Here’s a peek at what will be coming to Subnautica in the next few weeks: The explosion and exploration of the Aurora starship.



Steam limits what we can embed in news posts. To see the full post, including interactive 3D models and SoundCloud files, go to the Subnautica Dev Blog

Back at in 2014, an extremely early prototype of Subnautica was shown at PAX East. A two dimensional starship, cut out from Cory's concept art, was placed on the ocean horizon. It was impossible to get closer to the ship, it would forever recede into the distance no matter how far a player swam.

Despite this a significant proportion of players would constantly swim across the surface towards the starship. They ignored objectives, vehicles, creatures, and even the whole undersea environment. There was something utterly compelling about the crashed Aurora, lying stricken on the sea floor.



At that time, there wasn’t a strong plan in place for what to do with the crashed ship. Various ideas were being tossed around, and continued to circulate even past Subnautica’s launch on Early Access. Approaches to the Aurora were cut off by deadly radiation fields, while we’ve figured out what to do with it.



Now, we’re ready to bring the Aurora into the game. In the past few weeks, crash site gameplay brainstorms have been category 5 hurricanes. Concept art, prototypes, gameplay ideas have all been flying around. The thing that most accurately describes what we’re thinking about is perhaps this sound made by Simon:

Boom

That’s the sound of a big starship going bang. When it goes bang, it will litter the sea-floor with debris, impact craters, and goodies formerly trapped inside the Aurora’s hull.



Michael, Jake, Russell and Oli are hard at work crafting the ocean floor at the Aurora crash site. This includes digging a huge impact trench out of the rock, and decorating it with debris, silt, and rubble. This represents a unique level design challenge, as it forces the mixing and disruption of existing biomes.



Some of the debris pieces on the sea floor will be large enough to enter and swim around in. Here’s a particularly large one:

Wreck Model



What of the deadly radiation field that currently prevents approach? You will soon be able to craft a radiation-resistant suit, capable of protecting you from pesky alpha, beta, and gamma rays. A new ‘paper-doll’ style inventory system will allow you to easily swap equipment, and know what you are wearing at a glance.



Radiation might be the least of your worries when swimming near the Aurora’s wreck. We don’t want to say too much – We’ll let this experimental video from Andi do the talking…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HY6S9uMnMs

This blog post can’t contain everything we’re working on at the moment. Heaps of stuff is being done, including the addition of new sea-base functionality, and rebalancing of loot/crafting mechanisms. To see more, check out the Subnautica development Trello board, and the checkin & changes list.

We can never be sure when we will release updates. The Crash Site might happen in one, two, or three weeks. It’s likely to be some time in April. Sign up to the Subnautica mailing list to find out the moment the update is released.

Here’s a peek at what will be coming to Subnautica in the next few weeks: The explosion and exploration of the Aurora starship.



Steam limits what we can embed in news posts. To see the full post, including interactive 3D models and SoundCloud files, go to the Subnautica Dev Blog

Back at in 2014, an extremely early prototype of Subnautica was shown at PAX East. A two dimensional starship, cut out from Cory's concept art, was placed on the ocean horizon. It was impossible to get closer to the ship, it would forever recede into the distance no matter how far a player swam.

Despite this a significant proportion of players would constantly swim across the surface towards the starship. They ignored objectives, vehicles, creatures, and even the whole undersea environment. There was something utterly compelling about the crashed Aurora, lying stricken on the sea floor.



At that time, there wasn’t a strong plan in place for what to do with the crashed ship. Various ideas were being tossed around, and continued to circulate even past Subnautica’s launch on Early Access. Approaches to the Aurora were cut off by deadly radiation fields, while we’ve figured out what to do with it.



Now, we’re ready to bring the Aurora into the game. In the past few weeks, crash site gameplay brainstorms have been category 5 hurricanes. Concept art, prototypes, gameplay ideas have all been flying around. The thing that most accurately describes what we’re thinking about is perhaps this sound made by Simon:

Boom

That’s the sound of a big starship going bang. When it goes bang, it will litter the sea-floor with debris, impact craters, and goodies formerly trapped inside the Aurora’s hull.



Michael, Jake, Russell and Oli are hard at work crafting the ocean floor at the Aurora crash site. This includes digging a huge impact trench out of the rock, and decorating it with debris, silt, and rubble. This represents a unique level design challenge, as it forces the mixing and disruption of existing biomes.



Some of the debris pieces on the sea floor will be large enough to enter and swim around in. Here’s a particularly large one:

Wreck Model



What of the deadly radiation field that currently prevents approach? You will soon be able to craft a radiation-resistant suit, capable of protecting you from pesky alpha, beta, and gamma rays. A new ‘paper-doll’ style inventory system will allow you to easily swap equipment, and know what you are wearing at a glance.



Radiation might be the least of your worries when swimming near the Aurora’s wreck. We don’t want to say too much – We’ll let this experimental video from Andi do the talking…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HY6S9uMnMs

This blog post can’t contain everything we’re working on at the moment. Heaps of stuff is being done, including the addition of new sea-base functionality, and rebalancing of loot/crafting mechanisms. To see more, check out the Subnautica development Trello board, and the checkin & changes list.

We can never be sure when we will release updates. The Crash Site might happen in one, two, or three weeks. It’s likely to be some time in April. Sign up to the Subnautica mailing list to find out the moment the update is released.

Subnautica now features underwater bases. They are available now, and allow the construction of habitats on the sea floor. Bases are composed of modular units such as compartments, windows, and hatches, bases allow you to create an outpost from which you can go forth and explore Subnautica's vast ocean.



Bases are the biggest new feature we've added to Subnautica since the Cyclops submarine. Like the Cyclops, bases are unfinished, buggy, and rough around the edges. Subnautica is an Early Access game, and we aim to give you the latest stuff well before it is truly 'finished' - Game development is more fun this way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-oa3bzir9A

Despite being incomplete, bases are tremendous fun to muck about with. To build a base, craft a Builder tool at a Fabricator. Then, right click while holding the tool. You will be presented with a crafting menu that offers various different base components.



Base construction requires lots of resources, particularly Titanium, so pick your site carefully. In the screenshots in this post, the bases have been built on sand in safer coral areas. You don't have to follow that lead: Bases can be built just about anywhere - Including inside caves!



There are a wide variety of base components to choose from, including L junctions, T junctions, X junctions, windows of various shapes and sizes, hatches, and foundations. Compartments can be stacked on top of each other and connected with ladders to create multiple decks.



When building bases, it is necessary to manage hull integrity. Placing lots of compartments, or weaker components like windows, lowers hull integrity. The effect is more pronounced the deeper the base is built, as water pressure increases. Placing hull reinforcements can increase hull strength, and allow the placement of more windows and hatches before hull integrity fails.



If your base has low hull integrity, it might flood. Flooding can be stopped by restoring hull integrity and repairing hull breaches. To restore hull integrity, place more reinforcements or remove weak components like windows. To repair hull breaches, use a Welder tool on the breach. Once all breaches have been repaired, the water will be drained by the base artificial intelligence.



Some base components, like Fabricators, require power. Place a power generator outside a base to give them the juice they need to function. If you don't have a power generator, you will see a big red 'Power' warning at the top of the head-up-display.



Remember: Bases are, like the rest of Subnautica, a work-in-progress. They will break frequently and sometimes with disastrous (or hilarious!) consequences for gameplay. This is the fun of Early Access, shaping a game over time rather than just throwing a finished product at people and hoping it works. Leave us feedback notes via the in-game F8 feedback system, talk to us on the forums, (here or on the dev blog!), Tweet at us, do whatever you can to tell us what you think. Your feedback will shape our work on bases, and help make them better and better as development continues!

Subnautica now features underwater bases. They are available now, and allow the construction of habitats on the sea floor. Bases are composed of modular units such as compartments, windows, and hatches, bases allow you to create an outpost from which you can go forth and explore Subnautica's vast ocean.



Bases are the biggest new feature we've added to Subnautica since the Cyclops submarine. Like the Cyclops, bases are unfinished, buggy, and rough around the edges. Subnautica is an Early Access game, and we aim to give you the latest stuff well before it is truly 'finished' - Game development is more fun this way!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-oa3bzir9A

Despite being incomplete, bases are tremendous fun to muck about with. To build a base, craft a Builder tool at a Fabricator. Then, right click while holding the tool. You will be presented with a crafting menu that offers various different base components.



Base construction requires lots of resources, particularly Titanium, so pick your site carefully. In the screenshots in this post, the bases have been built on sand in safer coral areas. You don't have to follow that lead: Bases can be built just about anywhere - Including inside caves!



There are a wide variety of base components to choose from, including L junctions, T junctions, X junctions, windows of various shapes and sizes, hatches, and foundations. Compartments can be stacked on top of each other and connected with ladders to create multiple decks.



When building bases, it is necessary to manage hull integrity. Placing lots of compartments, or weaker components like windows, lowers hull integrity. The effect is more pronounced the deeper the base is built, as water pressure increases. Placing hull reinforcements can increase hull strength, and allow the placement of more windows and hatches before hull integrity fails.



If your base has low hull integrity, it might flood. Flooding can be stopped by restoring hull integrity and repairing hull breaches. To restore hull integrity, place more reinforcements or remove weak components like windows. To repair hull breaches, use a Welder tool on the breach. Once all breaches have been repaired, the water will be drained by the base artificial intelligence.



Some base components, like Fabricators, require power. Place a power generator outside a base to give them the juice they need to function. If you don't have a power generator, you will see a big red 'Power' warning at the top of the head-up-display.



Remember: Bases are, like the rest of Subnautica, a work-in-progress. They will break frequently and sometimes with disastrous (or hilarious!) consequences for gameplay. This is the fun of Early Access, shaping a game over time rather than just throwing a finished product at people and hoping it works. Leave us feedback notes via the in-game F8 feedback system, talk to us on the forums, (here or on the dev blog!), Tweet at us, do whatever you can to tell us what you think. Your feedback will shape our work on bases, and help make them better and better as development continues!

There are two big pieces of Subnautica news today. The first is that we've got a whole bunch of work-in-progress seabase stuff to show you. The second is that we've just released a new Subnautica update - It doesn't contain seabases, but it makes lots of additions and improvements to the game. Read on to find out more!



Subnautica development is following rough cycles of several weeks each. Every few weeks, we want to bring you something really awesome to play with. Last time, it was the Cyclops submarine.

If all goes to plan, the next big thing will be seabases, arriving some time in early March. It's very probable that timing will change, as is the nature of game development, but we are far enough advanced with our work that we want to show off some of the progress now. To get notified as soon as they are released, sign up to the Subnautica mailing list.



Before we dive further into seabases, let's talk about Subnautica Update 10, which we released today. It does not contain bases, but it does contain lots of important, less headline-grabbing work. For example, Charlie's new loot system is present, and that drastically changes how much of the game works. You will get this update automatically if you have purchased Subnautica on Steam. Because our development process is so unstructured, it's very hard to give you a controlled, authoritative list of changes.

To see absolutely everything that changed in this update, go to the Subnautica checkins and changes list. That page publicly records every change anyone on the Subnautica development team makes to the game. You can also check out the Subnautica Trello Board for a rougher approximation of changes. Some examples of smaller but still exciting things in this update include a working Dive Reel.



Many cave systems in Subnautica are complex, deep down, dark, and downright scary. Getting lost inside one means almost certain death from asphyxiation. The dive reel is a great way to limit the risk of getting lost. Once attached to a surface, it will spool out a dive line behind you. You can explore a cave with the line playing out, attach it to a surface in an interesting area, and then follow the line in and out of the cave. The dive reel is available to craft at the Fabricator.

Back to bases. For the last few weeks we've been doing intense research, experimentation, and design work on seabase concepts. Earlier prototypes involved near-cubic construction of seabase compartments, which could be stuck together in any number. Compartments could have flush windows, hatches for ingress & egress, and internal hatches which allowed individual compartments to be cut off from flooding. Much of the art was ripped from the Cyclops, or was simply basic 3D primitives - Not the sort of thing we would want to ship in the final game, but more than adequate to get a feel for how gameplay was working.



Using this prototype system was a little bit surreal. Subnautica is a game in which most time is spent swimming, or using a vehicle in the water. Unless you manage to find a certain remote island, there's no standing or walking on solid surfaces. With the prototype, we found ourselves standing on a solid deck, looking out a window at the ocean life passing by outside. It was very cool!



Because each compartment is on a grid, we were able to tinker with a power system, and per-compartment flooding. There was something off about the ‘feel’ of the prototype though – Big cubes being stacked on top of each other didn’t seem like something appropriate for an underwater environment.



Cue Cory’s magnificent concept for extensible, cylindrical base compartments. These compartments can be attached in sequence, joined at perpendicular angles, and stacked on top of each other.



They feature viewports for observing the ocean outside, and attachment points for installing equipment. At the moment, 3D art for these modules is not quite finished, but work is progressing well. The compartments need to be carefully crafted to ensure they can fit together in a variety of configurations. For example, T, 90-bend, X, and singular shapes.



The flexibility afforded by these compartments means that bases will be highly customisable. You will be able to build structures that fit your particular objectives, adapted to the surrounding sea floor terrain.



The cylindrical compartments have rectangular interior spaces. Flat walls make the installation of equipment (such as Fabricators) much easier.



We’ve experimented with a few construction methods for bases. The original prototypes used the PDA, with the player needing to open and close it every time they wanted to build a module. That turned out to be a bit clunky, and after a few iterations we’ve started to settle on the use of a revamped Builder tool. Base construction requires the crafting of a builder tool. Then, with that tool equipped, right click brings up a construction menu, and left click places & builds components.



Because Dushan is a genius, it takes no effort to join together complex base structures. Components will rotate and morph between different junction and bend types to match up with the layout you have placed on a base foundation.



Seabases are not yet ready for release: There are quite a few technical hurdles to clear, and more art to create, before they can be released. In the mean time, we hope you will enjoy playing with Update 10. It is a large and important update that touches on many aspects of gameplay, and fixes a few nasty crashes too. Find out when updates have been released by subscribing to the Subnautica mailing list, and see what the development team is up to with our wide variety of open development tools.

There are two big pieces of Subnautica news today. The first is that we've got a whole bunch of work-in-progress seabase stuff to show you. The second is that we've just released a new Subnautica update - It doesn't contain seabases, but it makes lots of additions and improvements to the game. Read on to find out more!



Subnautica development is following rough cycles of several weeks each. Every few weeks, we want to bring you something really awesome to play with. Last time, it was the Cyclops submarine.

If all goes to plan, the next big thing will be seabases, arriving some time in early March. It's very probable that timing will change, as is the nature of game development, but we are far enough advanced with our work that we want to show off some of the progress now. To get notified as soon as they are released, sign up to the Subnautica mailing list.



Before we dive further into seabases, let's talk about Subnautica Update 10, which we released today. It does not contain bases, but it does contain lots of important, less headline-grabbing work. For example, Charlie's new loot system is present, and that drastically changes how much of the game works. You will get this update automatically if you have purchased Subnautica on Steam. Because our development process is so unstructured, it's very hard to give you a controlled, authoritative list of changes.

To see absolutely everything that changed in this update, go to the Subnautica checkins and changes list. That page publicly records every change anyone on the Subnautica development team makes to the game. You can also check out the Subnautica Trello Board for a rougher approximation of changes. Some examples of smaller but still exciting things in this update include a working Dive Reel.



Many cave systems in Subnautica are complex, deep down, dark, and downright scary. Getting lost inside one means almost certain death from asphyxiation. The dive reel is a great way to limit the risk of getting lost. Once attached to a surface, it will spool out a dive line behind you. You can explore a cave with the line playing out, attach it to a surface in an interesting area, and then follow the line in and out of the cave. The dive reel is available to craft at the Fabricator.

Back to bases. For the last few weeks we've been doing intense research, experimentation, and design work on seabase concepts. Earlier prototypes involved near-cubic construction of seabase compartments, which could be stuck together in any number. Compartments could have flush windows, hatches for ingress & egress, and internal hatches which allowed individual compartments to be cut off from flooding. Much of the art was ripped from the Cyclops, or was simply basic 3D primitives - Not the sort of thing we would want to ship in the final game, but more than adequate to get a feel for how gameplay was working.



Using this prototype system was a little bit surreal. Subnautica is a game in which most time is spent swimming, or using a vehicle in the water. Unless you manage to find a certain remote island, there's no standing or walking on solid surfaces. With the prototype, we found ourselves standing on a solid deck, looking out a window at the ocean life passing by outside. It was very cool!



Because each compartment is on a grid, we were able to tinker with a power system, and per-compartment flooding. There was something off about the ‘feel’ of the prototype though – Big cubes being stacked on top of each other didn’t seem like something appropriate for an underwater environment.



Cue Cory’s magnificent concept for extensible, cylindrical base compartments. These compartments can be attached in sequence, joined at perpendicular angles, and stacked on top of each other.



They feature viewports for observing the ocean outside, and attachment points for installing equipment. At the moment, 3D art for these modules is not quite finished, but work is progressing well. The compartments need to be carefully crafted to ensure they can fit together in a variety of configurations. For example, T, 90-bend, X, and singular shapes.



The flexibility afforded by these compartments means that bases will be highly customisable. You will be able to build structures that fit your particular objectives, adapted to the surrounding sea floor terrain.



The cylindrical compartments have rectangular interior spaces. Flat walls make the installation of equipment (such as Fabricators) much easier.



We’ve experimented with a few construction methods for bases. The original prototypes used the PDA, with the player needing to open and close it every time they wanted to build a module. That turned out to be a bit clunky, and after a few iterations we’ve started to settle on the use of a revamped Builder tool. Base construction requires the crafting of a builder tool. Then, with that tool equipped, right click brings up a construction menu, and left click places & builds components.



Because Dushan is a genius, it takes no effort to join together complex base structures. Components will rotate and morph between different junction and bend types to match up with the layout you have placed on a base foundation.



Seabases are not yet ready for release: There are quite a few technical hurdles to clear, and more art to create, before they can be released. In the mean time, we hope you will enjoy playing with Update 10. It is a large and important update that touches on many aspects of gameplay, and fixes a few nasty crashes too. Find out when updates have been released by subscribing to the Subnautica mailing list, and see what the development team is up to with our wide variety of open development tools.

Originally posted by Charlie (Flayra) on the Subnautica development blog.

If you’ve been playing the Experimental branch of Subnautica on Steam Early Access this week, you may have noticed that the entire loot system and crafting tech tree have been reworked. I wanted to write something quick detailing the what and why of these big changes.

There were a few basic problems I wanted to solve:

• It wasn’t clear for players where to find a particular type of loot. Sometimes this was due to the loot being in too many different places or because the loot element itself was abstract or overly-scientific (Carbon, Membrane, Rutile, etc.). Players would see what elements they need in the crafting menu, but then have no idea where to find it.
  
• Many recipes were very similar or even exactly the same.
  
• Loot was too plentiful, making the loot not feel particularly “special”. It also didn’t feel as much like you were really looking for loot, it was more like you were stumbling upon it.
  
• The tech tree wasn’t very scaleable to very big recipes like the Cyclops. In order to build a Cyclops, you had to very carefully juggle your inventory or drop everything that wasn’t directly used for it in order to build it. It was clumsy and it didn’t scale to even bigger recipes for the future. It also made storage more necessary and a bit tedious.
  
• There tech tree didn’t go very deep, so there weren’t enough advanced elements. This meant that deeper areas wouldn’t have special elements or rewards for dealing with the increased light, oxygen and creature danger therein.
  
• Many of the intermediate craftable elements had only one use, which tried to justify how ingredients transformed, but added extra busy work and no choices for the player.
  
• We want to support buried or embedded loot as well, which means we need a design that allows drilling for advanced materials.
  
• Creature loot (and therefore, creatures) weren’t very relevant.

All of these problems have existing pretty much since the first prototype, but it was just good enough to keep going forward with. But now, after we’ve ironed out so many of the game’s other bigger problems, it was time to do a proper design pass on the whole tree holistically.

I know this looks/is complicated, but a Gliffy diagram is the best I could come up with:


Full image available on Gliffy

Here’s a summary of the biggest changes:

• I removed as many “abstract” elements that I could. These are elements that are generally not clear to players where they could be found. This includes Carbon, Membrane, Rutile, Zinc, Calcite, Dolomite, Flint, Emery and Calcium, among others.
  
• Loot elements are now put in the world primarily in one and only one place (“coral walls in safe shallows”) to make it clear to players where they must go if they want something. This also means that old areas won’t become obsolete as the player plunges downward. Precious minerals are always found “inside” something else: limestone chunks, sandstone chunks, shale chunks, etc. Anything that’s a chunk can be broken open to find a random mineral inside. Along the same lines, larger lodes of ore will be found inside the terrain in the future.
  
• I removed as many of the intermediate elements as possible. For instance, instead of making “battery acid”, you can use acid mushrooms directly to make batteries.
  
• Each piece of scrap metal can now be refined down into 2 1×1 pieces of titanium. This keeps the inventory/time cost of scrap, but lays the groundwork for “condensing” of materials. 10 1×1 pieces of Titanium can be further crafted into a Titanium ingot, which allows the loot to scale, to allow building of very big things.
  
• I added many more “advanced” intermediate loot ingredients to keep the progression unfolding but also to open up new branches. Wiring kits and computer chips are examples of opening new groups of tech.
  
• Whenever possible, I incorporated more creature loot into the tree. You can make enameled glass from Stalker teeth, Flares from “crash meal” (ewww?), etc. This is an ongoing goal, and a tricky one, but keeping the elements as specific as possible is helping.

The full tech tree and details can be found here. This is a live tech tree that I will keep updating for awhile at least).

I hope this explains some of the reasoning that went into some of the sweeping changes! Please let me know what you think here or via Twitter.

Editors note: This new system will be released to the normal, stable branch in the next major update. We're not sure when that will be just yet, sign up to the dev update mailing list to be notified when it is live.

Originally posted by Charlie (Flayra) on the Subnautica development blog.

If you’ve been playing the Experimental branch of Subnautica on Steam Early Access this week, you may have noticed that the entire loot system and crafting tech tree have been reworked. I wanted to write something quick detailing the what and why of these big changes.

There were a few basic problems I wanted to solve:

• It wasn’t clear for players where to find a particular type of loot. Sometimes this was due to the loot being in too many different places or because the loot element itself was abstract or overly-scientific (Carbon, Membrane, Rutile, etc.). Players would see what elements they need in the crafting menu, but then have no idea where to find it.
  
• Many recipes were very similar or even exactly the same.
  
• Loot was too plentiful, making the loot not feel particularly “special”. It also didn’t feel as much like you were really looking for loot, it was more like you were stumbling upon it.
  
• The tech tree wasn’t very scaleable to very big recipes like the Cyclops. In order to build a Cyclops, you had to very carefully juggle your inventory or drop everything that wasn’t directly used for it in order to build it. It was clumsy and it didn’t scale to even bigger recipes for the future. It also made storage more necessary and a bit tedious.
  
• There tech tree didn’t go very deep, so there weren’t enough advanced elements. This meant that deeper areas wouldn’t have special elements or rewards for dealing with the increased light, oxygen and creature danger therein.
  
• Many of the intermediate craftable elements had only one use, which tried to justify how ingredients transformed, but added extra busy work and no choices for the player.
  
• We want to support buried or embedded loot as well, which means we need a design that allows drilling for advanced materials.
  
• Creature loot (and therefore, creatures) weren’t very relevant.

All of these problems have existing pretty much since the first prototype, but it was just good enough to keep going forward with. But now, after we’ve ironed out so many of the game’s other bigger problems, it was time to do a proper design pass on the whole tree holistically.

I know this looks/is complicated, but a Gliffy diagram is the best I could come up with:


Full image available on Gliffy

Here’s a summary of the biggest changes:

• I removed as many “abstract” elements that I could. These are elements that are generally not clear to players where they could be found. This includes Carbon, Membrane, Rutile, Zinc, Calcite, Dolomite, Flint, Emery and Calcium, among others.
  
• Loot elements are now put in the world primarily in one and only one place (“coral walls in safe shallows”) to make it clear to players where they must go if they want something. This also means that old areas won’t become obsolete as the player plunges downward. Precious minerals are always found “inside” something else: limestone chunks, sandstone chunks, shale chunks, etc. Anything that’s a chunk can be broken open to find a random mineral inside. Along the same lines, larger lodes of ore will be found inside the terrain in the future.
  
• I removed as many of the intermediate elements as possible. For instance, instead of making “battery acid”, you can use acid mushrooms directly to make batteries.
  
• Each piece of scrap metal can now be refined down into 2 1×1 pieces of titanium. This keeps the inventory/time cost of scrap, but lays the groundwork for “condensing” of materials. 10 1×1 pieces of Titanium can be further crafted into a Titanium ingot, which allows the loot to scale, to allow building of very big things.
  
• I added many more “advanced” intermediate loot ingredients to keep the progression unfolding but also to open up new branches. Wiring kits and computer chips are examples of opening new groups of tech.
  
• Whenever possible, I incorporated more creature loot into the tree. You can make enameled glass from Stalker teeth, Flares from “crash meal” (ewww?), etc. This is an ongoing goal, and a tricky one, but keeping the elements as specific as possible is helping.

The full tech tree and details can be found here. This is a live tech tree that I will keep updating for awhile at least).

I hope this explains some of the reasoning that went into some of the sweeping changes! Please let me know what you think here or via Twitter.

Editors note: This new system will be released to the normal, stable branch in the next major update. We're not sure when that will be just yet, sign up to the dev update mailing list to be notified when it is live.

A giant drive-able submarine featuring a submersible launch bay, dive chamber, and more is now available in Subnautica. Play with it now by purchasing Subnautica on Steam. The Cyclops is over 50 meters long, has multiple decks, and enables you to explore the ocean further and deeper than ever before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgAh5FTcF-E

Build a Cyclops submarine using the Constructor. Craft a Constructor at the Fabricator on your Lifepod, and then feed the required resources into the Constructor. The Cyclops will form above the water surface, before crashing down ready for you to board.



The Cyclops has two decks. The lower deck houses the dive chamber, a modular storage compartment, a Seamoth submersible docking bay and a companionway in the stern that leads to the engine room on the main deck. The main deck includes the bridge with helm station, a large compartment ready for the installation of modules, the entry hatch for docked Seamoth submersibles, and the engine room with main engine and propshaft.



Inside the Cyclops you will find quite a bit of space that is not currently used. This is deliberate, and allows you to customize the submarine with your own desired fit-out of modular components. At the moment, the only module available is the Fabricator. As Subnautica Early Access progresses, more modules will become available.



Despite all that, there is so much fun to be had with this massive underwater machine. Below a depth of 100 meters, collisions may cause hull breaches, causing the submarine to flood and forcing you to repair damage using a Welder. This race against time, with sirens blaring and warning lights flashing, can be seriously intense.



Deep and remote areas are much more accessible with the help of a Cyclops submarine. It currently features an infinite oxygen supply, allowing you to use it as a home base for crafting and repair during adventures in caves, canyons and plateaus far from the Lifepod fabricator and oxygen from the ocean surface.



If you purchased Subnautica Special Edition, you may now place your Special Edition hull plate, complete with unique hull number and date of purchase. If you encounter issues with your Special Edition hull plate, please post them in this thread and Hugh and Lukas will help you out.



Of all the features so far added to Subnautica Early Access, the Cyclops is probably the most exciting and complex. It is brimming with gameplay potential and is open to all sorts of expansion as Subnautica develops. We hope you have a blast playing with it as it is developed! Sign up to the development mailing list to receive word on updates, get a copy of Subnautica on Steam, and check up on development team progress by visiting the Subnautica Trello board.

A giant drive-able submarine featuring a submersible launch bay, dive chamber, and more is now available in Subnautica. Play with it now by purchasing Subnautica on Steam. The Cyclops is over 50 meters long, has multiple decks, and enables you to explore the ocean further and deeper than ever before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgAh5FTcF-E

Build a Cyclops submarine using the Constructor. Craft a Constructor at the Fabricator on your Lifepod, and then feed the required resources into the Constructor. The Cyclops will form above the water surface, before crashing down ready for you to board.



The Cyclops has two decks. The lower deck houses the dive chamber, a modular storage compartment, a Seamoth submersible docking bay and a companionway in the stern that leads to the engine room on the main deck. The main deck includes the bridge with helm station, a large compartment ready for the installation of modules, the entry hatch for docked Seamoth submersibles, and the engine room with main engine and propshaft.



Inside the Cyclops you will find quite a bit of space that is not currently used. This is deliberate, and allows you to customize the submarine with your own desired fit-out of modular components. At the moment, the only module available is the Fabricator. As Subnautica Early Access progresses, more modules will become available.



Despite all that, there is so much fun to be had with this massive underwater machine. Below a depth of 100 meters, collisions may cause hull breaches, causing the submarine to flood and forcing you to repair damage using a Welder. This race against time, with sirens blaring and warning lights flashing, can be seriously intense.



Deep and remote areas are much more accessible with the help of a Cyclops submarine. It currently features an infinite oxygen supply, allowing you to use it as a home base for crafting and repair during adventures in caves, canyons and plateaus far from the Lifepod fabricator and oxygen from the ocean surface.



If you purchased Subnautica Special Edition, you may now place your Special Edition hull plate, complete with unique hull number and date of purchase. If you encounter issues with your Special Edition hull plate, please post them in this thread and Hugh and Lukas will help you out.



Of all the features so far added to Subnautica Early Access, the Cyclops is probably the most exciting and complex. It is brimming with gameplay potential and is open to all sorts of expansion as Subnautica develops. We hope you have a blast playing with it as it is developed! Sign up to the development mailing list to receive word on updates, get a copy of Subnautica on Steam, and check up on development team progress by visiting the Subnautica Trello board.