Other: They should prioritize NOT caring about what stranger on the internet ask them to prioritize.
Prioritization is very context dependent and not everything can be planned long term. This is especially true of a game with regular update where each new change can bring new problems.
So they should keep caring little for guy with big mouth trying to talk like devel... wait a second.
You know what? forget that, Dev should Prioritize doing every cool idea I have and only focus on the PC
(I'm joking)
I vote other, essentially for reasons similar to Sam_Starfall
If anything though, I would like to see Story as LAST priority. I've been following development for a while, and got really dedicated around the time of the Precursor update, and as much as I'd love to see the story's conclusion, I'd rather have that last. It gives people good reason to keep following development and will make the official release even more exciting.
I'd even argue the devs shouldn't put the endgame into Experimental, and keep it a closed beta test, so nothing gets spoiled
IMHO, the devs should prioritize adding/fixing/finishing things that will be locked in (or very difficult to change) after 1.0.
In my mind, this is a combination of story, game systems, and balance. Story drives a lot of gameplay and world design decisions and needs to be properly fleshed out. I would rather see the devs take more time to do this right then to make a poor decision based on short-term time crunches that ends up permanently handicapping the final product (I'm looking at you, Mass Effect 3 & Andromeda).
Balance and gameplay is in the same boat. I'm not talking about small balance tweaks and fine tuning everything, but rather the big picture on how the game is meant to be played. Games like Kerbal Space Program botched this part of the process on release, and likely won't ever properly balance the core game since so many people's savegames and craft designs are dependent on their broken placeholder balance that never got updated before 1.0.
Gameplay systems are even more important. I get the impression that we're late enough in Subnautica's development cycle that these likely won't change much (if at all), which is a bit disappointing given some of the missed opportunities with gameplay design. Still, there's always hope for an expansion to add new gameplay mechanics, so my vote would be for the devs to start planning any new systems now and adjust the existing gameplay systems accordingly to leave room for the new mechanics in the future.
They're in the bugfixing / polishing stage of development. That's what they're prioritizing right now, that and the endgame sequence, but we won't see that as they're withholding it so all the oldtimers don't just play the endgame and move on.
Hey, it's better to get a majority of bugs out of the way before another major update which, while advancing story, will create even more bugs.
What?
Don't judge me...
Subnautica has reached the point in development where UWE will be making cache clearing unnecessary (indeed, you see far fewer posts from people complaining about unbearable lag already, even though optimization has only just started recently).
While clearing the cache will fix the lag, the game needs to be optimized and fixed to the point where it doesn't need manual user interventions like this. So yes, @TigerTankSniper , clear your cache, that will help you for now, but your point does stand, UWE should be working on this (and they are indeed working on this) right now. If you need help clearing your cache, see the second line of my signature below.
performance optimization to avoid those aweful pop ins
fixing the graphical annoyances like seems or clippings
balancing the Cyclops vs Leviathan gameplay until it really works
polishing the tech tree
For me the game always was endless replayable and didn't need that much story. Rather much to craft and explore. For that the game needs enough crafting parts and a good tech balance and for exploring the sub vs creature maneuvering and gameplay must work.
But as the devs already work on that there's nothing to wish right now.
Done this, it doesn't work anymore, at least not for me. It didn't work all that well to begin with. Takes the game only a few minutes to fill that cache out all over again.
I'm patient, though. Don't mind putting up with the bad frame rate until they optimize.
I'd like to see them fix some critical bugs, namely the torpedo arm bug that can destroy all upgrades and slots in the Prawn suit, and the amazingly annoying Seamoth disappearing hull upgrade bug when docked. I also second fixing the awful pop-in. I've had my seamoth get stranded inside wreck terrain because of them magically popping up after I was already inside. That hasn't happened since the last release, but I still occasionally crash into things that magically popped up.
I do think that adding story content and plain regular game content is important, but I have three words for you. FIX. THE. BUGS. I think that this game needs more patches, but not content patches. BUGFIXING patches. Sometimes you can end up in the worst situations due to a bug. Like the time I died in the Array (don't ask how) and when I respawned the water was gone... or that time I fell through the floor in the Lava Castle. Or the time I got stuck in the walls in the Lost River Reaserch Facility... I think the Precursors hate me. Every time a Major Update comes out it tends to have Major Bugs. Or maybe those minuscule bugs that annoy you every time. Like the one where all the modules in your seamoth stop working when you load your save. That has killed me multiple times as my seamoth is almost always in a state of disrepair, 300 meters under the sea. FIX. THE. BUGS.
It goes without saying that when the main content is in including when the rocket and other bits are in, they should get as many bugs fixed as possible and since optimization is needed which is a form of bug in itself. give everyone who buys the released game a most positive experience with as little disruption as possible.
my last aborted play through was stopped when my seamoth tried to dock with my new cyclops, the seamoth docked but the player didn't go with and was in a sitting pose in the water immune to losing oxygen or damage. it isn't the first bug with the seamoth i have encountered which i reported on either. making sure to get the game in as workable condition as possible is the next big step before release i would of thought.
Comments
Prioritization is very context dependent and not everything can be planned long term. This is especially true of a game with regular update where each new change can bring new problems.
So they should keep caring little for guy with big mouth trying to talk like devel... wait a second.
You know what? forget that, Dev should Prioritize doing every cool idea I have and only focus on the PC
(I'm joking)
If anything though, I would like to see Story as LAST priority. I've been following development for a while, and got really dedicated around the time of the Precursor update, and as much as I'd love to see the story's conclusion, I'd rather have that last. It gives people good reason to keep following development and will make the official release even more exciting.
I'd even argue the devs shouldn't put the endgame into Experimental, and keep it a closed beta test, so nothing gets spoiled
In my mind, this is a combination of story, game systems, and balance. Story drives a lot of gameplay and world design decisions and needs to be properly fleshed out. I would rather see the devs take more time to do this right then to make a poor decision based on short-term time crunches that ends up permanently handicapping the final product (I'm looking at you, Mass Effect 3 & Andromeda).
Balance and gameplay is in the same boat. I'm not talking about small balance tweaks and fine tuning everything, but rather the big picture on how the game is meant to be played. Games like Kerbal Space Program botched this part of the process on release, and likely won't ever properly balance the core game since so many people's savegames and craft designs are dependent on their broken placeholder balance that never got updated before 1.0.
Gameplay systems are even more important. I get the impression that we're late enough in Subnautica's development cycle that these likely won't change much (if at all), which is a bit disappointing given some of the missed opportunities with gameplay design. Still, there's always hope for an expansion to add new gameplay mechanics, so my vote would be for the devs to start planning any new systems now and adjust the existing gameplay systems accordingly to leave room for the new mechanics in the future.
What?
Don't judge me...
Clear your cache.
@0x6A7232 , i don't know why you didn't say this.
Subnautica has reached the point in development where UWE will be making cache clearing unnecessary (indeed, you see far fewer posts from people complaining about unbearable lag already, even though optimization has only just started recently).
While clearing the cache will fix the lag, the game needs to be optimized and fixed to the point where it doesn't need manual user interventions like this. So yes, @TigerTankSniper , clear your cache, that will help you for now, but your point does stand, UWE should be working on this (and they are indeed working on this) right now. If you need help clearing your cache, see the second line of my signature below.
For me the game always was endless replayable and didn't need that much story. Rather much to craft and explore. For that the game needs enough crafting parts and a good tech balance and for exploring the sub vs creature maneuvering and gameplay must work.
But as the devs already work on that there's nothing to wish right now.
Done this, it doesn't work anymore, at least not for me. It didn't work all that well to begin with. Takes the game only a few minutes to fill that cache out all over again.
I'm patient, though. Don't mind putting up with the bad frame rate until they optimize.
my last aborted play through was stopped when my seamoth tried to dock with my new cyclops, the seamoth docked but the player didn't go with and was in a sitting pose in the water immune to losing oxygen or damage. it isn't the first bug with the seamoth i have encountered which i reported on either. making sure to get the game in as workable condition as possible is the next big step before release i would of thought.