Above-Water Ideas
A_FREAKING_DUCK
Join Date: 2016-04-03 Member: 215296Members
Join Date: 2016-04-03 Member: 215296Members
Here is a list of ideas I based around being above water, a less common aspect of the game.
Above-Water Transport(Name WIP): Sadly, I accidentally deleted this entire entry. It was long, so I'll summarize. It was a vehicle that acted similar to a real life speed boat, but looked completely different. It hovered slightly above the water and moved quickly, but has no roof, leaving you exposed to the entry directly below.
Perics: These creatures are one of very few creatures in subnautica that fly and can't enter the water. They are uncommon, but make sure that nowhere in subnautica is safe, even out of water. They have a normal attack, which is to swoop down and attack you, dealing about as much damage as a stalker would if one of them bit you, but there is a chance of them picking you up and taking you into the sky, dealing slow and small damage as they take you up. This is not the brunt of the attack though, the brunt is that you are taken away from where you previously were. Because they are normally found near the Aurora or the floater island(similar to Skyrays), they may take you away as you were discovering the old bases on the island, or take you when you were in the open area of the destroyed Aurora and dropped into a pit of Reaper Leviathans. There are two ways to get down, either by swinging at their feet in a similar fashion as fending off biters as they grab your arm, or you can simply wait until you are brought high up into the sky after taking plenty of damage, then dropped automatically back into the water below. Shooting at them with the propulsion cannon or swinging a knife at them when they are close is a way to fend them off, both of which will cause them to change their mind about attacking you and fly off into the distance. Their pick-up attacks are much more deadly if the idea two entries below were used, but that danger is reduced if the idea 3 entries lower.
Waves: There would be natural waves, never very high, except when the Aurora explodes or when a fish lands back in the water after jumping out, creating small ripple effects. Small detail, and obviously not a high priority, but are a nice touch to add once some higher priority additions are completed.
Fall Damage: This is an implantation that the player will not be effected much by, but gives the player another thing to be careful about. This is mostly applied when using the idea one entry below, but can still effect the player at other points, such as falling off a mountain on the floater island. If you fall from a high distance into the water, although the damage taken would be greatly reduced compared to the amount of damage taken falling onto land, you will still be harmed if you are high enough. The way to avoid harm from these falls is explained an entry below.
Grav-Decreaser(Name WIP): This is used in rare occasions, therefore is a cheap item to make. When falling from a high distance, fall damage will now take place in the game, using the same rules as the entry above. It slows down the speed you fall and allows for a safe landing. This is used mostly for the idea above, but can also be used for falling off the cliffs on the mountain or falling off of the Aurora. The visual effect is a blue lighting that appears in a short vicinity of the player. It is also significantly useful for the idea below.
Sky-Slicer: This is a vehicle that is not for under water, but for the sky above(cannot at all be used underwater). Other than this, it is similar to the seamoth, excusing the fact that it is slightly larger and has to two aircraft-carrier like wings, one on each side. It is mostly for quick transportation, but is more of an end game vehicle, as one of the components to craft it could be in the lava zone, or possibly the lost river, depending on how difficult it is to get there. Whenever near the water, it auto-deploys some buoys, similar to the ones keeping the escape pod floating, and floats atop the water. There may also be an area added in the Aurora only accessible from the top, giving the Sky-Slicer another use. What keeps you from flying off the planet is another idea I've created, explained here:http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/141572/story-suggestion-the-moon-crawler#latest, titled the "Moon Crawler". When you are flying too high, you will be warned that you are approaching the screech zone. If you ignore the warning and continue ascending, you will here a loud screech coming from the moon crawler due to it seeing you near the planet. This will cause the vehicle to beep and begin spiraling out of control. If you do not eject, you will likely be thrown out automatically due to the spinning, and if you don't use the grav-Decreaser, an idea I've explained above, you will fall and likely take quite a bit of damage, if not die on impact with the water, due to a new addition, fall damage, explained 2 entries above. The Skyslicer will continue to spin around for a bit, then turn off and fall to the water. It will deploy the buoys and land on the water, but will be unusable until repaired with a welder. It is powered using power cells and can hold two at a time.
These are a few of the ideas i had for above-water-based aspects for the game, and it would be awesome if one or more of these entries were implemented, as some of them rely on each other to work or matter.
Above-Water Transport(Name WIP): Sadly, I accidentally deleted this entire entry. It was long, so I'll summarize. It was a vehicle that acted similar to a real life speed boat, but looked completely different. It hovered slightly above the water and moved quickly, but has no roof, leaving you exposed to the entry directly below.
Perics: These creatures are one of very few creatures in subnautica that fly and can't enter the water. They are uncommon, but make sure that nowhere in subnautica is safe, even out of water. They have a normal attack, which is to swoop down and attack you, dealing about as much damage as a stalker would if one of them bit you, but there is a chance of them picking you up and taking you into the sky, dealing slow and small damage as they take you up. This is not the brunt of the attack though, the brunt is that you are taken away from where you previously were. Because they are normally found near the Aurora or the floater island(similar to Skyrays), they may take you away as you were discovering the old bases on the island, or take you when you were in the open area of the destroyed Aurora and dropped into a pit of Reaper Leviathans. There are two ways to get down, either by swinging at their feet in a similar fashion as fending off biters as they grab your arm, or you can simply wait until you are brought high up into the sky after taking plenty of damage, then dropped automatically back into the water below. Shooting at them with the propulsion cannon or swinging a knife at them when they are close is a way to fend them off, both of which will cause them to change their mind about attacking you and fly off into the distance. Their pick-up attacks are much more deadly if the idea two entries below were used, but that danger is reduced if the idea 3 entries lower.
Waves: There would be natural waves, never very high, except when the Aurora explodes or when a fish lands back in the water after jumping out, creating small ripple effects. Small detail, and obviously not a high priority, but are a nice touch to add once some higher priority additions are completed.
Fall Damage: This is an implantation that the player will not be effected much by, but gives the player another thing to be careful about. This is mostly applied when using the idea one entry below, but can still effect the player at other points, such as falling off a mountain on the floater island. If you fall from a high distance into the water, although the damage taken would be greatly reduced compared to the amount of damage taken falling onto land, you will still be harmed if you are high enough. The way to avoid harm from these falls is explained an entry below.
Grav-Decreaser(Name WIP): This is used in rare occasions, therefore is a cheap item to make. When falling from a high distance, fall damage will now take place in the game, using the same rules as the entry above. It slows down the speed you fall and allows for a safe landing. This is used mostly for the idea above, but can also be used for falling off the cliffs on the mountain or falling off of the Aurora. The visual effect is a blue lighting that appears in a short vicinity of the player. It is also significantly useful for the idea below.
Sky-Slicer: This is a vehicle that is not for under water, but for the sky above(cannot at all be used underwater). Other than this, it is similar to the seamoth, excusing the fact that it is slightly larger and has to two aircraft-carrier like wings, one on each side. It is mostly for quick transportation, but is more of an end game vehicle, as one of the components to craft it could be in the lava zone, or possibly the lost river, depending on how difficult it is to get there. Whenever near the water, it auto-deploys some buoys, similar to the ones keeping the escape pod floating, and floats atop the water. There may also be an area added in the Aurora only accessible from the top, giving the Sky-Slicer another use. What keeps you from flying off the planet is another idea I've created, explained here:http://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/141572/story-suggestion-the-moon-crawler#latest, titled the "Moon Crawler". When you are flying too high, you will be warned that you are approaching the screech zone. If you ignore the warning and continue ascending, you will here a loud screech coming from the moon crawler due to it seeing you near the planet. This will cause the vehicle to beep and begin spiraling out of control. If you do not eject, you will likely be thrown out automatically due to the spinning, and if you don't use the grav-Decreaser, an idea I've explained above, you will fall and likely take quite a bit of damage, if not die on impact with the water, due to a new addition, fall damage, explained 2 entries above. The Skyslicer will continue to spin around for a bit, then turn off and fall to the water. It will deploy the buoys and land on the water, but will be unusable until repaired with a welder. It is powered using power cells and can hold two at a time.
These are a few of the ideas i had for above-water-based aspects for the game, and it would be awesome if one or more of these entries were implemented, as some of them rely on each other to work or matter.
Comments
That said, I love all these ideas and I would implement them if this was my game.
Surface waters? If you're talking about what I think you're talking about, surface waters is still waters. Did you suggest something that swims close to the surface or something that skids above it like a water strider? That would be cool. I could totally see something like that zooming around the water's surface near the mountain or the floating island.
Thanks! Although I understand they are not that keen on adding very much above water and what to keep it a below-the-surface game, when you look at the scale of things, this is actually very little compared to all that is added underwater. One enemy, fall damage, and a quick transportation vehicle? That's not nearly as much as it looks. The devs also need to keep the game real, if you see a flying species has developed above water, they shouldn't keep it to just one creature, and can at least make one enemy out of all the enemies in game above, adding a small variety to it, and of COURSE in real life, if you were stranded on a planet like this with the tech you have you would try and build a vehicle that keeps you out of the water! Of course there would be no base up there, as that would be way too overpowered, but having a small vehicle which helps you get around, danger still included(Perics), is fine in my eyes. Anyway, totally agree with you, thanks for the feedback.
That definitely sounds interesting, but I feel that may be a bit too overpowered, as there is nothing above water to attack you. Perics wouldn't be able to penetrate that by the sound of it, and would make you nearly invincible. Although it does make a lot of sense for that to exist, I feel it would be too easy to get around the world without more enemies above-water. It would be very cool to see it added, but there currently isn't enough threat to make it into the game right now. Thank you for the feedback!
Now that I think about it, an enemy cruising along the water does sound pretty cool, and i can picture it zipping along as well. I'd imagine it not to be hostile though, as that would be pretty deadly. You pop your head above the water to see the Aurora explode when suddenly a creature comes zipping by and whacks you in the face xD I picture it as a small creature that serves mostly no purpose other than to look cool and add a bit more life to the world, similar to a reefback(except a lot smaller as mentioned).
I would, except I have to be honest, I'm a pretty terrible artist xD imagine it like an alien pelican, double to size of a normal pelican, crazy alien look, derpy head, and a special attribute that separates the look a decent amount from a pelican(possibly some curvy wings, one foot, a big eye on the top, or maybe just a fat look xD). I have a friend that's an artist, maybe I can get him to draw something!
I tried to extract some textures but without success.
With a free license of Unity its possible to create custom asset bundles.
Only its not allowed to redistribute plugins used.