Greg Street On FPC's Approach to Ghost: Fewer, 'Really Well Fleshed Out' Biomes, and Handmade, Tailored Experiences

“Ain’t nobody got time to play an infinite number of maps,” Greg Street says in a new series of posts about Fantastic Pixel Castle’s in-development MMORPG, Ghost. When it comes to worldbuilding, in the literal sense and beyond, Street emphasizes a quality over quantity type of approach, where things are intentionally “handmade”. 

Posting over on X (Twitter), Street says that they are using procedural generation in their maps, but there are certain boundaries they are using to make sure that things don't feel unwieldy. They’re not trying to create An infinite number of map variations. They recently revealed Wychwood, one of their biomes, perfect for an October reveal, and this biome is set to be one of a limited number. Their focus is to have a limited number of biomes with  each of them “really well fleshed out”. 

The approach is in making these central (and even peripheral) elements feel tailored. “gameplay features, creatures, stories, competing factions, and NPCs we want you to get to love (or hate) that are placed with intentionality…not just plopped down by an algorithm”. Importantly, when you go to the next biome, all of it will feel different and play differently too. 

They also aim to avoid zones that you visit like a tourist only to level up in and then eventually when you're done, you and everyone else who passes through basically never comes back and then you have dead zones. 

FPC has a plan (among many plans). “We want very few ghosted zones. For example our city will endure and update rather than the player base just moving on to a new city every time”, Street said in response to a comment on how expansions can increase base world dead zones.

This intentional design, with ties like story and characters you'll meet, and other things to discover are also intended to make sure you're not just wandering and grinding mobs.

Even mob spawns will need to be more dynamic since maps will change, so it’s not a matter of just setting down spawn points and patrols. “So we have to have a bit of light simulation so that bandits know how to bandit and the noble tree people know that bandits are probably bad news and should be dealt with when encountered,” he explains. 

Fantastic Pixel Castle Is moving ahead with development and additional small play tests with the goal of potentially getting into pre-production by early 2025.