# Subnautica **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [January 22, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227 "2018-01-22T17:29:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/241 "2019-03-11T15:43:57Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > Well, I for one hate ‘timers’ in games too. Basically anything that involves ‘omg you have to sleep/eat/drink/breathe in this amount of time or you die’. So you can do [what I did](https://www.cheats.co/playstation-4/subnautica) regarding oxygen and it makes the game MUCH more enjoyable. I may get some flack for admitting that but you know what? I was able to still really enjoy the game. It was still challenging and the story was engaging and I have no regrets! Whatever works, I don’t judge. I’m still not sure this would work for DKW, though, because the game definitely has stress in it from monsters and from the difficulty of finding certain items/locations. Maybe also use the “invincibility” cheat and also use a Wiki to find locations? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/242 "2019-03-11T18:59:53Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > But if you’re really opposed to stress, I recommend Stardew Valley. _Stardew_ stressed me out more than _Subnautica_ ever did. Time management is my kryptonite. 😛 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/243 "2019-03-11T19:23:57Z")
I’m down with the oxygen limitations, after all it is a game played in the water. But if I went back to do it all again, I’d probably skip using food and water. It’s not that I’ve ever come close to dying of dehydration or hunger…well, there was ONE time when I got distracted and all of a sudden I’M STARVING! Fortunately I was close to my secondary base. Swim swim swim! Get in! Go to the cabinet where the food and water are stored! AAAGGGH, YOU TOOK THE CURED FISH TO YOUR OTHER BASE OR LEFT IT IN THE CYCLOPS WHICH IS SOMEWHERE OR SOMETHING AHHHH!! That resulted in a frantic dive swinging my knife at anything that moved. I didn’t die, but that was a little stressful. The reason I would skip the food and water, though, is mostly BECAUSE it’s never been something that kills me. All it is is a time suck. I’m set right now, I have gardens, water filtration, and a shit-ton of salt and coral. I will never be hungry or thirsty again, but God, thinking about all the time I have in this game and how much of it was taken up by finding things to eat or drink…just to satisfy a game mechanic. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/244 "2019-03-11T21:47:35Z")
But how quickly would the game be over if not only did you not have to worry about that, you also didn’t have to sink time and prep into making feeding yourself a nonissue? ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/245 "2019-03-11T22:13:20Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > But how quickly would the game be over if not only did you not have to worry about that, you also didn’t have to sink time and prep into making feeding yourself a nonissue? I dunno, I got hours out of my game. At least 10-20 if not more. You still gotta find where things are, collect and build the necessary items, progress the story, etc. But you can do it at your own pace without constantly worrying about timers. Honestly, I blame the original Sonic games for my intense aversion to anything ‘timer’ related. Fucking underwater zones. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/246 "2019-03-11T22:43:06Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > It’s not that I’ve ever come close to dying of dehydration or hunger…well, there was ONE time when I got distracted and all of a sudden I’M STARVING! Fortunately I was close to my secondary base. Swim swim swim! Get in! Go to the cabinet where the food and water are stored! AAAGGGH, YOU TOOK THE CURED FISH TO YOUR OTHER BASE OR LEFT IT IN THE CYCLOPS WHICH IS SOMEWHERE OR SOMETHING AHHHH!! That resulted in a frantic dive swinging my knife at anything that moved. I didn’t die, but that was a little stressful. This was the reason for my ironclad emergency supply policy. I kept rations and medkits _everywhere_. Each vehicle and my own inventory had a certain amount of space reserved for this purpose, and the emergency supplies were never, ever used in a non-emergency scenario. Since I only encountered such emergencies once or twice, those inventory slots were arguably wasted–but I never had a moment of panic like you described. I’m not saying you’re wrong to want to play without those game elements; everyone likes and dislikes different aspects of games. I like planning “expeditions” in survival games–weighing what I will need, what I can expect to find along the way, and what I want to bring back. Whether that means planning for food and water in _Subnautica_ or packing doors and torches in _Minecraft_, it’s part of the fun for me. If that doesn’t appeal to you, and you just want to enjoy the story and environment in _Subnautica_, there’s nothing wrong with using the console to turn off the “survival” stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/247 "2019-03-12T14:20:18Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I dunno, I got hours out of my game. At least 10-20 if not more. You still gotta find where things are, collect and build the necessary items, progress the story, etc. But you can do it at your own pace without constantly worrying about timers. Honestly, I blame the original Sonic games for my intense aversion to anything ‘timer’ related. Fucking underwater zones. There ya go. I took about 50 hours to get through the game, and by the end I was rushing – if I kept doing what I had been doing and building additional bases down in the caves, I would have easily been playing for 70 or 80 hours. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/248 "2019-03-15T08:30:28Z")
Balance - Ugh. I really incredibly super-duper **loathe** this type of YouTube personality. I am absolutely going to have to play both series on mute (and yes, I realize that I’m probably going to miss some important audio cues), and there’s a fairly good chance… around 99.9996%, conservative estimate… that their faces are quickly going to become completely intolerable and I’ll have to scroll them off the screen as well. All in all, I definitely do not have high expectations for these videos. Still, it’s not like I have anything better, so what the heck, this weekend I’ll squeeze in what I can between Forza videos. (Seriously, cannot recommend [Super GT](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-sJ8u8eu_ivfzekwkue38g) enough; _he_ is a maestro!) Thanks a lot. You have a good heart and sound sincere in trying to sell this. Could’ve used players like you when I was first getting into Beatmania IIDX. AngelSoft- Cheat codes?? They’re still a thing? :eek: I honestly thought that the push toward more hardcore, more merciless, more brutal (and even more so now that mobile devices have swallowed so much of the non-hardcore and brutal market) would’ve been the death knell for these. We’re now on the second console generation with no Codebreaker or anything like it. Hot damn. This…well, it’s definitely worth checking out. Can’t thank you enough! Left Hand of Dorkness - Okay, here’s how it works. I can handle a challenging stumbling block provided that it’s neither too frequent nor too challenging. I can handle a task that looks impossible at first glance if there’s a specific method for besting it that requires careful observation and/or thinking it through. I can handle a task that start out really hard but eases up if I fail too many times, fine. I can handle a task that’s punishing but can be bested with persistence. And I can handle a super-difficult mission if it’s completely optional and not part of the main game. If I had to pick one game which encapsulated all these, it’d be Assassin’s Creed 4. Anything harder than that, I start objecting. That said, what’s wrong with wanting something stress- and death-free? I thought the PS4 was heading in that direction with games like Brothers and Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture (Yahtzee was absolutely _apoplectic_ about these, BTW, so they _had_ to be a thing, right?) No offense taken. I already deleted it once, so I’m perfectly willing to accept the fact that this isn’t for me at all. I definitely hope not, though. Babale - Listen, buddy, you’re talking to the guy who played all the way through Ducklife 4 _at least_ three times, spent hours playing with that fidget spinner app, and legit honest-to-god counts Final Fight 2, The Tick, and freaking WWF Super Wrestlemania among his favorite SNES games. Suffice to say that boredom is _not_ an issue for me. ---
**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:** [March 15, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/249 "2019-03-15T13:53:43Z")
Man, we sure do all experience things differently. I only remember two stressful moments in my first Subnautica playthrough - exploring around the aft end of the Aurora and meeting a Reaper for the first time, and my initial foray into the lava zone trying to score enough kyanite to build the final depth upgrades while worrying about running out of power to lava leeches and worrying about exceeding my depth limit (didn’t realize I actually couldn’t do that where I was) with Sea Dragon fireballs and lava lizards constantly going off. Everyone talks about jump scares and Subnautica being a horror game in disguise and I just have no clue what they’re talking about. Hardcore mode is a little annoying, because it’s easy to get turned around in some wrecks and run out of air, but the normal difficulty seems ludicrously easy to me (mad fun, though). But then I guess I’m the guy who’s playing The Long Dark on Interloper at the moment because my custom difficulty setup that was supposed to be between Stalker and Interloper had gotten boring 200 days in. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/250 "2019-03-15T14:34:10Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > Balance - Ugh. I really incredibly super-duper **loathe** this type of YouTube personality. I suggested those two because one was literally dealing with a phobia related to the game–and hence, showing as much stress as anyone playing it is ever likely to–and the other is one of the game’s biggest boosters. It’s as broad a contrast as I could find among YouTubers with completed game playlists. Most videos tend to be either hyped-up clips about how scary predators are or “This Old Aquatic Base” episodes about people’s creative-mode builds. There aren’t many videos showing safe, methodical ways of exploring the deeps or running a checklist before an expedition, because those would be boring content. There are some “first day survival guides” (which you’re better off getting in text) and some “top 10 tips” (which trigger my “Top N Anything” clickbait allergy), if you want to look for them. However, here’s one about avoiding a reaper in a Seamoth with no voice or facecam (just subtitles and kind of annoying music): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF-MpWBffeY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF-MpWBffeY) I pulled it up with a quick search on {subnautica avoid reaper}. > [@](#): > > I can handle a task that start out really hard but eases up if I fail too many times, fine. So…I shouldn’t suggest _Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy_ as a followup? 😉 ---
**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:** [March 15, 2019, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/251 "2019-03-15T14:40:20Z")
If you want a really good, low key youtube walkthrough, without the guys face on the screen too, try this one: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/xV-jGiHn8ws/maxresdefault.jpg "Subnautica v1.0 Tutorial Playthrough: Day 1 Basic Tools, Food, Water, PDA") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV-jGiHn8ws) He’s got a calm voice, almost Bob Ross like. Explains things very well along the way too. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/252 "2019-03-15T15:34:58Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > …I realize that I’m probably going to miss some important audio cues… Oh, on audio cues–I don’t think the videos mention it, but one of the most useful audio cues in the game is the reaper’s roar. The scan entry for the reaper says it’s like sonar, and “if you can hear it, it can see you”, but that’s an exaggeration. The range of the roar is slightly larger than the reaper’s aggro range, so you can just stop when you hear it faintly and look around. If it’s loud, back off until you can’t hear it. When you’re at a safe distance, look for the reaper, and observe its movements to figure out a safe path through or around its territory. So, _Subnautica_ Safety Tip of the Day: Don’t hear the reaper. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/253 "2019-03-16T04:13:48Z")
900M down. Swimming. Should go back to Seamoth. UUuuup…there’s a very large thing “playing” with Seamoth. Should get back in Seamoth and get back…to…damn. No more Seamoth. Well. Guess I have about 3 minutes left. Awful pretty down here. S’pose I’ll swim around for a bit. 30 seconds… Oxygen… ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/254 "2019-03-16T07:11:29Z")
My basic avoidance strategy for just about all “Big Things That Want To Hurt Me”: Am I in the safe shallows? If yes, I’m fine. If no: Am I in my Cyclops? If yes, I’m probably fine. If no: Do I feel safe? If yes, I’m screwed. If no, I’m screwed. Every BTTWTHM patrols a fairly small area and is either easy to see from far away or not actually that dangerous. AFAIK, the only two BTTWTHM that you HAVE to go near are One of the ghost leviathans in the Lost River and the Sea Dragon by the power plant. Everything else can be given a large berth, and even those will be perfectly fine if you pay attention and don’t rush into everything. I really need to finish that base in the middle of the Dunes. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/255 "2019-03-16T15:26:43Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > 9UUuuup…there’s a very large thing “playing” with Seamoth. Why didn’t you chase it off with your knife? 😃 That seems odd, though–I’ve never seen any of the big stuff mess with an unoccupied Seamoth, though stalkers may bump and bite at it. On the other hand, I never, ever go far from whichever vehicle I’m using, so maybe it’s just that they ignore it in favor of the moving, squishy target nearby. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/256 "2019-03-16T15:56:06Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Why didn’t you chase it off with your knife? 😃 > > That seems odd, though–I’ve never seen any of the big stuff mess with an unoccupied Seamoth, though stalkers may bump and bite at it. On the other hand, I never, ever go far from whichever vehicle I’m using, so maybe it’s just that they ignore it in favor of the moving, squishy target nearby. It was one of those big translucent wormy bastards in the caverns. I did park the stupid thing at about 895M, so I wonder if part of what happened was the thing bumped it below 900 and it just imploded. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/257 "2019-03-16T17:30:10Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > It was one of those big translucent wormy bastards in the caverns. I killed those. They were obstructing my view of the river, and I’ve been to the void, so I know damn well that they’re not endangered. 😃 > [@](#): > > I did park the stupid thing at about 895M, so I wonder if part of what happened was the thing bumped it below 900 and it just imploded. That’s possible. They squirm around a lot, and can knock the Seamoth about even if they’re not attacking it. I usually try to park _on_ something, if I’m near a depth limit (if only to keep myself from forgetting that I shouldn’t go deeper in it). Random Subnautica safety tip: Don’t exit your Seamoth while moving at full speed. It doesn’t stop instantly, and it’s embarrassing to get run over by your own sub. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/258 "2019-03-16T22:58:13Z")
I have a 6 year old laptop. Will it likely run this or is this a game that requires a good graphics card? Mine is just an Intel chipset thingy. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/259 "2019-03-17T00:32:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I have a 6 year old laptop. Will it likely run this or is this a game that requires a good graphics card? Mine is just an Intel chipset thingy. The pre-release was the only serious game that _would_ run on my old laptop, which was built to be a gaming machine, but which had developed a severe graphics card issue. (Every game but _Subnautica_ made it try to eject its graphics card. Yes, eject. Then BSOD a few minutes later.) The full release actually has better performance, but also triggers the laptop’s 3D allergy. So…probably? Without detailed specs, I can’t say for sure, but it’ll probably run. It may not be as pretty as it would be on a high-end machine, but it’s a very pretty game, regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227/260 "2019-03-17T16:42:47Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Why didn’t you chase it off with your knife? 😃 > > That seems odd, though–I’ve never seen any of the big stuff mess with an unoccupied Seamoth, though stalkers may bump and bite at it. On the other hand, I never, ever go far from whichever vehicle I’m using, so maybe it’s just that they ignore it in favor of the moving, squishy target nearby. Early on, when I was exploring the wreck, I parked my Seamoth on the edge of the Leviathan’s territory. When I returned, my Seamoth was gone. I think the Leviathan ate it, although I have no proof. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subnautica/807227.md?page=14)