This is a hype post only -- there is no immediate update here. It has been a long month at Trese Brothers HQ as we have hammered out and worked to perfect all of the systems related to small craft. Above you can see some of the draft animation work of a bomber swooping over a capital ship.
In the next Frontiers update, we will be hitting a major milestone and adding the last KickStarter stretch goal -- the ability for carrier ships to launch multiple small craft of different specialties to join in the ship-on-ship battle.
As the Nightbot on our Discord would say:
"I have been hyped about things 605 times. NO ETAS."
We wanted to post this news as its been a long 10 days again without updates -- we can assure you it is only because we're working on some very big stuff.
A few key things whet the appetite:
- The small craft design is completely additive. It introduces new ways to play, new utility Talents, new combat strategies, new jobs and exciting ship builds to explore. However, it not reset the bar for the best builds nor invalidate any of the awesome builds out there. It fits hand and glove with the existing game as a new way to play.
- However, even if you don't employ small craft yourself, you may face carriers in ship combat. All captains will need to adjust their strategies to have some defenses against enemy carriers, just as they need to consider the risk of enemy boarders or any other power strat. Weapons, Talents and special components will all be available to help defend against small craft swarms.
- Carriers and craft are new mid and late-game content due to their cost of craft and specialist pilots. Building and maintaining a fleet of bombers, inderdictors and shuttles will require a bank roll to support the additional investment, helpful Contacts, extra repair cost and possibility of a total craft loss.
- The small craft milestone will not require new saved games. It will not invalidate saved games. We never invalidate saved games, full stop.
Following the release of the small craft milestone, we'll be diving straight into the v2.5.x family of the roadmap. We have a backlog of story arcs and vignettes that are waiting in the wings for release, two new Eras to finish and drop as well as a terrifying new xeno race to unleash!
Keep one ear open the spice hall, captains. Rumors are starting to whirl around worse than at the Faen court. Something's gotta give!
