This week felt a little different than usual. It was my first time trying a more weekly-style update instead of the rapid-fire daily changes I’m used to. Honestly, I’ll probably be shifting back to daily updates starting this coming week — it keeps me more organized, and it’s easier for me to track everything I’m adding. I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton of things that went in over the last few days, which is exactly why I set up the Dev Tracker in the first place.
That said, next week is going to be a big one. I’ve taken almost the entire week off so I can push out as much content as possible leading up to February 1st. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend joining the Discord — it’s the best place to give feedback, chat with me directly, and help shape Morndale as it grows. Talking with all of you has genuinely become one of my favorite parts of this project.
Gameplay & System Updates
A lot of core systems got polish, fixes, or their first wave of expansion this week:
- Battlepass levels have been fixed
- Battlepass challenges updated
- Skill swapping is now smoother and uses a prompt
- Gatherable skills received an overhaul and now use loot tables
- Skill details now display possible loot for the selected item/skill
- 15 new gems added to ore drops (with more coming to loot tables)
- Jewelcrafting updated with polished gems
- Multiple skills received new recipes and items (still a work in progress)
- First wave of component-based recipes and items added
These changes lay the groundwork for a much more robust crafting and progression ecosystem — something that’s going to keep expanding heavily over the next few weeks.
Closed Testing Update — February 1st
With February 1st right around the corner, I’ve been doing everything I can to make sure Morndale leaves a strong first impression on new testers. After thinking it over, I’ve decided not to open the full Open Alpha on the 1st.
Instead, I’ll be approving the first 1,000 Closed Alpha applications on February 1st.
I’ll most likely approve new applications each week after that. This approach lets me avoid flooding the servers all at once and gives me a much clearer picture of how many players the current setup can handle. It should make the transition smoother for everyone and reduce the stress of a massive day-one spike.
Membership & Alpha Supporter Pack
Memberships will also open on February 1st — but not at the originally planned $4.99.
Instead, I’m introducing the Alpha Supporter Pack:
- $0.99 base price
- Option to contribute more if you’d like to support the project
- Grants 3 months of membership instead of a monthly subscription
My goal right now is simply to raise enough to keep the servers paid for so I can keep developing Morndale without the stress of covering everything out of pocket. When I originally posted the Reddit thread, I figured maybe 5–6 people would join to help test — what actually happened was far beyond that. I had to upgrade servers and spend a good chunk of this month getting everything moved over and set up, which meant fewer content updates than I’d like.
This Supporter Pack helps me get back to focusing on what matters: building the game.
Closing Thoughts
I’m incredibly grateful for everyone who has shown support and interest in Morndale this month. This project has already grown far beyond what I expected, and I can’t wait to see what’s next as we head into February 1st and beyond.
Onward to a huge week ahead — and to the future of Morndale.
