# Subnautica - thoughts while playing (spoilers while playing) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [April 17, 2020, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024 "2020-04-17T23:15:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/141 "2020-05-11T02:09:48Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I guess that I had not been in the cave near pod 17. I went down there and found some base parts the jelly mushrooms but nothing to move the story along. Did I miss something there or is there another place to check out? I think you missed something, unless “some base parts” is a significant understatement. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/142 "2020-05-11T11:24:28Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Sigh, we can not seem to find a couple enzyme ingredients. We’ll keep looking, but we must be dense. If we can not find them soon, we may resort back to cheating. I pray there is a console command to add them. I’d hate to not make it at this point. We feel pretty proud of how far we’ve come after such struggles. We want to: > > - hatch those babies > - cure ourselves > - turn the &^\*^&^ing gun off > - get out of here!!! Increasingly spoilery hints: [spoiler]None of the ingredients are far from the primary containment facility [spoiler]The alien gates from the facility lead you to biomes of interest to the alien researchers The Sea Emperor’s aquarium is a pretty unique biome all by itself… [/spoiler][/spoiler] I do wish the game would have given better hints on how to find these, you could go crazy and spend hours fruitlessly combing the sea floor otherwise. Either clues from the alien researchers, or some kind of hint from Leviathan Mama about her favorite places to play and lay eggs… Nothing too direct, just something in line with the other clues the game gives. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/143 "2020-05-11T12:52:10Z")
Question, spoilered for those who’ve finished the game. It’s not a plot spoiler at all, in case current players are curious: [spoiler]What do you think of time capsules? Did you ever encounter one? My first play through I think I found three - one was full of ion power cells and kyanite, which were way too powerful for me, since I was nowhere near requiring them yet. I stuffed them in a locker and forgot about them. I think another had a bunch of vehicle upgrade modules, but by then I had them all already. But that would have been a serious game breaker for someone early in the game - if you have the maximum depth module as soon as you get a vehicle, exploring becomes way too easy. I think the third was just full of random stuff. I’m almost done my second playthrough, and I’m thinking of filling mine with alien feces and crashfish eggs.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/144 "2020-05-11T14:12:10Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Question, spoilered for those who’ve finished the game. It’s not a plot spoiler at all, in case current players are curious: I wasn’t a fan of the time capsules at all. Stumbling across a cache of end-game materials sitting out in the open when I was still working my way through the early/mid game just robbed me of the accomplishment of discovering them myself. No, I don’t want to see pictures of your cyclops or multi-story base when I’m just setting out in a seamoth, all it does is spoil the end of the game and break the illusion that I’m a lone explorer. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/145 "2020-05-11T14:12:50Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > I think you missed something, unless “some base parts” is a significant understatement. If there is something in these caves I am supposed to find please just tell me what I am looking for because I don’t see anything noteworthy so far. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/146 "2020-05-11T14:32:34Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > If there is something in these caves I am supposed to find please just tell me what I am looking for because I don’t see anything noteworthy so far. There should be something that gives you a waypoint that leads you deeper and further along in the plot. Here’s exactly what you should look for, if you haven’t found it already: It sounds like you found the abandoned base in the Jellyshroom Caves, there should have been several PDAs with voice logs in and around it. One of those PDAs should give you a waypoint for somewhere even deeper that will further advance the plot. It’s possible that the game doesn’t give you the coordinates until you read or listen to the log from your your own PDA, rather than when you pick up the log. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/147 "2020-05-11T14:34:05Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > If there is something in these caves I am supposed to find please just tell me what I am looking for because I don’t see anything noteworthy so far. Big early story spoilers. [spoiler]Have you been to the Jellyshroom caves? Lots of magnetite there. If you haven’t: On the island where you were supposed to meet the other Aurora survivors. there were 3 ruined habitats, where you could scan a bunch of construction stuff - multipurpose room, chairs, desks, etc. There were also several PDAs, in & around the 3 habitats, where you get the history of the Degrasi survivors from a decade-old crash. In one of them, they talked about moving their habitat underwater. When you find that PDA, you get a beacon marker called “proposed Degasi habitat 250 meters”. It’s in the jellyshroom caves, which are pretty much directly under your initial life pod location. There are 3 or more entrances, all relatively close to your initial lifepod, the closest is like 100 m away. Look for deep holes with pinkish purple mushrooms in them, and keep going down.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/148 "2020-05-11T14:47:48Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > There should be something that gives you a waypoint that leads you deeper and further along in the plot. Here’s exactly what you should look for, if you haven’t found it already: I don’t think he did find the abandoned base. I think he found the couple bits of base parts that are on the other side of the cave. They are, indeed, nothing noteworthy, but it would be rather odd to describe the abandoned base itself that way. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/149 "2020-05-11T15:09:08Z")
Ok. I finally found the base. I had not seen it before but there are a couple other things down there that were base pieces. However, I now have somewhere to go for the next part of the story… ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/150 "2020-05-12T04:39:37Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > It’s a pretty wide variety of all materials. It’s maybe 2-3 times more challenging material-wise than a Cyclops. Nothing overly difficult, except that there are a couple component blueprints you have to have found. One of those blueprints you almost certainly found in one of the alien bases, and the other is the Cyclops shield generator LHoD referenced which you might not have if you missed finding and searching one of the two wrecks it’s found in. To piggyback on this: the shield generator is also found in the small bases left by your predecessors, where you end up especially deep. The other recipe is behind the only door that uses an orange key. The rocket is designed to be built in stages, with the earlier stages requiring easily-obtained materials, and the latter ones being more difficult to acquire. There is nothing new to it, though. As for the enzyme - four of the required flora can be found behind the portals in the research facility. The last one might be right under your nose. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > Question, spoilered for those who’ve finished the game. It’s not a plot spoiler at all, in case current players are curious: > > [spoiler]What do you think of time capsules? Did you ever encounter one? My first play through I think I found three - one was full of ion power cells and kyanite, which were way too powerful for me, since I was nowhere near requiring them yet. I stuffed them in a locker and forgot about them. I think another had a bunch of vehicle upgrade modules, but by then I had them all already. But that would have been a serious game breaker for someone early in the game - if you have the maximum depth module as soon as you get a vehicle, exploring becomes way too easy. I think the third was just full of random stuff. > > I’m almost done my second playthrough, and I’m thinking of filling mine with alien feces and crashfish eggs.[/spoiler] I think I’ve only found two time capsules in all of my playthroughs, and neither was very memorable. I usually fill mine with posters and fruit, with whatever pithy “You got this!” bullshit I could come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/151 "2020-05-12T23:25:03Z")
Is there a ‘best practice’ for dealing with Crabsquids? And I have to say I love the cuddlefish. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/152 "2020-05-12T23:27:36Z")
OK, we hatched the eggs, followed them through the portal(which is conveniently by the gun ship). It was deeply satisfying to: - self-scan and come back clean - turn off the gun successfully Now it is just build the rocket and…GET. THE. &%($. OFF. THIS. PLANET. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/153 "2020-05-15T13:27:56Z")
I’m a little frustrated at this point. I know that I now need the cyclops to proceed any further. I have the engine plans but I am only 1/3 for both the bridge and hull. I don’t know where to look anymore… ---
**Author:** ![BeagleJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5daacb/32.png) [@BeagleJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeagleJesus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/154 "2020-05-15T14:23:25Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > I’m a little frustrated at this point. I know that I now need the cyclops to proceed any further. I have the engine plans but I am only 1/3 for both the bridge and hull. I don’t know where to look anymore… I found most of my scans scattered around the crashed ship…like so close that you could see the ships hull while making the scan. That being said, they were pretty deep (for that area) and I got jumped by that damn fish that looks like the predator a few times before I finally got em all. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/155 "2020-05-15T14:24:25Z")
Look around the NW mushroom forest. NOT the one next to the Aurora, but the bigger one to the west of that. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/156 "2020-05-15T15:38:23Z")
Thank you for the suggestions. Just curious, do the things I am looking for turn up on the scanner as wreckage? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/157 "2020-05-15T22:12:22Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Thank you for the suggestions. Just curious, do the things I am looking for turn up on the scanner as wreckage? No. Well. Kinda? The most common fragments of the bridge and hull that you can find are strewn randomly about the Mushroom Forest biomes (you get a message when you first enter saying that scanning detects faint Alterra vehicle signatures). There’s one just north of the Aurora, and another NW of the Safe Shallows. The latter is home to the giant mushroom tree as well as Lifepod 13 (Jochi Khasar). Bridge and hull fragments are found in both. They can also be found, less randomly, in a couple of the large wrecks, but not ones that would likely be in range of your base if it’s anywhere near the starting position. I only know this from watching speedrunners, and I’m not sure which wrecks they are. I always find my Cyclops bits in the Mushroom Forest. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/158 "2020-05-15T22:55:49Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Is there a ‘best practice’ for dealing with Crabsquids I used to just freeze them with the stasis rifle, then kill them with the knife. Purists who say the game’s not really designed to have you killing things can stuff it–it’s you or them! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/159 "2020-05-15T23:07:02Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I used to just freeze them with the stasis rifle, then kill them with the knife. Purists who say the game’s not really designed to have you killing things can stuff it–it’s you or them! I hatched an egg and it turned out to be a crabsquid. The thing creeped the hell out of me and I put in the bio-reactor. Now, I want another egg to grow. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024/160 "2020-05-16T00:09:41Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Thank you for the suggestions. Just curious, do the things I am looking for turn up on the scanner as wreckage? It’s been a while since I played the game, but I could have sworn the scanner room can specifically scan for blueprint fragments. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica-thoughts-while-playing-spoilers-while-playing/852024.md?page=9)