Monday, August 24, 2020
Always something new to play with in Grounded.
The game that's currently on everyone's mind is Grounded, which despite its Early Access and Game Preview status amassed over a million players in two days. The team behind Grounded has committed to a monthly content update alongside sporadic patches and bug fixes that will give players new features to play with. This is how Grounded will evolve over time, until it eventually releases in full down the line. In this Grounded guide, we'll be going over what could come with the next Grounded update, going over rumors, speculation, and teasers from the team themselves.
Let's get started.
Microscopic survival
Grounded
It's a big(ger) world out there.
Obsidian Entertainment makes its exclusive debut on Xbox One and PC with Grounded, a unique survival experience that literally makes all of your problems much, much bigger. Join your friends as you're shrunk down to the size of an ant and are forced to survive in a dangerous backyard.
August 26, 2020 (Content Update #1)
Grounded's very first content update was originally slated for an August 27, 2020 release date, but alongside a short teaser video for the update, they announced that the update will be coming one day earlier than intended, on August 26, 2020. In the teaser, we get a sneak peek at some of the features to come, but we can also speculate based on what we've seen from leaked builds, data mining, and more.
There's a good chance Grounded's first content update will be a little more conservative than future updates might be, and we're not necessarily expecting any sweeping changes with this initial update. Instead, it's more likely that the team at Obsidian Entertainment will set the stage for future updates, and implement some smaller changes and new features to appease players in the meantime. That being said, we'll still go over some of the rumors we've seen, and different features we might see in Grounded later down the road.
Almost definitely in the next update
Ready for a tiny taste of what's coming next week? 🤠pic.twitter.com/ovUhB5vUsz
— Grounded (@GroundedTheGame) August 20, 2020
We can take Grounded's teaser video for the first content update as evidence of what will definitely be present, so we took a closer look at the video to see what might be coming on August 26.
- Changes to the map. It looks like Grounded's map may change over time through updates, slowly altering as the owner of the backyard goes about their life. We can see a new Oreo cookie next to the pre-existing hot dog, as well as a mysterious (and massive) footprint that's altering the landscape of the backyard. What could this mean for the future?
- New building parts. Grounded already has a solid list of building parts, but the players could always use a lot more creative freedom in how they build their base. We see in the teaser video some sprig fences / railings, indicating Obsidian Entertainment is working on exactly that.
- Grave Robbery BURG.L chip. "In a hill to the west is where you start this quest. Straight through a rotted room gets you closer to the tomb. Past a tunnel of red rests a soul that is dead. Down the hole lies your goal." BURG.L gains new upgrades and options with BURG.L chips, like unlocking floors and stairs. It looks like BURG.L will be getting new chips, complete with missions to track them down.
- New crafting recipes? If there's a new BURG.L chip, it stands to reason there's also new crafting recipes to unlock via the BURG.L chip, or possibly other upgrades. Only time will tell.
Maybe in the next update
The teaser video up above only shows a handful of changes, and nothing is a dramatic change from what we already have. Again, there's a very good chance Grounded's first content update is going to be extremely conservative, but we can still hope.
We know from datamining and leaked builds (like in this YouTube video) that Grounded is working on a ton of new content behind the scenes, including a dramatic overhaul of the pond with a water update. So what could that update include?
- A new biome. The pond receiving so much attention would essentially make it Grounded's fourth biome, with an entire ecosystem thriving within its borders. Who knows how much could be discovered beneath its surface, hidden in the depths. I guess it's up to us to discover.
- Koi fish. With the upheaval of the pond, we'd also get koi fish! These fishy bois are huge, presumably hungry, and already battle-scarred from previous battles, and could pose a unique threat for players to overcome.
- New insects and creatures. Beyond koi fish, the water update could add diving bell spiders, tadpoles, leeches, water fleas, striders, and more.
- New armor, weapons, and tools. To go along with all these new creatures, we would also see lots of new equipment, like koi armor, diving masks, new weapons, including a harpoon gun (!), and much more.
- New resources and plants. Cattails, lily pads, and underwater plants and resources are all possibilities with the water update, including things like moss, new stone, and more.
- Underwater base. There are hidden labs scattered all throughout the backyard, but there could also be a full underwater base inside of the water update, which requires advanced diving gear to reach, and could be protected by hostile creatures like leeches.
- New story elements. The story in Grounded right now is quite limited (only about 20%, according to the team), so future updates will slowly add more and more story elements to the game. This water update should do exactly this.
Probably not in the next update
It's already unlikely that this "water update" will be Grounded's first content update, but even more unlikely are some of these additional changes we've heard mentioned in rumors and leaks. These changes seem like they're still a little ways off, but are still in active development for the game.
- Wasps and bees. Two new insect types could be wasps and bees, which should add a lot of the living breathing world of Grounded. Wasps would likely be far more aggressive creatures, and could end up being one of the toughest baddies in the whole games. Bees would likely be more docile, but they could possibly have a prey-predator relationship with bees, and special crafting materials if players find their hives.
- Mosquitoes and dragonflies. Mosquitoes (already hinted at in Grounded's first release with a bug) and dragonflies could also make their debut in Grounded. Mosquitoes have a higher chance of being released earlier, since it seems like they're closer to being finished.
- Other insects, like fireflies. The sky is the limit with Grounded, and lots of other insects could be in the works for this rapidly expanding tiny survival game. Fireflies look to be in the game already, but other insects are also likely being developed and planned.
- Hives. If wasps and bees are going to be added, it makes sense for them both to get a home as well.
- A new tier of weaponry, including swords. Right now, weapons and tools only go up to Tier III, which are already plenty powerful for even the strongest enemy in the game, the wolf spider, if in the hands of an experienced players. It looks like future updates could add new higher tiers of weaponry, including swords, with at least two variants made from mosquitoes and dragonflies confirmed.
- New decor, like mounted heads. In order to ward off hostile attacks, future updates could allow you to mount, say, ant heads on a stick and place them outside of your base. Spooky.
- Rideable insects, or mounts. This hasn't been confirmed to be in development, but it has been heavily requested by the community and makes sense for Grounded, so it's possible that a distant update could add the ability to ride insects around.
Keep in mind this is all speculation at this point, but most if not all of this has been confirmed by leaked builds and datamining as being in the game and being worked on, so there's a very good chance we'll see a lot of this eventually. That being said, take this all with a pinch of salt until the updates start rolling out in full. We'll see Grounded constantly improve and add new features with an update planned every month, and we'll be here to discuss those updates as they come.
What are you wanting to see in the next update for Grounded? Have you heard any rumors or speculations about what could be around the corner? Let us know in the comments below!
Microscopic survival
Grounded
It's a big(ger) world out there.
Obsidian Entertainment makes its exclusive debut on Xbox One and PC with Grounded, a unique survival experience that literally makes all of your problems much, much bigger. Join your friends as you're shrunk down to the size of an ant and are forced to survive in a dangerous backyard.
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