What's the trick to getting cave fauna to spawn?

[Derpykat5]

I'm trying to scan all creatures on a bunch of planets as my main source of nanites, but I consistently run into problems with "Underground" creatures.

I've checked shallow caves, deep caves, small caves, huge caves, and no matter whether they are marked as common, uncommon or rare, and even if they are always active I just cannot get them to spawn. What am I doing wrong?

[Khalunka]

Escrito originalmente por Shifty:

There are much faster ways to make nanites

Indeed. But is still a shame for those roleplaying researchers etc. I hope HG change the mechanic or add something to force spawn creatures, even the throwing bait for example, if they add that throwing bait inside a cave would spawn a creature, for me that would be good already.

[Zoran]

I'm skipping planets that have rare undergound or rare underwater creatures, takes too long. Running through caves certainly does not work. The advise about buildings exposing tunnels and caves works best. Hop from crash site to crash site or drop pod to drop pod, do something that requires you to visit a lot of sites. If you have a planet that is so flat that tunnels don't get exposed.... well... maybe finally call it and move on.

[remid0d0s0]

There's not really a trick. Just time and luck.

[Flash Hendricks]

I find underground creatures spawn a bit more readily in the latest versions (compared with a couple of years back), so if you're really having trouble, you've probably hit a planet with some slightly weird combination of random numbers that makes the right terrain very rare. (This happens with underwater creatures too; some seem set to spawn below a certain depth, but you can end up with a planet that has very little deep water.)

It's easiest to just give up and try another planet, but -- as others have said -- the openings to caves are often the best spawn points. So, look for buildings that have cave openings around them (almost anything will do, but for some reason Holo comms towers and drop pods seem to produce more caves). Or if you use your multi-tool to spot underground artifacts, tunnel down to them and then follow the cave to its opening (if it has one).

But (again, as others have said), some creatures will only spawn in deep caves, and some planets just have very few deep caves.

[wkitty42]

Escrito originalmente por Johnny in the Clouds:

Creature red dots may pop up seemingly close by, however the creature may be behind the next turn or bend in a tunnel.

i've been known to dig tunnels toward their red dots... gotta be careful you don't hit them with the beam, though... it is kinda funny when you're in one cave and they are in another that has no entry/exit and the only way to get to them is via digging your own tunnel...

[Johnny in the Clouds]

Escrito originalmente por Hobklot:

Escrito originalmente por Shifty:

There are much faster ways to make nanites

...But is still a shame for those roleplaying researchers etc. I hope HG change the mechanic or add something to force spawn creatures,...

I hope they don't. It's not a difficult challenge or a shame.

Never thought of the task as a shame at all and it's a lot of fun and satisfying when completing the challenge to scan the planet of all its creatures. The balance is just right and some clever programming.

It's a lot of fun making your way across a planet searching for the last creature. Often the last creature can be the most interesting one. and there are some wild and interesting landscapes to discover. You see and explore all sorts of different things and take photos or do whatever. The process has got easier over several updates since 2016 which arguably takes the shine off the challenge. Build a base and return later to find any missing creatures whenever you want. It can be relaxing and a fun way to spend time. One method is no better or worse than another to earn nanites in the game.

There are plenty of planets to find creatures on. If one is more of a challenge, choose another planet and return to the other later. It's so easy to place a base and return at any time. Throw bait about immediately on landing to tame and scan as many creatures as possible and then begin the search soon after. The odds of finding the last creature are always in the players favour as it is a game. It's not coded to be impossible and I think the balance is right. The discoveries list even hints at where to go in some cases. It can be too easy at times.

I never seem to have a problem. Nanites can be gathered in numerous ways from finding, farming and refining running mould (which can be tedious), selling tech upgrades or gathering tainted metal or trading loot from farming pirate battles. Even while searching for creatures, tech upgrades can be found salvaging buildings or scattered wreckage and traded for nanites, so its a win win to do tasks simultaneously. There are multiple ways to enjoy searching for creatures and it shouldn't be instant. A huge amount of units can be earned too from scanning as well as nanites which really out to be thought of as a bonus for those who enjoy roaming landscapes and being surprised by what they find.

[Khalunka]

Escrito originalmente por Johnny in the Clouds:

Escrito originalmente por Hobklot:

...But is still a shame for those roleplaying researchers etc. I hope HG change the mechanic or add something to force spawn creatures,...

Never thought of the task as a shame at all

I see you didnt understand what I said. (probably). I am one of those roleplaying as researchers where the main income of nanites are from exploring planets and fauna (in one of my saves), I am well over 100+ planets with full animals discovered. Sadly, some planets are too buggy in their respawn so its pratically impossible to complete. When I say shame, is that, while its super fun, we are not being able to do it properly because the game is buggy/badly designed/incomplete, in this case, the spawn of underground creatures could be better or have other mechanics involved. I like the throwing bait to making it to spawn for example, because its a bait, it makes sense for the animal to leave its little underground home and appear to eat my bait. I still hope they add some kind of mechanic like that in the future. Have fun :)

[Johnny in the Clouds]

Escrito originalmente por Hobklot:

....Sadly, some planets are too buggy in their respawn ....while its super fun, we are not being able to do it properly because the game is buggy/badly designed/incomplete, in this case, the spawn of underground creatures could be better or have other mechanics involved.....it makes sense for the animal to leave its little underground home and appear to eat my bait. I still hope they add some kind of mechanic like that in the future. Have fun :)

It's fair to say spawning creatures is affected by procedural bugs of all kinds, across the games near life sized planet maps. Especially as the terrain is procedural in construction so yeah some creatures may incorrectly spawn. In those circumstances it can be difficult to know, so moving to another planet makes sense. Often the previous one gets forgotten as there are so many others but returning later at a different location may help. Some times defeat has to be accepted and that may be a bug or the creatures are just too darn small.

It would be cool to try 'trapping' a creature perhaps finding clues of its whereabouts like 'rabbit' holes or chewed flora or something. I have found creatures gathering near liquids so I can only assume the programming imagines how creatures are expected to survive. Perhaps additional mechanics will be added at some point. After all there are attachments to pets to 'track' items. They may be placeholders for future development. Either way adding more mechanics really is adding a mission layer onto the search. I'm quite happy with the 'happy go lucky' random kind of search that fits random creatures populating a planet to give it life nd ambience. Maybe in the future more specific boss like creatures might be added in missions to like as you say 'tease' out the giant worms or fluffy bunnies we can then trap and transport across the galaxy for whatever reason. : )

[Flash Hendricks]

Escrito originalmente por Johnny in the Clouds:

It would be cool to try 'trapping' a creature perhaps finding clues of its whereabouts like 'rabbit' holes or chewed flora or something. {cut}

I like your ideas! It would be nice to move beyond persistence and good luck to something that involved a bit of thinking. That might present problems for procedurally generated game, so maybe a new kind of scanner update/attachment that searched for unknown life signs? (In general, I wish there could be more specialised scanner upgrades, like the Exocraft ones. Maybe something like the drop pod coordinates you can find/buy that give a one-off "unknown life form" reading?)

[Darth Cervantes]

I noticed I never find them until my 4th of 5th cave.
I also noticed, when I DO find them, They always almost spawn behind me. Which is why its good to turn around everyonce in awhile with the scanner when exploring a cave for the purpose of finding those creatures
It doesn't always work, and I'm not gonna lie, I currently have about 10 planets where I've found every creature except for one because I think after 10 minutes of trying, its time to leave

[Ouroboros]

Another tip: Have you noticed how some of creatures have North/ South spawn conditions? It seems this often applies to sea and undeground mobs even if those doesn't have it written in description. Moving to the other side of planet helped me immensely many times in finding this last one animal, so much I'm certain there's sth funky with mob generation. Also I wouldn't be surprised if nocturnal/diurnal spawn conditions would have effect too, despite not being listed in spawn description. Devs still haven't fixed empty refinery/ harvester bugs, and expecting them to fix creature generation? Naaah, let's do another half-assed expedition.