The official launch of Subnautica: Below Zero is right around the corner, complete with the PC version coming out of Early Access and finished versions coming to console. However, with all of the improvements that have come since being Below Zero was ntroduced in Early Access and during development of the original title, there are still some quality of life features that players continue to turn to mods for.
While it's certainly too late for every single one of the most popular mods for Subnautica: Below Zero to be integrated into the game on release, some of these community ideas can still be implemented down the line. Additionally, the popularity of some of these enhancements among the community doesn't exactly mean that they work in line with the experience that developer Unknown Worlds wants for its creation.
Maps
Looking at the most popular mods available to players on PC on Nexus Mods, the map stands out as one of the most popular additions to both Subnautica and its sequel. The map mod is the third most downloaded mod for the original, and the second most downloaded for the sequel with only a select few mod companions rising up to the same numbers. So, it goes without saying that both returning and new players would love to see an official map appear in-game through more legitimate means of developer Unknown Worlds' own doing.
This implementation doesn't necessarily even have to take the form of the easy to use "Fog of War" method that the most popular mod uses, where the map is immediately built into the PDA and uncovers as the player travels. In order to keep in line with Subnautica's fragment scanning and upgrade building methods for the game's progression, the map could be an unlockable that players earn partway through the game. The point is, however, that traversal is already difficult and confusing enough as players have to run on memory or self-placed beacons to find previously discovered locations, and a map can be a useful tool in the deeper biomes.
Vehicle Upgrades
There is a lot to pick apart when it comes to the different ways that modders have tackled different ways to improve vehicles in both the original game as well as Subnautica: Below Zero. From making the power storage available in Subnautica's Ion Power Cells available from early on in the game, to increasing the speed and crush depths of all vehicles well beyond how they were originally intended to be used. In the case of the upcoming sequel, the most popular upgrades often involve reducing the speed penalty for attaching modules to the Seatruck and the walking speed of the Prawn Suit.
While these upgrades are the type of thing that would make players happy to see, some of the simpler quality of life updates are what really need more attention. Smaller changes like giving vehicles like the Prawn Suit a scanner so the player doesn't have to leave and come back every time they run into a new discovery, which is what most of the game involves. Then, of course, this leads into one of the biggest hurdles for players to overcome in the form of storage, specifically the portable storage that can ease the hassle of collecting Subnautica's space consuming items like Fiber Mesh. At the very least, players are hoping to see some extended quality of life come to these vehicles like activating storage from the cockpit to cut down on some of the tedium of inventory management.
Portable Storage Spaces
So, the existence of portable storage equipment is a bit of a complicated issue in games like Subnautica where limited space acts as the primary deterrent from having players keep diving into caves forever. However, the solution that Unknown Worlds decided to go with in both games is to simply not allow players to pick up portable storage containers if they have anything inside of them. This essentially makes things like Waterproof Lockers and Carry-Alls about as useful as any other fixed storage locker, except they can be placed somewhat more freely.
There is a bit of a solution already built into Below Zero with the Quantum Lockers that all have a shared inventory, but that still only allows for a total of sixteen items to be quickly transported across the world. So, even with this being addressed in this way, it still feels strange to have portable storage units that don't have the same practical use that someone might expect from what looks like a duffle bag. It's naturally a difficult task to keep the survival aspect of titles like Subnautica while appeasing these fan complaints and Unknown Worlds has made a descent change in the upcoming squeal, even if fans and modders are still looking to press further.
Multiplayer
As mentioned before, the map mod stands as one of the most popular fan-made add-ons that players have downloaded from Nexus Mods for both Subnautica and the upcoming sequel Below Zero. However, the mod that stands as the number one most popular among the community is one that adds multiplayer to the first game, complete with fan-run servers to help connect people. So, if there's anything that players are looking to either come to the original or the sequel, it's some sort of multiplayer mode that allows them to discover the crushing depths of planet 4546B together.
This is obviously a much larger ask from an indie developer like Unknown Worlds than flipping some switch or writing a few lines of code and suddenly two players are sharing a connected world. Multiplayer, especially for a game as popular as Subnautica and its sequel, would require a massive online infrastructure to maintain the server load of players all logging in together. All that being said, the intense solitary environment and terrifying creatures of Subnautica and Below Zero are begging for a multiplayer experience to make the crushing loneliness more bearable as players cross reference their maps and dive deep into the ocean as a team.
Subnautica: Below Zero is set to release May 14th, for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.