[Suggestion] Alternative Cyclops and Vehicle Balancing
Greyfox643
Join Date: 2017-01-24 Member: 227177Members
Join Date: 2017-01-24 Member: 227177Members
The core aspect of the game is survival.
To survive we need to manage Health, Air, Food, and Water.
To progress we need to manage Resources, Power (cells and reactors), and Technology (equipment, vehicles, and fragments).
The first 4 present an immediate threat to the player's survival. Ignoring any will very likely lead to death.
The last 3 present a future threat to survive if lost or mismanaged.
In the current state of the game, we need to balance the first 4, with the last 3. Mismanagement equates people having a rough time of things, or in hardcore, the future death of a player.
Because of the vast difference between the two groups, I propose the following changes to Cyclops Submarines and all other vehicles in subnautica. We are said to live in an age of Nano-Technology, so let's take advantage of that narrative point with the following ideas.
Intergrated Nanite Repair Module
It's integrated because it's placed onto the exterior of the seamoth, the chassis of the Prawn, and the engine room of the Cyclops. This does not take a module slot, but is required to be built separately, likely with computer chips, titanium, and a builder tool (as a material). It is immediately unlocked after the player finishes the fragments for two vehicles (the seaglide may or may not count).
This provides vehicles with the ability to "armor tank" hazards and hostile creatures at the cost of rapidly eating through power cells. (Lava Leeches would become more dangerous) The "per powercell" cost is to balance upwards for bigger vehicles, as the MK-1 unit would require 24 energy a second, and the cyclops would take 72 energy a second. This would be painful for an unmodded vehicle, but less so for players that have Aquired various efficiency and thermal/solar power upgrades.
This also gives players a last-ditch effort to save the vehicle from Crush, and for unattended vehicles to survive being used as chewtoys while the player is off inside a wreck or structure.
But, it isn't 100% immunity, because each level automatically shuts off at low power. Which means it could not sustain a vehicle under constant assault for very long.
However this solves only one issue: durability. Let's discuss three methods which to deter attackers and evade them all together.
Perimeter Defense System.
I removed "seamoth" from the title. That's it.
Inside the Prawn it generates a field 1.5x bigger. But the cost is per powercell. Cooldown remains the same.
The cyclops generates a field 4x bigger. But the cost is per powercell. Cooldown remains the same.
That's it. Just a tweak to an existing tool. Nothing fancy.
Frequency Masking Module.
This is a module you would need to build. Likely the fragments for this would be tied to the scanner room for thematic purposes.
When activated it costs a fairly low power per second cost. (Probably 0.5-2 points) The FMM can be set do emit the sounds of ANY creature the player has FULLY SCANNED and finished the codex entry for.
So herbivores would likely not be very useful outside of their own biome. But aggressive entities like stalkers would cause them to ignore the vehicle, but only for stalkers. This could progress all the way up past Reaper Leviathans, as scans of them would get everything but other reapers to ignore you. And Sea Dragon Leviathan would probably top everything but itself (as its the ONLY natural predator for Reapers)
This would give players incentives to get close and attempt to scan very hostile wildlife, as there is now a direct reward for doing so. (currently, only bragging rights is the reward for successfully scanning and living to tell about it.) And this plays into the DevTeam's desire to have a non-violent game that encourages problem-solving without attempting to reach for a Standard Altera-Corporation Light Machine Gun.
Silent Running Mode.
This is innate in all vehicles. No module required. Just toggle on/off as needed. (essentially the "stealth stance" of subnautica)
This reduces the players detectable radius by 50% of normal during the day. And 75% at night. While in effect, dark red lights illuminate the interior of the vehicle, exterior lights work at 50% of their original luminosity. (this is based off of most military and civilian vessels navigating sea in modern-day times. Military to hide from enemy targets, and civilian submarines to reduce their presence when studying wildlife [I can only speak for military, i am mearly speculating on civilian submersibles])
This give people a actual, tangible, stealth-mode to be used in hostile life-form territories. And gives the players a non-violent tool to avoid confrontation.
To truely have this mode work, I hope some form of radar or mapping module is in the works for vehicle. Even kind of "Daredevil" vision utilizing Sonar tech would be awesome.
EDIT] So AFTER posting this topic (i had copy and pasted from Reddit, where i didnt get any replies) I discovered This Video. I hope this will be implemented with all vehicles, but I am very happy that It will come with the Cyclops at the very least.
And for my last point:
Salvaging.
Half our gameplay revolves around salvaging. We repurpose the destroyed husk of the Aurora for our own uses. We scan it's broken skeleton for useful equipment so we can survive. We survey discarded tech and pick and pull anything and everything if it means we can live longer.
So why not our own vehicles?
Lets make all vehicles drop their fragmented and destroyed husks wherever they are obliterated. Each of the pieces can be scanned for salvage.
At least 30% of all materials can be recovered this way, up to an absolute maximum of 60% of the materials used to construct the vehicle. This will not include any built equipment inside the cyclops. One default locker will drop from the cyclops, which locker is at random, once emptied it can be salvaged. One to two powecells may drop from the cyclops and Prawn, the seamoth will not drop powercells. Storage from the Prawn will be accessible and then able to be salvaged.
for those wondering why I made no mention of creature aggression
It is largely because I feel the dev team has no basis counterbalancing that aspect of the game yet. We went from God-Clops to mortalclops (at least in experimental).
I feel these ideas, if implemented would give a solid start for balancing entity detection, aggression, and un-detection (getting away/hiding from something so it loses interest). I agree they need to be looked at, but AFTER players get tools to counter the more hostile ocean (or hide from it)
this concludes my thoughts on the current solutions to the experimental build.
Thank you for reading.
To survive we need to manage Health, Air, Food, and Water.
To progress we need to manage Resources, Power (cells and reactors), and Technology (equipment, vehicles, and fragments).
The first 4 present an immediate threat to the player's survival. Ignoring any will very likely lead to death.
The last 3 present a future threat to survive if lost or mismanaged.
In the current state of the game, we need to balance the first 4, with the last 3. Mismanagement equates people having a rough time of things, or in hardcore, the future death of a player.
- Losing a PRAWN prevents aquiring rarer materials at deeper depths.
- Losing a source of food just means you need to farm for fish for a time.
- Losing a Cyclops (and in lesser cases, a seamoth) extremely restricts the distance of exploration a player can travel between voyages away from the lifepod or base.
- Losing all water just requires you to studiously farm for bleach or bladder-fish.
Because of the vast difference between the two groups, I propose the following changes to Cyclops Submarines and all other vehicles in subnautica. We are said to live in an age of Nano-Technology, so let's take advantage of that narrative point with the following ideas.
Intergrated Nanite Repair Module
It's integrated because it's placed onto the exterior of the seamoth, the chassis of the Prawn, and the engine room of the Cyclops. This does not take a module slot, but is required to be built separately, likely with computer chips, titanium, and a builder tool (as a material). It is immediately unlocked after the player finishes the fragments for two vehicles (the seaglide may or may not count).
- Mk-1: Auto-repair damage at a rate of 2% a second at a cost of 12 energy per second per powercell. This effect is always on and will function while the player is outside the vehicle or it is docked. Due to safeties the module with shut off when vehicle power reaches below 40% of the total power pool.
- Mk-2: Auto-repairs at a rate of 4% a second at the cost of 10 energy per second per powercell. Safeties disable at 30% of total power.
- Mk-3: Auto-repairs at a rate of 6% a second at the cost of 8 energy per second per powercell. Safeties disable at 20% of total power.
This provides vehicles with the ability to "armor tank" hazards and hostile creatures at the cost of rapidly eating through power cells. (Lava Leeches would become more dangerous) The "per powercell" cost is to balance upwards for bigger vehicles, as the MK-1 unit would require 24 energy a second, and the cyclops would take 72 energy a second. This would be painful for an unmodded vehicle, but less so for players that have Aquired various efficiency and thermal/solar power upgrades.
This also gives players a last-ditch effort to save the vehicle from Crush, and for unattended vehicles to survive being used as chewtoys while the player is off inside a wreck or structure.
But, it isn't 100% immunity, because each level automatically shuts off at low power. Which means it could not sustain a vehicle under constant assault for very long.
However this solves only one issue: durability. Let's discuss three methods which to deter attackers and evade them all together.
Perimeter Defense System.
I removed "seamoth" from the title. That's it.
Inside the Prawn it generates a field 1.5x bigger. But the cost is per powercell. Cooldown remains the same.
The cyclops generates a field 4x bigger. But the cost is per powercell. Cooldown remains the same.
That's it. Just a tweak to an existing tool. Nothing fancy.
Frequency Masking Module.
This is a module you would need to build. Likely the fragments for this would be tied to the scanner room for thematic purposes.
When activated it costs a fairly low power per second cost. (Probably 0.5-2 points) The FMM can be set do emit the sounds of ANY creature the player has FULLY SCANNED and finished the codex entry for.
- Small Creature Masking will cause no noticable affect on surrounding aggression of fauna
- Stalker Masking would get most creatures in Stalker's Natural Biomes to give the vehicle a wide bearth
- Warper Masking would cause Only Warpers to ignore the vehicle and the player if they remain close to the vehicle. Will not work on Carar Carrying organisms
- Sand-Sharks, Bone Sharks, Crab Snakes, and all aggressive Fauna that is limited to appearing in a small selection of biomes will only work for the Biome
- Reaper Frequency Masking will make everything terrified of your vehicle, and actively run away. Except Reapers... they may get curious.
So herbivores would likely not be very useful outside of their own biome. But aggressive entities like stalkers would cause them to ignore the vehicle, but only for stalkers. This could progress all the way up past Reaper Leviathans, as scans of them would get everything but other reapers to ignore you. And Sea Dragon Leviathan would probably top everything but itself (as its the ONLY natural predator for Reapers)
This would give players incentives to get close and attempt to scan very hostile wildlife, as there is now a direct reward for doing so. (currently, only bragging rights is the reward for successfully scanning and living to tell about it.) And this plays into the DevTeam's desire to have a non-violent game that encourages problem-solving without attempting to reach for a Standard Altera-Corporation Light Machine Gun.
Silent Running Mode.
This is innate in all vehicles. No module required. Just toggle on/off as needed. (essentially the "stealth stance" of subnautica)
This reduces the players detectable radius by 50% of normal during the day. And 75% at night. While in effect, dark red lights illuminate the interior of the vehicle, exterior lights work at 50% of their original luminosity. (this is based off of most military and civilian vessels navigating sea in modern-day times. Military to hide from enemy targets, and civilian submarines to reduce their presence when studying wildlife [I can only speak for military, i am mearly speculating on civilian submersibles])
- Seamoth: speed is capped at 60% of max, energy drains at half the normal rate. Using any active module disables Silent Running.
- Prawn: speed is capped at 50% of max. Energy drains at half rate. Using any active module or jumping disables Silent Running.
- Cyclops: speed is unaffected (because is already fairly ponderous). Energy drains at 1.25x the normal rate. Using any active module disables Silent Running.
This give people a actual, tangible, stealth-mode to be used in hostile life-form territories. And gives the players a non-violent tool to avoid confrontation.
To truely have this mode work, I hope some form of radar or mapping module is in the works for vehicle. Even kind of "Daredevil" vision utilizing Sonar tech would be awesome.
EDIT] So AFTER posting this topic (i had copy and pasted from Reddit, where i didnt get any replies) I discovered This Video. I hope this will be implemented with all vehicles, but I am very happy that It will come with the Cyclops at the very least.
And for my last point:
Salvaging.
Half our gameplay revolves around salvaging. We repurpose the destroyed husk of the Aurora for our own uses. We scan it's broken skeleton for useful equipment so we can survive. We survey discarded tech and pick and pull anything and everything if it means we can live longer.
So why not our own vehicles?
Lets make all vehicles drop their fragmented and destroyed husks wherever they are obliterated. Each of the pieces can be scanned for salvage.
At least 30% of all materials can be recovered this way, up to an absolute maximum of 60% of the materials used to construct the vehicle. This will not include any built equipment inside the cyclops. One default locker will drop from the cyclops, which locker is at random, once emptied it can be salvaged. One to two powecells may drop from the cyclops and Prawn, the seamoth will not drop powercells. Storage from the Prawn will be accessible and then able to be salvaged.
for those wondering why I made no mention of creature aggression
It is largely because I feel the dev team has no basis counterbalancing that aspect of the game yet. We went from God-Clops to mortalclops (at least in experimental).
I feel these ideas, if implemented would give a solid start for balancing entity detection, aggression, and un-detection (getting away/hiding from something so it loses interest). I agree they need to be looked at, but AFTER players get tools to counter the more hostile ocean (or hide from it)
this concludes my thoughts on the current solutions to the experimental build.
Thank you for reading.
Comments
@Squeal_Like_A_Pig ▲ @Greyfox643 has some cool ideas!
Wow, just... wow
Ah, this is true. I had thought the source of total explosion would come from a critical engineroom failure, but it makes sense that player-made equipment and storage would at least partially survive, considering how much exists inside various wrecks around the game.
I just worry that it would result in an immediate rebuilding of the Cyclops/vehicle, which would nullify any drawback whatsoever (other than the time it takes for you to swim to your vehicle construction module)
Lol. Thank you.
This would make salvage easier while exploring surface areas, as if you got smashed by a Reaper you could zoom back with a Seamoth and probably not go deep enough to annoy it again. Yet while you explore the caves, failure would have nearly the same consequence.
I think as aN emergency response to crush depth, this would be excellent. But as a response to hostile organisms, especially while inside the vehicle, it would be very jarring.
In either case, I think it wouldn't engage unless the player is OUTSIDE of the vehicle. Taking control away from players in a Dick Move in birdperson culture, and should only be excused when the narrative is strong enough and warrants such an extreme device to give further depth to the narrative at that point in time.
Not too sure how well it would work with subnautica.