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Context ShoutOut / Subnautica

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1The oceans of 4546B are loaded with a surprisingly large amount of references.
2(''Work in Progress.'')
3----
4* The Sea Emperor and Sea Dragon Leviathan have characteristics of some of ''Film/PacificRim'''s Kaiju.
5* Cave Crawlers, found in [[spoiler: the entrance area of the crashed Aurora]], the Underwater Islands, the Dunes biomes, and on the surface biomes behave similar to ''VideoGame/HalfLife''’s Headcrabs, both being four-legged creatures that jump to attack the protagonist. They also look similar to the spider creatures from ''Film/LostInSpace'', both having circular bodies, being hostile to the protagonist, and [[spoiler:inhabiting a derelict habitation ship]].
6* The Water Filtration Suit is a reference to the Stillsuit from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', both having the same purpose (to reclaim moisture from the user and convert it to drinkable water). They even shared a name when the former was first introduced.
7** The Thumper also references (and resembles) a well-known piece of Dune tech, with identical functions of distracting large, subterranean worm creatures.
8* The Crashfish behave similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}''’s Creepers, both attempting to damage the player by exploding.
9* The achievements contain a few:
10** "Fourteen Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", awarded for finding the Primary Containment Facility, is obviously one to ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea''.
11** "40-foot Sub For One", awarded for building a Cyclops submarine, sounds like an order you might place at any Subway fast food restaurant.
12* For a different kind of ShoutOut, the game's developers have done a couple for people who've made popular Lets Plays of the game, including WebVideo/JackSepticEye; when they first introduced an energy-efficiency upgrade for the Cyclops, the description included a literal ShoutOut saying “just for you, Jacksepticeye", since he had often said that the Cyclops' energy ran down too quickly. They've even made a specially-designed Hull Plate with Jack's motif in honour of him (among other people).
13** They later included Jack's Septic Tank, which is his channel mascot in a jar (clicking on it makes it quote Jack in an incredibly high-pitched voice) and the Unusual Doll, which is literally just a WebVideo/{{Markiplier}} bobblehead that says lines from his videos when clicked.
14* There's a type of plant called the [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory Violet Beauregarde]].
15* The Exosuit is officially called the P.R.A.W.N. Suit Mark III. ''Film/District9'', anyone?
16** Also, P.R.A.W.N stands for Pressure [=ReActive=] Waterproof Nanosuit. ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' called, they want their name back.
17* The Propulsion Cannon heavily resembles the [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 Gravity Gun]], from its prong-tipped appearance to its function of picking, holding and launching loose objects.
18** The objects being held by a visible beam as well as having a slight delay before being moved in front of the player also bring to mind the Gravity Gun's iterative forebearer, the [[VideoGame/GarrysMod Physics Gun]].
19* Reaper Leviathan. Is it really a coincidence that the species happens to share its name with two of [[Franchise/MassEffect a certain video game series']] most powerful species?
20* The Crabsquid's noises are remarkably similar to those [=MUTOs=] from ''Film/Godzilla2014'', to the point where fans of both struggle to distinguish between them by ear.
21* After repairing the Communications Array, you'll start to receive radio logs from other Lifepod survivors. One such log comes from a person listed as Second Officer Keen, one of the bridge crew serving on the Aurora. However, when thinking of 'second officer' in the naval sense, that would make him a commander... which in turn means he's also known as VideoGame/CommanderKeen.
22** Likewise, additional PDA reports show that Second Officer Keen was trying to contact the Captain of the Aurora before it exploded. We don't find out the captain's first name, but he's referred to as [[Series/RedDwarf Captain Hollister]].
23* According to a page on the developer's Trello board (a message-board site for the creative team to help delegate tasks), the colorful Bulb Bush plants were apparently [[https://trello.com/c/X5ls8kT8/6241-change-koosh-bush-name inspired by]] Hasbro's popular [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koosh_ball children's toy]], hence why they [[WritingAroundTrademarks shared the same name in early development]].
24* The only thing the PDA has to say about the [[spoiler: orange Precursor artifact]] is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI "It's a secret to everybody."]]
25* The Sand Shark bears a slight resemblance to [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon Toothless.]]
26* In what is perhaps coincidental or perhaps deliberate considering their releases overlap (due to ''Subnautica'' being in early access so long,) Creator/KimStanleyRobinson happened to write a book named ''Aurora'' which was also about humans landing on a mostly aquatic alien planet [[spoiler: and many of them dying to a previously undetectable alien contaminant.]]
27* There used to be an Easter egg in which the player would receive a radio message with the text [[Music/RonnieJamesDio "You've been down too long in the midnight sea. Oh don't you see what I mean?"]]
28* There are a whole bunch of shoutouts to another game by the same group of people - Natural Selection. This includes a toy Gorge and a few other minor similarities in addition to [[spoiler: the HUGE giveaways of the Alterra Corporation and the Kharaa bacteria. These turn out not to be shoutouts at all, but hints to the developer-confirmed theory that Subnautica and Natural Selection actually take place in the same universe. Bet you didn't see that coming!]]
29* The background music of the Mesmer's hypnosis effect comes from the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V02WZvLE_R0 Ratfinks, Suicide Tanks, Cannibal Girls]] by [[Music/RobZombie White Zombie]].
30* Phasegates and the capital-sized ships required to construct them are likely a reference to the Farcaster tech used in the [[Literature/HyperionCantos Hyperion]] novels.
31* The Pengwings from ''Below Zero'' appear to be named after Creator/BenedictCumberbatch's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GnLDJAgrws infamous pronunciation of the word "penguin."]]
32* Inside Outpost Zero is a music disc of [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} "Still Alive"]].
33* The Noot Fish bears resemblance to WesternAnimation/{{Pingu}}, especially when it opens it's mouth. Its name even appears to reference the titular penguin's iconic phrase.
34* Several recordings in Sector Zero mention a game the Alterra employees are playing called "Alien Intruder"; judging from the rules pamphlet you can find, it sounds a lot like a combination of ''TabletopGame/Werewolf1997'' and a tabletop version of ''Videogame/AmongUs''.
35** The latter of which is a ShoutOut in itself to ''Film/TheThing1982'', which also concerns scientists at a polar research base coming into contact with an intelligent alien lifeform.

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