Avoid these mistakes I made on my first playthrough

[Dinkelsen]

I thought I'd put up a collection of lessons learned items I identifies when starting the game on "Survival" a second or third time. At my first time I was as clueless as it gets, so I present here the worst mistakes I did when playing the game the first time.

Why do I do that? For 3 reasons

• For the developrs: these are the points where I intuitively chose wrong. Maybe the information of how to approach these issues was there and I simply didn't see it, or there was no information and the only thing I saw made me take a wrong assumtion (e.g.: carrying fish) Maybe you want to do something about it, maybe not, that is up to you. This is my neutral feedback.
  
• For other fist-timers: Learn from the mistakes of others
  
• For experiences players: Entertain yourself and smile at the mistakes of a clueless noob. Yes, really, do it, I won't object. Life is too earnest not to laugh a little.

Mistakes I made at my first playthrough

You can carry more than one fish at once
Just because there is an animation that shows you holding the fish in one hand does not mean you cannot carry 2 or 3 in your inventory. Saves trip time when fishing! I was like 20h in the game when I realized that was just graphics and I could hold more fish in my inventory. Imagine me going fishing in an ever more emptying ocean and dragging one fish at the time back to the fabricator. Imagine the relief I felt when I got the Thermoblade.

Needed Equipment at the very start (from my experience, you mileage may vary)

• Build 3 air tanks, that will let you dive for over 2 minutes. That is enough for the first 2 zones. 3 upgraded air tanks will provide air for almost 4 minutes.
  
• Make fins, a knife and as soon as you can get some silver, a still suit. The suit reduces your need for water by 75%. Since you get water from cooked fish, you will only rarely need to drink. But you will need to drink. Don't forget to prepare some water.
  
• Air pipes (see paragraph further down)

Equipment not needed at the very start

• The Rebreather only has an effect at depths greater than 200m (I think...)
  
• You won't need a radiation protection suit in the first few hours.
  
• Seamoth and the Vehicle constructor (that was like one of the first things I built as I wanted that Seamoth. The fragment was in Safe Shallows and I thought of giving it a go. All I did was wasting resources on the Vehicle constructor since I didn't have the resources for the Seamoth)
  
• Stasis Rifle and Propulsion Cannon (although a Stasis Rifle does get handy in the Kelp Forest at times)

Stay in Safe Shallows!
I had some bad luck when my first game started and I spawned at a corner of the Safe Shallows Zone. I had 3 quarters of my horizon filled with Kelp Zone and only one quarter with Safe Shallows. I went down far too early when I did not have enough diving time because of missing tanks. I was so short on quartz it wasn't funny. Quartz is mainly found in Safe Shallows and only rarely in Kelp zone. This lead to a frustrating cycle of diving down to Kelp ground looking around a few seconds anf going back up for air. So save yourself the frustration and stay in Safe Shallows until you have all the equipment mentionend earlier. (Except for the Still Suit, of course...)

Learn how to use air pipes
This saves valuable diving time. Construct an air pipe (10 pipes cost 6 titanium and can get you through the Kelp Forest down to the border of the Grassy Plains Zone. Mark the end with a beacon so you can find it faster. If you are out of oxygen you need to find it FAST! Not only the end provides oxygen, you can get oxygen even from the blue tubes by swimming into them. If you are done in the area, harvest everything and then pick the pipe back up to build a new pipe somewhere else.

Silver
Silver ore can be found in the Kelp and Grassy Plains Zone. In the Kelp Zone it is on the ground (not on the walls) There is actually a lot of silver and you eventually only need a certain finite amount as it builds equiment that does not deterioriate. However it felt as there was literally NO silver and I needed it for everything.

Your health regenerates
Yes, your body heals, but only if the nutrient bar is over 80% (I think, at least it seems so) I do not know if the hydration bar has a similar threshold. Healing isn't exactly fast, but in time injuries disappear. So instead of buring through medipacks, have a feast and tread lightly a little.

Your escape capsule can move
Sometimes, it even moves on its own. If you want to relocate the thing, push it while swimming and it will move. So if the resources are used up in the area, move on to another region. Or if you do not like the sights. Or the smell. Or the neighbours.

The first base
You need a base to put your fragment analyzer and the workbench in it. My first base ever was in safe shallows, which seemed like a good idea. But it wasn't for several reasons:

• A base literally 10m under the sea level will grant you nothing except storage space. It doesn't let you access areas where you could not go before since you could just go to the surface instead.
  
• After I got the Cyclops I couldn't navigate there anymore (it is way too large and the water is too shallow)

In a recent playthrough I put it at the border of Kelp to the western Grassy Plains Zone near the entrance to the Jelly Mushroom Caves. I had a bad experience with the northern Grassy Plains field, which is full of shooting Spike Plants of doom, and the eastern field, which for the most part lies in the radiation zone, the western field is much better. It has more and better accessible resources and no Spike Plants. This is roughly west of the starting position. Swim into the direction of the Floating Island (the larger of the two visible island) and you will hit it eventually. If not, explore, that's what the game is all about.

The Seamoth
After the first base you will feel the urge to build a Seamoth. In its unupgraded form it has a measly safe depth of 125m and will eventually use up power cells if you drive around too much. That is ok, in the beginning we can live with that. You can go around quite a bit before the power cell expires and there are enough resources availlable to build a lot more. If you know what you are doing, you can get the Moonpool (and with it the ability to recharge the Seamoth!) before the first power cell hits 50%.

Edit: various formatting mistakes

[Atlas MK II]

The un-upgraded Seamoth has a max depth of 225m, and will still take damage above the safe depth.
Also, a workbench would go a long way in reducing your need for air tanks, as the high cap ones can easily cover you for most dives, especially once you've gotten a Seamoth.

[Ottomic]

First you get a seaglide. With a seaglide nothing can touch you. I'm kinda puzzled as to why I haven't seen a single mention to it in this whole thread so far, being the single most effective defensive item in the whole game outside of the subs, if you ask me.

Also I'd suggest putting this on the guides section, not in the forum itself.

[udav]

I kind of disagree with you there.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

Needed Equipment at the very start (from my experience, you mileage may vary)
Build 3 air tanks, that will let you dive for over 2 minutes.

1. On the start you need a resoures and every single tank will cost to you 4 space of inventary. You can easily get air underwather by building a air-tubes but for inventary space there is a _nothing_ can be done on the begining. Before you got a upgraded seamoth or a cyclop you will have only your inventory space in your diving.

2. Air bladder seems more usefull since it needed only 1 space.

3. And you need a flashlight (esp. because some problems game have with a light in caverns. Border of light vanishing seems depends on where you go - you going deep it deeper, but then it start dissapear even if you are not moving. And if you going out light will appear much close to the entranse than it was when you have entered. It's quite annoing, i can say.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

• Seamoth and the Vehicle constructor (that was like one of the first things I built as I wanted that Seamoth.

Yes, i personally, have explored everything down to the 100m without building any vehicle.
And right now i have just everithing explored and upgraded but never fired a singe shot. So it seems (for me) for this game any weapon except for knife (which needed for resourses gathering) just waste.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

If you are done in the area, harvest everything and then pick the pipe back up to build a new pipe somewhere else.

Titanium is most common resourse in game. There is absolutly no point for destroing you air tubes. You just have to build the net along you common roads in the depth. Need go further - connect to the closest airnet an go further. Then build a next air road deeper. It will allow you survive if something go wrong. I even keep it around my base. I can build new modules without entering and have repaired base when it suddenly got breaches. It's esp usful due the fact the base hull have in game only total value for strenght. End if it will damage somehow base wil fall in multiple random points no matter if you have separated rooms or not. It even can be invisible behind a loker.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

Your escape capsule can move

first - do not waste your welder on repairing - capsule will sparkling over and over no matter will you repair it or not.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

The first base
You need a base to put your fragment analyzer and the workbench in it.

NO!
Workbench - is the last thing you need. It can only upgrade your fins, tank and knife. On start of game you have to do instead of these upgrades.

On the begining you need storage because you don't have a lot of space for resources.

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

• A base literally 10m under the sea level will grant you nothing except storage space. It doesn't let you access areas where you could not go before since you could just go to the surface instead.

My first base have been plased on 30m depth and still my most used for all game.
You need from a base:
1. Storage. you gather all resource you find and store it in one place near Fabricator. Escape pods too smass and narrow for this.

2. Relax. Day for exploration, night for crafting and relaxing views. No point to mix it.

You do not need to worry about reinforse for your first base - it don't need it.
It can be easly powered because surfase not too far and there enought light.
If it got damage and collapse - you can manage to go to the surface (even if you was stupid and do not have a airnet).

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

After I got the Cyclops I couldn't navigate there anymore (it is way too large and the water is too shallow)

[/quote]

You usually don't use a carrier to bring you to home or in supermarket.

[Dinkelsen]

udav eredeti hozzászólása:

I kind of disagree with you there.

Looks like we have vastly different playstyles. I never have problems with inventory until later in the game and I personnaly love the workbench because it makes those items I already have better. The price is neglible.

But you play it your style and I play it my style. I understand what you wrote but would never play like that. But I guess that doesn't matter. All what matters is that we have fun.

[udav]

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

But you play it your style and I play it my style. I understand what you wrote but would never play like that. But I guess that doesn't matter. All what matters is that we have fun.

it's great, isn't? :)

[Phaota]

Air tubes are one of the least realistic items in the game since they would never work unless each segment had a stronger than the last air pump on it. The lowest pump would have to be quite powerful to pull air down the long tube to to greater depths.

[udav]

Tell us about most relistic thing you have found. :)

Explosive fish i gues.
Not opaque enameled glass.
Welder that can repair wire, wall and glass alike.
Subs that runs on 12 flashlight's batteries.
Startravels.
...


Everything you can point is impossible if you have some knowlege in that case.
Relax, it's just a game. mindgame on what-if. That what make all that fuss about "real" and "survivle" just bizzare and lame.

[Phaota]

I'm ~just~ talking about the air tubes, not everything else that is unrealistic in the game, udav. Air tubes are found IRL, but they need pumps to push the air deeper. Being that those in the game do not have these, then they would not work. Yes, it's a game, but if something is added that can be attributed to a real life object, then it ought to have a semblance of realism to it.

[udav]

Phaota eredeti hozzászólása:

I'm ~just~ talking about the air tubes, not everything else that is unrealistic in the game, udav. Air tubes are found IRL, but they need pumps to push the air deeper. Being that those in the game do not have these, then they would not work. Yes, it's a game, but if something is added that can be attributed to a real life object, then it ought to have a semblance of realism to it.

So your point IRL then? Lets see.

enameled glass quite common. square kilometers of them around just me. it's opaque, you know.
underwather base. It cant produce air you know. it cant be built like game did. if you ever have tried to drown empty barrel you will get some other ideas.
aluminium, titanium, uran, etc. quite common IRL. Nothing like thay behave in game thought.
air, water, temperature, moisture, volcano, plants, fishes, animals, escape pods,etc.
just about _everything_. That why i call that all talks about "IRL"- bizzar.

[Phaota]

Once again, you are talking about things "other" than the air tubes. I just said the topic was ~only~ about them - period. Wow, you really want to detour the topic.

[Khelonos]

smeissl eredeti hozzászólása:

Your escape capsule can move
Sometimes, it even moves on its own.

Probably not, though it can be bumped by fish.

Ottomic eredeti hozzászólása:

First you get a seaglide. With a seaglide nothing can touch you.

Agreed.

I often don't bother making them cos they're not actually necessary. Once you're familiar enough with the game you can swim out to the red grass and get silver without them, and be in a seamoth quickly enough. But the seaglide does make things significantly easier. I'd definitely recommend it to new players.

Phaota eredeti hozzászólása:

Air tubes are one of the least realistic items in the game since they would never work unless each segment had a stronger than the last air pump on it. The lowest pump would have to be quite powerful to pull air down the long tube to to greater depths.

So you think we've realistically mastered interstellar travel but couldn't pump air through tubes?

[Phaota]

Not in the design shown in the game, no. Considering the are only made with 3 titanium and no computer chips or wiring kits, this indicates they are just hollow tubes without air pumps. So, they wouldn't work to get air down through progressively stronger water pressure levels.

[Wolf]

Do not attempt to convert titanium into ingots as a method of saving space while attempting to maximize room in your escape pods inventory (something i remember doing from minecraft where you stacked metals into blocks) because you cannot (i don't think) break the ingots back down into titanium. Instead use all titanium you find (at the start of game) for crafting essential equipment and building a base with what’s left over.

Also, you can leave loose inventory items literally on the ground under your pod in the meantime. They won’t disappear. If they start rolling away just dig a sand pit for them to collect in.

[Dinkelsen]

n13green eredeti hozzászólása:

Probably not, though it can be bumped by fish.

I had it move on its own by around 100m once. It was between loading and saving games, I suspect it had collided with the Vehicle Contructor and the physics engine through them around when loading. This engine does strange things sometimes when the game loads. I was in a Seamoth once and when the game loaded I had exited and the Seamoth flew through the air about 300 or 400m. Wasn't that funny as I saved because of a reaper that looked at me hungrily.

But it could have been fish, too. You are right that there are no sea currents and objects usually do not move.

Phaota eredeti hozzászólása:

Air tubes are one of the least realistic items in the game since they would never work unless each segment had a stronger than the last air pump on it.

I agree on that, in physics class in school we even once caclulated the theroretical maximum depth an air pipe without air pumps would work. If I remember correctly, that was 10m. Forgive me if its wrong, my physics classes were 30 years ago. I also find it amusing that those pipes never move, not even because of their weight and topology. But I am willing to forgive that, in my imagination they have air pumps and valves everywhere to quickly get fresh air out of them.

Ottomic eredeti hozzászólása:

[The Seaglide] I'm kinda puzzled as to why I haven't seen a single mention to it in this whole thread so far [...]

I must confess I am not a big fan of the Seaglide, mainly because it is so large and uses batteries. I do not know why, I just have't gotten warm with that thing. But I am happy it works for you.

[Ottomic]

It can outrun a Reaper, people! And you pop it out in like, a key press!!

I'm... I'm just gonna throw my hands up in the air here. \o/