Story line concept discussion: Past and Future
Stopher
USA Join Date: 2019-06-09 Member: 253285Members
USA Join Date: 2019-06-09 Member: 253285Members
Did not know what LOVE of a game was until Subnautica. You have made me happy in general just to have this game out there. Here is what made you great. AND what I hope you will consider in the future.
A sandbox where I could do as I pleased. Not go deeper until I felt I WANTED to. Yes, it was terrifying, but the beasts aren't truly terrifying until you get to the mid game and start to play in a sub. That ramping up of the game that KEEPS ramping up the action until I am literally in my power armor Prawn with all the bells and whistles that I can stow in MY OWN SUBMARINE and it repairs itself! Just wow. What was so sweet in the original was that --as I GREW in the game in confidence, the game basically said "here is more to explore and it is JUST as scary as it was when you were afraid of small fish with teeth. As I become better, the game got harder. I felt like every inch I went deeper needed a new base just for my heart to calm down. This is the sweet spot your last game hit. The narrative was a delight due to the fact that you let me FIND what was there and fill in the blanks myself or if I didn't care, the story didn't much matter. I was a flunkie for a big company and in time I began to see how soul crushing Alterra was. But as my "character" grew, I became savvy and smart and master of all I surveyed. My second play through, I took on leviathans and won. Played with only a seaglide etc. How much I wish the parameters could be changed (no submarine, scarce resources, more critters, random locations of leviathans) then I would have played it forever. The fact that I can't build an uber weapon that lets me kill everything in sight. Awesome. Totally new!
The new story in part 2 (that is now the old story in below zero) seemed a bit intrusive. I really HAD this company looking over your shoulder, but they wouldn't let me have their precious copyrighted plans unless I made them happy. That was so much more constraining than the wild open world of the first narrative. THEN the game makers saw this wasn't working as good. Why would I spend two weeks not communicating with my sister in the orbital station and then the next conversation was like I had talked to her 5 minutes ago. So, you did what had to be done. You killed the old story. Much to the improvement of the game. (don't like the helmet head hair of the sister though. bleh. Also my sounds of struggle sound so girly wimpy. ugh.)
NOW, I am a rogue. I am defiant of Alterra, pissed that they crapped on my family and I am stealing their plans with my outdated tablet (much goodness for the game mechanic there). The first subnautica where I had a broken tablet made sense. This new story line gives rhyme and reason to why I must SCAN items in order to GET BLUEPRINTS even if I CHOSE to be marooned on the planet. I absolutely LOVE that they have FOUND My survival pod and I have this game pressure like I need to ESTABLISH my own base somewhere else. ---Quick story side note--- If I found the tablet that says "we found this emergency habitat as it landed and Maida's greenhouse... Probably need to destroy them from orbit..." THEN I CAME HOME TO MY SURVIVAL HABITAT TRASHED!!! omg that would be so amazing. If this was done I'd have to have a scanner & build tool and the ability to pick up whatever was left in the habitat and rebuild in case I was a wimp that didn't bother building a new base long before mine was trashed... But forcing someone in game to build their own base is great! How great to have the total NON-interaction with NPC's of the first game (feel alone and isolated) but someone DID something to my emergency shelter! You should imply that you can see things on the surface (Maida's greenhouse) and things that land from above (your shelter) but unless Alterra is on the surface (they are not) they can't find your habitat. This evil company is too wimpy to stay down on this scary planet, but they WILL trash you if they can and hurt your ability to thrive if possible (feeling like this planet is their property).
The story is improved, however its latest iteration has some clunky bits.
--I love how Alterra the company is shaping up to be too wimpy to really explore this place. Complacent wimpy humans that have all they need taken care of for them wouldn't properly explore (and that is what the narrative hints at). A survivor would take risks and challenge great leviathans. That gumption that served the first character and the current character is what give you the edge over Alterra. Keep pushing this part of the narrative, that if Alterra would JUST EXPLORE, they would discover more.
--I loved in the old story line how the alien inside me really seemed alien. I do not like this "except for our bodies, we are all the same underneath" kind of squishy, lovey dovey narrative with Alan. The precursors need to have existed for countless millennia and only because Alan is FORCED into a body where he loses lots of memories and has to trudge along like a smart version of us that he changes and becomes less logical and more sympathetic as his character grows. He is dumbed down to our level and can better appreciate our level. I liked his comment "why do I assume you would exploit anything you could learn from us? Because we would do the same to you".
---The idea that Alan shows me places to visit is a GREAT narrative form, but they are currently coming way too fast without reason. I am told of places I can't get to and have no hope it seems in game to get there. Parsing out this data more slowly is WAY better.
---The story seems WAY faster in pace and I enjoyed (in the old story) that I had to do A LOT to get to the point where I could go down to the eyeball jellyfish and explore the new land content. While I like how the worms slow and scare me on land, I worry that the content is coming at me WAY too fast. I have found all the bases listed on the maps (can't easily put the map on my walls of my sleeping compartment yet) and it feels as if I could rush through the content a LOT faster. Having access to the land quickly is GREAT, but there needs to be barriers to getting to NEW lands (thumpers maybe as a requirment) before I can access those areas. The hydrolic fluid on the bridge is a good example of this being executed well.
---Please consider crossing over both lines of the current story. Alan wants Karra contained and does NOT want it turned into a weapon (it devastated his species). He doesn't want to be dissected for Alterra. YOU want to get Alan out of you and find out about your sister (I really hope she is stuck somewhere and not dead). Together at the end game, you rearm the weapon and tell Alterra they don't get to play with Karra anymore. Humans can explore, but must be scanned to be certain they have zero copies of the Karra bacteria. Some kind of warper keeps watching your exploration bases so you don't play with Karra.
In closing I hope that the DEV's will read this and take it into consideration. I truly wish there were parameters that could be used to improve replayability. Great job. Keep up the good work. I already have ideas for number 3 and the improvements would make the development cycle tiny compared to 1 & 2. Use the resources of 1 AND 2 but let it be the character from 1 paying off his debt by building all the bases and doing the research Alterra wants them to do. Great work so far.
A sandbox where I could do as I pleased. Not go deeper until I felt I WANTED to. Yes, it was terrifying, but the beasts aren't truly terrifying until you get to the mid game and start to play in a sub. That ramping up of the game that KEEPS ramping up the action until I am literally in my power armor Prawn with all the bells and whistles that I can stow in MY OWN SUBMARINE and it repairs itself! Just wow. What was so sweet in the original was that --as I GREW in the game in confidence, the game basically said "here is more to explore and it is JUST as scary as it was when you were afraid of small fish with teeth. As I become better, the game got harder. I felt like every inch I went deeper needed a new base just for my heart to calm down. This is the sweet spot your last game hit. The narrative was a delight due to the fact that you let me FIND what was there and fill in the blanks myself or if I didn't care, the story didn't much matter. I was a flunkie for a big company and in time I began to see how soul crushing Alterra was. But as my "character" grew, I became savvy and smart and master of all I surveyed. My second play through, I took on leviathans and won. Played with only a seaglide etc. How much I wish the parameters could be changed (no submarine, scarce resources, more critters, random locations of leviathans) then I would have played it forever. The fact that I can't build an uber weapon that lets me kill everything in sight. Awesome. Totally new!
The new story in part 2 (that is now the old story in below zero) seemed a bit intrusive. I really HAD this company looking over your shoulder, but they wouldn't let me have their precious copyrighted plans unless I made them happy. That was so much more constraining than the wild open world of the first narrative. THEN the game makers saw this wasn't working as good. Why would I spend two weeks not communicating with my sister in the orbital station and then the next conversation was like I had talked to her 5 minutes ago. So, you did what had to be done. You killed the old story. Much to the improvement of the game. (don't like the helmet head hair of the sister though. bleh. Also my sounds of struggle sound so girly wimpy. ugh.)
NOW, I am a rogue. I am defiant of Alterra, pissed that they crapped on my family and I am stealing their plans with my outdated tablet (much goodness for the game mechanic there). The first subnautica where I had a broken tablet made sense. This new story line gives rhyme and reason to why I must SCAN items in order to GET BLUEPRINTS even if I CHOSE to be marooned on the planet. I absolutely LOVE that they have FOUND My survival pod and I have this game pressure like I need to ESTABLISH my own base somewhere else. ---Quick story side note--- If I found the tablet that says "we found this emergency habitat as it landed and Maida's greenhouse... Probably need to destroy them from orbit..." THEN I CAME HOME TO MY SURVIVAL HABITAT TRASHED!!! omg that would be so amazing. If this was done I'd have to have a scanner & build tool and the ability to pick up whatever was left in the habitat and rebuild in case I was a wimp that didn't bother building a new base long before mine was trashed... But forcing someone in game to build their own base is great! How great to have the total NON-interaction with NPC's of the first game (feel alone and isolated) but someone DID something to my emergency shelter! You should imply that you can see things on the surface (Maida's greenhouse) and things that land from above (your shelter) but unless Alterra is on the surface (they are not) they can't find your habitat. This evil company is too wimpy to stay down on this scary planet, but they WILL trash you if they can and hurt your ability to thrive if possible (feeling like this planet is their property).
The story is improved, however its latest iteration has some clunky bits.
--I love how Alterra the company is shaping up to be too wimpy to really explore this place. Complacent wimpy humans that have all they need taken care of for them wouldn't properly explore (and that is what the narrative hints at). A survivor would take risks and challenge great leviathans. That gumption that served the first character and the current character is what give you the edge over Alterra. Keep pushing this part of the narrative, that if Alterra would JUST EXPLORE, they would discover more.
--I loved in the old story line how the alien inside me really seemed alien. I do not like this "except for our bodies, we are all the same underneath" kind of squishy, lovey dovey narrative with Alan. The precursors need to have existed for countless millennia and only because Alan is FORCED into a body where he loses lots of memories and has to trudge along like a smart version of us that he changes and becomes less logical and more sympathetic as his character grows. He is dumbed down to our level and can better appreciate our level. I liked his comment "why do I assume you would exploit anything you could learn from us? Because we would do the same to you".
---The idea that Alan shows me places to visit is a GREAT narrative form, but they are currently coming way too fast without reason. I am told of places I can't get to and have no hope it seems in game to get there. Parsing out this data more slowly is WAY better.
---The story seems WAY faster in pace and I enjoyed (in the old story) that I had to do A LOT to get to the point where I could go down to the eyeball jellyfish and explore the new land content. While I like how the worms slow and scare me on land, I worry that the content is coming at me WAY too fast. I have found all the bases listed on the maps (can't easily put the map on my walls of my sleeping compartment yet) and it feels as if I could rush through the content a LOT faster. Having access to the land quickly is GREAT, but there needs to be barriers to getting to NEW lands (thumpers maybe as a requirment) before I can access those areas. The hydrolic fluid on the bridge is a good example of this being executed well.
---Please consider crossing over both lines of the current story. Alan wants Karra contained and does NOT want it turned into a weapon (it devastated his species). He doesn't want to be dissected for Alterra. YOU want to get Alan out of you and find out about your sister (I really hope she is stuck somewhere and not dead). Together at the end game, you rearm the weapon and tell Alterra they don't get to play with Karra anymore. Humans can explore, but must be scanned to be certain they have zero copies of the Karra bacteria. Some kind of warper keeps watching your exploration bases so you don't play with Karra.
In closing I hope that the DEV's will read this and take it into consideration. I truly wish there were parameters that could be used to improve replayability. Great job. Keep up the good work. I already have ideas for number 3 and the improvements would make the development cycle tiny compared to 1 & 2. Use the resources of 1 AND 2 but let it be the character from 1 paying off his debt by building all the bases and doing the research Alterra wants them to do. Great work so far.
Comments
Also i have enjoyed seeing how the game has progressed and i think they have made amazing steps towards the final product as it is supposed to be released in early 2021.
P.S. Its the Kharaa virus