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Subnautica |Early Access| Dive into an alien ocean of danger and beauty

http://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/
Farming update | H2O update | Seamouth update
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As I imagine was the route for many others, I had gotten into the explore/craft/survive genre with Minecraft. That was a pretty revolutionary game for me, but as the years progressed and other games emerged, I grew bored of the genre. It felt like once you've played a few, you've played them all. Zombies, wolves, forests, islands, different veneers over the same structure. I was relatively done with the genre (The Long Dark is pretty damn good)

But it was Subnautica that rekindled my interest in that genre.

Subnautica's setting is easily its strongest element. There's a sense of wonder and mystery and beauty here that forest, cities, and other terrestrial places can't capture. Awakening in an escape pod after your larger spaceship crashes, you climb out and are welcomed with only an expanse of blue in all directions. The only way to survive is to plunge downwards into the aquatic landscape, catching sealife for food and gathering debris and materials to craft new gear and upgrades. What a world awaits you: kelp forests swaying in the current, bio-luminescent growths along the walls of dark deep caves, swarms of weird fish twisting through the water, coral tunnels and reefs, and more. But this beautiful environment is not void of danger.

Bone sharks swim among the kelp, the aggressive leviathan waits near the smoking crash site, and other aggressive lifeforms thrive throughout Subnautica's biomes. Luckily, with the right materials, you'll be well equipped to descend deeper and brave unexplored areas. Air tanks allow to stay underwater for longer, fins let you swim faster, knives and high-tech equipment like the stasis gun provide more effective means of defense. Lights, beacons, dive reels, air pipelines; the array of equipment to be constructed is varied and grows with each update.

It's an engaging cycle; new equipment allows you to explore more of the world (a reward by itself), thus acquiring new and better material and having access to better gear to explore deeper. In my opinion, the fact that every piece of equipment has a direct tangible effect, from faster movement or more air, makes crafting and collecting material more tolerable than in similar games. Once you're constructing bases on the sea floor or building submersibles, Subnautica really opens up, as you establish footholds in deeper terrain.

While the game is in Early Access, the developers frequently release significant content updates, introducing new biomes, new tech, new species, and more means to survive. The game is already solid, and only gets bigger and better with each new addition.

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Some GAF thoughts:
I've put in some time with The Long Dark, The Forest, and Subnautica.
...
Subnautica however, is just simply amazing. It's still fairly early as well, the risk vs reward of exploration searching for materials is really well done. Often times pushing you into dangerous areas so you can look for something to upgrade your sub or base.

The aquatic wildlife is so amazing and cool. You'll often times see something and go "wtf is that?" in astonishment and wonder if it will hurt you. The environments are gorgeous, the water looks gorgeous.

The dev is also incredibly transparent showing what they are working on, and what they plan to do next. https://trello.com/b/yxoJrFgP/subnautica-development

I would recommend each title based a persons preferences.

...Subnautica is just really freaking cool.
Anyways, my favorite survival game so far: Subnautica. The Long Dark guys seem cool, and I wouldn't be surprised if that was a great game. I did not enjoy The Forest or Stranded Deep all that much. There's no real structure to either back when I played it, just kinda... build... stuff. It doesn't work for me. Subnautica has it too, but that game's weird environment and chill approach are awesome.
We need a Subnautica appreciation thread. Shit's amazing.

Although it's probably best to wait until it's out of Early Access.

But it's amazing. So amazing.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of survival games yet I can spend ages screwing around in Subnautica. It's pure, unfiltered atmosphere. There are some really impressive mechanics as well.
You guys should check out subnautica, It's from the creators of natural selection. studio name is unknown worlds entertainment. I designed 3 official maps for natural selection, one the best experiences of my life.

Do you like aliens? Do you like the abyss? Do you like minecraft? If yes, download this game immediately.
Ucchedavāda;192165602 said:
The first version of Subnautica already looked awesome, but it just keeps getting better and better with every update. The developers are apparently also working on controller support, which is nice. I got it mostly working last time I played Subnautica, but it wasn't a smooth experience, and this is definitely the kind of game where I want to be able to lean back, and enjoy the atmosphere.
Subnautica. I've only played a little but its really fun, has great sound design and a nice art style.
 
Ooh, looks nice. First I've heard of it. Will definitely bite. I've enjoyed the underwater "sim" type games to some degree, but one with more of a focus as an actual game sounds like more my cup of tea.
 
I'm such a sucker for underwater exploring in games. This looks like basically what my 'this will never be what it's actually like' imaginings were when I first found out you could explore oceans in No Man's Sky.
 

shandy706

Member
Not a huge fan of Early Access in some cases...but boy is this a pretty game.

Seems I have a few days to consider it. Very tempted.
 
Looks absolutely gorgeous. How's performance? My old 7850 is really showing its age.

Yeah, I've bought it for the sale price but I have a 670 and it looks like the kind of game you want everything on max for. Might keep it on the back burner for a few months until I get a new rig.
 
I'm such a sucker for underwater exploring in games. This looks like basically what my 'this will never be what it's actually like' imaginings were when I first found out you could explore oceans in No Man's Sky.
You'll love this.

I wonder if No Man's Sky's oceans will be able to top this. Pretty excited that deep dark oceans with caves and water worlds were confirmed
 

epmode

Member
This is The Best Game. I love the look, the sound, the everything.

Great base building mechanics, VEHICLES THAT CAN DOCK IN OTHER VEHICLES, crazy wildlife, etc. And you can turn off the survival mechanics and go pure exploration!

Steam page doesn't mention controller support.

That's not true is it? I'm not touching it if I have to play with kb/m.
There is no controller support.

They should probably look into it since it's a VR game and all.
 

antonz

Member
It really is an awesome game. Been a bit since I played it and didn't even notice the latest update. Time to dive back in and explore again
 
Last underwater exploration game I played was Treasures of the Deep for the original PlayStation. Played the demo and rented it; it was one of my fav titles I regret not looking for. Is Subnautica sort of like that because if so, I'm sold.
 
Been playing the game for the past three days. It's freaking incredible, the immersion,atmosphere and the exploration are top notch. When Night falls it's like dead space underwater cause it's pitch black and you hear those eerie alien that can pop out at you any second.

Also has that No Man's Sky "What do I do" thing to it.
 
Last underwater exploration game I played was Treasures of the Deep for the original PlayStation. Played the demo and rented it; it was one of my fav titles I regret not looking for. Is Subnautica sort of like that because if so, I'm sold.
In some ways. There are different submersibles, diving gear to unlock like fins and air tanks, and wreckages to explore
 

v1lla21

Member
I was really debating on whether to get this or not during the last steam sale but ended up buying The Long Dark. Will definitely buy this now.
 
Yeah, I've bought it for the sale price but I have a 670 and it looks like the kind of game you want everything on max for. Might keep it on the back burner for a few months until I get a new rig.
I'm very interested in the game but I won't buy it because of this and my shitty PC which I won't upgrade anytime soon.
 

Elitist1945

Member
My quote still stands. I wish there was a co-op mode though, I admittedly feel kind of lonely/isolated playing the game - which I guess is the point? Lol
 
anyone knows if controller support will be implemented soon? Been looking at this for a while but having to use the KB/M really puts me off.
 

Coppanuva

Member
Man this game is awesome and relaxing (at least early stages). It was my personal best game at pax east when I played it in 2014. Just good fun all around.
 

Aselith

Member
This game is absolutely amazing. I bought it for 20% off a few months ago and pumped 30 some hours into it. I would have done a lot more but I'm worried about getting burned out before it even releases lol. Their roadmap is showing release sometime around August by the way, so it's getting close.

https://trello.com/b/KbugnSRJ/subnautica-roadmap

This is a base I've been working on in creative


Steam page doesn't mention controller support.

That's not true is it? I'm not touching it if I have to play with kb/m.

I can basically guarantee they will have controller support because they are doing an XBONE version
 

antonz

Member
My quote still stands. I wish there was a co-op mode though, I admittedly feel kind of lonely/isolated playing the game - which I guess is the point? Lol

One of the people who work on the game visited a streamer streaming it this past weekend and mentioned that co-op is planned
 

epmode

Member
One of the people who work on the game visited a streamer streaming it this past weekend and mentioned that co-op is planned

Yeah, they're going to do it. For more information, the developer released a statement on co-op seven months ago: http://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/subnautica-multiplayer-when-if-how-and-why/

Basically, they've had co-op in mind since the start of development and they'd love to add it now but it would take several months of uninterrupted development with no time for other features.

There are two likely solutions:

*Co-op development would start as soon as the game is out of Early Access to be released as a free update in the future. Klei handled Don't Starve like this.
*Outsource the co-op mode to another developer

Have they confirmed compatibility with HTC Vive?
Vive support is planned, yes.
 

SomTervo

Member
Of course it is, it works like any other first person game.

I thought so - there were posts earlier ITT saying "This is a VR game", and the FOV looks very wide, so I was wondering. I'm also at work so can't really check in detail.

Cheers pal. Will pick it up tonight.

The game I'm working on - The Solus Project - has been compared to this a little, even though they're not very similar at all.
 
I thought so - there were posts earlier ITT saying "This is a VR game", and the FOV looks very wide, so I was wondering. I'm also at work so can't really check in detail.

Cheers pal. Will pick it up tonight.

The game I'm working on - The Solus Project - has been compared to this a little, even though they're not very similar at all.
You're working on Solus! Awesome. can't wait to check that out when it's out of EA. The art style and atmosphere just looks incredible
 
This has been sitting on my wishlist for a long time because it sounds like a perfect game for me (SCUBA is one of my favorite hobbies), but I'm always scared away by the Early Access status. Have updates been good and consistent from this dev?
 

Teuoxton

Member
This has been sitting on my wishlist for a long time because it sounds like a perfect game for me (SCUBA is one of my favorite hobbies), but I'm always scared away by the Early Access status. Have updates been good and consistent from this dev?
Yes! They even let you follow their progress online and have a feedback system built in.
https://trello.com/b/yxoJrFgP/subnautica-development

This is Early Access done right IMO.
 
This has been sitting on my wishlist for a long time because it sounds like a perfect game for me (SCUBA is one of my favorite hobbies), but I'm always scared away by the Early Access status. Have updates been good and consistent from this dev?
Easily one of the gold standards for Early Access done right. They even have a Trello board where you can follow what they're working on short and long term
 

SmartBase

Member
Out of the three Early Access games I've bought this is easily the only one I thoroughly enjoy and don't regret buying, love how you can get easy access to their experimental/WIP branch.
 

Sarcasm

Member
I could get this down to roughly around 5 USD locally her eon steam..hum. It has been on my wishlist for a long time.
 

Mdk7

Member
Considering how much I like the abyss, this should really be my thing.
Next year, when I buy a new PC for Vive.
 

womp

Member
My 8 year old son has been nagging me to grab this for awhile now, but I have been apprehensive given the lack of real controller support. My PC is a Big Picture/comfy couch/gaming machine so using a mouse and keyboard isn't something we really do, although I have my mini Logitech one with the trackpad I can whip out from under the couch when needed.

So given it is now on sale, I decided to give it a go since we can refund via Steam if need be. Of course the 360 controller was a lost cause, but we booted up the Steam controller and tried a couple of the community made presets for it. The first one with the most downloads wasn't really working out but we moved to the next one down on the list and that did the trick. 90 min later, he was playing it great. A shame the thing is a bit on the larger side, as his hands are small of course, but for anyone with a Steam controller and bent on playing this with controller support I would recommend giving it a shot!
 

SomTervo

Member
we booted up the Steam controller and tried a couple of the community made presets for it. The first one with the most downloads wasn't really working out but we moved to the next one down on the list and that did the trick. 90 min later, he was playing it great. ... anyone with a Steam controller and bent on playing this with controller support I would recommend giving it a shot!

Great info for people who are interested. KBM are going to have to do for me for the time being.

Awesome your kid's having a great time :)

You're working on Solus! Awesome. can't wait to check that out when it's out of EA. The art style and atmosphere just looks incredible

I am indeed! Just in a content/story + PR/project management role. But a lot of hours nonetheless ;)

Hope you enjoy in May when it drops in full. FYI the game is playable start-to-finish right now and is about 85% complete + polish. We're doing a staggered EA release (as "episodes") just to get as much feedback as possible and wrangle any design elements which people are finding troublesome.

Easily one of the gold standards for Early Access done right. They even have a Trello board where you follow what they're working on short and long term

We have this, too, FYI :)
 

Icefire1424

Member
This game is going to be dangerous for me. I love underwater exploration, and survival, and base building, and this checks all of those boxes.

In the process of getting a new PC, I'll throw this on the wishlist. Thanks for the heads up OP.
 

Aselith

Member
My 8 year old son has been nagging me to grab this for awhile now, but I have been apprehensive given the lack of real controller support. My PC is a Big Picture/comfy couch/gaming machine so using a mouse and keyboard isn't something we really do, although I have my mini Logitech one with the trackpad I can whip out from under the couch when needed.

So given it is now on sale, I decided to give it a go since we can refund via Steam if need be. Of course the 360 controller was a lost cause, but we booted up the Steam controller and tried a couple of the community made presets for it. The first one with the most downloads wasn't really working out but we moved to the next one down on the list and that did the trick. 90 min later, he was playing it great. A shame the thing is a bit on the larger side, as his hands are small of course, but for anyone with a Steam controller and bent on playing this with controller support I would recommend giving it a shot!

Good to hear! As I said, they are doing an Xbone version so with any luck, full controller support should be coming also
 

Sarcasm

Member
Dunno. I am playing the division then DS3 and then NMS..(also stardew).

What shall I do? Will the price go up after it leaves EA?
 

SparkTR

Member
This has been sitting on my wishlist for a long time because it sounds like a perfect game for me (SCUBA is one of my favorite hobbies), but I'm always scared away by the Early Access status. Have updates been good and consistent from this dev?

For what it's worth, these developers pioneered Early Access games before Early Access was a word. Their prior game (Natural Selection 2) was the first Early Access game ever released as far as I know (announced in 2006, years before Minecraft) and they pretty much mastered it before Steam was even a big thing. They're community engagement skills are unmatched.
 
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