MaverickSTS wrote:I don't know if it really needs a backstory beyond humanity's instinct to explore. We don't explore our current oceans in order to find a cure for a disease or fix some major problem, we do it simply out of natural curiosity. It wouldn't be any different on another planet, we'd want to see what's down there too.
But we didn't establish much in term of oceanic colonies, did we? Especially under the ice crust of another planet. Moreover, if it was simply about getting a look, a drone could suffice. I suspect
Barotrauma's installations are kind of a big, costly thing, requiring heavy reasons.
In my opinion, humanity's main driving instinct is greed!
We'd have europan colonies because of some economically interesting resources down there. Probably the "fish": even if they're not edible due to differing biochemistry, they can probably be processed into interesting substances. (And really, apart from them, I can only see ice, water, and possible traces of exotic elements in the water. Not much.)
Another line of thought is linked to the credibility of the ecosystem: sunlight doesn't penetrate the ice, oceanic vents are a looooooong way down... and yet leviathans thrive. There may be some organic scraps that float up to the ice instead of sinking to the bottom, but even then, I'm unsure this would be sufficient to feed the giants implied by the game description. From an external viewpoint, that's suspect; but
what if scientists in-universe had no idea either? We'd have a situation where life seemingly stumbled upon a way to either gather absurd amount of energy from almost nothing, or found some unknown material or phenomenon extremely energy-rich. In these conditions, of course research grants for even ridiculously expansive proper on-site research stations would flow: industrials and the military are anxious to know what power the subglacial european ecosystem, and if it can be put to use for their own purpose.
That being said, an extensive background is only useful if it is hinted at in-game, and I think it should be judged on these merits. What matter is if the forged concepts lead to a better gameplay, the rest is of secondary importance.
In regards to the notions I mentioned, fish is extremely important, both as a marketable resource and because crucial scientific discoveries may be hidden in them somewhere. Consequently, ways to capture, study and treat specimens would figure prominently in the submersible, which hints at, say, net-equipped divers, internal aquarium, labs (both for research and to extract chemicals from animals), an internal fauna database...
The "potential for revolutionary energetic discovery" would also be an explanation for all these traitors around: classic dystopian corporation struggles.
