AETHUS News

[h3]Hello again, Pioneers! [/h3][p]I'm delighted to announce that AETHUS is featured in this year’s Tiny Teams festival, organised by YogsCast![/p][p]I'm super excited to be joining the lineup of awesome games made by other micro-sized developers this year, and I'm hugely proud that AETHUS was selected from over 2,000 other applicants to be featured![/p][p]Huge thanks to the YogsCast crew for their trust and belief in the game and I![/p][p][/p][p]As part of the fest, be sure to check out the free demo for AETHUS![/p][p]I've worked hard to ensure the demo provides the best possible intro to AETHUS for new players, so if you’re jumping into the game for the first time, welcome! It's great to have you! [/p][h2][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]About my Tiny Team - Pawsmonaut Games[/h2][p]If you're new around here, let me introduce myself! [/p][p]I'm Alex, and I'm the solo-dev behind AETHUS, and my microstudio, Pawsmonaut Games.[/p][p]I named my studio after my dog, a dalmatian named Apollo. You may be able to tell that space and sci-fi have always been close to my heart in my choice of names (and debut game genre and setting!).[/p][p]I am the only person working on the game day-to-day, which means I have full control over everything - just the way I like it! Quality and attention to detail are my top priorities when making the game, so I'm always striving to make sure everything I do hits the mark.[/p][p]I have some awesome freelance partners who contribute in areas like audio design, music, artwork and narrative design, but Apollo and I are the only ones with access to the game project files and everything goes through us![/p][p]I worked on AAA games at studios like Rockstar North, Build a Rocket Boy and Splash Damage before going indie and forming Pawsmonaut in 2023 to make games a bit differently - with AAA quality and attention to detail, but indie heart. No predatory business practices or microtransactions, openness and honesty in communication, and absolutely no AI content!
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I hope this little insight into the studio gives you a bit more info on who's making AETHUS, and I'd love to chat further about the game or studio in the Pawsmonaut Discord. [/p][p]Join the Discord[/p][p]Join the community and talk to me directly, get access to future playtests for the game, and get exclusive behind-the-scenes content![/p][h2]Reminder: Gameplay Deep Dive[/h2][p]If you're new here or missed it, I recently released the first Gameplay Deep Dive for AETHUS which I titled 'The Menagerie'![dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Join me as I take you through various game features and introduce you to Trudy - your corporate rep - as we work to populate a corporate menagerie by collecting some mysterious eggs and earn some extra credits for our effort! [/p][p]Remember, you can check out the demo during Tiny Teams 2025 and if you enjoy what you play, please leave a review! The more positive reviews we can gather, the more new people we can introduce to the game![/p][p]
[dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]And thanks again to everyone who’s reviewed the demo already! [/p][p]Have an awesome Tiny Teams Fest![/p]

[h3]Hello again, Pioneers! I hope you're having a lovely summer![/h3][p]I'm pleased to present the very first Gameplay Deep Dive - 'The Menagerie'![/p][p]In this video, come with me as I take you through various game features as you get your first introduction to Trudy, we work to populate a corporate menagerie by collecting some mysterious eggs, and earn some extra credits for our effort! [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Let me know what you think of this Deep Dive in the comments or via social media or Discord![/p][p]If you enjoyed it and would like to see more, I'd love to know what you'd enjoy a Deep Dive to focus on.[/p][p]
If you like what you've seen and haven't done so yet, you can go ahead and try out the free demo! [/p][p]If you were paying attention in the last month or so, you'll have seen an update about AETHUS being published by CULT Games.[/p][p]I wanted to update you all to let you know that this won't be moving forward and AETHUS will continue to be fully indie and self-published. I retain full control over every aspect of the game and its IP.[/p][p]This decision was a difficult one to make, but I now firmly believe that the best path forward for the game is to be completely independent. [/p][p]Rest assured that the game is coming along incredibly well, and I will be running the final playtest of the game in the next couple of months![/p][p]What this does mean though is that I will need your help more than ever in spreading the word about the game, sharing content like the Deep Dive above with people you think might enjoy it, and making sure you Wishlist and Follow the game.[/p][p][/p][p]If you've played the demo and enjoyed it, I'd really (really!) appreciate it if you would drop even just a couple of lines as a review on the demo page - it really helps with visibility![/p][p][/p][p]Thanks as always for your support in making AETHUS as successful as it can be! As always, until next time![/p][p]Alex and Apollo.[/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello again, Pioneers!

AETHUS is featured in this year’s Steam Automation Fest! [/p][p]As part of the fest, be sure to check out the free demo. [/p][p]I've worked hard to ensure the demo provides the best possible intro to AETHUS for new players, so if you’re jumping into the game for the first time this Automation Fest, welcome aboard! [/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]AETHUS is a narrative sci-fi survival and base-building game at its core, but its gameplay systems have all been designed with a satisfying polish that make it a perfect fit for Automation Fest. You can automate your experience in various ways to ensure your adventure runs like clockwork![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Restore machinery left behind by the expedition which will generate resources for you - either mining drills which you equip with new drill bits, or mining lasers which you equip with focusing lenses. Almost all the ore-type resources in the game have machinery to automate their production![/p]
• [p]Equip machinery with drones which will deliver the resources directly to cargo bays which you construct in your outpost.[/p]
• [p]Construct various other types of facility in your outpost to generate resources, including water pumps, atmospheric gas extractors, and biomass planters.[/p]
• [p]Hydroponically grow almost all the biological material in the game and use it for production, cooking, and so on![/p]

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So be sure to check out the demo during Automation Fest and if you enjoy what you play, leave a review. As mentioned before, the more positive reviews we can gather, the more new people we can introduce to the game![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]And thanks again to everyone who’s reviewed the demo already! Have an awesome Automation Fest! [/p][p][/p]

[h3]I’m super excited to share that I have joined forces with CULT Games, who will publish AETHUS and bring it to a much wider audience than I could achieve on my own![/h3][p]As a solo-indie developer this partnership will allow me to focus all of my energy on creating the best game possible, and not need to spend time and effort on all the other bits that go along with it - marketing, social media, business relationships, press, etc.[/p][p]CULT really ‘get’ the game and I’m super excited to be working with them.
[/p][p]I wanted to share some words from Sarah, brand manager for the game at CULT, who you will be hearing more from (along with others!) in the near future:[/p][p]“Hey Pioneers, just popping my head out of the dev cave to say: AETHUS is a beautiful, soulful game and we love it. We love you for loving it as much as we do. We're here to champion and protect its anti-corporate heart. Please keep talking at Alex and the team at CULT about what you want and think of AETHUS. We’re listening (and also probably lasering scrap at 3am). Really looking forward to spending time with the community and seeing you all play the finished game this year.”
[/p][p]I also want to make it clear that I still have full creative control over all aspects of the game, and I was very careful in choosing a partner who totally respects that and trusts me to deliver on my strong vision with no compromises.[/p][p]Long story short - this partnership will make the game better. Simple as that.[/p][p]You can check out the new trailer for the game below, and if you haven’t already, please do wishlist the game - it helps a huge amount! [/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]The new demo for the game is also available and ready for you to play, and I’d love to hear any feedback or suggestions you might have. It’s genuinely really important to me.[/p][p]Speak soon, Pioneers![/p][p]Alex, Apollo, and CULT Games[/p]

Hello again, Pioneers!

Welcome to the May Development Diary for AETHUS!

This month, we recap on the May Playtest, cover the new Demo Update and check out a rework of the Power System based on feedback!



[h2]May Playtest[/h2]
The May Playtest mentioned in the last devlog has now concluded, and once again was hugely successful!

A vast amount of excellent feedback was obtained, and over the two weeks of the playtest I worked very closely with the testers to iterate on features, balancing, new content and fix lots of (small!) bugs!

I'm very proud to say that the average enjoyment score for the game was 8.8/10 after leaving feedback!

The game is better than ever thanks to the help of our excellent playtesters, so I want to thank them all again for their help making the game the best it can be!

There will be one final large-scale playtest before launch, coming in the next few months, so if you'd like the chance to take part make sure you join the Discord and become part of the community!

[h2]Demo Update[/h2]
[h3]What's Changed?[/h3]
Eagle-eyed community members spotted that the demo for the game received an update last week, so I wanted to let you know what changed!

This update brings the demo build up to quality parity with the rest of the game (as of the end of the May Playtest), including some new content with a slightly reworked early-game, new Settings and Options (and keybinds!), and brand new QOL features with keybinds + buttons such as:

• Inventory Auto-Stack
  
• Deposit Refinable Items
  
• Deposit All Items
  
• Take All Items
  

and more!

Overall, this update is intended to make the demo the best possible intro to the game it can be for new players as we move forward towards release!

[h3]Demo Steam Page[/h3]
As part of this update, I also swapped the demo to a separate Steam page!
This means that you can now leave reviews directly for the demo, which helps give new potential players an idea of what people thing and make an informed choice!

It would help me out a lot if you'd take a couple of minutes to head to the Demo Page and leave a review if you enjoyed it, even if it was a while ago! The more positive reviews we can gather, the more new people we can introduce the game to!

Thanks a lot to those who've already left reviews, it really does help and means a lot to me as a solo developer! ❤

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2822250/AETHUS_Demo/
[h2]Power System Rework[/h2]
November's Playtest brought up a bunch of feedback about the Power System in the game - some testers enjoyed it, but several found it a little confusing and potentially restricting.

[h3]OLD SYSTEM:[/h3]
There were two 'Power' systems in play at once:

OUTPOST POWER
An overall power level of your base, simply the amount of power generation you have minus the amount of power consumption you have (from facilities).
If Outpost Power hit zero, facilities would stop working and you'd need to build more power generation.

POWER SLOTS
Each Habitat had a certain amount of 'Power Slots' available, and each Facility you built would take up a certain amount of them, depending on its size.
If a Habitat didn't have enough 'Power Slots' available, you couldn't build a Facility that took up more than was available.

For example, the Basic Habitat had six 'Power Slots', while the Crafting Bench took up two. If you were already using five slots in the Hab, you couldn't build a Crafting Bench in there.

The motive behind this system was to essentially force you to expand the Outpost, create new Habitats, and unlock bigger and better ones as you progress in the game which support more Power Slots.

[h3]NEW SYSTEM:[/h3]
OUTPOST POWER
Unchanged (subject to changes in the future around progression of generation types!)

POWER SLOTS Removed. You can now build as many facilities in each Habitat as you can physically fit!

The removal of Power Slots both makes Power much simpler and easier to understand (no confusion between Power and Power Slots), and allows you more freedom and creativity. If you want to try and fit every facility into one Hab, who am I to stop you!

HAB BONUSES
I do still want to encourage you to expand your Outpost, so to do this I've created a new incentive system - Hab Bonuses.


As you progress through the game, you will unlock new types of Habitats with Hab Bonuses - these are powerful benefits which the Hab provides you when used.

As an example - the Greenhouse Hab; hydroponic crops grown within it will often create produce extra resources!

You can still grow things in any other Hab, but it's a powerful bonus and worth expanding your Outpost with a Greenhouse Hab if you intend to grow crops!

If you have ideas for Hab Bonuses you'd like to see, why not drop a comment and I'll add the best ones to the game! 👇

That's it for this development diary! Remember to take just a minute to head to the demo page and leave a review and help me out! ❤

Until next time,
Alex (and Apollo)