Now that we're approaching the end... Can we talk about getting rid of knife breakage?

GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
It's a holdover that doesn't really fit the game (nothing else breaks, does it?), it isn't really supported by the UI, and only serves to operate as a minor annoyance (and sometimes a major confusion) and a disincentive to enjoy the tool. It doesn't seem to have any positives in term of game enjoyment, and actually hurts "realism" because it's inconsistent with the rest of the game and consistency is super important to making things feel real. I think it should be removed. Do you agree?
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Comments

  • Crewman87Crewman87 Join Date: 2016-12-14 Member: 224967Members
    I would either want the knife to be repairable, or just break and disappear from inventory.
  • Alterra_CorpAlterra_Corp Join Date: 2017-02-05 Member: 227656Members
    edited February 2017
    I voted no. Its down to user preferences but my reasons:

    -Knifes break down with heavy use/need resharpening
    -I want to have a reason to use the mod station vs just building a few items once and never using it again.
    -I like crafting


    Edit: Just to add...

    Worried about that knife breaking on your next exploration? Bring 2. Some see it as annoying, I see it as planning. This game is easy as it is without the need for "build it and forget it" items.

    There are some that enjoy the survival/resource gathering aspect of the game and are not looking to quickly get to the end of the plot and leave the planet; I plan to stick around in sandbox/survival mode for a while. I want a reason to use the cool stuff I made to find new locations and gather resources. I know the knife is such a small/insignificant example, but removing it is one small step towards removing the need to replenish resources in the later stages of the game.

    If you can build everything once without the need for more resources then what is the point of sticking around? To look at the fish? I actually would like to see more items break down or require repair/maintenance because currently once you have built it all there is nothing left to do but leave the planet (with the exception of mining uranite if you use a reactor).[hides from mob] :p



  • SpongedogSpongedog Texas, United States Join Date: 2017-01-09 Member: 226461Members
    It really should be removed. It's not like it's hard to make knives, all it does is make me leave what I was doing (However important) and go the the kelp forest. I just cheat in a new knife when my old one "breaks".
  • Crewman87Crewman87 Join Date: 2016-12-14 Member: 224967Members
    Spongedog wrote: »
    It really should be removed. It's not like it's hard to make knives, all it does is make me leave what I was doing (However important) and go the the kelp forest. I just cheat in a new knife when my old one "breaks".

    Exterior Growbeds are great for keeping those creepvines nearby.
  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Spongedog wrote: »
    It really should be removed. It's not like it's hard to make knives, all it does is make me leave what I was doing (However important) and go the the kelp forest. I just cheat in a new knife when my old one "breaks".

    Just keep two. One Hardened, one Heated. When one breaks, use the other until you can get a new one.
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    DrownedOut wrote: »
    "Removed" is the answer closest to what I want and that is for it to be reworked. Batteries and power cells have gone from one-time use to rechargeable, so I want the knife to become something that needs to be resharpened/on molecular level repaired every once in a while.

    Giving you the ability to occasionally sharpen the knife at base (maybe using up a diamond to do it) so it does more damage / collects more plants in a single swing would be alright, so long as it's still usable in some shape or another while dull. That would still definitely fall under "removing breakage" though so you picked the right category. :smile:
    I voted no. Its down to user preferences but my reasons:
    -Knifes break down with heavy use/need resharpening

    There are some that enjoy the survival/resource gathering aspect of the game and are not looking to quickly get to the end of the plot and leave the planet; I plan to stick around in sandbox/survival mode for a while. I want a reason to use the cool stuff I made to find new locations and gather resources. I know the knife is such a small/insignificant example, but removing it is one small step towards removing the need to replenish resources in the later stages of the game.

    The knife is the only resource you DO need to replenish, and doing so is fairly trivial. It's not "one small step", it's "the final step" - the game is obviously not that sort of game.

    Also of everything you can build in game the knife is the least likely, in real life terms, to ever actually break lmao
  • FluffersFluffers United States Join Date: 2015-05-22 Member: 204749Members
    I'm fine with knives going bad, I just wish they'd last a lot longer
  • Crewman87Crewman87 Join Date: 2016-12-14 Member: 224967Members
    edited February 2017
    Fluffers wrote: »
    I'm fine with knives going bad, I just wish they'd last a lot longer

    The hardened knife serves that purpose, but it is only a x2 durability (iirc). I don't think it should be drastic, but the knife at this 'point', at least early game, is tedious to continuously keep extra on hand without mobile storage.
  • AvimimusAvimimus Join Date: 2016-03-28 Member: 214968Members
    I want everything to break!! Random failures if you don't maintain your sub!
  • TheRelmLordTheRelmLord The Void Join Date: 2017-01-04 Member: 226060Members
    Avimnus. If You Want Everything To Break Then Just Grab A Sledge Hammer And Break Your Arm With It. Or Both Of Your Legs, Your Ribs, Your Arm, Your Skull, And Your Neck.
  • ThePassionateGamerThePassionateGamer Germany Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218219Members
    I think it is a good idea to implement something to keep your knife "in shape". A simple whetstone or a molecular repair via the fabricator or modification station would be great.

    I don't mind looking after my knife every now and then, I even go so far to reload ALL my batteries after each longer trip out of base no matter if they have 10% left or 85%.

    So yes remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature for the knifes pls.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    This is the 22nd century. According to current estimates, we're supposed to have self healing materials before the change of the century according.
  • Alterra_CorpAlterra_Corp Join Date: 2017-02-05 Member: 227656Members

    So yes remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature for the knifes pls.

    I'm confused...remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature? So what happens when you don't repair/maintain? It breaks? Seems like a conundrum :D

    Also, for those that don't want to carry an additional knife..why would they want to carry an additional object to sharpen it?

    Sure you can make the knife not useable when in disrepair, but I say why complicate it more when the existing simplistic solution acheives the same end result.
  • ThePassionateGamerThePassionateGamer Germany Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218219Members

    So yes remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature for the knifes pls.

    I'm confused...remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature? So what happens when you don't repair/maintain? It breaks? Seems like a conundrum :D

    Also, for those that don't want to carry an additional knife..why would they want to carry an additional object to sharpen it?

    Sure you can make the knife not useable when in disrepair, but I say why complicate it more when the existing simplistic solution acheives the same end result.

    I meant remove the "broken state that you can't do anything about" to make it more clear for you.

    Right now you have a knife in your inventory with the broken condition that you can either upgrade at the modification station (at least you could do that in the past) or throw it away. That is kinda strange considering the timeline we play in. The materials should have improved to a point where you can bring your knife back in shape even after heavy use. Maybe even give it self repair.

    And no you do not have to take a 2nd item to sharpen your knife. You should be able to do it with a base item like the fabricator or modification station.

    If you forget to maintain your knife for too long it should become dull and thus require way more swings to work or not work at all. Therefore yes you still need a kind of not-working-condition, but one you can remove again by doing maintenance.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Avimimus wrote: »
    I want everything to break!! Random failures if you don't maintain your sub!

    How about nuclear reactors? Imagine you are collecting supplies away from your base and when you are about to go back home you see a mushroom cloud emerging from the ocean followed by huge wawes and a loud "boom". After that your base has joined the metal salvage in the sea, and the area it was in is forever radioactive. All the plantation has died in the area.

    I have a huge base with 10 nuke reactors so I don't want that added
  • NerdyEricNerdyEric Join Date: 2016-11-15 Member: 223876Members
    I meant to say removed...... but yeah this really doesn't add anything to the gameplay
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    edited February 2017
    I'm confused...remove the breaking and add a repair/maintain feature? So what happens when you don't repair/maintain? It breaks?

    If we have to replace it with something, I would suggest, if we have any sort of maintenance, it be this:

    Add a "nanomolecular edgekeeper" machine at the base that consumes a diamond in exchange for giving your knife a significant boost to damage and the ability to collect multiple resources with a single swing where appropriate.

    When the "edge" wears off, it reverts to a normal knife, which is the "worst case scenario" - but you can re-sharpen it whenever you are back at the base.

    The "Hardened knife" boosts the damage fro the edgekeeper even more and makes it last longer. The heated blade still works with it though.
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    edited February 2017
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    edited February 2017
  • RalijRalij US Join Date: 2016-05-20 Member: 217092Members
    Maybe have a late game plasma knife that functions similarly to the other equipment, ie it doesn't break but uses a battery that has to be recharged. Give it a bonus to damage or make it weigh less or something as an additional advantage and reason to make it in the first place.
  • nocommonsensenocommonsense Join Date: 2016-08-16 Member: 221427Members
    Attention to detail like noticing that knives need to be sharpened is good. But then pretending that complex aquatic forms of transport and habitats don't require regular and costly maintenance is silly. Not only should all the more complex equipment start to breakdown with time and use (the breakdown is there but only in the case of something causing damage), but the repair tool should consume the resources used to build whatever it's repairing.

    For realism and challenge, I'd love to hear comments like:
    "Oh you built your Cyclops, have fun keeping up on maintenance."
    "What the hell did you think they meant when they said for crews of 3"
    "I remember my first expedition to the lost river, I had to abandon my Cyclops there since I didn't bring the right materials to maintain it."
    "One does not simply travel into the Active Lava Zone"
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    edited February 2017
    Honestly, knife breaking is the only challenge that we face for the entirety of the game. Early, Mid, and End game.

    Getting rid of it would make the End game that much easier.

    It also gives sense of realism. In the real world, if you were in a survival situation, and you used your trusty knife all the time, it would eventually dull and break.

    And Subnautica needs all the realism it can get. It needs to prepare for the future war with haters, with their "THIS MAKES NO SENSE" comments.
    #savethebreakingknife
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    edited February 2017
    Again, a high quality knife breaking in the timespan of this game is about as far from realistic and far into "gamey" territory as you can get, especially one with advanced construction techniques like the knife in game. Heavily used knifes in real life still last years.

    If you want realism, you should be completely in favour of removing knife breakage, which is ludicrously unrealistic. So you should really come up with a better argument, because that one sucks.

    Also if knife breaking is a "challenge" for you, I think you may understand "challenge" about as well as "realism". Tthere's absolutely nothing about it that could remotely be considered challenging as far as I can tell - am I missing something?
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    1. Knives in-game don't break all that often, they break over the span of in-game months. This is a realistic time frame.

    2. Even high quality knives break. I've seen really good whittling knives break on more than one occasion. And whittling seems to be a less rigorous task than slashing coral and chitinous creatures.

    3. When I say challenge, take that with a grain of salt. Kind like how batteries were a challenge before the Battery Charger was implemented.

    Knives breaking is perfectly plausible.
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    If you want the excitement of a limited use weapon, do something interesting like give us a melee range "bangstick" that works like the seamoth defense grid in that it instantly drives creatures off, but which can only be recharged back at the base.
  • GlyphGryphGlyphGryph USA Join Date: 2015-02-19 Member: 201435Members
    edited February 2017
    Skope wrote: »
    3. When I say challenge, take that with a grain of salt. Kind like how batteries were a challenge before the Battery Charger was implemented.

    Neither of these are a challenge. If you don't mean challenge, maybe you should try a different word? It's honestly really confusing for you to talk about non-challenging things as a challenge. I have no idea what you mean here, but it's nothing like challenge.
    Skope wrote: »
    1. Knives in-game don't break all that often, they break over the span of in-game months. This is a realistic time frame.

    2. Even high quality knives break. I've seen really good whittling knives break on more than one occasion. And whittling seems to be a less rigorous task than slashing coral and chitinous creatures.

    Knives breaking is perfectly plausible.

    You've seen whittling knives break because they were used wrong. They don't break from wear and tear, they break from operator error. If the knives in game broke because you, the player, used them wrong - then that would be a challenge, however slight. That is not how it works.
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    edited February 2017
    I'll just leave a link to an explanation as to what makes knives break.

    Like the guy in the link says, knives are damaged or broken when knives are used for purposes the metal wasn't designed to do. Now, I don't know about you, but a using a knife to fight off a giant monster eel seems far from what it was made to do. Making knives break is very realistic. I can see that it is an annoyance to some, especially when in the middle of a resource run. But since knives are so useful, and aren't difficult to make, making knives break is a great balance.
  • CathairCathair Join Date: 2016-08-12 Member: 221229Members
    Keeping it just in gameplay terms here, the knife breakage isn't a big deal but it is really out of place, as other posters have mentioned. I wouldn't mind a sharpening mechanic at all though, my enjoyment of that kind of low-key systems maintenance is why I play Survival rather than Freedom.

    If any kind of durability mechanic is kept, the knife at least needs a UI indicator for it. Every other consumable resource in the game that I can think of has this, which makes the knife's lack of one stand out.

    Also, it needs to be changed to not lose durability when breaking outcrops. It seems like the natural tool for this, doesn't it? It's got the little animation where you hit the rock with the pommel, it's one of the first tools you're likely to make, and you're not slashing stalkers or cutting creepvine all the time, so what else are you going to use it for? But it's the worst tool for this, unlike the flashlight or scanner, which also provide one-click harvesting but never break. And that's really silly.
  • CathairCathair Join Date: 2016-08-12 Member: 221229Members
    edited February 2017
    Skope wrote: »
    Now, I don't know about you, but a using a knife to fight off a giant monster eel seems far from what it was made to do.

    Cutting flesh is exactly what many knives are made to do. And the ones that aren't made for that simply have a harder time going through it, on account of thicker or more convex edge profiles; they're even less likely to break from it.
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