Multiplayer completly broken - disconnects and issues of joined players

[WulleBulle]

Hi there,

1st basic information:

1. Platform (Xbox Console, PC Game Pass, PC Steam).
PC 1: Windows 11 Grounded PC Windows Store Version > hosting the game
PC 2: Windows 10 Grounded PC Windows Store Version > joining the game

2. Multiplayer or Single Player Game (if multiplayer, can you tell us how many players in total in the game, and their platforms if known)
Mulitplayer, 2 Players, LAN 1 Gbit/s at the same table

3. Description of issue.

Me as I am hosting the game experience no issues. But my daughter loses connection very often with the error that the connection has been lost and she should check her internet connection (which of course is a joke because everything with our internet connection is just right). Then it happens all the time that she can't pick up things or place building parts at all. Sometimes she stands in front of me but on her PC she is 10 feet away. The issue where she isn't able to pick up or place anything  happens mostly right a minute after we restarted the game and it stay without any change.

4. Last thing you did in the game before the issue occurred, if applicable.

All these issues happen randomly but often and the pick-up-bug stays at it is.

After release the game is in a much worser shape than before 2 years. Because multiplayer is the main part of the game one can call this release an absolute desaster.

Please fix this asap. Thank you very much.

[Bansheedragon]

Been having the same problems playing with a couple friends.

[herbfolks]

Yep, us too. Exactly what you described.

I reported it through Tech Support. So far their response has been to encourage me to update my drivers (makes sense) and make sure you're playing the most current version of Grounded (also makes sense, but that one I have covered).

Good luck!

[Yliax]

I have the same problem.  My wife and I are playing together on the same network and the host has no issues but I've experienced all of the things you mentioned.  One other major bug with this is that when I host and my wife tries to chop up a spider web it flings her way in the air above the grass and she falls to her death.  We never had issues with the multiplayer 6 months ago.  We played off and on and then waited the last 6 months to play together until the full release.

[pedro072001]

I'm having the same problems too, as the host I have no problems but other player see things teleporting and sometimes can't interact with objects. These kind of issues have been happening since early access and make the game unplayable, I consider it a major issue for the game right now. Even though we are on the same table playing this still happens often. Couldn't find any fix, but I hope they also add a LAN option to multiplayer in the future.

[Happy Puppy]

The desync is horrible in this game. By far the worse I've ever played. We have done everything on our end and it's not our connections as every other game we dont have this issue. It doesnt matter who hosts. 19 to 40 ms ping time depending on the time of day. 

Thing is I'm not seeing any dev. Response nor anything under known issue.

[Yliax]

After the recent patch I am still having the same desync issues.  They aren't quite as bad as they were but they are still frustrating.  My wife and I played two nights ago (October 18) and when she logged it she was having issues.  On my screen she was a few feet away from where she was on her screen so when she tried to open doors and access chests she couldn't. 

[AvMAN]

This has been a major issue since the beta & early access.
Playing from the same network/LAN seems to just make the issue worse.  They had a couple patches in the Early Access that were supposed to fix issues for players on a LAN but they never helped. Same with this most recent retail patch that was stated to address the same issues.  

It's is really unfortunate because this game is clearly meant to be played Co-op.  
We have the same issue in my household. I have five copies of the game and had wanted to alternate playing Co-op with my children. But the games issues just make us all frustrated. So we really don't bother anymore.
I had really hoped they would release private dedicated server support so we could just host our own servers and not need to connect to the internet to try and play locally.

 

 

[Sleepnir]

Our group of 4 people (from all over the world as well as a couple in the same network) notice consistent disconnects if the host (whether local or shared save) is running Windows 11.  If a Windows 10 player hosts the game, the disconnects stop.

Another connection issue was reconnecting; if a player disconnects for any reason and attempts to rejoin the game, they're met almost instantly with a "Failed to join game" error.  We thought this might have something to do with the game insisting to use Xbox Live so we all made sure to add each other as friends on that platform too.  That seems to have fixed the issue, it didn't come up again for the rest of our ~3 hour play session tonight.

[dipro]

I have the exact same problem, with two players on Steam, on PCs connected to the same LAN, one wirelessly, one wired. 

Could support please at least tell us where the log files can be found, and if the log files do not contain relevant information to get to the bottom of the disconnects, update the game to do more logging related to networking?

[Panaroid]

The fact that we're going into our third week with the game unplayable this close to launch is actually unacceptable.

[Morieve]

The desync should have been on the known issues list since early access but it seems like it has always been ignored.
Nowadays it's just getting worse but sadly there was always some kind of desync.
The funny thing is that xbox and pc players share the same desync and disconnect problems but pc players always get told to update their drivers because it's a driver issue...

[WulleBulle]

It is not a driver issue. This issues are consisting since first early access days.

OBSIDIAN is ignoring it completely because there are absolutely no official mentions by them anywhere.

[Barney617]

Experiencing the same thing. Whoever hosts freezes up briefly every 3 / 5 seconds. 

Any joined players lose connection constantly. 

If we switch up who hosts, it's exactly the same. So we know it's nothing our end. 

Making the game REALLY hard to enjoy. 

 

[Yliax]

It just surprises me that a game designed around coop would not have their network code nailed down first thing.  My wife really like to play the game but we bought it to play together.  It has been way too frustrating to play it so we just sorta stopped trying.  I don't play the game at all right now and she plays sporadically.  I understand that it may stem from being on the same network but I don't see a reason why we need to play through an online server for that.  If the game periodically sends our game state to the online service then they get the same thing without interfering with our connection.  If hosting our own servers fixes the desync issues then I'm all for it.  We never have trouble connecting to each other but the characters are ALWAYS off from where the host says they are.

[tjhafer]

This has been extremely disappointing and frustrating.. Since we started playing multiplayer it constantly crashes to the desktop on all 3 PC's. PC Gamepass. 

[Panaroid]

The disconnect bug seemed to be fixed in the previous patch, but now it's back with a vengeance, kicking my client every 10 minutes.

[Oxidant926]

Me and my brother (same household) are experiencing constant disconnects on xbox. Strange thing is, when we played the early acces for a good while (but eventually decided to wait for the full game), we had zero issues. Now with the retail version, it's almost unplayable. The host is fine, it's the person that joins that gets disconnected constantly. Very frustrating!

[mojo_returns]

Same as much above.

Partner and I switch hosting as to share the pain of the disconnects.

Both PCs are Windows 10, and on the same 900mbps network. Drivers all up to date.

Love the game when it doesn't kick, and the.prevent immediate rejoining.

 

[Oxidant926]

Our session yesterday was a complete disaster. Constant disconnects, so out of misery we stopped playing. It's so frustrating becSeeing how this issue gets ignored and porably won't get fixed anytime soon (if at all), we will probably just move on 

[Calle Kahn]

We have the same issue. Dosn't matter who are hosting the game, the client will get a quick disconnect. Both are PC with Windows 10. We checked updates and connection settings. Other MP online games working well.
Is it possible to switch to another server?
Or is there a kind of cache which can be cleared? Tried already the repair function from Steam, but with no luck.
There are some other workarounds?

Best regards

[Stew Bad]

How is there not a single dev comment on this yet?  Can we at least get a "yes, we hear your issue"?  The game is mostly unplayable due to this issue.  It does not matter who the host is, you can play for 20-30 minutes occasionally before you start to experience any issue, but then the "joiner" begins to lag horribly.  The host can watch their character animations freeze and come back again.  For me it seems to happen the quickest over by the sandbox.

 

Both PC's are Windows 10.  Both using Steam as the platform for the game.

Both connected to the same network (hard wired, not wifi)

Both PC's exceed minimum requirements

All drivers are current

Xbox Networking connection "fixed" every time before launching the game.

Internet connection speed 500MB download, 55MB Upload.  

 

Can we, at minimum, have a DEV or Moderator or the intern at Obsidian, reply so we know that we aren't posting to a dead forum?

[mojo_returns]

Does Grounded use Xbox Networking Teredo. My server connectivity is "Blocked".

[Panaroid]

From what I could tell it doesn't, although my Teredo service does drop in and out.

Again, this is the point where a comment from support after over a month would be helpful to everyone still experiencing this show-stopping issue.

[AvMAN]

I've never seen anyone from development comment on any of these posts.  
This Multiplayer issue has been going on since the first builds of this game when it came out in early access.
I laughed out loud when Steam suggested that I nominate this game for the "Better with Friends" category for the annual Steam Awards.  
I would nominate it if it worked for more than 5-15 minutes in multiplayer.   As it stands now I don't play this game anymore, neither do my friends or my kids.  It's just frustrating.
At this point I leaving a negative review on the Steam review and moving on to another game.  MAYBE if they post some news or updates that specifically address the multiplayer issues I might have another go at it. But not till then.