September Blog: Marchenghast, Halloween & Tech Update

Marchenghast

By Stacy Place (Game Director)

Hey, gang! Stacy here. I’m not great at keeping secrets, and I want you all to know what we’re hard at work on at the moment! I’m really proud of the team so far and excited to share this early update with you!

Earlier this year, I shared that we are working on a new area of the game, and even included a sneaky picture in the exact location. Some of you were able to guess exactly where I was and a bit about the theme as well - Marchenghast Castle!

Early Castle Exploration by Albin, Concept Artist

Discussions began last year about opening up this area to players. Initially, our thoughts mirrored many players', that clearly this was the spot to relocate the medieval content… right?? We weighed our options. We could devote our efforts to moving all existing medieval content over to a new place, with little time to include anything new, or… we could do something more. Something slightly different. And of course, the team desperately wanted to get creative and explore what Marchenghast could be all on its own.

Early castle sketch by Albin, Concept Artist

The Directors buckled down and figured out what sort of expectations we had for this project. The experience, the aesthetic, the story we wanted to tell. We continued these discussions in our IP group, which is a constellation of people closely tied to the world of Jorvik. In that group, we’re currently reviewing our IP Bible page by page as part of a much-needed review of the stories of Jorvik. However, for some time, our focus was specifically on Marchenghast.

We identified a few themes that we wanted to incorporate into our project brief, which would then be used to guide upcoming brainstorming sessions and workshops with larger groups. I won’t go into detail to avoid giving too much away (I’m prone to do that).

Creatures/Beasts

Witches/Nobles

Meaningful Exploration and Progression

Engaging Lore That Ties to the Existing World

Things evolved and changed as we continued working, but one overarching theme remained: we wanted this area to be darker. It was now up to the broader group to figure out what exactly that meant in the world of Star Stable Online.

WIP Forest Exploration by Matilda, Associate Art Director

From this point, we brought on more and more people to the project. We held multiple workshops focusing on various areas such as:

• Narrative, story, and lore

• Game design and gameplay

• Environmental art and storytelling

The workshops have been enjoyable and inspiring, especially as we are also planning gameplay ideas that are unique to this specific area! Workshops and discussions will continue as the project shifts from investigation to pre-production once everyone returns from their summer vacations (I’m writing this significantly in advance). We believe we have a fantastic foundation for the overall Marchenghast experience that those working on the project will have a lot of fun bringing to life for players.

Early building designs by Albin, Concept Artist

So, while I’m really struggling not to give you too many spoilers for Marchenghast, I do want to set expectations correctly. We have dreamed big, and scoping down was, and will continue to be, needed.

One thing we already know is that this project will focus on the exterior of the castle and the area surrounding it, not the interior (at this time). We have ideas for the inside of the castle, but the outside has evolved into a vast and enticing endeavor on its own, so we believe this is a good way to divide the project. We aim to deliver a complete and fulfilling experience, and adding a castle interior would spread us way too thin, undoubtedly hindering the initial outcome. Hopefully, one day in the future, we’ll get to venture inside the castle, too. A key point to note: the area we are creating is not in any way small. The footprint of the castle grounds is city-sized, and we are reclaiming and creating land to accommodate the blighted forest as well. Wait, did I say blighted? Moving on…

Early forest exploration by Matilda, Associate Art Director

Early witch hut exploration by Albin, Concept Artist

Finally, the release date. This has been a soft deadline project, with an updated expectation to release in February 2026. Could that change? Yes. I want to be clear on this, because changes in releases always come with some level of disappointment. That’s one of the risks of sharing something so early - there is still plenty of time for change. Ultimately, we strive for a great delivery, happy players, and a healthy experience for the project team.

Early creature design by Matilda, Associate Art Director

Well, while the team starts gearing up to dive into production, I’ve got my eyes set on plotting the next adventure. I’m bundling up in warmer clothes and riding down a rickety elevator to a land of ice and snow. Hopefully anyway, because again, I’m probably saying too much, too early. Plans can and do change!!

Thanks for your time, and enjoy your adventure beyond the gates of Marchenghast!

Castle turret exploration by Albin, Concept Artist

Window Sketches by Albin, Concept Artist

Castle Entrance Sketch by Albin, Concept Artist

Halloween Festival

By Ella Kårefalk (Junior Narrative Designer)

Hallooo spooky-ooky Starfam! Summer's come and gone, and I'm back! Did you miss me? I'm sure you did. Oh, who's me? It's Ella, of course! Your friendly neighbourhood Junior narrative designer. That's right, I'm not just an intern anymore! Upgrades people, upgrades.

Oh, but I am not only a narrative designer, nay! Okay, this is a secret, so don't tell anyone, but a mysterious individual by the name “Potatoheart” has asked me to “become a mole” in exchange for a “great reward.” Not sure what that means, but I do like rodents… 

I’m in!

It all began with a peculiar message being delivered to my desk.

"Halloween is coming, investigate the horrors."

Then, a list of potential suspects. I’m not sure how this relates to the whole mole thing though…

Let's do this.

My first target: Pablo, game designer at SSE. My intel suggests that he's been seen with a certain headless horseman. His distracted expression and incomprehensible whispers from his mic during meetings did not help his case. It's time to investigate.

It's a warm Tuesday morning, way too sunny for fall, when I approach Pablo's DMs. I have to be slick about this; he can't know that I know he's been in cahoots with the headless horseman.

"Heeeey bro, brother, broski, brothalicious, hermaaaaano if you may." 

Smooth, he won’t suspect a thing.

"Hey Ella?"

"What's cooking? Got your head on right?" I nudge, fishing for any tell that would betray his secret. A slight hesitation, perhaps? A nervous emoji?

Minutes pass, he must be trying to cover up his tracks. Consulting his accomplice? Deleting messages? No, I can't let this shake me. Finally, he responds.

"My head? It's been on my neck ever since I woke up, as far as I know."

Hm, he’s not giving me much to work with, but I kept poking and prodding the man, trying to weasel any information out of him. Eventually, he cracks!

"Oh, Galloper? Yeah, I've been working with his content. He's getting an expansion to his story where he goe—" 

No need to keep reading any further, he's revealed it, he is working with the headless horseman! What a scandal! This will be the headline of the century; Potatoheart is gonna love this.

Next target: Em, another game designer at SSE. Rumors say she's been seen with sleeves stained bright green, and whispered chants have been heard from her corner of the office. Sounds like a textbook case of witchcraft; this needed further investigation. With a deep breath, I dove into the DMs.

"'Sup, witch!" Going straight for the throat, her reaction will be very telling.

"Excuse me?" Hmm, she seems offended. Sounds like guilty behavior to me.

"Watcha working on? Or might I say, watcha brewing?" I pressed on.

"I'm sorry, I'm not just gonna ignore that?" 

"Wicked, dude."

"Huh? You’re so weird… Whatever, did you get those texts for the potion brewing done yet? We wanna get started with playtesting the new cauldron feature." Like a bolt from the blue, I got it!

Cauldron? Potion brewing?! Sure sounds like witchcraft to me. Yet another mystery uncovered! There's more magic within SSE's walls than one could've ever imagined.

Wow, this Halloween really is packed full of haunting details. But a real detective knows that one learns not only from interviews, but that the deepest secrets can only be found if you look for them yourself. So, armed with a magnifying glass and a fiery spirit, I went digging.

Filing through internal servers, rummaging through design documents, even peering in the dusty kitchen corners, you'd be surprised what you can find in stained coffee cups.

Then, I spotted it. In the text files: "Submitted by Ella." Wait, what? This can't be right…

"First pass done" Ella Kårefalk

“Feedback added” Ella Kårefalk

"Final final (actually this time) v.2 pass" Ella Kårefalk

Logs of text submissions… What have I done?

The horrifying truth began to sink in. My own name, staring back at me from the depths of the submission logs. My involvement in the Halloween mysteries has been greater than anyone could've ever thought. Oh god, I have to get out of here! I was never here, you never saw me! They'll never take me aaaaaalive!....

Tech Update on Game Freezes

By Ismael Serrano (Technical Director)

Hello there!

Here is the awaited update about the game freezes for Intel GPUs (Graphics Processing Units).

We have been in contact with Intel engineers and have come to the conclusion that the problem is caused by outdated Intel drivers. If you are playing with a GPU that still receives  updates by Intel, be sure to update your drivers.

We have added some documentation on our help pages on how to update the drivers for the different GPU vendors: https://help.starstable.com/hc/en-us/articles/29344216659986-How-do-I-update-my-graphic-drivers

Because some devices are no longer supported by their vendors, we've updated our minimum requirements. If your computer does not meet these requirements, you may continue to experience technical issues that we’re unable to resolve. 

Here you can find our updated minimum requirement specs: https://help.starstable.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021054460-Computer-specs-for-Star-Stable-Online

If you have any problems do not hesitate to reach to our customer support: https://starstable.com/en/support

Thank you!