How deep is the random generation in this game?

[Klokinator]

I played this game for about thirty hours a few weeks ago, just started a new survival run, and I was shocked to see this.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1274012616

There is a bunch of wreckage directly under my lifepod. Where my cursor is aimed, there's a massive thermal vent just waiting to be exploited. This is right in the starting location. Is the terrain randomized in this game? I thought the world was handcrafted, the wrecks were handplaced, and only stuff like what parts are at each wreck were randomized. Is the world itself procedural?!

[u2020bullet]

Well, the lifepod has multiple possible spawn points, so it's likely your pod simply spawned in a different location than last time.

[Klokinator]

Oh, so in other words it's not that the world is changing, but that my pod's being moved around?

Man that's actually a little lame :(

Are you sure the world isn't randomly generated?

[u2020bullet]

Originally posted by Klokinator:

Oh, so in other words it's not that the world is changing, but that my pod's being moved around?

Man that's actually a little lame :(

Are you sure the world isn't randomly generated?

Not that i've ever noticed, i always know how to reach where i need to go, if it was randomly generated, those places would change locations.

[Vilkata]

Originally posted by Klokinator:

Oh, so in other words it's not that the world is changing, but that my pod's being moved around?

Man that's actually a little lame :(

Are you sure the world isn't randomly generated?

A. The life pod doesn't "move". When you start a game, it randomly picks a valid starting location, and that's where it is for that run, so you can use it as a stationary beacon for your first base or at least as a fixed reference point.

B. We're positive, the map is not randomly generated.

[Unicron Supreme]

short answer: not very

[Vizth]

Way way back the entire world was randomly generated, but there was issues. Now it just seems scrap and resources are, and some item fragments. while everything else is hand placed.

[Klokinator]

After opening my eyeballs, I compared where my lifepod is on this save to my other one.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1274027334

I'm almost at the rear of the aurora! That's insane! The first run I played had me starting where if I faced the aurora I was almost parallel with the center of it.

Edit: On comparison, it isn't actually that dramatic.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1274029440

[Vilkata]

Originally posted by Klokinator:

After opening my eyeballs, I compared where my lifepod is on this save to my other one.

I'm almost at the rear of the aurora! That's insane! The first run I played had me starting where if I faced the aurora I was almost parallel with the center of it.

My last run was in the same place. I did not like that spot at all. I was wondering if they moved start locations further away from the Sunbeam island to reduce the chance of discovery prior to the event. That location is disturbingly close to Leviathan hunting grounds.

[Klokinator]

Yeah, if I travel to the North (I think that's correct) I will end up quite close to a Reaper. Behind the Aurora is where one of them spawns for sure, anyway.

[Phaota]

In early 2015, like January actually, the devs tried out randomly generated terrain. They didn't like it and went with handcrafted instead.

[Clueless]

Originally posted by Vilkata:

Originally posted by Klokinator:

Oh, so in other words it's not that the world is changing, but that my pod's being moved around?

Man that's actually a little lame :(

Are you sure the world isn't randomly generated?

A. The life pod doesn't "move". When you start a game, it randomly picks a valid starting location, and that's where it is for that run, so you can use it as a stationary beacon for your first base or at least as a fixed reference point.

B. We're positive, the map is not randomly generated.

The lifepod does, actually, float around. Drop a marker next to it as early you can, and see just how far it will actually move over the span of a gameplay.

It can end up on the other side of the map or even next to the Aurora, depending what way it will be floating off to.

[Klokinator]

O_o Are you sure about that? I built a base next to my lifepod and after 30 hours of gameplay the lifepod was in the same place relative to my base.

[EmberStar]

Originally posted by Klokinator:

Oh, so in other words it's not that the world is changing, but that my pod's being moved around?

Man that's actually a little lame :(

Are you sure the world isn't randomly generated?

I haven't played since they started changing the Cyclops (and mine exploded, so that was a thing.) But the map has always been pretty static. One of the places the lifepot likes to spawn has always been near a thermal vent, and kind of close to a large wreck with two rooms. (One you can just open the door, the other you need either a repair tool or laser cutter, I forget which.)

The map is handcrafted, and doesn't even deform anymore. There used to be a tool that would allow you to dig holes or make pillars and walls out of rock. They ended up removing both the tool and terrain deformation - they apparently really didn't add much to gameplay, and keeping track of every change to the terrain was causing the save files to bloat to absurd sizes. Removing terrain deformation apparently solved a lot of performance and technical problems.

[Trellek]

My understanding is that the sparking panel in the lifepod, when fixed, causes it to stop drifting. Supposedly, anyway. I miss the old days, when you could swim against the pod to push it to new places. >.>

[EmberStar]

Originally posted by Clueless:

Originally posted by Vilkata:

A. The life pod doesn't "move". When you start a game, it randomly picks a valid starting location, and that's where it is for that run, so you can use it as a stationary beacon for your first base or at least as a fixed reference point.

B. We're positive, the map is not randomly generated.

The lifepod does, actually, float around. Drop a marker next to it as early you can, and see just how far it will actually move over the span of a gameplay.

It can end up on the other side of the map or even next to the Aurora, depending what way it will be floating off to.

I think one of the recent big patches claims to have solved the drifting lifepod problem. If they finally tracked down the bug and killed it, then the lifepod will stay put and shouldn't suddenly decide to head for the edge of the map when you're not looking.