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If you haven't made a hand-drawn map with graph paper and a protractor then you haven't really played Subnautica. Extra credit if you started it using an arbitrary north before you had the compass.
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Dec 2, 2022 19:18
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| # ? May 29, 2024 21:06 |
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I fail to see how a mapping system to see where you've been and check if there's anything valuable at all hurts the feeling of exploring. To me, part of exploring is the charting and understanding of what was previously unknown. Instead of trying to have to remember what is where, what can be found in what areas, and where you've already been with what tools. Besides a map, I feel like this game sorely needs a mobile resource scanner module for one of the vehicles instead of making me spam scanner bases to find just the right lumpy brown-gray smudge in the clutter that I want.
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Dec 2, 2022 19:21
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I'm firmly on Team Mods, but I also play on Freedom mode because I find food/water management tedious so I'm already avoiding the full challenge of the game. The gameplay-affecting mods I play with: EasyCraft (crafting automatically pulls from nearby inventories and when required creates intermediate items from the appropriate raw materials) QuickSlotsMod (10 hotbar spaces) SubnauticaMap (map with fog showing biomes, beacons, and upper level topography) UITweaks (a variety of minor QoL changes to the various interfaces like bulk crafting, bulk clearing of the "new stuff" highlights, and autonaming lockers) I've also just found SnapBuilder, which makes things like lockers and planters snap to a grid when placing, and am probably going to add that when I go back in to build a megabase. IMO all these reduce annoyances without really changing the level of difficulty. wolrah fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Dec 2, 2022 |
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Dec 2, 2022 19:23
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I always appreciated the lack of the map. I started by using the Aurora as a landmark and orienting myself to that each time I went out. Even after getting the compass, I tended to use the Aurora as my guide stone. Later on, It was the entrances to the deep rivers. It made the world feel a bit more organic as I just mentally mapped out where things were, using biomes as my general map locations. It added to that feeling of "conquering" the world, which is not the best word for the situation, but how else do you explain that sense of power and place from when you begin in the game to where you end at. Going from a half-starved survivor to submarine captain navigating the deep, dark trenches of the game is an incredible journey.
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Dec 2, 2022 19:53
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Cythereal posted:I fail to see how a mapping system to see where you've been and check if there's anything valuable at all hurts the feeling of exploring. To me, part of exploring is the charting and understanding of what was previously unknown. Instead of trying to have to remember what is where, what can be found in what areas, and where you've already been with what tools. To each their own, but I think it comes down to how some people really enjoy building a mental map of a space, the relationships between landmarks and the growing sense of familiarity with a previously unknown environment. Some people would prefer to offload that cognitive load onto a computer or automated process (or simply never learned how to build that kind of mental map in the first place, something I think is probably increasingly common in the era of smartphones and navigation apps.)
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Dec 2, 2022 19:53
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The Aurora runs roughly north/south (not exact, but close enough), and going towards either of end of it is when you start hearing the opening notes to Danger Zone start playing. It’s enough to work with until you can start putting beacons down, which I advise doing for entrances to various places. I put them at the entrances/junctions to/in the Lost River, the Tree, and the thermal plant in the Magma Zone. Also, the secondary magma zone entrance in the Lost River, if I come across it.
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Dec 2, 2022 20:13
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Beacons beacons beacons.
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Dec 2, 2022 20:15
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When playing Subnautica vanilla I beacon everything I think I might ever come back to and can't navigate to immediately. I only ever pull beacons out of fully explored wrecks. They're cheap. In Below Zero I had to beacon significantly less after a bit because both the map is small and the biomes are very distinctive (which is good design).
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Dec 2, 2022 20:17
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I think the fact that the map mod doesn't have any details on the underground areas strikes a good balance. I'm still using beacons all over the place marking various entrances and structures but at the same time I can plan a trip that involves multiple stops a lot more easily.
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Dec 2, 2022 20:37
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To get around the "did I find everything" in a wreck issue, I'd put my beacons down with "U NE wreck 500m" or something like that, the "U" for unexplored or partially explored. I'd delete it once I went back and was sure it was done.
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Dec 2, 2022 21:07
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Cythereal posted:Besides a map, I feel like this game sorely needs a mobile resource scanner module for one of the vehicles instead of making me spam scanner bases to find just the right lumpy brown-gray smudge in the clutter that I want. Not really a spoiler for the next game but hey they made this! It’s a handheld mineral scanner that points you to the nearest mineral of your choice! hopefully it gets added to Subnautica 1.0
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Dec 2, 2022 21:28
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Endless Trash posted:Not really a spoiler for the next game but hey they made this! It’s a handheld mineral scanner that points you to the nearest mineral of your choice! hopefully it gets added to Subnautica 1.0 I must've used it incorrectly because I found it almost entirely useless.
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Dec 2, 2022 21:46
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It was decent when you knew you were in the right place and were just looking for the outcrop, but yeah next playthrough I'm going to just go back to scanner rooms.
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Dec 2, 2022 22:14
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The real reason why there's not an ingame map is because the game devs couldn't really figure something out (and later said that because of how vertical the game is, a horizontal map would cut out too much). I feel like not having a map kinda adds to the raw, environmental hostility of the game, but it is frustrating at times. There are a lot of other games where people speculate on whether maps and minimaps detract from immersion or not. The game does throw a bunch of beacons at you with the escape pods to help guide you along, and I wish that there were more available colors to help differentiate them. Worth noting that there's not really a point in thinking in terms of "clearing out" explored areas. I'm pretty sure scrap and mineral deposits respawn over time. There's some amount of procedural generation in the game. Shipwrecks you can clear out entirely so it's worth keeping track of those, but when you're on the hunt for supplies, just feel free to zone out. But it was also frustrating to me how the game does let you have a compass after you've been poking around for a while, but by that point I had already started to form my own mental map of the area that didn't match up with those cardinal directions. And that mental map is still pretty strong, although I'm pretty sure some bits are wrong. Here it is: 
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Dec 2, 2022 22:40
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It's upside down.
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Dec 2, 2022 22:48
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SlothfulCobra posted:The real reason why there's not an ingame map is because the game devs couldn't really figure something out (and later said that because of how vertical the game is, a horizontal map would cut out too much). I feel like not having a map kinda adds to the raw, environmental hostility of the game, but it is frustrating at times. There are a lot of other games where people speculate on whether maps and minimaps detract from immersion or not. The game does throw a bunch of beacons at you with the escape pods to help guide you along, and I wish that there were more available colors to help differentiate them. Well, for starters The cannon island is more western than southern. I don't mean traditionally, just based on your map, if we're making the Aurora is true north. Also, the jelly shoom cave could be more northern. I'm sure there are other details, but that's just what jumped out at me. Disclosure; it's been like at least 6 months since I last played, so maybe I'm way wrong.
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Dec 2, 2022 22:50
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Well, for starters The cannon island is more western than southern. I don't mean traditionally, just based on your map, if we're making the Aurora is true north. Also, the jelly shoom cave could be more northern. I'm sure there are other details, but that's just what jumped out at me. This is actually why I find the lack of an automap so compelling. I can look at that map above and see features and relationships I clearly know are correct or incorrect, but also there are spots I can't quite be sure about. All without playing for almost a year.
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Dec 2, 2022 23:07
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SlothfulCobra posted:The real reason why there's not an ingame map is because the game devs couldn't really figure something out (and later said that because of how vertical the game is, a horizontal map would cut out too much). If we're talking about reasons there isn't a map, the first game originally being intended to have a deformable environment was probably also a factor, then by the time they decided to cut that feature they had already started building gameplay around not having one.
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Dec 2, 2022 23:09
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I have crafted and equipped every upgrade I can that doesn't require kyanite. A full base worth of materials stored belowdecks. Six spare power cells fully charged. Let's loving do this. 
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Dec 3, 2022 00:37
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Dec 3, 2022 00:41
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Cythereal posted:I have crafted and equipped every upgrade I can that doesn't require kyanite. A full base worth of materials stored belowdecks. Six spare power cells fully charged. Let's loving do this. Godspeed goon
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Dec 3, 2022 00:53
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 Plot dead ahead, cap'n!  Now that I have the improved jump jets and the grappling hook, I've warmed considerably on the prawn. Edit: Okay, this place did not expect me to bring the prawn in here and does not like it one bit. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 00:58
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Cythereal posted:
Note that this applies to all places that are not sea floor. You absolutely will get stuck and have to grapple your way along the floor if you try to walk around in the prawn indoors
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Dec 3, 2022 01:27
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Well, finally found some kyanite so now I need to... *checks notes*... withdraw back to minimum safe dive depth so I can unequip the depth enhancements on the cyclops and prawn, craft the final versions, and re-equip them.
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Dec 3, 2022 01:32
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The pro move is to just rip it out at depth and be quick about it 😅
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Dec 3, 2022 01:33
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Yeah it’s totally fine just don’t take a nap in between
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Dec 3, 2022 01:37
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Cythereal posted:Edit: Okay, this place did not expect me to bring the prawn in here and does not like it one bit. You have learned the most important lesson: Ancient architecture is made of the same kinds of geometry that get you the tapdance of the damned P.S. Everything down there loves the sound of your horn, so toot as much as you want!
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Dec 3, 2022 02:31
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Bad Munki posted:The pro move is to just rip it out at depth and be quick about it 😅 Indeed. The crush damage isn't that fast.
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Dec 3, 2022 02:40
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Well, for starters The cannon island is more western than southern. I don't mean traditionally, just based on your map, if we're making the Aurora is true north. Also, the jelly shoom cave could be more northern. I'm sure there are other details, but that's just what jumped out at me. I guess I might remember the path to that being more "diagonal" by my reckoning, but I always thought of it as being "south". There's a thing where your brain will sometimes naturally untangle more complicated bits of geography. The two [ bits I know there's probably a lot more on the seafloor level, but so much of the transit there was on the surface following the beacon because I couldn't go deep enough at the time, and probably the areas would go off the map if the thing was properly scaled. I kinda guessed at the location of the jellyshroom cave because I didn't really spend much time there and was always a bit confused at its location every time going there. I also think maybe having duplicate biomes might've made the game seem smaller from how you find them and just assume that they're the same place, but on the other hand I think Below Zero didn't screw as much with its biomes might've made it too easy to keep track of them all at once so I was more aware of how small the map was.
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Dec 3, 2022 02:46
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This amuses me. Scratch that, all but one hatching enzyme ingredient, I already had either growing in my garden at my main base, or got by accident at some point and put in a locker because I thought it might be useful later.  Edit: And the one I didn't was growing right next to my second base. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 02:59
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Cythereal posted:This amuses me. Scratch that, all but one hatching enzyme ingredient, I already had either growing in my garden at my main base, or got by accident at some point and put in a locker because I thought it might be useful later. Well now that you are at that point. Did you ever go back and use the radio for the whole Sunbeam subplot? Because to me that was always the best bit of the game.
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Dec 3, 2022 03:07
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So there's a real time delay between radio messages. So... I have to sit here and wait until I get one that progresses the plot. I think that's a good stopping point for the night. Highlights from this evening's trip, putting everything in spoilers just in case.  When hunting for a geothermal plant, this is promising. Also, kyanite!  gently caress. You.  Oh. That's what was making those roars.  Yup, that looks like a final dungeon.  The sphincter factor probably would have been high, had it not been so obviously telegraphed that she was friendly.  A job well done, and shockingly fast, too. Only thing I didn't have already growing in my garden or in a locker was ghost weed, and that grew abundantly outside the Maw.  Yeah, I figured this thing was a weapon after I boarded the Aurora and it talked about unknown weapon damage. I stopped listening to the radio as soon as I figured out that there was a dampening field or defense platform of some kind. Devs, seriously. It's a crafting survival game about being stranded on an alien world. How stupid do you think I am when you dangle the possibility of rescue in front of me when there's clearly so much game left? Honestly, I feel a bit insulted that they threw this Sunbeam plot in. Getting rescued an hour or two into the game would mean it isn't much of a game. Cythereal fucked around with this message at 03:55 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 03:39
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You should be able to upgrade the Prawn from inside the Cyclops by way of the data panel where the docking bay is. I don't believe it gets damaged if it's docked during the process.
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Dec 3, 2022 05:05
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The whole bit about the radio is the breadcrumbs it gives you. Its there to lead. Most of the pods it leads you to have a decent item to get instead of finding it in wrecks. And some like Commander Keens pod has tons of minerals you that need around it. The first one is to lead you to your first seaglide parts if you havent seen them around. And the Sunbeam is meant to lead you to the islands and everything you find there. It encourages exploration.
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Dec 3, 2022 07:21
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With the exception of the Sea Treaders Path, all the biomes are so big that you can’t really miss them when playing through the story, so I just put beacons down.
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Dec 3, 2022 07:50
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Cythereal posted:Besides a map, I feel like this game sorely needs a mobile resource scanner module for one of the vehicles instead of making me spam scanner bases to find just the right lumpy brown-gray smudge in the clutter that I want. It's trying to encourage you to make a bunch of bases. I feel like it would've been better served if the expensive modules like scanners, what it did was have a 'research' cost to unlock them, and then scale back the cost to build them. Then it'd be easier to build plenty. Also a cyclops dock.
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Dec 3, 2022 08:24
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Cythereal, re: the sunbeam plot: the radio being one-way and only being messages that are already received means that nothing you do in theory would have an effect on the sunbeam approaching. Now most people figured it wouldn't be the end there, but still played it out. It's inteded to illustrate something to you (something you won't see now). What you did was basically metagame by avoiding game-based triggers: in real life, the messages would just pile up, but knowing it's a game and how games work, they come in one after the other so you can hold events back artificially. So now you've diverted yourself into an edge case handling sequence that's just there to tie up the few people who do this, usually on replays. You also missed distress calls from about 10 other lifepods to draw you to points on the map and creepy semi-translated messages intercepting Warper transmissions as they detect active intelligent life infected with Khaara and go into hunter mode. Keep listening though, there's some other things that'll come up. MikeJF fucked around with this message at 08:36 on Dec 3, 2022 |
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Dec 3, 2022 08:28
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And that's Subnautica. All in all, mixed feelings. I am not someone who suffers from thalassophobia, so I found the world gorgeous and a delight to explore. When the base-building mode was cooperative, it was intuitive and enjoyable. The presence of a story was an enjoyable surprise, and it was a decent one, too. I enjoyed that there weren't any malevolent villains in the game, and I respect the developers' commitment to not putting any guns in the game. On the other hand, that big, gorgeous world has shockingly little in it to interact with. I checked an official map of the game afterwards, and there were two entire biomes I played the whole game without realizing existed. And the core gameplay boils down to number go up -> click buttons to create means to make numbers go up more. Exploring the world of Subnautica was a delight. Strip mining it for sea bear asses, livers, kidneys, brains, testicles, spleens, and pituitary glands was not. As someone with a very poor sense of direction and navigation, I found the lack of a map, mobile scanner, and way to tell if I'd fully looted a wreck to all be frustrating. The story, while serviceable, also relied far too much on finding clickable items and reading text dumps. My overall conclusion is that for me, Subnautica was a thoroughly whelming game. It did what it said on the box and had some ideas I found novel but didn't make full use of them. I have a nagging feeling that the game is missing something, and I'm not sure what. I am not a fan of crafting/survival based games, so I'm not conversant in the genre and how representative Subnautica is, but Subnautica did nothing to make me a fan of the type. For fifteen bucks I feel I got my money's worth, but I don't know if I'll boot up the game again.
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Dec 3, 2022 12:55
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The sequel is more of the same with a much worse plot… But you might enjoy it if the price is right on a good sale. The base crafting is much better with more pieces.
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Dec 3, 2022 13:00
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| # ? May 29, 2024 21:06 |
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But the most important question is: what did you name your Neptune?
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Dec 3, 2022 13:49
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