Do you think the Devs anti gun philosophy is holding this game back?

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

A friend and mine were talking the other day and she was telling me how she thinks Subnautica would be way more fun if creatures could occasionally attack your base. However this would require a means of fighting back. Now this game is not completely without weapons. There is missiles, a knife, the arm attacks from prawns, perimeter defense modules as well as weapons made for stunning enemies. However I am talking about actual powerful weapons that can kill or deter deadly fauna.

Alien isolation proves that a game can be scary and still have weapons. You just have to make the enemies so threatening that one's weapons seem weak by comparison. Personally I think we should have had creatures that can attack bases and destroy them and be able to build defensive turrets or something to ward them off. As for powerful weapons. I have mixed feelings about it. Either way I think the game can work pretty good.

[Alien Jetstream]

Lol, what's all this nonsense about guns? Not every game needs guns in order to be enyoyable (or more enjoyable). The game is by far, one of the best I have enjoyed, above any shooter I have played.

I personally like the idea of searching for creative ways to deal with problems rather than shooting everything that moves in front of you. Sometimes the best way to deal with issues is to avoid them.

The gaming industry already has a lot of shooter games. And while I like shooters, it's also good to play sth else that doesn't require guns.

Wise decision from the devs.

Edit: To answer OP question. No, imo, the anti gun philosophy is not holding the game back.

[vinyblaster]

No.

Also, what is there to "hold back"? The game is finished, it is what it is.

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

Originally posted by vinyblaster:

No.

Also, what is there to "hold back"? The game is finished, it is what it is.

I am talking about for future titles.

Originally posted by Alien Jetstream:

Lol, what's all this nonsense about guns? Not every game needs guns in order to be enyoyable (or more enjoyable). The game is by far, one of the best I have enjoyed, above any shooter I have played.

I personally like the idea of searching for creative ways to deal with problems rather than shooting everything that moves in front of you. Sometimes the best way to deal with issues is to avoid them.

The gaming industry already has a lot of shooter games. And while I like shooters, it's also good to play sth else that doesn't require guns.

Wide decision from the devs.

Edit: To answer OP question. No, imo, the anti gun philosophy is not holding the game back.

Yea, but wouldn't it be fun to have to defend one's base from aggressive fauna? Not saying game needs to have guns as the answer to everything. Just I think there should be more gun use.

[dreamrider]

Then find one of the rare games that makes gun use a central feature.

I know it will be hard, but if you are clever and persevere in your searching, it should work out.

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

Originally posted by dreamrider:

Then find one of the rare games that makes gun use a central feature.

I know it will be hard, but if you are clever and persevere in your searching, it should work out.

Define central feature.

[vinyblaster]

Originally posted by Sea Prince Gillywix:

Originally posted by vinyblaster:

No.

Also, what is there to "hold back"? The game is finished, it is what it is.

I am talking about for future titles.
.

No you're not. Your title says "this game". Not "this studio" or "future games". You were very specific: "this game".

Words mean things, don't move the goal posts when you get called out.

[admiral1018]

Not at all. And a future game could have creatures attack your base without guns. There are lots of creative avenues for defensive measures that don't involve shooting. For example, even within this game, the precursors built large sonic repulsion devices near the PCF to keep leviathans away. Being able to replicate something like that for your base would be an interesting piece of tech. There could also be organic measures that provided a defensive benefit, like planting some fauna around your base that was off-putting to certain creatures and repelled them.

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

Originally posted by vinyblaster:

Originally posted by Sea Prince Gillywix:

I am talking about for future titles.
.

No you're not. Your title says "this game". Not "this studio" or "future games". You were very specific: "this game".

Words mean things, don't move the goal posts when you get called out.

Well. Your taking this way more harshly then you should be. You act like I committed some kind of crime. No I did not mention the other games, but I meant to imply the entire series. Maybe I was not that clear about that. But this is also applicable to subnautica 2 and future games since all subnautica games are affected by this philosophy.

[ WraithGear]

guns are god for their types of games, but can ruin tension and terror. so its hard to say if a company can be held back by its non gun stance. ultimately no matter what game they decide to make i think it can work without guns. even a power fantasy type game doesn't need guns to achieve that.

so no. and ESPECIALLY not for Subnautica. and when you get tword the end game you do get a weapon that kills anyways, so its kinda a moot point. and if its not good enough there are always mods.

[Sea Prince Gillywix]

Originally posted by  WraithGear:

guns are god for their types of games, but can ruin tension and terror. so its hard to say if a company can be held back by its non gun stance. ultimately no matter what game they decide to make i think it can work without guns. even a power fantasy type game doesn't need guns to achieve that.

so no. and ESPECIALLY not for Subnautica. and when you get tword the end game you do get a weapon that kills anyways, so its kinda a moot point. and if its not good enough there are always mods.

Alien Isolation is proof that games can be scary even if you have access to powerful guns.

[HuskyDynamics]

Honest take:
I like what admiral1018 suggested with using sonic or other methods to protect against base attacks (maybe even a perimeter fence that, lore-wise, uses modified power transmitters or something), but I don't think what would essentially amount to defense turrets really fits the game. I don't think guns are necessary for the game to be as scary as it already is. Plus, a large part of particularly the early game is learning how to avoid hostile fauna, not learning how to beat them.

From another angle, there really isn't much of a reason to kill non-edible fauna anyway, other than for convenience when traveling through areas (formerly) home to leviathans. You don't get any crafting elements from killing anything, and you can't eat them either, so killing things isn't a necessity anyway.


Mildly satirical take, don't take this very seriously:
As far as I've seen, the fabricator has never been shown to have any ability to "bulk-craft" items regardless of their size, meaning you can only make one item at a time. Unless you want to throw some sort of funky underwater "laser" weaponry into the mix, guns (in the form of handheld weapons, base defense systems, or whatever else) require ammo. Usually, a lot of ammo. I don't know about you, but I don't particularly feel inclined to stand in front of the fabricator for an hour and a half crafting bullets.

[Bluebottle]

what Husky said. killing fish doesn't give you anything so why a defense minigame, that'd just be annoying

[Rumi]

guns don't even work underwater

[KippenKaasBaas]

The developers made it possible to kill things. They added damage mechanics and ways to kill creatures. They even made death animations. And while there is no real ''reward'' for killing creatures, it still serves a purpose. Since leviathans do no respawn you can get rid of one when it's really in your way.

I have no problem with killing things in Subnautica. I always kill the leviathans that are in close proximity to my LR entrance. The great thing is that they never respawn so you can clear out a place so it's safe for the rest of you playthrough.

But....

Subnautica does not encourage killing by adding a bunch of lethal weapons and guns into the game. In Subnautica we're playing on a gorgeous, unfamiliar planet. Filled with plants and creatures that are simply amazing.
The game does a good job making the player appreciate nature. Especially with the Bart Torgal voice logs.

Imagine a wildlife-photographer, or a biologist, who goes to a new place to study the wildlife. He might take something with him to keep the predators away. Maybe some sort of whistle, or bear-spray.
But he won't take a machinegun to slaughter anything that stands in his way.

That's us in Subnautica. We're there to survive, and to learn about the planet. To explore and to be amazed. And maybe leave the planet in a better state than it was when we found it. By bringing back the Sea Emperors

So no. I'm not supportive to the idea of adding a bunch of guns to Subnautica. Because the truth is that most players would turn the planet into a cemetery. And what is the point of the entire story-line if we're just going to butcher all the wildlife?
Might as well just blow up the planet at the end of the game.

[ WraithGear]

Originally posted by Sea Prince Gillywix:

Originally posted by  WraithGear:

guns are god for their types of games, but can ruin tension and terror. so its hard to say if a company can be held back by its non gun stance. ultimately no matter what game they decide to make i think it can work without guns. even a power fantasy type game doesn't need guns to achieve that.

so no. and ESPECIALLY not for Subnautica. and when you get tword the end game you do get a weapon that kills anyways, so its kinda a moot point. and if its not good enough there are always mods.

Alien Isolation is proof that games can be scary even if you have access to powerful guns.

eh i don't really agree. you have powerful guns during the shooty bang bang sections against robots. and have pathetic not effective guns during the sneaky alien avoidy parts.

just like in F.E.A.R. you have sections of game that are tense and terror based. then you have john woo slow mo akimbo head shot jamborie, but never the two shall meet.

so if the leviathans are the horror parts that the guns are supposed to be useless against in order to not lose the tension and terror... then what is the gun fodder? bone sharks? they already pose absolutely no threat. and it would trivielize the non leviathan sections even further.

i think you just want another game mate. try the Earth Defense Force games.

but either way. as long as they make good games, they are not really held back by their anti guns stance.
i am sure pokemon would be so much better if you could just shoot all the pokemon /s