Gearhart

I like the idea of deflecting/hitting an attack away as well, but I don't think that can really be called "blocking." That's why the current block system makes no sense to me; if it's supposed to be a well-timed parry, why does it give you the option of holding it down? There's no visual indicator indicating that the block system is meant for this purpose; it would make far more sense for the timing aspect to be tied to the release of the block button, with a visual push animation to communicate that this is meant to deflect something.

You know, I learned a lot more about how spear combat work, and I'll have to edit my main post tomorrow to more accurately reflect actual spear combat and what teenagers with no former fighting experience would realistically be capable of (the short length of the pebblet spear actually does make sense, as longer spears are more difficult to wield with one hand, for example). I'll probably do that tomorrow. But for today, I gave some more thought to the combat system, and came up with a better way to rework it; First of all, charged attacks shouldn't auto-deploy after a set period of time; you should be able to hold your swing/stab in for as long as you want. Except with bows, because holding a bow in draw position takes effort. Also, a well times thrust of a spear should put a halt to most charge attacks, as well as deal significant damage as their own momentum works against them. Secondly, the block button should also be something you hold down to prepare. The animation could have you hold your weapon at a downward angle to your left. Releasing would swing your weapon at an upward angle to the right, uppercutting the enemy. This would more realistically deflect their attacks while still being a timing game. In fact, this would add another level of strategy to the game. This wouldn't stop charging attacks, but it would do damage in addition to knocking the enemy back. The hold down and release mechanic would also introduce a fun "baseball" game you could play with a friend, a pebblet, and a club.

What if you could drop raw meat to roast it?

My first thought when I saw the case we spawned next to was that we were from some sort of high tech human trafficking operation.

I like the auto collect arrows, but not the other auto-collect.

Huh. I'm able to do it just fine. My multiplayer game did start lagging heavily after awhile; I suppose building too large a structure puts too much strain on the system or something.

Hold up, are you telling me that you can't build at all in multiplayer?

What they should have done was make pebbles and quartzite work more like berries and human food

That wouldn't work for spiders. They'll just as soon eat each other as a prey. (Side note, when will that behavior get added?)

Do you have any idea how humongous a match would be to us?

Technically, there already is a nocturnal arthropod in the game; wolf spiders are nocturnal predators IRL, and the August update changed their sleep schedules to reflect this.

I think weapon proficiency should be postponed until they add more variety in weapon selection. As for stats, maybe instead of each character having their own advantages and disadvantages, each of them could have their own "Character perk" that starts at level one and improves as they do the things related to their perk. For instance: Max: "Scrapper" Reduced stamina cost for melee weapons. Higher tiers could unlock increased attack speed and/or damage. Levels up by swinging melee weapons Willow: "Resourceful" Gets more out of food, water, and bandages. Maybe torches and dandelion tufts would last longer as well. Higher tiers could unlock greater yield chances from harvesting (particularly useful for collecting insect parts) increased inventory space. Leveled up by foraging. Pete: "Crafty" Better durability on crafted items. Higher tiers could unlock reduced crafting costs (or a random chance of a material or two not being consumed in the crafting process) and learning more recipes. Leveled up by crafting. Hoops: "Sporty" Reduced stamina cost for running, jumping, and throwing. Higher tiers could unlock increased speed, higher jump height, and/or greater throw force (projectiles move faster, travel further, and do more damage) Leveled up by running, jumping, and throwing. The beauty of this system is that due to the way the perk system works, players can unlock other characters' perks the same way other perks get unlocked. The only difference would be that while character perks are always active for the character they are associated with, when other characters unlock them they are treated like regular mutations. That is, while Willow can have "coup de grass," "Grass Monster," and "Rock Cracker" active without needing to turn off her "Resourceful" perk, Pete would only be able to have "Grass Monster" and "Rock Cracker" active without needing to deactivate the "Resourceful" perk he unlocked from all his resource gathering.

A spear using a weed stem shaft would be at least as long as a gladiator spear: As a melee weapon, it would likely require both hands, which would change up how combat works, as explained in-depth here. An interesting fact about long, two-handed spears is that they are very useful against cavalry; that is, enemies charging at you on horses. This would translate well into fighting many of the arthropods in Grounded.

Fortunately, a praying mantis will likely ignore us; due to their large size, we'd be too small for it to consider for a meal. Plus, their eyes are designed to detect movement rather than color and shape, so we can always move slowly near it to avoid detection. Now, imagine if we were able to somehow lure a praying mantis to the frisbee in the hedge zone, and pit it against the brood mother.

How would a custom player even work? each of the 4 teens you play as have their own personalities, and with the introduction of perks in 0.2, the possibility of them getting unique perks in a future update isn't out of the question. Besides, character customization is only really important for MMOs where random strangers encounter one another; not co-op games. Left 4 Dead works just fine without character customization, despite all 4 characters having the same stats. They said they are working on implementing public/private servers. #notaming. I can see you manipulating a ladybug into carrying you around by dangling an aphid on a stick in front of it, but ladybugs don't have that big of an appetite, so that wouldn't work very well. And no way you're going to do that for a spider; it will turn on you the second you get off of them. Arthropods are heartless (literally; blood just sloshes around inside of them) creatures that know not love and kindness; only fear and hunger. Spiders will even eat one another. They are monsters.

What they ought to do is use the sleep mechanic as a reset switch; all creatures get deleted and respawn, plants regrow or grow bigger, loose dandelion tufts on dirt grow into new dandelions, etc. Perhaps they could also make stage models for grass and weeds regrowing from stumps and/or growing from the ground.

Actually, the devs are updating the AI to reduce the effectiveness of circle strafing, so dancing around the bugs to dodge their attacks won't be a viable strategy for long. Why the devs decided to nerf an intuitive and immersive strategy that requires gamesense, positioning, timing, and coordination, rather than the unintuitive and unimmersive strategy that only requires timing, is beyond me.

I really like the quartzite spear idea. I can see quartzite being used for a variety of tier 2 upgraded versions of existing tools. I'll be honest; I fail to see how insect carcases make for sturdier material than solid wood and stone. A longer spear would be a real game-changer combat-wise; you could use the length of the spear to prevent the enemy from closing the distance without running the risk of impaling themselves on the spear. I can also see weed stems being used to make longer "war" bows; their stiffness would make for high draw weight, and their length would require larger arrows for ammunition; perhaps even the size of pebblet spears. Frankly, I don't understand how our dinky sprig bow and thistle arrows are able to pierce anything with a hardened exoskeleton (ladybugs, ants, and weevils).

What's a secateur?

I was in the area north of the tropica punch where the ants, ladybug, and occasional weevil roam, and noticed bugs were getting stuck a lot. There was and ant stranded on the rock by the twig; an ant on a blade of grass, an ant on a blade of dry grass. I tried cutting the dried grass, but the ant remained suspended mid-air. I also found a ladybug stuck on top of the ice cap mint container. Basically arthropods keep spawning in locations with little space to move and no way down. On a more positive note, I noticed that the ant legs use animation sliders to adjust to uneven terrain, so all that's missing for arthropod climbing is the navigation AI.

I played yesterday, and one of the items that was an audio log (in the hedge field station) is now an invalid item. Also, the soda can in the hedge shows up as an "invalid landmark."

Assuming that the devs decide to code "packed" stems to physically interact with the world in the first place.

They'd be sideways going across (left to right). You may only be able to go through doors sideways, but it shouldn't put any strain on you, seeing as you can carry them in just one arm.

That's why I proposed the idea of pre-built, rolled up rope ladders (presumably made by the same people who made the labs) that you let down by interacting with them. That would essentially be a "checkpoint," much like the building ladder suggestion you proposed. Hauling building materials into the hedge is not only tedious, but also risky, due to the spiders, not to mention the number of areas you can't bring them to now because there's now way of walking there. This gave me an idea for a special device or BURGL upgrade that would basically add straps to your backpack that you can transfer hauled items to, so that you can swim, glide, and climb without dropping them.

A flaming arrow will be a very useful weapon in the new hedge zone: not for damaging enemies, per say, but for getting rid of spider webs. This would be particularly useful for that one web in the middle of the fist hedge zipline, as currently if it snags you you have to not only free yourself, but also float down with a dandelion and then climb your way back up to the line.