Hey everybody, Gorbachelli and Spectrabox here! I hope you all have had a great holiday season! For Spectra and I, 2023 has been our most productive year yet - filled with challenges, growth, and all sorts of exciting developments.
Since starting development on this update, the scale of what we were creating grew far beyond our expectations. It seems that for the longest time, we couldn’t help ourselves when it came to adding new content and features. Ideas that would make the update extra special, or improve the existing game continued to be added, stacking up development time.
As of recent, however, we have finally turned the corner and can encouragingly say - the end is in sight! We have gotten to a point where there is now a clear list of things that stand between us and the update being complete. Still, it is no small list and it’s not something we can accurately put a timeframe on just yet - but know that every day the list grows smaller and we are that much closer to release!
Developing a game with a team of two is not easy, but we are truly lucky to be able to work on something with so much passion, and there is nothing we would rather be doing. We are incredibly grateful to have you all as a community, and with your support, and the power of your love behind us, we move forward with determination.
Before I continue, we have a short personal message from Spectrabox, sharing some of his feelings on Fantastic Frontier and game development…
Nearly 7 years have passed since we began development on Fantastic Frontier. I’m incredibly proud, not only of what Gorba and I have managed to create, but also of the fantastic community that has formed around this game. The amount of incredible experiences, amazing creations, inspiring messages, and new friendships that Fantastic Frontier and its community have helped to make possible fill me with a great determination to make Fantastic Frontier the absolute best it can be.
Back when we first released Fantastic Frontier, we did so with little fanfare - there were few teasers, and the trailer along with the game pretty much just appeared one day. As the game’s popularity and player base grew after release, the importance of things like advertising and community engagement became apparent. This is a side of game development I have always struggled to strike a balance with - I’ve always believed that a game best speaks for itself, and that nothing can really compare to the experience of playing it for yourself. Still, I can also understand the perspective of a player looking forward to a long awaited update, and not wanting to be left in the dark.
With how long this update has taken to reach you all, I’ve often felt quite anxious that our existing players may lose interest, or grow impatient with the lack of information we choose to share. In the past, these sorts of feelings resulted in things like our now wholly inaccurate release estimates from 2022, and the Pic of the Week series we ran previously. While I know many of you enjoyed PotW, it was always a bit half-hearted from our side, and something that was done largely out of the fears mentioned above.
Over the past year or so, I’ve better come to terms with these anxieties - accepting that while some fans may indeed become frustrated with the lack of teasers or behind the scenes information, it’s better that I focus my energy towards creating the best game that I can, in my own way, rather than trying to please everyone in the process. In shifting away from these worries, I’ve found that in reality this community is exceedingly understanding and patient, with few complaints and supportive positivity for almost everything we do and however we choose to approach it - for this I am extremely grateful.
I hope you will continue to place your trust in Gorba and myself as we move ever closer to finally getting the update in your hands.
Truth be told guys, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs over this year. While we were very productive and got a lot of content finished, we also had many personal struggles, and I think all the stress that built up from previous years reached a nasty head. Before this year, I was always very determined with the update. This year though, I honestly hit a few low points and felt defeated. I simply didn’t like that we had failed to get this update out sooner, and that we struggled with the work so often. I often worried so much about the community and keeping you guys satisfied. I didn’t want our honestly amazing community to fall apart because we took too long. It often felt like I was going crazy because I knew I couldn’t compromise on the dream of the update (my heart wouldn’t let me), but that meant there was always more work to be done and it felt like it just kept growing out of hand.
In those low points, I eventually let myself rest and crash completely. Felt pretty rough for awhile, but then felt rested. And in doing so, I realized what I needed to do: Let go.
So that’s what I’ve been doing recently, letting go of the stress, the expectations from myself and the community, and rekindling my own passion and confidence for the game. I think this was a desperately needed turning point for me, and I’m happy to say that I really do feel like I’ve let a lot of my old stress go. Now, I feel fired up and ready to finish this thing, and I know that completing this epic update is finally within reach!
Now that we let our hearts talk a bit, please enjoy the teaser images and items shown here today. We are keeping it simple this post, keeping our secrets as usual, but rest assured there’s plenty more to discover!
As you might guess from these images, the update isn’t all just islands in the sky! Indeed, you will also venture deep underground, exploring massive dungeons overrun with monsters - and many other new types of environments far beyond the Frontier.
These areas will of course all be filled to the brim with their own new collectibles, characters, monsters and bosses!
As excited as I am to share more details with you all, for now we just wanted to check in and give you the latest on our progress. Although we’ve mentioned it a lot in the past, I want to reiterate that the majority of the content in the update won’t be revealed until release.
Of course, we won’t just drop the update entirely out of the blue. Once it is completely ready, we will announce as much, and give it at minimum a couple of weeks to build hype and focus on advertising, hopefully drawing in as many players as we can on release day. Also around that time, we will likely do a few stages of beta testing, so if you’re interested, keep an eye out for that in the future!
With that, I think that’s about all we have to say for now. I want to do my best to keep you guys updated along the way, being more active in the Discord as best I can - and keeping you guys in the loop with how we’re doing. Spectrabox, as he likes, plans to focus up and be more reclusive for his final developing time. For myself, I’ve found it’s best if I am more engaged with the community, as talking with you all helps keep me centered and motivated.
Thanks for sticking with us another year. It’s been a long journey, but I know we can finally do this, and get this update out to everyone! We’ll need your support, and if you believe in us, I think it will help us get it done all the sooner. Love you all, have a great start to 2024, and I hope to see you in-game when future becomes reality.
