Grounded's Bug AI Bodes Well for Future Obsidian Games
Ever since the official trailer for Avowed was shown by Xbox, The Elder Scrolls fans have been eagerly waiting for the game to come out and see if Obsidian Entertainment managed to outdo itself and actually make a new IP capable of challenging Skyrim and TES6. There are grounds to believe this will be the case, especially considering how complex artificial intelligence is in Obsidian Entertainment's latest game, Grounded, a multiplayer survival game about shrunk kids, dangerous spiders, and happy insects. Insects in Grounded all have their own GOAP, which means Goal-Oriented Action Plan, that defines how they behave during the day or the night, when and how they look for food, if they fight each other, if and how they interact with players, and when and why they attack them.
This is a very sophisticated system that was implemented based on a lot of research on Obsidian's part, with developers studying documentaries or short films posted online by insect enthusiasts and professional entomologists. Each species of insects behaves in its own unique way, and that happens even if players are not anywhere near them, making Grounded's backyard a place teeming with life. Bugs like the gnats enjoy their life near watery areas or in the vicinity of light more when players are there, too, because they can then bump into them. Another example is that Ants carry on their busy lives regardless of the shrunk kids' presence, looking for food, doing anything they can for their colony, laying eggs, defending their ground, and exploring the yard.
In Grounded players control a kid who was shrunk in size, and they are tasked to discover the reason why this happened. Obsidian Entertainment went over how the inspiration for Grounded's premise and actual gameplay and story elements came from movies like A Bug's Life and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Naturally, the insects are a big part of the game's allure, as players are able to fight them as if they were giant, menacing monsters, which in a sense they are in the world of Grounded.
There are many different bugs in the backyard, and they adapt and change their behavior based on several factors that are all part of the game's groundbreaking GOAP. Ladybugs can lead players to food because of how they scan the yard searching for it, and weevils can do the same because of how much they love mushrooms, leading gamers following them to discover places where delicious fungi are growing. Aphids are more basic insects, and they are quite often hunted down and killed by players as a source of food, but on their own, they are curious bugs who enjoy exploring, sucking sap from plants, and deposit honeydew around.
Spiders are alpha predators in the yard thanks to their potent jaws, their sticky webs, and their physical prowess and overall strength. They have a curious behavior, though, that makes them not chase players if several spike traps are layered in an area, because their AI is designed to avoid these traps and move away from them, looking for different access points. Some players have found a way to effectively trap the spiders in their nests by laying lots of those pesky spike traps on the ground near each and every gateway to their shelter, and that happens because the spiders cannot come out due to their AI unless they perform their dangerous jumps.
Another behavior that heavily changes based on the insects' artificial intelligence is that of ants, who are normally indifferent to the players, or even curious about them. They tend to keep to themselves, and they don't behave aggressively when players are nearby. However, if the player characters are somehow threatening their colony, be it by building a base around their food or being perilously close to their hatchlings, then the ants will very likely attack gamers to defend themselves. This can also happen if the players grow too strong, with ants then sensing the threat and acting accordingly. Such a sophisticated AI certainly bodes well for other games that Obsidian could make in the future or ones that are already in development.
Grounded is a groundbreaking game that will most likely have an impact both on future titles from Obsidian Entertainment and games from other developers interested in building a complex AI, be it for NPCs, allies controlled by the machine, regular enemies and bosses, or else. This next-gen feel is likely to find its way in Avowed, too, and that could mean fierce competition for Bethesda's upcoming The Elder Scrolls 6, despite both studios being now the property of Microsoft.
Such an intricate, layered system like the Goal-Oriented Action Plan could be included in games like The Outer Worlds 2, if and when it comes out because it would simply be already there. Changing behaviors of creatures from insects to that of aliens, humans, or demons is not an easy task, but if it can be achieved once, it is likely that the same feat can be accomplished yet another time, too.
Currently, there is no indication that the AI from Grounded will indeed be included in Avowed, but it would make sense. Avowed is clearly a triple-A game, and it's likely that Grounded is also the springboard for other projects. As things stand, Grounded is indeed a very unique experience, and that's because of the hard work and dedication that Obsidian poured into the game.
If Avowed is built from the same level of involvement, passion, and sheer love for the project, then there is a good chance that Grounded will still be able to be a source of inspiration for Obsidian's new fantasy IP, with or without an enhanced AI. Here's hoping that the former will be the case, though.
Grounded is out now on PC and Xbox One.
Reviewed by Unknown
on
May 13, 2021
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