Hunting Time Capsules: 40 Time Capsules [Done!]

[DeFragged]

So I just wanted to share this little project of mine; after killing every bad Leviathan and curing myself, I have now taken up hunting down Time Capsules for fun and relaxation.

At this time, I have finished my search and found 39 Time Capsules in-game, including 4 duplicates.

Update: Found a missed time capsule in the Dunes, count is now 40.

Update 2: I am apparently done with this savegame's Time Capsules!! According to the devs there are only 40 per game!

https://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/153839/time-capsule-voting

Screenshots (missing the Dunes capsule; needs updating)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1329239508
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1329239582
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1329239628

Thanks to everyone for the awesome capsules!

For those interested in hunting time capsules, here are some things I've learned/thought/theorized so far:

Tips, Tricks and Thoughts

1) Time Capsules have a fadeout distance of about 45m vertically. Basically it shows up at the same time as resources, which means you have to be close to the sea floor to find them. But they glow like quartz, so they're easier to spot.

2) Cyclops are great for searching. Not only can you farm food/water, you can just aim the Cyclops and move in a straight line while you use the Keel camera to scan the sea floor. Then crisscross/grid search a biome for capsules.

2a) Alternatively, use a Seamoth. It's fast, and can quickly scout areas too narrow for a Cyclops to squeeze into (or too tricky to get into that minimum 45m search distance). Drop the Cyclops in the middle of a biome and come back when you start running low on Water/Food.

3) The easiest way to start hunting for capsules is to search the borders of the map - It's easy to follow and has few awkward terrain features so you won't end up being above the visible draw distance or stuck in a gap while searching.

4) My second strategy is to search the edges where biomes meet - I've found a fair few at the borders of the Dunes/Mushroom Forest, Blood Kelp/Underwater Islands, Mountains/Bulb. Again, the borders are easier to track so you won't end up doubling back unintentionally.

5) My third strategy is a simple grid search to ensure best results. I normally find a corner to start from, then pick a cardinal direction (N S E W), and just go straight. At the end of the biome, turn 90 degrees, move about 10m, then go back the other way. Do NOT stray from your cardinal direction. If you see a capsule, get out and swim over to grab it.

6) Search from above! Capsules LOVE spawning in grass - which obscures their giveaway glowing panel. From above, they become very obvious.

7) Time Capsule panels glow like quartz at night, and are highly visible even in the day. Quickly check out any squarish glowing light. That said, turn down your seamoth/cyclops camera lights when looking to find the telltale glow.

8) Theory: Time Capsules are created at the time you enter a biome. Their locations are fixed once you enter an area. Doing multiple passes may net you unexpected results, as I have found capsules in places I've passed over multiple times (but found them on foot, rather than in a Cyclops due to the 45m distance limit).

9) Theory: Time Capsules will only spawn wherever FRAGMENTS (and/or treasure chests) spawn. I have NEVER found them in places where fragments do not exist. Conversely, I have found more capsules in a small area around the Aurora (5-6) than any other biome except the Dunes, likely because the Crash Zone is full of fragments so the % chance to spawn is higher.

9a) Caveat - they are totally RNG; you won't always find a time capsule in the same place in two different games. Or you could find 5 in the same place all at once. (My first game, I found 5 literally within spitting distance of each other in the Sparse Reef)

9b) I theorized they spawn where Fragments go, because I have seen a treasure chest spawn INSIDE a fragment crate in the dunes (which implies each Fragment spawn actually pulls from a pool of possible item categories beyond just Fragments). That RNG combined with the fact no time capsules spawn in the DGR/LR where fragments don't exist leads me to believe they are in fact a maybe a 1/100 to 1/200 spawn chance at each Fragment spot.

10) They cannot be scanned for, sadly.

11) As mentioned, time capsules CAN be duplicates. You won't receive the PDA data entry in that case, but any items will still go into your inventory. If there are no items, it can easily seem like a bug (but it isn't). Note that once spawned, they will not change their contents so saving/loading will not change what's in them.

12) Time Capsules won't spawn in the Safe Shallows or Kelp Forest AFAIK - I have NEVER seen one there (possibly due to the gamebreaking nature of possible items) - but if you have, do let me know!

Also, I have personally never seen time capsules in the Grassy Plateaus, but the below two posters have mentioned that they do.

Credit to Zeratica and Alkpaz for verifying Time Capsules CAN be found in the Grassy Plateaus!

12a) I've also never seen a Time Capsule in the Jellyshroom caves, although there are fragments there. It's possible there're just too few fragments. Maybe given 200, 300 games I might find a capsule down there but... meh.

13) From easiest to hardest places to search for Time Capsules (once the local leviathan population has been... pacified):
- Sparse Reef
- Dunes
- Crash Zone
- Mountains
^ These are all largely wide open spaces with sparse vegetation and generally flat, open terrain.

- Sea Treader's Path
- Crag Fields
- Underwater Islands
^ Same as above but slightly trickier

- Bulb Zone
- Grand Reef
- Blood Kelp
- Grassy Plateaus
^ These are trickier due to the large amount of plants, nooks and crannies capsules can hide in. Their terrain is also more varied, so a lot more seamoth usage is required.

- Mushroom Forests
^ Absolute worst. Tons of grass, the mushroom caps prevent searching from above, seamoth cannot easily scout capsules from above due to caps, no Cyclops usage.

I regret not recording all the capsule coordinates, but here are a few that I did:

Some Locations I found them in

I don't remember where these were.
206,9, -153, -997.2
1298.6, -187.3, -628

Bulb Zone
1535, -368, 726.8

Grand Reef
-809, -423, -1702

Crash Zone
1167, -315, -828
984.8, -262, -764.8

Sparse Reef: -838.7, -295, -715.8

Blood Kelp Trench: -892.4, -386, -425.5
-1340, -341, -295.9
(I don't even know how I found the one at the first coords, pure luck)

Dunes: -1500, -333, 28 (x2)
-1790, -335, 645
-1453.7, -337.8, 847.9
-947, -261, 1139.4
-1572, -368, 264

Mushroom Forest (NE):
-789, -181, 687

Mountains:
1313.8, -417.2, 1539.9
567.3, -318, 1313.2
652, -374, 1397.3
944.8, -243.5, 1345.5
922.7, -276, 1083.3

I still doubt they're of any real help due to my theory that they only spawn where Fragments spawn, which could be anywhere.

Content Breakdown

Here's a rough summary of the contents I've found in terms of commoness:
1. Power Sources (Regular and Ion batteries/Cells)
2. Food and Water
3. Tools (Knives knives knives, other tools, 2x Seaglides)
4. Resources (including endgame resources)
5. Seeds and Eggs (including 2 cuddlefish eggs and 'pet fish')
5. Mods
7. Toys
8. Nuclear Power Rods

Future Plans

I'm going to keep looking for more capsules. I'm sure I've missed a few. :D If you have any questions about time capsules, ask away!

[DeFragged]

Did more searching. Here's a rare instance of two time capsules literally within a few steps of each other.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1326930538

I believe I'm up to 30 capsules now, 27 unique 3 dupes.

[DonJuanDoja]

I was about to start something like this but my game has so many bugs after patch I can’t play.

The water level showing inside the cyclops being the most persistent and annoying.

I just can’t play like that and I’m not starting over so I don’t even know what to do besides wait for another patch in a few months or however long it takes, not likely the next one will fix it, will probably break it more.

We’re still in EA. Which is fine for $25 but they released it so I finally bought it thinking I wouldn’t have to deal with issues like that.

I’m a gamer not a play tester.

[Zeratica]

Originally posted by DeFragged:

11) Time Capsules won't spawn in the Safe Shallows, Kelp Forest or Grassy Plateaus AFAIK - I have NEVER seen one there (possibly due to the gamebreaking nature of possible items) - but if you have, do let me know!

I have found a handfull in the Grassy Plateaus, and not where they border other biomes.
Sometimes plainly visible on the open sandy parts, other times hidden in the red grass.
But they do spawn in the grassy plateaus :)

[Alkpaz]

Holy ****! 30?! lmao nice work DeFragged! :D Oh, I did find one in the GP.. so yes, they do appear there. I have not seen one in the KF though.. so that may be true.. along with Shallows.

[DeFragged]

Updated with screenshots of my finds - I think there're 29 entries, which means 32 capsules so far. It's like hunting Koroks in Breath of the Wild. :D

A few more coordinates (I think I forgot to record one of my most recent ones though sorry) added. Currently scouring Dunes, and the nearby mushroom forest.

My next areas to search will be the Mountains and Grassy Plateaus, because I want to see with my own eyes if I can find any there. (UGH GRASS)

[erdogan18]

I hope you did not kill the sea emperor juveniles....

[DeFragged]

Originally posted by Robloxpro_123:

I hope you did not kill the sea emperor juveniles....

No! Why would I kill those adorable buggers? D: They're harmless! And I'm kinda sorta their daddy, so that would also be infanticide, which is bad mm'kay?

[Alkpaz]

Originally posted by DeFragged:

Updated with screenshots of my finds - I think there're 29 entries, which means 32 capsules so far. It's like hunting Koroks in Breath of the Wild. :D

A few more coordinates (I think I forgot to record one of my most recent ones though sorry) added. Currently scouring Dunes, and the nearby mushroom forest.

My next areas to search will be the Mountains and Grassy Plateaus, because I want to see with my own eyes if I can find any there. (UGH GRASS)

Use F1 and disable the grass... makes things easier. (clip mapping)

[DeFragged]

Originally posted by Alkpaz:

Originally posted by DeFragged:

Updated with screenshots of my finds - I think there're 29 entries, which means 32 capsules so far. It's like hunting Koroks in Breath of the Wild. :D

A few more coordinates (I think I forgot to record one of my most recent ones though sorry) added. Currently scouring Dunes, and the nearby mushroom forest.

My next areas to search will be the Mountains and Grassy Plateaus, because I want to see with my own eyes if I can find any there. (UGH GRASS)

Use F1 and disable the grass... makes things easier. (clip mapping)

I just tried this. Feels like cheating. I did find one time capsule in the Mushroom Forest with this though! So thanks! :D

Unfortunately the Rebuild function also caused all my base stuff to become invisible, so I definitely can't use this much. I'll save it for the Mushroom forests.

[Alkpaz]

All you had to do was save and quit, it would put the grass back upon reload. :/

[DeFragged]

Originally posted by Alkpaz:

All you had to do was save and quit, it would put the grass back upon reload. :/

Actually checking the 'DisableGrass' option isn't enough. The grass remains until I hit 'rebuild all' - which is what causes the problem. And I definitely don't want to save when an issue like that occurs. I should backup my savegame just in case...

[Alkpaz]

Originally posted by DeFragged:

Originally posted by Alkpaz:

All you had to do was save and quit, it would put the grass back upon reload. :/

Actually checking the 'DisableGrass' option isn't enough. The grass remains until I hit 'rebuild all' - which is what causes the problem. And I definitely don't want to save when an issue like that occurs. I should backup my savegame just in case...

I use it quite often.. it remains until the cell reloads or you move around a bit.. then it disappears. Never had a problem with using it.

[DeFragged]

Ahhh. I might try that tonight then. :) Much obliged!

[DeFragged]

Welp the grass thing worked, Alkpaz. Thanks! But it felt like cheating so I just saved it for the Mushroom Forests.=D

Anyway: Final update for this thread unless I find more. Final count: 39 Time Capsules. I'm sure there's at least one or two more, probably in the Blood Kelp Zones or Grand Reef since they're really the hardest to look in due to terrain. I really just want a nice round 40 at least. :(

[Reaperrazor]

Huh so time capsiles contain more lore