- Community Update #17 - Missons and More! - 27 February 2026
Missions and More! Hi Everyone! We've been getting some good momentum up early this year working hard on a few different things, particularly the mission system. Missions, Tasks and Sub-Tasks Thanks to Excell, we're close now to having a fully capable system. For you as players, that allows you to have missions broken into tasks and sub-tasks with a clear set of conditions to fulfill. We want missions to feel like Jimmy's 'scrap of paper' list in his pocket as he works through life in his hood. When we put together the basic mission for the demo the system was....um....a bit agricultural. So much so, we needed to do some work on the back end to make it able to take and do all the things we wanted it to do. Importantly we wanted to have some hope of being able to do more sophisticated things like being modded. Now, I think we've achieved that. Extra Art and Slots What we did do was find…
- Community Update #16 - Happy New Year! - 16 January 2026
Happy 2026! Hi and Happy New Year to all you Shifters of Other's Property, 2025 was a challenging year for the dev team with slower than hoped progress and a few team members turning over. We've had a bit of time to reset over Christmas and now have some new people on board. This should be we can look forward to releasing the game in 2026. Precisely when? Well, when it is ready is not too helpful answer. At this stage, it's looking to be mid year. Hopefully around Easter time we can give you a bit more clarity! Pick a Logo for 265 East Hardware! We haven't totally been idle and Darren has been developing some nice logos for 165 East Hardware, the local Hardware Store. Jimmy can access the Hardware upgrade brochure on the phone nightstand and ring the store from the phone to purchase upgrades for the workbench. We thought we'd give you a look at a couple of options and if you have a pref…
- Community Update #15 - Workbench Upgrade Items - 3 December 2025
Happy Festive Season Hi Fellow Fencers, Firstly, very warm wishes to everyone over the Festive Season. Hopefully, the lead up to this often busy time of year, hasn't been too busy and you're getting the opportunity for some time off. Here in Australia this is the traditional summer holiday period with people getting together with family and friends, which I'm sure most of the team will be doing. Workbench Upgrades A key part of Jimmy's progression in the world of 'buy stolen, sell clean(er)', is upgrading the workbench to remove that pesky Heat. There are a great range of items that can be bought, from the humble bench vice to spray paint and a soldering iron. Items may affect certain categories of goods, or provide universal bonuses to the 'cleaning' process. Jimmy will be able to buy upgrades through the catalogue mailed out by the local hardware shop, 165E Hardware. As such, there is…
- Community Update #14: Lost and Found - 10 October 2025
Hi Fellow Racketeers, Apologies for the long period between updates. Programming - Ins and Outs Unfortunately, our main programmer has had to bow out of the project due to changes in personal circumstances. We're sad to see Dan go, but wish him all the best. As such, I've been on the hunt for a new programmer and am glad to have found a welcome Excell to the team! As you can imagine changing over key people causes some (a lot) of disruption to our progress. This means a lot of our system building that remains has been stalled. Release Timing - Update Well, Q3 2025 has come and gone and we never really looked like making that release timing. I've now flagged 2026 as the timing depending on how quickly our final systems come together. I'm also conscious of 'silly season' coming, which I know from past experience is disruptive. As I've said before, we want to release a game that is 'ready'…
- Community Update #13: Working the Workbench and Release Update - 24 July 2025
Hi Fellow Racketeers, This time around we'll look at how the work on the workbench is progress (nice stuff Darren) and an updat on release timing. Working the Workbench Darren's been doing lots of things, but he's finally got his head out of the lighting game and into going over and putting together Jimmy's Workbench. As a reminder, this is where Jimmy cleans up goods before moving them on to limit his 'Heat' level and hopefully avoid the worst of nosey cops. Jimmy can upgrade the bench with a range of items that ensure he can improve his ability to reduce the heat of an item. Some upgrades only work on certain item categories (you just can't use the soldering iron on a jacket), whilst some are more universal. Below is the latest render of the workbench. Release Timing I'd like to say we are steaming towards a Q3 release, but I just can't lie to you. With our little part time dev team,…
- Big News – Fence is Headed to NextFest + Trailer Drop! - 17 May 2025
Hey Fellow Racketeers! We've got some massively exciting news this week - so buckle up! Fence is Showcasing at Steam NextFest!, We are very excited to announce that Fence will be appearing at Steam’s NextFest! Here is what you can look forward to: 🎮 Developer Playthroughs – Watch the team dive into the game, showing off the latest gameplay. 🎤 Behind-the-Scenes Chats – Hear our artists, programmers, and designers as we (probably overshare and ramble a bit) about what makes Fence tick. 🧠 Deep Dives – Get the scoop on the game’s mechanics, characters, and unique setting. 🚀 Progress Updates – Hear the latest on where we are with development—and when you can finally get your hands on the full release. We’re planning 1–2 hours of exclusive content, plus you’ll be able to download and play the latest demo yourself! Trailer Time!, The first official Fence trailer is finally here! It’s our s…
- Fence Community Update #11 - 2 May 2025
On to May! Hi Fellow Racketeers! This week, we'll check out Sophia; one of the NPCs you can trade with at Shifty Adam's bar. Sophia Whilst Sophia would like to think she's a 'sophisticated sort', she probably puts away a few too many wines when at Shifty Adam's. Let's say she's not always well behaved. Hopefully you'll enjoy the sometimes awkward interactions when trading with Sophia... The real question with Sophia is: what is best to trade with her? Next time, I'm hoping to make an announcement around our release plans and when you'll be able to get some time on our demo in preparation for full release! Keep hustlin' - Anthony (Lead Designer)
- Fence Community Update #10 - 25 April 2025
Post Easter Work Hello Fellow Racketeers! This week, we'll check back in with Darren who's been working on getting Jimmy's streeet in the Bronx looking just right. Day and Night Part of keeping the Bronx real is having a true day/night cycle for Jimmy to navigate. Day and night lighting aren't only about asthetics, but also determine who is about/available to trade with and influences police presence. Importantly, the night lighting scheme is about conveying that maybe the streets aren't the safest after dark.... One of the unique aspects of New York's streetscape is the many a differing Bodegas. Lots of research revealed there are so many types in different styles, but what Darren has developed looks both authentic and fitting for Jimmy's neighbourhood. Similarly, the exterior of Shifty Adam's Bar needed to be a welcoming oasis in the night time, but still looking appropriate for the a…
- Fence Community Update #9 - 17 April 2025
Happy Easter! Happy Easter Fellow Racketeers! This week, I thought I'd introduce you to Cesar - our suave Latino on the street. Cesar Cesar (or sometimes spelt Caesar) was a pretty common name within the New York Latino community in the 1980's and 1990's. Elena has lovingly created our own 'Cesar' in the game to be the typical (over-)confident, charming and well dressed (well he thinks so!) street Latino in The Bronx. Cesar isn't a gangster or hood, but is morally flexible enough to pick up anything left lying around to sell to Jimmy for a few bucks. Like all of the characters that Jimmy can buy from or sell to, you'll have to work out what you can get a bit cheaper from Caesar (he probably doesn't want much to do with drugs or guns!) and what he'll want top dollar for. Next time, we'll catch back up with where Darren has gotten to with lighting the streets! Keep hustlin' - Anthony (Lea…
- Fence Community Update #8 - 11 April 2025
April 2025 - We keep going Hi Fellow Racketeers! In this second week of April the team has continued on with programming the mission systems, lighting and character art. This week I'm going to focus on Darren's lighting work in and around Shifty's. Lighting for Effect - Shifty Adam's Bar At first glance lighting can seem like, 'just put in a sun and some lights where they should be indoors and it should look fine?'. Of course you could do this, but we've tried to make each location's lighting convey the right mood, highlight interactables, as well as bring out the 'character' of the environment. In Shifty Adam's, where Jimmy is trying to 'hock' stolen wares, we wanted a dingy bar with the sort of clientele that wouldn't mind a 'cheap' TV. Plenty of 'research' went into what a 'dingy bar' is like! Next time, we'll have a look at what our Lead Charcter Artist, Elena has created with our H…
- Fence Community Update #7 - 4 April 2025
Into April 2025 Hi fellow Shifters of 'Five Finger Discounted' Goods! This week the team has continued to work on a range of items. I thought it might be interesting to focus this update on one of our NPC Characters, Sarah: the preppy 'Kelpto'. Sarah: The Preppy Klepto Sarah is one of the NPC's you can buy hot goods from. As a bored preppy school girl from a 'good family' she spices up the monotony of trying to be the perfect Preppy Girl by seeing what an how much she can 'lift' from various stores, school bags and lockers without being caught. Jimmy can bargain with Sarah to help her turn her Kelpto hobby into cash....of course, Sarah doesn't seem to deal in guns or drugs. Timing Is Everything Part of making Jimmy's world 'real' is the realistic and meaningful timing of our NPCs locations and availabiliy. For example, Sarah is not available to trade with during school hours as she is (…
- Fence Community Update #6 - 28 March 2025
Hitting the Ground Running in 2026 Hi fellow Racketeers! We've been steadily progressing along since the start of the year despite some disruption due to Cyclone Alfred. We thought a short update was in order! Lighting for The Bronx To kick off 2026, Darren has been learning, experimenting and optimising the game's lighting design. A critical part of the lighting design is ensuring we create the ideal visual ambience to help convey Jimmy story and help our players identify the things thay can do next. Well behaved NPCs Dan has finished programming our improved NPC behaviour system. After some population of the extensive behaviour data tables, what we hopefully have is a world that looks 'lived in' and where our NPCs do more than just interact with the main character (Jimmy). Mission System Development Also keeping Dan Busy is further refining the mission system with the addition of time…
- Fence Community Update #5 - 21 December 2024
Hi! With Christmas and the New year just around the corner, the teams been very busy finishing up for the year. Lots of new systems are in for us to play with and work on in the new year, and a bunch of new art assets to get in engine, and pixels to polish. Here's the update for the month! Meat Flavour Darren has been busy working on some of the lore assets and signage you might see around the world in Fence. Check out these excellent (litigation proof) posters: A Walkable City Anthony has been at work designing much of the NPC systems for Fence These systems will be responsible for creating the traders schedules that Jimmy will interact with each day, and also bringing some life into Fence by having wandering and loitering NPC's. We've also completed our first round of design for the Police system, which will add some threat to the game. Coming up to Christmas, We will be slowing down…
- Demo Build 1.07 is here! - 20 March 2024
Hi Everyone, Hopefully if you haven't already had a crack at playing the demo, this small patch will encourage you to have a go. Bug Fixes - Resolved issues where a player could click out of the workbench accidently leaving Jimmy a bit lost with what to do next - Resolved workbench issues where button mashing could divert the game from the tutorial - Resolved minor pathing issues What's Next? The team is now working hard on developing more content for the game and building out inventory systems, mission/task systems and collection features. We've had a bunch of feedback (thank you!) and are doing some re-design of the main UI and tutorial as well to make them a little slicker and not so long respectively. Keep Hustling, The On The Level Team.
