Hello everyone!
We feel like the year just started and now May is already here. It’s incredible how fast the last few months have flown by. Sunny weeks lie ahead of us, and even though it’s raining while I’m writing these lines, we are very happy at the moment! And we have some news to share. 🙂
What we have to report:
We’re receiving funding – and getting more time!
What makes a swamp?
Do we need a map?
🎮We’re receiving funding - and getting more time!
At the beginning of the year, we applied for production funding for Rootbound. At the end of March, we received the wonderful news that our application was accepted! 🥳 Here is a report from Gameswirtschaft (German) that was published in this context.
This funding opens up new possibilities for us to make Rootbound even better and allows us to implement even more of our ideas without compromising the quality of the game.
However, anyone familiar with "Game Delayed" announcements probably already knows what’s coming next. Due to this new financial support, we also need more time to implement our new goals exactly the way we want to. Therefore, Rootbound will no longer be released in 2026. We don’t want to commit to a specific new date this time, but we will let you know as soon as we know more. 🙂
To put it shortly: Yes, we will release later, but the game will be bigger, more beautiful, and better. And soon, we’ll even be able to pay ourselves a little money for our work. Sounds great, right? 🥳
🩻 The swamp is spreading
Aside from the economic side, we have, of course, been working hard on the game itself. The last few months have been all about content. In the meantime, an area of considerable size has grown, one we didn’t expect to be quite this big. Feel free to take a look from above yourself:
While taking this screenshot, I realized once again how large this area has become. Although details are hard to see from this height, do any interesting areas stand out to you? 🙂
The first internal playtests in this area were positive across the board. We had a lot of fun playing it ourselves. It was the first truly large area where we could test our core gameplay loop, and we are very pleased that, in our opinion, it works even on a larger scale. We are already very excited to see what you think of it.
🗺️ Do we need a map?
A big question mark for us so far was how to navigate such large open-world areas. Initially, our wish was to design the world so that players wouldn’t need a map if possible. While we planned to offer maps anyway, they were originally meant to be optional and only given out for certain quests.
However, during our playtests, we became increasingly aware that we found ourselves wishing for a map while playing. For one, it helps players orient themselves in the world. As an example of this problem, I’ve prepared two screenshots from one area:
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Both areas look very similar but are located in completely different corners of the region. Of course, one could argue that these spots lack recognizable objects and landmarks. However, we’ve found that we like having wide fields like these between important areas to break up the gameplay and provide moments of peace between combat and puzzle locations.
A second important point in favor of a map is exploration. We caught ourselves several times not heading in certain directions simply because it didn’t look like there was anything there.
I have an example of this as well. To the west of this coast, there might be an island worth exploring. For the player, however, this isn't recognizable at that point. A map helps in this case because it shows the player that there might still be something to discover there, which immediately sparked our urge to explore.
For our internal playtest, we developed a prototype with "Fog of War" that only disappears once players have moved through that area. However, the outlines of the map are visible from the start so that players can clearly see which areas they haven't explored yet.
What do you think about maps in open-world games? Would you prefer to have none at all, or do you absolutely need one to enjoy the game? Do you like "Fog of War" systems, or would you prefer to have the entire map visible right away? And would you like markers that the game (or even you yourself) can place on the map? Feel free to give us feedback on this! 🙂
🎊 Thank you!
Thank you so much for your support and your interest in what we’re doing. Do you have any requests for us? Would you like to know more about us or specific parts of Rootbound’s development? Don’t be shy and just write to us! You can reach us in many different ways:
🌍 Website:
https://www.brainlag-games.com/
🐦 Twitter: brainlaggames
🧵 Threads: @brainlaggames
📸 Instagram: brainlaggames
📱 TikTok: brainlaggames
🎮 Discord: Rootbound
Today, our Amy has the honor of saying thank you! 🙂
Take care!
Markus