Roadmap: Chapter One → round-based PvP → the broader MMO¶
First prove the fun of advancing the frontier with friends. Chapter One is a focused, playable taste of the larger Fight the Frontier world. Players join quickly, receive equipment for the shared frontier, fight goblins and orcs, claim territory, gather resources, craft supplies and keep pushing while the invaders fight back.
The current chapter contains six connected holdings across two playable frontiers, from Greyfen to the Sunken Bell. Greyfen is the only permanent safe town. The six-frontier MMO campaign is the later, larger game; four of those frontiers are not playable yet. Fight the Frontier is the current player-facing title. The next major milestone is Frontier Clash: two teams fighting over connected territory in 20–30-minute PvP rounds, using a reworked version of this map. The broader MMO follows that milestone.
What this release enables¶
- All four weapons and their Q/E/R abilities; aimed magic, archery, blocking, healing and cooperative encounters.
- Quick Tutorial / Join Frontier arrival, three introductory lessons, party invitations and shared frontline credit.
- Sequential territory, advancing visible boundaries, enemy musters, attack alerts, garrisons, counterattacks, defeat and reclamation.
- Free capture at Reedwatch once the defenders are cleared. Later captures retain real material requirements.
- Every capture after Reedwatch is funded entirely by resources in the immediately preceding captured holding, including all ingredients for intermediate recipes. New regions must pass this supply-chain check before release; no ingredient may require entry into the holding it is needed to capture.
- Gold exclamation markers over the actual gathering sources. Capture messages name the next useful resource.
- Gathering without a depletion cooldown: each new attempt still requires a successful timing strike. Missing gives no material.
- C opens crafting anywhere. Raw resources still come from their physical sources; sawing, refining and supply crafting do not require a trip to Greyfen.
- Nearby participants scale enemy strength. A demanding solo route remains possible in the mechanics; cooperation is preferred, with human balance still to be tested.
What is reserved for the full game¶
Custom weapon and armour crafting, equipment changes, banking, equipment wear and repairs, extended questlines and deeper character/guild progression belong to the broader MMO. These implementations remain in source where they already exist, with access disabled in this release. Existing characters, items, stored belongings and quest progress are retained. Previously banked items remain retrievable so older saves cannot lose access to their belongings.
Basic party play and tutorial guidance stay available because they are part of the chapter's core experience. Chapter equipment does not wear out. The full-game preview must explain what is planned without implying that a checkout or subscription exists. A proposed $10/month membership is an unconfirmed design target; price, currency, terms and launch timing are not final. No billing is enabled.
Milestones¶
| Milestone | Player outcome | Status and remaining exit gate |
|---|---|---|
| M0 · Responsive combat foundations | Moving, aiming, blocking and reading attacks feel consistent | Existing foundation implemented. Every release must measure fast turns, travel, populated fights, ability effects and frame-time outliers; a high average FPS is insufficient. Native M4 Pro and longer sessions remain human gates. |
| M1 · A first expedition | Learn weapons, fight permanent wolves, then understand capture → gather → craft → advance | Starter world and quest machinery implemented. Chapter edition exposes the three introductory lessons; longer stories are reserved for the full game. New-player clarity and controller use must be observed. |
| M2 · Join friends quickly | Sign in, get current-frontier equipment, form a party and reach useful action | Accounts, shared equipment floor, invites, persistence and deployment implemented. This chapter does not make newcomers grind old RPG systems. Verify joining an established front, disconnect/rejoin and preserved saves. |
| M3 · The frontier pushes back | Win, supply, defend, lose and reclaim connected territory | First three holdings, live map, moving boundaries, raids and reserve recovery implemented. Verify Reedwatch's free capture, later material costs, occupied versus abandoned respawns and meaningful warnings. |
| M4 · Through the Drowned Reach | Fight through a distinct second region, escort supplies, open the sluice and defeat Veyr | Six holdings across two frontiers implemented. Solo mechanisms and nearby-participant scaling are present. Human solo and group clear rates, boss readability and newcomer contributions remain acceptance gates; fixed group counts are not entry locks. |
| M5 · FIGHT THE FRONTIER chapter release | A focused, polished cooperative campaign that makes people want the full game | Current polish: persistent material checklists, synchronized brazier/wheel interactions, complete controller journeys, resource markers, no gathering wait, anywhere crafting, simplified RPG scope, distinct special-ability animations, aimed Volley preview, frame-time improvements, updated wiki and an honest gameplay trailer. Exit: full capture/preparation loop, party/reconnect tests, no loss of saves, visible UI and combat review, public-server smoke test, human pacing/balance feedback. |
| M6 · Frontier Clash: round-based PvP | Join one of two opposing teams and push the front across a reworked map in 20–30-minute rounds | Next major milestone. Start with 4v4 development and an 8v8 public-alpha target, subject to measured capacity. Deliver fair spawns, team combat rules, connected capture sectors, clear supply objectives, joining in progress, reconnects, a match timer, results and clean resets. Include a dedicated 5v5 player-like bot simulation milestone with full-round, side-swapped balance reports and human validation. Full plan and hosting assumptions. Not live yet. |
| M7 · Full-game foundations | Enter a broader persistent world with a reason to develop a character and community | Future. Design and deliberately re-enable banking, custom equipment, wear/repairs, professions, longer stories and guilds. Keep catch-up equipment, bounded veteran advantage and action-focused crafting. Prove progression/economy loops before monetisation; add real subscription terms, account recovery and checkout only after a separate commercial decision. |
| M8 · Expand the living world | Advance through all six distinct frontiers, including naval encounters and the final campaign boss | Future, delivered as separately tested region packs below. Each region must add new tactics, landmarks, resources and cooperative jobs. Completing the campaign records one world outcome and opens its matching reviewed content chapter. |
| M9 · Persistent MMO beta | Sustain the whole campaign across sessions and changing populations | Future. Human campaign cycles, load/capacity evidence, operations, backups, restores, abuse controls, economy soak and an explicit release decision. A temporary tunnel is not always-on MMO hosting. |
| Later · Persistent-world PvP | Extend proven match combat into the broader MMO if it serves the world | Separate future design. M6 is a round-based mode; persistent-world conflict and full loot are not implicitly approved. |
The earlier M1–M4 evidence remains useful as implementation history. It does not mean every older RPG mechanic is enabled in Chapter One, or that the revised M5 experience has already passed human acceptance.
Full-world region packs¶
| Frontier | Environment and strategic idea | Acceptance requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Greyfen March | Permanent town, wolf lesson, ruined crossing, quarry and goblin fortress | Current chapter: the first victory and preparation loop are clear without reading the wiki. |
| 2 · Drowned Reach | Marsh landing, convoy, waterworks and flooded abbey | Current chapter: different tactical encounters; one player can operate both sluices, groups have useful shared roles. |
| 3 · Emberglass Gorge | Volcanic gorge, foundries and dangerous crossing routes | Future full-world pack: distinct tactics, gathering sources and fast newcomer arrival. |
| 4 · Thorncrown Bastion | Major fortress and dungeon with parallel assault jobs | Future: demanding solo strategy and coordinated groups. Ten to twenty is a design ambition, not a proven capacity or mandatory gate. |
| 5 · Tempest Passage | Ship helm, cannons, repairs, boarders and an orc-island landing | Future: prove moving decks, crew reconnect, cannon authority, sinking and solo-friendly alternatives before fleet scale. |
| 6 · Ashen Crown | Final island fortress, linked bosses and the campaign climax | Future: a recorded victory/setback outcome selects the next reviewed content chapter exactly once. |
Rules that carry into the larger game¶
The newest shared frontier sets the equipment floor for arrivals. Veterans gain a modest edge through mastery and bounded upgrades, not an insurmountable power gap. A player idle in town must not increase a remote encounter's difficulty. Enemy territory can recover and counterattack while the server runs; server downtime does not invent battles.
Every new system should add skill, a decision or cooperation. Avoid errands and timers whose only purpose is delay. Keep resource acquisition tied to territory, with successful timed actions and actual recipe costs. Gathering and crafting remain repeatable; ability, flask and enemy respawn timers are separate balance systems.
Release and trailer evidence¶
Show actual chapter gameplay: strong combat footage, Greyfen and the Drowned Reach, a short timed gathering/crafting beat, a capture, the boundary advancing, an invading column and a defence. Do not advertise four unbuilt frontiers, MMO mechanics disabled in this edition, a subscription that cannot be purchased, or population/performance numbers without evidence.
Chapter rules and controls · Crafting · Six-frontier art direction · Earlier M4 checks