Some possible insight into the invisible Sunbeam bug
Idsertian
Join Date: 2018-07-29 Member: 242543Members
Join Date: 2018-07-29 Member: 242543Members
So I did quite a bit of my own testing on this, and it ultimately seems to come down to the game not loading the ship's model in during a "first instance" of the sequence being played after initially running the game. The following is how I came to this conclusion.
1. I launched Subnautica and loaded my save from the previous night, where I was stood inside my base in Safe Shallows. With ~20 minutes still to burn until the Sunbeam's arrival, I spent some time gathering resources from my lockers to assist in depth module upgrading for my Prawn and Cyclops after the event (This is my second run through the game, my first also was missing the Sunbeam during the event).
2. I took the Cyclops out to the Mountain Island, where I waited for the 15+ minutes needed. The sequence started, but the Sunbeam was not visible. See the gif below.
https://gfycat.com/PotableFilthyAmericanbadger
3. After viewing the event, I quit without saving to see if I could find a solution online to the missing Sunbeam, but all I could find was the suggestion of validating the Steam files, and a Trello entry that claimed the bug was squashed over a year ago (clearly not the case). Opting for the only solution presented, I proceeded to validate the game's files through Steam, which reported all was fine.
4. Running the game again, I did the same as I did in step 1. On arriving at the island, I decided that if the ship didn't appear this time, I would do some testing to see if I *could* get it to appear, and so further decided to save on the island so I wouldn't have to wait 15+ minutes each time. I saved on the beach where the nav marker is placed, with ~2 minutes remaining. When the event triggered, the Sunbeam was still not visible.
5. Knowing that there is a rendering issue with the Cyclops' bridge viewport (whereby certain effects render over the holographic HUD), I decided to try and see if it would have an effect on the Sunbeam event. Loading the save I made on the beach, I entered the Cyclops and viewed the event from the bridge. Lo and behold, the Sunbeam actually rendered this time.
https://gfycat.com/OptimisticUnsightlyDrever
6. However, to make sure this was, in fact, due to being on the Cyclops, I decided to reload the save and view the event once more from the beach. Again, the Sunbeam was rendered as it should be.
https://gfycat.com/FatalParallelHackee
At this point, my suspicion was that the game was failing to render the model due to the starting point of the initial save (in Safe Shallows), and that loading on the island was allowing it to load the resources for the event properly, somehow. However, it took some time to render, compress and upload the clips above, and at that point I had to break for dinner.
7. Upon returning from dinner, I decided to see if my suspicion was indeed correct, so I ran the game and loaded the save. This time, no Sunbeam. Hmm. I let the scene play out fully (with the QEP returning to idle and the Sea Empress contacting the player), then reloaded the save. When the sequence played again, the Sunbeam was back. Okay, odd. Then I had an "Aha!" moment.
8. Quitting the game, I immediately ran it again and loaded the save. No Sunbeam. Quitting to the menu during the scene (just as the QEP fired), I loaded the save again, and once more, the Sunbeam was present and correct.
Exactly what part of the game is causing this issue, I couldn't say. Whether it's part of the graphical engine, the part responsible for loading resources, or some other part, is for someone with more experience than me to decide. I am simply passing on the info I've collected in the hope that it helps the devs squash this bug.
Tech specs:
Platform: PC
CS#: 60072 (May-2018)
OS: Win7 SP1
CPU: Intel i7 4790-K
GPU: nVidia 1070 8GB (Driver version: 398.36)
RAM: 16GB
1. I launched Subnautica and loaded my save from the previous night, where I was stood inside my base in Safe Shallows. With ~20 minutes still to burn until the Sunbeam's arrival, I spent some time gathering resources from my lockers to assist in depth module upgrading for my Prawn and Cyclops after the event (This is my second run through the game, my first also was missing the Sunbeam during the event).
2. I took the Cyclops out to the Mountain Island, where I waited for the 15+ minutes needed. The sequence started, but the Sunbeam was not visible. See the gif below.
https://gfycat.com/PotableFilthyAmericanbadger
3. After viewing the event, I quit without saving to see if I could find a solution online to the missing Sunbeam, but all I could find was the suggestion of validating the Steam files, and a Trello entry that claimed the bug was squashed over a year ago (clearly not the case). Opting for the only solution presented, I proceeded to validate the game's files through Steam, which reported all was fine.
4. Running the game again, I did the same as I did in step 1. On arriving at the island, I decided that if the ship didn't appear this time, I would do some testing to see if I *could* get it to appear, and so further decided to save on the island so I wouldn't have to wait 15+ minutes each time. I saved on the beach where the nav marker is placed, with ~2 minutes remaining. When the event triggered, the Sunbeam was still not visible.
5. Knowing that there is a rendering issue with the Cyclops' bridge viewport (whereby certain effects render over the holographic HUD), I decided to try and see if it would have an effect on the Sunbeam event. Loading the save I made on the beach, I entered the Cyclops and viewed the event from the bridge. Lo and behold, the Sunbeam actually rendered this time.
https://gfycat.com/OptimisticUnsightlyDrever
6. However, to make sure this was, in fact, due to being on the Cyclops, I decided to reload the save and view the event once more from the beach. Again, the Sunbeam was rendered as it should be.
https://gfycat.com/FatalParallelHackee
At this point, my suspicion was that the game was failing to render the model due to the starting point of the initial save (in Safe Shallows), and that loading on the island was allowing it to load the resources for the event properly, somehow. However, it took some time to render, compress and upload the clips above, and at that point I had to break for dinner.
7. Upon returning from dinner, I decided to see if my suspicion was indeed correct, so I ran the game and loaded the save. This time, no Sunbeam. Hmm. I let the scene play out fully (with the QEP returning to idle and the Sea Empress contacting the player), then reloaded the save. When the sequence played again, the Sunbeam was back. Okay, odd. Then I had an "Aha!" moment.
8. Quitting the game, I immediately ran it again and loaded the save. No Sunbeam. Quitting to the menu during the scene (just as the QEP fired), I loaded the save again, and once more, the Sunbeam was present and correct.
Exactly what part of the game is causing this issue, I couldn't say. Whether it's part of the graphical engine, the part responsible for loading resources, or some other part, is for someone with more experience than me to decide. I am simply passing on the info I've collected in the hope that it helps the devs squash this bug.
Tech specs:
Platform: PC
CS#: 60072 (May-2018)
OS: Win7 SP1
CPU: Intel i7 4790-K
GPU: nVidia 1070 8GB (Driver version: 398.36)
RAM: 16GB
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