If you've ever wondered what an MMO looks like in its earliest of prototyping days, Greg Street's Fantastic Pixel Castle has got you as his team peeled back the first look at his studio's upcoming Ghost MMO.
As Street himself cautions on social media - before you say it looks like ass - you should remember that this is very early days. The studio itself was only recently announced last year, so the fact that Street is stripping some of the secrecy around the development of his MMO in an industry that guards secrets like its the Federal Government should be commended. The early look is part of Fantastic Pixel Castle's "Partner with Players" motto Street and the team have heralded since day one.
In an accompanying blog post, Faye, the company's community manager, broke down development lingo and the process, explaining how Sprints work in development, setting milestones to meet goals along the way, why the team is using Unreal Engine assets at this early phase, and much more. It's a great dive into how development works at many studios and how they set themselves up for success, though Faye cautions that they can only speak about how the team operates on Ghost.
"Prototyping a new game looks a little different depending on the studio and game being made - for that reason, I can only confidently tell you how we have decided to approach the Prototype phase for Ghost. For us, our prototype goals were to flesh out foundations of anything new (like Blue Zones!) or highly impactful (like combat!). Those goals are big, broad, and cover a number of different milestones - so we broke down the steps we needed to complete, how much time each step would take, and what order they needed to happen."
Some of milestones that Faye touches on are building the foundation of the combat players will spend their time in their MMO participating in. As a result, this early prototype only has a few spells, such as a basic heal,, some basic UX and more. Faye also says the team implemented a "basic XP and Objective System, to test out a few different ideas for progression in our game."
Additionally, the foundations of what will come to be known as the "Red Zones" and "Blue Zones" are in, with the more static elements of the Red zones being built while basic procedural generation of the Blue Zones are also prototyped.
Faye also touches on the worldbuilding team's milestone goals, such as helping to create the foundations of the way the world looks and feels, including creating art and crafting the beginning of the world's narrative that will drive players.
So, how does it look?
December 2023
Early March 2024
Late March 2024
Late March 2024
Images via Fantastic Pixel Castle
Faye also went through some of the highlights from the testing, including breaking down how the gameplay worked (from tab targeting, XP progression working to death - and respawning); Blue Zones spawning (complete with ponies!), and more. The community manager also showcased some of the concept art the world-building team is working on, and, I mean, yes, please. (Check the featured image at the top.)
Honestly, it's a refreshing look into development that I hope the studio continues - especially as this MMO won't be out any time soon. Given the fact that Street regularly talks shop on social media, as well as hosts a podcast talking about the studio and the game's development, I don't expect this to slow down anytime soon. Check out the full blog post - it's worth a thorough read.
While You're Here:
Player Experience is Central To Fantastic Pixel Castle's Design of Ghost
