Source: https://shadowfrag.com/blog/welcome/

# The game I am building

By the SHADOWFRAG developer · Development · Oct 19, 2026 · 3 min read

SHADOWFRAG began with one-shot ninja fights. As I added weapons and objectives, I kept coming back to movement that gives you useful choices in every kind of match.

[Lantern Yard, captured in SHADOWFRAG's Vulkan renderer](https://shadowfrag.com/_astro/b0e33ac4ee1876d7b504068e1befc8e190ba0e7d8fed070ec8efc5caa8a2fd56.BmElGdHB.png)

Actual engine render · Development build · 22 October 2026

**Update — 25 October 2026:** SHADOWFRAG now includes [Shogun conquest](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shogun), [Shogun Highlands](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shogun-highlands) and [Precision Dojo](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-precision-dojo). Read [why we describe it as a Movement FPS](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-fps/) and explore the [current 21-map roster](https://shadowfrag.com/maps/).

SHADOWFRAG started as ninja [instagib](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-instagib): one hit kills an unprotected opponent, so landing a shot matters and movement makes that shot harder to line up. As I added a bow, other [projectiles](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-projectile) and team objectives, I found that the same movement could support a much broader game.

A leap might help you close on an archer, escape with a flag or reach a scroll. The weapon waiting at the other end changes what you do when you arrive. I wanted players to keep using what they had learned about movement as the match around them changed.

## Building around shared movement

I made the map, objective, weapons and protection rules separate choices. That lets me revisit a familiar arena with a different question: how does it play when every unprotected rail hit kills, when a kill restores a [shield](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shield), or when a [projectile](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-projectile) requires you to aim ahead of a moving opponent? The jumps remain shared, while access to [shadow grenades](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-shadow-warp) can be configured separately.

Some of the work needed to support that is less visible. Mouse input has no smoothing and is not multiplied by the time taken to draw a frame. The client responds to your movement immediately through [prediction](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-client-prediction), and the server checks it using the same movement rules. Practice uses a real [client/server](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-client-server) connection too, so learning a route offline also exercises the systems used in multiplayer.

Renaming the project on October 19 brought another practical job: carrying existing player profiles into the new package. I preserved the original profile data and checked the package and launcher together. A player who had already tuned their settings should be able to keep them under the new name.

## A development build with room to grow

The build described in the original version of this post had 20 maps, practice [bots](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-bot), private hosting, direct connection and [Map Studio](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-map-studio). Windows and Linux were the active platforms. The **[64-player limit](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-player-cap), including [bots](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-bot)**, came from testing after the rename; [that testing has its own entry](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/why-the-limit-is-64/).

This was still a game in development, with Steam integration, broader Internet testing and [release qualification](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/#term-qualification) ahead. The part that made me want to keep building was already there: colorful arenas where learning a route gives you another way to approach a fight. [The guided tour](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/guided-tour/) shows how the movement and combat fit together.

[Back to blog](https://shadowfrag.com/blog/)[Browse the glossary](https://shadowfrag.com/glossary/)

## Request an _invite code._

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