PAX East Demo

This is a sub-page of Proto:Subnautica.

This prototype is documented on Hidden Palace.

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A prototype of Subnautica built on the 10th of April, 2014 for PAX East. It contains a lot of differences with models, sounds, textures, etc. when compared to the first Early Access release in December of the same year, and also features a completely different, linear gameplay loop of completing set objectives.

This build of the game contains a 6 and a half minute demo timer that, when finished, displays a "Thank you for playing Subnautica" graphic on screen, though nothing else will happen. This demo timer can be turned off easily by pressing F7. The demo also includes a .bat file that runs the game, and subsequently reruns it repetitively, which is most likely what was used inside the booth this demo would've been played in.

Console Commands#

Much like every subsequent version of Subnautica, there is an accessible developer console when you hit `. This version of the game, however, has a completely different command list, with some commands that ended up being removed by Earliest Access, and a handful of others that function differently than retail or simply don't work at all. A list of this demo's console commands can be found below:

Name	Parameters	Function
biome	None	Non-functional as there is no code for this command, despite being registered.
blocky	None	Non-functional, leftover from cut procedural generation system, would have changed rendering quality.
bubbles	None	Spawns a bubble.
buoyoff	None	Disables debugging for a buoyancy mechanic related to the Cyclops
buoyon	None	Enables debugging for a buoyancy mechanic related to the Cyclops
cross	None	Non-functional, would've done something to the hand symbol in the HUD.
crush	None	When executed inside the Cyclops, it will cause the camera to shake violently and play a random heavy damage sound.
day	None	Non-functional, would have set the time to day.
flood	None	Non-functional, would have made Cyclops start to flood.
flooded	None	Prints to the Unity console how much the Cyclops has flooded.
floodmask	None	Command for the devs to help create a mask for the flooded Cyclops.
fog	None	Non-functional, would have toggled fog on or off.
food	Int 0-100	Non-functional, would have set hunger level according to the code.
fstep	None	Command for Cyclops flooding that acts as a stopwatch that also resets flooding when executed.
gcc	None	Collects GCC info.
item	None	Gives you specified item.
kill	None	Kills you when executed (and yes you can die by normal means in the demo).
limitshadows	Int	Limits shadow casting to an amount of metres set by the user.
lootgrid	None	Unfortunately non-functional as it is tied to the cut procedural world generation system. Judging by the code, it seems to be an early version of the entity gallery.
madloot	None	Gives you a Survival Knife, Glass, Metal, Zinc, Emery, Neoprene, Rutile, Titanium and a Mercury crystal.
night	None	Non-functional, would have set the time to night.
nobloom	None	Disables bloom effects.
nofood	None	Non-functional, would have toggled the hunger mechanic on or off.
noshadows	None	Disables shadows.
oxygen	None	Works the exact same as the final game, toggles oxygen drain.
perf	None	Logs performance stats and warnings in the Unity console, this isn't visible outside the Unity editor.
prime	Int	Command for performance, it is unknown what this does.
propboost	None	Non-functional, command is self-explanatory.
ratingui	None	Makes a star rating GUI pop up when executed. This is likely to be an early version of what would become the feedback report menu in Earliest Access and beyond.
rebuild	None	Reloads the map, this also introduces a bug where map items are duplicated, which can become a serious detriment to performance the more this is executed.
region	Int	Teleports the player to specified region on the map through user-inputted ID.
replate	None	Non-functional, leftover from cut procedural generation system, would have regenerated a chunk in front of the camera.
replateall	None	Non-functional, leftover from cut procedural generation system, would have regenerated all chunks.
scene	String	Related to prefabs with lightmapping, valid values are currently unknown.
seaglide	None	Spawns a Seaglide in front of you.
seal	None	Sets swimming speed to 5x.
seeall	None	Non-functional, would have something to do with vision.
seed	Float 0-200	Non-functional, related to Creepvine growth mechanic. Kelp Forests aren't in the demo.
shark	None	Sets swimming speed to 10x.
sizeref	None	Spawns a model of Ryley as a size reference for mapping.
sonic	None	Sets swimming speed to 50x, comparable to a certain blue animal.
spawn	None	Unlike retail, this command will simply teleport you inside your exact map position with a random deviation of .5 map units.
speed	Float 0-10	Sets game speed to user-specified value, also affects demo timer.
sub	String (cyclops)	Spawns in specified sub, the Cyclops is the only working sub in the demo.
swimx	Float	Sets swimming speed to specified number, including decimal points.
takedamage	Int	Makes you take damage with the specified number of HP.
tech	None	Unlocks a craftable item and plays a sound, this command is useless as crafting isn't in the demo.
testoverlay	None	Non-functional as the overlay is always enabled in the demo. Its function is pretty self explanatory.
tsgui	None	Toggles a GUI for texture streaming diagnostics.
tsram	Int	Limits/increases allocated VRAM for texture streaming.
warpme	None	Teleports you to the spawn or last entered Cyclops, just like the final game.

Oddities#

This demo has quite a few oddities that not only suggests that the demo was potentially rushed out the door, but also exposes additional content not available in the build.

Main Menu#

The filename of the background seen in the main menu is 'WallpaperDownload.png', suggesting that an employee at Unknown Worlds had downloaded a wallpaper on the internet to use as a placeholder before using the game's concept art.

Additionally, the loading screen can easily break by pausing or opening the developer console while it appears, if it's done shortly before loading is finished (but not too late either) you'll get yourself softlocked as it will skip the line of code that enables movement. Opening those two menus during loading will always, without fail, get rid of the screen entirely. This doesn't happen in the prototypes, for whatever reason.

Reference to 'Beetle' sub#

In the code for the sub command, there's a line that adds an error to the Unity editor logs when a non-valid value is entered in, which states to "specify sub name (beetle, cyclops)."

Despite this, the only valid value in the demo is the Cyclops, and it is unknown what the 'Beetle' sub is. However, it might be referring to the "Beatle" submarine from prototype 6 of Subnautica, which could indicate that "Beatle" is a misspelling of the word "beetle".