Compass from the start
SpacedInvader
Join Date: 2016-01-08 Member: 211083Members
Join Date: 2016-01-08 Member: 211083Members
I gather from a little basic research that the player's character used to have a compass right from the start and then later it was removed and made into an item that needed to be crafted. Not only that, but it requires magnetite, which is a pretty late game material at this point in development, meaning that the player is left without one of the most basic survival tools (one which would be available in any self-respecting life pod) for a large portion of their game experience. I think it would be a worthwhile improvement in the game experience to either make this tool available from the start, or at least make some magnetite available to the player in a location they would clearly explore within the first hour or two of gameplay (Safe Shallows, Kelp Forest, or Grassy Plateaus).
Comments
Aside from that, is seems that Magnetite is no longer found in Jelly Shroom Caves. Check the wiki, as it seems that it's easily accessible now more than it was before.
While I agree that placing it in caves behind boulders which need to be moved with floaters would be an effective hiding place, I also think that would place it too far off the beaten path for the average player. I've personally never moved one, and, though I haven't watched many, nobody I've seen in a "let's play" has done it either. I had thought the vents would be good because iron ore can be found in igneous rocks and magnetite is an oxide of iron ore, but further googling has led me to question the theory, as it seems magnetite is more often found in sedimentary rock and even beach sand. That could still easily place it in the shallows, but I'm not sure where.
Another alternative might be to add a second compass, one as a HUD mod (the one we have now) and another that's a held item that you have to select from the hotbar to take out and look at.
Hand held tools like that might be pretty interesting, though I don't feel like they fit properly with the futurist level of tech we have access to in the game. That said, the news that they are already planning on making a compass easier to get is great. I think it will go a long way toward improving the early game experience of players and help prevent them from accidentally swimming into the crash zone or other high level zone with reapers (there are a lot now.. checked with freecam and water volume turned off and I counted at least 10, if not a few more).
I'd actually be pretty ok with a slightly slower tech progression. It makes sense that you get stuck with some rudimentary tools like a hand-held compass for a bit early on before getting to upgrade to the techier stuff.
No way around it for the scanner or builder, though; simply no other practical way to replace those. Maybe have those two included in the emergency stores of the pod, but you need to work your way up the tech tree if you want to build another?
One thing I'd like to see is a purpose to those air pipes, though it sounds like that may be coming with the implementation of limited oxygen in seabases. They mention the farms producing oxygen without cost, and other stuff potentially using power to produce oxygen via electrolysis. Presumably pipes would be another option, if making a shallower base, to just pipe air down from the surface.
Or at least remove the magnetite from it's recipe, i mean it's a basic tool.
I think its fine to have magnetite be part of the recipe, but then magnetite should be an early game resource. As it stands, I don't think a player would organically find magnetite for at least 4-6 hours of poking around on the bottom of the ocean if they don't search for it online. This is made even worse by the fact that there are 3-4 reapers that spawn in the mountain biome which can be heard when going anywhere near it, so that is likely to scare off most players until they've become more comfortable with reaper mechanics.
I think it would be a much better approach to put magnetite in the caves of the shallows and kelp forest and then add a different late game resource to the late game constructions that require it (torpedo system and thermal plant) which can then only be found in the mountain biome. In this way, items which should be late game are kept that way, while the compass, which should be available close to the start of the game is made available within an hour or two of exploration.
I did this for quite some time, but I still think the compass is necessary as its far too easy to get turned around when navigating underwater.
To be clear, magnetite in masses would be perfect to make your compass go spinning circles. So your first compass might only work far from those magnetite mountains.
Some people prefer knowing absolutely nothing and discovering it all for themselves, or feeling lost in the massive world. I am not one of those people. The first thing I wish I had was a compass and a map when I started the game. Knowing where I am on the map and being able to recall specific locations on it is very important to me. Generally that's how I feel for all survival and exploration games. I look up things that can be built, what I'll need to build them, and that's what gets me excited to go explore.
I always felt that the simplest solution was to let the player decide from a list of equipment what they would like to start the game with, or just call it easy/medium/hard survival mode and have a default set for each. If you wanted a compass you could start with it, and if not you wouldn't have to.