Subnautica: Below Zero

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jztemple2
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Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

This game (Steam link) is of course a follow on to the original Subnautica. It's been in Early Access for almost two years, and since I somewhat spoiled the first game for myself by buying it in EA I've held off on getting this one until release. However, the folks have announced an upcoming price increase:

Full text of news item:
Hello, Subnauts!

Subnautica: Below Zero is getting closer than ever to being ready for launch. We are aiming to release 1.0 in the early part of 2021 - as some of you might have guessed from our Nintendo Switch announcement - but still have bug fixing, optimizing, and further fine-tuning to do before it’s ready for launch on all platforms.

With the release on the horizon, we will be increasing the price of Below Zero to $29.99 (USD) across all PC storefronts (Steam, Epic, Discord, Humble) on January 5th, 2021.

This price will be Below Zero's final increase and the cost at full release. The price increase will not affect any previously purchased copies of Below Zero, and Early Access purchasers will receive the 1.0 release, as well as all future patches. Additionally, in conjunction with Below Zero’s price change, the price of Subnautica will also be increased from $24.99 to $29.99 across all PC storefronts (Steam, Epic, Discord, Humble.) Subnautica will also continue to receive bug fixes, optimizations, and patches.

As of the Relics of the Past update, Below Zero is now playable from start to (almost) finish. While we will continue to polish the game up until its 1.0 launch, all creatures, biomes, vehicles, and items that are currently in-game represent what will be there in the final version.

Please spread the word among your friends and let them know that this is the final time that Below Zero will be available at its discounted Early Access price.

And once again, we want to thank everyone in the community for all of your feedback during Early Access. We are still reading, collecting, and taking on board much of the information we receive in F8 feedback reports, email, forum posts, social media, and other platforms. We appreciate it all!
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by Blackhawk »

I've also been quietly waiting. I preordered four evers ago, but don't want to see it before it's done. I also played the first one before release, and while I didn't regret it, it did take away from what ended up being one of my all-time favorite gaming experiences.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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Bought it on Epic and haven't ever installed it. Considering buying it on Steam as well because that's where my "real" library is... but yeah, not playing it until release.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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coopasonic wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 1:58 pm Bought it on Epic and haven't ever installed it. Considering buying it on Steam as well because that's where my "real" library is... but yeah, not playing it until release.
Good gosh, I also own it on Epic! Glad I didn't buy it again :oops:
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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If they make it $15 for the winter sale I'll grab it on steam too just for convenience.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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coopasonic wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 4:32 pm If they make it $15 for the winter sale I'll grab it on steam too just for convenience.
Apparently I did buy it, or someone bought it for me for Wishlistmas.
coopasonic wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 1:58 pm but yeah, not playing it until release.
Ok I lied, I know it comes out in like 2 months, but after playing MANEATER I decided to install Below Zero and just check out the early stuff and 18 hours later I was in the mid-late game. Very, very reminiscent of the original, but it feels like a smaller space and lots of stomping around on land. It's amusing that sometimes I need to jump in the water to warm up (makes total sense, right?) so kind of the opposite of surfacing to breath. I've only found two shipwrecks so that piece is either reduced or I am missing some area.

I think the mystery is a little less interesting and I am way more confused on what I should be doing. The progression appears less linear than the original.

The new vehicle is a cool idea that I haven't really explored a whole lot. Actually there is a surface vehicle I haven't even built. I need to try that too.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

New trailer:
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by Montag »

So there is a mod in development to add VR to Below Zero and it seems to be pretty far along. Go to the Discord link from https://www.notion.so/Subnautica-Below- ... bfd515a140

You may want to let it cook some more, but I think it is close.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by Lordnine »

Is Below Zero more of a lighthearted focus? That trailer looked nice but didn't really fit the tone of the original game.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by coopasonic »

Lordnine wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 5:41 pm Is Below Zero more of a lighthearted focus? That trailer looked nice but didn't really fit the tone of the original game.
Nope. I've played through most of the content available in early access fairly recently and it is not really any more lighthearted. I guess there are the sea-monkey things that steal whatever is in your hands and have a later development that I would consider a spoiler so won't comment on further. I mean I guess that can seem kind of cute as represented in the trailer, but it's more annoying that you need to go make a new freaking scanner.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

Got my email inviting me to watch the live stream (which I won't) but confirming the full release on Friday, May 14th. I've installed the game on Epic but haven't don't more than just start it to make sure it installed OK. I want to be surprised :D
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by coopasonic »

Today is the day. I am still trying to (finally) finish up Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but I reinstalled Below Zero this morning. I think I was pretty close to the end game as long as existing saves are good for the full release I should be diving in soon.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by Blackhawk »

I installed it this morning. I really should get off my ass and get some work done so I can play it.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by hepcat »

Well, it’s out. See you all in about 3 weeks.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

Damn Sea Monkey stole my scanner and knife!

UPDATE: Found them and got them back. Not nice, sea monkey! :D
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by hepcat »

Just out of curiosity, if I spend most of my time ramming sea monkeys with the sea truck, leaving a bloody swath of sea monkey corpses in my wake, am I bad person?

Or is it pushing their corpses to my new base and spelling out "Screw You!" with their bodies that makes me so?

But to be clear: you put me in a truck of any type in a video game and I'm going to run things over. Like...a lot.

So far the game feels like its predecessor in every way except the lack of a few crucial pieces of equipment, but I'm hoping they provide me suitable substitutes shortly. I've read some discouraging things about the smaller scope/size though and I hope that doesn't become an issue for me. Since I consider Subnautica to be one of the best games I've played in the last few years (I was late to the party), it may be that any other entry in the series is doomed to failure for me though.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

Sea Monkeys might not be the best friends you can have, but raiding their nests has been profitable! :D

I'm several hours in and I'm getting a bit burned out on the gameplay, since I saw so much of it with the original. But I can handle a hour here and there and damn it is such a gorgeous game.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by hepcat »

It took me longer than I thought it would to get the habitat builder. Once I got that though, I was off to the races. I'm like a loopy Frank Lloyd Wright.

Also, the
Spoiler:
mineral detector
is a worthless piece of crap. I won't be spending resources on that one again.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by jztemple2 »

hepcat wrote: Tue May 18, 2021 2:42 pm Also, the
Spoiler:
mineral detector
is a worthless piece of crap. I won't be spending resources on that one again.
It has some small value when you need a certain item, but the range seems rather limited and usually you can spot the item before the detector really gets going. If I could recharge the thing it might be more valuable, or at least not a resource waster.

Actually it would be nice if I had USB rechargers for all my gadgets.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by coopasonic »

Well I loaded up my save game and... I have no idea what I am supposed to be doing at all. I am pretty sure I am pretty far into the game, maybe even at the end of what was available in early access, but damned if I can figure out what to do next.

I may just start a new game out just to try to figure it out.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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Figured out what to do and... it wasn't much. Finished.

I like the new quality of life stuff they added but from a gameplay perspective it doesn't hold up to the original. It feels like more random luck to find some of the things you need. Several you never get any guidance for.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by hepcat »

To be fair, there was even less hand holding in the first one. A lot of things you had to figure out on your own.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

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And I finished. I started it right after launch, got a few hours, then finally made it back in the last week or so. My feelings are mixed. I played the original pre-release, then twice more afterward. They're more different than they appear at first glance. Both have survival elements, but I wouldn't call them survival games (you move past the survival aspects fairly soon, once you discover the right technologies.) I'd say that Subnautica is primarily an exploration game with bits of story you can bump into, while Below Zero is also a smaller exploration game, but the story isn't just a smattering of logs, it's an investigation game. Some of the hints as to where to go next are very subtle hints, the kind that you really need to pay attention to find.

I loved the modularity of the Sea Truck, although I missed the zippiness of the Sea Moth and the ponderous maneuvering of the Cyclops.

They used color and light to much better effect in the first one. This one has way, way too many areas that are just black, or dark gray, or dark green. Most of the time you can't see anything. It really hindered the exploration at times. There were few 'clear' areas.

This goes triple on land. On land you're supposed to be wandering around, discovering things. But 3/4 of the time it's snowing, or raining, or foggy, and it cuts all visibility to just a few feet. It makes it really hard - and really frustrating - to find important things, as you can wander right past them without noticing. The low visibility weather was a nice idea, but it needed to be the exception rather than the rule. I wanted to be able to explore and see the scenery, but mostly couldn't, and it make exploration frustrating rather than fun.

The land stuff was a big selling point, but was poorly utilized. There wasn't much of it, and it didn't really feel like a worthwhile experience in and of itself. The poor exploration didn't help. The lack of need for an actual working land base didn't help. You needed a spot to build the one land vehicle and... that was about it. You could get by with one room, a solar panel, and the vehicle pad, then just park you Sea Truck nearby for the rest. And in retrospect, that wasn't even necessary. The PRAWN suit was a much better land vehicle than the hoverbike ever was. It was too sluggish and hard to maneuver, given that most of the areas weren't open landscapes, they were twisting paths. And certain regular events would kick you off of the bike and do significant damage to it, leaving you in immediate danger. The PAWN suit could take far more damage, and didn't kick you out ever time the thing happened. They really needed some land-only resources, or land-only structures, something that presented some mechanics other than just 'find the cave, pick up the thing, get back to the underwater portion.'

That said, I enjoyed the story. It wasn't particularly surprising, but it did it's job and told the stories of what's going on with humanity, as well as the bigger story behind both (all four?*) games. These are points as to why the original was better, but they shouldn't be taken as a dismissal of the game. Subnautica is one of my top games of all time, and it was unlikely to best it. It's a really good game that I'm glad I beat, and I'm looking forward to the sequel they appear to have set up.

*I just discovered today that Subnautica is a spin-off/prequel for the Natural Selection 1 &2 games.
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Re: Subnautica: Below Zero

Post by Lordnine »

I just finished this today. Honestly, while it is an engaging game judged on its own, it is such a huge step down from the original that I am pretty disappointed.

I never once felt at a loss of what to do in the original Subnautica but here I spent probably two hours just wandering around from place to place trying to figure out what I had missed. I finally had to look up a walkthrough and, wow, I never would have figured out where to go without it. Turns out I had missed a whole section of the Ice Spires area. Speaking of which, the entire Ice Spires area sucks! The whole thing is a frustrating maze of pathways that all look the same at the best of times and the worst of times you can’t see them anyways because of the storm effects.

In general, the game is far harder than the original to navigate because it gives the player almost no notable landmarks. The Aurora wreckage in the original was brilliant for this because at any time you could orientate yourself towards the wreckage and know exactly where you were in the world. Making this worse in Below Zero is the fact that too many areas are just twisting messes of caverns. I put down beacons in multiple places and still couldn’t figure out how to get back to them.

Pengwings are cute though and I did like the new Sea Truck and how modular it was.
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