Ideas about game/tech_tree progression after seeing potential new cyclops upgrades
Rizzlybear
Join Date: 2016-01-19 Member: 211688Members
Join Date: 2016-01-19 Member: 211688Members
i just came across the link to this today on the subnautica subreddit.
https://trello.com/c/f0gwktVZ/279-making-cyclops-relevant
I made a post with my thoughts on it, and someone suggested i repost it here, on the small chance the devs find it useful discussion fodder.
I like that they are working on cyclops upgrades.
It will be interesting to see how this fits into the game as far as pace and progression. presently the cyclops is a late game achievement, most of what they want you to use it for is stuff you had to do to build the cyclops in the first place.
presently my progression in the game goes:
seabase
sustainable fish
lead suit and laser cutter (fin and tank upgrades too)
water purifier
moth
moonpool
cyclops
fix aurora
with all these upgrades, i would get a lot more use out of that cyclops if it was at the beginning of the progression.
unfortunately the moth is really the workhorse as it stands, the moth is what "gets you there" and the cyclops is sort of the trophy at the endgame.
I like the changes suggested in that trello, but it really feels like they need to find a way to move it towards the beginning of the progression.
my thoughts:
Make the cyclops the first goal. replace the shallows moth frags with cyclops frags and allow it to be built from large amounts of shallow/cheap materials (titanium, copper, glass). This requires you to build a shallows base early on to store the materials and stage your explorations of the area for fragments. you would use the (currently pointless) pipes to keep fresh oxygen in the seabases. and you would power them with solar.
Make the moth/moonpool a mid game item, taking more advanced materials. The moth's smaller size could allow it to reach greater depths than the cyclops, but giving it limited oxygen and power keeps it tethered to a base/cyclops.
food and water: add in a salt evaporator pond item, and use the salt pond and creepvine as an early game food source. these would provide minimal, shallow water food sources. (creepers shouldn't grow in deep water after this, requiring sun light to grow). This lets you move the deeper/rarer/later game resources to the more advanced power sources, the fish farm, the water machine and a possible oxygen machine.
late game/deep resources could be gated behind narrow/deep caves/tunnels that the cyclops could seek out with it's scanner, but not fit into or dive deep enough for. this requires you to use the cyclops to find these resources, and the moth to recover them. thus you NEED the moth to build the machines that allow for sustainable deep water bases (freeing you from pipes, salt evaporation ponds, and creepvine farms.)
move the aurora to a very very deep trench filled with nasty things hiding in the dark. the aurora could then periodically "leak" radiation through tunnels and vents to various area's of the map at different times. this would force you to keep moving around to avoid that danger, until you have progressed far enough into the tech tree to get down there and patch the aurora up.
your progression could then look like this:
build small shallow base with creep farm and salt pond
lead suit / laser cutter / fin / tank upgrades
build cyclops
use cyclops to find seamoth/pool parts and materials
use cyclops and seamoth to find fragments/resources to build advanced machines
build deep sea bases
patch deep aurora
https://trello.com/c/f0gwktVZ/279-making-cyclops-relevant
I made a post with my thoughts on it, and someone suggested i repost it here, on the small chance the devs find it useful discussion fodder.
I like that they are working on cyclops upgrades.
It will be interesting to see how this fits into the game as far as pace and progression. presently the cyclops is a late game achievement, most of what they want you to use it for is stuff you had to do to build the cyclops in the first place.
presently my progression in the game goes:
seabase
sustainable fish
lead suit and laser cutter (fin and tank upgrades too)
water purifier
moth
moonpool
cyclops
fix aurora
with all these upgrades, i would get a lot more use out of that cyclops if it was at the beginning of the progression.
unfortunately the moth is really the workhorse as it stands, the moth is what "gets you there" and the cyclops is sort of the trophy at the endgame.
I like the changes suggested in that trello, but it really feels like they need to find a way to move it towards the beginning of the progression.
my thoughts:
Make the cyclops the first goal. replace the shallows moth frags with cyclops frags and allow it to be built from large amounts of shallow/cheap materials (titanium, copper, glass). This requires you to build a shallows base early on to store the materials and stage your explorations of the area for fragments. you would use the (currently pointless) pipes to keep fresh oxygen in the seabases. and you would power them with solar.
Make the moth/moonpool a mid game item, taking more advanced materials. The moth's smaller size could allow it to reach greater depths than the cyclops, but giving it limited oxygen and power keeps it tethered to a base/cyclops.
food and water: add in a salt evaporator pond item, and use the salt pond and creepvine as an early game food source. these would provide minimal, shallow water food sources. (creepers shouldn't grow in deep water after this, requiring sun light to grow). This lets you move the deeper/rarer/later game resources to the more advanced power sources, the fish farm, the water machine and a possible oxygen machine.
late game/deep resources could be gated behind narrow/deep caves/tunnels that the cyclops could seek out with it's scanner, but not fit into or dive deep enough for. this requires you to use the cyclops to find these resources, and the moth to recover them. thus you NEED the moth to build the machines that allow for sustainable deep water bases (freeing you from pipes, salt evaporation ponds, and creepvine farms.)
move the aurora to a very very deep trench filled with nasty things hiding in the dark. the aurora could then periodically "leak" radiation through tunnels and vents to various area's of the map at different times. this would force you to keep moving around to avoid that danger, until you have progressed far enough into the tech tree to get down there and patch the aurora up.
your progression could then look like this:
build small shallow base with creep farm and salt pond
lead suit / laser cutter / fin / tank upgrades
build cyclops
use cyclops to find seamoth/pool parts and materials
use cyclops and seamoth to find fragments/resources to build advanced machines
build deep sea bases
patch deep aurora
Comments
1) base
2) fish tank
3) lead suit
4) seamoth
5) cyclops
6) fit max amount of solar panels top of cyclops
7) laser cutter
8) cyclops energy upgrade from aurora
9) moonpool
10) water purification
(reason to work fast on solar powered cyclops is that it works as mobile seamoth recharging station/locker area/food&water carrier while going for material scavenging/exploring trips)
do you have to replace any batteries on the moth or cyclops before you get the solar going?
i find with my moth -> moonpool progression, i can get the moonpool and get back to the shallows before the moth runs it's first battery dry. i REALLY hate the idea of consuming non-renewable resources.
I think the cyclops is dramatically underrated , having such a large capacity with lockers , to let you hoard biomes worth of resources. Plus it's reaper proof !
All it really needs is integrated solar pannels and rechargeable batteries.