Underwater Graphical Update

No one talks about the underwater content in the game, and how it will be affected by graphical changes.

Perhaps because it is underutilized, and quite empty, but still. It will probably be updated in addition to the land areas. What do you expect for these changes?

really reaching with your near daily threads.

I do not expect Subnautica level underwater elements... because its not an underwater based game. while they may update it, because we spend such a massive amount of time there.... I doubt it, nor do I expect it.

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Originally Posted by Kes13a

really reaching with your near daily threads.

I do not expect Subnautica level underwater elements... because its not an underwater based game. while they may update it, because we spend such a massive amount of time there.... I doubt it, nor do I expect it.

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If the rest of the game is being upgraded visually, the underwater will be as well. It would be inconsistent not to be updated.

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Originally Posted by DamianFatale

If the rest of the game is being upgraded visually, the underwater will be as well. It would be inconsistent not to be updated.

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It will probably just get whatever the rest of the game is getting with the updates, I doubt they'll add anything to it.

So same empty area, just better lighting.

Underwater content? Nah, we'll just get more copy paste deep dungeons with new textures

Huge mistake not introducing underwater breathing mechanics and combat IMO. Is it a hassle in other games? Kind of, that’s the whole point. It was a different sort of challenge. What did SEs solution do for underwater play? Nothing, and guess what… no one does anything with it.

I think spear fishing may be the only thing, and to date I have never encountered anyone else underwater either.

I wish SE stopped taking gaming features and implementing a gutted version of it that barely serves a purpose. Like dungeons. They were supposed to be the more exciting parts of a game, and here, they are the least.

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Originally Posted by Ath192

Huge mistake not introducing underwater breathing mechanics and combat IMO. Is it a hassle in other games? Kind of, that’s the whole point. It was a different sort of challenge. What did SEs solution do for underwater play? Nothing, and guess what… no one does anything with it.

I think spear fishing may be the only thing, and to date I have never encountered anyone else underwater either.

I wish SE stopped taking gaming features and implementing a gutted version of it that barely serves a purpose. Like dungeons. They were supposed to be the more exciting parts of a game, and here, they are the least.

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Square enix and some simpleton players have a fear of underwater combat when in reality you don't need to actually swim to fight; Link has shown us this reality in the Zelda games. Sea floor would be where all the enemies are; anything above it would be like the "flying" section of the underwater zone.

Let us fight in environments like this
https://i.imgur.com/PtUK7hz.jpeg

I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.
https://i.imgur.com/kFFl9uz.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/64RsgtL.jpeg

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Originally Posted by Rekh

Square enix and some simpleton players have a fear of underwater combat when in reality you don't need to actually swim to fight; Link has shown us this reality in the Zelda games. Sea floor would be where all the enemies are; anything above it would be like the "flying" section of the underwater zone.

Let us fight in environments like this
https://i.imgur.com/PtUK7hz.jpeg

I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.
https://i.imgur.com/kFFl9uz.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/64RsgtL.jpeg

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This is a neat idea and we only get a small glimpse of it in the tempest area, without water of course. The idea of fighting on the sea floor is nothing new either to final fantasy. Exploring the ocean and fighting underwater in FF3 was always very fun

Giving me flashbacks to Vashj'ir in WoW.

Wonder if they ever fixed that final quest. Used to bug out all the time.

I'd like to see more underwater content / visuals. The visuals is low on the list given the lack of content, so they seem to go hand in hand as desires lol. Personally if we're talking water I'd like to see the 'top' of the water focused on especially. Get us better water shaders :). Give oceans actual 3d waves and such.

GW2 combat, imo, underwater is fun, but there might be reasons why they rarely use it.. I don't play enough to say why, just know that I thought it was nifty. Given they use a loading screen, which is fine, having fights not on the floor of the water would probably be a nuisance though so I think we're stuck there.

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Originally Posted by Rekh

I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.

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So, the Tempest then. They've already done it and it's not any more or less exciting than any other type of environment, just a different decor theme.

Sure, some prettied-up coral reefs would be nice, but functionally it's not something they've failed to contemplate.

If all the involved story characters had the ability to breathe infinitely underwater then maybe we would get a zone with water currently present.

I'm sure it will look prettier to cruise around underwater.

It's not going to change what happens underwater. We're still a long way off from true 3D combat (whether underwater or in sky/space) becoming popular with players. As good as 3D graphics are getting, the brain gets confused when trying to judge distance without that underlying surface between the person and the target giving a clear perspective.

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Originally Posted by Rekh

Square enix and some simpleton players have a fear of underwater combat when in reality you don't need to actually swim to fight; Link has shown us this reality in the Zelda games. Sea floor would be where all the enemies are; anything above it would be like the "flying" section of the underwater zone.



I state it again; you don't need to create swimming battle animations; just ground player characters and enemies to the seafloor, that's it. Just create enough environment around the ground floor.

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So what's supposed to make the underwater combat unique and interesting if we're still using what the brain interprets as a 2D surface for reference points?

All I can think of in my mind is that combat underwater is usually represented as slower in action and movement so it would end up like doing old school Toto-Rak with a 4 second GCD.

Does that sound like fun to you? It doesn't sound like fun to me.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

I'm sure it will look prettier to cruise around underwater.

It's not going to change what happens underwater. We're still a long way off from true 3D combat (whether underwater or in sky/space) becoming popular with players. As good as 3D graphics are getting, the brain gets confused when trying to judge distance without that underlying surface between the person and the target giving a clear perspective.


So what's supposed to make the underwater combat unique and interesting if we're still using what the brain interprets as a 2D surface for reference points?

All I can think of in my mind is that combat underwater is usually represented as slower in action and movement so it would end up like doing old school Toto-Rak with a 4 second GCD.

Does that sound like fun to you? It doesn't sound like fun to me.

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No need to slow down the combat, the appeal would be being truly underwater; not this fake bubble like in tempest. No different than a snow zone, the appeal is the aesthetic.

It's a feature I'd like to see implemented. For my part, I was rather disappointed by the treatment of the underwater areas, which fell far short of those in WOW. In general, they're pretty ugly, empty and boring. Even the graphics are very uninspired, which is odd given the almost infinite design possibilities offered by the sea. Where are the immense ruins, underwater palaces and wrecks where treasure can be found?

There must be technical reasons for this, in terms of combat implementation / vertical axis management for creature movement. For combat, we could simply imagine special actions that would resolve a few rp concerns (indeed, an arrow in the water shouldn't hit its target), in Bozja's style? Maybe that's a bit greedy.

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Originally Posted by Merrigan

... the almost infinite design possibilities offered by the sea. Where are the immense ruins, underwater palaces and wrecks where treasure can be found?

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While there are "infinite possibilities" across all the games that could possibly be made, that doesn't mean this game is built to be able to utilise them. What good would a "wreck filled with treasure" be in a game that doesn't have treasure chests in its overworld?

We've had a ship graveyard, we've had ancient ruins that happen to be very Art Deco, other ancient ruins that were definitely underwater and full of gold, and a literal undersea palace in Japanese style. None of the undersea locations are physically filled with water because the game doesn't do water physics, but they're still the same locations that would probably get designed if we could swim there.