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Or how to revive the old North for a pack of crackers[/h2][p]From this dev diary, you'll learn if it's possible to restore a long-lost past with minimal resources.[/p][p]
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Why “a pack of crackers”?[/p][p]It’s worth clarifying why we keep bringing up “minimal resources” and “a pack of crackers.” The Wild North was never meant to be a new endgame. In fact, a significant part of the team is skeptical about the concept altogether, seeing the wild locations format as outdated and uncertain in terms of long-term potential. While the rest of the dev team was focused on building a proper new endgame experience, the Wild North was pushed forward by a small group working alongside their main responsibilities.[/p][p]At its core, this is an experiment. The outcome of this experiment is still to be seen, but for now, let’s take a look at how it all came together.[/p]
It all started in May 2025
[p]That's when we got the idea to bring back the old north locations.[/p][h3]Where did this desire come from?[/h3][p]
Reason #1[/p][p]Initially, we planned to preserve historic spots like the Radar Station and Red Forest by placing them between faction home bases in the North.[/p][p]But those plans weren't meant to be: Forge need to be expanded up and down in the future to create space for PvP battles, leaving the iconic spots homeless — that's how they ended up in the Wild North project.[/p][p]
Reason #2[/p][p]Gameplay features multiply in the coders queue faster than mushrooms after rain. But we really want to give endgame players at least some new content.[/p][p]It became clear: we have to make something avoiding this huge queue, quick and cheap but with soul.[/p][p]
Reason #3[/p][p]During the development of the new subdivision system, we realized we needed full PvP locations (wild ones like Stillwaters) to create activities for clans there. But we can't develop such locations from scratch, and we have no idea how playable they'd be. So we set our vision on old locations that could be brought back to be used and experimented on.[/p][p]The Wild North will serve as a testing ground for clan-based and hardcore gameplay: if the format proves successful, it can be expanded further; if not, at least we won’t have invested full-scale resources into developing brand-new content from scratch.[/p][h3]How to get there?[/h3][p]Before launch, we had to answer a key question: how players would access the locations.[/p][p]Important note: we decided from the start that Red Forest and Yanov (now — Uranus Plant) will be wild locations without matchmaking levels. Without that, half of our desired mechanics wouldn't work there.[/p][p]On one hand, bubbles are already boring. We wanted simple human running by foot from Bar through The Path of Fools/Polesskoye, but that would mean facing ancient evil — PK, doubled due to absence of allies and matchmaking.[/p][p]The teleport access option sounded boring at first, but it avoided tons of issues and let us use the entire Wild North area for more interesting activity placement.[/p][p]So we decided to attach the Drunken Geiger Bar to Underground, which used to lead from Bar to faction bases, and make a run through it, filling it with anomalies and mutants.[/p][p]
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[/p][h3]Clans and solo players[/h3][p]We wanted to create gameplay for different player types.[/p][p]Here's what we decided: reattach Stillwaters to Uranus, but add an alternative entrance via the Underground.[/p][p]Gold Airdrops are moved to Red Forest and Uranus. We tried to scatter them so you could bypass clan meat grinders if you wanted. Stillwaters will keep content interesting only for solo/duo players. We're not adding new “unique” solo content at release. Essentially, it's the same familiar gameplay — farming events and related activities. We're just reducing motivation for full groups and stacks to enter the Stillwaters by removing group activities there.[/p][p]Additionally, Stillwaters will get a max player limit per location, making it less crowded and more comfy for solo or duo play.[/p][p]We'll see how it turns out after release.[/p][h3]Work plan[/h3][p]First, we approved the concept and work plan with the Level Art department. As much as we'd like to implement something with minimal costs, doing it with 2-3 people is impossible.[/p][p]Repositioning trees on the old location maps wasn't enough. Many buildings weren't just outdated — they looked awful. We tried to avoid manual rebuilds and replaced sad objects with ready-made buildings from other locations (Boral, for example).[/p][p]We planned an autumn release, but reality quickly made adjustments.[/p]
June
[p]By now, we described the overall concept and prepared specs for level design and level art.[/p][p]Level design tasks included attaching Lyubech-3 suburb to expand spawn zones, restoring the passage to Stillwaters, and cleaning up the factory grounds.[/p][p]If time allowed, we also planned to integrate the stealth dungeon from the storyline into the main map and expand the location using regions 4 and 5 in the image.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]Level Art had to demolish all old trees and grass, replace all tech, fix the ancient landscape, redo all points of interest, place new trees and grass, and then optimize PC load.[/p][p]Below are areas that need special attention. Colours show how much work was ahead in each spot.[/p][p]
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August
[p]Location preparation was delayed: we underestimated our strength, did more than needed at first, then part of the team went on holiday. Radar Station, Uranus with Ravine were almost done. Most of the work left on Red Forest.[/p][p]We also wanted to fill locations with Murmur — an updated NPC pool from Attack on Perimeter. One poor TGD guy had to place and configure all events and entities. That's the reality of limited manpower.[/p][p]Fun fact — we had a small debate on Radar Station. There was an idea for a low gravity zone with trampolines on some floors, or leave it as is. Ultimately, we left it as is to not overload the complex spot and make players there too mobile.[/p][p]
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September
[p]Level Art finished their part. Work began on:[/p]
- [p]TGD assembled event prototypes, then placed and configured locations.[/p]
- [p]Focus Group tested new artefacts. After Furgon's tweaks, their stats were approved.[/p]
- [p]From Art department various fillers, a new installation, and a couple new scopes have been requested.[/p]
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- [p]Narrative prepared names, descriptions, notes, easter eggs, and secrets.[/p]
- [p]Sound team prepared new ambience music.[/p]
- [p]Designers made icons.[/p]
November
[p]From the start of a project, we needed to figure out why run to a tough wild location full of enemies when you can casually farm barter resources from the Forge?[/p][p]Gathering outside opinions, we found a solution — artefact generation in Anomaly Research Installations.[/p][p]Spots for installations will be divided into 4 categories: thermal, gravitational, electrical, biological.[/p][p]A location can have at most 1 active spot per category, so theoretically up to 4 installations at once. Works like chrono installation: 1 min warming up, 5 min active (time can be adjusted). And of course, it's all visible on the map.[/p][p]
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[/p][p]By the way, remember the autumn release wish? Well, we had to delay the release. New looting system dropped mid-December but was already integrated into Wild North. We didn't want to release at the end of year with tons of other content planned. Plus, who'd pay attention during New Year's holidays anyway?[/p]
December
[p]At the end of year, we wrapped up some things and moved to internal testing. Tests take a lot of time with constant number tweaking and settings.[/p][p]
What was ready:[/p]
- [p]All location sounds;[/p]
- [p]All assets;[/p]
- [p]Events on Red Forest and Uranus;[/p]
- [p]Economy.[/p]
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What remained:[/p]
- [p]Set up event fillers;[/p]
- [p]Arrange some events in Stillwaters;[/p]
- [p]Place patrols on locations;[/p]
- [p]Sort contracts in Drunken Geiger Bar, Bar reputation, and quests granting access;[/p]
- [p]Configure signals;[/p]
- [p]Tune looting;[/p]
- [p]Calculate artefact spawn.[/p]
[p]Even with a pack of crackers as budget, the project grew with different mechanics and small stuff.[/p]
February
[p]Late January and the entire February were spent on testing, which led to the release being postponed several times. Unexpected location optimisation issues came up, and Level Artists had to be pulled in to make urgent fixes. There were also problems with events, NPCs, other entities, and the economy.[/p][p]In the end, March 4 was set as the final release date.[/p]
What awaits us after release?
[p]Locations will keep getting support, development, and content.[/p][p]We're already planning some quest lines for them, and soon two of four capturable Forge-11 bases will be moved to Red Forest and Uranus Plant.[/p][p]Though the bet is on clan focused development, we'll try not to forget about players that are not interested in clan hustle.[/p][p][/p][h2]
See you in the Wild North![/h2]