The next update is getting delayed more and more, so here's an update for you guys on what's going on and why:
Female characters are ready, but they are currently all bald so I wanted to wait for a few hairs before I release them. But that has to wait because Sam is overhauling the shaders into a deferred lighting system (which will allow for lamps and illuminated towns at night). THEN our technical artist can get the hair sorted out and looking better than it is currently, as well as export all the new ones that are currently just sitting around. Then Sam can start on the hardware instancing (FPS boost).
Oliver and Sergey are working on the new world map, but you won't see any of that for a long time because it's a suprise.
Now for what I'm doing: Faction Diplomacy.
This will be a part of what addresses the current "nothing much to do after a certain point" problem.
Diplomacy in Kenshi is entirely face-to-face. So now for instance, a Dust Bandit Boss or a United Cities Taxman can walk up to your base, yell at you until you talk to them, and then do something like demand taxes, threaten you, offer support, or launch full-scale assaults at you, all while giving you ways of potentially avoiding an ♥♥♥-kicking through dialogue/bribery/♥♥♥-kissing etc.
This should also give me the same functionality needed for things like hiring NPC guards or patrols to protect your base.
Once I have all that done I will continue to add to the content over time, more factions and more interaction types. Eventually I'll also add capturing/arrest/kidnapping into the equation and things will get really interesting.
So in other words, give it another couple of weeks for a major update.