#subnautica development

[zaddyazula]

i can’t even begin to describe how happy 10 year old me would be to know we got a third subnautica

[bonicle]

i love screenshots of prototypes like what the fuck is even happening here

[localsharkcryptid]

IM LOOSING IT OH MY FUCKING GOD THERES CO-OP, IT HAS FUCKIN CO-OP

[gardensandtaverns]

The Importance of Interest

It's been a little while since my last "on making a game" installment, and I'm in a mood to talk about interesting things... so why not Points of Interest in light of my current pet project Everwyld?

I'm in the midst of developing a world that has been truly abandoned, where players have few intelligent entities to interact with - no people, gods, robots, or holograms. This is, in a sense, the survival game of survival games: players will only have the tools they can create and knowledge they can accumulate for themselves. And if I'm being honest, I'm taking a not-insignificant amount of inspiration from Subnautica, since they made this vision an excellent reality.

(Going forward, blanket spoiler warning for locations in Subnautica. If you haven't played it and don't suffer from thalassophobia, you certainly should.)

The first challenge, and one that's doubly difficult in the analog format I'll be running this game while I develop the setting, if building player investment through their interactions with the world. Different genres and titles accomplish this in different ways.

The classic survival-crafting game Minecraft has kept players invested over its service life through the addition of new features, biomes, mechanics, the introduction of multiplayer, and a thriving, supported modding community. The multiplayer survival-crafting FPS Rust created interest for players in the world through the inclusion of other players, and the option to cooperate or resort to every-man-for-themself anarchy. Subnautica accomplishes this investment of players in the world through the inclusion of alien environments. This doesn't just mean the alien lifeforms, but the concept of the deep sea and what the various environments look like - which are often shockingly accurate excluding the giant man-eating fish - are alien to so many people who don't have the means or guts to dive through the deep ocean, and I count myself among them.

Something all of these games (and more) include to further create a player interest in the world and exploring it, though, are points of interest. None of them are unbridled wilderness. Minecraft's structures range from thriving villages, to abandoned mineshafts and shipwrecks, to the strongholds. Even the Nether and End dimensions have their own native structures. Subnautica has not only the various debris fields from the Aurora, but the Enforcement Platform, the submarine alien facilities, and the Degasi bases. In Rust, a variety of monuments dot the landscape with various traits, loot, and benefits.

Not only do these structures and points of interest enhance the world, but they change how the player will interact with it. A Subnautica player may build bases near major resource deposits or repurpose existing structures for their benefit. A Rust player may establish their base near an easy resource cache, like the farmable Underwater Rocks. In Minecraft players may use large structures as a base, or as a point of reference when navigating the functionally infinite world.

So what kind of points of interest will I be including in Everwyld? Well, as I said, the world was abandoned. It's a region largely reclaimed by nature, so much so that the artificial blemishes have all but faded. My players will start in a place truly devoid of signs of settlement, a beautiful and serene glade... (which I've taken the liberty of rendering in Unreal Engine 5 here)

Nearby are most of what they will need to survive: a source of flowing water, a game run that cuts through the forest, but what encourages them to venture from this serene space will be their curiosity as to what happened to them, and how they can hope to get home. This world is full of natural dangers, but if they brave them and survive they may find the remnants of a village where the stones jutting from the ground make odd squared angles, or a monolith that a tree has grown to encompass.

Mayhap they'll uncover something better preserved underground, or through some advanced means, that will hold answers and tools for them to delve deeper into the mystery and find their way home.

Until next time!

[lesbiten]

i will always be of the opinion that so many people (men) ended up not liking subnautica below zero purely because the mc is a woman who talks and has opinions on things

[nerendus]

I thought I was done with Subnautica once and for all (at least until Below Zero goes on sale)...but my sister who played it said it has been years and she doesn't remember much of it......

[sackfoo]

Boycott the unity engine, this is just unacceptable. You already payed your fee for using the unity engine when you buy it, they don't get to claim royalites on games they didn't even make!

Fuck Unity (The game engine, not the concept)

They want up to TWENTY CENTS per game install, once you reach a certain number of installs.

TWENTY CENTS

Just imagine, 100 people install your game and you suddenly owe Unity 20 fucking dollars. Chances are, you haven't even made that much in profits from 100 sales.

It's time for unity to fucking die. How fucking dare they demand royalties from game devs for an engine THAT ISN'T EVEN FREE?

In case you don't know, here's a list of a few bigger games that use the Unity engine:

Hollow Knight

Rimworld

Subnautica

Pokemon Go

Cities: Skylines

Rust

Hearthstone

Pillars Of Eternity

Cuphead

[soul-of-rei]

nothing like the feeling of getting jumpscared by a ghost leviathan spawning at the corner

[necromancy-enthusiast]

To help everyone understand the gravity of the situation with Unity's recent bullshit, here are some games made in unity:

Cult of the Lamb

Bendy and the Ink Machine

Untitled Goose Game

Road 96

Cuphead

Power Wash Simulator

Genshin Impact

Getting Over It

Inside

Tem Tem

Kerbal Space Program 1

Kerbal Space Program 2

Rust

Rimworld

Outer Wilds

Dream Daddy

Thomas Was Alone

I Am Setsuna

Tunic

Night in the Woods

Pony Island

Return of the Obra Dinn

Among Us

Pokemon Go

Hollow Knight

Ori and the Blind Forest

Ori and the Willow of the Wisps

Vampire Survivors

Two Point Hospital

City Skylines

The Long Dark

Firewatch

Oxenfree

Subnautica

Subnautica: Below Zero

Fall Guys

Many, MANY MORE

Unless you only play tRIpLE A titles this will most likely affect a game you like. Hell, it can even affect really big games like Pokemon Go.

For a long time, starting years and years back, a lot of people have been talking about the preservation of games and being against moving to digital only games for reasons like this, and how the greed of various big companies in the game industry will negatively impact access to games and their preservation. It's happening. This will impact games that are already out. This will impact games being made. This will impact games made in the future. So if you care even a teensy tiny bit about a single game made in unity, or you care about the future of game development period, I suggest you pay very close attention.

A good article from an indie developer detailing the changes and exactly how it screws devs over:

[44gamez]

Subnautica 2 Release Date Window Set by Developer

Subnautica 2 is on its method this yr, based on a latest earnings report from writer Krafton. In improvement by Unknown Worlds Leisure, the aquatic crafting survival sport is coming to PS5, PC, and Xbox Sequence X.

Subnautica sequel coming this yr

Final yr, the Korean writer indicated that it hoped to launch the subsequent Subnautica sport in 2025. Nonetheless, Game Watcher reported that the PUBG writer is now capturing for a 2024 launch date window. Particulars are scarce, however the brand new sport will reportedly take gamers to “a wholly new alien planet.”

Regardless of the radically totally different climates, Subnautica and Subnautica: Under Zero each befell on Planet 4546B. Whereas Under Zero launched loads of new creatures, there have been additionally a couple of returning faunae. Others had been regional variations or evolutionary relations of creatures gamers encountered within the first sport. Whereas there may be nothing mistaken with that, a brand new planet presumably means a complete new world of issues to find. It can even be fascinating to see how Subnautica 2 continues the favored collection’ ongoing metanarrative. The primary sport noticed gamers racing to search out the treatment for an alien pathogen referred to as the    Kharaa Micro organism. An alien race often known as the Architects got here to Planet 4546B to check the micro organism however deserted the planet after the illness broke containment. Under Zero ended on a cliffhanger concerning the destiny of the Architects, and the brand new sport will hopefully reveal what occurred to them.   Followers will little doubt even be keen to find what occurred to Robin and Al-An, the protagonists of Subnautica: Under Zero. The final sport ended with their arrival on the Architect homeworld. Krafton’s point out of a brand new planet implies that the subsequent Subnautica sport will probably choose up from there. Source link Read the full article

[the-fandom-crossroads]

Folks talking about Game Devs dropping Unity or how it won't hurt small indie devs with under 200,000. Are missing the point.

Some of these Unity games can't change to another engine because they have years of code piled on top of each other at this point. aka POKEMON GO. They'd basically have to rebuild the game from scratch.

Not to mention Unity is mostly used by phone app games or Indie's that are lucky enough to get picked up by console. Indie games on Mobile easily pass 200,000 downloads. Temple Run 1 and 2 are in Unity, Crossy Road, Angry birds 1 and 2, and Hearthstone. All of these past 200,000 downloads years ago but aren't bringing in money now except hearthstone.

The Developers will do what happened to the first Angry birds app. They'll take it down, build it in a new engine for "HD", and add a shit ton of micro transactions. We are about to lose countless original versions of the OG pre lootbox mobile games.

We are also about to lose some of the biggest Indie games of the last decade. Among Us, Plague Inc., 7 Days to die, the original Slenderman game and it's sequel, I am Bread, Ori and the Blind Forest, Dream Daddy, Overcooked 1 & 2, Pathfinder online, Cup Head, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Oxygen Not Included, Bloons Tower Defense 6, Beat Saber, Subnautica, The Stanley Parable, Untitled Goose Game, Power Washing Simulator, Fall Guys, Inscryption, Phasmophobia

And the big one FUCKING HOLLOW KNIGHT. Silk song has already been pushed back out of this year specifically because it's being made by a team of like 3 people. It is so close to being finished and now they are being told they have to start over from scratch basically. Hollow Knight got over 200,000 downloads from being on playstation and was eventually put on Playstations subscription service. Every cent they made from hollow knight has gone back into making silk song. Which might now be delayed by multiple years and oh they are going to have to use some of that funds to pay unity now. Or find a way to get out of a contract with playstation. Because folks will keep downloading Hollow Knight for free and Unity will send the Hollow Knight team the bill.

oh and there's one more teeny tiny game made in Unity that you guys might not want to suddenly disappear. One with almost 3 years of monthly code updates, one with 139 million downloads to date, and 4.8 million monthly users.

Genshin. Guys Genshin Impact is made completely in Unity and that's not a game that can have it's code just copy and pasted to another engine.

[dezertvideogames]

The Subnautica of other fears

Subnautica is a game infamous for it's almost all ocean planet, underwater worldbuilding, and deep sea gameplay. It's also the bane of all thalassaphobia peeps.

So here's the subnautica of other phobias

Claustrophobia Fear of Tight/Cramped Spaces - The Forest Series : After a plane crash leaves you stranded in a strange forests, something increasingly becomes... wrong. The caves around don't help.

Scopophobia Fear of being watched or the center of attention - Brighter Day : A weirdcore horror game where something is definitely watching you and definitely following you.

Entomophobia/Arachnophobia - Grounded : You play a group of kids who are stuck in a "honey I shrunk the kids" incident. They are forced to venture across their yard, and survive the various common insects around.

Megalophobia Fear of very very very big things - The Utility Room : An experience. More of an experience then a game and fever dreamish, worth it, and mysterious all the way. It's almost as if the universe accidentally left one strange dev room behind.

Nyctophobia Fear of darkness - Amnesia: The Bunker (from the Amnesia series) : It's a first-person survival horror. You play a French man trapped in a bunker during WW1, while being hunted by something inside its darkness.

Autophobia Fear of being/feeling alone - Firewatch : You work in a national park in order to watch out for fires. Traveling across the Wyoming wilderness takes a complicated turn.

Hemophobia Fear of blood or bleeding - Iron Lung : What awaits you in the deep of a strange moon. Trapped in a submarine you have no choice but to find out.

Amaxophobia Fear of car accidents or being run over - Decimate Drive : After freeing yourself from a kidnapping, the world you wake up to is full of hostile cars.

Final Boss Games:

Lethal Company

Fun with friends :D

Genre: Indie Comedy Horror

Takes place on alien planets in outerspace

It's multiplayer, and very fun, but as soon as it hits the fan the sound design works hard to immerse you in the sudden loneliness. The games sound design is one the major players of Lethal Company's fear. As soon as a friend walks away the proximity chat teaches you just how separated you now are.

Before you know it you have had something unfriendly following behind you, and finally finding the silhouette of a friend in the dark you are betrayed by the creatures of the Lethal Company universe.

Fear of Darkness

Fear of Loneliness

Fear of Being Watched

Fear of Outerspace

The Metro Series

Genre: Survival Horror Shooter

You play the beautiful and amazing Artyom Chynornyj in the post-apocalyptic world of Metro. Developed by Ukrainians and based off the Russian book series + Polish fanon writing community.

The world of Metro is unfair and unforgiving, full of mutated creatures, and the leftover souls that the destruction of humanity left in it's wake. Crawl across the underground of Russian cities, or panic across the even more dangerous world of the destroyed above.

Fear of Darkness

Fear of Wild Animals

Fear of Deep Water

Fear of Ghost/The Supernatural

Fear of Insects/Spider

Fear of Heights

Fear of Dead Bodies

Fear of the Cold

No Man's Sky

The scariest game I've ever played. I don't know why, but this game freaks me out. I know the picture I chose was harmless, but I did that on purpose.

This game is beautiful, but don't let that fool ya. This world will leave you no hesitation lost in the unpredictable randomly generated horrors of space. From planet that are all water, to colossus creatures you see for only a split second, to the infinite colorless expanse of space.

Megalphobes and astrophobes, this is your subnautica

Fear of Outerspace

Fear of Darkness

Fear of Cramped Spaces

Fear of the Unknown

Fear of Very Very Very Big Things

Fear of Deep Water

Fear of Loneliness

Fear of Caves

Fear of the Supernatural

[alexriesart]

Development of the Ventgarden for Subnautica: Below Zero.

I always liked the idea of worlds within worlds.

[spearxwind]

i think every game that makes flying the focus (and theres veeery few of those) should have a map with a lot of verticality to it. Yes we all wanna fly a dragon over a vast landscape but when youre high up everything is indistinguishable, the sky is empty, and that gets boring real quick. A flying game should have verticality in a way that lets you explore heights that are really high and places on the map that are overlaid with each other would feel more alive and give you so much more space to work with. In a way, itd be like the inverse of the subnautica map. The original map was amazing because it made the ocean feel so huge. "What do you mean theres five biomes underneath the earth?? what do you mean theres just vast caves under here?" and everything felt super interconnected too. There should be more things in the sky than just you too. Enemies, prey, companions.... etc.

my fave flying game is called 'aer memories of old' and it doesnt really have that verticality but its a good flying game imo because its got a map thats so rewarding to explore, there is a PURPOSE to flying around just beyond what the game wants you to do. The lore of the world is out there for you to find and piece together, and the map is filled with life and details. And recently theres been an uptick in developers trying to make flying dragon games but none feel like flying has any purpose at all other than be really showy and yeah it looks awesome but without a purpose for flying its gonna get boring for the player!!

"This is the dragon game you've always wanted" and its another purposeless multiplayer mmorpg with an insanely huge completely empty map and they focus so much on the five fucking billion dragon cosmetics (and god forbid theyre all free btw) instead of making a game that is fun to play and just put the responsibility of having fun on the shoulders of the player. "omg u can make any dragon in this game the models look so cool!!" ok but what about the game. can you tell me if you game is fun? is there anything to do? oh, just material gathering shit and crafting? and an mmo where you have to play with others for there to be any semblance of life in the world? ok

idk im just sick of seeing games advertised as a dragon survival game where the only survival aspect is like. 'find food' 'find water' 'find a mate to have an egg' repeat. repeat. repeat. surely theres other things?? what about migration? territorial disputes? becoming the apex predator? being a local tyrant or a benevolent protector? there is so much that could be done with dragons but all every dev wants to dip their ass in is multiplayer nonsesne with the most basic hunger and thirst and a basic as fuck combat mechanic and call it survival so that people can choose to kill each other. its so lazy

[velikaja]

different subnautica stuff, including robin, al-an and my silly guy

ah yes apparently me and my friend developed a strange addiction to leviathans

V if you're reading this it's us

[bytewire]

Subnautica: Below Zero is a story about loss, trust, and hope.

After finishing my most recent playthrough of Below Zero, while I was constructing AL-AN's vessel, I realized that there are some pretty major parallels between AL-AN and Sam that I think might tie in more to the story than previously thought. I had always felt Sam and AL-AN's stories were unusually disconnected. Still, after giving a little more thought, I think the parallels play a vital role in Robin's decision to go along with constructing AL-AN's vessel.

Both Sam and AL-AN caused terrible accidents by attempting to solve an issue in a way they thought would be best. They work under a very similar archetype in which a typically composed and rule-following character is stressed due to external pressures. Pushed into taking action. Sam caused Parvan's death and her own by disobeying orders from Alterra and trying to exterminate the last of the Kharaa. AL-AN caused the Kharaa to escape in the first place by doing a similar insubordinate action. Ignoring the directive from his network.

They not only both caused accidents resulting in deaths, but both revolved around ignoring a higher order involving the Kharaa bacterium. Doing something they thought would make a difference under extreme pressure. Irrational thinking ultimately causing disaster.

If you complete Sam's storyline first, it will lead you, the player, into be more open with feeling sympathetic towards AL-AN despite him manipulating Robin. Mostly because it is obvious he is extremely ashamed and is dealing with the sorrow of (potentially) losing his entire species. Though also because it is reminiscent of Sam.

But it is not just you who sympathizes with AL-AN; it is Robin herself as well.

Robin is dealing with a similar sorrow of losing her sister—who was everything to her—because Sam did what she thought would be right. She shares things with AL-AN, assuring him even when she is unsure of him. She knows he is going through his own hardships. Deciding to promote hope even in a time where it seems unlikely. After AL-AN admits to Kharaa getting out on his watch, Robin understands to a degree and offers to help AL-AN because she couldn’t help Sam.

AL-AN himself most likely understands this.

AL-AN begins to open up and trust Robin after she shares the Emily Dickinson poem. After she has this interaction with him, he often attempts to be more understanding with her. He is choosing to imitate Robin's hope. He does not fully understand human social customs, but he can recognize when Robin is conflicted about Sam's death. Even trying in his own way to comfort her. He is dealing with loss as well. Even if he doesn't outwardly show vulnerability until they talk in the Fabrication Facility.

AL-AN knows Robin is going through loss as well. The person she lost did something similar to him, and yet she does not blame Sam. Grief does not go away, but the wound gets smaller over time. She is relieved to get closure to Sam's story even if it still hurts.

If they hadn’t had the conversation about closure after Robin finished Sam's work via curing the Frozen Leviathan, then AL-AN probably wouldn't have revealed what he did at all. He didn’t have to, but he did because they had developed trust. He is, of course, reluctant when doing so, as he is afraid he won’t get his autonomy, yet he does despite it being illogical. Acknowledging his actions even when he predicted she’d be angry. Despite his shame, he chooses to place trust in Robin even when it could result in her pulling away. He trusts that she won't.

Below Zero is such a good story about loss and learning how to cope with that loss despite it still hurting. Learning to trust even when the odds of the circumstances are against you. It is a story about hope.

I adore this game so much