ReteroX

And here I am, utterly impressed by the frequency with which the art depicts many of the elements that were used to craft most items. I was very impressed when I noticed the sap lining the inner face of the bandage, and similarly impressed with most of the weapons and armour. Are the crafting costs perfect? No. Should gameplay and character progression be sacrificed at the altar of realism? I don't think so. Grounded is already a little unrealistic from the the outset. Whilst I agree that some recipes could be improved, I really don't think it's an issue, and from what I have played, I trust Obsidian's judgement when it comes to the progression and pacing. My only gripes so far is that I think Berry Leather should have to be dried on a Jerky Rack to be used, but that would slow the game down a lot, and so once more I defer to Obsidian for their experience in designing meaningful avenues for player progression.

There you go! I like reading about different insects, I suppose that's part of why I love this game so much. A repurposed tree stump with a mound inside/atop it could work. I didn't even picture that initially, but that could look awesome. Any other ideas for termites?

I would love to see new locations, but I don't know if that falls within the scope of the core game. If anything, I expect would be an expansion, but I'm happy to be proven wrong. Out of curiosity, what makes termites a bad fit for Cali? Google is under the impression that termites are all over California, but of course, I'm relying on it here. That actually brings up a good question; I wonder if Obsidian will ever tell us where the Grounded backyard is set; it would be cool to know.

I couldn't find it in search, but maybe I just suck at searching, so... I would love to see a termite mound/tower (depends on the species unless you feel like bending the rules a touch) that is heavily defended and can be entered after scaling the exterior and clearing a guarded entrance at the top. The idea would be to implement a dungeon that has multiple levels that have elements of randomisation in layout, resources available, and enemy spawns/types. The dungeon could introduce a new enemy type: Termite, with various classes: Workers, Soldiers, Kings, and Queens. The different classes could be visually distinguishable, like the ants, and have different attacks and behaviours. One of the key factors that would determine your success would be resource management. Players would have to take adequate weapons, armour, food, water, and crafting supplies in order to survive, as the levels might only contain scarce resources to ease the descent. Enemy design could force players to use archetypes: there could be a class of termite that spits digestive fluid from high perches or tunnels that are initially inaccessible to players, and would require a dedicated archer to dispatch them. Some termites might have a tougher exoskeleton, and be almost impervious to arrows; I'm sure there is a wellspring of potential here. The ultimate goal, would be to rid the backyard of the Termite Queen, which could even have further reaching impact on the region around the dome/tower, resulting in a diminished number of hostile termites foraging the area. You could even make termite raids, that target player buildings for the materials, which slowly increase in frequency unless the monarch is destroyed. Termites could be a tougher, perpetually hostile tougher to ants; combined with the decision to exclude creating a "Termi-nator" perk for increased damage against termiees, Obsidian could keep Termites as a real threat, even as the player progresses. New Burg-L quests could also revolve around clearing small termite fortifications that pop up around the main nest and threaten to spill out into the surrounding regions. Even after clearing the tower, a new brrod might take hold a week later, and so the struggle might start anew. I love end-game content in games, and the potential of an encroaching enemy could reintroduce the danger that well-equipped players will inevitably forget as they progress. I have been pondering this for a while, and it's likely not am original thought, but I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on it. Update 1: Killing the Termite Queen might award the players with a large number of Termite Digestive Fluid which can be used to build a new type of reinforced mud structures that are costly, but very durable. Killing regular termites might occasionally reward players with a small amount of the resource.

I would like to add that the reported Haze affect UI bug (where it stays after leaving the area of effect) has happened to my wife on PC; she was a client. Just in case you needed more info. I didn't happen to me, tho host.

Unrealistic_Dan has a point, we should see of Obsidian can implement a spawn inhibitor function that stops grass from regrowing if it would collide with a building. It really shouldn't be hard to do, as long as it only checks once per spawn timer.

I'm not sure to be honest, I was just brainstorming. No doubt there is a species of leech that is smaller than the average... Leech size... Edit: So apparently leeches of the class(infraclass apparently) Euhirudinea are roughly 1cm in size, so approximately 1/7th to 1/8th the size of a baseball. If you stretch the truth a little, you could make them a touch smaller, or even just include mostly juveniles. I tend to start from a gameplay perspective first when I design things; for me, I want something else that could swim and maybe even have some limited ability to move around on land. I also wanted it to be uniquely dangerous, perhaps it could apply a debuff such as bleeding with a specific attack animation, which would deal damage over time unless a bandage was used, or something to that effect. The more interwoven the game's enemies, mechanics, and items become, the richer the experience. Grounded is already a rich setting, it can only get better.

Seems to happen to both host and client too.

This is a point of contention for me. So far, I feel like most insects don't push it too far, however, some attacks have more allowance than others. Most insect attacks are well telegraphed, which is honestly understated design in modern games. I do however, have the opposite problem with the Bombardier Beetles; I was able to kill one a couple of nights ago with my fists (Lil Fist) by walking around it and occasionally sprinting for a second when it caught up with me. I would love to see an answer to this exploit, perhaps with some bigger insects standing tall and hitting the ground to kick up dust and slow player movement speed - just an idea. So far, I don't have much to complain about but I always like more attack variations in games like this with a dynamic sandbox.

I agree that most people are drawn to open world games because of their very nature, but my wife is an example of someone that doesn't like to play without a clearly defined goal. The quests have been the greatest motivation for her so far. To that end, let's see more quests! Multiple step quests would be awesome too.

I totally agree that the focus of the game should primarily be around the smaller creatures. I like to think that the crow is more of a reference for scale and an opportunity to spook new players. I hope if they do make it a dynamic part of the game, that the interaction is largely limited to fleeing from it for cover. I would like to see many more bugs added (leeches come to mind) but I understand that it's a lot of work designing, concepting, modelling, rigging, texturing, animating, programming, testing, etc.

This is a cool idea. More options are never a bad thing, but on the other hand, a hand-crafted experience is often intended to create a consistent world and atmosphere. Some of Grounded's charm comes from the inherent danger of the world, that is of course excluding creative, which I would argue is not really the full game because it only uses a few of it's systems. I guess it all really comes down to what Obsidian want people to experience. More control over the user experience is often well received, but there are arguments to be made for the importance of the purposely designed "barriers" that help keep the tiers of weapons and armour relevant in the context of the sandbox.

The bow fixes itself between loads, it's just annoying when it randomly bugs.

Joining the #NoTaming team. I think part of the magic of Grounded's world is that the world itself is alien to us, and the feeling of danger, even of it is just the potential of it is part of the atmosphere. I strongly feel that taming, at least of anything larger than an Aphid or Gnat would subtract from the setting.

I like the idea of cumulative losses in quality, but it does add another layer of it code for the game to worry about. I don't know what the best solution would be, but having basic items simply delete themselves could be good if they take that route; it certainly beats having to trash them myself. That said, being able to craft a new item by double-clicking on the broken one would be awesome. That way you could keep the broken item system and make the first tier items essentially have to be fully rebuilt and it would be quick and easy.