We're approaching the final stretch!
I haven't done one of these announcement posts before (outside of technical patch notes), but I thought it would only be fair to keep everyone in the loop on future plans, considering the circumstances (more on that later).
As of the latest major update (Beta Version 0.21), Creator's Asteroid is nearing its final form. But before flipping the magic switch to leave Early Access and enter full release, I have a few main areas left to focus on:
- Testing and bug fixes
- Marketing materials (Demo version, digital manual, more trailers, etc)
- "Pro Version" DLC (exporting Worlds as standalone exe packages)
Testing and fixes are no surprise; I'd like Creator's Asteroid to be as bug-free as possible before labeling it a fully released game. This is where you can help out the most, just by continuing to play the game! If you come across an issue in the game, please post in the Bug Reporting Thread in the Discussion forum. The more information you can provide about the issue, the better!
As for marketing materials, I've started putting together a digital manual and a Demo version of Creator's Asteroid. There's still plenty of work to do on both, but the frameworks are there, and they just need more time to finish up. The game will also have a Release trailer to accompany its full release, and along with that I have plans for auxiliary gameplay trailers to highlight the different abilities and other features available in the game.
Then there's the plans for a "Pro Version" upgrade path. The ability to export a generated World as its own dedicated exe package has been a hot ticket item for several players (easily the most requested feature during development), and after more planning and digging, I think there's a path forward to make it possible. But, I won't know for sure until I'm there! That said, please don't take this as a guarantee that the feature can be implemented, but as a promise that I'll do my best to put one together. If implemented, this will be a one-time-payment model in the form of a DLC purchase, likely involving a higher price tag (the exact amount to be determined) due to its potential for commercial use.
And now, onto the main reason for this post.
I'd like to be as transparent as possible. On top of Creator's Asteroid being a project that I work on in my spare time (outside of my full-time job), my firstborn will be making his debut into the world soon! Because of this life-changing event, I will be taking a momentary hiatus from active development, followed by a more leisurely pace of work than before. Even though progress on Creator's Asteroid will undoubtedly slow down moving forward, it will still move forward.
To assure that the game won't fall into complete development limbo right before the finish line, my plan is to return to (part-time) work in April 2025, and provide developer updates and/or patch releases related to the above milestones every 4 months following that. At my currently planned pace, Creator's Asteroid should be able to see a polished full release by mid-2026, and the DLC should be able to wrap up by the end of 2026 (assuming the implementation is viable). My hope is that I'm severely overestimating these self-imposed deadlines, and that I can finish each milestone ahead of schedule. But only time will tell!
Looking back, it's hard to believe that Creator's Asteroid began as a hobby project in 2020 to see if I could teach myself game development, and it's been rewarding to see this game grow and evolve over the years. Thank you to everyone who has given earnest feedback, provided amazing suggestions, and has simply been enjoying the game! It wouldn't have gotten this far without all of you!
-Robert