Subnautica Case Study [WEEK 6]

 Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2014) is a survival adventure game set on an aquatic alien planet. The main plot of the game revolves around a diver who has been stranded on this planet from a huge spaceship crash, they must research and explore the world in order to survive. Some of the main mechanics within the game involve the ability to gather supplies to build a base, either above ground or underwater, Create vehicles to better traverse the vast array of biomes and environments, gathering food, and some environmental mechanics such as radiation exposure, and depth meters (Fandom n.d.). Subnautica had an overwhelmingly positive reception with over 6 million copies sold (Unity n.d.) across its various platforms, and a sequel game being produced by the name of Subnautica Below Zero (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2019). Subnautica Below Zero has a similar plot to the first game, with similar mechanics, the main difference is the new setting and creatures this time being set on an arctic planet yet still retaining those aquatic elements.

Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2014)

One of the most recognisable aspects of Subnautica and Subnautica Below zero is the art style. In the first game, Cory Strader was the art director and man visual motivator behind all of the environments and creatures within the game (Strader N.d.). His art style includes usage of unique silhouettes, strong shape language to differentiate hostile and docile creatures, Organic shapes for environments and Smooth more artificial looking machinery, and frequent use of purples, pinks and greens to give a more tropical feel. For Subnautica Below Zero, Unknown Worlds entertainment hired concept artist Alex Ries due to his artstyle seemingly being perfect for the role (Ries n.d.). Similar to Cory Strader, Ries uses those same bold shapes and iconic shape language, though shifted his colour focus to more cooler tones such as blues and cool oranges to match the arctic environment. Both artists use a pleasing amount of complementary colours to blend elements into the environment whilst still making the scenes readable. Overall, the look of the Subnautica games are very stylized but in the realms that still feel believable, the creatures despite somewhat cartoony are detailed enough to be passable as real creatures.

Subnautica: Twisty Bridges (Cory Strader 2021)

Subnautica Below Zero : Squidshark (Alex Ries 2020)

Another interesting and immersive aspect to the games is how the map is split up and divided into biomes that the player can freely explore throughout the game. Not only is the map divided horizontally into biomes, but also vertically, depending on your depth you will find different creatures and plant life similar to how you would in real life. This also ties into the Depth mechanics as you can’t dive to some places without protection against the pressure. Locations differ between the games, Subnautica taking on a more temperate or tropical sea feel with areas such as the rand reef, Bulb zone and Blood kelp zone. Some deeper areas of the map were described by Alin99 in his post on the Subnautica forum to be “ghostly looking fish and acidic rivers with many remains”(2020), It shows that great care was taken in really developing the overall feel of a biome and making sure it differs from others around it to ensure the game is not monotonous and pushes that aspect of exploration. In Below zero, the game has both a colder icy environment with also areas of volcanic activity, these regions are demonstrated in the Glacial Basin, Purple vents and Thermal spires. There are also some important geological areas in Subnautica that can have an effect on the players gameplay, for example the wreck of the aurora has high radiation levels meaning that the player must take extra precautions in that area to avoid contamination (Fandom n.d.). Depending on where you are, you can also find a range of plant life, some of which you can harvest and utilize. In Joseph’s video All harvestable plants in Subnautica, guide (2020) The youtuber explains all the locations and types of plants you are able to harvest in game, And following on from this, other youtuber Grind This Game (2017) shows the player how you can utilize the grow bed mechanic to grow more of these plants that you find. The final interesting aspect to Subnautica’s map design is how they navigated the issue of map borders to not make the game feel limited whilst also providing an actual end to the explorable map. A lot of older game implemented some sort of creature or event that stopped a player from straying too far from the main map, this gave the game a bit more believability and curiously gave some players a feeling of fear towards whatever laid at the edge of a map. Many modern games have abandoned this, however Subnautica is definitely an exception, lying on the edge of the map is the Ecological dead zone in which many Leviathan class creatures roam, these are huge beasts that pose a significant threat to the player. It is feesable that something like this could exist in the universe’s canon, abysses of huge creatures waiting for prey to enter. Players can enter the ecological dead zone, but will most likely perish pretty quickly, this instills a feeling of fear to encourage players to stay within the main map, but for those brave enough to enter, it provides a spine chilling environment to explore, at least for a little while.

Crater Map (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2014)

Keeping to the theme of differences in biomes, many of the creatures in Subnautica look different depending on where they are found, their appearances best suited to their respective environments. For example, In subnautica we can compare the Reefback Leviathan to the Crabsquid. The Reefback Leviathan is a large beast that floats at the surface in almost all surface biomes, it’s large size holds host to a parasitic reef on it’s back, providing a home and symbiotic relationship to smaller creatures. As it is a surface creature, it’s appearance helps it blend in as nothing more than just a floating small island (Fandom n.d.). In comparison to this, the Crabsquid is a deep sea creature living in the grand reef, It’s body is transparent with bioluminescent strips running down its body similar to a real life bloody belly jellyfish, or other deep sea Cnidaria. The Crabsquid lives in a very dark environment, and as such has a sensitivity to light, and with it’s sharp claws and electromagnetic blasts, it will often attack anything with bright lights that comes into its view.(Fandom n.d.) These two creatures visually look very different, and are both suited to their respective environments.

Reefback (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2014)

Crabsquid (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2014)

These design choices were carried on over into Subnautica Below zero, two examples of this being the Pengwing and the Shadow leviathan. The Pengwing is a small, semi aquatic, bird-like creature that mostly makes it’s nests on sheets of ice, but will dive under the waves to catch fish. Much like a penguin, the Pengwing possesses feathers with a white belly and dark back, this is so that it blend in with the snow above and the sea below (Fandom n.d.). However, far below the waves in the very deepest part of the map lives the Shadow leviathan, A huge almost crustacian like creature with dark plates and bioluminescence, blending in well with the depths and the darkness of the cave. It is clearly a hostile creature with it’s sharp legs and intimidating size being a cler indicator of it’s hostility (Fandom n.d.). Leviathans are a big part of the Subnautica series, Huge creatures with often very hostile temperaments, these creatures dwarf the player completely and are sort of the bosses of the games, whilst you dont kill a leviathan, your aim is to not let it kill you whilst you are trying to complete an objective. In Aci’s video, The ACTUAL size of Subnautica & Below Zero LEVIATHANS (2023) the youtuber displays the in game size of these creatures in comparison to the player, some of the biggest being the Frozen leviathan, from Subnautica Below zero, and The gargantuan leviathan from subnautica. Both of these creatures are shown in the game but are not able to be interacted with, they are more there to provide context to the game and to reinforce that fear of the depths.

Pengwing (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2019)

Shadow leviathan (Unknown Worlds Entertainment 2019)

Subnautica is a great example of diversity in creature design and how creatures evolve to alien environments, this is something we are hoping to achieve in our game, perhaps not quite as pronounced as Subnautica’s designs, but still something visually interesting yet believable. On top of this, Subnautica provides excellent examples of the researching and gathering mechanic that will be widely used in our games. Finally, we might take some inspiration from the clear differentiation and uniqueness of the in game biomes for our own game, as exploration is also a big theme we are hoping to cover.

Bibliography -

Websites -

Alex Ries, No date. The Art of Alex Ries [Online]. Tumblr. Available at: https://alexriesart.tumblr.com/post/707338020401152000/one-of-the-first-artworks-i-did-for-subnautica [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Alin99, 2020. Deep sea in SUBNAUTICA: [online]. Unknownworlds. Available at: https://forums.unknownworlds.com/discussion/156108/deep-sea-in-subnautica[Accessed 30 October 2024].

Cory Strader, No date. Cory Strader [Online]. Artstation. Available at: https://www.artstation.com/corystrader  [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Fandom, No date, Crabsquid [Online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Crabsquid [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Fandom ,No date. Biomes (Below zero)[online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Biomes_(Below_Zero)[Accessed 30 October 2024]. 

Fandom ,No date. Biomes (Subnautica)[online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Biomes_(Subnautica)[Accessed 30 October 2024]. 

Fandom ,No date. Mechanics [online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Mechanics[Accessed 30 October 2024]. 

Fandom, No date. Pengwing [Online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Pengwing [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Fandom, No date. Reefback Leviathan [Online]. Fandom. Available at:https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Reefback_Leviathan [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Fandom, No date. Shadow Leviathan [Online]. Fandom. Available at: https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Leviathan [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Unity, No date. Five platforms, 6M+ copies: Creating the undersea world of Subnautica [online]. Unity. Available at : https://create.unity.com/subnautica-case-study?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gaming_na_acquisition_2021-06-gmg-casestudy11&utm_content=GMGCS11_01-GMG_INTKW_INDIEDEV-TW_D-all#:~:text=Since%20its%20launch%20in%202018,darling%20to%20mainstream%20smash%20hit. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. 

 

 

Videos -

All harvestable plants in Subnautica, guide. , 2020. [Youtube] Joseph, 11 September. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-io9SdVTMw [Accessed 30 October 2024].

Subnautica | How To Start Farming Guide 2017 - Use Growbeds & Seeds to Grow Food, 2017. [Youtube] Grind this game, 9 October. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP01hmOL3XY [Accessed 30 October 2024].

The ACTUAL size of Subnautica & Below Zero LEVIATHANS | 3D size comparison, 2023. [Youtube] Aci,13 January. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0TkUuv_MG4 [Accessed 30 October 2024].

  

Games -

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2014. Subnautica [Online], PC. Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/264710/Subnautica/ [Acessed 30th October 2024]

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2019. Subnautica Below Zero [Online], PC. Steam. Available at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/848450/Subnautica_Below_Zero/[Acessed 30 October 2024]

Images -

Alex Ries, 2020. Subnautica Below Zero : Squidshark [Online]. Available via: Artstation. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/R36D6y 

Cory Strader, 2021.Subnautica: Twisty Bridges [Online]. Available via: Artstation. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/0n9PY5 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2014. Crabsquid [Online] Available via: Fandom. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Crabsquid 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2014. Crater Map [Online] Available via: Fandom. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Crater_Map 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2014. Reefback [Online] Available via: Fandom. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://alpheapedia.fandom.com/wiki/Reefback 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2014. Subnautica [Online]. Available via: Xbox. [Accessed 30 October 2024]. https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/subnautica/BX3S1Q5DVHRD 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2019. Pengwing [Online] Available via: Fandom. [Accessed 30 October 2024].https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Pengwing 

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, 2019. Shadow Leviathan [Online] Available via: Fandom. [Accessed 30 October 2024].https://subnautica.fandom.com/wiki/Shadow_Leviathan