Hello Unknown Worlds Team and community!
After spending a lot of time in Early Access, I wanted to share some targeted feedback on predator AI. While the new world is beautiful, the current fauna doesn’t feel threatening enough. Here are my suggestions on how to tweak creature aggression, balance leviathans, and introduce high-skill, non-lethal defense tools that respect Subnautica’s core philosophy.
Creature Behavior and Threat Level
Currently, predators do not feel dangerous enough. They deal low damage, pursue the player sluggishly, and ignore you after an attack.
• Aggression and Damage: Please consider buffing the damage and agro of all hostile creatures toward players and vehicles. They should pursue the player longer and occasionally make short, aggressive dashes slightly crossing their biome boundaries before turning back.
• Leviathans and Balance: Leviathans should remain an instant kill for a player on foot, but not for vehicles. As the story progresses deeper, newer leviathans should require significantly more skill to evade. The goal is to make it challenging, not frustrating.
• Non-Lethal Defense: Since killing fauna damages the atmosphere, please provide more skill-based, non-lethal defense tools. For example, a balanced version of the Perimeter Defense System, creature decoys, or a vehicle-mounted stasis field that only freezes enemies for a few seconds without allowing the player to damage them. We could also have emergency defense mechanics, like sacrificing equipment to escape a leviathan’s grip.
Living Ecosystem and Alien Aesthetics
• Dynamic Interactions: I would love to see more interaction between creatures and the terrain. Leviathans should actively hunt other large species instead of just patrolling. We need to see herbivores grazing on flora, intra-species competition for territory/mates, and seasonal migrations.
• True Alien Design: New creatures should look and behave as alien as possible, with forms, habits, and logic that have absolutely no Earth analogies.
Thanks for reading! What do you think about these AI tweaks?
Note: This concept is part of my larger expansion document. If you want to see how these mechanics tie into new biomes and anomalies, check out the full document here: https://subnautica2.nolt.io/16025