Yet another thread about speed

[Arondil]

Please apologise for bringing this topic up again.

Much of the current dissatisfaction with the seaglide and seatruck stems, I think, from the modest increase in speed that players get out of them, especially when compared to the original Subnautica.

Swimming speed and vehicle speed are marked for revision/tuning in SN:Below Zero, so what I've seen so far isn't final. Even so, I have to say that part of the problem is that Subnautica and SN:Below Zero aren't meant to be diving simulators. This view is supported by the very generous (to put it mildly) swimming speed and the (ridiculously low) amounts of oxygen that tanks provide.

So if Subnautica and BZ are not meant to be a realistic diving simulation but a fun underwater romp with gorgeous scenery, how could such tuning turn out?

I have found the following benchmarks by googling:

• Unaided swimming is about 2 m/s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_world_records_in_swimming
  
• Swimming with fins is about 3 m/s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_world_records_in_finswimming
  
• Single-person underwater scooters similar to the sea glide go up to 6 miles/h, or 3 m/s https://www.divein.com/underwater-scooter
  
• Single-person midget submarines go up to 12 miles/h https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/outdoors/a4973/4338002 and 20 km/h https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/midget_submarine - both of which are roughly 6 m/s

The first two (unaided and fins) are unlikely to change much with technological advances because they are mostly governed by human physiology.

Scooters and midget submarines could become faster with better power sources but hydrodynamics (two times the speed means four times the drag) put a limit on what is sensibly achievable. The seatruck afterburner does this - it increases speed but drains powercells faster.

If there ever is another Subnautica game after Below Zero, speed tiers (I am intentionally not giving any concrete numbers) could be like this:

Tier 1 - Unaided swimming would be lowest, of course, and still within physiologically reasonable boundaries. (I'm not saying it should be capped at 2.0 m/s because this is supposed to be a fun game but it should not exceed that by much.)

Tier 2 - Fins would offer a modest increase compared to unaided.

Tier 3 - Seaglide speed would be better than fin speed. If a seaglide is used, the seaglide would be the major factor in determining speed (meaning that a combination of seaglide and fins would not be much faster than a seaglide without fins). The seaglide could also have an in-built boost, making it easier to evade creatures but draining a lot of power, or a small auxiliary oxygen tank making it more attractive by increasing exploration range.

Tier 4 - Subs, significantly faster than the seaglide, reflecting the effort required to craft them and the fact that they have (multiple) powercells instead of a single battery.

Alternatively (or additionally), seaglide and subs could be given a higher cruising speed when using ion power sources, again in exchange for higher power drain.

... and that concludes today's sermon. Good night, everybody!

[Coops]

I am currently playing another run of Subnautica.
The seaglide speed with ultra glide fins is insane. I feel like I'm riding a rocket compared to Below Zero.

[Arondil]

Just for funsies I have been fooling around with the swimx command to reduce my swimming speed - made me really appreciate the airbladder and oxygen pump :)

[dragonbornzyra]

Origineel geplaatst door angisilexpen:

Just for funsies I have been fooling around with the swimx command to reduce my swimming speed - made me really appreciate the airbladder and oxygen pump :)

Fire extinguisher too right?

[Arondil]

Origineel geplaatst door dragonbornzyra:

Fire extinguisher too right?

I forgot about the fire extinguisher... thanks for reminding me.

[JohnMcHobo]

After playing the new version for a few hours I can safely say that Brutesharks and Squidsharks can´t be outrun with a Seaglide...which is just bad design.

[dragonbornzyra]

Origineel geplaatst door JohnMcHobo:

After playing the new version for a few hours I can safely say that Brutesharks and Squidsharks can´t be outrun with a Seaglide...which is just bad design.

That's interesting?

They want to encourage the player to avoid confrontation, and to avoid predators and hostile life forms rather than fight them. That's part of the reason we don't have the Stasis Rifle anymore.

But if we can't out run mid tier predators in the Seaglide, then what's the point? We're encouraged to avoid fighting, yet we aren't able to without a vehicle? Or at least, it's much harder.

Last time I checked, the player had a tighter turn radius than the Bruteshark, so we could avoid them if we zig zagged and swam around terrain but still a chore.

I used the small spaces in Deep Twisty to avoid the Squidsharks, and I don't spend much time at the Lilypad Islands since that's where my roomate build his main base.

This would put more usefulness in the Booster Tank, which, was also nerfed itself. Over all, for whatever reasons, the speed nerfs just feel bad.

However, the net result *WOULD* be that the Vehicles are going to be more useful and valuable.

[kevlar]

Origineel geplaatst door Coops:

I am currently playing another run of Subnautica.
The seaglide speed with ultra glide fins is insane. I feel like I'm riding a rocket compared to Below Zero.

ya I love it. it was in a previous thread something I never knew but can see now, is the seaglide was just a tad slower than the seamoth (if I read and remember that right) in SN. That enclosure of the moth just made it feel that much more different than being in the open water holding the glide. Is an amazing illusion.

I have thought the speed decrease was to compensate for the overall smaller world (and not as much water due to the increase in land) in BZ. A way to make it feel "bigger" , but not as fascinating of an illusion for sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PzpztFJZP8

[Shahadem]

If they didn't want the players to kill the sea life then they shouldn't have put aggressive sea life in the game.

The best way to resolve a problem is to solve the problem and not ignore it for 4 seconds because when those 4 seconds are up it is going to come right back and be a problem again.

[Casino]

Origineel geplaatst door Shahadem:

If they didn't want the players to kill the sea life then they shouldn't have put aggressive sea life in the game.

The best way to resolve a problem is to solve the problem and not ignore it for 4 seconds because when those 4 seconds are up it is going to come right back and be a problem again.

If their goal is to discourage players from killing dangerous critters than I'm afraid they've gone about it in completely the wrong way. A decrease in overall speed has just lead me to bumping things to death with the seatruck or killing them with the prawn just to get them out of my hair. I've virtually wiped out the bruteshark population and the squidshark is an endangered species. On the other hand I can think of a few types of enemies in the first game that I didn't kill any of, I rather just avoided them and moved on.