Subnautica Dev Update 5: Lurking in the Darkness
Here at Unknown Worlds, we don't take pleasure in scaring you. Subnautica is an adventure game, it's full of lovely creatures, plans, and environments. They are so nice to look at, at it would be just terrible if you were worried about getting eaten by a giant alien lizard creature! Oh who am I kidding: Some of us want to scare the pee out of you. One of those someone's is Jonas. He's been tinkering with the way creatures behave at night time. In many games, dealing with creatures at night can be a little bit harrowing. How about dealing with them at night, while you are swimming in an ocean, and running out of air? Kelp Forests are pretty places - And they are one of my favourite areas to visit. Even at night time, the giant kelp stalks provided a pleasant place to swim about and ponder life, the universe and everything. Not anymore. Stalkers are often found in Kelp Forests, and at night, they are significantly more aggressive. Swimming in a Kelp Forest at night is now a high-risk proposition.
These sneaky buggers, called Sand Sharks, are quite difficult to find during the day. Often, they stay hidden under sand mounds, only revealing themselves when disturbed.
Not anymore. Night time is now Sand Shark time, and you had better be careful about where you swim - These creatures have big jaws and big appetites. Did we spend all week thinking of ways to make you squeal in fear? Not at all! Despite Jonas' best efforts to ensure you are all permanently scared of the dark, others have attempted to add some features to help you. The new Flare is a great night time companion, that allows you to light up an area for several minutes.Flares can be crafted at the Fabricator, and are particularly useful for lighting up dark caves, or marking positions on the sea-bed.
The Seamoth has been causing a bit of frustration - When it is destroyed, it is supposed to... Be destroyed! But it is hanging around, sitting in thick water, acting like it is ready for further use. Charlie is working on solving this. As you can see in the picture above, his experiments haven't yet all been totally successful...
Michael has been placing Hanging Stingers in some caves, and noted with some amusement that the 'middle' sized Stinger isn't quite ready to play... It looks more like a drill bit digging into the seabed than a life form!
Textures are unsung heroes. Fancy deformable voxel terrain and sweet looking prop models are nothing without textures. The above shot is just moss - But textures like this make a big difference to the way the world looks. Next time you see a new texture in Subnautica, pay your respects.
