Endnight Games, developer of Sons of The Forest, recently held a post-launch Q&A session to answer questions and requests from fans. The session, organized by members of the TheForest and SonsOfTheForest subreddits, revealed that the AI companions Kelvin and Virginia will be revamped in future updates, as well as other key content in the works.
Sons of the Forest, the sequel to The Forest, maintains the same survival horror concept in which a protagonist is stranded on an island with cannibalistic inhabitants. The player’s goal is to construct weapons and buildings to survive alongside newly added non-playable characters. The game also features eight-player cooperative multiplayer and multiple endings based on the player’s choices.
The developer’s answers, detailed in this video, mention that the protagonist’s NPC companion, Kelvin, will have more tasks to do like constructing a wall around the player’s base or fortifying/repairing the base when needed. As for Virginia, she is set to have more flair added to her AI, like gaining more bravery if she has a weapon or if she has killed a large number of mutants/cannibals.
Other notable details revealed during the Q&A session include plans for more story cutscenes and lore to expand the game’s narrative, a larger selection of items for the crafting system, and an improved story pacing format. The latter is necessary because the GPS reveals the entire story up front, which can cause players to bypass world exploration and go straight to the ending.
The developers also plan to introduce new ghosts and improve the free-form system, the one that allows players to construct structures and buildings in a flexible manner. They also hinted at upcoming character updates and additional variations of the currently available enemies (which include six cannibal types), as well as a solution to the Griefing problem (players killing other players or NPC pets).
Furthermore, there are plans to expand the cannibal camps, add visual enhancements, and diversify the types of structures that cannibals can build, in addition to setting up dedicated servers for players. An advanced cooking system is on the cards, currently in the prototype stage, and more animals should be added as well in the future (but no bears or wolves).
The studio’s current priority is to optimize the PC version of the game to its full potential – with PlayStation and Xbox ports in mind – and the early access period is expected to last approximately six to eight months. During this time, Endnight Games plans to release patches every two to four weeks, depending on the features being added to the game, and each patch will include a variety of additions, from further story and cutscene enhancements to new features, items, bug fixes, and general improvements.
