Emperor Telepathic Messages Feedback (Major Spoilers!)
FirstEd
New Mexico Join Date: 2017-06-25 Member: 231340Members
New Mexico Join Date: 2017-06-25 Member: 231340Members
I played through all of Subnautica since the Voice of the Deep update and I have one major piece of criticism / feedback that I really want to get across to the devs.
I really, really, REALLY wish the Sea Emperor contacted you more times throughout the game via telepathy.
The first time I heard the Sea Emperor was about 5 hours in, when I was in / near the Aurora for the first time. After that? Nothing. Not one single bit of contact until the disease research facility.
I was constantly... CONSTANTLY hoping this thing would keep contacting me. It was the ONLY thing trying to talk to me in a sea full of death and monsters.
"Ooh... maybe if I go down to Blood Kept Zone I'll hear something?" No.
"Maybe if I find more of these Precursor Caches?" Nope.
"Maybe if I use the bed I'll get a message in my sleep?" Nuh-uh.
The Sea Emperor is the only other major character in the game and what an amazing character! I felt such a connection to them! They were a sole survivor, just like me, trying to fight this horrible disease, just like me. They were trapped, just like me, but they were doing what they could to make things better, just like me.
The Sea Emperor is just such a significant character in the whole story of Subnautica that I was really, REALLY hoping there'd be a bit more interaction between them and the player, but the only interaction I found was the initial contact, the Disease Research Facility (or maybe it was the Thermal Plant) and then the Primary Containment Facility. That was it.
I can't even say how disappointed I was when I found out the Emperor wouldn't contact you in your sleep. For some reason, that made perfect sense to me. Even if it was just the jingly noise and the Sea Emperor's face appearing, just SOMETHING to remind me that there was somebody else out there, waiting for me. That would've been awesome.
Anyways Devs, I love this game and I love the Sea Emperor character, but please make them communicate a few more times with you before you go to the Lost River. That. Would be. Awesome.
Thank you!
I really, really, REALLY wish the Sea Emperor contacted you more times throughout the game via telepathy.
The first time I heard the Sea Emperor was about 5 hours in, when I was in / near the Aurora for the first time. After that? Nothing. Not one single bit of contact until the disease research facility.
I was constantly... CONSTANTLY hoping this thing would keep contacting me. It was the ONLY thing trying to talk to me in a sea full of death and monsters.
"Ooh... maybe if I go down to Blood Kept Zone I'll hear something?" No.
"Maybe if I find more of these Precursor Caches?" Nope.
"Maybe if I use the bed I'll get a message in my sleep?" Nuh-uh.
The Sea Emperor is the only other major character in the game and what an amazing character! I felt such a connection to them! They were a sole survivor, just like me, trying to fight this horrible disease, just like me. They were trapped, just like me, but they were doing what they could to make things better, just like me.
The Sea Emperor is just such a significant character in the whole story of Subnautica that I was really, REALLY hoping there'd be a bit more interaction between them and the player, but the only interaction I found was the initial contact, the Disease Research Facility (or maybe it was the Thermal Plant) and then the Primary Containment Facility. That was it.
I can't even say how disappointed I was when I found out the Emperor wouldn't contact you in your sleep. For some reason, that made perfect sense to me. Even if it was just the jingly noise and the Sea Emperor's face appearing, just SOMETHING to remind me that there was somebody else out there, waiting for me. That would've been awesome.
Anyways Devs, I love this game and I love the Sea Emperor character, but please make them communicate a few more times with you before you go to the Lost River. That. Would be. Awesome.
Thank you!
Comments
More contact moments would be nice too. I found the time between the first, random vision and the ones that start when you're on the trail pretty long and it'd be nice if some neglectable ones would exist to fill up time in case you take longer to reach the deeper areas and/or if you get the first vision early.
Completely agree!
@Fathom
Oh man, that is such an awesome idea. As you enter some interesting places, the Emperor contacts you and marvels at it along with you.
@DarthOmnis
I definitely like that idea too. Sometimes finding things in the game is a pain, so, maybe, the Emperor could find a 'missing' recipe in your book? Then send you the vision of a peeper who is IN a location that has a fragment to that piece. Helping you out by giving you sight through a peeper.
As for the dreams, I love the idea of maybe a 'dream only' area. I thought maybe you'd have a dream where you're swimming around the Primary Containment Facility, even if it's a short, 'on rails' kind of ride, it'd be a cool glimpse at an area that you'll eventually go to. Or, maybe you'd dream about the peepers, the pipes, the eggs, stuff like that that the Sea Emperor would be sending to you.
Anyways, lots of great suggestions. I REALLY hope the Devs look at this thread!
The first time I entered the lost river I bumbled into it. There does seem to be a kind of breadcrumb to one of the entrances but you don't get that until after you are already there.
The Aurora leads you to the Gun, which tells you about the Disease Facility which is X meters away and Y meters down, which leads to the Lost River, which will lead to the Power Plant, which I believe leads to the Containment Facility
I can understand that players might not opt to use the bed, but do you think the game could use some more telepathic messages from the Sea Emperor? Either directing you to sites in the game or just some basic interaction with the player? Would love to know if you feel that would be beneficial to the game.
I recognized what the image was supposed to be, the Sea Emperor. However I was disappointed that no other event came of it, nor of any other response following it. What was I supposed to do, or how do I follow up that event... Who am I indeed, since I know nothing of the survivor's backstory.
I haven't played much past that point; between power management/Thermal Plants/Power Transmitters being a mess now, and I still dread trying to navigate the mid-game with the unenjoyable Cyclops, I don't know when (or if) I'll continue the story past the DGR. But yes, to answer your question, I liked the vision the player encountered and think more of the creature's visions would be fun to encounter. It could be like the Communication Relay, but instead it's directing the player as they progress through the mid-game.
Also while in the subject, is there anyway to make the Communications Relay messages more 'random'? I find it somewhat disappointing that my "new message received" icon always appears after triggering certain events (finding a new biome, unlocking certain blueprints or even crafting a Seamoth, for instance). I know a lot of games need event flags for scripted events, but those are about too obvious when they appear.
I hoped the devs would've implemented some concentration/sleep bar and the game would force you to actually use beds or give Mr. Coffee a bit more power. Then it would be easy to implement sleep visions, because we knew every player would see them in time.
The way the game avoids sleep needs it doesn't make sense to include a sleep vision at all, sadly.
I wouldn't like a sleep bar. That kind of thing generally starts to feel more tedious, especially in games like this, whose focus is more on exploration. Despite previous comments about how this game is about fearing the dark of the deep, not the dark of the night, I still think it wouldn't be a terrible decision to have some kind of difference between the day and the night. Maybe stalkers wander to the shallows to hunt during the night or different creatures show up. Not necessarily more dangerous ones, just different ones. These types of changes would only be relevant in areas close to the surface obviously, but at least it'd make it more likely to make a bed.
I don't think sleep messages are a good idea. But more, and more relevant ones in general would be good. Like @Tarkannen said, he got them, but there's nothing really to do with them. I wouldn't be opposed if it gave VERY vauge information about what to do. No hand holding though. Instead of "here, to me," (which is like okay? yeah was planning on it anyways.) Something like "here, even deeper..need you ('need help' maybe?) Or maybe one she mentions something like, "the way is dangerous, careful." These probably aren't great but These messages need more than what they have now. Some kind of vauge information to guide the player forward.
But in saying this, we don't need a LOT more. Too few and the anticipation becomes annoyance "it's been so long since it contacted me, and it didn't tell me anything the first time, or the second either!" Too many and you lose a lot of excitement that comes along with getting one. They're suppose to be special. Honestly it's hard to manage because different players will play at different paces, but I think one or two more messages would be about right. But they have to be relevant and not just filler like the second one feels to me. "Here, to me." That one annoyed me. Especially because it's not like you really have much of an option. You're more following the precursor information, not her messages.
Pretty much agree with you. I don't think the inclusion of 'fatigue' or the need to sleep would be beneficial. That said, I still think maybe a bonus message from using the bed would be cool.
I also appreciate the balance that they need to strike. Too many messages and it loses its punch. But I just feel like it's a little too few at this point.
I can't remember the "Here, to me," message. Does that happen in the Lava Lake? I wouldn't be surprised if it did because I was swinging from the ceiling in the Prawn at the time, dodging Warpers and Sea Dragons and I don't remember much from that time except for the fact that I was always about to die.
Thanks for the comments!
Heck, if players being unaware is the problem, why not have a contact vision inform the player that during sleep their mind is more accessible?
Well, I wouldn't because I feel like it'd come out pretty awkward and even that idea seems like it's forcing it to happen.
Maybe I'm just biased against having sleep-triggered events in games that don't require sleep, because the last time that happened was when I played Skyrim and randomly began the dark brotherhood questline. You get a letter once you pose as a dark brotherhood member and kill somebody for some one. The letter says "We know" (you stole our business basically) and has a hand print and is really creepy. But the thing is, nothing actually happens until you rest because the idea is they kidnap you the next time you sleep. I had that letter in my pocket for probably around 20-30 hours of gameplay having no idea what to do to trigger it and it destroyed any cool "unknowing" factor about it. I had to google how to progress for lords sake and thats no good.
Now of course, this doesn't apply that well because it would just be some extra, minimally relevant information for those who sleep, but if it's just that irrelevant then I don't think it's worth including since it would just be more fluff. And we all know my opinion by now on those messages. They're cool, but pretty pointless overall. Nothing they say actually changes what you do, or what you're aiming to do. You'd still get to the Emperor without her messages. It's a cool idea, but might need some tweaks. But a lot of the wonder was probably sucked away by the fact that I knew pretty much everything in the story already, and what it was that was sending me the messages.
@FirstEd you get the second message when you pick up the Blue artifact, which is found in the Precursor Thermal Power Generator. The third message is once you enter the lava lakes, which says, "I am what... you seek. Want to... help you."
Do you guys intentionally seek old 2017 threads to necro?
Anyways, I agree, but this discussion is long over.