Spoilers on new content ahead!
Development Status
Its been a while since there was new end game content. Part of that is due to other things being worked on since the last content update, mainly the 75+ re-balance and mobile version launch. But the other reason its taking so long is just how much work there was to do to get the next major system in place.
As has been hinted/mentioned before, that new system is Fleet. This is the final major system that was "planned" for the game and as such is the biggest and most involved. This also means I want it to be very, very good. And part of making it that good involves letting go of ideas that didn't work out fully or just were not good enough, so I've discarded a lot of ideas and work on it over the last several months.
But as of this post, Fleet as a system is 95% in place and testing is in progress.
However, Fleet is not the only thing coming in the next content patch, and there is still a bit of work to do there. Sorry but no ETA as i'll probably just miss it
Fleet
Note: Everything in here is still subject to change and the UI is not fully done.
The core mechanic within Fleet are the Fleet Battles. This is completely separate from the endless battling your ship does.
Instead, you will be strategically building and deploying your fleet in various battles that will then play out.
These battles reside within galaxies where you will increase your fleet size and capability over time.
Fleet ties back into the rest of the game via Reinforces in 2 ways.
First, the main way you progress in galaxies is by using Fleet Resources (name might change) to deploy your ships and make various improvements on different nodes in the galaxy. These Fleet Resources are based on the highest sector you have Reinforced at (essentially what is currently Fleet Power in game now). You can improve your total within a galaxy, but the more you have to begin with, the faster you can make progress.
Second, within the galaxy you will be collecting an Artifact resource, which can then be used to acquire various upgrades for other systems. These upgrades will activate upon Reinforce.
To go with this, Reinforces after the 5th one will switch from the current "reach a specific sector for upgrades" style to an open ended one.
But this is an Idle game, not an Autobattler Roguelike!
Yes, this is an Idle game about managing various systems and decision making first and foremost. What that means is the Fleet battles themselves, and the decisions around them (ship placement, which ships to bring, which upgrades to use) need to be very well balanced to be interesting and fun with some decisions to make, but not be insanely complex or bothersome to do repeatedly.
That is what I am currently working on right now and testing. Since it is incredibly important to get right, it will probably take a while still just in that respect.
All The Rest
In addition to Fleet coming in this next update, all the other systems will of course get more content and changes, so heres a few more minor teasers in that regard.
(No that is not the optimal setup lol)
Again, no ETA, but it is indeed closing in!
The Even Further Future
Once this next content update is in place, future ones will come much faster (for real this time) since nothing nearly as big and development time consuming as Fleet is on the horizon.
Fleet is the final major system, but I have a lot of content planned for it and all the other systems still, so there is a ways to go! And there are things outside of just content that are planned also.
There will be quite a bit more gameplay content yet to come
Engine Upgrade
This game is made in Godot on version 3.5. An update to the latest version (4.3) with a different rendering engine and other improvements will be coming. This should help performance across the board and even more noticeably on Mobile.
UI Glam Up
The UI is still rather rough and barebones, it will be getting both a facelift in terms of looks, but also a bit of a re-arrangement in some cases. This will also include interface sounds and more background music.
Story
For story, all we really have is that opening text blob, and some sorta kinda storyish things in the tutorials. I originally wanted more, but have just kept sidelining it for gameplay. However, I do think the game would be much better if there was an interesting story being revealed over time.
Thank You
Thanks for reading, and thanks for playing. Just developing the game has been a lot of fun, but you guys in the community have made this even better, so thanks a ton!
Also, monthly giveaways in the Discord are back on track, so be sure to swing by!