u/Russta

I wanted to see how others felt about the introduction of the Pneumatic Transit System after the latest update.

My friend and I have played through Grounded 1 several times and gotten all achievements for it on both Steam and Xbox. For Grounded 2 we have played since day one of early access, always on the beta branch, and have played well beyond the amount of content each one brings just because we love the game so much. I don't know if this qualification was necessary but I wanted to give some context of my experience with the game.

I maintain my own Grounded 2 world that I only touch after the pair of us have nearly exhausted the content available in our shared world. One perk of that is learning from mistakes and discoveries of that and putting them into action into my solo game. My primary home base is therefore a bit further away from where we are in our shared game because I felt where I built was more optimal.

Every update, I look for an excuse to build a sub-base elsewhere. For The Toxic Tangle, I ended up with one on top of the wall that divides it from the starter area and built pathways to it that go around the statue and up to it easily. For the AXL update, I built a minibase near the area that includes relevant supplies, the items to spawn him, a bed, and the two decorations for both buffs. I did likewise for King Dozer.

We knew ziplines were coming just as they did in Grounded 2. Planning ahead for this, I built a huge bouncepad relay going high up my base, then extended a huge walkway out so I'd have a clear sight line to my other bases and general areas I wanted to go. It took me ages, I massively enjoyed it, and I felt proud when it was done.

What we didn't know was coming was fast travel. I like it, I use it, and am happy it's in. However, the more I play this update, the more I'm realising it's harmed the concept of building a base for me. When the game was showcasing I could build a base underwater, for the first time in an update, I couldn't really see the point. Sure, I can and will do one somewhere for fun, but what's the need when I can just zipline from my base straight down to the Trash Bag Ranger Outpost and be there and back in seconds?

I was chatting to my shared world friend about this and how the PTS has changed the landscape and wondered if this is really a good thing? If I had to start over or for a NG+ where else would be better for a base than to just go straight to the south west of the picnic table, incorporate the entrance of the Trash Bags Outpost at the base of the building, and then build towards the sky for some key ziplines? I could see an argument for doing so in Ceremony and doing the same with the entrance to BURG.L's Body Outpost to be more central though.

I acknowledge that a part of this is the modern gamer fascination with optimising the life out of a game but I was curious how others are feeling about the introduction of a true fast travel system within Grounded for those that have spent a bit of time with it now.