STRATUS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

To all Stratus followers,

After nearly eight years of development and the successful transition of the project onto the new engine, we are excited to announce a major milestone for Stratus.

As of this morning, full access has officially been restored to the Stratus developer account. Integration of the current build into the Steam pipeline is now underway. Once completed, the new Unreal Engine 5 playtesting build will become available to all players who still have Stratus in their Steam library and did not request a refund.

This marks a significant step forward in bringing Stratus back into active development and community testing.

What Players Can Expect in the Upcoming Build

Multiplayer Battle Lobby

Players will be able to host or join multiplayer sessions through a player-hosted battle lobby system. At this stage, dedicated servers are not yet active, as the current focus is ensuring gameplay stability and functionality during this testing phase.

Dedicated battle servers are planned for Phase 2 development.

Fully Functional Battle Ring System

The lobby battle ring is now fully operational, including:

• Correct player slot assignment and freeing

• Accurate team color allocation

• Proper island spawn positioning based on player ring placement

Core Gameplay Systems Now Working

The upcoming build includes major gameplay systems that are now functional and integrated, including:

• Workshops correctly placing technologies into production queues

• Functional production bars and allotment systems

• Island capture mechanics fully operational

• Shrine construction fully working

• Clear island ownership visibility on both the world map and minimap

• Resource collectors properly gathering and delivering resources to the nearest valid player-owned drop-off point

• Capture and transport of stunned priests to altars

• Ritual completion and proper victory condition handling

• End-game victory screens functioning correctly when ritual conditions are met

Combat Improvements

Air units are now correctly targeting and attacking nearby enemies while applying damage as intended. Additional balancing and gameplay tuning will continue moving forward.

Defense blockers are operational as well, though further refinement and balancing are still planned.

Looking Ahead — Phase 2

Once the current build has been thoroughly playtested and stability has been confirmed, development will move into the next major phase.

Planned Phase 2 features include:

• Dedicated battle servers

• In-game player messaging

• Guild creation systems

• Guild member management within dedicated server battle lobbies

A Long Time Coming

This moment has been a long time in the making, and we are incredibly excited to finally begin putting Stratus back into the hands of players.

Thank you to everyone who has continued to support and follow the project throughout the years. More updates will be shared soon as the Steam deployment process progresses.