Halloween is one of our favorite seasons - and yet we didn't have time to add anything for Halloween this year, so instead I decided to set up my own little homage to Halloween!


You don't want to know how many black cats I had to spawn to get them into the gif - like with real black cats, they seem to have a mind of their own and like running away!

While we didn't add anything Halloween-y this year, the past two years of Halloween updates are active (and both are featured in this gif). Also, the backer planet we added in the last update was very fitting for this season as well!


Doesn't it remind you of fall?

We're already at work on the next backer planet and the final Quality of Life updates as we move closer to our full launch date! I hope you're looking forward to it - we've had a lot of good ideas from players, and we might be throwing in a few surprises of our own!

The new planet is called Unnature Sanctuary, and is now reachable in the star navigator. It’s an optional side-quest planet, but check it out!



In other news, we recently added Minigames to the research lab, and Chase (our composer) released the official Aground Soundtrack! We also added Steam Leaderboards so you can see global high scores for the minigames… and also who has mined the most tiles!



For Mac Players: You may have heard about the new app requirements for Catalina. The good news is that Aground is already 64-bit, so the game will run. The bad news is that it is not notarized, and I will not notarize it given the complexity of the process for every update and requirement of an apple developer ID which has a yearly fee. From what I have heard, this means that you may have to go through an additional step to bypass gatekeeper. Hopefully this doesn’t cause too much trouble, and I’ll continue to update the game on Mac as usual.

In addition to the new planet, the following changes affect the full version:

• Some vehicles can now move and attack at the same time.
  
• Drone control can now be used while riding the mobile lab.
  
• Talon Copse can now modify most equipment.
  
• Cables and rails can now be placed on the same tile.
  
• Added a mini planet - Mercury. This is the last solar system planet that I plan to add before the full launch (gas giants have nowhere to land, and Venus is very dangerous).

These changes affect the demo as well:

• The starting quests now let you place the structures where you want to, and give you a blueprint for them when complete so you can re-arrange your base.
  
• Most vehicles and bots can now be packed up and deployed.
  
• Docks can now summon nearby boats.
  
• Trader will ship items from one island to another for a fee (pre bombardment/endings).
  
• Dragons can now land on water and never die by running out of fuel now.
  
• Mouse buttons can now be set in controls - this allows you to attack by clicking (but clicking on a GUI element will interact with it as normal).
  
• Surgery lab can now install vanity equipment.
  
• Crops can now be re-arranged in farms.
  
• Chests can be given labels.
  
• Hotkeys are now sensitive to parameters/modifiers.

This is about half of the quality of life updates planned for the game, and half of the backer planets - so look forward to the other half by the end of November!

Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:

Discord
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook

What happens after you beat the final boss? What’s the resolution to the story? This update answers those questions, along with some post game content and areas!



I don’t want to spoil much - but after beating the final boss, try talking to all the NPCs - almost all of them have dialogue changes. You can also choose a homeworld if you talk to the CaptAIn.

At this point, the questlines for magic and science path is more or less how it will be at the final launch, but we have the two backer planets, some additional post game content, the quality of life update (general improvements) and multiplayer still to come!


If you haven’t heard, Aground is now on the Discord Store as well! Definitely drop by our discord, we’re very active there if you want to chat - and you can now see announcements and buy the game directly from our discord server!

Update 1.8.2 Includes the Following:

• Endgame dialogue/cutscenes for all NPCs.
  
• You can now choose a homeworld.
  
• Added a third tier hut upgrade for post-game science.
  
• Added more destroyed versions of structures for bombardment.
  
• Added one of the two post-game secret areas (the key to unlock it was added to the golemech factory, if you know where that is).
  
• Added 4 new bosses to the arena.
  
• The Exo Mech can now have a shield or light installed.
  
• Changed collision detection - it should now lag less with large moving objects (like in fleet battles).
  
• The equipment window now shows all status bars as numbers (scaling them down if necessary).
  
• Added new SFX.
  
• Many bug-fixes, tweaks and minor changes!

Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:
Discord
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook

It’s been a year since we launched Aground in Early Access, and we’ve come a long way. A year ago, the science path ended when you crafted your first fighter escort, and the magic path ended after the fight with the Old One.

Since then, we’ve added spacefaring and end game science path quests and items. And with the update we released today - 1.8.0 - we’ve finally finished end tier magic path quests and items. The journey isn't over yet, but we’ve come a long way and the end is in sight.

The Full Launch is still on schedule for early next year alongside the console ports. Between now and then we’ll be working on:

• Endings - Right now, you beat the final boss and it rolls to credits, and if you continue your game nothing changes. This update will have the aftermath, conclusion, resolution and some post game content (along with editing all the NPC dialogue).
  
• Backer Planets & Characters - There are 2 side-quest planets and some NPCs designed by kickstarter backers that will be added to the game. These planets will be available to all players.
  
• Quality of Life Update - There’s a growing list of suggested improvements, tweaks and minor changes that we want to do before the full launch.
  
• Co-op Multiplayer - Play with your friends & work together to complete quests (no PvP by default, but if you’re okay with cheating and broken mods, you can enable it)!
  
• Console Ports - Aground will be released on the Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and XBox One.
  
• Translations - We will be translating Aground to several languages for the full launch, once the dialogue/text is more or less finalized.

And of course, the full launch isn’t necessarily the end! We have many ideas for post-launch updates, including the Hybrid/Combined Path!


Update 1.8.0 Includes the Following:

• Added New NPCs - And the quests necessary for you to reach the final boss on the magic path.
  
• Added Spirit World - A strange new place where the elemental spirits come from.
  
• Added Mars - Why is Mars a new planet for the magic path? Only one way to find out!
  
• Book of Translation - A new spellbook that lets you talk with dragon ships, steal their secrets (and ships) to use against them!
  
• Tier 3 Spellbooks - You can now cast meteors like shown in this sneak peek gif:
  
• Added new enemies.
  
• Added endgame magic path equipment.
  
• Added new spaceships and vehicles.
  
• Many new cutscenes and the story up to (but not including) the magic path ending.
  
• Living vehicles can now have their modifier changed at the vine copse.
  
• There is now a coral farm that you get at the same place as the coral pen that can harvest all wyrm pens and coral pens.
  
• Added new SFX.
  
• Familiar efficiency now boosts the farming speed of that familiar when in pens.
  
• The book of shielding now costs less stamina the higher your spellcasting stat, and blocks all attacks (including spirit attacks).
  
• Many bug-fixes, tweaks and minor changes!

Thank you for supporting us throughout this year in Early Access, and I hope you’re looking forward to all the future updates, the full launch, and beyond!

Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:
Discord
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook

Update 1.7.1 is now live! In this update, we finished the incomplete areas on the colony ship and did some overall improvements and bugfixes for the science path to end update!



The biggest additions are the cafeteria (pictured above) and the museum. These are fun optional areas that flesh out the colony ship and give you a few more options for the tough fights at the end of the game. Speaking of tough fights, a lot of people thought the final boss was too easy... so we made it harder ːsteammockingː !

We're a little behind now, so we updated the Early Access Roadmap, but we are still confident we'll make the March 2020 full release date.

In other news, we're also on sale for 10% off in the Steam Summer Sale! If you haven't gotten the game yet, or have a friend who wants it, now is a great time to get it!

We're back to working on the Magic Path to End update, which we hope to release by the end of July, so I hope you're looking forward to that!

Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:

Discord
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook

Update 1.7.0 is now live!! It includes the Science Path to the end of the game, which involves several new planets, many new quests, NPCs, enemies, and much more!



We’re also very excited to announce that we have partnered with Whitethorn Digital to bring Aground to the Nintendo Switch, PS4 and XBox One! The console ports will release alongside the full launch in early 2020.

Our console port announcement was included in this year’s Kinda Funny Showcase at E3, which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/Ayw3J7sxEkQ

Finally, Aground will be at the MIX at E3 this Wednesday June 12th, at 7PM - if you’re going to be there, please look for us and say hello!



The full changelog for this update is as follows:

• Added a new star system and planet on the Science Path where you can meet other human survivors.
  
• Added the Enemy Headquarters, where you can fight the final boss!
  
• Added many new enemies to go with the new planets.
  
• Added fleet battles - where NPC spaceships can fight alongside you!
  
• Added endgame science path equipment - both cyborg and regular.
  
• Added new spaceships and vehicles.
  
• Many new cutscenes and the story up to (but not including) the science path ending.
  
• Many bug-fixes, tweaks and minor changes!

I hope you’re as excited as we are - this is quite the milestone update (science path to end), but there’s still a lot to go (magic path, backer planets, co-op multiplayer)! Thank you for following and supporting us on this ambitious journey to the stars and beyond.



Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:

Discord
Reddit
Twitter
Facebook

If you've been following the Early Access Roadmap, then you're probably aware that we were planning on posting an update with the second to last planet around now. However, The last two planets are strongly linked, so we decided to do both planets in one BIG update at the end of this month, as the current planet felt incomplete alone.


A sneak peek gif of one of the upcoming spellbooks for the next update.

So, what's this update?

This update is mainly small improvements and bugfixes - as making players wait for some of the bugs in 1.6.1 until the end of May seemed too long (the biggest bug being that if you invited an NPC aboard the mobile lab in person instead of via com device - including the professor when the lab is first created, they end up in a weird place and not on the mobile lab). The professor should automatically be aboard the lab the next time you enter it, and for the other NPCs, simply call them with the com device to get them to transfer on board.

There is also one new quest, on the mobile lab, from the professor. This ends pretty quickly, giving you just a hint of the new planet before going to credits. There's a lot of new items/assets for the new planet in this build, but you cannot get there without cheats (and I recommend you don't mess with it unless you're using a cheat/backed up save). I hope you enjoy, and are looking forward to the end of this month!

The main purpose of this update is to fix some major bugs/memory leaks that made the game unstable and crash more often. This version should be a lot more stable and even a little faster, but I also added the following extras:

• You can now board enemy spaceships and defeat them from the inside! This gives you extra loot now... and will have more purposes later...
  
• Added vanity slots to equipment - you can now change your appearance without changing your actual equipment.
  
• Added new hairstyles and character customization options. You can select one from an existing save at the surgery lab.
  
• Added a few new familiar modifiers to the vine copse.

That's all for this minor update, but let me know if you have any issues or crashes! If not, I'll be back to working on the next planet!

The first new major planet is in, and it’s an exciting one! We think you’ll be very curious to see what happened to this familiar planet - along with new NPCs, quests, and features. This planet focuses entirely on the science path - but don’t worry, we have plans for the magic path too! This planet took a little longer than we would have liked, so we adjusted the roadmap, but I think you’ll agree it was worth it. We’re getting closer to the end of the game in terms of content, but we have lots of additional updates planned before we leave Early Access (including the highly requested multiplayer update).



The full changelog for this update is as follows:

• Added a new star system + major planet to the game! This also includes a new music track!
  
  
• Added drones, a new kind of vehicle that can be piloted remotely.
  
  
• Added a whole new spaceship… and it’s a big one (no spoilers, it should be obvious if you do all the new quests).
  
• Added new quests, NPCs, items, crafting, structures and a research lab. No spoilers, but… I will tell you a com device helps.
  
• Teleportals can now be renamed, and are sorted by name. You can organize them by using special characters/numbers before the name, and use this to make a note about important parts of islands. Teleportals are now also locked to the star system they were built in, so the list will only show teleportals in that star system.
  
• Added an FTL jump animation for vehicles.
  
  
• Placing items in vehicle interiors (workbenches, furnaces, etc) can now take items directly from the vehicle’s storage.

The following changes affect the demo as well:

• When you discover an item for the first time, the game now tells you! It doesn’t know about items you already discovered in old saves that aren’t in your storehouse or inventory, so it might come up a lot when you first continue an old save, but eventually it will work as intended.
  
• Crops and pens can now function without a barn (and be placed without a barn). The barn structure is now just a convenience, where you can harvest them all at once.
  
• Added many new sound effects, both to the demo and the full version. We’ll be adding more in the next few updates, fleshing out the sounds for all the attacks, enemies and items.
  
• Added a gameplay option to make steel walkways un-mineable (so you don’t mine them by accident). Just toggle the option to make them mineable again when you want to change/move/collect them.
  
• Added a gameplay option to hide blueprints from the “All” tab in your inventory. A lot of people complained that blueprints cluttered the inventory and could not be removed - well now they can be hidden, unless you intentionally go to the blueprints tab.
  
• For people playing on the keyboard, shift+Z now moves the current object/vehicle to the back. This is useful if you have two large vehicles on top of each other.
  
• Many bug-fixes, tweaks and minor changes!

Enjoy, and as always, don’t be shy if you have any questions or feedback - we are always happy to hear from our players. And don’t forget to join the social channels below if you haven’t already:

Discord

Reddit

Twitter

Facebook

Trading cards were just added to Aground! You should automatically get trading cards already based on how long you've been playing the game! Also, make sure to check the background/emote descriptions, as they might reveal a little more about the Aground universe (minor spoilers)! You can see one of the backgrounds on my profile page: https://steamcommunity.com/id/david_maletz/