Tubular is the worst achievement in the game and it is not close

[PKPenguin]

- Upwards of 5 minutes per attempt: About 1.5 real-life minutes are spent just waiting at a campfire, and another 1.5 are wasted getting a boat into position and waiting for the dam to break
- Extremely finnicky and inconsistent: The same setup with the same inputs will have thousands of different outcomes depending on the spin of your boat, other boats randomly floating into you, etc.
- Unclear of what counts as being on the wave: I had attempts where I was CERTAIN I got it, I recorded it and played back the footage and was still certain because I was on the wave for more than 15 seconds, and did not actually get it.

Getting this achievement requires that you do nothing for several minutes per attempt, during which not a single part of what makes Outer Wilds a good video game comes into play. Through all this waiting, it feels like more of a test of luck than skill. If you're the type that wastes hours at casinos pulling the same lever over and over again for no gain, maybe you'll enjoy it.

I think this might be fixable if the devs drop the amount of time spent on the wave to something like five seconds, an amount of time that you could in theory pull off by accident while still spending long enough on the wave for it to still be thrilling and feel rewarding. Shortening the window of time spent on the wave would also lessen the likelihood of getting RNG-screwed, making life much nicer for people who are actively attempting to get the achievement.

[PKPenguin]

Oh, and if you think visibility is bad in the stealth sections of the DLC, you really won't want to try this achievement. Having to look at the controls on your boat to control them means you will not be able to see where you are going or if you are actually on the wave, because looking ahead or behind you means risking moving forward or backwards and off of the wave. You're completely blind!

[PKPenguin]

Alright, after my 30-somethingth attempt, I finally got the stars to align and I am more relieved that I don't have to do it anymore than anything else. All my points in this thread stand even after completing it. I'll finish my rant by clarifying that I loved every part of the DLC except for this one small blip at the end, which was very annoying, and if I didn't love the game I wouldn't have stuck it out to begin with. gg

[Scroubignon]

I don't know how you did it but I read that starting a little farther down the river where the wave is weaker makes things easier

[nbst]

"Only" at my 8th attempt and already hate it. What a dumb achievement? Why?!

[ZeroGravitas]

Yeah, I enjoyed this far less than, say, the achievement for landing directly on the Sun Station. Which took a lot of repetitions, and some frustration (when I realised transition from ship to station was the hardest part, still). But those were relatively short repeats, and nailing it was a rush, for sure.

This one took me 4 attempts even after watching a guide video: https://youtu.be/AhUI6RbSX1g

I bet all the water physics was proper hard for the devs to implement, though...

[Sammun Mak]

I keep waiting and hoping that they're going to patch this achievement. Sun station was REALLY hard and took me hours, but at least it was pure attempts, and I also got better over time, like practicing a skill. The one try every 4~ minutes, where half of that time is spent watching a timer tick up, makes it really hard to keep trying.

[Shiztastic]

Newsflash: achievements are entirely optional and don’t need to be any particular difficulty to obtain.

It would be one thing if it was bugged or broken, the way “You’ll Never Take Me Alive!” supposedly is bugged, but this one isn’t.

Could it be easier? Sure, but it isn’t. It’s just difficult.

[PKPenguin]

Originally posted by Shiztastic:

Newsflash: achievements are entirely optional and don’t need to be any particular difficulty to obtain.

It would be one thing if it was bugged or broken, the way “You’ll Never Take Me Alive!” supposedly is bugged, but this one isn’t.

Could it be easier? Sure, but it isn’t. It’s just difficult.

I don't think anyone is contesting this

[xr ඞ]

Originally posted by Shiztastic:

Newsflash: achievements are entirely optional and don’t need to be any particular difficulty to obtain.

It would be one thing if it was bugged or broken, the way “You’ll Never Take Me Alive!” supposedly is bugged, but this one isn’t.

Could it be easier? Sure, but it isn’t. It’s just difficult.

I mean games are inherently optional but that doesn't mean they're above criticism!

[Sammun Mak]

I was able to do this achievement and I suggest you just use the raft that's already on the shore a few seconds from where the guide suggests you start, on the shore . You do start later on the river but it eliminates the chance that you get thrown off the raft at the very beginning. Even then it was luck based but that removed one element of the luck.

[Aachen]

Yeah, Tubular left me a bit embittered, as well.

[Rubat]

Yeah I agree completely, this is easily the worst achievement in the whole game. I have spent hours on it and still haven't got it - it always just throws me off of the platform and I am back to waiting for 5 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ minutes to try again. Such poor design. The developers just hate their players with achievements like this.

[fash]

If it takes you an hour to get this achievement, that is way less time than the hardest achievement in most games. Decide how much you care, and handle the cost of your priorities.

Anyway, there's nothing to stress over. So you're not patient/skilled enough to join the 0.6% who got this achievement, so what? 99.4% is a lot of people to be among.

[Gui]

Originally posted by fash:

If it takes you an hour to get this achievement, that is way less time than the hardest achievement in most games. Decide how much you care, and handle the cost of your priorities.

Anyway, there's nothing to stress over. So you're not patient/skilled enough to join the 0.6% who got this achievement, so what? 99.4% is a lot of people to be among.

i mean, im here trying to do it aswell and this answer doesnt make any sense. outer wilds is one of the greatest game i've ever played, and i wanted to do every achievement to it because i love the game. the problem is, this achievement is entirely luck based, theres nothing to do with skill and the patience you are talking about is sitting down doing nothing while you wait for a slow timer to get to 9 minutes, then wait another 4 minutes waiting for the dam to break and praying it'll work.