Guilds of Mountgate — The Road to Version 1.0
Soon, Guilds of Mountgate officially enters Early Access.
With the release getting very close, I think this is the perfect time to look a little further ahead.
Early Access is not the finish line for Guilds of Mountgate. It is the foundation I want to build upon together with the community.
Over the course of Early Access, the existing world will continue to grow, unfinished locations will receive their own content and identity, existing systems will become deeper and more interconnected, and entirely new parts of the game will be introduced.
So today, I'd like to share the current:
Early Access Roadmap — The Road to Version 1.0
The roadmap is currently divided into Content Passes.
These are not tied to fixed release dates. Some will be relatively small, while others will fundamentally expand the game.
The order may also change depending on development, technical requirements and — most importantly — player feedback.
But this is the current direction for the journey towards Version 1.0.
Content Pass I — Amberbend
Vineyards, Quests & Wine
One of the first stops right before or after the Early Access launch will be Amberbend.
The vineyards will receive more purpose, Amberbend will get its own quests, and wine production will become a more meaningful part of progression.
Planned:
Amberbend quests
More interaction with the vineyards
Wine production
Additional production and progression balancing
The goal is simple: Amberbend should not just look like a wine region — it should actually play like one.
Content Pass II — Living Characters
NPC Memory & Relationships
One of the systems I'm particularly excited about.
NPCs will gradually become more than static quest givers.
Characters will be able to remember relevant interactions, react to things you've done and develop different relationships with your character over time.
Planned:
Persistent NPC memories
Reactions to previous quests and interactions
Relationship progression
Dynamic dialogue
Personal quests and opportunities
Selected NPCs travelling between locations
The idea is not to create another visible reputation bar that simply goes from 0 to 100.
I want you to eventually meet an NPC again and notice:
"Oh. This person actually remembers me."
Content Pass III — Stonebridge
Industry & Production
Stonebridge will receive its own major content expansion and become one of the industrial centers of the Mountgate region.
Planned:
New quests
Stronger industrial identity
Potential introduction of Brewing
Content Pass IV — Mountgate Harbor
Commerce & the Gateway Beyond Mountgate
Mountgate Harbor will become a fully developed location with its own quests, workers, merchants and activities.
Planned:
New quests
Harbor activities
Cargo and deliveries
Merchants and services
Regional commerce
New goods
First hints towards markets outside Mountgate
And much later in Early Access, this location will become important for something much bigger.
More on that below.
Content Pass V — Fisher's Reach
Fishing Contracts
Fisher's Reach will work a little differently.
Instead of simply adding another traditional questline, experienced fishermen will eventually gain access to repeatable Fishing Contracts.
These may require things such as:
Specific fish
Certain total catch weights
Night fishing
Weather-dependent catches
Bait deliveries
Special catch requirements
The idea is to turn Fisher's Reach into a long-term destination for players who really want to specialize in Fishing.
Content Pass VI — Westwood Logging Camp
Woodcutting & Forestry
The Westwood Logging Camp will eventually become accessible and serve as an important Woodcutting and timber location.
Planned:
New quests
Woodcutting activities
Forestry
Timber production
Resource deliveries
New progression opportunities
The resources produced here will also become increasingly important as other systems are introduced later.
Content Pass VII — Mossvale
Survival, Foraging & the Wilds
Mossvale will explore a slightly different side of the Mountgate region.
Expect a more remote and mysterious place with a stronger focus on wilderness gameplay.
Planned:
New quests
Survival activities
Potential connections to Mysticism
Content Pass VIII — Deer Grove
Hunting & Wildlife
Deer Grove will focus on wildlife and activities surrounding it.
Planned:
New quests
Hunting
Tracking
Wildlife resources
New materials
Wilderness NPCs
Foundations for future animal systems
Late Game Woodcutting
Some of the systems introduced here will become much more important later.
Content Pass IX — Northreach Outpost
The Northern Frontier
Northreach will be aimed at more experienced characters and mark one of the edges of the currently known region.
Planned:
New quests
Higher-level resources
Harsher environments
Greater importance of Survival
Frontier activities
Dangerous encounters
Northreach will also begin to hint at what lies beyond the familiar parts of Mountgate.
Content Pass X — Games & Taverns
Make Yourself at Home
I want taverns to eventually become actual social places rather than locations you visit once and forget about.
A small group of travelling NPCs will move between towns and offer different games.
Planned:
Dice games
Card games
Other tavern games
Travelling opponents
Different personalities and difficulties
Player vs. Player game tables
And yes — sometimes the person you're looking for may simply be in another town.
The world shouldn't always wait for the player.
Content Pass XI — Combat
Melee, Ranged & PvE
This will be one of the biggest additions during Early Access.
Combat will introduce two new skills:
⚔️ Melee
🏹 Ranged
Alongside an entirely new gameplay pillar:
PvE enemies
Weapons
Armor
Combat equipment
Loot
Status effects
Combat areas
Combat quests
Combat will also give many existing professions entirely new purposes.
Smithing can produce weapons and armor.
Crafting gains additional equipment and ammunition.
Cooking becomes more relevant through healing and preparation.
And the economy gains entirely new categories of demand.
Optional competitive activities such as arena-style PvP may follow later, but Guilds of Mountgate is not planned around forced open-world PvP.
Content Pass XII — Trade, Transportation & Living Economy
Move Goods. Build Routes. Follow the Market.
Another one of the largest planned Early Access updates.
Guilds of Mountgate already has regional prices and a dynamic economy, but I want to take this considerably further.
Mounts
Different horses will serve different purposes.
A fast riding horse might drastically improve travel speed but be terrible at pulling heavy loads.
A strong draft horse may be slower but capable of moving enormous amounts of cargo.
Carts & Wagons
Transportation itself will become part of progression.
From small carts to large merchant wagons, players will gain increasingly powerful ways to move goods around the region.
This creates an actual decision:
Do I want to travel quickly — or move a lot of cargo?
A Living Economy
The existing dynamic economy will continue to evolve around:
Supply
Demand
Production
Consumption
Shortages
Imports
Exports
Regional specialization
Different places will increasingly develop their own economic identities.
Amberbend — Wine
Smallbrook — Agriculture & Honey
Stonebridge — Metal & Industry
Westwood — Timber
Fisher's Reach — Fish
Mountgate Harbor — Commerce
The goal is to make trading interesting because the world itself creates opportunities — not simply because Shop A has been hardcoded to sell something cheaper than Shop B.
Content Pass XIII — Pets & Breeding
Companions with a Purpose
Animals won't simply exist as cosmetic collectibles.
Dogs and other companions may eventually help with activities such as:
Hunting
Tracking
Survival
Travel
Combat
And the horses introduced through Transportation will become part of a much larger animal system.
Breeding
Animals will eventually be able to inherit properties from their parents.
This may include:
Speed
Strength
Endurance
Pulling power
Temperament
Work-related traits
Coat colors
Patterns
Other visual characteristics
The long-term goal is to make animal breeding a genuine specialization.
Maybe your character doesn't become the greatest smith or merchant in Mountgate.
Maybe you become known for breeding some of the best draft horses in the region.
Content Pass XIV — Guilds & The Wider World
Build Something Bigger
This is where the scope of Guilds of Mountgate will begin to expand significantly.
Guilds are not planned to be glorified friend lists.
Creating one will require an investment, and where your guild is established will matter.
Guild Features
Planned systems include:
Guild locations
Guild treasury
Shared storage
Guild profiles
Roles and permissions
Guild chat
Workers
Cooperative contracts
Large Guild Projects
Different guild locations may also favor different activities.
An industrial guild established around Stonebridge should not necessarily have the same advantages as a trading organization operating from Mountgate Harbor.
The Wider World
This Content Pass will also begin opening the world beyond the current Mountgate region.
Guilds will be able to establish trade with other regions and factions across Vellgar.
This can include:
Foreign markets
Imported goods
Export opportunities
Large trade contracts
New factions
Long-distance transportation
Guild trade relationships
This is also where Mountgate Harbor returns to center stage.
A single adventurer casually shipping thousands of steel bars across the world doesn't make much sense.
A trading guild organizing a large shipment through Mountgate Harbor?
That does.
The goal is to make long-distance trade something players and guilds have to build towards.
Content Pass XV — Construction & Housing
Build a Home
One of the major systems planned for late Early Access.
Players will eventually be able to own and improve their own homes.
Possible features include:
Construction
Rooms and expansions
Furniture
Storage
Workshops
Gardens
Animal areas
Functional upgrades
Decoration
Housing will also create another important part of the long-term economy:
Resource sinks.
Wood, stone, metals and crafted materials that players have accumulated throughout their journey will gain entirely new uses.
Content Pass XVI — Generations
Your Character Won't Live Forever
One of the final major systems currently planned on the road towards Version 1.0.
Characters will eventually age.
Very slowly.
This is not intended to punish you for taking a break from the game.
Instead, the goal is to make characters feel like actual inhabitants of a world in which time passes.
Eventually this may include:
Relationships
Partners
Children
Families
Aging
Heirs
Character succession
In the normal game, this will primarily exist for immersion and continuity.
When one character's story ends, another member of the family can continue it.
But for players who want something considerably more dangerous...
☠️ Hardcore Mode
Hardcore Mode is planned as a completely optional way to play.
Your character dies?
Your heir continues.
You failed to create a line of succession?
Your journey may end there.
The exact rules will be developed much later, and any permanent consequences will of course be made extremely clear before players opt into such a mode.
Development Won't Stop Between Content Passes
These Content Passes represent the larger milestones.
They do not mean that nothing happens between them.
Throughout Early Access, smaller updates will continue to bring things such as:
New skill levels
New resources
New recipes
New equipment
New quests
New NPCs
New locations
World and travel events
More asynchronous multiplayer elements
Interactive quest mechanics
Economy improvements
Quality of Life improvements
UI improvements
Balancing
Audio and visual improvements
And, naturally, plenty of bug fixes
Some systems may also appear earlier than their corresponding Content Pass if it makes sense during development.
The Road to Version 1.0
Looking at the roadmap as a whole, the journey can roughly be divided into four stages.
I — Complete Mountgate
Fill the existing region with meaningful locations, characters, quests and activities.
II — Deepen the Game
Introduce deeper NPC interactions, Combat, transportation, a richer economy, animals and additional social activities.
III — Build the World
Introduce Guilds, foreign factions, long-distance trade and begin opening the wider world of Vellgar.
IV — Build a Life
Give players permanent roots through Housing, family, aging, succession and long-term character progression.
Once these fundamental pieces are in place, properly connected and polished, Guilds of Mountgate will be ready to leave Early Access behind.
Version 1.0.
One Last Thing
This roadmap represents the current direction of development.
It is not a list of fixed release dates or an unchangeable promise that every feature will arrive in exactly this order or exactly this form.
Early Access exists for a reason.
I want to see how you actually play the game.
Which systems you enjoy.
Which ones need more depth.
Where progression feels good.
Where it doesn't.
And which completely unexpected things the community manages to do with the systems already available.
That feedback will influence development.
The objective isn't simply to add more and more stuff until a version number says 1.0.
The objective is to gradually build a world where locations, characters, skills, production, trade, animals, players, organizations and eventually entire generations interact with each other.
Soon, that journey officially begins.
Thank you to everyone who has already played, tested, reported bugs, shared feedback, joined the Discord, wishlisted the game or simply followed development.