Hi everyone,
A quick update from the team. There are some issues that affect both PC and Console that progress has been made on since the last update, with some issues now progressing into testing by QA. I have them listed below, but please remember that this is not a full list of issues being tackled so if you don’t see an issue you have experienced / reported below it does not mean the team will not be addressing it.
Issues that are waiting for QA to verify as fixed:
- PC - Fixed game becoming stuck if P2 unassigns their controller.
- PS4/XB1/PC - Fixed game loading errors for players using a non-Gregorian calendar, eg: Arabic, Thai.
Issues currently working on:
- PS4/XB1/PC - Identified causes of some multiplayer disconnects. We’re working on repros and fixing causes as they are found.
I also received some questions for the team from @Santeria318 recently which had been compiled from questions they’d come across from both new and seasoned players of Stranded Deep (please seen their comment below for credit to community members for some of the questions on the list). I passed these questions on to Sam for answers and we decided to include them in this update so members of the community can read the answers here too. Thank you again Santeria318!
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What are the real-life inspirations for kura, quwawa, pipi, and ajuga?
We referenced a great resource called “Medicinal Plants in the South Pacific” by WHO Regional Publications. We looked at all of the real-world uses and picked plants that could be integrated into the game. -
What was the original intention of the Wavulavula plant?
At one point, we were thinking of adding some more player effects and buffs based on plants that have a hallucinogenic effect. Some of these effects would have been similar to “Eagle Vision” in Assassin’s Creed – the player would craft a consumable that would highlight all huntable animals or highlight all consumable food. This feature didn’t make it into the game. -
What has been the most challenging bug to fix?
There was a few days not long after release on Early Access that will be forever known as “Node Day”. It’s been a while since I’ve thought about it, but there were some unique scenarios with raft traversal between zones that could cause items to go missing or be owned by the wrong zone. A literal Bermuda Triangle. Most other issues are pretty standard; the most important thing is being able to reproduce them. The multiplayer bugs are the harder bugs to repro as there are so many external factors. -
Would Beam Team consider offering official MOD support?
We’ve considered integrating something like mod.io for better mod support, but I don’t think this will happen for SD1. -
Are the characters in SD based off someone in real life? Do the skeletons in shelters have names?
The characters are all fictional, but we do have a few internal names for characters – The pilot is “Collins”. The tiger shark is “George”. The great white is “Bruce”. -
Will a chat feature (text or voice) be added as a QoL update?
We don’t have any plans to add a dedicated chat feature. We considered this during multiplayer development and decided that the built-in first party chat systems work well on console and on PC most people use something like Discord. -
What SD content creators do you watch?
I don’t get as much time as I would like to watch SD content. The most recent series I followed was by Neebs Gaming. Their co-op dynamic was great and some of the most entertaining and enjoyable SD content I’ve watched. -
Who’s your favorite and least favorite boss? Meg, Abaia, Lusca? How is Abaia actually pronounced!?
Abaia is my favourite. I like the environment and character design. It’s such a grumpy chonk. I have no idea how to pronounce it haha. I personally pronounce it: Ah-bye-ah -
What other sea creatures did you consider before deciding on the squid shark and eel?
We workshopped an idea for another environment with a bear that would be stuck on a beached cargo ship. The scope of the environment was out of reach at the time. -
I have read that this was Beam Team’s first game. Is this true? if yes, did Stranded Deep Meet or Exceed your expectations?
It sure is. That’s a hard question and one I’ve been reflecting on a lot. Did it meet every one of our expectations? Probably not. The scope and potential of what the game could be is so huge and open-ended. But it was also only intended to be a first project for us—something to get our feet wet, learn from and grow. We’ve definitely done that. It has far exceeded any expectations we ever had with the way the community has supported us. I can’t wait to take everything we’ve learned into the next project. -
Out of general curiosity. What was the decision process of removing the overheating, monsoon, and ocean mechanic system from v0.06?
There was constant confusion around how to avoid or remove the sunburn and sunstroke status effects. We simplified the systems to reduce confusion. -
What was the biggest challenge you faced when designing Stranded Deep?
Easily the biggest challenge was making a game with no obvious enemies – enemy tribes, etc. This was a deliberate design decision, but I think it’s one of the biggest polarizing elements of the game and the game can be viewed as better or worse for it depending on what you like. -
If you could go back in time and change one mistake that was made. What would it be?
As a fresh team, we’ve made so many mistakes along the way. It’s hard to pinpoint just one, but if I had to, it would be when the console version split from PC. It has made consolidating changes and bug fixes across the different platforms more time consuming and difficult than it needs to be. It’s manageable, but we definitely won’t make this same mistake next time. -
What is next? Sequel? A new title?
I couldn’t say at the moment – it could be either. We have some great ideas and concepts for sequels and new IP. I would like to work on something with a different setting. -
Is the endless plane crash loop really the end? There are theories that the end of SD will be the beginning of a sequel.
The original idea was for this event to tie into future games and repeat, kind of like Groundhog Day as the world’s unluckiest survivor. You would escape from one scenario only to crash into the next. For now, we’ve left it as a plane crash paradox. -
Is Beam Team planning on developing a completely different game from Stranded Deep, if so any hints on what, timeline, and platform it’ll be developed for?
We’ve had a great experience developing for the major platforms. It’s been very valuable working with first parties and getting familiar with the different platform requirements, submission processes, etc. I think we will develop the next title for these platforms again and now we have a much better understanding of the limitations for each. No timelines or hints yet! -
Why is the rum gone? Hopefully you’ve seen Pirates
I’m sure it’s buried somewhere… -
What was the inspiration for Stranded Deep? Was the movie Castaway in your mind before development started or was it a clever afterthought?
Ben created the initial concept of surviving on a raft in a scary scenario which was released to Steam Greenlight. From there, it grew and changed and took more inspiration from the island theme. Castaway was always a big inspiration. -
May I have permission to share your answers?
Sure! Thanks for the great questions. [And we shared them here too -Clare]
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Thank you, as always, for your continued support while the team continues their work to resolve issues reported by the community. If you have an issue you wish to report, please do not hesitate to post them in the PC Bug Reports Section. Every piece of information shared by players is valued by the team and it can help the team in replication issues on their end so they can track down their causes. Though the team may not get to respond to every message posted, they do go through them all and greatly appreciate them.
Stay Alive!
-Clare
(AKA JUST ROB on YT) 
cool to see some real question’s from the community being answered (and not all about “when will this and that be fixed” 
).