Falling Frontier Update – Systems Coming Together
Hi all, just wanting to formalise an update as to the progress over the past couple of years. There has been steady work across every part of Falling Frontier as we continue shaping it into the experience we set out to make. The focus has been on pulling all the systems together so that the art, tools, combat, and worldbuilding all speak the same language.
Falling Frontier’s release has shifted to 2026 to allow the time needed to finish integrating these systems and ensure the game reaches the standard we want for launch. Development is ongoing, and we’ll keep sharing updates as milestones are reached, including progress toward a demo.
This update takes a look at what has been happening across those areas, showing how each piece fits into the larger picture of the game’s development and the universe it represents.
[h2]The Art of Falling Frontier[/h2]
The art team have been working hard to create unique ships for different factions as well multiple station assets of various shapes and sizes that are used to populate the verse to call your home away from home. Environmental assets have also been improved from rocky asteroids to shipping containers which all help create a sense of a lived in and populated world.
We’ve developed a shared colour language for ships that helps visually communicate their function. White generally indicates sensors, while orange marks maintenance or access points such as hatches, bays, or missile tubes. You can see this across multiple hulls, creating a consistent logic that makes each ship readable at a glance.
Even though all ships originate from human factions, each group reflects its own cultural and design philosophy. The goal has been to make them feel like they were built by the same species but shaped by different histories and doctrines, similar to how real-world naval designs differ between nations while remaining recognisably human-made.
Alongside this, our Tech Artist has been putting in a lot of work on performance and visual consistency. One of the main challenges has been managing draw calls, and we’ve managed to reduce those by around sixty percent through the use of Material Property Blocks. This allows us to batch different texture sets under a single material, meaning ships, asteroids, cargo containers and stations can all share the same draw set without extra cost.
We’ve also implemented tint maps that sit over the albedo texture, which means we can now apply faction colours and camo patterns across ships without generating new materials. It’s a simple and efficient way to have variety in ship appearance while keeping performance high.
Ship radiators now light up dynamically, grime builds up over time through an animated mask, and destroyed internals show embers and heat fade as ships break apart. These effects all run within the same shader, so everything stays consistent while also cutting down on extra materials.
All of this work is already visible in-engine and forms the base of the new visual pass for ships and stations moving forward.
[h2]The Combat of Falling Frontier[/h2]
Combat has seen a lot of attention also. It's moved from an arcade style system to a more simulated system where ships fire thousands of rounds of munitions a minute, explosions have motion vectors so they look smooth in slow motion and ships break apart revealing internal decks as they succumb to sustained weapons fire.
We’ve been refining how explosions and destruction behave in real time. The destruction process now uses physics to push debris outward, so every explosion looks slightly different depending on where the final hit lands. Medium stations, for example, can be torn apart from an internal blast, with debris scattering dynamically based on the direction of impact.
To achieve this, we’re combining simple volumetric spheres with animated sprite sheets that use motion vectors to add smoothness and depth to the explosions. This setup creates a consistent visual flow whether you’re zoomed in close or watching a large battle unfold.
These effects are fully integrated with the rest of the destruction system, so the internal decks revealed during combat now react naturally to the force of the blast.
[h2]The Tools of Falling Frontier[/h2]
There's been further enhancements to planet technology. Planets are no longer a flat texture with normal maps but are now full 3D worlds with ridges, mountains, craters and ravines. The ability to create these will all be handed over to you when the Scenario Creator is made available in the future during the Early Access period. Gas clouds have been moved from a primitive based volumetric system to a mesh driven volumetric system allowing for more natural shape to space cloud formations.
Colour customisation will also be part of the Scenario Creator. In the campaign, ships use predefined faction colour schemes, but in the editor you will be able to change those configurations. For example, Titan ships share a single colour setup, the orange stripe, so it is easy to modify across the board. You could swap that out for a red, pink, or black stripe, or adjust the hull tone universally for all Titan ships.
Pirate ships work differently and can have individual colour setups per hull to create varied looks, which makes them more complex to adjust. These systems will allow players to experiment with faction identity and visual variation directly inside the Scenario Creator.
[h2]The Lore of Falling Frontier[/h2]
We also can't forget the lore and world building that's been going on behind the scenes that has been driving some of the visual and narrative decisions which has certainly contributed to what makes Falling Frontier so unique.
One of the cornerstones of Falling Frontier’s universe is the De Vaar jump drive, a matter-wavelength drive (roughly based on the De Broglie hypothesis). It works by masking a ship’s matter signature as pure energy, allowing it to travel through a temporary wormhole known as a jump conduit.
The experience of leaving FTL is often described by crews as “making the fall,” referring to the falling sensation when exiting the conduit.
Early prototypes of the drive were unstable, but the discovery of Ti-82 made it possible for ships to survive the stresses of faster-than-light travel. The system isn’t without limits, however. The jump drive is affected by gravity, creating what’s known as an exclusion zone around celestial bodies. Ships must move beyond this area using their standard fusion drives before they can safely initiate a jump.
Fuel for the Europa drive comes in the form of He3, which ties into the game’s logistical network. Long-range fleets need refueling infrastructure, and refueling operations can become high-risk moments in battle, as any damage during transfer could ignite the He3 and destroy nearby vessels.
These details form part of the larger foundation for Falling Frontier’s setting, grounding its technology and exploration in consistent internal logic.
[h2]The Music of Falling Frontier[/h2]
Music and sound have also evolved over the last couple of years and I feel it really sets the stage for a sci-fi yet grounded setting.
The score continues to be composed by Scott Buckley, who has been shaping the tone of Falling Frontier since the beginning. For the “Might of Mars” trailer, Scott wrote a track built around a heavy, primal rhythm meant to represent the heartbeat of progress. At a distance it reflects the pulse of an entire society, while up close the industrial layers and metallic sounds echo individual effort. The beat of a nation driven by its people working in unison.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The piece drew inspiration from “Sea Wall” in the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack, capturing that same balance between scale and intimacy. This collaboration has helped define the sound identity of Falling Frontier. A blend of human resolve and vast, mechanical frontier.
[h2]Final Thoughts[/h2]
That covers some of the main areas that have seen progress recently. Each part of the project has been about refining what is already there rather than adding more for the sake of it, and that work will continue as we move toward Early Access.
If there are areas of development you would like to hear more about, let us know. We will be taking questions from the community to help decide what we cover in future updates, alongside the milestones we reach internally.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to follow the project. Your support means a great deal and helps make it possible to bring this world to life the right way.
[h3]Transmission Channels: Join the Falling Frontier Community[/h3][hr][/hr]Stay connected across the frontier through the following links:
[Discord] [Bluesky] [Twitter] [YouTube] [Instagram]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1280190/Falling_Frontier/
Falling Frontier’s release has shifted to 2026 to allow the time needed to finish integrating these systems and ensure the game reaches the standard we want for launch. Development is ongoing, and we’ll keep sharing updates as milestones are reached, including progress toward a demo.
This update takes a look at what has been happening across those areas, showing how each piece fits into the larger picture of the game’s development and the universe it represents.
[h2]The Art of Falling Frontier[/h2]
The art team have been working hard to create unique ships for different factions as well multiple station assets of various shapes and sizes that are used to populate the verse to call your home away from home. Environmental assets have also been improved from rocky asteroids to shipping containers which all help create a sense of a lived in and populated world.
We’ve developed a shared colour language for ships that helps visually communicate their function. White generally indicates sensors, while orange marks maintenance or access points such as hatches, bays, or missile tubes. You can see this across multiple hulls, creating a consistent logic that makes each ship readable at a glance.
Even though all ships originate from human factions, each group reflects its own cultural and design philosophy. The goal has been to make them feel like they were built by the same species but shaped by different histories and doctrines, similar to how real-world naval designs differ between nations while remaining recognisably human-made.
Alongside this, our Tech Artist has been putting in a lot of work on performance and visual consistency. One of the main challenges has been managing draw calls, and we’ve managed to reduce those by around sixty percent through the use of Material Property Blocks. This allows us to batch different texture sets under a single material, meaning ships, asteroids, cargo containers and stations can all share the same draw set without extra cost.
We’ve also implemented tint maps that sit over the albedo texture, which means we can now apply faction colours and camo patterns across ships without generating new materials. It’s a simple and efficient way to have variety in ship appearance while keeping performance high.
Ship radiators now light up dynamically, grime builds up over time through an animated mask, and destroyed internals show embers and heat fade as ships break apart. These effects all run within the same shader, so everything stays consistent while also cutting down on extra materials.
All of this work is already visible in-engine and forms the base of the new visual pass for ships and stations moving forward.
[h2]The Combat of Falling Frontier[/h2]
Combat has seen a lot of attention also. It's moved from an arcade style system to a more simulated system where ships fire thousands of rounds of munitions a minute, explosions have motion vectors so they look smooth in slow motion and ships break apart revealing internal decks as they succumb to sustained weapons fire.
We’ve been refining how explosions and destruction behave in real time. The destruction process now uses physics to push debris outward, so every explosion looks slightly different depending on where the final hit lands. Medium stations, for example, can be torn apart from an internal blast, with debris scattering dynamically based on the direction of impact.
To achieve this, we’re combining simple volumetric spheres with animated sprite sheets that use motion vectors to add smoothness and depth to the explosions. This setup creates a consistent visual flow whether you’re zoomed in close or watching a large battle unfold.
These effects are fully integrated with the rest of the destruction system, so the internal decks revealed during combat now react naturally to the force of the blast.
[h2]The Tools of Falling Frontier[/h2]
There's been further enhancements to planet technology. Planets are no longer a flat texture with normal maps but are now full 3D worlds with ridges, mountains, craters and ravines. The ability to create these will all be handed over to you when the Scenario Creator is made available in the future during the Early Access period. Gas clouds have been moved from a primitive based volumetric system to a mesh driven volumetric system allowing for more natural shape to space cloud formations.
Colour customisation will also be part of the Scenario Creator. In the campaign, ships use predefined faction colour schemes, but in the editor you will be able to change those configurations. For example, Titan ships share a single colour setup, the orange stripe, so it is easy to modify across the board. You could swap that out for a red, pink, or black stripe, or adjust the hull tone universally for all Titan ships.
Pirate ships work differently and can have individual colour setups per hull to create varied looks, which makes them more complex to adjust. These systems will allow players to experiment with faction identity and visual variation directly inside the Scenario Creator.
[h2]The Lore of Falling Frontier[/h2]
We also can't forget the lore and world building that's been going on behind the scenes that has been driving some of the visual and narrative decisions which has certainly contributed to what makes Falling Frontier so unique.
One of the cornerstones of Falling Frontier’s universe is the De Vaar jump drive, a matter-wavelength drive (roughly based on the De Broglie hypothesis). It works by masking a ship’s matter signature as pure energy, allowing it to travel through a temporary wormhole known as a jump conduit.
The experience of leaving FTL is often described by crews as “making the fall,” referring to the falling sensation when exiting the conduit.
Early prototypes of the drive were unstable, but the discovery of Ti-82 made it possible for ships to survive the stresses of faster-than-light travel. The system isn’t without limits, however. The jump drive is affected by gravity, creating what’s known as an exclusion zone around celestial bodies. Ships must move beyond this area using their standard fusion drives before they can safely initiate a jump.
Fuel for the Europa drive comes in the form of He3, which ties into the game’s logistical network. Long-range fleets need refueling infrastructure, and refueling operations can become high-risk moments in battle, as any damage during transfer could ignite the He3 and destroy nearby vessels.
These details form part of the larger foundation for Falling Frontier’s setting, grounding its technology and exploration in consistent internal logic.
[h2]The Music of Falling Frontier[/h2]
Music and sound have also evolved over the last couple of years and I feel it really sets the stage for a sci-fi yet grounded setting.
The score continues to be composed by Scott Buckley, who has been shaping the tone of Falling Frontier since the beginning. For the “Might of Mars” trailer, Scott wrote a track built around a heavy, primal rhythm meant to represent the heartbeat of progress. At a distance it reflects the pulse of an entire society, while up close the industrial layers and metallic sounds echo individual effort. The beat of a nation driven by its people working in unison.
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
The piece drew inspiration from “Sea Wall” in the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack, capturing that same balance between scale and intimacy. This collaboration has helped define the sound identity of Falling Frontier. A blend of human resolve and vast, mechanical frontier.
[h2]Final Thoughts[/h2]
That covers some of the main areas that have seen progress recently. Each part of the project has been about refining what is already there rather than adding more for the sake of it, and that work will continue as we move toward Early Access.
If there are areas of development you would like to hear more about, let us know. We will be taking questions from the community to help decide what we cover in future updates, alongside the milestones we reach internally.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to follow the project. Your support means a great deal and helps make it possible to bring this world to life the right way.
[h3]Transmission Channels: Join the Falling Frontier Community[/h3][hr][/hr]Stay connected across the frontier through the following links:
[Discord] [Bluesky] [Twitter] [YouTube] [Instagram]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1280190/Falling_Frontier/