Ben and Tao take a deep dive into the awe-inspiring underworld of Subnautica: Below Zero. Is everything as it seems or is something fishy going on? Nah, it's as it seems, I just really wanted to use that pun. They talk breathtaking moments, the exciting and troubling possibilities of VR, the magic of sound design, vocal protagonists, photorealism, and why horror works best when it's unintentional.
Big story spoilers from around 45 minute mark. Warnings given in advance.
Content Warning: PEGI 12. Playful and exasperated swearing, and longer than usual - sorry not sorry.
Clarifications:
There are four difficulty levels, Survival (survive alone on 4546B while investigating the death of your sister), Freedom (like Survival, without hunger or thirst), Hardcore (Survival mode with only one life. No O2 alerts) and Creative (build anything with no constrains. Oxygen, food, story and death disabled).
Here’s a link to the People Make Games piece by Chris Bratt that Tao mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVnOcmiEdIE
The overview of Amazon’s growing dominance over the supply chain that Ben mentioned: https://logisticsviewpoints.com/2021/03/24/amazon-supply-chain/
Audio extracts:
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999)
Memories - Elvis Presley
Good Morning, Vietnam! - feat. Robin Williams RIP
Foreigner - Cold As Ice
Black Mesa - Xen Homeworld - Transcendent OST
Chris Rea - It's All Gone (1986)
A Bug's Life (1998) - Francis The Ladybug
Under The Sea - The Little Mermaid (1989)
Eye in the Sky (2015) drone scene
The Lion King ‘Circle of Life’ (1994)
Ready Player One (2018)
The Forest title theme by Gabe Castro
Spock and Captain Kirk, Star Trek
The New Secretary. Hancock's Half Hour Series 4 feat. Kenneth Williams
Heat (1995) feat. Al Pacino
Gimlet’s Homecoming podcast Episode 1
Diamonds Are Forever (1971) theme
Faster Than Light OST by Ben Prunty
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E24 Subnautica: Below Zero