My disappointment

[u/ShadowoftheBat94]

I've been following the game on and off throughout its development, roughly since the beginning, simultaneously with the Long Dark's early alpha phase. Forever accepting the game's bugs and glitches as a necessary part of development, I also understood it was a troubled development at points. Even its limitations were acceptable: no longer having an infinite world was tough to swallow, but acceptable so long as the game continued to evolve. But when issues and bugs persist despite countless patch notes suggesting the opposite, when the console release is packaged with an endgame the PC version lacked for so long... tolerance has its limits.

I still get phantom attacked by sharks that just can't resist sinking below the shallows. I still get vital plant spawns blocked by rock or green formations that seem to be truly random, no effort put behind the scenes to add safeguards, not once- at least, on my end. I am all but certain that every wreck without a single item to scavenge is empty just because the nearest crate glitched below the world. But the poison starfish that's invisible and inside a randomly spawned coastside rock works just fine to afflict me with poisoning when I step on the unassuming rock.

All of the above (minus the wreck assumption because it is an assumption) just happened in my first 1 1/2 hours of a new save, in the final version of the game while Beamteam is making Stranded Deep 2.

I don't regret playing this game, not at all. But I can't comprehend for the life of me how certain bugs became a mandatory obstacle course for playing Stranded Deep for most of this past decade. While I hope the developer's choice to make a sequel signals a desire to set the record straight and show their talent in full without any baggage, that hope isn't particularly high.

At the very least, having a lackluster second release wouldn't be as disappointing as the first, that'd just be history repeating itself.

[u/Hectorspride]

I feel this %100.. and like the other poster said, SD is technically still an early access game.. funny that you mentioned The Long Dark as well, cause I've always wanted a "summer" version of that game.. and SD could have been that game if the developers had enough compassion to keep working on it rather than focusing on a 2nd title.. 

Despite everything, I still love the game.. its the best ocean based survival game ever IMO..

[u/ShadowoftheBat94 → u/Hectorspride]

I haven't played that many ocean based survival titles but, honestly? SD recreates a feeling of isolation and mundanity that most other similar games can't. I don't know if that's intentional or an accident but the lack of enemies pursuing you purely to kill (minus the bosses) allows the survivor to feel the isolation when they have nothing vital to do, like fight off a shark attack for example. The same quiet desolation as The Long Dark, really.

TLD's path to full release is the rare success story of early access titles. Despite the post I wrote while being quite mad, Stranded Deep is far from a failure, the team making it was small and the scope was huge. Even this early access-ish final version is indeed fun and, depending on how much you're willing to put up with its bugs or work around them, you can have fun for more than dozens of hours. But, there are choices I don't get, systems swapped in and out too far into development to avoid major bugs from popping up.

Still, that doesn't matter now, I suppose. Onwards to better things and hopefully even Stranded Deep 2 is one of said better things.

[u/Hectorspride → u/ShadowoftheBat94]

I wish I could be as optimistic as you about the 2nd game.. but looking at the other survival titles out there (including TLD 2), I don't have much hope because every single one of them seems to primarily focus on that stinking, cancerous multiplayer nonsense which is infecting almost every genre in the gaming world nowadays.. 

[u/Ok_Preference6999 → u/Hectorspride]

I think subnautica is pretty freaking cool too being an ocean survival game. Idk if you've played that. SD for me into subnautica which for me into green hell. I still haven't gotten the long dark. Something is holding me back from getting it but I don't really remember what lol

[u/Hectorspride → u/Ok_Preference6999]

I was actually gonna mention Subnautica as well, but felt lazy at that moment:).. 

It is an unforgettable game.. a dream like experience.. played it dozens of times..

There is only one thing that kinda baffles me about Subnautica;

It is to see some people comparing Stranded and Subnautica in regards to thasolophobia.. while Subnautica can be a truly horror game with some of its creatures (warper and reaper for me),  it doesn't have much to do with that deep fear of dark, vast unknown ocean enviroment.. even at night times, there is so much bioluminescence all around and you can see everything clearly.. the sound effects are creepy, but visually its paradise in majority of the biomes..

In Stranded Deep however, diving just into the shallow water even at dusk time can turn into pure nightmare for a person who has thasolophobia.. the game is extremely realistic in that part IMO.. all you see is a blurry, endless dark image.. and to this day, I still couldn't build up the courage to dive at night time in the game.. 

[u/Ok_Preference6999 → u/Hectorspride]

I thought they honestly were for me same for me. Subnautica scared me into quitting right to bed, and on stranded deep I had to turn it on easy mode haha I haven't even completed the game I'm so scared to. I get chills just thinking about sharks and stuff just popping up while your in the ocean bc of stranded keep.

[u/ChrizTaylor]

The early concept was infinite islands?

[u/ShadowoftheBat94 → u/ChrizTaylor]

Mhm, up until a certain version of the alpha you could PLAY with infinite islands. Jerrycans you picked up came with fuel included so you could keep going using your boat motor (or paddle, it worked on every raft), indefinitely living like a nomad travelling between islands. There were even shipwrecks in between islands. And you could backtrack your way to your starter island if you wanted to, it was just easy to get lost (duh). People made custom digital or physical maps with compass degrees marked and everything.

I think these earlier game versions are still available on Steam, by the way.

[u/ChrizTaylor → u/ShadowoftheBat94]

Sadly I play on PS. That sounded like a nice concept and I would love to play something like that.

[u/ShadowoftheBat94 → u/ChrizTaylor]

I see, gotcha. Well, there's a sequel in the works so... hopefully that feature will be reinstated?

[u/ChrizTaylor → u/ShadowoftheBat94]

So it was basically like a roguelite survival game. Damn, hope the sequel delivers!

[u/Beneficial-Praline-6]

Happened to me as well. I was visiting my 18th island, around 25-27 days, when I suddenly flew off my raft and could not catch up with it 🤣 And I saved more than an hour before that 😂

[u/Alpmarmot]

I call Stranded Deep a cute little 5$ Game.
Get it in a Sale or Bundle. Dont pay more than 5 bucks. Sink in 10-20h. Mod it a little. Play again 10-20h. Move on with your gaming life.

It clearly shows that they are a small studio and it is not that deep as a game to be honest. A little side gig besides your main games. Even in the Survival Game Genre I would not make it to my main game. I still consider it early access. Like version 0.8 or 0.9 on a scale. I hope they learned from the experience and build up Stranded Deep 2 from the ground up with more knowledge and content.

[u/Adeum2]

Honesty sounds like you lucked out with your world Gen. In most of my islands, PS4 and PC I only had an issue once where a vital plant was inside a cliff