The Journey Begins!

Development Philosophy

My primary focus right now is establishing a tight, satisfying core gameplay loop. Before expanding scope, I want those core mechanics to feel responsive, skill-based, and enjoyable in isolation.

Early protoype development will focus on PvE content as a controlled environment for refining combat feel, enemy behavior, pacing, and balancing.

Multiplayer will remain the focus overall, but focusing on PvE in particular during the journey to first-playable allows us to dedicate development time to refining those core mechanics, rather than worrying about networking issues AND developing those same mechanics.

The long-term vision (moving to the full launch) is a strong balance between PvE and PvP, as I have seen both modes thrive when given proper attention. Each attracts unique player types, and both deserve deliberate design choices rather than either being treated as secondary features.

I have played Mordhau since shortly after launch in September 2019, with around 1,200 hours overall. Over that time, I’ve observed what sustains long-term engagement in combat-focused games: depth, mastery, expression, and community identity.

Those lessons heavily influence the direction of this project.

PvE focus allows us to:

• Iterate quickly on combat feel

• Validate mechanics in a predictable environment

• Introduce systems gradually

• Refine balance before multiplayer complexity is introduced

As development progresses, the combat systems will expand to support PvP alongside PvE, ensuring both modes feel intentional rather than being tacked on as afterthoughts.

Community First

Outside of development itself, my sole focus is building a strong, engaged community.

I am currently working with a contact from my days working as a contract developer for content creators, in order to establish a strong social media presence to bring more people into our community.

I've set up social pages for every platform I could think of, so you can follow updates on whichever one you prefer.

Community involvement will include:

• Regular development updates

• Community polls on potential features

• Feedback opportunities on mechanics and balance

• Public discussion of design direction

• Organized community events once playable builds are available

In cases where multiple viable features, maps, or game modes exist, community polling will help guide prioritization -- similar to models used successfully by games like Old School RuneScape and Minecraft.

If this project is to succeed, it will be because of the community that forms around it.

I want this to feel like your game as much as mine.

Player Expression

User-generated content (via modding) will be an important long-term focus. Creative communities often sustain games far beyond initial expectations.

From my time playing Mordhau, I’ve seen niche servers stay alive for years (even to present) due to their passion for modding, roleplay, competitive mastery (looking at you duel servers), and just building their own experiences they love to share.

Providing avenues for creative expression allows players to develop ownership and identity within the game world.

To that end, I have deliberately chosen well-established and well-supported frameworks inside Unity Engine (Animancer, FinalIK, Photon, etc.), so that modders will have an easier time customizing the world to their liking.

Many other games have benefitted tremendously from this, with the likes of BepInEx and Melonloader frameworks being prime examples.

Clans and social groups will also be a priority. Even simple systems enabling players to form groups, create shared identity, and participate in events can significantly strengthen long-term engagement.

Strong communities form when players feel connected not only to the game, but to each other.

Development Cadence

My goal is to maintain a steady pace of modest, consistent weekly updates as we work toward a playable, feature-complete demo.

Since the initial Reddit comment that started this journey, several core systems have already been implemented:

• Enemy AI behaviors

• Parry, riposte, and interrupt mechanics

• Emoting and voice lines

• Enemy dismemberment

And even more in the works:

• Chambering

• Character health, stamina, and status effects

• Spawning enemies and arena game loop

Each feature added moves combat towards one that rewards timing, positioning, and decision-making rather than random chance.

Scope will remain intentionally focused in the early stages to ensure quality and maintain development momentum.

I have so many ideas for this project, inspired by years of playing games just like this, but those will be introduced gradually once the foundation is stable.

Development Timeline

The focus of development right now is to launch a playable prototype by this Summer. Ideally, that will involve basic multiplayer and be playable by small groups of people.

Access to that prototype will be very limited, with current community members having the first opportunity, as well as trusted groups who have been following development.

Full launch is projected for some time in 2028, and we are considering the best ways to keep a playable version available for everyone in the mean time.

I want to avoid the common pitfalls of Early Access as well as just keeping a stale product in the form of a single demo all the way to launch.

Before any decision is made in that regard, we want to make sure it is one we can sustain and support as well as we could with a closed (conventional) development cycle. And most importantly, we want to make sure it is a choice that you all agree with and maintains that trust.

Between then and now, I would like to have a closed alpha, public alpha, and beta playtest along the way. The dates for those will depend heavily on the time commitment necessary for each feature.

My dream is to work on this project full time, but at present I am moonlighting development alongside contract work, as I work full time at my day job as a developer. Other than myself, we have a few others helping with content, specific assets like audio or animations, and other design choices.

A more concrete timeline will follow in the future. My plan is to have a public roadmap of milestones, so people can see features as they are added and track development progress that way as well.

I've already outlined most of the major feature sets for the foreseeable future, I just need to refine it and find a streamlined service for tracking it via the website.