Subnautica - Deep Sea Exploration & Survival-All

Pages

I'm not sure if there is already a thread for this, couldn't seem to find one with the search function. It would be a crime if this excellent game didn't have a thread. It's from the same dev team that created Natural Selection. The game has been in early access for four years and was just released last week. Here is the early access trailer:

And here is the full release trailer:

Basically you are on a ship passing near a planet when it is shot down from an unknown weapon. You just barely manage to reach a escape pod. We've all done that before, but the catch here is this one is all ocean as far as the eye can see so there's nowhere to go but down.

The gigantic ship that you were on also crash lands on the planet with you, spreading debris all over the ocean floor. It's a single player survival, exploration, building, and crafting game. You start out in the escape pod with only basic survival gear and then things progress from there. The pod comes equipped with a standard issue fabricator, which breaks down materials to their raw elements and can then re-assemble them to usable items.

In typical survival fashion you scavenge what you can from the environment using not only the planet's natural resources, but whatever else you can find from the wrecks of other crashed ships. The ultimate goal is to equip yourself with the necessary means to escape the planet. If you enjoy survival or underwater games then I highly recommend you check it out. If you have VR then all the better because it supports it.

This game has sucked me in. The hours just fly by. I’m guessing I’m maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the way through and so far the gameplay loop has been very satisfying. Explore, discover new wildlife and tech, build up your base, upgrade your gear then more exploring.

As a child I was always fascinated with the thought of exploring new worlds. Preferred Starflight to Ultima. Read a bunch of science fiction. Mass Effect really tapped into my childhood sense of wonder when it came to futuristic civilization and alien cultures. But it totally dropped the ball in creating alien ecosystems. This is the game that has finally scratched that particular itch for me.

I keep losing Seamoths. I’ll park it somewhere and come back just in time to see it destroyed or carried away by some giant monster, or I’ll return from exploring a wreck and it will just be gone without a trace. I’ve gone through five so far.

I love this game.

I built a.scanner station too close to a weed forest and all the little razor tooth things keep stealing my drones! I end up coming home and having to figure it which tiny cave they've been dragged into while I was away :O

ruhk wrote:

I keep losing Seamoths. I’ll park it somewhere and come back just in time to see it destroyed or carried away by some giant monster, or I’ll return from exploring a wreck and it will just be gone without a trace. I’ve gone through five so far.

I love this game.

Light and sound, all the big nasty’s seem to respond to one or both. I kept leaving the Seamoth’s headlights on and it finally hit me that’s probably the reason big monsters were drawn right to it. Try killing those lights if you haven’t already, helped me out when I was having the same problem.

I've been playing this lately too. I really like it, but I've got some niggles.

The main thing is that there's no in-game map. There are various events that will point you in a direction to find a thing, but at a certain point, those start being triggered by you building certain things. I got stalled because I didn't need a particular item, so I didn't build it.

Exploration is also gated by certain pieces of equipment. You get blueprints for equipment scattered around the environment. With no map or other pointer devices, it's really easy to miss stuff, and wander aimlessly. For example, there's a thing you need to get below a certain depth. After a while, new stuff can only be found below that depth. I didn't have the thing or the plans. I have a terrible memory for landmarks, so I was kind of lost as to where I hadn't looked. Turned out that I just missed picking the thing up from a spot I'd been to before.

What wound up unsticking me was cheating using the internet. There's a non-"official" way in game to find your exact coordinates, and maps with position markers available online. I found a guide, looked up the names of the things I hadn't found yet, used a wiki to find locations of those things, then the map and coordinates to pick them up. Now that I've got plans for a bunch of new stuff, I'm back into the find resources > build stuff > explore new areas > find more stuff > decide where to build a base loop and I'm happy again.

I've dropped about 8 hours into the 1.0 build and I can already tell this game will be landing in my GOTY Top 10.

The presentation is top flight. Gorgeous visuals and esp. accomplished sound design.

Quite enjoy the explore/gather/craft gameplay loop. It's as super-satisfying as it is relaxing. Can't wait to get into base building, but I'm in no rush.

Overall the game feels like a more forgiving The Long Dark.

Two thumbs WAY up so far.

Yeah that’s one thing I can’t really wrap my brain around is why there is no map. I know the devs said they felt it would ruin the sense of wonder and discovery, but I think a map that fills in as you explore the world would be perfect. It would allow you to see where you’ve been, but not spoil anything else.

i've kinda hit a wall at the moment...i think i've done about as much as I can story-wise without requiring a moon pool so i can start upgrading my stuff to reach greater depths, but I can't for the life of me find the bits for it. Any clues as to where the appropriate wrecks are? I could just look it up on a wiki but that feels like it would defeat the purpose.

*hahaha ok never mind. I just booted up the game, picked a random direction and immediately just happened across a wreck with moon pool parts Disregard the above!

Good lord this game is addicting.

That it is for sure. I spent nearly 50 hours on the PC version and still double-dipped to pick it up on XBox One too. They have lots of optimization and polishing to do, but as soon as it hits 1.0 I’ll be starting a new game.

In my current game on PC I just made it down below 1000m for the first time. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can say that as you go deeper the biomes and creatures get more beautiful...and deadly.

Damn you folks! Between John Walkers posts on RPS and this thread, I've become convinced that I need to play this. My queue isn't getting any smaller, ya know!

Aaaand with that in mind, anyone know the cheapest place to pick this up on PC?

Glycerine wrote:

That it is for sure. I spent nearly 50 hours on the PC version and still double-dipped to pick it up on XBox One too. They have lots of optimization and polishing to do, but as soon as it hits 1.0 I’ll be starting a new game.

In my current game on PC I just made it down below 1000m for the first time. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can say that as you go deeper the biomes and creatures get more beautiful...and deadly.

Oh no! I get freaked out enough at the things living at 500m :O

(I really, REALLY hate deep water in real life. It's not quite a phobia, but it for sure creeps me the eff out* and you couldn't pay me enough to go swimming in it, so this game is most definitely a love/hate thing for me! ).

*luckily when I get too freaked out there's a (sort of) solution...even if it is cheating...

Spoiler:

I switch on "invisible" in the dev console. It stops things from attacking the main character directly, though they'll still attack your seamoth or submarine. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I've not 'noped' my character on to dry land permanently

Really digging the progression here. It always feels like I have a clear goal to push towards. Getting the seaglide really opened things up, and then finally getting the seamoth was like

pyxistyx wrote:
Glycerine wrote:

That it is for sure. I spent nearly 50 hours on the PC version and still double-dipped to pick it up on XBox One too. They have lots of optimization and polishing to do, but as soon as it hits 1.0 I’ll be starting a new game.

In my current game on PC I just made it down below 1000m for the first time. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can say that as you go deeper the biomes and creatures get more beautiful...and deadly.

Oh no! I get freaked out enough at the things living at 500m :O

(I really, REALLY hate deep water in real life. It's not quite a phobia, but it for sure creeps me the eff out* and you couldn't pay me enough to go swimming in it, so this game is most definitely a love/hate thing for me! ).

*luckily when I get too freaked out there's a (sort of) solution...even if it is cheating...

Spoiler:

I switch on "invisible" in the dev console. It stops things from attacking the main character directly, though they'll still attack your seamoth or submarine. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason I've not 'noped' my character on to dry land permanently

I am right there with you. I am terrified of deep water and as a result the game is so intense for me that sometimes I have to either remove my head phones or just stop playing entirely.

Hey! One of my students went to work for this company when he graduated. I see he's on the credits. Now I need to play it.

I really want this game but have been somewhat spoiled with so many deals out there on games. Since when did $24.99 seem like so much money for a game

Hopefully we get a sale on it in the near future (doubtful but maybe!). I'm keeping a close eye on this one.

It has been as cheap as $10, but since it finally hit 1.0 I wouldn't expect to see that again for a bit.

That being said, I feel like a totally got away with something getting a game this good for only $25 bucks. Just got my first base somewhat functional, and trying to find one more part of the moon pool plan. Starting to find entrances to the "underworld" and desperate to get to some of the lower biomes. My poor Seamoth can only go 200m deep right now, so i end up parking it at 199 and using my seaglide to get me down and back before I run out of air.

Holy crap does the Cyclops sound like fun. Can't wait to get that thing going.

Got a scanner room on my first base....wow is that super useful. Just don't leave the scan running!!

This one's worth $25. It's not perfect, there are definitely some fairly glaring flaws, but it's damnably addictive.

Discovered the...

Spoiler:

Abandoned disease research station, along with a long dead Sea Dragon(!) and the ribcage of something EVEN BIGGER :O before having to turn back as I'd reached my 900m depth limit in Bumblebee, my Seamoth.

...last night, which was quite the adventure. Also quite the coincidence, as I'd set up a new base directly opposite the cave leading there from the surface without even realising it.

Now I need to hunt down the rest of the cyclops parts, I think to see what's even deeper down there!

I think I’m closing in on the end game, I just reached...

Spoiler:

...the Primary Containment Facility and met the Sea Emperor. She’s asked me to help hatch her eggs and I think I have everything needed to create the enzyme. Thankfully I set up the Vanguard (my Cyclops) as a mobile base so it has everything I need. Once all of this is done I’m hoping there’s a easy way to get out. If not I can go back the way I came, but man was that a really tight fit.

Really love this game and I’m ecstatic to see others enjoying it as well.

Diving all around the Aurora looking for Cyclops pieces with my seamoth as a point of refreshing air at 200m, since that is as low as it can go now. I turn around when my air gets low to find my baby in the mouth of a reaper.....boom

Was a race to the surface after that. But now I am just 2 hull scans away from a Cyclops!

Really enjoying this, but man I wish there was a map.

That feeling when you reach out a bit further than you should. Yet see something you just have to investigate. But are low on vital supplies.

"It's gonna be okay. I'll figure something out to stay hydrated & full. I think hope...Probably."

Damn this game is golden.

I was getting pretty frustrated at the (random) progression. I couldn't find the resources for the next piece of tech, and the radio-given waypoints were unreachable to me, I really didn't know where to go or what to do.

If you get like that, my advice to you is--just keep playing.

Eventually, the radio sent me to a place that solved all my problems, advanced the story, offered me upgraded tech. And since then, it's kept doing that. Every time I think I hit a wall, I get sent a message that opens up the game some more.

I wish it were more clear that you should expect things to progress, because it took me a long time to understand how the game advances. I honestly thought I had just about finished the game when I built the seamoth and a small base at like 50m depth. I'm like, I could keep exploring and expanding just for fun but I've pretty much got all the tech and built everything you can build.

Boy is that wrong... but how would you know?

Also, play this game with headphones! I was playing with speakers with the volume kind of low and today I put on headphones for the first time. It's a totally different experience! The wildlife make all kinds of noises, and all the equipment has distinctive sounds and the bubbles... man the bubbles.

Somehow it just all gets lost when you mix the sounds of the ocean with the background noise of your normal surroundings.

Finished up yesterday and absolutely loved it. The ending sequence is well done and there’s a subtle nod to DLC the devs had talked about possibly doing. I really hope they come out with some form of additional content, until then I’ll sit back and think about all the fun I had playing, at least until the XBox One version is finished and then I’ll be starting up again. The final two end game achievements are bugged so that kind of sucked, would have been my first perfect game on Steam. Oh wel, I saved right before the end so once it’s fixed or if they do DLC I’ll be ready.

Frahg wrote:

Also, play this game with headphones! I was playing with speakers with the volume kind of low and today I put on headphones for the first time. It's a totally different experience! The wildlife make all kinds of noises, and all the equipment has distinctive sounds and the bubbles... man the bubbles.

Somehow it just all gets lost when you mix the sounds of the ocean with the background noise of your normal surroundings.

I have a relatively quiet office, so don't really need headphones, but the new bose companion 3 speakers I got at Christmas definitely shine with this game. Reefback calls reverberate through my desk/floor in an awesome way. The sound design on subnautica is really amazing. I would put it up there with elite dangerous.

Time to build my moonpool today.

Btw, if you haven't built a scanning station add- on to your base, do it! Makes resource gathering a lot easier, especially with some scanner upgrades. That and large storage lockers

Large wall lockers were my primary motivation for building my first base.

I had like15 of those little floating storage containers floating outside of my escape pod and they were hella unruly to navigate!

Aaron D. wrote:

Large wall lockers were my primary motivation for building my first base.

I had like15 of those little floating storage containers floating outside of my escape pod and they were hella unruly to navigate!

Yeah, me too! I was waiting until I found the perfect location to build a base, so as not to waste resources on a base I never used but I never found it. I ended up just building a base near the initial drop pod and haven't regretted it for a second.

Plus, as I was building I learned you can deconstruct a base for 100% resource return so... even if I do find the perfect place, I can just move everything.

Base near the start has worked out for me. Lots of fish to harvest. And nothing beats a bedroom with views of the coral reef. I also built an above water observation dome with a desk and chair cause I figured my guy would want to get some fresh air and see the sky every now and then. Was going to put some foundations above the water and put a huge garden on it, but all the struts made things look dumb below water. If I had planned ahead better it would have worked.

Main thing though is that I can always find my base by following the life pod beacon.

Pages