Lava Biome for Endgame? (Magmatitan Idea)

Lightdevil

Hello Subnautica Community!

I have thought alot about this game lately and then, last night, I had an Idea i deemed "pretty good" and my idea got more and more detailed with the night progressing and reading discussions like "Should Subnautica have an ending (Poll)".

At first it was just an idea for a creature and maybe you all think its stupid then thats fine but hear me out. As it lives in the lava biome or however its called, I called it the Magmatitan. Hence its name, its pretty big, maybe even the biggest creature ingame. Its supposed to swallow you whole, although its not very fast and not aggressive, but since it kinda plows the ocean floor for food it sucks you in (with Seamoth or without, althought with the Seamoth you could maybe try to counteract the suction and get away from it) But as it sucks you in, you survive and are able to move around the body freely although its of course not easy to survive in there, maybe you would need a special kind of seamoth and suit. I havent thought much about the inner life of the creature except that it would use lava as its digestive system. Since it does that, its body needs to be heatresistent, so i thought about its skin and meat being like rocks, probably black and raspy. And here my idea progressed. As part of the endgame, I thought it might be a good idea that you have to get eaten by the magmatitan in order to get into its body in which you can then harvest parts of its rocky body (which wouldnt even hurt it since its very massive) and find exclusive materials that you need in order to progress through the game or get some special items (for the people who dont want to have any ending to this game). Of course surviving that "Being in a huge lava fish body" thing wouldnt be easy but if you do it the reward is worth it. Getting out of its body wouldnt be hard. Since it sucks in water aswell, lava and water sometimes meet inside its body, the resulting steam and rocks, and whatever else i aint a geologist, would eventually exit the body through tubes on the side of the magmatitans body (which you cannot enter, since the steam and flow works against you, you only get blasted out of there)

So that would be my idea, maybe you all think its shit, then just write it here in the comments. Maybe you think its kinda good but needs alot of improvement, then you can write that aswell. All of this might just be the thoughts of a lunatic late at night so Im aware that this is only an idea, a draft, and you could all help me complete it if you want and you think it has potential! IF SOMEONE COULD DRAW THIS I WOULD BE SUPER HAPPY! And im even more happy if we just talk about this idea of mine seek improvement and see where it takes us in the end!

So all in all, tell me what you think, have a good day!

EDIT: Lava digestion system is obviously not happening. I wanted the inside of the Magmatitan to have some kind of danger in it so its not too easy to get the rare materials inside it, thats why I had the idea of lava inside it.

Davycannonhound

The only thing I disagree with is the whole lava as digestive fluids. I don't think you quite understand how digestive tracks work.

tyler111762

Davycannonhound wrote: »

The only thing I disagree with is the whole lava as digestive fluids. I don't think you quite understand how digestive tracks work.

biothermal generation? or is that grasping at straws

TotallyLemon

tyler111762 wrote: »

Davycannonhound wrote: »

The only thing I disagree with is the whole lava as digestive fluids. I don't think you quite understand how digestive tracks work.

biothermal generation? or is that grasping at straws

Extremely grasping at straws... grasping at a straw that is several light years away. It would take vastly greater amounts of energy to heat the lava than the creature could ever consume. Besides, lava has no properties that are capable of breaking down organic matter... not to mention lava is inorganic matter. It can't possibly work.

There are some bacterial that can live off inorganic matter, but their biological process is nowhere close to digestive lava.

sharvy

I think it's cool when you don't put science into it

TotallyLemon

sharvy wrote: »

I think it's cool when you don't put science into it

Everything implemented in the game is plausible, but the lava suggestion is comparable to fish that can shoot lasers out of their eyes.

Lightdevil

Lava digestion system is obviously not happening. I wanted the inside of the Magmatitan to have some kind of danger in it so its not too easy to get the rare materials inside it, thats why I had the idea of lava inside it. If anybody has a different idea as of what could be in the Magmatitan that is a threat to the player, so to not make the whole rare materials in there too easy to get, suggest it and stop stomping on my bad ideas with your undoubtetly beautiful feet.

TotallyLemon

Lightdevil wrote: »

Lava digestion system is obviously not happening. I wanted the inside of the Magmatitan to have some kind of danger in it so its not too easy to get the rare materials inside it, thats why I had the idea of lava inside it. If anybody has a different idea as of what could be in the Magmatitan that is a threat to the player, so to not make the whole rare materials in there too easy to get, suggest it and stop stomping on my bad ideas with your undoubtetly beautiful feet.

I'm a runner, so my feet are bruised, calloused, and are generally pretty nasty.

The issue with the Magmatitan is that it's competing with other gigantic creatures (so far as implementation is concerned). A while back someone suggested something similar and it got shot down pretty harshly. I'm going to sort of tear this idea to pieces, but try to preserve the general idea as best I can. This is the closest thing that I can think of that the devs would remotely consider:

So this creature is obviously situated in the lava biome. The idea of a filter feeder is solid considering anything larger than the Sea Emperor eating large pray is ridiculous. Even so, deep ocean sediment is pretty devoid of substantial sustenance for filter feeders, or really sediment anywhere. This is why we don't see large filter feeders on Earth tilling sediment for nutrients.

But what the hell! I'm going to run with this and make it totally work.

Perhaps the Magmatitan is in a symbiotic relationship with electric eating bacteria - this is very plausible considering many hydrothermal vent creatures are in symbiotic relationships with microorganism. For the Magmatitan, minerals in the silt provide an electron anode which symbiotic bacteria can use to produce bioelectricity... and in large energy densities within the Magmatitan's body. Densities that can justify a f*cking ginormous creature of the deep... possibly as large as a football field.

Boom, giant silt feeder plausible.

But what is inside it? Giant f*cking lightning bolts! Actually, they are just really large discharges of surplus electrical energy not only from the creature's eating habits, but also from friction with the ocean floor. Get caught inside and you stand a good chance of being fried to death.

But wait there's more...

All that electrical discharge causes electrolysis, or the separation of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Do you know what that means? This giant monster not only throws off lightning, it can breathe fire. The excess hydrogen and oxygen has a chance to be ignited causing huge underwater blast waves of steaming hot water and burning gases.

Bing, bang, boom I got you a plausible fire creature. Although it may not be aggressive or fast, if you get caught in its gaping mouth you're in for a big shock (pun entirely intended).

TotallyLemon

Due to my most recent post, I believe this is in order:

BTW, the rare minerals come from "undigested" mineral deposits that form inside the creature.

Lightdevil

I like it. But in your creature, how would you get out of it?

TotallyLemon

Lightdevil wrote: »

I like it. But in your creature, how would you get out of it?

Go out the way you came in, but the difficulty is in the form of a current forcing you back in. If the player's vehicle is disable by an electric arc, they can't go back because the flow is too strong to swim against unassisted. If that happens the player will be forced to go the other way.

Basically, I imagine the creature's insides as a large tube that narrows towards the rear. Near the back there are column like gill structures that the player has to weave in and out of. Beyond that are large electrical diodes. The player must time it right and make it through, keeping in mind the inside is getting narrower. Finally, the end holes are reached, but there is one final test. Lots of gases accumulate at the back, so the player is forced to brave flaming exhaust jets.

Of course, all the while random electrical discharges are being thrown off and there are periodic "belches" where the entire inside is bathed in an explosion (so the player can't spend all day in the damn thing).

This creature already sounds like a lot of work. It is most likely a post-beta consideration.

Edit: Also because there is oxygen build up, the player can recharge their oxygen levels in the form of air bubbles being given off.

TotallyLemon

Meh, it might sound far fetched, but I think it fits right in with Subnautica's level of plausibility. The interior of the creature might be a little too complex, but the basic concept is alright.