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This is a small update with some minor improvements and bugfixes. Changelog:
Aground Zero started with a simple idea: What if I made a 3D spinoff of Aground focusing on base building and automation? I teased this idea with an April Fools joke that turned out to be very real:
Now, four years later, weve shared another April Fools joke and Aground Zero is finally released!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3rN1CkJEcI
This update includes a Russian translation, improves text overflow and issues with other translations, and adds concrete and asphalt ramps (you unlock them with the ramp blueprint).
With the full launch date around the corner, we're releasing version 1.0! This includes 5 new languages: Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and Simplified Chinese. We also made some last minute improvements:
After a successful year in Steam Early Access, tons of community driven updates, and a host of new features (including multiplayer), new areas and new content, Aground Zero is ready for players to get the full experience! We'll be leaving Early Access in one month - on April 4th 2025, and to celebrate we've made a new launch trailer: [previewyoutube=2gHgCtvtSLs;full][/previewyoutube] We've also been making a video every week showcasing a different part of Aground Zero, and will continue to do so until our launch. Check our Youtube Channel for them all, and here's last week's video: [previewyoutube=x0pWnlaVbRQ;full][/previewyoutube] We've also localizing the game into 6 languages: French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish. All of the localizations should be ready by the launch date. Finally, the minor update today was mainly for language support, fixing a bug with font loading. It also fixed a bug with the auto-builder not completing quests. I hope you're looking forward to the full launch, and keep an eye on our Youtube Channel as we'll be continuing to post weekly videos this month!
This is another small update with some bugfixes and minor improvements. Changelog:
There's nothing exciting here, but I did fix a bug that greatly increases performance if your world has a large number of items laying on the ground. Changelog:
The Magic Path ending is here, and it includes the only planned boss battle in Aground Zero! I hope you bring lots of burgers!
[previewyoutube=Nr-oW24-H3o;full][/previewyoutube]
The Dishonored One was one of the more disappointing boss fights in the original Aground. He was from the race of original magic users (who taught the enemy everything they knew), and after a big setup, the fight itself was pretty easy. So, for Aground Zero's magic path, I wanted to give him another chance!
You can complete the Magic Path ending after the Science Path one, but not the other way around. However, the dialogue and feel of the ending changes if you complete the Magic Path ending first.
This is the last major planned content update (although we'll continue to make bugfix and quality of life updates), which is really exciting. We also set a date for our full launch:
While I'm still waiting for the assets needed for the final ending, I thought it was a good time to do some quality of life updates. Some of these are quite nice, including an overpriced, but super powerful mass miner tool! Changelog:
Right now, I'm waiting for the final assets needed for the second ending - I'm hoping they will be done soon. But in the meantime, there's still bugfixes, minor improvements and quality of life changes to add! Changelog:
It's been a year since Aground Zero entered Early Access, and after a lot of updates and changes, I am happy to announce the first ending of the game has been added! The quest for this ending will automatically start shortly after completing the "Humanity's Survival" quest (10,000 colonists), and will seem a little straightforward at first, but stick around for the after credits scene, where the first major twist is revealed. [previewyoutube=Zt6FdhFcyNA;full][/previewyoutube] Originally, I was thinking you'd have to load a save or start a new game to get all the endings, but after all the work players have put into their worlds and bases, I decided it should be possible to get the other ending after completing this ending - so there will be more in later updates! Changelog:
The final assets needed for Mars are complete - get ready to continue the magic path, meet the exiled, complete a few quests and discover a few secrets there! You'll even be able to right a past wrong (if you were one of those who drained the oceans on mars in the original Aground). Speaking of which, I should probably add a way to auto-cast the book of splash for quickly flooding larger areas... Here's a short video showcasing some of the things you can do on Mars: [previewyoutube=T9UF76yj1hg;full][/previewyoutube] If you look closely, you may even see some of the secrets! Changelog:
This update includes a lot of quality of life improvements, but no new content changes (I'm still waiting on one last asset for Mars). Changelog:
The main addition of this update is the Dragon Spaceship - something I was quite excited to add! You can now complete the evolution gem quest with the Anomaly, and doing so will unlock the blueprint. I wanted the Dragon Ships to be very distinct from the Beetle Explorer, so I made them small, fast and deadly. They aren't a mobile base, but they can maneuver in tight spaces/underground and they make an excellent fighter. You can watch a video of me building and flying the dragon ship here: [previewyoutube=Xx8ftjajXiY;full][/previewyoutube] I also wanted to show off the engine effect, which I thought was really cool but you can't see it while piloting the ship, so I made this short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2mubN50jI-Q Changelog:
This update includes a lot of quality of life features and improvements while waiting for the last models for the next magic path quest. Our main modeler was sick last month (thankfully, he's recovered now), so that puts us a little behind where I wanted to be on the magic path. But, while waiting, I've added a bunch of improvements you can see below: Changelog:
This is a small patch - it does add some progress on mars, but you cannot access it without cheats (and doing so is a bad idea, it might cause problems with your save later). Changelog
This is a small update that has some minor improvements and bugfixes. I've mostly been working on Mars, and while that's not ready to upload, I did decide to make a sneak peek video for it: [previewyoutube=SLAGGocYoyA;full][/previewyoutube] Changelog:
Today's update adds the surface to CaptAIn's Colony! It's a single island that you can develop however you want and even invite colonists to help out! The island also adds grass and trees, which you can move to other planets (even the moon, as long as you make a greenhouse and place an oxygen generator inside). I made a quick video showcasing the new island (and the space station, which I've never made a video of before): [previewyoutube=fI8zw65JUYA;full][/previewyoutube] The full changelog is as follows:
This week's update is not a big one, but I've been working on spellbooks that will unlock on Mars, and have plans for allowing you to descend to the colony world in a future update as well! The full changelog is as follows:
After the colony update, I switched back to the magic path. I'm currently working on adding Mars, but it is not done yet. However, all of the utility spellbooks are done, so I decided to post an update so you can play around with them! Here's a video of me using all the new spellbooks: [previewyoutube=ty8IW7iTRwU;full][/previewyoutube] You may notice that you can no longer craft the book of summoning in the magic lab - it unlocks with the rest of the spellbooks. Simply talk to the anomaly, and you'll either get a quest, or they'll immediately unlock spellbooks depending on your progress. Changelog:
The first interstellar planet - CaptAIn's Colony, is ready to visit! There's a short questline there, and several easter eggs, and I think it came out really cool in the end! While I might eventually allow landing on the surface of the planet, everything currently takes place in the space station in orbit around CaptAIn's Colony - let me know if you're interested in some sandbox building on the surface!
Changelog:
You can finally complete the Interstellar Drive quest! The first interstellar planet isn't done yet, but I'm getting close (hopefully next week), and this update includes a lot of other improvements as well! Changelog:
Remember that Evolve Dragon button you couldn't press before? You now can and evolve your own dragon to follow you or ride it! I also added the Book of Summoning (the first spellbook) so you can move your dragons (and caught wyrms), as well as NPCs! To celebrate this update, I decided to make a video where I fly a dragon around the surface, and to space (because why not?): [previewyoutube=rZBzHsZscfo;full][/previewyoutube] Changelog:
The magic path is underway, and while a pure-magic run will not be possible (you start the game with relatively high science), it adds a lot of abilities that compliment the science path nicely. Changelog:
Online Multiplayer is now out of beta! You can now play with your friends, completing all quests together or just mess around, building a cool world or a large automated factory. You can even ride around in each other's spaceships - although it can be a bumpy ride!
The beta is still available, but no longer up to date - if you tried the beta and want to keep your beta saves, I'd recommend exporting them from the beta version and importing them in the default branch.
Multiplayer works by one player hosting a save, allowing other players to join that save. You do this by hitting Host Save and Join Game in the multiplayer menu. The name at the bottom of the menu determines what character you load the game as (or the name displayed in the games list if you are hosting), and defaults to your steam username. If you only want friends to be able to join the game, uncheck add to joinable games list when selecting a save to host.
The enter key opens the chat, which includes similar commands to the original Aground - including the ability to ban players if needed. Type /help in the chat window to see a list of commands.
Hosted games will autosave on the host's computer, and the host can choose to save the world to a specific slot - but players who join the game cannot save - so if they mess up your world, you can ban them and load without saving.
There are no restrictions on progression or completing quests for any player. Make sure to communicate with the players if you want to impose house rules!
There may not be a lot of public saves during Early Access - so I recommend setting up a game with someone among your friends or in our discord server!
In addition to online multiplayer, this update also includes the following quality of life changes:
It took longer than I hoped, partly due to real life events, but the multiplayer beta is now feature complete! That means you can complete all the current single player quests with friends, build and ride vehicles, and test out all the features.
If you haven't heard about the multiplayer beta, or want to know how to access it, check out this news post:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1795570/view/4174354971165516277
There are currently no known bugs or issues with the multiplayer beta, although I've only tested it two player with a fellow dev. If you find any bugs, definitely report it! Assuming there are no major bugs, I plan to push this build to the default branch in about a week, so everyone can try it out. I'll keep the beta branch available so you can access your beta saves (as the beta has a different saves list than default), but once multiplayer goes live, the beta branch will not be kept up to date.
As for what's next, I have a growing list of minor improvements and quality of life changes that I've been putting off while I finished multiplayer, so the next update will probably be a quality of life one. But after that, I think I'm going to start the magic path! I've already gotten a lot of models done for it, like the baby dragon below:
I hope you enjoy multiplayer, and are looking forward to the next updates!
As you might have seen from our previous two dev streams, we've been making good progress on online multiplayer, and decided to make an open beta for those who want to try it out. Before you jump right in, there are a few things you should know: [olist]
We'll be hosting another multiplayer test stream on our normal update day, Tuesday. This stream will mostly be checking that all the bugs from the previous stream are fixed. If you missed the previous stream, you can see it here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1795570/announcements/detail/4170975369408068892?snr=2___
I haven't posted an update in a while, but that's because I've been hard at work adding online multiplayer to Aground Zero. Multiplayer is always a large amount of work, and there's not much to share during it's development, but it's halfway complete and I hope to release online multiplayer by the end of June (with a beta available before that). Earlier today, I streamed the first test of online multiplayer, with a fellow developer, which you can watch below: [previewyoutube=tIhXzu4LnB4;full][/previewyoutube] I hope you're looking forward to online multiplayer, and I'm starting to accumulate new 3D models for the next section of the game I will start on after it is complete. There probably won't be another update until the multiplayer beta test, but rest assured progress is being made!
This update adds some optimizations for large bases, mounts to the beetle explorer (although some cannot be unlocked yet), and fixes some bugs. It's a small update, but the mounts are fun to play with and the optimizations make a huge difference in some of the crazy saves I've been sent! To add mounts to the beetle explorer, select the mounting wall and it'll show all mount blueprints you know. For mounts that don't take up the full height, select the wall above the mount, and you can often squeeze in a storage mount above it. Changelog:
This is a very small update that's mostly for some bugfixes with the cryopod/timeskip quest (along with another one no one else noticed where icons would sometimes look greenish). It also has two QOL features:
A new weekly update, and this one's a big one! You might've seen the in-progress videos of the moon and beetle explorer, but those are now both in game, along with new quests to obtain them! [previewyoutube=ic7r197uf7M;full][/previewyoutube] Changelog:
I'm not ready to share the moon yet, but I decided to post a small update as I had some minor improvements and bugfixes I figured should go live. Changelog:
The Beetle Explorer is not done yet - but as some players noticed, the sub can currently be used in space like a spaceship! So, to do some testing, I decided to use the sub as a spaceship and take it to the moon! [previewyoutube=FTjfWfpc_4A;full][/previewyoutube] The Moon is not yet complete, but I did finish the nav window which allows you to travel between planets (as you can see in the video above), and the broken pieces of the moon are quite spectacular! I probably wont add the moon and navigation to the early access build until I add the beetle explorer, but hopefully this gives you a neat sneak peak of what's to come!
No, the spaceship isn't done yet - it is still being modelled (and could take some time for a model that big). However, in preparation, I did add an orbit area as shown in my last update, which you can now try out for yourself! This also includes several smaller improvements and bugfixes. Changelog:
While waiting for the Beetle Explorer to be modeled (it could take some time for a ship that big), I decided to start working on Space - as what is a spaceship without Space? [previewyoutube=S1Fk_1Y-fNs;full][/previewyoutube] I probably spent more time than I should have on rendering the Earth and atmosphere, but I think it came out really cool! Plus, I'll be able to reuse that on the Moon (although, the Earth will look smaller in the sky there). You can move around in all 3 dimensions without any restrictions in space - but there's no oxygen, so until the Spaceship is done and I add oxygen generators you can place in space stations you build, it is pretty inhospitable. However, I'll include the orbit area in the next update for you to play around in (later this week, or next Tuesday at the latest), along with a bunch of other fixes! In other news, I added trading cards to Aground Zero! All of the trading cards include original concept art for the game - so check your badge progress and click on the card to view the full concept art. You should've automatically received trading cards based on your playtime if you've already been playing the game.
While we have nothing in game to share this week, we've been hard at work adding the first spaceship to the game - and it is quite the big one! The Beetle Explorer has a control area with a view at the front, a single fixed laser cannon, and an interior with wall mount slots you can use to customize it as a small mobile base. Able to function in the air, space and underwater, it is quite a versatile vehicle!
[previewyoutube=KhTdWP2r8Ls;full][/previewyoutube]
The Beetle Explorer will not be buildable in game until the next major update, but while you wait, you can check out the amazing concept art made by Jacob Carroll, and imagine how you'll customize it and where you will fly it once you can build it!
This update has a bunch of minor improvements and ways to decorate and improve your base, as well as dealing with water more effectively. You can see a video of some of the changes in the last video update: https://steamcommunity.com/games/1795570/announcements/detail/6664834251009519608?snr=2___ Changelog:
I'm starting up weekly Tuesday updates again! If there's not a game update, I'll post a video update like I did before, and since I haven't posted any update in a while, I decided to include all the cool new things I've been working on in this update: [previewyoutube=C4qOwiBwTiQ;full][/previewyoutube] The video includes Glass (made from Sand, it is like a Truss block but blocks water), Forcefields (blocks water, but allows objects to pass through), and Doors (they don't block water, but forcefields can be placed inside like in the video). Drains have been changed and are no longer block water (you need a force field to do that), but that means they can drain a lot more water. Thin water can remain where there are no drains, but the new Water Vaporizer can quickly remove that. I have a few other changes I want to make for this update before uploading, and when that's done I should have everything I need to get started on the next content update, which will be pretty exciting!
This update has a lot of minor improvements and bugfixes. Changelog:
I wanted to add some last minute polish and improvements before the Early Access launch on Thursday. None of the updates here are major, but many of them are quite nice! Changelog:
Mark your calendars, Aground Zero is launching into Early Access January 18th, 2024! We also made a new launch trailer: [previewyoutube=OyY-Sw9fhKg;full][/previewyoutube] I hope youre as excited as I am - the Early Access launch will bring you from being stranded underground, to building an underground base, ascending to the surface and building vehicles. We have lots more planned for Early Access updates too - like the first spaceship, new areas, and a moon base! Were also going to do a launch stream where we will talk about the game and hit the big release button together: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1795570/view/3896241210503044028 Wishlist the game if you havent already, and definitely let us know if you have any suggestions or feedback!
Aground Zero launches in Early Access January 18th at 2PM EDT! Join us in stream for chatting about game and hitting the big green launch button!
I hope everyone is having a great final week of 2023! There's a lot of news about Aground Zero, so lets get to it!
The subways are mostly done now in the playtest, and I also did a lot of quality of life improvements so I decided to update the demo too! While I don't plan to add more content to the demo, I did add a river of water that will spawn in a new save (and shows off the new water mechanic). Changelog that affects the Demo:
It's been a while since our last public update on Aground Zero, so I figured it was time to update everyone! Development progress is going smoothly, the next area (the subways) are mostly complete and I just recently added water (the last major feature of the game). However, when I went through the amount of models left to finish and the rate at which the modeler is making them, I realized we weren't going to be able to release this year. So, we've tentatively postponed the release date to "Early 2024," potentially with an early access release in late 2023. While I am sure many of you are disappointed about this, here is something fun to lighten the blow: [previewyoutube=MxDMVXi1LB8;full][/previewyoutube] Maybe worker bots are exactly what our dev team needs.
I finally finished the split screen co-op I was testing during the Steam Next Fest - you can now play with up to 4 players on the same computer (or remotely with Steam Remote Play)! You can watch the dev stream where I tested co-op for basically the first time here: [previewyoutube=Ub7gLms3akw;full][/previewyoutube] This update also includes a lot of improvements and fixes based on feedback we received during the Next Fest! I hope you enjoy, and definitely let me know if you have more feedback! Changelog:
There were a few bugs and issues in the demo, so I decided to post a small update before the Next Fest! Changelog:
Join the devs as we play through Aground Zero and talk about development!
This will be an hour long stream during the Steam Next Festival - follow along and try the demo yourself!
Another team playthrough - where we continue from where we left off the day before.
Join the devs as we play through Aground Zero and talk about development!
This will be an hour long stream during the Steam Next Festival - follow along and try the demo yourself!
It's been about a year since we posted this coming soon page, and in that time we've made a lot of progress! With our Steam Next Fest coming up for Aground Zero, I figured it was time to update everyone.
The store page has been revamped with a new logo, screenshots, gifs, description and a new trailer! You can see the trailer here:
[previewyoutube=AeJj_MpjQBk;full][/previewyoutube]
This trailer show a lot more clearly what you do in Aground Zero - certainly there's mining and voxels, but it's far more about base building and NPC workers. There's also a secret clip at the end of the trailer, after the logos!
The main content for the upcoming demo is already done - including core base structures, 8 recruit-able NPCs and the Professor. There's still some polishing to do and incomplete animations, but we're getting pretty close which is really exciting and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks!
We are running a closed playtest in advance of the Steam Next Fest - if you're interested and okay with unfinished elements, let me (terra0nova) know on our Discord, where we have a private channel to discuss the playtest.
Look forward to more updates as we get closer to the Steam Next Fest!
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