Cut the Knife
LumpN
Join Date: 2002-10-30 Member: 1725Members, Subnautica Developer
Join Date: 2002-10-30 Member: 1725Members, Subnautica Developer
You can see a knife being held by the player in this screenshot of Subnautica.
TL;DR: I don't think that's a good idea. Subnautica is supposed to be a nonviolent game.
Allow me to explain. There really only are two types of people in the world. Those who play first person shooters and those who don't. This knife doesn't help either of them.
For those who play FPS the knife is a promise about to be broken. These people are so used to run around with knifes, swoosh it around, attack the darkness, and basically stab everything - beings and things. They expect beings to bleed, suffer, and die. They also expect more weapons. Harpoon? Torpedo? Grenade fishing? Nuke from orbit? It doesn't stop.
As I understand it Subnautica doesn't want any of this. So why include the knife? Perhaps it is meant as a tool but it is presented like a weapon. If you just wanted your players to have a knife to harvest more stuff you could make that stuff clickable only if you have a knife in your inventory. You might even have an animation that takes the knife out, harvests, and puts the knife away again. That way everyone would see the knife as a tool, not a weapon.
Those who don't play FPS and look over the shoulder (parents anyone?) of someone playing Subnautica will probably not be able to focus on anything but the knife as a weapon. Beautiful scenery? Stunning fish? Who cares, this game must be violent! Questions raise. Can you swing the knife? Can you hurt the fish? Turns out you can both. Game definitely violent. Kids must not play. Last word.
It would be a shame to loose those potential players because of a misunderstanding about violence. Don't you think? And at least in Europe violence gives a much higher ESRB rating.
So I guess despite the title I'm not against the knife itself -- as a tool it's perfectly fine. Just don't present it like a weapon please.
TL;DR: I don't think that's a good idea. Subnautica is supposed to be a nonviolent game.
Allow me to explain. There really only are two types of people in the world. Those who play first person shooters and those who don't. This knife doesn't help either of them.
For those who play FPS the knife is a promise about to be broken. These people are so used to run around with knifes, swoosh it around, attack the darkness, and basically stab everything - beings and things. They expect beings to bleed, suffer, and die. They also expect more weapons. Harpoon? Torpedo? Grenade fishing? Nuke from orbit? It doesn't stop.
As I understand it Subnautica doesn't want any of this. So why include the knife? Perhaps it is meant as a tool but it is presented like a weapon. If you just wanted your players to have a knife to harvest more stuff you could make that stuff clickable only if you have a knife in your inventory. You might even have an animation that takes the knife out, harvests, and puts the knife away again. That way everyone would see the knife as a tool, not a weapon.
Those who don't play FPS and look over the shoulder (parents anyone?) of someone playing Subnautica will probably not be able to focus on anything but the knife as a weapon. Beautiful scenery? Stunning fish? Who cares, this game must be violent! Questions raise. Can you swing the knife? Can you hurt the fish? Turns out you can both. Game definitely violent. Kids must not play. Last word.
It would be a shame to loose those potential players because of a misunderstanding about violence. Don't you think? And at least in Europe violence gives a much higher ESRB rating.
So I guess despite the title I'm not against the knife itself -- as a tool it's perfectly fine. Just don't present it like a weapon please.
Comments
Bingo!
You answered your own huge post with one sentence. From what the devs have been saying so far, its a tool, for hunting and utility and such, rather than getting stabby stabby with all the humans.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xqp5de_thank-the-knife_fun
The knife currently exists as a tool. For example, in the screenshot below (super rough, not a proper gameplay screenshot!), I am using it to cut a kelp stalk to acquire a resource needed to produce a battery.
There aren't presently any productive violent applications for the knife - Though some rough prototyping has left it in a state where it will injure creatures. Its primary use is to interact with the environment productively, not destructively.
I carry a knife with me most places and you never know when it will be useful.
I use it to cut things open, remove lose threads, screw in screws, pry things open, and all manner of non-violent things.
Point is, a knife is better than a multi-tool in most situations, and is honestly a very poor weapon in the grand scheme of things (especially in the ocean)
Ik right?