Yeah these shiny things are the style of the whole game world.
It's a floating world above an ocean of magical energy. Very much high fantasy, i know, but im a fan of this.
You mentioned the large amount of grass, plants and so on. Yes, thats a little bit odd, but everytime I try to place less of them I get the feeling that my maps are looking empty. Seems to be an issue of mine.
+ I have to say that many of these objects on the ground are collectable materials for the crafting so without the grass it could be possible to "clean out" the whole place at some points
For not going too much OT, some screens of maps out of older versions from the game which will be in the game at later places in an overworked form.