Quick note: The core idea here is mine—I came up with it while playing SN2. I used AI only to help organize the wording and structure. The gameplay loop, cable limitations, and solo/co-op considerations are my own. Also, the Trident doesn’t have a cable system right now—this is a new feature suggestion, not a modification of existing design. Take whatever parts are useful, ignore the rest.
Core idea: the cable is a new built-in facility
I’m suggesting the Trident gets a winch bay where you can build a fixed-length umbilical cable, around 200m. You can’t make it longer, can’t splice it, can’t build extra. It’s just part of the ship. At the bottom end there’s a fixed circular port—think of it like a train buffer stop. It stops cargo boxes from sliding off, and it also doubles as a docking point for the Seafrog chassis.
Two ways to use the port, and the Seafrog driver decides
Cargo transport is optional
You don’t have to use the storage box system. The Seafrog can just fill its own inventory and drive back. But if you do use it, the captain can keep the Trident parked, receive boxes, sort stuff, and send empties back down. Efficient for close-range mining, and you can ignore it entirely for longer trips.
The Trident goes quiet and hugs the seafloor
This part is basically an extension of the Cyclops’ silent running. The Trident can descend to just above the seabed, turn on silent mode, and leviathans won’t notice it. Because it’s so low, the vertical part of the cable barely uses any length—almost the full 200m is available for horizontal reach. So the Seafrog can roam quite far while the mothership sits safely on the bottom.
What the captain actually does
The captain’s job is pretty chill. When the Seafrog wanders about 140m away, the captain slowly moves the Trident to follow, keeping the cable port near the action. When a storage box comes up, the captain can sort it right away or just let it pile up and deal with it later. Low-frequency, low-stress—you can chat, look out the window, whatever.
A 140m radius holds a lot of resources, and the cable stretches the loop
140m doesn’t sound huge, but SN2’s minerals spawn in clusters, and caves/wrecks are dense. If the area under that radius is resource-rich, filling seven or eight large lockers is reasonable. Add the cable system—no back-and-forth for the Seafrog, mobility boost while docked, disconnect near the edge and keep mining, return to the port to reset—and this loop can last a long time. It’s not a tiny radius where you run out in two minutes. It’s a “take your time, mine, haul, chat while you work” kind of radius.
Disconnect and return when you hit the limit
If the Seafrog gets near the end of the cable, the driver can just disconnect and keep mining on battery power. When they’ve got enough, they head back to the port, redock, recharge, send up more boxes, and head out again. The cable section is the “boost zone,” the disconnected section is the “free zone,” and returning to the port resets everything.
Single-player and co-op both work
· Solo: You do everything yourself, but the system automates the boring parts—boxes go up and down on their own, docking is automatic, the Trident hovers in silent mode. Relaxed. You can take your time.
· Two players: One drives the Seafrog and mines, the other captains the Trident, follows along, receives boxes, and sorts stuff. The cargo flow keeps you connected without constant voice chat.
· Three players: The third person is a free agent—can mine, help sort, go diving, or swap roles. Nothing forces them into a slot.
Final thoughts: Again, the core idea is mine—AI only helped organize the wording. This is a new feature suggestion, not a modification of existing design. The devs could take just the cargo box part, or just the silent seafloor mode, or just the docking/charging. It’s modular. Take what’s useful, ignore the rest. Thanks for reading.