've been trying to play survival only. Died a few times to crash fish to begin with.. and once to a signal that lured me to a bloodsucker death. Nasty devs.. Otherwise not died at all. Played the game almost a solid 24 hours now. (not all at once)
I think you confused me to a total beginner Maybe the number of forum posts fooled you? I think i know my way around the reefs well enough. I agree that hydration levels can be maintained. The point is that its getting way too time consuming. Eating mushrooms gives what, 2 food? Sea weed little more and what i have seen, the fish are getting more rare all the time (correct me if that's not the case). They give very little food compared to time spent acquiring them, unless you use Salt. And nothing is more comforting than seeing 3 cooked fish in your backpack, waiting to be eaten
And, i have to say, after trying latest experimental batch, salt is abundant in vicinity of the Wreck so that's good. Still, i think water purification is coming, only question in what form and where. We are talking about interstellar travel so one small machine to remove salt from water/converting water into oxygen is not farfetched.
My only deaths have been due to hunger and thirst. I find the fauna very easy to avoid somehow.. Maybe they should make bigger and More dangerous creatures! i really hope for some deep sea Kraken-action in later game. Thats about the biggest fear i can think of
It wasn't the number of posts.. it was the content of.
To fix the problem they don't need to increase quantity of food. They just need to reduce the speed of your usage of energy.
It seems to work, I can't verify this. That the more swimming, consistently that you do, the faster it reduces food or water.
It should work like this, but I'd prefer to see the use of food energy lasting a day cycle ie 30 food = 1 day, a full bar would give you 3 and a bit days of endurance.
Then water usage would reflect any hard work you do, all that swimming, twisting and turning would make you sweat, being underwater doesn't mean you don't sweat, thus you'd need more water intake. Say maybe if you swam all day picking up loots, you'd loose 50% of your hydration.
The game isn't a diving sim after all.
On my avg play time.. per real time swim, I would go out to the red weed, hunt spades, then on the plateaus hunt salt and quartz then return. This would take roughly an entire day and night cycle. On return I need to use to food sources and 2 water to fill my energy to 100%
If I take the moth down to get gold/lithium I use nearly 2 whole powercells. One to get down and around and one to refill and get out again. (panic time included)
That's alot of work for little reward. I'd like to see the game concentrate more on exploration and adventure, than on violence and fighting. I like the none violent stun rifle approach. It's simple and clean.
My biggest request is automation. Specifically, the automated gathering of food, water, and other worldly resources.
A "fish farm," a water filtration plant, and some way to mine. Heck, take a leaf out of far sky's book and have a mineral extractor. I don't particularly care, i just want to automate the boring stuff so i can get straight to the fun stuff. building and exploring. Also i would like multiple saves. So i can have a survival and a freedom game. My final request is for a creative or sandbox mode, I can get close right now just using cheats, but a UI would make it both easier and a little bit more fun.
It wasn't the number of posts.. it was the content of.
To fix the problem they don't need to increase quantity of food. They just need to reduce the speed of your usage of energy.
It seems to work, I can't verify this. That the more swimming, consistently that you do, the faster it reduces food or water.
It should work like this, but I'd prefer to see the use of food energy lasting a day cycle ie 30 food = 1 day, a full bar would give you 3 and a bit days of endurance.
Then water usage would reflect any hard work you do, all that swimming, twisting and turning would make you sweat, being underwater doesn't mean you don't sweat, thus you'd need more water intake. Say maybe if you swam all day picking up loots, you'd loose 50% of your hydration.
The game isn't a diving sim after all.
On my avg play time.. per real time swim, I would go out to the red weed, hunt spades, then on the plateaus hunt salt and quartz then return. This would take roughly an entire day and night cycle. On return I need to use to food sources and 2 water to fill my energy to 100%
If I take the moth down to get gold/lithium I use nearly 2 whole powercells. One to get down and around and one to refill and get out again. (panic time included)
That's alot of work for little reward. I'd like to see the game concentrate more on exploration and adventure, than on violence and fighting. I like the none violent stun rifle approach. It's simple and clean.
I see your problem dude. You are so immersed in the experience, you are losing track of time. Its an immersive and awesome game in its current state. Youve hit the content wall. It happens, nearly every youtuber I watch that plays this has hit the same wall. Not you, its just youve done most of what there is to do.
You got the Seamoth already which is a big step, and your fabricating powercells for it. Im guessing you already have the Cyclops, or at least a base, likely both. Anything your doing over and above the two subs and a steady supply of power is all you really need and are supposed to have at this point. Beyond really deep dives there isnt much for you to do, until you get to explore the Aurora wreck and whatever else they are adding.
Check your hours on Steam. The game at this point is only supposed to be about 10 hours of gameplay, thats all there is. Thats also a bit of a generous estimate too, since most youtubers only get roughly 4-5 hours out of it so far. Splattercat managed to milk it for a lot more, and that was before the last 2 most recent patches. Take a break for a bit. Wait for a couple surprises from upcoming patches. Theres a ton of games on sale this week too.
Hope that helps some.
Comments
Mr. Jasmann raised an interesting point regarding tidal power systems as an in-game feature, but they do take up a lot of space and pose a hazard to navigation.
There are ways to work around this. One system called 'Salter's Ducks' is basically rows of linked, floating platforms that generate electricity when moved by wave action.
Another undersea power generator is called OTEC. This takes the form of a large, vertical tubular structure, usually moored in deep water. Uses the temperature differential between shallow water and deep water to boil ammonia (or a similar working fluid) in a closed circuit, which drives an internal turbine that generates electricity.
An OTEC platform would be ideal for powering future developments in Subnautica. It has a relatively small surface footprint, and could be used as the core of a deep-water research outpost. Might have to bend the science a little to transfer power to various installations without dragging cables all over the sea-floor, though. Sounds like a good opportunity to throw in a bit of Tesla tech, specifically wireless microwave power transmission. Attach masts and receiver dishes to all sub-surface installations... Problem solved! Might be a good idea to put warning strobes on the masts too, just in case.
Moon Pool
A Moon Pool is a feature used in undersea structures (and some surface vessels) that permits divers and submersibles to enter the water directly without passing through an airlock. ( Just like Deepcore's submarine bay in 'The Abyss') Atmospheric pressure inside an undersea base would have to be greater than the external water pressure for this system to work. Unfortunately, any significant decrease in pressure would flood the base almost instantly, killing the occupant. There is some benefit in being able to dock the Seamoth inside player bases using a moon pool, but it could also be a liability. Hostile marine life would also be able to enter the base, unless the moon pool has been equipped with armoured doors.
About moonpole, I must agree with you, but it's I don't think we really using it at very big depth, until they add the pressure sytem (if they did so...).
Selkirk's log entries more or less mirrored how I felt at the time. The story practically wrote itself.
Playing Subnautica reminds me of my early scuba diving days, and I can easily relate to some of the sensations that the survivor might be experiencing.
(Apart from being hurled out of a crippled starship in an escape pod, of course!)
Also, I figured the story could be read as a roundabout way to draw attention to some possible changes that could be made to the actual game.
It's still a bit rough around the edges, but that's also an important part of the experience.
I've always been a fan of undersea exploration, submarine warfare, construction and survival games, so Subnautica is exactly the sort of game that I've been waiting for.
Reckon it's going to be fun to stick around and watch it evolve.
an escape-plan can be crucial in hardcore-mode where death is permanent!
Sorenp has raised a valid point about the need for a larger-scale water purification system.
His idea of using a reverse-osmosis filtration unit is a perfectly sound method for the current Subnautica survival scenario.
An RO plant could be fabricated out of the following materials: 2 x Titanium, 2 x Glass, Computer Chip, Advanced Wiring Kit.
The finished plant could be built as a dispenser mounted on an internal wall/bulkhead of the Cyclops or undersea base, and would require the following consumable
items in order to remain in operation: 2 x Silicone (for the RO membrane cartridges) and a Power Cell.
For the purposes of game mechanics, a freshly-loaded RO plant could produce 10 to 15 units of pure water before the RO membranes and power cell are fully depleted.
Of course, the existing water purification method would have to be retained as an emergency backup, should the player be unable to find sufficient raw materials to replenish the RO unit.
All that say, and since there is health, oxygen, and food (and hopefully a rest mechanic), why not some skills that can be leveled up by using it (like in skyrim, even if this game bore me a lot...). I think about :
body skills : swimming, strenght,
endurance skills : better hunger/rest/oxygen/temperature "managment" (sorry don't have the right words in english),
technical skills : reparing, uses of machines and vehicles, understanding what we see (and don't use an alien panel (if there) like we sleep), foound a fauna/flora farm (and not construct something and planting some seeds)
mind skills : studies of the planet, make an escape plan (how to do it, made a beacon on the planet, a satellite, don't want to ? etc), be warned by our actions (if so) on environments and their consequences, petting fauna, draw a (very rough) "mental map) of where we already go (and fading slowly at a pace if we don't go often to an area)
These are rought ideas and are just thrown for the sake of brain storming and new ways to play. The game as it is is good for an alpha (or beta ? never know the state ^^) and the devs for now take a good path, but brain storming is not a bad thing (except perhaps for our neurons)
If the weather is like the ones in caraibes or polynesia (and if they implement "physical" wind), we will have big storms, I don't think it's a good idea to build a base on surface, just some structures that will provide infos (and a land panel for my aircraft
I can see why this idea might fail, especially if they implement weather. It would require constant care in storms, and I can see why people would dislike the maintenance required. I stated this just as an option. I saw people playing the alpha and beta and simply thought up the idea. I do think that a surface structure would break up the gameplay and provide new challenges. Maybe instead of defending yourself from fish you defend yourself from avian predators. i also stand by my idea to use the native wildlife in order to develop new technologies, using the native flora and fauna to develop new technology. Thank you for your criticism, however, I actually didn't consider weather playing into base building. Thank you:)
What if a bad weather season was like a kind of instanced game zone where you could go for like a super hard core challenge?
Personally I love the idea of weather changing the behaviour of predators and prey alike. Think of it!
You get through a bad storm and all the large predators get moved or beached and then the peeper population or whatever explodes in a big bad way and suddenly the passive and cool peepers are a swarm and are dangerous! They go all feeding frenzy and attack everything.
Maybe they go into mating mode and fill the water with their....fluids and it becomes toxic to swim in without protection from a special suit or sub.
Just a thought. I do see your reservations though, all this above stuff would be an absolute bitch to code properly.
I think I should have a title of "police officer of subanautica forums" LOL considering how often I explain things to new comers
Its simple:
the game is basically about water
They dont want to spend extra time on surface mechanics too much (there are already islands BTW)
I personally don't want time spent on a lot of surface things because the deep ocean areas are simply far more interesting to me
cheers
Dont those same mechanics translate to interiors of subs and bases as well? Those are pretty much all ironed out too, not like a few weeks ago when the base corridor sections were all buggy and you would sink through them.
Myself Id rather have a ridable animal than a skimmer craft. But thats not for everyone.
Exploring the sea is essential in this game, but since we have access to very high technology from the beginning, wether they limit the amount of ressources (wich is the case at the moment, but it's more beaucause of the state of the game), wether they make technology very hard to obtain, or wether they make certain specific techs unusable on the planet (like radio, which can be easily disrupt in certain condition).
All that must be in accordance with the kind of wolrd they make, and I think they must focus on mechanics like weather rather than add a new zone that serve, for the moment, nothing.
This idea is straight out of Irwin Allen's 'Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'.
A flying submarine would be an ideal vehicle for aerial reconnaissance of undersea terrain. Currently, exploration involves plodding through the ocean in a Cyclops, each sweep covering a very narrow corridor of visibility. The Seamoth is more useful for covering large distances, although without an accurate and meaningful navigation waypoint system, this can be a very frustrating exercise. At the moment, I have marked out the four cardinal points of the compass, plus a few beacons assigned to interesting locations. The extreme N,S,E,W points also mark where the temperature drops to 0.0 degrees. (That's a pretty serious thermocline you've got there). Even so, the number of beacons flashing away is visually chaotic, and doesn't actually provide that much useful information. A HUD 'pipper' showing the distance to each beacon would be a HUGE improvement to gameplay.
Back to the Flying Sub. Let's call it a 'Manta', out of respect for an extinct sea critter that used to live on Earth-That-Was.
The Manta is a larger, flight-capable version of the Seamoth. It also has a built-in defensive weapon (Stasis Rifles) a standard cargo locker and an automated mapping system. Ideally, the Manta could also be capable of dropping sonar buoys and beacon markers from a 'bomb bay' while hovering. The Manta would require a special landing-pad and a recharging station, as it would be too large to dock with the Cyclops, unless a dorsal (top-mounted) docking collar could be retro-fitted to the Cyclops.
Sonar Buoys
If you're living inside a relatively fragile tin can, it's probably a good idea to have advance warning of any large sealife that may be wandering too close to your installation(s).
To this purpose, I suggest laying a perimeter of sonar buoys that will identify any large or potentially hostile lifeforms so that an appropriate course of action may be taken. The buoys could be either built on-site with the hand-held Constructor tool, or built onboard the Cyclops and loaded into the Manta's storage locker for later deployment.
Mako Fighter Sub
Sooner or later, the Survivor will encounter some of Subnautica's heavy hitters... However, the heavily-armoured Mako's primary function should be to incapacitate and/or repel rather than kill, otherwise the surrounding ocean would be turned into a lifeless, bloody chum-bucket in the twinkling of a Eyefish's eye. The Mako cannot dock with the Cyclops, requiring a dedicated landing pad and recharge station, powered by a separate generator. Internally, the Mako would have a similar sensor suite to the Manta flying sub, as well as an onboard storage locker. To make gameplay a little more balanced, the Mako and Manta subs should be extremely expensive and complex to build.
Suggested operational depth rating for Manta and Mako: 1000 metres. Crush depth: 1500 metres.
Whats the Mako armed with? Like a stasis rifle or a pair of them?
Maybe theres a serrated ventral spine, and you ram stuff?
1000m dive depth is lower than anything currently in the game. Nothing against that, good ideas really.
In fact, I find the seamoth very versatile because of is tiny size and powerfull efficiency in this size. It can be combined with a lot of "extension" than always making a new vehicle. But it's my lego-loving character who speaks
The manta is a very good thinking, but why don't craft the wings of the manta, and let him have the ability to dock with the seamoth ? This way we can run around the surface, and drop the seamoth for further exploration. The docking will be with an extensible crate (or why not a gravity beam ?), the manta will have the ability to stand in place (with more energy consumption than the flying mode). it will be piloting from the seamoth, no other cockpit will be made but an AI will take the control until the player return.
But the wings will be huge to support all the components and power it need, I think about 6 by 7 meters for each wings, plus the central portions with all intruments and the dock for the seamoth (or the cockpit if you don't want it
About the mako fighter, stasis rifle (large version for large foe), hormone emitter/capsule launcher (someone taught about it, don't remind who was it, sorry), sonic rifle, and for the really big one foe, a blackhole generator ! (the last is a joke for those who don't follow me
Since we have a good varietty fauna, some will be very resistant to a type of weapon (even to stasis rifle). So all this arsenal is a must have to defend ourselves (wether be a vehicle or a turret, the best is both).
And no it's not exaggerate, and yes it's not implemented nor in a trello card (as I know...)
Don't know why but I imagine it spherical or ovale, is center wil be command bay, surround by weapons.
But I still prefer to build my own vehicle with parts (in the game Red Sky, a flight similation, we can do that with no problems, in a wide variety of forms).
My biggest demand is for the underwater bases.
- Floating platforms that can carry solar panels, or wind turbines.
- Larger, more complex rooms.
- Move the power generator inside, with it's own designated room. (With possible "wear and tear" effects that need to be taken care of.)
- Oxygen scrubbers
- Oxygen generators that are much harder to build than the scrubbers
- Bulkheads in the corridors that can close automatically when there's a leak, to close off flooded areas. (Which can be repaired from the outside.)
- Designated storage rooms, with storage spaces mounted onto the walls. It can also have your crafting devices added to designated locations on the walls, like the reinforcements.
- A massive room that can be used to dock the cyclops/seamoth
- A hydropower plant, that uses natural or unnatural water currents.
- A biodome that can be used to grow plants and food.
- An aquarium to collect pets/food
- Lighting fixtures designed to be placed inside the base, as well as designs to be placed outside the base to light up the area.
- Bedrooms, where the player can rest for the night
- A kitchen so the food can be processed/cooked
- Windows that can be mounted on the floors and ceilings.
- Reinforcements that can be mounted on the floors and ceilings.
- An elevator addon that can help expand bases up or down.
- A permanent beacon that can be built onto or inside the base to help find your way back.
- Stairs, so if you have the resources and the space, you don't need ladders.
- Larger storage units to hold the larger devices.
- Hydrothermal Generator, to generate power from underwater volcanoes.
Other cool things can be added to bases underwater such as a kitchen or docking station for a submarine.Also maybe adding some more decorative things like couches or TV's would be quit fun to have,or building things like a bed or bathroom just to give a place a more homley feel.Maybe also a large underwater dome made of glass or somthing that can be used to grow plants.
Other types of rifles that can kill fish such as a harpoon gun.
Customizable craft so you can make your own submarine with the components that you would like in it.Maybe also adding a weapon to a submarine.These could also include beds where you can sleep for long journeys and could contain a kitchen.
Different types of weather patterns including rain,cloudyness,sunshine,heavy rain,thunder and lightning storms and even some extreme elements such as typhoons or other weather stuff that can effect you submarines or houses depending on thier depth and location,as well as how well they are reinforced.
Ways to examine and document fish and plant types into your HUD or something.And maybe creating a 3D map model of your surronding terrain.
Automatic drills that can help you to gather resources and minerals.
A way to get more oxygen without having to build like 9999999999 tanks of oxygen.
An unmanned submarine to use for dangerous exploration before you enter a cave or somthing.
More types of submarines(this includes custom subs.)
A type of head tourch that can be used without having to hold the flashlight ietself.
Whats the Mako armed with? Like a stasis rifle or a pair of them?
Maybe theres a serrated ventral spine, and you ram stuff?
1000m dive depth is lower than anything currently in the game. Nothing against that, good ideas really.
The Mako could be armed with twin arc cannons. Essentially 'lightning guns', designed to stun large creatures at their highest power setting and repel them at the lowest setting.
Although it would be extremely tempting to start blasting one's way through the food chain, it wouldn't be a good idea to scoot around picking fights with Reaper Leviathans just because you can. Remember that this is an alien world with an already established ecology. Picking off all of the absolute apex predators could have disastrous results in a real-world situation, although that particular mechanism is unlikely to be applied to Subnautica. However, just imagine if it did have a knock-on effect, though... You drop out of the Cyclops' lockout hatch one bright and sunny morning and instantly find yourself covered in Bleeders, or facing a posse of hungry Bone Sharks out cruising for brunch. Checks and balances are what Nature's all about. Remove one key predator from a food chain, and all hell will break loose.
Under Pressure
I have resisted the urge to go any deeper than the crush depth of any of the submersibles I'm currently using. There's a very sound reason for that. I don't want to die.
It might seem like a bit of a hoot to run around patching hull breaches as your Cyclops sinks shrieking into the abyss, but there's a definite downside to that.
Hint: It involves building another Cyclops and refilling it with all the goodies that you've collected.
Same goes for base design. In the real world, the effects of water pressure are merciless, swift and absolute. Every 10 metres (approximately 33 feet) that you descend, another chunk of sea-level atmosphere (1 Bar or 14.7 pounds per square inch) gets dumped onto your body. My base is built at a depth of 30 metres. This means that there is 58.02 pounds per square inch or 4.079 kilograms per square centimetre acting on every component at the bottom of the structure. Now multiply those numbers by the total underwater surface area of your base. Remember to recalculate the basic pressure for every level of the base that is underwater.
Please feel free to use a calculator. This is the part where it gets really scary.
Building your base in relatively shallow (less than 50 metres) water is a very good idea. Building a fairly compact base is also a very good idea. If the water pressure and oxygen supply mechanics are applied to bases in later stages of game development, everyone with a monumentally large or an extremely deep base isn't going to have a good time.
You'd better keep a welding torch handy.
Artificial Gills
Dive tanks are getting to be a real pain, inventory-wise. Thirty seconds of O2 from each tank isn't even realistic, unless one was doing a lockout dive at around 2000 feet.
A standard steel SCUBA tank holds around 72 cubic feet of air pressurised to 2,250 pounds per square inch. This would provide about 30 to 40 minutes bottom time at 30 feet, depending on the diver's breathing rate. It would be possible to dive to around 120 feet and have a bottom time of 10 minutes, although the safety margin involved would be barely adequate for a safe return to the surface. Frankly, my eyes would be glued to my tank pressure gauge and watch during this particular dive.
Artificial Gills are the answer.
Using a complex system of silicone membranes to filter dissolved oxygen out of seawater, the Artificial Gill could take the place of multiple tanks and enable deep diving with ease.
This technology is already possible (Wikipedia quote: "They are generally thought to be unwieldy and bulky, because of the massive amount of water that would have to be processed to extract enough oxygen to supply an active diver, as an alternative to a scuba set. An average diver with a fully closed-circuit rebreather needs 1 liter (roughly 1 quart) of oxygen per minute. As a result, at least 192 litres (51 US gal) of sea water per minute would have to be passed through the system, and this system would not work in anoxic (no oxygen present) water."
For the technology used in Subnautica, this would be no problem. The AG unit would require the inventory space currently occupied by two dive tanks, and could be constructed from the following materials: 1 x Rebreather, 2 x Dive Tanks, 4 x Silicone, 2 x Computer Chips, 1 x Advanced Wiring Kit, 1x Power Cell.
Let's be generous with the bottom time when using an Artificial Gill. Exploration is the name of the game, after all. A fully charged Power Cell should provide enough juice for at least 30 minutes at extreme depth. The only real limit placed on the AG is that it will need to be recharged after each dive, preferably in dedicated charging stations onboard the Cyclops or an undersea base.
The deeps are a particularly scary place at the moment. I don't mind dropping the Cyclops down close to its crush depth, but I'd rather not attempt a bounce-dive to the sea floor with only 3 minute's worth of air.
I still call the stuff in the dive tanks 'air' by the way. In real-life diving, it's just not possible to breathe pure oxygen below about 30 to 45 feet. It becomes toxic. The nitrogen percentage in normal air becomes a problem around 100 feet down. It causes 'nitrogen narcosis' ('Rapture Of The Deep') and could even cause decompression sickness ('The Bends') if the diver's return to the surface isn't done in a sequence of carefully-timed stages, with stops planned at various levels of depth.
I'd like to see:
De fabrication so you can break down components back into resources. Or to correct mistakes. Should give back less than original cost to make.
Alien Civilisation, perhaps a deceased one, with story and explorable areas.
Within the starting area, Desalination Plant, to make salt and water more available, difficult to make.
Additional Inventary space, like diving nets made from seagrass.
Fishing nets and fish traps made from sea grass.
Crustations and edible crab like things.
Some kind of anchored sea worm, like an explanation of all the tube structures around the life pod.
Rechargable power cells, so you don't need to keep making them over and over. These would be charged via the generators.
Surface Boats, Dingy..
Possibly flying craft, balloon, something none sophisticated and limited to an anchored point, to extend radar beacon range, give player a birds eye view.
Robots to assist the player.
AI controlled survivors, enemy survivors who've decided to wipe out all alien life..
Underwater domes, for plant cultivation.
Aquariums for pets and visuals, somewhere to keep specimens.
Research based on the fish and other objects which improve player stats or allow progress of items. Like the analyzer but with more recipes. Make the player work without boring them. eg A fish that camouflages itself, might yield a camouflage component for the player, would be handy near sand sharks.
Life Pod - Should completely deconstruct. It becomes a useless item once you build a sea base. Except for the analyser.. unless you make mistake of deconstructing it ;P
Cyclops: Removal of fixed lockers, to create a space for player to fabricate own creations, lockers etc for mobile storage.
Able to dive deeper than 200m without panicking. Recipe should be much more difficult to complete. It's amazing what you get for 5 plas-steel and 5 enameled glass.
In general, although it's just balance, but fairly soon, a more balanced food/water cycle for sustenance period, atm it's far too short, I spend more time looking for salt and making food and drink than I do anything else.
Slight reduction on Crash Fish damage.. should take 2 to kill you outright.. same with blood sucker.. maybe add a poison dot on player instead, which causes disorientation instead of outright death.
Scaling darkness in underground tunnels, not the current insta dark.
Fissures in ground pushing water/player upwards, like the lava pit, but less dangerous.
Stronger Currents near seabed.
Underwater lighting, cabling, flares are abit basic.. a more permanent solution needed.
Misc:
Speedometer on subs to show current speed. Automove function to save on holding keys down. Perhaps an integral speedup/slow function. Inventory counter. Bed/hammock for sleeping in. Radar/Sonar complete with pinger. Fishing finder.. perhaps.. detailing what lies below. (in the same way an actual sonar/radar works, no need for detail)
Dive tanks should stack, so if you have 2 you get a dual tank graphic, 3 a tri tank graphic, 4 a dual dual tank graphic. Should limit player to 4 tanks max. I think weight should carry a speed dynamic as well, carrying more tanks should slow you down.
> Could make combination tank graphic 1.5 times bigger than area of 2 tanks, same with 3 and 4 tanks, so player isn't loosing all his inv to air.. and at same time increase speed loss on more air use so player needs to decide between swimming slowly with more air.. or fast with none.
Maybe add in damage and wear/tear on equipment, like knife breaks, same with flippers, tanks etc.
- Windows on base corner pieces.
- Ability to rotate Ladders as other pieces can, ATM they can't be rotated and most of the time they are blocking way.
- Use of Enameled Glass to make window that does not lower hull integrity so much.
- Basic rooms for sea base. Nothing fancy, just something make base layout nicer.
And i know, whole sea base-thing is still wip... But i cant wait to get more things to build!!!
- When crafting, ability to make multiple items.
- Sound level in the Options.
- Speargun to hunt for the smaller fish.
- Edible meat from the larger fish. (Easiest might be: after fish death, activating corpse opens a container where meat is).
- Any reliable way of getting water. ATM, water needs either Airsack or Salt and Coral. Now days i have to really travel far to find any salt and same goes for the Airsack. And while eating fish without Salt is option, there seems be to few options for acquiring water.
- Some kind of renewable low-level food not requiring salt. I have also seen that fishes are getting more rare closer to base. It seems they dont respawn after player catches them.
Otherwise, this is awesome already, despite being Early Access! Keep up the good work
In evening and dawn, the airsack fish can be more easily seen, you can also hunt them around the sea grass during the night with a torch. If you hear the snapping stalkers just dodge left and right to escape them. Usually don't come to harm.
I've been trying to play survival only. Died a few times to crash fish to begin with.. and once to a signal that lured me to a bloodsucker death. Nasty devs.. Otherwise not died at all. Played the game almost a solid 24 hours now. (not all at once)
And, i have to say, after trying latest experimental batch, salt is abundant in vicinity of the Wreck so that's good. Still, i think water purification is coming, only question in what form and where. We are talking about interstellar travel so one small machine to remove salt from water/converting water into oxygen is not farfetched.
My only deaths have been due to hunger and thirst. I find the fauna very easy to avoid somehow.. Maybe they should make bigger and More dangerous creatures!
To fix the problem they don't need to increase quantity of food. They just need to reduce the speed of your usage of energy.
It seems to work, I can't verify this. That the more swimming, consistently that you do, the faster it reduces food or water.
It should work like this, but I'd prefer to see the use of food energy lasting a day cycle ie 30 food = 1 day, a full bar would give you 3 and a bit days of endurance.
Then water usage would reflect any hard work you do, all that swimming, twisting and turning would make you sweat, being underwater doesn't mean you don't sweat, thus you'd need more water intake. Say maybe if you swam all day picking up loots, you'd loose 50% of your hydration.
The game isn't a diving sim after all.
On my avg play time.. per real time swim, I would go out to the red weed, hunt spades, then on the plateaus hunt salt and quartz then return. This would take roughly an entire day and night cycle. On return I need to use to food sources and 2 water to fill my energy to 100%
If I take the moth down to get gold/lithium I use nearly 2 whole powercells. One to get down and around and one to refill and get out again. (panic time included)
That's alot of work for little reward. I'd like to see the game concentrate more on exploration and adventure, than on violence and fighting. I like the none violent stun rifle approach. It's simple and clean.
A "fish farm," a water filtration plant, and some way to mine. Heck, take a leaf out of far sky's book and have a mineral extractor. I don't particularly care, i just want to automate the boring stuff so i can get straight to the fun stuff. building and exploring. Also i would like multiple saves. So i can have a survival and a freedom game. My final request is for a creative or sandbox mode, I can get close right now just using cheats, but a UI would make it both easier and a little bit more fun.
I see your problem dude. You are so immersed in the experience, you are losing track of time. Its an immersive and awesome game in its current state. Youve hit the content wall. It happens, nearly every youtuber I watch that plays this has hit the same wall. Not you, its just youve done most of what there is to do.
You got the Seamoth already which is a big step, and your fabricating powercells for it. Im guessing you already have the Cyclops, or at least a base, likely both. Anything your doing over and above the two subs and a steady supply of power is all you really need and are supposed to have at this point. Beyond really deep dives there isnt much for you to do, until you get to explore the Aurora wreck and whatever else they are adding.
Check your hours on Steam. The game at this point is only supposed to be about 10 hours of gameplay, thats all there is. Thats also a bit of a generous estimate too, since most youtubers only get roughly 4-5 hours out of it so far. Splattercat managed to milk it for a lot more, and that was before the last 2 most recent patches. Take a break for a bit. Wait for a couple surprises from upcoming patches. Theres a ton of games on sale this week too.
Hope that helps some.