Personal Thoughts and Suggestions

[Krumblebud]

     I bought Grounded a couple of days ago after watching some stream highlights of people being scared of the insects in the game. After putting a good twelve hours into the game I have more or less fallen in love with the game and its atmosphere and art style. The insects in the game have a ton of personality from the two different spiders different attack patterns and movement, to the tiny aphids getting startled if you walk too close. I can't speak for the story quite yet as there is not too much to digest however character interactions despite me personally feeling a tad annoyed and felt as if they took me out of the immersion have grown to appreciate them.  After becoming familiar with the games mechanics, I have thought of ways that may improve the experience and the atmosphere of the overall game.   

   My suggestions involve the player and how they interact with the world. If the player is fighting or being attacked by a insect there isn't much to do besides blocking or timing the parry just right, I feel that the player should have more agility to dodge attacks or possibly escape threats for example if the player sprints and crouches the character will slide for a short distance and then go back to running or crouching depending on the players current situation.

   Secondly when sleeping  hunger and thirst get reset to a significantly low amount when sleeping and personally I don't think it's very fair to punish the player for sleeping, I think a way to fix this is to either reduce the amount of hunger and thirst lost or add a effect that either adds temporary health to the player until its lost or some stamina reduction that lasts only a few minutes. something along the line of "Well Rested" etc.  

   Building in the game I feel needs some work, The u.i is pretty standard and easy to understand but has some kinks that need to be ironed out such as buildings floating as long as a blueprint is under that building. I also think the player should be allowed to use some of the landmarks in game for their builds for example the soda cans or juice boxes. Another nitpick is I personally think that floors should be unlocked to the player from the start of the game instead of being unlocked with raw science.  I also think that there should be more decorations to the game such as curtains made from berry leather or rug carpets made from gnat and mite fluff just to spice up building some more. 

   Insects in the game have a lot of personality already but in the games current state there isn't many ways to interact with the insects besides observing or fighting, I think being able to tame insects such as aphids or being able to pet an ant will add a lot of wonder to the game as you guys already nailed the fear factor. I also think cattle like insects should be added to help the player not just survive but thrive in this environment such as being able to farm silk from silk worms or being able to "milk" a caterpillar similar to how ants in real life do. 

   The yard is large and it seems like its only gonna get larger as the game gets updated. However traversing this landscape takes a really long time on foot. I think some mounts should be added in the game like flying on house flys or earning a garden lizard as your noble stead of sorts by fighting the mother and raising the egg up to adulthood where you can finally ride the lizard up walls or through the grass with relative ease.   

   Finally I think the house will make an amazing end game or final challenge of sorts for the game. You could avoid being stepped on or fight the rodents that infest the house walls such as large rats, roaches, and other unwanted house guests.    

   I have fallen in love with this game and would love to see it succeed, and I cant wait to see what you guys have in store for the future, and I hope you all have a fantastic day 

 

~Krumblebud (Christian)  

 

 

Edit: Two more things I just thought would help the game as well is a camera mode to take some killer screenshots, and the possibility to wear armor solely for cosmetic purpose, yet still be able to wear other armor and get their benefits.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2020 by Krumblebud

[McSquirl Nugget]

On 8/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, Krumblebud said:

Another nitpick is I personally think that floors should be unlocked to the player from the start of the game instead of being unlocked with raw science.

I disagree.  How many teens do you know would be able to go out and gather material and build a floor on their own?  the Raw Science gives our characters the instructions.  All teens of today can do is play games and stare at their cell phones.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, Krumblebud said:

when sleeping  hunger and thirst get reset to a significantly low amount when sleeping and personally I don't think it's very fair to punish the player for sleeping, I think a way to fix this is to either reduce the amount of hunger and thirst lost or add a effect that either adds temporary health to the player until its lost or some stamina reduction that lasts only a few minutes. something along the line of "Well Rested" etc. 

Agree with this one.  if you sleep right around 20:00 you should get the well rested bonus,  every hour after that until midnight is a 1/4 reduction of that bonus,  after midnight no bonus.  later than midnight until say 3 since you wake up at 6, is a penalty for poor rest, like reduced stamina and you take more damage.

On 8/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, Krumblebud said:

 Insects in the game have a lot of personality already but in the games current state there isn't many ways to interact with the insects besides observing or fighting, I think being able to tame insects such as aphids or being able to pet an ant will add a lot of wonder to the game as you guys already nailed the fear factor. I also think cattle like insects should be added to help the player not just survive but thrive in this environment such as being able to farm silk from silk worms or being able to "milk" a caterpillar similar to how ants in real life do. 

That's specific ants and specific catepillars.  i don't think it applies to the game ants.  Some ants also milk aphids for their honeydew, but not our ants.  We're ant sized now,  why not just give us the option to build fences and a milking shed for aphids.  i'm against taming.  i have a better idea for that in another thread here.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, Krumblebud said:

 The yard is large and it seems like its only gonna get larger as the game gets updated. However traversing this landscape takes a really long time on foot. I think some mounts should be added in the game like flying on house flys or earning a garden lizard as your noble stead of sorts by fighting the mother and raising the egg up to adulthood where you can finally ride the lizard up walls or through the grass with relative ease. 

there's a sandbox just on the other side of the weed spray can, hopefully they'll open that up soon.  that would give us sand (and sand mites) to use in water filters.  even then with that section open we don't need mounts.  you can run almost half way across the map with normal stamina, boost it with armor etc you can make it farther.  map would have to greatly increase before we need mounts.

 

On 8/16/2020 at 10:24 AM, Krumblebud said:

the possibility to wear armor solely for cosmetic purpose, yet still be able to wear other armor and get their benefits.

i don't follow this one.  wear armor but yet cover it up with other armor?  what's the purpose for that?

[Narikai]

55 minutes ago, McSquirl Nugget said:

i don't follow this one.  wear armor but yet cover it up with other armor?  what's the purpose for that?

Vanity. Plenty of games allow you to skin equipment for additional customization. There's often a meta for your given playstyle and strictly tying the visuals of an outfit to its stats means everyone looks the same. (This has always been a pet peeve of mine.)

The only issue I see with this becoming a feature in Grounded are the bonus perks like: Ant Armor's passive to make Warrior Ants non-hostile, but you've skinned it look like a Koi set.

Edited August 17, 2020 by Narikai

[Rooks Nemesis]

1 hour ago, Narikai said:

Vanity. Plenty of games allow you to skin equipment for additional customization. There's often a meta for your given playstyle and strictly tying the visuals of an outfit to its stats means everyone looks the same. (This has always been a pet peeve of mine.)

The only issue I see with this becoming a feature in Grounded are the bonus perks like: Ant Armor's passive to make Warrior Ants non-hostile, but you've skinned it look like a Koi set.

I get what your trying to say duder, but isn't re skinning the armors redundant? A MUCH easier route would be to allow us to "learn" an armors natural ability and then slot it into another armor while still retaining the originals ability.. Imo tho I like the thought of an upgrade kinda system to armors, but not adding another sets special ability to another one.. 

[Narikai]

13 minutes ago, Rooks Nemesis said:

I get what your trying to say duder, but isn't re skinning the armors redundant? A MUCH easier route would be to allow us to "learn" an armors natural ability and then slot it into another armor while still retaining the originals ability.

The differences are how the data is handled and subsequently how it is represented to the player. In OP's example the player would apply skins (with perks to match, as to avoid issues like the 3pc HumanAnt trait), and in your example you swap stats to retain the visuals and perks. The former allows players drag 'n drop armors (or skins), while the latter requires you to "learn" an additional thing to achieve the same effect.

 

[Krumblebud]

4 hours ago, McSquirl Nugget said:

i don't follow this one.  wear armor but yet cover it up with other armor?  what's the purpose for that?

This is solely for cosmetic purposes, I personally think it would add a nice touch of customization to the game, You would still have to earn the previous armor and wear it to gain the set bonus and other buffs. It would just be nice to me if I could wear my favorite mask without crippling myself, and on the topic of certain armor ruining some aspects of other armor visually that armor could take up certain armor could take up either both slots or you just loose the set bonus. Or you could mix certain armor together which could be cool.

[AlexJediKnight]

Additional ideas:

1) Red weeds need to respawn ( maybe this is just a bug but I've gone 20 in-game days without them respawning even after removing the leftover stems)

2) Possibly the option for a mini map

3) Improving multiplayer frame rates. Example: Lighting drops frame rates significantly in multiplayer

4) Making weeds float. Seeing that weeds don't respawn, I hate chopping down a weed and half of all of my logs drop into the pond and sink to the bottom, making them unable to collect and use

5) Possibly a technology tree that unlocks using research science that allows the user to make use of electricity. Electric opening doors, light switches, refrigerator to store raw meat so it doesn't spoil, stuff like that

6) Some form of teleportation or fast travel

7) Scab upgrades. Maybe things like sonar or radar that picks up when insects are nearby.

Night vision technology? 

9) Hang glider made out of insect wings?

10) Zip lines 

11) Ladders. 2 kinds: one kind made out of sprigs and the other out of woven fiber. Climbing ropes?

12) Square floor piece with a round hole in it so you can drop in.

13) Also a pole you can slide down from high levels stacking them with sprigs

14) Climbing equipment? Equipment like clawed gloves and boots that allow you to climb up plants/wood

15) Grappling hook?

16) Bioluminescent armor that makes your entire body glow at night. Possibly crafted from fireflies

17) Larger hitbox on arrows. Allowing the user to pick up the arrows as long as they can point their cursor on the Arrow location marker. So many of my arrows get lost underneath things I can't reach

18) Smoke grenades? Not something that's overpowered but basically a grenade that explodes enough gas so that if you're in a battle and you're losing you could get away

19) Moore custom marker symbols. This is especially noticeable on chests. Unable to use the water symbol on chests which would come in handy for sorting out sap, nectar, and honeydew. And more colors as well

20) the ability to craft more items with the current list of available items. Spiked shield made out of thistle needles and an acorn shell?

 

Loved all of your ideas for the most part. Just thought I'd add some of my own to see what you think