Welcome to Haunton, a small, forgotten town in the middle of nowhere, where houses are more likely to be in decay than they are to be inhabited. Still, the soil is rich in nutrients, so with a little bit of time and a lot of care it might just be restored to a state of thriving. Or at least, according to the new inhabitants, who will start living there from the 12th of September until late November, in this latest chapter of MessySMP: Haunted Harvest.
“It’s a bit of a modern Minecraft world,” says CosmicMess, the creator and lead of MessySMP. “There is a major divide between humans and monsters. Monsters used to be feared by humans, and the humans in turn killed as many as they could. Because of this hunt, the monsters decided to hide by either disguising themselves as humans or fleeing, creating their own towns in the woods and mountains. As time passed, monsters became a thing of legend to humans.
“Nowadays, vanilla Minecraft creatures like zombies are a common and accepted phenomenon, but spell-based magic and werewolves aren’t believed to really exist anymore. Humans see potions like performance enhancing drugs instead of magic, and the glow of enchanted weapons is like a form of bedazzling.” Which is interesting, because the town is most certainly haunted. “There are plenty of rumours going around about those creatures of folklore. Some inhabitants of Haunton even secretly are those creatures, who will now have to interact with the humans sharing their almost liminal town.”
The mystical aspect relies heavily on Scandinavian folklore, which makes sense considering Cosmic is Danish himself. “I wanted to include some non-US cryptids, ones people most likely haven’t heard much about, and to represent a culture you don’t hear a lot of.” As such, you’re unlikely to see Mothman in the world of Haunted Harvest. Instead, the server will know creatures like Farmyard Dwellers, which are based on the Danish ‘Nisse’. They are said to help you out if you treat them right and leave milk out at night, but wreak havoc if you don’t. “Although you won’t actually be seeing them,” says Cosmic. “Because of technical limitations they will instead be implied to be around. Some characters may try to prove their existence and there will be signs of them all throughout the town, but visually they won’t be there. The closest you’ll get is to hear NPCs talk about them breaking a window or leaving other traces.”
Those NPCs will be playing a vital role in spreading the lore of the world, according to Cosmic. “They are actual NPCs, not played by anyone. I’ll be coding them at least once per week to have different things to say, so when you click on them, they will talk about the history of Haunton and its folklore, and about themselves. There is Old Man Ben, for example, who is a widowed man who is lonely and could use a hug. And we have different characters, too. The skins of most of them are of my friends and of the builders, as a homage.”
Gameplay-wise, it’ll be a lot like Stardew Valley, which is also where the focus on harvest comes in. Each member will have a different crop or job that will be their sole responsibility, while the rest of Haunton is reliant on them doing their job for that item or skill. Because, as CosmicMess explains, “It’s a way to force everyone to interact with and be dependent on each other.”
That is not the only method Cosmic has to try and keep the server active for roughly two and a half months. He also has six events planned, each themed around the world itself, like a hay bale maze and a museum. The opening of the museum will be one of the events, during which people will be able to learn more about harvest gods and other Scandinavian folklore.
In terms of vibes, the aim is to be somewhat Halloween-like, but more in the style of Gravity Falls than actual horror. This also shows in the aesthetics of the buildings. With its broken-down log cabins, the town will look a little similar to the set of Creature Camp, the SMP hosted by Cosmic two years ago, which takes place in the same universe. Besides that one, Cosmic has also hosted a few other events under the MessySMP flag, including a zombie apocalypse and a winter-themed server, but this will be the first time in two years he delves into lore again.
“We call each of those instalments ‘chapters’, although it would probably be better to call them one-shots,” Cosmic explains. “I love to make modpacks with a theme, keeping it simple by not adding too many mods, and these SMPs are a great reason for me to do that. But the main goal for MessySMP is to create a place for creators to explore different themes and aspects of Minecraft. I want to change small things about the game to make a new kind of experience.”
With the lore of the hidden cryptids, the forced monopolies on food and jobs, and the group of creators that will be joining, the Haunted Harvest SMP seems set up to fulfil that task easily. You can watch it begin today, Friday 12th September, at 7pm BST / 2pm EDT, on the streams of the participating creators. You can find out more about the Haunted Harvest SMP on the MessySMP X.
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