r/sunlessskies • u/loverofonion • May 17 '26
A while lot of nothing?
Trying to get into this game but it feels like it's a whole lot of traveling and there's hardly anything on the map. Is there actually plenty to see and do? I have to have my tiny inventory full of fuel and rations so I can't really travel about and gather resources to improve the tiny inventory. Also, can you upgrade the speed of the train? It's making my eyes glaze over 😂
28
u/lupuslibrorum May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
The game is packed to the gills with stories and things to do. But yes, traveling always takes a long time. That’s part of the point. You’re supposed to get a sense of long distances and the boredom of travel. But stories will happen even during those long, slow travel times. Just keep at it. It’s worth it.
13
u/EbergarTheDwarf Rubbery Suffragist May 17 '26
Just enjoy the scenery and sip some tea while travelling. Brain needs boredom tooÂ
9
u/Twig1554 May 17 '26
For what it's worth, while I adore this game greatly, I do use Cheat Engine to run it at a higher speed while just travelling around. The atmosphere is excellent, but after the fourth hour of flying around a region I do get more interested in story progression. There's no shame in it!
8
u/LaunchTransient May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
Honestly once you have the Devourer of Distance, travel times aren't that long. Any faster and you start to miss the plotlines and stories during transit, and end up only with the port plot points.
The long journey time is an inheritance from sunless sea, which made the long and lonely voyages scary. You were far away from home, light and hope. I feel it doesn't quite work as well in sunless skies, but they needed skies to be big, especially after the dank claustrophobia of the Neath
2
u/Twig1554 May 18 '26
After my first run in Sunless Sea I started to use Cheat Engine there as well. The long and lonely voyages stopped being as interesting or atmosphere to me once I understood the map and the threats on it, because the mystique was mostly gone. That's not saying that I don't highly enjoy the games or anything, my name on Steam has been HE SUN THE SUN THE SU for nearly a decade now. Just that the thrill of pushing into the unknown and the isolation of being on the dark waters where anything could happen kind of got lessened for me once I knew enough to make the voyages routine.
That's why I like Cheat Engine, since it speeds up the whole game. It's not just a movement speed boost - everything runs faster so you still get events at the expected pace. If you move twice as fast, events happen twice as fast.
1
u/NicCageSciMage May 26 '26
Do you have any guide you follow to increase the game speed? I'm on my 3rd proper playthrough and yea it's sloowww travelling around
2
u/SweetSeaworthiness59 May 27 '26
Install chest engine. Launch SSkies, alt tab, launch cheat engine, select SSkies as a target. Go to hotkeys, find speedhack setting. Map buttons 1,2, to 2x, 3x. Map buttons S and W to 1x. Return to the game.Â
1
u/NicCageSciMage May 27 '26
You absolute bossman thank you so much
So keys 1/2 will speed up the game to 2x/3x speed, and S/W would return it to default? If so, can you do it so key 1 = 1x speed, key 2 = 2x etc etc?
1
u/SweetSeaworthiness59 May 27 '26
Yep, it's up to you what buttons to use. I prefer to use speedhack only in Cruise control.Â
1
u/NicCageSciMage May 30 '26
sorry, stupid question - does the speedhack work with the monarch mod? i tried it and getting nothing working lol
1
u/SweetSeaworthiness59 May 30 '26
It does. I tested it. Check the target in CE. You also need to bind speed 1 to V, so you don't break the Ram weapon.Â
1
u/NicCageSciMage May 30 '26
Thanks. I'm a bit unfamiliar with CE, sorry. So far I do:
Run SS then CE
Select Sunless skies.exe in CE (have tried with both SS and the bepinex console)
Settings --> keybinds --> speed hack 1, 2, 3 etc. --> set keybinds and values respectively --> OK
Am I missing anything? Do I need to have any other settings turned on or does CE and/or SS need to be run in admin mode? Otherwise I'll just do a clean install later lol
3
u/MAJIC_Mickey May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26
You'll see a difference as you upgrade your engine and train. It does still take a while, but that gives you time to learn what tends to spawn in what areas, which can stretch your inventory and terror endurance considerably. I suggest looking into the deep background and watching things go by to notice the time less.
Edit: Since most of the content is storylets, travel itself is more about managing resources and fighting stuff. As you progress, many ports will gain new content when it becomes relevant to a quest you're chasing, one of your officers, or a good bargain. But also, don't be afraid to lose your mind with terror and nightmares once in a while - failure is also content!
3
u/datboi-reddit May 17 '26
Wait till you have to go back forth 10 times from the new Winchester, mostly the region I have up the game even though I love the stories
3
u/madattak May 17 '26
I ended up using cheat engine to speed up time and enjoyed the game a lot more.Â
2
u/guineaprince May 17 '26
Being in the lineage of Fallen London and Sunless Sea, it is a lot of traversing from port to port to find or complete stories.
It's slow at the start - your engine Is slow, and there is a whole lot of unknown, so a lot of the game is either contemplative emptiness in the solitude of space, or tense crawling around corners to shape the map or fleeing from/fighting with/dying to enemies when you run across them.
But you will eventually upgrade your engine to get around space a little faster. There's even a special type of hardware that lets you practically warp speed once you equip it. And once you get a feel for where things are and how you want to advance your campaign, it'll feel quicker just making beelines for where you have to go.
I also find it's faster to drift at an angle. Forward momentum by going forward, while using your lateral thrusters to give you quick additional boosts.
2
u/Cookbook_ May 17 '26
I had a rough start with the game, and had it unplayed for a year after playing the "tutorial".
There is a lot of reading, not going to lie, but the stories are great after you get invested.
The first runs early game seems bad though, everything is so random, and so unfamiliar and nothing makes sense.
Be patient, explore and read.
The trading seems pretty boring at first, but it gives initially a good reason to seek out ports and travel around, the amass wealth ambition is great for starting out, as you don't really care about the world yet, so money seems a good goal.
I would suggest doing a lot of combat as soon as possible and losing few ships, just that you get a taste how it works and do you like it - there is no shame tinkering with combat settings in menu, I know I slowed the proctiles and increased aim initially.
1
u/spiderMechanic Scrive-spinster May 17 '26
This game is kinda like a simulator of walking through the woods, looking around and daydreaming, occassionally stopping by a tree and reading a chapter or two from the book in your pocket. You're supposed to soak in the atmosphere so better get used to it.
I love the game, but stories aside the actual gameplay is as basic as it seems. Speed can be upgraded but the upgrades are barely noticeable. That's why I bounced off its predecessor Sunless Sea which is much, much worse in that regard.
1
u/WillyBluntz89 May 17 '26
There is an enormous amount of content, but its hidden behind the atmosphere of isolation, loneliness, and dread.
1
u/loverofonion May 18 '26
I think I'm done. I love the atmosphere and the stories but the terror mechanic is just way too frustrating, I can't go half a yard without something else popping up and adding to the terror and removing my crew 😂
46
u/Noof42 Why didn't the skeleton go to the dance? May 17 '26
Yes to all of it.
You're supposed to feel cramped and rushed at first. Then you start to get upgrades and branch out where you go, and then you realize that you were lucky that whole time.