Recap

We last touched base in February where we announced that we're working on a DLC. Shortly after that, we put out another free Content Pack in March... and then a global pandemic hit and work from home began. At that point we decided it was best for the team to refocus their efforts on the new systems and content of the DLC, while putting out semi-regular bugfix patches for the released version of the game. Since then, we've put out our May patch and now our July patch -- releasing in a few days! (And finally fixed infinite digging, I might add!)

New Systems: There are 3 major new features:

• Multiple colonies on multiple asteroids running simultaneously! From lonely mining outposts to thriving hubs of industry, each world can contribute to sustainability across your civilization.
• A new radiation simulation and overlay, with conduit-like infrastructure to harness it for science and industry! We're adding this as a new fundamental system with integrations into many parts of a successful colony.
• Space gameplay has been reimagined. Space destinations are now actual playable asteroids which can be landed on and settled. Rockets themselves are now easier to launch, more interesting to control, and have a deeper role to play by providing infrastructure between asteroids.
• New Content: While the majority of the new content will of course be in service of the new systems, we're also adding a new start biome, and multiple new biomes throughout the asteroid cluster with their own critters, plants, and resources to discover and integrate into your colony.

We're also adding other bits of content, new buildings, traits, and more, to keep expanding on the ONI experience!

Keeping performance steady as we add these new features, and trying to improve on it where possible, continues to be a high priority for us while developing this DLC.

What about Vanilla?

The base game, which you currently own, will also see a large update when the DLC is released! Bug fixes, UI improvements, balance and tuning improvements, and base-game content updates will be synchronized across all versions of the game. So even if you choose not to play with the DLC, we're working to improve your experience as well!

Timeline

We're going to get the DLC into your rubber-gloved-hands some time this year. The fallout from Covid19 has really altered our estimates and shifted our priorities, so we're not going to make a more specific promise than that. As we get closer to the big moment, we'll be sure to give you more updates!

In Summary

Most of the team has been hard at work staying safe and developing the new DLC, even while we've continued to fix issues and performance on the released version of the game. We are adding new fundamental systems so we're taking the time to make sure we get them right, and especially working to integrate them well into the existing gameplay for all players to enjoy.

We're as excited as you are to be playing the game with these new features in it, and can't wait until it's complete! Thank you from the bottom of our cardiovascular systems for all your support, suggestions, encouragement and enthusiasm, which has got us this far. Onward!