Subnautica: Below Zero - Deep Dive

“Dive into a freezing underwater adventure on an alien planet. Set one year after the original Subnautica, Below Zero challenges you to survive a disaster at an alien research station on Planet 4546B. Craft tools, scavenge for supplies, and unravel the next chapter in the Subnautica story.” (Quote: Unknown Worlds)

After being out for almost two years as an early access game, the sequel to Subnautica releases in early 2021 if everything goes to plan. I am surprised if it doesn’t end up in the top three of my favourite games in ‘21. I guess I am not the only one.

So, to make it easier to differentiate between Subnautica and its sequel, a dedicated thread seemed wise

Regarding the pricing:
“With the release on the horizon, [they] will be increasing the price of Below Zero to $29.99 (USD) across all PC storefronts (Steam, Epic, Discord, Humble) on January 5th, 2021.” (Quote: Unknown Worlds)
Even 29.99 is a low price, so the current price (€/$16.79) is quite a bargain.

I will start playing next week, but I know that some of us here have been playing since it was released as an early access game. What are your general impressions so far? How does it compare to the original game?

I started playing a few days ago. You can't tell that its early access now. The story is complete, the features are polished. I've given a handful of minor items as feedback. If you fear Early Access games, this one is the reason not to. If you fear the deep, well, enable Invisible mode like me

Oh and if you liked Subnautica, it's more of the same formula, many of the same items but all of the vehicles except the Prawn and the Seaglide are new. Most of the base building is the same with some exceptions.

Most of the base building is the same with some exceptions.

That’s actually the thing I put most time into while playing the first game. Building bases in exotic places deep down was just so much fun. What exceptions are you referring to? New modules or just new furniture?

When it comes to story, they have overhauled the beginning of the game quite a bit over the course of the last two years. Originally, you started with a complete base that would be destroyed in the introduction, but in the current state it seems very similar to the beginning of the original Subnautica.

Yeah I like the new intro, its a little simpler than their original one and leaves you without very much context but gets to the point quickly.

Base building exceptions I just mean some new devices, like the Control Room I dont think was in Subnautica and the Large Room for example.

Something unique that Subnautica (both games) does is deny you a map. This requires building yourself a sort of mental model of what is where as well as lots of use of Beacons to provide yourself with waypoints as you explore. Mostly, I'm for this. It encourages exploration and gives players who have a knack for navigation an advantage. With your old beacons always accessible you can't really get hopelessly lost either. But on the other hand it can get really disorienting trying to find something specific that you know about without a waypoint, and then when you find it, unless you thought ahead to bring yourself a few beacons (occupying valuable inventory space) you will have a hard time finding something important again later.

I've taken to exploring in the Prawn, which feels like it has improved mobility over the first game's Prawn. The 'truck' is too bulky with any useful attachments (by design I think). The Prawn's jump seems more powerful and it quickly recharges, such that you can always continue making vertical progress and a good jump can cover a lot of ground. The mobile storage space is great to have too. Now I just need to remember to stock the storage with a few essentials next time. Im in an above-ground arctic wasteland trying to build a minimal base so I can make a fabricator so I can make a beacon, thats a lot to go through.

I think a minimum base is an I compartment, a hatch, a solar panel, and a fabricator? I'd have what I need if I had a few more pieces of quartz but I think Im SOL on that.

When this first came out in Early Access I bought it and played through what they had which was very rough. I uninstalled it and avoided hearing more until it was completed so I could go into it without expectations beyond playing the original. It sounds like it's at the stage where I could play it in its final intended form but I'm still hesitant until they say it's 1.0.

mrwynd wrote:

It sounds like it's at the stage where I could play it in its final intended form but I'm still hesitant until they say it's 1.0.

I'm with you. Subnautica is one of my favourite games of all time, which I really didn't expect when I picked it up way back when. I almost feel guilty having bought it before the price increase, simply because I want to support the developer as much as possible.

I've been hesitant to play until the official 1.0 release because that first run-through of exploration is pure magic, and I want it to be as jank-free as possible. I say this fully acknowledging that my Seamoth got rammed through terrain by wildlife multiple times in the original, and I still had a great time.

It looks like the release date is listed as January 30th, so I think I can occupy myself with other games until then. Hopefully the next month is just another round of polish prior to release!

polypusher wrote:

Something unique that Subnautica (both games) does is deny you a map.

I agree. I remember using the scanner room quite extensively and found the three dimensional representation of the area surrounding it very ‘natural’ - for the lack of a better word.

Just a heads-up for anyone planning on nabbing Below Zero before the Jan. 5th price increase.

It's currently $20 (going up to $30 1-5-21), but if you already own OG Subnautica on Steam you can get the Deep Ocean Bundle that includes both for $18.

You'll only get a Below Zero key but it's still a couple bucks cheaper and floating close to -50% of the eventual $30 price tag.

Coldstream wrote:

It looks like the release date is listed as January 30th, so I think I can occupy myself with other games until then. Hopefully the next month is just another round of polish prior to release!

That’s Jan. 30th 2019. The official 1.0 release date is expected to be sometime in January but haven’t committed to that timeframe beyond the price increase on Jan. 5th.

So are they mostly just polishing bugs at this point? I'd love to start my playthrough of Below Zero now while I have some time off from work. Do I need to worry about my save getting broken when the game releases?

I have been playing the same waiting game as most folks. But hearing this discussion reminds me of how often I'd hear from Subnautica players how things changed during different stages of development, indicating that they had played through the game multiple time in different stages. Which always floored me. Not that game doesn't deserve it, but that really spoke to how engaging the game was/is.

Im 16 hours into the game and it has felt complete and polished, especially compared to some recent games. I feel like I might be half-way done?

If there's any content being held back for the full release I don't know about it but I will probably avoid the ending until 1.0 in case there's any final cutscene or polish they put there unless I hear from someone else that that part is done too.

Aaron D. wrote:

Just a heads-up for anyone planning on nabbing Below Zero before the Jan. 5th price increase.

It's currently $20 (going up to $30 1-5-21), but if you already own OG Subnautica on Steam you can get the Deep Ocean Bundle that includes both for $18.

You'll only get a Below Zero key but it's still a couple bucks cheaper and floating close to -50% of the eventual $30 price tag.

Or if you don’t mind the Epic store you should be able to use the current $10 sale coupons to get it for $10. I did this a few days ago, it was about $12 USD for me due to regional pricing differences.

Redherring wrote:
Aaron D. wrote:

Just a heads-up for anyone planning on nabbing Below Zero before the Jan. 5th price increase.

It's currently $20 (going up to $30 1-5-21), but if you already own OG Subnautica on Steam you can get the Deep Ocean Bundle that includes both for $18.

You'll only get a Below Zero key but it's still a couple bucks cheaper and floating close to -50% of the eventual $30 price tag.

Or if you don’t mind the Epic store you should be able to use the current $10 sale coupons to get it for $10. I did this a few days ago, it was about $12 USD for me due to regional pricing differences.

Or €6.79 for Europeans... which is quite ridiculous. I almost feel bad for the developers, because they manage to put out such great content. Especially because I got Subnautica for free as well.

So, Below Zero is not quite complete. I believe development is done but until the game's launch they've blocked off the part that I guess would lead to the end with an invisible wall, so I guess I'm done for a few weeks. Its okay I was getting frustrated with it.

The game is... pretty good but short of great. I think not as good as the first one. It's intriguing and has all of the best bits of Subnautica, but the story is hard to follow, is less epic (Ill never forget the Sunbeam in Subnautica), and has some irritating level design. Looks like I put 18ish hours in and 3-5 were just being lost and aimlessly wandering. The above ground arctic wasteland is ridiculously hard to navigate and unlike the last game, the important, very deep parts of the game have tiny connections that are difficult to find and navigate.

A good level sort of guides you through it and if you aren't going to provide a map that's extra critical. Though these areas are beautiful they're also lacking the nuance really good design provides.

I'm looking forward to finishing it, and I would still recommend the game to anyone who enjoyed Subnautica. Subnautica is still the best building/survival game out there, for having an actual story to follow instead of just an endless resource grind.

I have played a couple of hours and there are only some things I’d add to polypusher’s viable last comment.

The game looks mostly very pretty, but I am missing the mixture of a sense of wonder and fear that made Subnautica so great. My knife was stolen once by some clingy big seahorse and I accidentally bumped into a shark, whereas I bumped into a leviathan in my first thirty minutes of playing Subnautica.

Temperature just doesn’t make much sense.
What it basically does is substituting the O2 meter with temperature when you’re out of the water. When you’re in the water, temperature is not a factor anymore at all. For anyone who has ever swum in water that’s almost zero degrees that just doesn’t compute.

Spoiler:

I am having a hard time liking the character designs in the portraits. I had much more fun not knowing what the voices look like. And there is another person on the planet that you meet pretty early. I only met her once... I can’t say I am looking forward to meeting her again.

To be fair, temperature wasn't a factor in OG Subnautica. That does make for a weird disconnect between land and water, though.

You can die from Thermal vents, so high temp is still very much an issue in water and as you go lower. Also important for Thermal plant efficiency (placement nearer high temps). My main base is right next to one, and my Thermal plant is practically sitting in lava. UNLIMITED RENEWABLE POWER!!!

I've put 26 hours in (I suck at games so no feel for how far I really am) and until now my only complaint was the occasional lack of direction, and the annoying hunt for that final fragment for a blueprint. Both of those were my experience with the original, so I kind of expected them.

Today I saved while in the Prawn and upon returning to the game I can neither move nor jump in the Prawn. If I exit, my tool selection remains that of the Prawn, and if I reenter I can no longer exit. So I guess I'm done for the time being.

I filed a bug report, for whatever good that will do.

FeralMonkey wrote:

Today I saved while in the Prawn and upon returning to the game I can neither move nor jump in the Prawn. If I exit, my tool selection remains that of the Prawn, and if I reenter I can no longer exit. So I guess I'm done for the time being.

I actually had a very similar issue with the Prawn in the first Subnautica (getting stuck while in the Prawn) and I only just played that late last year. Doesn't sound like a new bug, and that's disappointing that it's still not fixed.

Did you try exiting and saving again? That might fix it after you reload.

I played Subnautica on creative mode early in 2020 and the problem of your subs just falling through the world was still a thing. Would be hugely disappointing if they didn't fix that.

Vector wrote:

I played Subnautica on creative mode early in 2020 and the problem of your subs just falling through the world was still a thing. Would be hugely disappointing if they didn't fix that.

Vector wrote:

I played Subnautica on creative mode early in 2020 and the problem of your subs just falling through the world was still a thing. Would be hugely disappointing if they didn't fix that.

I had this weird, on-going bug in which I would be standing still in my sub, and I would very slowly be moving. Shortly thereafter, I would be ejected upward to land on the top of my submarine. The water would suddenly act like air, and I could jump off of the sub down to the sea-floor. If I survived the fall, I would suddenly be in water again and could resume swimming. No clue if they've fixed that bug (I seem to recall something about it in some patch-notes) but it definitely screwed me over a few times.

The classic situation of wildlife grabbing my Seamoth and dropping it below terrain happened a few times too. At one point I had forgotten to save for a while, so I think I ended up using console commands to go below the terrain and terraform my way back to the surface to rescue my poor Seamoth!

Malor wrote:

Did you try exiting and saving again? That might fix it after you reload.

I was able to successfully recover the save by exiting the Prawn, saving, and then reloading. That seemed to reset whatever state was causing the issue.

Now I’m just back to not knowing what I’m supposed to be doing next.

I've been patiently waiting for release. I bought into Subnautica VERY early in it's development, and played it a lot as they were adding things. For reference, I was in EA back before they added the koosh biome (later renamed to the bulb zone), or took away the teraformer. I remember when they added base building... So a lot of the story and gameplay was spoiled for me in that one LONG before the game released.

That being said, while I have seen different things in development, I'm very happy I was able to avoid most major spoilers over the past year. Really looking forward to jumping into this next month.

Release date of May, 14th.

Vector wrote:

Release date of May, 14th.

Was just coming here to post this news (from Engadget).

After two years spent in early access, underwater survival sequel Subnautica: Below Zero is ready for the big time. Bucking the staggered rollout of its predecessor, developer Unknown Worlds is bringing the indie to PC, Mac and simultaneously to all major consoles, including the Nintendo Switch, on May 14.

May? May!!!?? MAY!?!?!?!?

Eh, that's ok, I already bought it and played a few hours. Liked it so far but happy to wait till it's officially released before I dive too deep

Damn this kind of makes me wish I hadn't started my playthrough in December. I figured the release date would have come already.

Very excited. I'll try to go into this as cold (ha!) as possible, but won't go nuts trying to avoid spoilers. Much like the original (and Valheim, currently), the joy really is in discovering a new world. Wow, between Evil Genius 2 coming out next months and this game coming out in May, I'll be a happy camper!

Anyone know when the final build goes live? Id like to start but I dont want to miss anything by starting too soon.