Dev Blog #1: Enhanced Graphics, New Art & Plans
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Hey everyone!
It’s been a wild six months since we first announced Forty-Niner, and we’ve finally got some sneak peaks we’re excited to share—from shiny new graphics to a peek at how NPCs secure and expand their territories in the frontier.
Intrigued? Buckle up for a deep dive into the latest highlights and developments on our journey so far.
We received tons of feedback on our original low-poly aesthetic, but our true aim is to create a rich, stylized cartoon look with a modern twist. That meant finding the right artist to help realize this vision—and yes, it’s been a lot of work!
The hardest part is that we have a ton of items to create from scratch and fit into something new and still, fun to play.
We started small by redesigning items like weapons and tools:
Our inspiration comes from cartoons, blending a playful art style with the grittier atmosphere of the Wild West. But items alone aren’t enough to show the new look—characters matter too.
Here’s our previous character from the reveal trailer:
While we loved the low-poly design, we wanted something more immersive that truly draws you into Forty-Niner’s world. We’ve been exploring different references and iterating on the visual style to find that perfect balance between ‘cartoon fun’ and ‘frontier realism’:
Upgrading to a more detailed art style means factoring in extra texture work, subtle color gradients, and unique forms for everything you see in-game. Our new artist’s expertise in texturing has been a huge help. Beyond characters, we’ve also revamped the environment—trees, flowers, grass—giving everything a fresh coat of stylized paint while still maintaining that frontier vibe.
Some experimenting we started with building own trees simulations, such as this:
More enhancing is undergoing for building system and animals looks. But for now...
Check out the new character in the new art style:
Don’t worry if you’re on a lower-end system; we’ve put just as much effort into optimization as we have into improving fidelity, so you can enjoy Forty-Niner smoothly no matter your setup.
We’re not just committed to local co-op and small group sessions anymore. We’ve successfully tested dedicated servers, both through Steam and standalone setups, capable of hosting over 200 players. The result? A truly mad frontier where you can stake your claim or form massive alliances without missing a beat.
Whether you’re going solo, teaming up with friends, or diving into a huge community server, we want the experience to be just as fun and stable across the board.
One of our major new gameplay shifts is giving NPCs real power and agency in the world. Each NPC has a specific role—some may run entire towns, while others focus on trade networks or securing supply routes. Your job? Not just to survive, but to carve out and defend your own territory.
Town-building mechanics, economic growth, and resource transport (like train tracks to move goods and gold) are part of this evolving frontier. Expect a more strategic experience when dealing with rival towns and factions.
We’ll share more details about these NPC-driven systems in our next dev update!
We’ve knocked out core features like combat, gold mining, and territory exploration, tested by a select focus group for feedback. There’s still plenty of refinement to come, but we’re excited about the progress so far.
Our next step is a closed playtest, which you can sign up for at forty-niner.net. We’re not quite ready to reveal exact dates yet, but stay tuned on Discord and here in the Steam Community for any announcements.
Thanks for sticking with us on this adventure. We can’t wait to show you even more in future updates.
Yours,
VowelA Games
Hey everyone!
It’s been a wild six months since we first announced Forty-Niner, and we’ve finally got some sneak peaks we’re excited to share—from shiny new graphics to a peek at how NPCs secure and expand their territories in the frontier.
Intrigued? Buckle up for a deep dive into the latest highlights and developments on our journey so far.
ENHANCED GRAPHICS
We received tons of feedback on our original low-poly aesthetic, but our true aim is to create a rich, stylized cartoon look with a modern twist. That meant finding the right artist to help realize this vision—and yes, it’s been a lot of work!
The hardest part is that we have a ton of items to create from scratch and fit into something new and still, fun to play.
We started small by redesigning items like weapons and tools:
Our inspiration comes from cartoons, blending a playful art style with the grittier atmosphere of the Wild West. But items alone aren’t enough to show the new look—characters matter too.
Here’s our previous character from the reveal trailer:
While we loved the low-poly design, we wanted something more immersive that truly draws you into Forty-Niner’s world. We’ve been exploring different references and iterating on the visual style to find that perfect balance between ‘cartoon fun’ and ‘frontier realism’:
Upgrading to a more detailed art style means factoring in extra texture work, subtle color gradients, and unique forms for everything you see in-game. Our new artist’s expertise in texturing has been a huge help. Beyond characters, we’ve also revamped the environment—trees, flowers, grass—giving everything a fresh coat of stylized paint while still maintaining that frontier vibe.
Some experimenting we started with building own trees simulations, such as this:
More enhancing is undergoing for building system and animals looks. But for now...
Check out the new character in the new art style:
Don’t worry if you’re on a lower-end system; we’ve put just as much effort into optimization as we have into improving fidelity, so you can enjoy Forty-Niner smoothly no matter your setup.
DEDICATED SERVERS
We’re not just committed to local co-op and small group sessions anymore. We’ve successfully tested dedicated servers, both through Steam and standalone setups, capable of hosting over 200 players. The result? A truly mad frontier where you can stake your claim or form massive alliances without missing a beat.
Whether you’re going solo, teaming up with friends, or diving into a huge community server, we want the experience to be just as fun and stable across the board.
NPCS WHO HOLD REGIONS
One of our major new gameplay shifts is giving NPCs real power and agency in the world. Each NPC has a specific role—some may run entire towns, while others focus on trade networks or securing supply routes. Your job? Not just to survive, but to carve out and defend your own territory.
Town-building mechanics, economic growth, and resource transport (like train tracks to move goods and gold) are part of this evolving frontier. Expect a more strategic experience when dealing with rival towns and factions.
We’ll share more details about these NPC-driven systems in our next dev update!
ALPHA BUILD MILESTONE & PLANS
We’ve knocked out core features like combat, gold mining, and territory exploration, tested by a select focus group for feedback. There’s still plenty of refinement to come, but we’re excited about the progress so far.
Our next step is a closed playtest, which you can sign up for at forty-niner.net. We’re not quite ready to reveal exact dates yet, but stay tuned on Discord and here in the Steam Community for any announcements.
Thanks for sticking with us on this adventure. We can’t wait to show you even more in future updates.
Yours,
VowelA Games