Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update
Subnautica 2 · published · build 24418064
Hello Subnauts,
Subnautica 2’s Early Access 1.2 update, Buddy System, just landed! This update introduces the hugely requested Proximity Chat feature, Player Revives, Emotes, Player Trading, two new characters, and a ton of bug fixes.
Anything marked with a 🤿 indicates a change that came directly from community feedback!
The update should appear as a free, automatic download. If the update doesn’t appear for you, you may need to restart Steam. If you continue to experience issues, please contact our support team here.
Want to watch a visual overview of this update? Design Lead Anthony Gallegos talks through some of the changes in our latest Update Vlog.
If this is the first post you’ve seen for Subnautica 2 and you're interested in playing, head over to our Steam store page now to check it out!
Don’t forget, if you have ideas for what you want to see next in Subnautica 2, you can submit them on our Nolt.io page and upvote other suggestions from the community. If you’re experiencing any bugs or issues, you can let us know through the in-game reporting tool or on our support website. You can also join our official Discord to chat and share all your theories, speculation, and thoughts about Subnautica 2 with other fans. Keep Diving!
Patch Notes
Gameplay
🤿Added Proximity Voice Chat. As players get further away, they become harder to hear. Voice Chat is available as “always on,” “push to talk,” or “always off.”
Tracking Tag added to the game. Can be placed in carryables (like a locker) as a short-range beacon. If present in hand or inventory when reprinting, will increase black box range.
Players can now revive each other before reprinting. Revived players will keep their equipment and regain a small amount of oxygen. Downed players can also choose to immediately reprint and respawn back at their assigned Biobed.
Added Wave, Clap, Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down, and Frustrated emotes. Emotes are selectable from a new radial menu. Triggerable in water or on land, and can be interrupted by gameplay input.
🤿Players can now interact with each other to directly exchange inventory items.
Added Jegna and Grace character options in Character Customization, as well as two new color schemes for characters.
Interaction text on Upgrade Biobeds changed to clarify their use.
Added a distinct beep to player upgrade spots within a small radius.
Added a small flash to screen on Upgrade Biobeds.
Fauna & Flora
Added flinch animations and VFX to Marrowbreach, Hammerhead, Nibbler, Needlershark, Epicurean, and Twin Eel.
Adjusted Bulletheads so they deal more damage but can now be dodged (...sometimes).
Added more Coral Crab animations.
Revised model and animations for the Bloom Parasite.
Improved Jelly Ring tentacles.
Resources
More Carryable Racks added to early game wrecks and human-made sites.
Base Building
🤿Improvements made to the base building system’s placement UI, including alignment guide lines.
Improvements made to how the game handles Move mode for clients in a multiplayer session.
Updated Tadpole Dock icon to reflect updated model.
Base edits now account for size snapping, such that it’s possible to fully deconstruct a room with Shrink (among other things).
Trashcan is now functional as a trashcan. Items added to trashcan will be destroyed one by one after a short, five second delay.
Bases can no longer be built inside of Great Jaw.
Items that are preventing an object from being built are displayed in a list.
Vehicles, Tools & Equipment
Changed Feedback Resonator’s interaction with creatures to stun them instead of causing them to flee.
Extended duration of the Sonic Resonator creature stun to 10 seconds.
Sources for Acid now appear as green dots in the Scanner HUD.
Repair Tool now unlocks after two scans.
Tadpoles that are destroyed outside of the Early Access fence teleport inside of the Early Access fence so that they can be recovered.
Menus & UI
Signals adjusted to increase clarity and reduce HUD clutter. Icons get larger as player gets closer, and text will appear on hover for signals further away.
Save Codes can now be directly pasted into the Cloud Save Download input box.
Builder menu’s scroll position persists when closing and re-opening the menu.
Pinned recipes highlight when the player acquires resources relevant to those recipes.
Items shown in Pinned Recipes are no longer dimmed, to improve readability.
Improved error language for errors specific to non-Game Pass Microsoft users.
Audiologs show elapsed and remaining playback time.
Art & Visual FX
VFX performance improvements to the Graveyard and its Water Slugs, for the players who collect hundreds of Water Slugs.
Tallshrooms now have an icon in the Scanner HUD.
Added impact VFX for Tongue Thief.
Light poles connecting Observatory and Rosetta Stone added.
Removed odd blue outline that was sometimes visible on Collector Leviathan.
Improved consistency of sparks VFX across the game.
Improved consistency of electricity VFX across the game.
Added shock VFX for Hammerheads impacting objects.
Added more environmental effects to abandoned outposts and wrecks.
Voice & Narrative
Previously unlocalized lines are now localized.
Naming of Carryable Racks is now consistent across the game, instead of sometimes being “Wall Rack” or “Hardpoint.”
Reduced frequency of NOA alerts.
Adjusted Welcome Center message in Spanish and Italian.
Adjusted pacing of dialog to better match the actions occurring during the recordings.
Added Databank entry for Mod Station.
Added Databank entries for audiologs that were missing them.
Further refinements to voice over prioritization, so the most important lines are heard.
Music & SFX
Music added to Tufa Zone, Thermal Area, and North Coral Gardens.
Miscellaneous
New Privacy Policy additions from July 15th will pop up on first play.
New Frame Generation modes 5x and 6x (RTX 5000 series) added.
New Dynamic Frame Generation added. Will automatically select the appropriate Frame Generation mode to get a good performance (RTX 5000 series).
VSync and DLSS Frame Generation can be turned on at the same time.
Added description for Nvidia Reflex in Settings.
Reorganized order of volume sliders.
The in-game Feedback Tool now allows attaching a save file.
Bug Fixes
Fixed Collector Leviathan performing a 360 spin whenever it grabs or throws a Tadpole.
Fixed an issue where settings menus would sometimes become cut-off while navigating with controller/gamepad.
🤿Fixed an exploit where swapping the resource in an occupied Metal Farm caused the new resource to inherit the growth time of the previous resource.
🤿Fixed an issue where opened Angel Combs’ cankers could incorrectly appear closed after a game update.
Pausing the game while sprinting no longer causes the player to permanently sprint.
Fixed some Axum/Tailings furniture being buildable outside of the player’s base, which caused multiple knock-on problems.
Tadpole can no longer be docked when there is insufficient space for it, resolving an issue where the Tadpole could become stuck in its dock.
🤿Additional fixes to the tool prompts to account for accuracy and recipe-sharing between players in a multiplayer session.
Fixed Power Transmitter ray visibility and overall appearance, particularly for multiplayer clients who alternately saw extra rays or had rays that should be there disappear.
🤿Fixed Hydroturbines stopping their power production after 120-160 mins of gameplay, after the player swam away from them, and for their turbines to stop spinning, even when producing power.
Fixed music playing in the incorrect region or not playing at all in intended areas.
Fixed a soft lock where using Unstuck during the Lifepod launch cutscene would cause the player to teleport back to the Deep Start awakening room after the cutscene.
Fixed an issue where pressing the spacebar during the TOS skipped the step of agreeing to it.
Fixed an issue where the Collector Leviathan would release a captured player if the Camouflage Biomod activated during the eating scene.
Fixed an issue where chassis signals could remain visible on screen even when the chassis is equipped to the Tadpole.
Fixed the player’s dive mask clipping into the camera while adjusting FOV in the Settings menu.
🤿Fixed several terrain, resource, and world object clipping, floating, gap, extended collision, misplacement, and texture issues.
🤿Fixed an issue where the battery terminal in the Welcome Center could be accessed through the exterior wall.
Fixed Jetocaris’s PDA image not matching the in-game creature model.
Fixed Feedback Resonator VO playing on unlocking the recipe and after crafting it, instead of just when it’s crafted.
Fixed Cicada Wreck (Stairway to Heaven) databank entry not unlocking when entering the relevant area.
Fixed Metal Farm voice over playing when reaching the Axum Metal Farms in the Root Canyon, instead of when the Metal Farm is scanned.
Fixed an issue where Algae Blocks and Nutrient Blocks couldn’t be used as BioReactor fuel.
Correction to Question 6 in the Tadpole Pens dialog with a certain terminal.
Necrolei Cysts can now be planted in Growbeds.
Fixed an issue where using Unstuck while holding a carryable Utility would prevent players from being able to pick up other Utilities or equip hotbar items.
Added corrections to the scannable highlight for objects that were missing it.
Fixed Sophie’s Riot In Progress audiolog playing when picked up.
Fixed some external base decorations that should have had movement appearing inactive after saving and loading the game.
Fixed Time of Day Display showing the wrong icon during its scanning process.
Fixed some Quartz Memory Chips using different titles in the Databank entries, as compared to their HUD text.
Fixed missing SFX during Chap Blackbox audio playback.
Fixed an issue where the player’s camera could get stuck in place after trying to undock a blocked Tadpole three times.
Fixed certain investigations appearing in the Databank under “Closed Investigations” when they were still active.
Fixed Sandspear getting stunned while underground.
Fixed “You are being hunted” voice over failing to play when the player encounters a Marrowbreach for the first time at Camp One.
Fixed Hammerheads sinking to the seafloor too quickly after being stunned.
Epicurean can only be infected by one Tongue Thief at a time.
Removed flat texture from the bottom of the Teal Cyclopet.
Added several fixes for scannable objects being unscannable in specific locations.
Fixed some corals (and other stationary objects) that are harvested via Sonic Resonator shrinking drastically after being struck by the Resonator, where they appeared to disappear, demonstrated strange physics, or clipped under the game map.
Fixed an issue where saving then loading the game while holding a carryable Utility would prevent the player from accessing items in the toolbar via the assigned keybinds.
Fixed an issue where Nvidia Reflex and DLSS Frame Generation had inconsistent problems functioning simultaneously.
Fixed a means of getting under the map via a missing collision near the Observatory.
Fixed an issue where simultaneously performing the Carry and Drop action on a carryable Utility would cause the Utility to bounce off the ground.
Fixed missing Bloom color scheme on and around infected Angel Combs in the Ruins area.
Fixed an issue where picking up and immediately dropping a carryable Utility would cause it to launch itself into the sky.
🤿Fixed an issue where an out-of-charge Wakemaker caused the player to move even slower than they do with no Wakemaker equipped.
🤿Fixed an issue where crashes could sometimes create the appearance of a save file being deleted.
🤿Fixed an issue where multiplayer clients couldn’t Move certain Growbed items and, on attempting to do so, became severely desynchronized with the game server.
🤿Fixed an issue where bases would remain powered after their Power Storage ran out of energy.
🤿Fixed an issue where Steam clients would sometimes take an unnaturally long time to close.
Fixed an issue where FOV changes only took effect after exiting the Settings menu.
Fixed the “Close” button keybind on Pioneer Selection being nonfunctional.
🤿NOA Alert voice line no longer references the Lifepod after the player has build a NOA Terminal in their base.
🤿Fixed an issue where, if player uses Unstuck while holding a carryable Utility, the Utility would stick with them when they respawn.
Fixed an issue where the Tadpole’s collision could become offset from its model, for the host of a multiplayer session, if a client in that session exited the Tadpole while it was moving.
Fixed an issue where Sandspears would float out of the ground, while acting like they were in the ground, if their nest location was blocked by an object like a base or Tadpole.
Sealed off an area where the player could get under the map near the east side of Power Plant.
🤿Fixed an issue where Metal Farms produced resources while the UI signaled a lack of power.
🤿Fixed an issue where particles would flicker when Vertical Sync and Nvidia Reflex were on at the same time.
🤿Fixed an issue where the “Warning Power Offline” message would play when Metal Farms finished production, despite the Farms still being powered.
🤿Fixed an issue where Metal Farms connected in a series would lose power when the starting Metal Farm, connected to base power, completed resource production.
🤿Fixed an issue where plantables would remain floating and functional after refunding a base that included a Growbed.
🤿Fixed an issue where Metal Farms remained functional after being moved out of range of their power source.
Fixed an issue where bringing up the Steam Overlay didn’t pause the game.
🤿Hard-to-scan Advanced Battery in the Ruins is now easier to scan.
🤿Fixed an issue where Solar Panels would stop providing power after 45-60 mins if there were multiple bases constructed at different locations in the save file.
🤿Fixed an issue where simultaneously dropping and throwing an object would duplicate that object.
Fixed text overlap issue in the Early Access message associated with the orange fence, which was present for some languages.
Fixed an issue where Tadpole upgrades that don’t have stacking effects could be equipped multiple times in the same Tadpole.
Fixed little gaps in the HAUL’s collision.
Nibblers now hunt small fish reliably and more visibly.
Fixed Sandspear being able to grab players from a minimal touch.
🤿Fixed an issue where refunding a base that has a Tadpole docked in it teleports the Tadpole to world origin (0,0,0).
🤿Fixed an issue where Power Cell Terminals could only be constructed on the lower part of a base or in the middle of a room.
Sealed off a spot where players could get under the map in the southwest of the Axum Metal Farms.
🤿Sealed off a spot where players could get under the map at the south side of the Observatory.
Sealed off spot where players can get under the map near Sparse Plains.
🤿Fixed an issue where interacting with one “Singh (Impaled)” blackbox prevents interaction with subsequent “Singh (Impaled)” blackbox.
Fixed Dive Elevator lacking collision.
🤿Improved interaction between bases and creature spawns, to better prevent creatures from spawning in bases or solid objects.
🤿Fixed an issue where changing a Custom Label solely by changing what letters are upper or lowercase would result in the label reverting back to its original formatting.
🤿Fixed an issue where hitboxes on harvestable items in Growbeds didn’t match the size of the plantable.
🤿Sealed spot that allowed players to get into the Observatory without opening its door.
Fixed an issue where bases remain unpowered after a Solar Panel from a different base is moved to connect to the unpowered base.
Added multiple crash and performance fixes.
Fixed an issue where players’ O2 didn’t deplete while attached to the exterior or sitting in a HAUL of an unpowered Tadpole.
Fixed multiple issues for individual resources that couldn’t be interacted with.
Fixed an issue where Portable Lockers could be picked up at long distances, if they’d been through a convoluted series of steps involving Tadpoles and their chassis.
Fixed inconsistency in the TSR min and max sliders.
Fixed large Lead Nodes and large Gold Nodes not displaying the resource ping icon when pinged.
🤿Fixed mismatches between text and voice over in “Do not go out alone,” “Tailings Settlement,” “Wu - I’ve cracked it,” “over.txt,” “SOPHIE: In pursuit of Nahema,” NOA’s “Zip” dialog, dialog associated with the Power Plant, NOA’s “Quaker” dialog, the PDA notice about heat, PDA notice about death by barotrauma, Singh “Axum” logs, and Call of the Sea whispers.
🤿Fixed an issue where a client in a multiplayer session could complete the prologue without obtaining the Pressure Tolerance Adaptation by going through the door scan with someone who has the Adaptation or joining a session after a player who already obtained it.
🤿Fixed an issue where Adaptations could be obtained without healing the related Angel Comb (via some very tricky swimming).
🤿Fixed an issue where attaching a chassis to a Tadpole while docking that Tadpole could trap the player inside of the Tadpole.
Fixed an issue where tools attached to the rack on the back of the Tadpole could become stuck there.
Fixed an issue where swimming close to a wall could cause jittering.
Fixed performance drops caused by constructing many Power Transmitters near each other.
Fixed an issue where Gateway Spires sometimes didn’t give Tadpoles passing through them a full speed boost.
Fixed an issue where swimming backwards into a Gateway Spire caused the player to be propelled twice.
Fixed Gold and Atacamite triggering the same PDA voice line on being picked up for the first time.
Fixed the Chinese names 晨伟 and 庆星 being absent from the Russian localization of the game.
🤿Fixed an issue where the “Help Kids” voice line would play even after the relevant Angel Comb was remediated.
🤿Fixed an issue where base objects couldn’t be placed near ladders.
Revised Corridor Databank entry for consistency with in-game behavior.
Sealed area that allowed access to the under-map in the Ruins area.
🤿Fixed an issue where clients in a multiplayer session couldn’t trigger the signals for Camp One and Old Habitat.
🤿Fixed an issue where Tadpoles could become stuck if jumped above the surface of the water and onto ground there, such as a base roof above the water line).
Fixed the construction area of the Time of Day display being much larger than the object itself.
Fixed multiple issues with selection highlights and UI overlaps.
Fixed some base objects not being able to be placed diagonally in relation to each other.
Fixed some posters being unable to be placed adjacent to each other.
🤿Fixed issue where decimal values were shown in base power HUD.
Fixed an issue where detaching the HAUL while a player is sitting in it causes spinning.
Fixed an issue where Tadpole Pens NOA dialog options persisted after completing the conversation.
Fixed issues where the audiolog playback button was inaccessible on controller.
Fixed missing impact and bounce when Hammerhead impacts something.
Fixed an issue where Utilities could be placed inside of Room walls.
🤿Fixed an issue where players would get stuck in the initial Biobed if they lost network connection during the initial print at the start of the game.
Fixed an issue where child accounts on Microsoft with cross-network permissions set to Blocked would see a broken Friends List UI.
🤿Fixed an issue where detaching and reattaching a carryable Utility to a detached Scout Ray chassis caused the chassis to spin uncontrollably.
Fixed “Some settings are not applied yet” message appearing incorrectly.
Fixed an issue where graphics settings might not be applied if they were changed immediately after selecting a new Graphics Quality preset.
🤿Fixed Scanner Station indicating nonexistent resource nodes.
🤿Fixed flickering light appearing on the edges of some windows.
Prompt to get out of chairs and beds no longer says “Let Go.”
🤿Fixed flickering seen on the World Tree when Shadow quality was set to High.
🤿Fixed an issue where Tadpoles left in a specific area near the Observatory became inaccessible.
🤿Fixed several typos.
Fixed an issue where “Scanner Required” voice over would play repeatedly when a client in a multiplayer session attempted to collect resources with a full inventory.
Fixed an issue where Blackbox signal names did not update to new language when the game’s language setting was changed.
Fixed an issue where the Shiver Leviathan was unable to attack players attached to vehicles or Utilities.
Fixed an issue where Global Illumination changing via the Run Hardware Benchmark option didn’t trigger the message to restart the game.
Fixed an issue where, in the ghost/draft for the Dive Elevator, the pipe portion ignored world objects, causing clipping once the Dive Elevator was built.
🤿Fixed an issue where partially deconstructing, then reconstructing a Biobed would change it to the free-standing variant.
Fixed an issue where the disabled building notice didn’t appear for clients in a multiplayer session after they crossed the orange fence.
Fixed an issue where Bioreactor would consume fuel immediately, even if set to Off.
Fixed some tools showing water-related VFX when in non-water places.
Fixed misalignment in Foureye attack, which created hitbox issues.
Added missing first time equip animation for Feedback Resonator.
Updated out-of-date icon for Feedback Resonator in scanning process.
Added icon and Databank entry for Modification Station.
Fixed Bloom infestations showing up with an Alterra logo on the Scanner Station.
🤿Replaced placeholder icon on Improved Fins in-progress blueprint.
Fixed missing prompt for Deconstruct Mode in Habitat Builder.
Fixed awkwardly worded interaction prompts that didn’t specify what the player was interacting with.
Removed misleading prompts on some Utilities that suggested they needed to be built in relationship to a wall or floor.
Fixed an issue where Power Transmitter beams could appear and disappear at random.
Atacamite can no longer be harvested with a Sonic Resonator.
Fixed an issue where changing a Signal’s color wasn’t reflected in the Signal Manager menu.
Fixed an issue where entering a Tadpole after firing at a Bloom Canker with the Feedback Resonator would result in the Canker not being destroyed.
Added non-placeholder image in the Grow Bed Databank entry.
Fixed inconsistency in Slug categorization.
🤿Fixed an issue where the client in a multiplayer session could have their camera get stuck inside the starting Biobed.
Replaced placeholder Alterra icon on Carryable Rack blueprint fragments.
Replaced incorrect icon for Freesia Flower in Blueprints.
Fixed redundant Power Transmitter beams appearing for multiplayer clients.
Fixed Flare Databank entry being unlocked by the wrong scannable object.
Fixed units of measurement going unlocalized.
Fixed the Collector Leviathan’s shockwave working incorrectly in multiplayer.
Fixed name overlap when pinging a chassis attached to a Tadpole.
Replaced placeholder icon for HiHat in Scanner and Databank.
🤿Fixed issue where circles of light could be seen in base surfaces if a base was built in Anemone Hills.
Fixed issue where Beacon names renamed by clients in a multiplayer session would not display the updated name.
Fixed Hammerhead attacks on players using the wrong VFX.
Fixed issue where audiologs could appear uncollected if the player retrieved the log, swam away from the area, and then returned to the area.
Added missing animation for Foureye.
Fixed an issue where outlines on base objects wouldn’t always show.
Fixed inconsistencies in player markers in multiplayer.
Fixed an issue where the obstruction indicators wouldn’t always show when building bases.
Fixed an issue where base object ghosts were invisible to multiplayer clients experiencing high network latency.
Fixed an issue where rejecting a game invite would prevent the player from receiving new invites.
Corrected brightness of Electric Geordie VFX.
Fixed player clipping through Tadpole turbine.
Fixed an issue where some Facilities ghosts wouldn’t align themselves to the user during construction.
🤿Fixed the horizon line and sky flickering.
Fixed an issue where a Hydroelectric Turbine built outside a water current wouldn’t play its spin animation once moved into one, at least for multiplayer clients.
Fixed an issue where placing a ping on an object 150m away from the player would result in that ping actually placing 500m away.
Fixed level of detail issue for the Old Habitat.
Fixed an issue where two Epicureans could share a Tongue Thief.
🤿Fixed an issue where Habitat Beacons would remain and be indestructible after Deconstructing, Shrinking, or Refunding a base.
Fixed inappropriate lighting in the scan tunnel at the start of the game.
Fixed controller accessibility highlight persisting after exiting Settings.
Fixed an issue where Pneuma would appear to be a Halfmoon at long distances.
🤿Fixed an issue where Tailing Jars would have inconsistent sizing when placed in a room.
🤿Axum Bacterial Culture is now scannable.
🤿Fixed placing ladders in a sequence on top of each other, which was previously very hard to do.
Fixed signal of a chassis attached to a Tadpole staying in one spot after saving and loading the game.
Deepwing Egg Clump is now scannable.
🤿Fixed Hanging Tailing Jar ghost not representing the item’s actual size when manipulating the item in Move Mode.
Fixed overlapping between signals of Tadpole and its chassis.
Fixed corrupted visuals on tools when panning the camera while DLSS was active.
Added error message when attempting to dock a Tadpole in a dock already occupied by another Tadpole.
Added missing voice line when using Scanner Station for the first time.
Fixed player character clipping through Dining Chair and associated animation issues.
Fixed contextual visual issues on Dive Elevator.
Fixed sudden lighting change when swimming deeper in the opening area.
Added missing light sources in Shallows.
🤿Fixed sudden lighting change in one of the colonist bunkers.
🤿Fixed artifacting and flickering on clouds.
Fixed gas giant not matching the sky.
Fixed an issue where some UI would be visible before selecting a character, if invited to a game at the start of its session.
🤿Fixed an issue where batteries could be fully recharged and duplicated by saving and loading the game via an interaction with the battery reload system.
Fixed an issue where saving and loading the game right after refunding a base, and without closing the pause menu in between, would prevent the base resources from being refunded.
Fixed an issue where Bloom Parasite’s poison damaged players while they were in a Tadpole.
Fixed an issue where light sources would appear on rocks that shouldn’t be accessible to that light source.
Fixed an issue where Pressure Tolerance wasn’t shown in the Databank in Creative Mode.
Fixed an issue where Battery and Power Cell Terminals would charge and drain in Creative Mode (where power is not required).
🤿Fixed an issue where player character would A-pose if a Flare was thrown prior to the Lifepod launch sequence.
Fixed an issue where Marrowbreach could vibrate while swimming.
Fixed an issue where Hydroelectric Turbine’s propeller would spin when it wasn’t in a current.
Fixed noisy shadows on the player character’s body/suit.
Fixed overly strong lighting inside Lifepod during night.
Fixed an issue where lit Flares would be consumed while the player drove a Tadpole.
Fixed an issue where Rebreather clipped into the character’s mask.
🤿Fixed an issue where Unstuck wouldn’t work if the player was in a Tadpole.
🤿Fixed an issue with Basic First Aid Kit clipping into the player’s hands.
Fixed an issue where the player could become trapped inside Tadpole after detaching the chassis, backing up, and attempting to exit the Tadpole.