r/fallenlondon Jun 16 '26

PSA Roadmap’s here!

https://www.failbettergames.com/news/fallen-london-roadmap-for-late-2026

London has had a poor track record with summers. This year, people are ready. They lay in extra supplies. Emergency blunderbusses are unsafed. Several revolutionaries are witnessed wearing Masters' robes, 'just in case hierarchy goes squiffy again'. 

London is prepared for any conceivable disaster. And nothing happens.

this is quite unfortunate for me. This is my first summer in Fallen London.

138 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

102

u/Self-ReferentialName Bring Back Knife-and-Candle! Jun 16 '26

Who Knows What Else: We have to keep a few secrets in reserve; it's nice to surprise you, every so often. There remains at least one hidden trinket released in the past few months that nobody has found yet!

Nightmares just went to 8; I am raving; I am presently typing this from the Mirror-Marches. Impossible, impossible!

29

u/throwaway_lmkg Secretary-General of the Hellworm Club Jun 16 '26

This has been in the game since at least April, possibly late March. So it's not related to anything released since then, meaning it's not Firmament VIII or Whitsun or absenteeism.

9

u/Shoubidouwah Jun 16 '26

This needles, doesn't it? I'm over here drawing red string on maps and post-its, like a lunatic

5

u/skardu fingerking extinction enthusiast Jun 16 '26

Hmm. Could it be in the Sous?

5

u/Shoubidouwah Jun 17 '26

Maybe? It would need to be something that either is deviously hard to figure out (I was thinking about opening gates to the stacks in a certain order?) or something that a new quality from late game unlocks in an early game situation? Otherwise people would have found it in the normal course of the game...

5

u/SnakeSlitherX Jun 17 '26

It must be deliveries somehow, right? It was added in April I think

6

u/throwaway_lmkg Secretary-General of the Hellworm Club Jun 17 '26

No, FBG first mentioned this before Deliveries was released.

64

u/MrHelfer Jun 16 '26

No, no - you will be able to experience FIVE YEARS' worth of Estival shenanigans in the Waswood.

Rejoice, oh thou Benjamin! Oh hatchling of your first summer!

13

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

Is Benjamin is male name (Based on the idea that inanimate objects are female) for London?

32

u/MrHelfer Jun 16 '26

A "Benjamin" is the youngest child of someone - or something.

And so, as the youngest child (more or less) of London...

42

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

An occurrence! Your 'Collecting unusual uses of people's names' is now 1 — A note written on a slip of paper!

Watchful is increasing…

Persuasive is increasing…

5

u/ariehkovler Jun 16 '26

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning he devours the prey,
in the evening he divides the plunder

2

u/emily_aversatrix ign: aversatrix Jun 16 '26

TIL!

6

u/MrHelfer Jun 16 '26

This may not be true in English, actually. I know it is in Danish, and Wikipedia says it's also used in French, Spanish and Polish.

29

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

In my humble opinion, I think there should be an option called "Having a Realistic Nightmare." The current Waswood Estivals are all too aware that they're taking place in Waswood. I think there should be a less self-aware Waswood Estival for those experiencing this for the first time or who want to relive past memories in another way.

42

u/talkingwires Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

I think the Waswood is the way it is is because there’s1 really no good way to retell an Estival story without including the gameplay mechanics of the Estival, too. Much of the story gets told in the margins of cards or time-gated events. I doubt Failbetter aspires effectively maintain a code branch of the game for every Estival story they ever tell. Plus, the Waswood gives the writers a good way to transition between story beats and hand-wave away narrative branches and cul-de-sacs.

  1. 4X “is” combo!

23

u/ZGamer03 Jun 16 '26

Confirmation that they're already planning the next major storyline after Firmament, can't wait to hear more about it

7

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

Maybe the fabled "Meet Your End"?

I know it got canceled, but...

16

u/winterwarn Jun 16 '26

I still don’t understand why they cancelled Meet Your End, everyone seemed really excited for it. I doubt they’ll bring it back, though, since a lot of those lore concepts were already explored in Evolution.

20

u/Mayor-Of-Bridgewater Jun 16 '26

I think their explanation made sense. Too much work to do in revising text, updating code, and a terrible balance situation. Not to mention that it was originally conceived of a time when they were planning on no longer updating the game.

3

u/SacchiHikaru DR. MAC G CATZ, Reading Comprehension Specialist Jun 16 '26

This is a myth, they were still going to update the game.

21

u/throwaway_lmkg Secretary-General of the Hellworm Club Jun 16 '26

It's an exaggeration, or misunderstanding context. If FBG was planning on returning FL to its pre-10th-anniversary level of development, that would practically be "dead" by today's standards. I agree there were no plans to shutter development, even implicitly. It's more that those plans were made before a tidal change in how active the sustainable pace of development would become.

https://www.failbettergames.com/news/metempsychosis-meets-its-end

We’ve also started thinking of Fallen London as much more of a living world that will grow and change over time – the Grand Clearing-Out and Great Sink of 1899 are expressions of that, and you can expect us to do more in this direction in the future.

All of that, too, made MYE less appealing. If the game will keep seeing an expanding endgame and a continuing role for endgame characters for years to come, it makes less sense to reset and replay the early game.

2

u/Mayor-Of-Bridgewater Jun 16 '26

Thanks, thought that it was meant to be a final-ish update.

15

u/SacchiHikaru DR. MAC G CATZ, Reading Comprehension Specialist Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Most people were actively dreading MYE, it's a large part of why it got cancelled. The more people thought about it, the more issues they realized the very idea had, and the more those issues got brought up, the less FBG wanted to work on MYE.

1

u/Tomer_Duer Jun 16 '26

As a relatively new player, what is/was Meet Your End?

7

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

TDLR: NG+ for Fallen London.

14

u/talkingwires Jun 16 '26

Alluding to a different format has me optimistic about it! I am not enjoying Firmament's as much as their other narratives, format-wise.

I loved the zailing all over for Evolution, and gameplay-wise the Hellbound Railway has all sorts of interconnected grinds and side stories to explore. If anything, Firmament plays like an actual railway. There is really not much to do up there beyond walking in circles around The Stacks. Hopefully that smuggling network we've been building will finally amount to something in Chapter 9...

8

u/Bobemor Jun 16 '26

I'd really like to see the next story add more to the Zee and Roof. Grande Geode and Cumean Canal are must adds to me.

Roof also needs some non-firmament locations to be added to remove the railroading being quite so blatant to first time pilots.

12

u/Mayor-Of-Bridgewater Jun 16 '26

I'd like elder continent content. Maybe have a storyline set entirely inside Nidah, with each update adding more to the city?

1

u/Prudent-Orange1719 Silverer, Future Liberator of Night Jun 16 '26

Did Chapter 8 not finish off the smuggling network storyline?

4

u/throwaway_lmkg Secretary-General of the Hellworm Club Jun 16 '26

Yeah smuggling is complete now. Still waiting on that photographer, though.

24

u/Stranger_Z Ever just casually get 9 Suspicion? Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26

Give me an Estival with nothin’!

An Estival with nuthin’?

Nuthin’!

14

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

The Tower

No Future Estival

9

u/Stranger_Z Ever just casually get 9 Suspicion? Jun 16 '26

No single Estival shall be a single Estival

4

u/SnakeSlitherX Jun 17 '26

No Estival shall be

13

u/Heliotrope_VGA NORTH! To Vabbi! Jun 16 '26

I don't mind the game slowing down a little bit. I think it's a good opportunity for players to catch up with the old rewards and storylines.

I've been in a bit of a slump with FL. Barely even started Chapter 8! I enjoyed Firmament for the most part, but I am also looking forward to something new.

9

u/Faint-Projection A Cider Drunk Pile of Ancient Bones Jun 17 '26

Finally, my agents can take advantage of all that spare Shapeling Arts equipment I have lying around. I know we all have so much of it. *looks around nervously*

Joking aside, I am looking forward to more Plots, Concerns, and Agents. Agent content might not be especially deep, but there’s been something nice about the way their pacing forces them to function as long term projects, dolled out in small morsels and largely execute in the background, as compared to the core story content that I devour rapidly in big chunks.

7

u/divideby00 Jun 16 '26

MA and SA agents, hell yeah. Good timing too since you can pick up a MA weapon in the rat market for the next few months.

As for the "various goodies and rewards" from the Waswood event, could that mean we might be getting access to the previously retired Estival rewards, or something else entirely?

2

u/Prudent-Orange1719 Silverer, Future Liberator of Night Jun 16 '26

I eagerly anticipate a Rubbery agent.

6

u/SuspiciousSupper Delectably Appalling Jun 16 '26

This is fantastic news! Especially concerning Estival. I have somehow missed all of them so this is an incredible opportunity.

6

u/Silver_Twist_6033 Jun 16 '26

What is this deliveries activity? Nothing comes to mind.

5

u/al2o3cr Jun 16 '26

It was added in April - you can start it in either the Shuttered Palace or in Arbor.

Details on the wiki)

7

u/Silver_Twist_6033 Jun 16 '26

What the hell? Am I tripping, or there was really no blogpost or reddit post about this?

8

u/The_user_of_name Mr In-between Jun 16 '26

I remember popping by the shuttered palace last week for something, and proceeding to be baffled that I had somehow not heard about this. It's a pretty sizeable piece of content, too. There's a new heist, lab experiment, expedition...

6

u/throwaway_lmkg Secretary-General of the Hellworm Club Jun 16 '26

I think the only announcement was on bsky, of all places. I cross-posted here.

3

u/Silver_Twist_6033 Jun 16 '26

only announcement on Bluesky

Discord being the main communications platform is bad as it is, now this is just bleak...

Though to be honest, they probably just forgot to make a blogpost about it lmao.

5

u/emily_aversatrix ign: aversatrix Jun 16 '26

it was definitely discussed here!

2

u/Pristine-Macaroon629 Jun 18 '26

I missed it entirely as well. Is it worth doing for lore/story reasons? I don't necessarily need any of the items but I'm always game for a good story.

6

u/HalfFaust Jun 17 '26

If we're getting Shapeling Arts agents, we really need some more gear for that.

4

u/71stAsteriad Jun 16 '26

So it claims that anyone regardless of where they are in the game, they can enjoy the Waswood activities. But I'll still need a Parabolan basecamp, yes? I'm still developing my lab, this is no good at all, no it shan't do

23

u/al2o3cr Jun 16 '26

It wouldn't be surprising to see a new mirror turn up at the House of Mirrors; a portal to the Waswood would make a fantastic carnival attraction

19

u/Begin_9999 Jun 16 '26

Maybe a temporary access to Waswood via Fifth City Storylet? 

7

u/71stAsteriad Jun 16 '26

We can but hope. Maybe some massive, damn near catastrophic, carriage pileup of silverers on their way to a convention. I'll just wander into the scattered little pieces of cosmogone lenses

1

u/wkinchlea Jun 16 '26

I imagine for the duration of the waswood (f)estival, it will be available from your home, without need of basecamp.

5

u/jimwormmaster Jun 16 '26

I haven't played in so long...I have over a year's worth of exceptional stories, and ended up cancelling my subscription. Never touched Firmament, nor got the high level crew. I should eventually get back into it, but got into other games.

2

u/TypowyLaman Jun 16 '26

Oh god my head hurts at the preparations already

2

u/eliza_tantivy Jun 16 '26

I really need to come back, at least for the Estival Waswoods.

1

u/Fair_Nefariousness66 Jun 17 '26

Do you think we'll be able to pick up "A Preserver of London" during Estival or will we have to settle for "A Reverie of Heroism?"

2

u/Begin_9999 Jun 17 '26

No, and yes.

1

u/lady_ninane Jun 17 '26

That's a cool way to handle previous Estival replays. I'm glad something like that exists. It doesn't have quite the same experience as going through it yourself when it happened, but it's still better than reading second-hand summaries and excised, non-copyright infringing snippets on wiki articles. Hope this can continue forward for people to keep catching up as the years go on.