Making it sound right
NextThe music and the background hum are in. What's left is a proper listen through every sound effect on headphones, with the levels set by ear.
What is coming
Roadmap
This is what we're working on next, roughly in the order we expect to get to it. Some of the groundwork is already in. If a playtest shows something needs attention sooner, the order changes, and we'll give dates once we can stand behind them.
In the works partly built or awaiting further testing
Planned the remaining work is scheduled, not built yet
In the works
Getting the host ready
NowThe game is installed on our own hardware, a player on another network has signed in and flown, and a host restart no longer drops anyone. Before we invite a group in, we're scheduling the nightly backups, setting up monitoring and rehearsing a restore on a second machine.
In the works
Planned
An invited playtest
Before public accessA small group plays together while we gather feedback and note down what goes wrong. What they find decides what we fix before the public demo opens. Join the Discord to follow along.
Planned
Fixing what the playtest finds
After the playtestWhatever the invited group runs into that would spoil a first night out gets fixed before anyone else is let in. Owning, fitting and building your own parts is already in, so there's a ship to improve from the first evening.
Planned
The public demo
When the closed playtest is readyThe demo will let you sign in as a guest and play in your browser, on the same client and rules as the full game. When it opens depends on how the closed playtest goes.
Planned
Balance above the first tier
After the demo opensEvery tier of hull tuned against measured fights rather than estimates, so a step up the ladder is worth what it costs, faction ships and mixed fits that hold to the same ladder, and a first hour of mining and trading that pays well enough to keep you going. Weapon arcs land first, because they change every fight the ladder is measured on.
Planned
A captain's seat
After thatCaptain becomes a seat like any other desk, and a ship's owner can put whoever they trust in it. Booting a crewman and watching your wingmates' hulls are already in.
Planned
NPCs that fight back
After thatNPC gunners aim as well as their crews are meant to and see only as far as their own hull can. Each system gets a rated level of danger, and the fixed population gives way to one that tops up encounters to match it. The Lattice will start mining belts of its own, and a wreck can rise again under an undead flag.
Planned
Detection
After thatSensor range already depends on the hull. Next, what you can see will depend on what the other ship is giving off, so running cold means something, with beacons and cloaks as parts you fit and power.
Planned
Deeper combat
After thatWeapons that cover an arc rather than every direction, turrets that have to track a turning target, a bonus for a shot up the engines, shield charge moved between arcs at a loss, ion weapons that disable rather than destroy, and rounds that hit a rock or a wreck in the way.
Planned
A contested jump
After thatA ship can already lose its field partway through a crossing. Next, a heavy hull crosses the plane more slowly than a light one, a crossing can be interdicted and pulled out early, and gates offer a fixed route between two systems.
Planned
Contracts
After thatA board of paid work, with the money held until the job is done, and a chain of jobs from your own power to follow once the practice flight is over. Refining, manufacturing and insurance are already in.
Planned
Longer-term plans
As the player population growsFurther out: corporation installations and industry, selling ships to other players, towing, profiles and fog of war. Once people are playing in the galaxy regularly, we'll look again at which of these matters most.