Roadmap to Demo 7

Demo 6 just ended today, as I decided to extend it by a few days due to some patches.

This was another productive round. Much feedback was given on Discord, and some on the Steam forum as well.

Demo 7, yet another play-test, will be released within the next 3 months. Along with the usual improvements and bugfixes, this new update will focus on specific aspects of the game.

Some of you noticed how chunky version 6 was, and this trend will continue, or even accelerate, as work can now focus on the "superficial" aspects, in engineering terms, or in other words: gameplay, content, and the UI (the only things players care about).

A Preview of Colonies

Outposts are now almost feature complete and relatively stable. Therefore, colonies are next. This will expand the possibilities of development, introduce more of the political system, natives, and population dynamics.

Expanded Planet Features and Exploration

Planets will have much stronger and more identifiable features, instead of relying entirely on the players' comprehension of astrophysics and planetology.

Point of Interest Exploration

I will add special planetary and space points of interest. Since the prologue takes place in the solar system and over 2 centuries, these POIs will be related to the space exploration era, such as the Voyager probes, Venera landers, etc... but also odder stuff.

Natives & Extra-terrestrial Species

Natives were always a thing, but I will expand that area to make them a more prominent part of colonization and industrialization. In Antimatter, population is a very important resource.

Natives have specific mechanics, and one of them is that they are tied to a culture and a species (fauna). Therefore, you will be able to meet natives from different species, depending on the planet conditions and whether there is sentient "fauna" in the game files.

Adventurers

Bold individuals may decide to finance a ship, as private property, and join an organization on their own terms, or create one from scratch. These people do not obey the organization's directives and will conduct more varied activities, bolder exploration, and compete in finding POIs, scavenging wrecks, etc... They will have a skilled crew and a named spaceship.

Such characters will proactively upgrade to better spacecraft and acquire new ships to join their fleet.

In a future update, they will be one condition for the emergence of pirate factions, and also part of the personal friend/foe system.