Tides and weather

Halbard

One of Subnautica's signature features is it's living, breathing ocean, with predators that actually eat things, a working day cycle, moon phases and beautifully detailed terrain. However, there is one thing about the game that annoys me more than anything else - the absence of tides. As anyone who happened to swim near the surface will know, the planet's moon is very large (or close) in comparison to the planet. Either way, it should have a massive influence on the tides, meaning the water level would rise and fall over a wide range. However, at the moment there are no tides whatsoever.
Judging from the beach at the mountain island, the tidal range is similar to Earth's, yet like every other sandbox game I can think of, the water level remains perpetually the same. Since the Subnautica map covers only a tiny proportion of the planet's surface (hence the currently earthlike gravity) tides could be implemented by having the water led level for the entire map change of over time. Though something radical like a change in 20 metres of sea level would probably be a bad idea, something more realistic like 5 metres would add a nice touch of realism to the game. I'm pretty sure implementing this wouldn't make it too difficult to make the lifepod bob up and down but would the floater island make this too difficult to add? And would the change in sea level make it too difficult to deal with submarine crush depth ect.?

The other thing I'd like to see added at some point is a functioning weather system. Currently it is one of the few systems that subnautica lacks common in other sandbox games. Implementing the odd rain shower would be fairly easy to add and would add a nice visual effect to the game. However adding storms could help explain why the player has to live underwater.
Subnautica is clearly set in a tropical section of the as yet unnamed planet, so storms and the occasional cyclone should be a not infrequent occurrence. With the current conditions, there are no lorewise expansions to explain why the plated doesn't build a base partly or fully above the surface - after all, this would be better for solar power, growing plant, far easier for rescuers to spot and generally more pleasant. However, tropical storms could help explain why building your base underwater is actually the safest idea. During the storm period, the surface of the ocean could be very disturbed, and the player spun about and disorientated if they tried to swim up to it. Storms could also lead to unusual behaviour in both passive and aggressive life forms, causing them to either head deeper or venture into new territory in search of prey.

Disclaimer: I am fully aware this is just and idea and do not expect any of these features to be added to the game.

6ismus

I honestly think any tides added to the game would be unrealistic because assuming that the planet had as much mass as earth, the same density, atmospheric pressure, and that the planet is completely covered in water with exeption of the islands, the moon is too big for tidal ranges to support life. Assuming that the moon is a rocky planet and the resolution of it is due to it being extreemly close I'll say it's 1/8th of the earth's mass and is a couple (5 give or take) million miles away from the earth (even though the picture of the aurora you get at the beginning of the game clearly demands more mass and less distance), the tide would resemble something of the movie interstellar. I personally don't like moons and enjoy starry nights without a big white ball in the middle of them, what do you think? Should they just take away the moon or retexture it so it looks like a gasseous planet (which would compensate for the low tides)?