Date: December 8, 2025
Article: DD-02
Since writing this post, the project now called Shattered Bounds: Battlegrounds was previously referred to as “Proto-Park.” Anywhere you see “Proto-Park,” it’s talking about the same experience.
TLDR
- Battlegrounds is the first playable slice of Shattered Bounds: a short, intense, replayable AR “King of the Hill” skirmish where teams of 4–6 fight waves of enemies and a boss to hold a glowing hill.
- A session flows from online booking → on-site check-in → Guild Master safety briefing → 10-minute battle with MR headsets and weapon controllers → post-run scores, stats, and (eventually) a player portal for Adventurer Card holders.
- Under the hood, Battlegrounds focuses on low-latency combat, an AI “director” that will tune enemy waves over time, flexible spatial-mapped arenas that can move between locations, persistent player profiles, and custom-built weapon controllers.
- Operationally, each basketball-court-sized zone is run by a GM plus front-desk support, designed to host 4–6 players in 15-minute blocks with room for safety checks, cleaning, and a target of ~40% occupancy to be sustainable.
- Battlegrounds is the proving ground for Shattered Bounds’ foundations – tech, safety, arenas, AI, and data – paving the way for the next phase, The Tower, with longer, story-driven, deeply immersive runs.
- What’s Next: Dev Blog 1 – First weeks of development
Imagine you and your friends arriving at a local park. A Guild Master hands you a pair of augmented glasses. As you put them on, the world changes.
A horde of goblins is already sprinting toward a glowing hill in the distance. You lift the sword in your hands and charge after them, your team close behind. Back-to-back, you push the goblins away, then fall back to the hill to hold your ground.
For a heartbeat, everything goes quiet. The goblins stop and begin to chant in unison: “King, king, king…”
From the edge of the battlefield, a towering goblin with a crooked crown lumbers into view.
The fight is back on.
This is the Battlegrounds: the first, focused slice of Shattered Bounds.
Player Experience
Battlegrounds is designed as a short, intense, and replayable AR skirmish.
Players arrive on location and form teams of up to six. Each team is assigned its own zone, giving them a personal battlefield rather than a crowded free-for-all. Their task is simple to understand and hard to master: hold the hill for ten minutes as waves of enemies try to drive them off.
Underneath the fantasy, the goal is clear:
- Create a live dungeon run experience that fits inside a short session.
- Make it easy for players to say, “Let’s go again,” and try new strategies.
- Build the habit of experimenting with positioning, timing, and teamwork.
Every run should feel like a small story: a beginning charge, moments of panic, a boss to rally around, and a final push.
Player Journey
From a player’s perspective, a Battlegrounds session looks something like this:
- Booking the session
Players schedule their run through an online calendar. They can book a full group or leave a few spots open so other players can join their team if there’s room. - Arrival and check-in
Players are asked to arrive early. At reception, they check in, sign any required waivers, and confirm their team. - Briefing with the Guild Master
A Game Master (our in-world “Guild Master”) walks the team through:- Safety rules,
- The boundaries of the play area,
- How their equipment works,
- And the core objective of the mission.
- Gear-up and game
Players put on their mixed reality headsets, pick up their weapon controllers, and step into the zone. They have ten minutes to claim and hold the hill, pushing back waves of enemies and facing a boss encounter. - Scores and reflection
After the session, players see:- Team score,
- Personal stats (kills, damage, time on hill),
- Whether they defeated the boss and how quickly,
- Their standing on a local leaderboard.
- Player portal (for Adventurer Card holders)
Players with active Adventurer Cards will eventually be able to log into a player portal to:- Review their stats and history,
- Track their progress across sessions,
- And unlock other features within Shattered Bounds’ ecosystem.
The aim is to make the journey feel smooth and understandable even for first-time visitors, while giving regulars deeper layers to chase.
Core Systems and Design
Battlegrounds is being built as the base layer for all of Shattered Bounds.
Because AR glasses aren’t yet widely available in the form we ultimately want, the first version runs on a mixed reality headset. The underlying system is being designed to transfer to future AR hardware as it matures.
A few core pillars:
1. Low-latency, high-reliability combat
Our top technical priority is minimal lag. When a player swings, the hit should register exactly when it feels like it should. When an enemy moves, it shouldn’t “jump” across the field.
That means we’re focusing on:
- Fast tracking of weapons and player position,
- Stable frame rates,
- And predictable network behavior in the play space.
2. Enemies that grow smarter over time
At launch, enemies will arrive in pre-scripted waves with some controlled randomness, tuned for exciting but understandable encounters.
In the background, we’ll be collecting battle data:
- How often players win or lose,
- Where wipes tend to happen,
- Which enemy patterns feel too easy or too punishing.
Over time, this data will be used to train an AI “director” that can:
- Adjust enemy hit points and behavior to match the skill level of each team,
- Orchestrate waves to keep tension without constant defeat,
- And increase replayability by varying encounters in meaningful ways.
3. Evolving game modes
We’re starting with King of the Hill because it:
- Fits well in a confined space,
- Encourages teamwork,
- And is easy to explain in a briefing.
As we learn from real sessions, more modes can be added:
- Variants with mini story arcs,
- Different objectives (escort, defense, capture),
- And layered mechanics that give returning players new challenges.
Each new mode is another way to turn Battlegrounds into a place people want to revisit, not just a one-off attraction.
4. Spatial mapping for flexible arenas
Spatial mapping will be used to build reliable game spaces that can be ported between locations.
The goal is for our arena layout to adapt to:
- A gym,
- A local park,
- Or any reasonably sized open area.
That means the same core experience can be set up in different cities without redesigning the game every time – just recalibrating the space.
5. Persistent profiles and data
The Battlegrounds site will run on a local game system that syncs to a cloud server regularly (for example, once per day).
That sync will handle:
- Session data and scores,
- Player stats and progression,
- And, eventually, account information linked to Adventurer Cards.
Over time, this will allow players to:
- Keep a persistent character,
- Access their information through a player portal,
- And carry their identity across the wider ecosystem of Shattered Bounds – from Battlegrounds to future experiences anywhere on the planet.
6. Weapon controllers built for Shattered Bounds
We’re designing a weapon controller specifically for Shattered Bounds, rather than relying on generic controllers.
The long-term idea:
- Players could have a small arsenal of weapons,
- Choose from their roster before a run,
- And feel a clear connection between physical props and in-game behavior.
For the Battlegrounds pilot, we’re intentionally limiting things to a single sword archetype so that:
- We can tune one weapon extremely well,
- Maintain consistent gameplay across teams,
- And reduce complexity while we prove out the core experience.
Operational Reality
Battlegrounds is not just a game design problem; it’s an operational one.
A typical session will be supported by:
- A Game Master (GM) – running the briefing, monitoring safety, managing the session, and stepping in if something goes wrong.
- A front-desk / support role – handling check-in, waivers, headset fitting assistance, and sanitization between runs.
We’re designing Battlegrounds so that a single zone can host:
- A team of 4–6 players,
- In 15-minute blocks (including briefing, gameplay, and reset),
- With enough buffer time for safety checks and cleaning.
Each zone is roughly the size of a basketball court, with:
- Clearly marked play boundaries,
- Safe distances for observers,
- And visual barriers to keep players and bystanders on the correct side.
On the business side, the target is simple:
- If we can reliably keep around 40% of available sessions filled, Battlegrounds should be able to cover its own operating costs and justify growth toward The Tower and beyond.
The exact numbers will evolve, but this gives us a clear bar to design around.
Echoing Steps Into Shattered Bounds
Battlegrounds is the first real test of Shattered Bounds’ foundations.
Through it, we’re building and validating:
- Spatial mapping and adaptable arenas,
- AI-driven enemy control,
- Mixed reality headset workflows,
- Weapon controllers and safety systems,
- And the data backbone for persistent player profiles.
Once we can reliably operate multiple zones – for example, four Battlegrounds arenas running in parallel – the next phase begins: The Tower.
The Tower will take everything we’ve learned and turn it into:
- Longer, story-driven runs,
- Denser, more immersive environments,
- And a deeper sense of “living in” the world rather than just visiting for a short skirmish.
Battlegrounds is the echo of what Shattered Bounds will one day become: not just a game to play, but a place to inhabit.
