Development update: Reflections on Ambition, Failure, and Persistence
Hey everyone!
If you’ve been following the development of MineFortress, you might have noticed that it’s been a while since the last update. Even if you didn’t, I wanted to take a moment to explain where I’ve been, what I’ve been working on, and why things haven’t exactly gone according to plan.
Around March or April of this year, I set out with an ambitious goal: to introduce automatically generated structures and AI-controlled enemies into the mod. The idea was to do a major overhaul in one go—a bold move, but as it turns out, one that was also a bit too optimistic.
For nearly four months, I dedicated myself to this vision, working on it almost daily. The result? Well, let’s just say it hasn’t gone as smoothly as I hoped. I’ve ended up with about five different prototypes, but not a single one has led to a working build. Every attempt has felt like a step in the wrong direction. The generated structures? No impressive result. The AI-controlled enemies? Far from functional.
To be honest, I’ve been facing what feels like a spectacular failure. But here’s the thing: I’m not giving up just yet. I’m about 95% ready to throw in the towel, but there’s still a part of me that believes I can make this work. I’ve got a few more ideas up my sleeve, and I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks trying them out. If those don’t pan out, I’ll shift my focus back to regular updates and bug fixes—the kind of work I was doing before this ambitious detour.
So, why am I sharing all of this with you? First, I want to thank you for your patience. I know you’re waiting for the usual bug fixes and updates, and I appreciate you sticking with me through this challenging time. Second, I think it’s important to acknowledge that not every experiment ends in success. Sometimes, entire projects can feel like complete failures. But that’s part of the journey, isn’t it? To succeed, we often have to fail a lot.
I plan to write more about this experience, including what I was trying to achieve and what I’ve learned along the way. But I’ll save that for later. Right now, I need to finish these last experiments and, hopefully, finally release the update.
In the meantime, the current version of MineFortress is still available for download through the usual channels:
Thanks again for your support and understanding. The journey of modding is full of ups and downs, and I’m grateful to have you all along for the ride.
Stay tuned!