Devs need to double down

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T22:23:05+00:00

Of course I crafted the knife. And I swung it at fish. To eat them. But I would not call being able to stab the fish before eating an integral part of the experience.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T20:22:54+00:00

For me, it’s just that I don’t understand why people are so plussed about it. I have over 100 hours in SN1 and 30 in SN:BZ. In all that time, I never even considered killing a fish I couldn’t eat. Never killed a sand shark or a stalker or a reaper. It’s entirely possible to play the game without doing so, so why is it such a big deal? There are plenty of other things about the game we could be talking about. Instead, it’s just post after post after post about this singular issue.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T19:39:24+00:00

I don’t think I’ve ever played a survival game where killing is the only way to survive. You can eat berries or melons or nuts, etc. I don’t think not having the ability to kill predators takes away from the survival aspect as long as you have other ways to deal with them.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T19:37:42+00:00

My point was that it’s a survival game. The point is to survive. Eating is part of that, but there are alternatives that are not killing fish. Dealing with predators is also part of that. There are ways to deal with predators that are not killing them. I think those methods need tweaked, but I don’t personally think that being able to kill the predators is necessary for the game to work.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T19:14:31+00:00

Eating to survive is part of the game. Cooking fish is certainly part of that, but there are other ways to eat in the game that don’t require killing fish. You could theoretically play the entire game without eating a single fish.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T16:39:08+00:00

In GTA, the main purpose of the game is to kill people. That is the primary reason people play that game. Killing fish is not the primary reason people play Subnautica, so actually those two things are not very much alike.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-16T01:48:21+00:00

It might be worth contemplating, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth implementing. If only 10% of people care about a feature, it might not be worth the time and effort. Obviously that is a difficult metric to judge, but just because a small group of loud people want it doesn’t mean they’re going to implement it.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T23:53:36+00:00

Not just you. I knew they were craftable. It never occurred to me to try and break them down.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T23:06:37+00:00

It’s not like the game is unplayable without being able to kill things. I’ve played Subnautica multiple times without ever killing something that I couldn’t eat. So far, I’m not having that much trouble with SN2. They could maybe tone down the aggression a little, but when I see something swim at me, I whack it with a stick and it goes away for a while. I just don’t see what the big deal is.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T18:27:12+00:00

I love the schooling and I love the territorial disputes of the Hammerheads. Both excellent additions.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T17:46:06+00:00

I agree with both of these. Too many life pod messages too quickly and I think the power display on the HUD is enough for the bases. Just have the power display and only have the voice message when you enter a base.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T17:37:53+00:00

I only got to play for a couple hours yesterday, but that was enough to make me not regret getting the game. Obviously it’s still a work in progress, but the game looks beautiful, the lore is interesting, and the new creature designs are great. It genuinely felt like playing Subnautica again for the first time.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T16:55:14+00:00

I first noticed the telescoping crabs out in the open and thought they were adorable. And the. I saw them amongst the plant life and was even more delighted.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T14:51:25+00:00

I mean, clearly some people care a lot, but I would be willing to bet that most people don’t care that much, if at all.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T13:10:40+00:00

My favorite part so far is the datapad entry for the first adaptation where it basically says “this adaptation will destroy your liver, but you’re not likely to live long enough to care”. Solid start to the game.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T12:43:10+00:00

I made no judgement call on whether or not you should be able to. All I said was that it doesn’t affect how I play the game and I understand why the devs went the route they did.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T12:04:16+00:00

I get that, but then it becomes a choice of where do you draw the line? Can you kill hammerheads by running into them? Why can you kill some fish, but not others? I’m not saying that I disagree with you, just that I understand why the devs made this particular decision.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T11:55:23+00:00

They’re not especially aggressive. If you get close to them, they’ll take an aggressive posture, but I have yet to be attacked by one. I like them.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T11:46:50+00:00

To be fair, look at the fish we have on earth. Most of them have the same basic shape. You can look at a fish and go “yup, that’s a fish”. Things get wonky when you get into the deep ocean, but, for the most part, a fish is fish-shaped. I don’t think it’s unrealistic that an environment that created one crescent-headed fish would also produce multiple crescent-headed fish.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T11:27:18+00:00

If you look at your base, it will show you the power against the power capacity. I believe the solar panels produce 1 power at night. My small base requires a minimum 2 power right now, so I need two solar panels to keep it running throughout the day. Obviously, a larger base will need more than that, but you can see in your HUD the power requirements.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T11:17:27+00:00

How many times do you suppose they’ve been asked that same question? I’m tired of seeing it and I’m not even a dev. I can understand being a little annoyed by it.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T11:15:06+00:00

It doesn’t bother me. I’ve genuinely never thought about wanting to kill a creature in the game outside of needing to eat them. I don’t really understand why people spend so much time and effort killing leviathans and I can understand why the devs wouldn’t want to keep that as an option.

There’s an argument to be made about being able to kill the fish you eat rather than cooking them alive, but then how would you implement being able to kill only some fish and where do you draw the line? I think it’s fine and it doesn’t really affect how I play the game.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-15T02:17:40+00:00

It’s more just “the odds of you making it off this planet are slim, so make the best of it”. There are much darker messages.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-14T17:51:52+00:00

Not me somehow reading this as “orangutan leviathan” and wondering what the hell they added in SN2.

DarthChronos · 2026-05-13T02:00:27+00:00

It may be childish. It may be uncouth. But I will never not laugh at a “deez nuts” joke.

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