https://shadowfrag.com/blog/Development updates and guides to movement, input, maps and multiplayer.enhttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/capacity-beyond-64/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/capacity-beyond-64/Three clean runs confirmed a 128-client Highlands research workload. Dense fights and higher counts exposed different limits, so the game remains capped at 64 players including bots.Tue, 27 Oct 2026 02:14:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/less-work-between-input-and-server/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/less-work-between-input-and-server/I changed storage, network waiting and retry ownership to remove work before messages leave. The measured gains belong to specific 64-client tests, with their failed baseline kept visible.Mon, 26 Oct 2026 18:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/shogun-bots-across-the-highlands/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/shogun-bots-across-the-highlands/Highlands bots were fighting in the north and scarcely attacking the south. I traced the imbalance to squad deployment, capture decisions and a bridge their navigation could not cross.Mon, 26 Oct 2026 17:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/giving-shadowfrag-its-sound/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/giving-shadowfrag-its-sound/The sound pass follows actions from preparation to recovery, adds wordless ninja voices and tutorial narration, and introduces a studio for hearing edits in the running game.Mon, 26 Oct 2026 16:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/keeping-multiplayer-updates-fresh/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/keeping-multiplayer-updates-fresh/Star-heavy tests showed clients receiving traffic without getting a fresh scene. I traced the delivery stages, kept the changes that held up and retained the mixed follow-up results.Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-fps/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-fps/The game has grown from close arena fights into conquest, training and a story mission. Movement remains the skill that connects those different ways to play.Sun, 25 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/building-shogun-highlands/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/building-shogun-highlands/Highlands needed useful fights at each settlement as well as routes between them. I built walking connections first, then added exposed skyways for faster crossings.Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/hud-and-tactical-map/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/hud-and-tactical-map/A duel needs clear aim and weapon information; Shogun also needs ownership, supply and routes. The HUD editor and tactical map let those needs share the screen.Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/precision-dojo/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/precision-dojo/Precision Dojo gives you fourteen offline forms for reading the game’s movement, from lateral tracking to airborne fights with your own weapon settings.Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/shogun-conquest/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/shogun-conquest/Shogun spreads a team fight across six settlements and twelve outposts. Capturing the supporting ground opens the next attack and keeps reinforcements supplied.Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/the-crimson-path/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/the-crimson-path/The Crimson Path introduces movement, weapons and linked captures through a mission. Each new tool arrives with an encounter that gives you a reason to use it.Sat, 24 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-texture-change-i-can-undo/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-texture-change-i-can-undo/Texture Workshop lets me try a surface across maps before applying it. The harder part was making a batch change recoverable without overwriting later map edits.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/demos-for-players-and-referees/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/demos-for-players-and-referees/Native demos let me change viewpoint and inspect the server’s decisions after a match. They also need to show what was never recorded and what a client report cannot prove.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/making-the-menu-fit-the-game/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/making-the-menu-fit-the-game/The menu had gained more options than its original layout could comfortably explain. I reorganized settings and previews, then checked that precise values survived editing and saving.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/small-geometry-big-personality/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/small-geometry-big-personality/I refined hats, weapons and effects around shapes you can recognize during a fight. More detail only helped when it made the ninja or the action clearer.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/twenty-one-live-maps/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/twenty-one-live-maps/I built the map atlas from engine captures so players could inspect real routes. The original twenty-map work is preserved here, with later updates to the roster.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/why-the-limit-is-64/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/why-the-limit-is-64/An 80-client run completed, but its slower action results made it a poor basis for raising the limit. I kept the game at 64 players including bots.Thu, 22 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-ninja-that-moves-like-a-ninja/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-ninja-that-moves-like-a-ninja/The movement worked before the body explained it clearly. I added directional flips and short local effects while keeping animation separate from combat collision.Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-smaller-language-for-combat/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/a-smaller-language-for-combat/I was sending appearance data and empty fields more often than the game needed them. Removing that repetition reduced traffic while preserving the facts used to decide a hit.Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/measuring-the-price-of-a-bow/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/measuring-the-price-of-a-bow/My first model underestimated outgoing traffic in two final runs. I revised it to account for player-to-player traffic and checked it against new configurations.Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/vulkan-and-the-input-loop/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/vulkan-and-the-input-loop/Drawing a frame quickly does not tell me how long an action waited to be processed. I separated those jobs, then measured a smaller rendering change on its own.Wed, 21 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/guided-tour/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/guided-tour/A fast fight can hide how the movement works. I built the tour around separate demonstrations, then used a local bot match to show the same actions together.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/inside-map-studio/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/inside-map-studio/A route can look right from above and fail under a player’s feet. Map Studio uses the game’s movement and collision so I can find those problems while building it.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/placing-an-idea-in-the-world/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/placing-an-idea-in-the-world/I wanted to try an object against a route before adding it to the map. Placement now starts with a preview that can be moved, rotated or cancelled.Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/from-instagib-to-shadowfrag/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/from-instagib-to-shadowfrag/The game had grown beyond ninja instagib. Renaming it meant finding room for those new fights while carrying existing settings, packages and tools along with it.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/making-room-for-the-bow/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/making-room-for-the-bow/The bow needed to show its draw without covering the opponent. I revised its first-person framing and checked how much of the aiming area it occupied.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/welcome/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/welcome/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.Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-is-your-first-weapon/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/movement-is-your-first-weapon/A leap, an air step and a shadow warp become more useful when they work together. Here is how I connected the movement controls and the routes built around them.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/shorter-leaps-better-duels/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/shorter-leaps-better-duels/Players were covering a lot of ground in a very short jump. I reduced horizontal travel while keeping the height, airtime and movement combinations intact.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://shadowfrag.com/blog/your-arena-your-rules/https://shadowfrag.com/blog/your-arena-your-rules/I separated objectives, weapons and protection so you can change the kind of fight on a familiar map. That also meant teaching the bots what each match asks them to do.Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT