I wanted to know if there are any plans to adding submarines to the game? Currently no vehicle will really go or stay underwater. Which is sad because there is a lot to see and collect down there. Seems that we should try to do that. I developed an HV that can help do the job. I call it the Skimmer https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1606088345 It works but I wanted something that could truly do the job of a sub. I would also like to build a base underwater without it flooded. Thanks.
I would speculate the main reason we don't have submersibles also relates to why we don't have underwater bases. I think it has to do with the inability of the game design to properly manage water clipping into airtight spaces for both vehicles and bases. Bases may have the added problem of water not flowing into excavated terrain. So basically, to mask the problem, you just are not allowed to submerge a craft or build underwater.
Subnautica is a Unity-based game that is all about the underwater experience - and it even does have a couple of patches of dry land above the water as well. It can even flood or drain bases built under water, so it's certainly not a limitation of the engine. I would wager this is something that COULD be done, but it would likely have to be the focus for an entire update cycle to begin to address, and probably several others after to do justice to - which will, of course, include the introduction of a whole new set of bugs, and honestly, we've enough of those to work through right now without introducing new ones to the mix.
I never said it was a limitation of the engine. I said it was the "inability of the game design". In other words, the devs took a path in their game design that does not easily account for submersibles due to the lack of water clipping and flow. There could be issues where tradeoffs had to be made. ...and so there are certain things you can do in Empyrion that you can't come close to in Subnautica. If the scope of the play area were similar size, and no Lego building of ships, maybe Empyrion could be more like Subnautica?
Nor did I say you did say this was an engine limitation - I merely through that out there so that no one else might chime in with it - not to mention as a means of demonstrating that is certainly CAN be done well. This is very much part of a design decision, and that's fine in and of itself. I can think of very few games that really give attention to all of the possible playfield areas and even fewer than actually do it even well. No Man's Sky is probably the closest - from the depths of space to to bottom of the sea, interiors, exteriors, with custom building options, and all of that. But NMS has also been a perpetual work-in-progress since it's launch day, and the updates it continues to receive are nothing short of monumental in scope. But does it do everything as absolutely well as it possibly could? I would honestly say "No, not yet." Given another 10 years, it really does have the potential to really handle each realm of play much better. Likewise, so does Empyrion, if these become avenues the team behind it decides to follow.
I had a thought about this. https://empyriononline.com/threads/i-cant-hear-you-water-im-going-through-a-pressurized-room.99968/ Basically, if you're in a pressurized room on a ship or base, have it block all the effects that normally happen from being in water. If you can't see it and you're moving and breathing normally, it doesn't matter if the water is still technically there. I strongly suspect this is how Subnautica does it. Just look at what happens when you go through a hatch into a vehicle or base. It's a start, at least. Maybe.
Pressurization doesn't work that way, and water is one of the best conductors of sound. If you've ever seen a submarine running silent, you don't even speak aboard above a whisper, because another sub can and will find you. The vacuum of space would prevent transmission of sound, but an underwater structure or vehicle would not.
In earlier game versions - much earlier - SV's could fly under water without too much of an issue. They were slower, IIRC, but that was it. I used to actually build underwater bases back then, which was quite fun. Of course, there was no way to displace the water, other than placing a block and removing it, which was a bit of a fudge but we could construct believable under water bases that way. I proposed a while back that, now we have the potential of deep oceans with interesting wrecks and other POI's on the sea floor, it was time to give us some sort of vessel that'll allow under water travel. Indeed, quite some time back, Eleon did strongly hint at plans for more under water activities, though it's not surfaced yet Eleon did a lot of work not so long ago to make water appear a little more physical. I think it's mostly a visual thing, but I do wonder if it's a step closer to better water physics - i.e. water than can be displaces (pressurised under water base) and doesn't just clip through a cockpit causing suffocation without a helmet. It would be a huge leap for the game to have improved water like this.
Well, with the recent experimental updates there is Fish and all, so we can hope but not assume there's gonna be more than just fish... after all what use are just fish? other than food and perhaps dried and ground dust as fertilizer... the latter could be done with those currently useless Dinosaur ribcages... and why can't we grow plants outside on a suitable world without the need of a special container and light, which itself needs a power source and a core ?... the ricepaddy, now, they go well with water! ok I know, but I can't help it!
What use are fish indeed... no enzymes could possibly be extracted from them for the production of medicines. No oils could be pressed from them for use as industrial lubricants. And we certainly couldn't put frikin' lasers on their frikin' heads, could we?
I'd really love to see randomly placed underwater treasure like loot boxes, those rare black or red containers. Imagine that. Underwater treasure hunt.
I rather have the feeling that the game is going in a different direction. It would be enough for me, if I could see the animation of the blocks when building underwater again. I've already built bases under water and achieved great results with the "fill-in-the-soil-and-take-away-trick". At the moment you can't build anymore under water, because I can't see what I'm putting where. F... the fish.
I haven't tried that again. That will probably still work. But I want to be able to BUILDING under water myself again. To me, the point of the game isn't to throw some huge building mass onto the surface out of nowhere. I want to build and develop them myself. It can't be the point to always find new detours to avoid the shortcomings of the game. Why was the ability to visually animate blocks underwater removed? So that it makes nice waves on the surface? I don't know and I don't like it. I just hope Eleon thought of something.
