Setting ambitious objectives is a great way to push yourself harder. Even if a high-jumper hits a high bar, they are likely to have jumped to a greater height than if they had set a conservative goal. That’s a good analogy for where the Subnautica development team is with the Cyclops today. We originally wanted to deliver you a massive submarine this week, but we haven’t quite completed sea trials yet. We’re not sure when it will be finished, but we think it’s very likely that the Cyclops will arrive in-game next week.

The Cyclops is a beast . Multiple decks, compartments, a docking bay for the Seamoth submersible: This is the big daddy of underwater transportation. At the moment, it is very close to being ready for prime time release. The 3d model is substantially ready, many animations are in and working, many gameplay elements work… But not all of it. We’re having some trouble with the damage system – Small collisions are causing complete flooding, and some components, like the Seamoth retrieval manoeuvre, are not working well enough yet.

Speaking of damage – Dealing with a hull breach on the Cyclops is… Well it’s just awesome. Hit something too hard, like the seabed, a rock formation or a large creature, and you risk bringing the ocean onto the wrong side of your hull. Alarms sound, warning lights activate, and the vessel AI gets quite upset. Only quick action to find and weld all the leaks can save the Cyclops from becoming a new reef for fish to explore.

Pretty much 100% of the team’s effort is going into the Cyclops right now, but some other stuff is being worked on too. Not all of it will make it into Update 9, but you can rest assured that lots of goodness is waiting in the wings. For example, there’s a new main menu coming, environmental hazards such as the Geyser have been improved, and huge new cave systems are almost ready for you to explore.

You can see exactly what we’re working on to get the Cyclops ready by visiting the development tracker on Trello. If you want to tinker with the Cyclops now, in its unfinished state, switch to Experimental branch on Steam. Get a newsletter when the Cyclops is ready to dive by signing up to the Subnautica mailing list.