Road from Open Beta to Full Release

The current world map is compact. It was intended to be this way to provide me with a foundation to develop the first 13 skills, map out the initial quests and lore, and to provide a focussed experience for new players.

The benefit of the current world size is that you see other players very often. However, the disadvantage is that it does not leave much room for future content expansion. The natural step is therefore to expand the world map beyond our current borders.

I intend to approach map expansion in the following order:

1. 1
   Steordale Forest (east of Cirenvale) – a large forested area to the east of Cirenvale, which stretches out towards the coast. Most of this region was added in the update of 9 October 2026.
2. 2
   Pencliffe (north east of Hestonburgh) – a hilltop village whose inhabitants are terrorised by the Grendel.
3. 3
   Frostscar Rise (north of Hestonburgh) – a snowy mountainous region, known to be home to dangerous monsters, such as Frost Dreichs, and the Grendel. Snow and ice are new ground types for the game, so this region needs a new set of textures and props before it can be built, which is why it sits later in the order than Pencliffe.
4. 4
   Borders of the Kingdom of Dumant (west of Hestonburgh) – outer perimeter of the kingdom of the Dumantii, leading to our first encounters with these hostile people.

With the addition of these regions, the Dominion of Hesmarc will be fully fleshed out, and we will have our first look inland to the west, where the Dumantii Kingdom is found.

A note on how the world grows. The map is one continuous grid built from 64 by 64 tile areas, and each new region is added as new areas on that grid, so the world map page grows with it and there are no loading screens between regions. Most of the map data is loaded up front when the game starts, so each new region adds a little to the initial load time. I will keep an eye on this as the world grows and split the map up if it ever becomes a problem.

Quests will be an important part of the roadmap, and my aim is to add more on a regular basis, ideally one with every update. I view quests as essential, not only for worldbuilding, but for providing meaningful goals and rewards as you progress your account.

There will be quests for everyone: new players to experienced players; skillers to PvMers, and of course puzzles and problem-solving for those who enjoy that kind of thing.

There are 11 quests at the time of writing, graded Newcomer, Wanderer or Adventurer by difficulty. Quests will be added alongside map expansions, but they will also be added to the existing world, continuing storylines that have further to run.

Quest rewards will include a mixture of unique items, access to new shops or processing NPCs, experience and Renown.

Mobs: The roster of mobs will be expanded to fill in any gaps at the low-mid level, as well as providing higher level mobs to fight.

Today the mob ladder runs from early game mobs such as Goblin Runts, Cows and Chickens, to high-level mobs like Goblin Savages and Forest Guardians. Beyond that, there is one boss (Grazdur) and one miniboss (Tork the Raging Bull). I want to fill the gaps so that there are options around every level. Low level players are already fairly well catered for, but more options for mid to higher level players will be added over time. Each new region will bring its own mobs at the level band that region is aimed at:

• Pencliffe: mid-level;
• Frostscar Rise: high-level; and
• Dumantii border: mid-level.

Bossing: I will continue to add more bosses, and most will have their own unique drops. The Grendel is planned as the next major bossing expansion. There will also be various minibosses added, which will double as a better source of secondary ingredients for potions – Tork, the first of them, is the template for those to come.

Gear: melee equipment currently runs through five metal tiers from Bronze to Cadronium, with equip requirements stopping at level 50. There are also two unique melee weapons that only drop from mobs: the Giant’s Club (Melee 40) and the Goblin Savage Sword (Melee 60). Archery has two bow types (the Hunting Bow and the War Bow) spanning five tiers, and different grades of leather armour also running over five tiers stopping at level 50. Spellcraft has three grades of robes up to level 30, and staffs up to level 50. Everything above those tiers is open space. New equipment tiers will be added as new, higher level content is built, and most new gear is expected to come from a mixture of mob drops, bossing, and quest rewards.

There will be not one, but TWO new skills added during open beta. One will feel very familiar, and the other will feel fresh.

I know this is a big deal for a lot of people. To be honest, I have never been a big fan of PvP in these kinds of games, and it is important to acknowledge that as I move into developing it for FM, because there will be gaps in my knowledge and understanding.

My plan is for FM’s first PvP activity to be a brand new, safe PvPvE minigame, where nothing is lost on death. This will let us test how PvP feels in FM before anyone is dropped into a dangerous area with their items at risk. Under the hood, the game currently only knows how to resolve combat against mobs, so the first job is teaching the server to resolve a fight between two players; the minigame is then built on top of that.

Once any kinks have been ironed out, my plan is to move on to developing a dangerous PvP area: The Lost Lands. This will provide the classic PvP experience that players are used to, and the intention is that the usual death rules will apply there: you keep your most valuable item and drop the rest. How a kill is rewarded is yet to be decided.

It is important to say that no designs have been finalised yet. As with the new Barrowing skill, I will publish a blog post with a design concept and ask for feedback from the community. I am particularly interested in hearing from PvP veterans on their ideas for what FM’s PvP should look like.

FM is a browser game, and I want it to be playable on a phone without building a separate app. The plan is a mobile web app (MWA): the same game, served from the same site, installed to your home screen straight from the browser. There will be nothing to download from an app store, no separate account and no separate world – you will play the same character on the same worlds as everyone on desktop. Like the desktop game, it needs a connection and there is no offline play.

How it will work: the game will detect a touch screen and switch to a phone layout, with the panels you use most on a side rail, a drawer for the rest, and a chat box that stays out of the way of the world. Right-click menus become a long press, and the game locks to landscape once installed. An ‘Install the app’ button on the dashboard will add FM to your home screen.

Phones treat background tabs very differently from a desktop browser, so I am also working on how FM behaves when you switch apps or lock your screen. The aim is for the game to pause cleanly and reconnect when you come back, rather than dropping you, and to keep a skilling action going in the background where the phone allows it. Expect some teething issues here while I learn what each phone will and will not permit.

Android will come first, because it supports installing web apps and running them in the background far better than iOS. iPhone support will follow once the Android version has settled. Mobile is being built separately from the main game so that nothing changes for desktop players until it is ready, and the first release will be clearly labelled as a beta within the beta.

Content is a big focus, but I do not want that to take away from making the day-to-day experience of playing FM as good as it can be. Therefore, most updates moving forward will also include quality of life (QoL) and UI improvements. Many of these improvements will come directly from community feedback, and the best place to make suggestions is the Discord server.