Obsidian Entertainment's early access title Grounded is getting its largest content update planned yet. Obsidian announced back in July that Grounded will get monthly updates up until the full release. This month, developers have announced that the update will take a little more time, however, a public playtest opens today for all players.
Although the content update has been delayed, Grounded Creative Director Adam Brennecke has shared details surrounding the next update and what the future holds for Grounded. There is a lot of content planned for future updates and Brennecke shares the unique challenges of creating new creatures, features, and a cohesive backyard environment.
Following the Grounded's September update, the next one will expand on landmarks and creatures. The koi pond will be an added body of water occupied by koi fish, tadpoles, water boatmen, and diving bell spiders. Spiders may very well be the most terrifying creature in Grounded, but currently, players can seek safety from spiders in water. Adam Brennecke shares the thought behind adding spiders that can swim, saying, "I think that's a fun little thing, almost to tease the player. We don't want them to feel safe in the pond--not only with the big koi fish, but just with the spiders."
Interactions with water and hostile creatures will also be tweaked in the next update. Brennecke shares that hostile water creatures must be balanced because the player is not only fighting a creature, but also dealing with losing oxygen. The next update is expected to add water equipment like breathing apparatuses and will add oxygen bubbles dropped from defeated creatures. That way, if a player is battling a terrifying spider underwater, defeating it will grant some much-needed oxygen.
Updates have added many interesting creatures, including a crow and water fleas, with many more listed on the Grounded roadmap. Creatures such as roly-polys, fireflies, mosquitos, and bees are all planned to be added in the future. Brennecke shared what developers consider when creating new creatures and the challenges they face.
Brennecke says, "We have a big, crazy chart of how all these insects interact with one another. So we also try to look at it in terms of how do they interact with the plant life? How do they interact with each other? Do they have a natural predator that we could have? That's how we approach it."
Bees may be included in the next update and have been a major focus of development. Grounded developers want to have hostile flying creatures with unique attacks, however, the speed and movement of flying creatures present a challenge to maintain a smooth experience. Along with adding creatures, Obsidian developers are also hard at work developing a storyline for Grounded so players will have a deeper experience in the backyard. Grounded has not announced when the update will release, but it is expected in the next coming months.
Grounded is in Early Access for PC and Xbox One, and will launch for Xbox Series X on November 10.
Source: GameSpot