Deep Sea Drone
TheF0CTOR
A Galaxy Far Far Away Join Date: 2015-08-09 Member: 206945Members
A Galaxy Far Far Away Join Date: 2015-08-09 Member: 206945Members
Deep sea drones are small, unmanned submersibles that are typically towed behind a larger vessel. They're often equipped with sonar, infrared, and high-definition cameras, all running through fiber optic cables. They're most commonly used for the search and exploration of wreckage, as well as ocean mapping. I'd like to see something like this added to Subnautica.
The drone would take up a 4x4 (or similar size) area in the player's inventory. When carrying the drone near the (empty) Seamoth dock in the Cyclops, a prompt will allow the user to equip the drone to the Cyclops. The drone should automatically navigate treacherous environments, and send the player a notification when it finds something of interest (wreckage, fragments, etc). An image will be sent up to a monitor on the Cyclops. The player should be able to interact with the monitor, with controls for movement and rotation. The drone should also have the ability to drop a beacon if there's on in its inventory.
I think as we get more wrecks (some of which will hopefully be very deep), this could prove to be an invaluable tool.
The drone would take up a 4x4 (or similar size) area in the player's inventory. When carrying the drone near the (empty) Seamoth dock in the Cyclops, a prompt will allow the user to equip the drone to the Cyclops. The drone should automatically navigate treacherous environments, and send the player a notification when it finds something of interest (wreckage, fragments, etc). An image will be sent up to a monitor on the Cyclops. The player should be able to interact with the monitor, with controls for movement and rotation. The drone should also have the ability to drop a beacon if there's on in its inventory.
I think as we get more wrecks (some of which will hopefully be very deep), this could prove to be an invaluable tool.
Comments
It's an AC-ROV Series SP-50. Tethered submersible video camera, with surface monitor, built-in lights and a remote-controlled 2-jaw manipulator. Six axial thrusters allow it to move wherever you want it, and a 'hover' function allows the ROV to automatically maintain its position. All packed into an 8-inch (200mm) yellow plastic cube. Depth rated to 70 metres.
Not cheap. $25k a pop, plus any extras you'd like to have, such as a USBL position fixing system, hull coating thickness sensor, laser pointer add-on, etc. No onboard compass readout though, which makes it rather tricky to handle.
I'd definitely recommend an un-tethered (free-roaming) ROV for Subnautica. Those cables are a bloody nuisance.
Yeah, a good Idea. Hope there will come some needs for that.
Edit: How about a remote controlled sea glide? Just upgrade and equip it at the Modification Station. RC, FPV, Advanced Maneuverability, better headlights ...
Thats a good use for my dusty sea glide. Hehe
Starting with realism: AI is an incredibly difficult "art" to master (I know because I've studied it), it would be especially difficult in a hostile alien environment like this one. I would imagine something like that would simply get destroyed by a carnivore within 5 minutes.. but lets ignore that for the moment and talk about gameplay. First of all what does it come back with? Materials? That would enable the player to sit at home and not explore, so no, materials is a bad idea. Information? Isn't that what signals are for? Also note that maps are going to be a thing soon, but most importantly: If the player doesn't have to work to obtain information about the environment, they might as well already have a filled in map of the world. So there needs to be something of a challenge involved..
Now here's my 10 cents: How is it going to know what a wreckage looks like? That software's not gonna be programmed prior to the crash, the player would have to teach it himself (which would require a few examples of wreckages to go from). So once a few wrecks have been explored (have had pictures taken of them), it could then find others by itself. This in my opinion could make it work, and would probably be beneficial to the immersion too.
Lastly for the alternative remote controlled drone idea: Again, seems cool but actually, what's the point of it? You're basically doing what you're doing anyway, except with a power restraint rather than oxygen. :P Put it this way, would you use one when you're already in the water and scuba-diving? Probably not. The only thing I can think of would be if drying off in a base was beneficial in Subnautica. In the current build however, I don't see the benefit of it.
Here: http://unknownworlds.com/subnautica/files/2014/01/CaveThingSmall.jpg
Well, I don't see an actual benefit neither. But that doesn't mean there won't be some. Imagine you have to scan fragments that are located too deep or are surrounded by 30 biters each. That's just one example for possible applications. But however, that leads me back to my basic attitude and my modest advice to the Devs: Please create some serious requirements first, before come up with a new bunch of upgrades! Player lists of unused stuff are impressively long right now.
It should be possible to create the 'illusion' of piloting an un-tethered (no cable) remotely controlled vehicle by having a dedicated pop-up video display panel in either the base, Seamoth or Cyclops, then use it to display what the game's human diver would see travelling through the same area. (Note: I didn't say that this routine would be easy to code. In fact, the required coding technique might be comparable to creating a multiplayer version of the game.) Something to look forward to, I guess.
How would the game benefit from having such a device?
The ROV would have the capacity to scan items to either upload technology fragments or identify resources in hazardous areas. However, the player will still have to physically collect those resources, and various life forms may have the ability to destroy the ROV. There is still a significant element of risk involved. Remote viewing capability merely means that players may make an informed decision to enter a hazardous area if the risks are worth taking.
In gameplay terms, there is nothing worse than attempting to reach a difficult objective and dying multiple times in the attempt, only to discover that there was nothing worth discovering or collecting.
Another scenario could be to explore the radiation zone by drone. An inevitable operation if the radiation suit fragments were located there e.g.
But the actual problem was to prevent the player's constant use of scanning by drone. Players would 'hide' behind their interfaces and wouldn't go by themselves to scan even the simplest 'guarded' fragments any more. The only possibility I can think of is a totally fragile drone that can be damaged or destroyed very easily. One biter attack and transmission 's over ... deathly silence. But that wasn't very realistic neither.
This is an issue that makes the whole scanner-drone subject questionable and brings me back to your statement. A simple spy-eye to discover if there is something worth to expose the danger. But where's the kick after all .. then .. anyways?
Toxic gas areas, or times
Amazing thunder storms! Or underwater chemical reactions.
I think the game needs to kind of display the idea that the world is alien by having fog, mist, plumes of toxic water, or gas that roles in at random times or varying times of day or night, that makes the character unable to explore for too long, not killing the character, but making it difficult to do much....
Really disabling the character until they get a suit or develop a kind of adaptation to it, and get used to it. It could showcase some cool environmental changes....
I would like to see very dangerous storms, lightning, enormous sounds of thunder that shake the water. Even if the lightning isn't going to kill the character at least make it stun them, or make them thrash, lose a bit of oxygen, or food, or hydration, and maybe the storms could attract enormous creatures that make it too dangerous to leave the safety of a home base, or some kind of safe place....
Storm surges or migrations
Storm surges or migrations so enormous they seem like tsunamis.
I would like to see so many huge animals rushing through an area or congregating to one that it makes the water depth-pressure increase by fifty or so feet because above you would be a ton of waves. I would like to be able to see the animals have odd behavior. It is a survival adventure game, I think it would be cool to see something that would be initially dangerous, not be so bad if you have a heavy scooba-exosuit, or a base built below the action, or something cool to see the animals. Or if microbes congregated too so you got beautiful streams of glowing algae or life in the water that you can either see with the naked eye or study in a lab on your ship....or somewhere.
Obviously, you've never operated an underwater ROV. The object of this exercise is to examine an area in relative safety before physically exploring it in person. It's also possible to lose contact with an un-tethered ROV if it passes beyond range of its base station or its communications are disrupted somehow. Any real undersea explorer would want to discover 'how?' and 'why?' it happened. Retrieving the drone would be a secondary consideration.
Of course there will be danger involved.
Exactly. I understand very well. That's why I'm questioning about the kick that gets lost when the player sends ahead the drone into every single dark hole. I mean, we're talking about a game that could/should thrill and not real life applications. Don't get me wrong, I like the drone idea, but I'm unconvinced in view of other already existing tools that lever out some nice challenges. But OK, if there will be some damn good reasons for ROV operations, I'd craft one.
In all your attempts, did you not think to change your strategy a little bit? *cough* Seeaamooth.. *cough*
Also, when FOV becomes a setting in options, they'll be a fair bit easier to dodge.