The Biology of Subnautica | Part I

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The vast oceans of the popular video game Subnautica teem with alien creatures--some friendly — and some deadly. While the game focuses on survival, the lifeforms of Subnautica are amazing even when they’re trying to eat you: possessing fascinating biology, bizarre behavioral patterns, and hidden mysteries.

For this entry into the archive, we’ll embark on a nature documentary-style expedition, touring Subnautica from the shallows to the abyssal trenches; swimming in the shadows of giants, and evading reaper leviathans. This series will reveal the biology behind these puzzling lifeforms, and investigate how they differ from life in our own oceans.

So, let’s take the plunge together, and see what awaits us under the surface…

0:00 Biology of Subnautica
1:08 Peepers
1:48 Garryfish
2:09 Bladderfish and Boomerang
2:26 Giant Coral Tubes
3:00 Rabbit Ray
3:40 Crashfish
4:25 Shuttlebugs
4:53 Gasopods
5:33 Stalkers
7:13 Hoopfish
7:43 Hoverfish
8:22 Sandshark
9:32 Spadefish
10:10 Floaters
10:48 Reginald
11:20 Reefback Leviathan
12:32 Reaper Leviathan
13:49 Bioluminescence
14:14 Outro

Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.

I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.

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Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

#CuriousArchive #Subnautica #SpeculativeBiology

[swedneck]

reefbacks are absolutely my favourite creature in the game, they're so properly alien and i'm pretty sure they're at least partially inspired by the grovebacks from alien planet.

[formorian]

The Stalker uses naturally-occuring deposits of titanium to sharpen their constantly-growing teeth and dislodge teeth that need to be replaced. The metal salvage is a convenient substitute since it's also titanium.

[dynamoterror]

Subnautica really nailed it on creating a believable ecosystem. After you cover the original game, could you make a video on the sequel (set on same planet, but exclusively at one of the poles)?

[timezone]

Subnatica probably the first game that introduced me to speculative evolution before I even knew what that was, all tomorrows was the first time I really understood what it was and the endless number of possible lifeforms that could exist

[delta]

Notice how the tail of a Reaper is red, splitting into four long fins. This might have evolved to trick predators into thinking a reaper is facing them, similar to how tigers on earth have white spots behind their ears to make it seem like they have eyes on the back of their heads. You might wonder why a reaper would have strategies to ward off predators as they are the biggest creature in the shallows, but if we dive deeper we quickly find an array of reaper bones, laying half eaten in the boiling waters of the lava zone.

[anglure]

love how there are just creatures with names like "Garryfish" and "Reginald"

[meymunt]

Subnautica is my favourite game of all time. Not only that everything in the game is well thought. They were brave enough to actually have a detailed explanation for every single life form

[darthplagueis]

The Reefback is the creature that really managed to pique my interest in the game for the first time. It's typically the first leviathan class creature one does encounter, it's big and it looks a bit creepy, but at the same time it's entirely peaceful. It would have been really easy to use the first really big fella for a cheap scare, but by making it a harmless animal instead, the devs communicated that they are actually interested in building a more believable ecosystem. It also sends a message to carefully watch anything new you encounter: The Reefback does objectively look more scary than a Stalker, but the Stalker is the one that might decide to attack you.

[yuutsukun]

That's pretty terrifying to know that once you hear a reaper leviathan's scream, it's already too late since it has probably already seen you.

[priorsaurus]

The fact that this game was made a couple years ago is impressive because of the amount of diversity in the creatures is unbelievable

[crisscrossam]

i love how this video is presented like a documentary, with each different area of each individual biome, with an element of story behind it all.

[WeeeeeeWooooooo]

Honestly one of my favorite games of all time, so well crafted and put together. It’s crazy how long the game took to develop but it was sure worth the weight! Every biome and experience is meant only to lead you deeper into the ocean and into more mysteries! (If you haven’t played it yet the game is a 10/10)

[funnybunny]

It's crazy how realistic and believable subnautica's ecosystem is, especially when the devs could've just said "It's an alien planet, it doesn't make sense"

[tawon]

My son loves this game! It’ll be a good watch for us when he gets out of school today 😊

[Shoyro]

Impressive that you got footage of a Reaper Leviathan. They are usually very aggressive. I can't wait to see how you handle the terrestrial ecosystem. It's minimal in the original, but in Below Zero, you encounter quite a few.

[zoltanmunkacsy]

“Truly, nature is highly unusual, no matter the planet” best quote

[mistermaster]

In my mind, the floaters cause objects to float because they have practically no mass despite having a volume, which means that if they firmly attach to an object, they add volume but no mass to that object, causing the object's overall density to decrease and therefore become more buoyant. The biggest mystery to me is how a human can put multiple floaters in its pocket and not experience any extra buoyancy.

[kingperson]

7:44 the hoverfish might SEEM like the last fish in the kelp forest, but if you were to actively search, I've found "Mesmers" and "Eyeyes" swimming around there before. At least on the PS4 edition. Also you forgot the biter.

[somedegenerate]

This is what I love about this game. There's so much detail, so much *life.* Everything has a purpose on the ecosystem of 4546B, much like that of Earth...

[SlightCrescent]

I love this idea of a nature documentary for fictional creatures, although it’d also be pretty cool to honestly get some of these for real earth creatures in video games like Far Cry or Red Dead Redemption!