How to drop updates in Subnautica 2

[Marcgto]

Subnautica 2 is in a unique situations where if done right, updates during early access could be "dropped" as a game mechanic.

What if the base game had a couple biomes accessible, but other biomes locked out without specific equipment. For example You could start with access to 3 biomes with just the base equipment. But there could be a biome only accessible with a vehicle capable of traversing strong current. Another biome requires a breather that can filter "poisonous" water properly. Another biome is too deep and requires the next dept upgrade.

So what if all those upgrades (or more precisely, the items required for the next biomes) could literally be dropped by the devs as an update in early access, but also as a drop pod that crashes on the planet. Another way to introduce an update could be a new specie of leviathan that migrates to your area. Maybe an earthquake unearth an alien facility with a new technology. Those updates drops could seamlessly be integrated into the story of the game through in-game mechanics at key story moments.

[Catalytic]

It's a huge amount of work to do a one-time only event, test it entirely internally and then deploy it for only a tiny fraction of your users to actually see and experience. I don't anticipate they'll be doing in-game events like you're describing.

You have to remember that development time, programmer time, QA time, etc is all expensive and precious. Those are resources that are being carefully managed. Each programmer has a list probably dozens of projects deep at this point all with its own priority that they're tasked with completing and getting added to the game. Design this creature, build this new AI feature for it, add a new animation, test the behavior against various scenarios. Change how the lighting setting works so the skin looks the way the artists intended, add a new feature to the map, ensure that it looks right at high sun and low lighting environment settings, add new resources to the map, rebalance the location of resources on the map, etc, etc, etc.

There's not a developer out there who wants to spend precious development time on a one-time only feature when there are core parts of the game to complete. Even repeatable seasonal events often get overlooked and overshadowed because developers are prioritizing core features of a game or an expansion.

I would expect the EA releases to roll out very similarly to the SN1 and BZ ones with new batches of features as a pack with a quirky title tying it all together as those packages are deemed ready to go. New zone, new arm of the story revealed, new tech/vehicles/tools added, map update, etc. It'll be a barebones updater. If the data structure changes, it may wipe your old saves or make them unplayable. It'll likely reset features on the map of current saves. The goal is to get the content to you, not turn the EA into a live service operation like Helldivers 2.

[Marcgto]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not talking about one-time event. I'm talking about a content update that is dropped like an event, but that is also programmed with a specific trigger. In my examples, the trigger could be the most recent unlock aquired.

For early access players, your save file keep track of your unlocks, so it knows your at a specific point in the story. Then once the update drops, when you login, you get the in-game event like the drop of a pod from space (that you can actually see dropping), or the migration of a new leviathan specie. For 1.0 players, the update event would just happen normally.

The difference is how integrated in the gameplay experience is the "delivery" or the update. I believe Fortnite did something like this where players could experience the destruction of the map in real time during gameplay when there was changes to the map. With a meteor approaching and all. For Fortnite, you are correct that this is a one-time event. But in my example, you could have something in the story that triggers a meteor that would fall on the planet. For 1.0 players, it just happens, but for early access players, they probably stopped playing for a couple month and when they log back in, the meteor would just drop in the sky. Instead of how most early access games where they would now having a meteor at the bottom of the sea that opened access to a new area.

[Yarchonis Marfedelom]

Yeah but then you'd have some youtubers or tiktockers who'd use some sort of glitch to get to these locations before they are properly implemented or have the proper tools just so they could show it off in some real to get views. Then more people would talk about it and in turn would spoil things for those who are actually waiting for them properly.