Biodiversity

trisdino

This thread is just me asking a question that may have been answered before, but I have not found the answer to:

How many species of plants and animals will there be? We have all seen the concept art, and it looks amazing, with incredibly diverse creatures, so I really, really hope that this is reflected in the gameplay. Subnautica is a game about the world, and in this regard, the animals are just as important as the submarine, graphics, and everything else. They are completely essential.

Games like civilization beyond earth have praised themselves for the great amount of exploration they offer, but in reality, there is very little. A few different types of tiles, around 5 types of aliens, and not much else. In a game all about exploration, the world should feel endless, and after hours upon hours of play, you should still have those "wait, what the hell is that?!" moments.

Sir_zino

I hope this is what happens in Subnautica! I do what to keep discovering for hours. I'm hoping for maybe 20 at least by time Subnautica is at its final stage.

Squiddapult

Ive said it before, if a game based on underwater exploration ever leaves me feeling like ive seen or know about everything, its failed in a large part of its core experience

Squeal_Like_A_Pig

As of the moment we have final models for well over 20 different types of creatures, ranging from small fish up to very very large creatures, but a good amount of those still need to be rigged/animated/ and implemented with their gameplay. We are continuing to concept and model additional creatures, and at the moment there is no specific final amount that we are aiming for. It really depends on what the game needs as it develops further.

As for plant life, we are definitely upwards of about 35 models so far. Everything from small decoration coral and plant props used for detailing, up to very large, biome theme defining props. Still many more to go.

Sir_zino

Well that's awesome! Keep up the good work Guys

trisdino

Do you have any idea of how many "biomes" you will have? I would recommend having a VERY high count of creatures, as I believe they are one of the most important aspects of the game. I am not a developer, but if I was to provide feedback already now, I would say that the allure of exploring an alien world is one of the biggest selling points for this game, and that you should certainly embrace it.

Sir_zino

There's an image somewhere showing subnutica top level biomes. I'll see if I can find it.

Sir_zino

There ya go

trisdino

Neat, thank you.

I am assuming they are on different elevation levels, with certain ones being found exclusively in the deeper regions.

What I have noticed is that there appears to be no coral biome? That is rather odd, though they will probably be added at some point.

Sir_zino

trisdino wrote: »

What I have noticed is that there appears to be no coral biome?

Theres a grand reef.

trisdino

I suppose that would probably be the coral reef, yeah.

Benson

from that image: there is also Lava Zones, but they are underneath the existing land (i was concerned for this when I didn't see them listed on that image)

trisdino

Now, I am no expert on this stuff, but if I am not mistaken, should the coral reefs not be located at highest points? I am assuming that the map slopes down, so the further out you go, the deeper it gets, but in that case, the reef would be one of the deepest biomes, which does not make much sense when looking at real life.

Squeal_Like_A_Pig

The "Coral Reef" zone is the center area of the map, around the player start. Safe Shallows is probably the most coral reef like - shallow, sunny, lots of plant / coral life. But originally we came up with a handful of Superbiome themes, to generate very distinct art sets and gameplay.

Some examples of those are Coral Reef, Lavazone, and Arctic. All of those were subdivided up into many different biomes, with different themes and often different visual looks, with Coral Reef getting the most attention since it comprises such a large chunk of the map. So, all of the Biome names you see on that map image posted above -- Safe Shallows, Kelp Forest, Grassy Plateaus, etc., with the exception of Arctic -- are all part of the Coral Reef superbiome, though some of those areas, particularly the deeper zones, won't have as much of a focus on the coral.

trisdino

How can Kelp forest and grassy plateau be parts of the coral reef? They per definition have nothing to do with it.

Squeal_Like_A_Pig

trisdino wrote: »

How can Kelp forest and grassy plateau be parts of the coral reef? They per definition have nothing to do with it.

It's not really something the player needs to worry about. The superbiomes were just a way for us to set up some main art sets initially, and to help designate an internal understanding of major groupings of biomes. We aren't calling Kelp Forest coral forest in game, it will be just be Kelp forest. Or whatever other name we choose for it.