Fauna, leviathans, need to be able to hear players in subnautica 2 in real time
implemented proximity mic tracking for the local fauna and leviathans so they can hear you in real time from microphones, this will make it far more terrifying and more immersive. microphone integration and voice-reactive AI are right on trend for modern survival and horror games—plenty of titles use mic input for monster tracking or proximity chat nowadays, so it’s a completely natural evolution for the genre.
All well and good for cheap jumpscare horror, not sure how it relates to a survival exploration game where the horror is in not knowing what the deep water has in store
Cheap? Hold on you think adding that is cheap?
(Your argument)
In-Game Action Tracking (The Standard & “Cheap” Way)
If you mean having leviathans and fauna react to sounds your character makes (like sprinting, using a repair tool, swimming too fast, or throwing objects), this is computationally cheap and standard practice.
How it works: Modern game engines (like Unreal Engine 5, which Subnautica 2 uses) have built-in perception modules (AIPerceptionComponent). Whenever a player performs an action, the game emits a silent “noise event” with a set radius and loudness. If a leviathan is inside that radius, its AI behavior tree triggers an investigation state.
Why it’s efficient: It requires almost no heavy processing power, fits easily into standard game loops, and is very predictable to balance for single-player or 4-player co-op. Developers can easily tweak parameters (e.g., making a Seamoth engine louder than a silent glide) without rewriting core systems.
(What im talking about)
Real-World Microphone Tracking (The Expensive & Complex Way)
If you mean having the game listen to your actual physical microphone so that coughing, talking, or shouting alerts the local fauna, this is neither cheap nor simple, especially for an underwater survival game.
Technical & Netcode Overhead: Subnautica 2 features multiplayer co-op. Processing real-time audio streams, filtering background noise (like a mechanical keyboard, a barking dog, or a house fan), and syncing audio-trigger states across multiple players adds heavy netcode complexity and CPU overhead.
Console Certification Nightmares: Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have extremely strict privacy laws and compliance guidelines regarding games that actively monitor or stream microphone input outside of standard party/game chat. Passing certification with a live mic-tracking mechanic can heavily delay updates. (I call bs on this with them 3 companies cause pc used it way before that with the games like the michael jackson horror game and more and honestly those three companies are grubby as heck and just want to call everything theirs for a profit while continue to copy eachother)
Design & Balance Issues: Real-world mic tracking often results in frustrating, more difficult gameplay.
The proximety micing they have now is a fun immersion thing for co-op play. I don’t think a mechanic that discourages you from talking is the best move. And on a personal note, if I’m listening to someone going where they don’t belong and risking getting jumped by a Collector or Shiver, its more fun to hear them stream-of-consciousness freaking out over every little shadow in the deep water than them muting their mic to ‘stay safe’.