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11 Coral Gardens
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33 The Coral Gardens is a biome on Planet Zezura in Subnautica 2. It features extensive coral reef formations and is one of the larger biome areas on the planet, with at least two identified sub-biomes: Dolerite Spires and Graveyard Spires. The biome name was discovered by community members who spotted file names visible in the background of a dev vlog video.
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55 Sub-biomes
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77 File names from the dev vlog footage revealed two sub-biomes within the Coral Gardens:
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910 Sub-BiomeWhat the Name SuggestsDolerite SpiresTall, columnar rock formations made of dolerite, a type of dark igneous rock formed from cooling magma. The name suggests dramatic vertical terrain with dark-colored geological pillars rising from the seafloor amid coral.Graveyard SpiresThe "graveyard" designation suggests an environment featuring the remains of large creatures, skeletal structures, or ancient formations among spire-like rock columns. This could be a darker, more foreboding section of the Coral Gardens.
1011 These names come from development file names and may not represent final naming. The sub-biome structure suggests the Coral Gardens is a diverse environment with distinct zones rather than a uniform coral field.
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1213 Environment design
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1415 Dev Vlog 2 ("Building Unknown Worlds") showcased the environmental design process for Zezura's biomes. Senior Environment Artist Ben Hale and his team use custom tools to create natural-looking terrain:
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1617 MeshBlend: A custom tool that eliminates visible seams where 3D assets meet, creating seamless transitions between coral formations and rock surfaces. Hale described the tool as "black magic."Tufa Kit pipeline: A specialized pipeline built with Substance Designer and ZBrush for creating realistic rock formations. Individual rock assets can reach nearly one million polygons for ultra-detailed seabeds.
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1819 Like all biomes on Zezura, the Coral Gardens is entirely handcrafted rather than procedurally generated. Level Designer Artyom O'Rielly stated: "Each zone is thought through and designed by hand." Every terrain feature, resource node placement, and creature spawn point is deliberately positioned by the development team.
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2021 Comparison to previous games
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2223 The original Subnautica featured the Grand Reef, a deep biome with coral features at 120-480 meters depth. The Coral Gardens appears to be a distinct environment on a different planet with its own alien coral species, not a recreation of the Grand Reef. Below Zero also featured coral zones in its Lily Pad Islands and Purple Vents biomes.
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2426 What remains unknown
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2628 Depth range and placement in Zezura's progressionSpecific creatures inhabiting the biomeUnique resources available in the Coral GardensWhether the Blight affects this biomeVisual details of the alien coral speciesSpecific differences between the Dolerite Spires and Graveyard Spires sub-zones