May 2015 | Issue 49 Sneak Peek – Waterworld Redux

Year Two keeps on chugging with our latest installment of The Indie Game Magazine !

! Mankind has often dreamed of building cities on the ocean floor. But what would it be like to be forced to survive under the water? This month we feature Subnautica , an under water experience like none other. Don’t miss our exclusive coverageas we dive into the depths of what makes this alien water world so appealing.

Then, join us as we revive and rejuvenate the MMO scene. We’ve got the inside scoop on Revival , a project that mixes current and forgotten MMO mechanics into something original. Fans who have been looking for MMOs to try something new, while paying respects to the classic staples now taken for granted as amenities, will want to take a look.

I’d like to welcome any and all who are considering subscribing to the Magazine. If you’re on the fence about the quality of IGM, and whether 12 awesome issues are worth your hard-earned $29.99, don’t miss out on the IGM Humble Bundle, running from April 30 – May 6, as it’s your chance to pick up two issues of IGM for absolutely free. If that’s still not enough to whet your appetite (sheesh, a guy has to make a living, people!), please enjoy our May issue’s sneak peek, plus a snippet of our Cover Story:

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In Subnautica, the crafting station that players initially have access to in their damaged escape pod is known as the Fabricator. It is here where players build their very first survival tools. At the start of the game, the player can’t travel very far, due to a certain lack of readily-available oxygen underwater. Further hampering their progress are the dangerous types of sea life lurking not too far outside the perimeter of the pod. Lastly, another crucial hindrance is the relatively slow speed at which the protagonist can swim. To solve this issue, the game encourages some early crafting materials like fins/flippers and oxygen tanks. Flippers increase the speed players can swim at, while oxygen tanks obviously increase the amount of time players can spend outside the escape pod. For each oxygen tank crafted and used, the player earns an additional thirty seconds of scuba time. Tanks can be stacked, so as not to take up additional inventory space, so using a bunch at once won’t waste any time off the clock.

There are a variety of materials already available in the Early Access build, each of them found in different areas. Obviously, the more valuable materials are more difficult to obtain, placed in areas that are either hard to reach, or otherwise present dangerous obstacles between the player and their prize. The most typical early crafting supplies needed – in order to make things like flippers, oxygen tanks, and knives – include metal and sand. Both raw materials can be found almost anywhere along the ocean floor, and this is what the player will be primarily searching for at the start of the game. Slowly, as the player becomes more equipped to venture further outside the initial confines of their escape pod area, inventory management will become an issue. Fortunately, storage cubes can also be crafted using metal, which can then house collected materials not yet needed for crafting, or to simply lighten the inventory when planning for longer trips.

As always, below you’ll find a look at our May cover, plus a breakdown of our featured content:

Also Featured this Month : Warhammer 40k: Regicide . Check out our interview with Hammerfall Publishing, detailing what it’s like to work on one of the most popular fantasy series in the world. We’ve got the inside scoop on what players can expect from Regicide ‘s story-driven campaign, penned by a celebrated Warhammer author, plus some insight into what makes the series so enduring across games, books, and more.

Reviewed this Month : Dyscourse , KYN, Nightbanes, Ori and the Blind Forest , Toren, White Night

Previewed this Month : Armed with Wings: Rearmed, Greedy Guns, Legends of Eisenwald, Mayan Death Robots

Extended Previews this Month : Brock Crocodile, GameGuru

Indie Ads this month :