Hi, everyone. We know it's been a while since we've released an official update to the game, or a statement with recent news. We're sorry for the radio silence, but it's been a very busy couple of months.
Showing the game at PAX East, as well as getting more feedback from players, has given us new ideas for how to improve the game. We finished the dinosaur expansion, but realized while we were beta testing it that it wasn't really adding anything new to the game in terms of gameplay- we've had a lot of comments that the game can feel repetitive, and we want to keep introducing new gameplay elements and other features that will keep the game feeling fresh.
Because of this, we've had to put a hold on a lot of our content updates- for example, "The Beyond" has been in development for a while, and we have a working outline of where it's going to go, but we don't want it to just be more of the same. We've decided to spend more time bringing new gameplay elements into the game, and that's a lot of work.
We know this has led to a delay in our updates and a lack of news from our end. We've been having a lot of internal discussions about what directions we want to take the game in, and how we are going to implement our new ideas. We've been approaching development from some new angles, and it's meant that we had to take a break from releasing new content for a while as we worked on fixing some bugs and problems with the game, as well as figuring out the aspects that we're experimenting with now. Our original timeline of release for content has gotten reshuffled, and we've had to go back to the drawing board on some things.
The game is absolutely still in active development, and we will have a new Steam update coming out next week. We're working really hard on re-working the dinosaur expansion, because we know how excited people are for it, and we want it to live up to expectations and satisfy you guys, the players.
The Beyond is definitely going to be coming in the future, you will be building Dyson spheres, traveling space, and more. We are, without a doubt, going to be bringing you everything that we've talked about- it may just take us some time.
In terms of Steam-specific developments, we are working on getting a Steamworks saving system working in the game, and on adding Steam achievements.
We are a very small team, only five or so people, and many of us work multiple jobs. We're grateful for everyone who has been patient with us as we take this time to try to improve the game, and we understand the frustration of players who've been waiting for an update. We have a lot of plans for the future, and a lot of new content that we can't wait to share with you. We couldn't make this game without you, and your messages and feedback help us immensely.
TL;DR: The game isn't dead, we are still actively working on it, The Beyond will be coming eventually but not for a while, and we're going to be adding new gameplay elements soon.