From UWE developer Klegran, on the Subnautica Reddit
Hey Ya'll!
Since the release of Silent Running we've been getting a ton of feedback on what players like and don't like about the state of the Cyclops. We are attempting to address these issues with another feature patch to the Cyclops. Here is the overall goal of the changes, followed by the changes themselves:
Players liked the concept of Silent Running (SR), but felt that in order to get the most out of it they had to keep the sub perpetually in silent running when near enemies. It essentially became a "get out of jail free card" by slotting into SR to remove agro from all enemies and then crawling past them at a snail's pace. This was not the intent of the feature; instead it was supposed to be used very seldomly to sneak past enemies. To address this, we are replacing the Silent Running speed setting with a SR ability that runs for 30 seconds followed by a 2 min cooldown. During Silent Running, no noise is created, but any of the sub's now 3 speeds can be used so no movement penalty is incurred.
This fixed the issue with Silent Running, but left us with the problem of the sub now always making noise. To fix this, we've added the ability to turn off the Cyclops' engine. When the engine is off, the sub cannot move and creates no noise whatsoever, but works as normal in every other sense (fabricators, lights, lockers can be used as expected). Powering back up the engine takes a small bit of time, so one must consider if they want to leave their sub idling for a quick getaway, or turn off the engine and potentially be stuck in a bad situation.
Flank Speed was intended to be an emergency speed only, not the speed players default their Cyclops to at all times when not in danger. To address this, we made the current flank speed the new standard speed. Flank is now even faster than before, but can create fires. The longer it is used the higher the chance it will overheat the engine and create a fire. This should provide some exciting moments using flank speed to escape danger, without sacrificing the boost of speed you have all come to expect.
Slow speed is intended to be used to navigate tight areas and will also produce far less noise than the other two speeds.
A large change has also been made to how creatures attack the Cyclops as well. Noise is now directly related to the range of agro the Cyclops gives off. Creatures inside the 'radius of noise' produced by the Cyclops will attack it. Those outside it will not. To help understand this concept we added a sphere on the sonar representing the noise range being given off. All creatures shown on the sonar will be yellow if they are not attacking, and will change to red when they are within agro range and may attack. This should help the player much more easily understand the relationship between noise and creature attacks.
Here's a direct list of features added:
Silent running is an ability, the icon is moved to the right hand side. Entering it will enter a state where no noise is generated for the limited amount of time, no matter how fast the player is driving. It runs for 30 seconds, with a 2 min cooldown. While active, all external and internal lights will be shut down for the duration of the ability but no other penalty will be incurred.
In the place of where the silent running button used to be, we now have a turn off engine button. Turning off the engine will reduce Cyclops noise to zero. The Cyclops can be used as normal while in this mode, but cannot move. Once powered down, the speed buttons will be replaced with a power up engine button. Pushing the power up button will start the engine, which will take a few seconds before it is again active and can be used. Leaving the Cyclops will automatically power it down.
Flank speed causes overheating and can creates fires. 20 seconds of use will overheat the engine. Once overheated, dice is rolled every 2 seconds to determine if a fire is created. The longer the player stays in flank speed the greater the chance of a fire per die roll. Heat is implemented as a hidden value that ramps up from 0 to 1 when applying throttle in flank speed. When not applying throttle, heat goes down and die rolls stop; no fires can be created if the player is not actively applying throttle. This is also the case if the player switches out of flank speed. Oral warnings have been added to communicate this concept.
Added a noise range indicator on creature sonar. The 'size' of the noise indicator directly correlates to the noise value of the Cyclops. Creatures within the range indicator get more aggressive over time, creatures outside of it get less aggressive. The aggression value is visually communicated through changing the creature's sonar blip color.
Shields repulse creatures and cause them to flee when they attack it so it is more powerful than before (almost identical to the Seamoth Perimeter Defense System now).
Energy values have been retooled so the Cyclops can't break the first law of thermodynamics and charge batteries faster than it uses them. To combat this nerf, energy useage overall has been scaled back so the Cyclops can now drive for twice as long on the same amount of power as before.
These changes will be hitting Experimental within the next day or so. Feedback always appreciated.![:)]( ":)")
Hey Ya'll!
Since the release of Silent Running we've been getting a ton of feedback on what players like and don't like about the state of the Cyclops. We are attempting to address these issues with another feature patch to the Cyclops. Here is the overall goal of the changes, followed by the changes themselves:
Players liked the concept of Silent Running (SR), but felt that in order to get the most out of it they had to keep the sub perpetually in silent running when near enemies. It essentially became a "get out of jail free card" by slotting into SR to remove agro from all enemies and then crawling past them at a snail's pace. This was not the intent of the feature; instead it was supposed to be used very seldomly to sneak past enemies. To address this, we are replacing the Silent Running speed setting with a SR ability that runs for 30 seconds followed by a 2 min cooldown. During Silent Running, no noise is created, but any of the sub's now 3 speeds can be used so no movement penalty is incurred.
This fixed the issue with Silent Running, but left us with the problem of the sub now always making noise. To fix this, we've added the ability to turn off the Cyclops' engine. When the engine is off, the sub cannot move and creates no noise whatsoever, but works as normal in every other sense (fabricators, lights, lockers can be used as expected). Powering back up the engine takes a small bit of time, so one must consider if they want to leave their sub idling for a quick getaway, or turn off the engine and potentially be stuck in a bad situation.
Flank Speed was intended to be an emergency speed only, not the speed players default their Cyclops to at all times when not in danger. To address this, we made the current flank speed the new standard speed. Flank is now even faster than before, but can create fires. The longer it is used the higher the chance it will overheat the engine and create a fire. This should provide some exciting moments using flank speed to escape danger, without sacrificing the boost of speed you have all come to expect.
Slow speed is intended to be used to navigate tight areas and will also produce far less noise than the other two speeds.
A large change has also been made to how creatures attack the Cyclops as well. Noise is now directly related to the range of agro the Cyclops gives off. Creatures inside the 'radius of noise' produced by the Cyclops will attack it. Those outside it will not. To help understand this concept we added a sphere on the sonar representing the noise range being given off. All creatures shown on the sonar will be yellow if they are not attacking, and will change to red when they are within agro range and may attack. This should help the player much more easily understand the relationship between noise and creature attacks.
Here's a direct list of features added:
Silent running is an ability, the icon is moved to the right hand side. Entering it will enter a state where no noise is generated for the limited amount of time, no matter how fast the player is driving. It runs for 30 seconds, with a 2 min cooldown. While active, all external and internal lights will be shut down for the duration of the ability but no other penalty will be incurred.
In the place of where the silent running button used to be, we now have a turn off engine button. Turning off the engine will reduce Cyclops noise to zero. The Cyclops can be used as normal while in this mode, but cannot move. Once powered down, the speed buttons will be replaced with a power up engine button. Pushing the power up button will start the engine, which will take a few seconds before it is again active and can be used. Leaving the Cyclops will automatically power it down.
Flank speed causes overheating and can creates fires. 20 seconds of use will overheat the engine. Once overheated, dice is rolled every 2 seconds to determine if a fire is created. The longer the player stays in flank speed the greater the chance of a fire per die roll. Heat is implemented as a hidden value that ramps up from 0 to 1 when applying throttle in flank speed. When not applying throttle, heat goes down and die rolls stop; no fires can be created if the player is not actively applying throttle. This is also the case if the player switches out of flank speed. Oral warnings have been added to communicate this concept.
Added a noise range indicator on creature sonar. The 'size' of the noise indicator directly correlates to the noise value of the Cyclops. Creatures within the range indicator get more aggressive over time, creatures outside of it get less aggressive. The aggression value is visually communicated through changing the creature's sonar blip color.
Shields repulse creatures and cause them to flee when they attack it so it is more powerful than before (almost identical to the Seamoth Perimeter Defense System now).
Energy values have been retooled so the Cyclops can't break the first law of thermodynamics and charge batteries faster than it uses them. To combat this nerf, energy useage overall has been scaled back so the Cyclops can now drive for twice as long on the same amount of power as before.
These changes will be hitting Experimental within the next day or so. Feedback always appreciated.
