AETHUS - October Development Diary
Hello, Pioneers!
Happy Samhain (Halloween) and welcome to the October Development Diary for AETHUS.
As the nights draw in and the weather gets colder here in Scotland, progress continues apace as we approach an exciting milestone - a new closed playtest of the post-demo area of the game!
If you're interested in participating and have some time to devote to doing so (and providing feedback!), please do sign up - instructions on how to do so are just past the main development updates for the month.
Finally, a big topic for discussion - the future release plans for the game next year! I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts about the options. Check it out at the end of the Diary!
[h2]User Interface Pass[/h2]
A large pass on the UI for the game has just been completed which has reworked or updated most of the user interfaces across the game, including some post-demo features which previously had placeholders.
Various post-demo features will be revealed in future development diaries, starting with the Planetary Market this month (see below) but for now, check out these before/after shots of two of the game UIs that have received attention this month!
The Build UI has been reworked for clarity, readability and centralisation of important info!
The Upgrades UI hasn't been shown before, but here's how it looked before vs now!
I'd love to hear your thoughts on these changes!
[h2]Planetary Exchange Network - the Market[/h2]
The ARC Planetary Exchange Network, or the 'Market', is one of the game features you'll quickly gain access to in the game.
The Market allows you to sell the resources you gather for ARC Credits, which you can use to purchase construction blueprints, crafting plans, and Upgrades for both your Mining Suit and Roland!
As you make purchases from the corporation, you'll level up in the ARC Resource Acquisition Partnership Program (RAPP) - as you do so, you'll unlock rewards like new blueprints and plans to purchase, gifts, and more!
If you're short on credits, don't worry - exploring the world will provide you with many of the blueprints and plans you can purchase on the Market! Oh, and you'll never be out of pocket - if you discover a plan or blueprint you've already purchased, you'll be reimbursed the credits!
This is just one of the small quality-of-life features I'm prioritising in the game.
You should never be penalised for exploring!
I'm happy to say that development is proceeding well and I'm about ready to accept a new wave of playtesters for the next closed playtest of AETHUS!
This playtest will include the full extent of the post-demo area of the first biome in the game, the Outer Caverns, and span between 4-6 hours of gameplay in total.
You can sign up for playtesting here.
The form requires an email signup, but I promise it won't be used for anything except contacting you for this one specific playtest, and if you decide to join the Discord then please feel free to leave this empty as long as you provide your username so I can contact you!
In the spirit of transparency and open development (a big change from my AAA days!) I wanted to get your opinions on how AETHUS should be released.
Before I say anything else - my goal will always be to release the most high-quality and bug-free experience possible, regardless of what release plan I go for.
With that said, I had originally planned to go straight to a full, 1.0 release. For a couple of reasons, I'm now also considering the option of an Early Access release.
This is by no means decided, and I'm really keen to hear your thoughts and opinions.
[h3]Why Early Access?[/h3]
Primarily, an EA release would allow me to bring in some income (I am self-funded, no publisher, and Apollo needs to eat!) and allow you access to the game earlier at a lower price point. With money coming in, this would actually increase the budget of the game and allow me headroom to spend funds on making the game even better - higher fidelity, more content, etc.
[h3]What would it look like?[/h3]
The plan would be to release into Early Access with 2/3 of the biomes in the game, which effectively also means 2/3 of the total game content.
The target for launching into early access would be Q2 2025.
The EA period would likely only last for ~6mo and, aside from small patches and hotfixes, would likely only contain one large content update - the final biome of the game, new systems, constructions, items, etc. and the conclusion of the story.
Whether an EA or 1.0 release plan is what I go with in the end, quality is top priority, and EA would not be an excuse or justification for releasing a more buggy or lower quality game! Nor would there be any difference in the end product, the length of the game at 1.0 will be the same regardless of EA or not.
[h3]Let me hear your thoughts![/h3]
Would you rather have the chance to play the game and support me earlier, at a lower price point, or would you rather wait a bit longer and get everything all at once? Naturally, if going the EA route, I would also be continuing to build the game with your feedback at heart, but the vision is strong, the story and world are planned out, and the high-level plans aren't likely to change.
So, all that said, I want to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment, or join the discussion on Discord and let's chat about it. It'd be great to see you there.
That's it for this development diary - as always, thanks for your support.
Until next time,
Alex (and Apollo)
Happy Samhain (Halloween) and welcome to the October Development Diary for AETHUS.
As the nights draw in and the weather gets colder here in Scotland, progress continues apace as we approach an exciting milestone - a new closed playtest of the post-demo area of the game!
If you're interested in participating and have some time to devote to doing so (and providing feedback!), please do sign up - instructions on how to do so are just past the main development updates for the month.
Finally, a big topic for discussion - the future release plans for the game next year! I'm really interested in hearing your thoughts about the options. Check it out at the end of the Diary!
October Development
[h2]User Interface Pass[/h2]
A large pass on the UI for the game has just been completed which has reworked or updated most of the user interfaces across the game, including some post-demo features which previously had placeholders.
Various post-demo features will be revealed in future development diaries, starting with the Planetary Market this month (see below) but for now, check out these before/after shots of two of the game UIs that have received attention this month!
The Build UI has been reworked for clarity, readability and centralisation of important info!
The Upgrades UI hasn't been shown before, but here's how it looked before vs now!I'd love to hear your thoughts on these changes!
[h2]Planetary Exchange Network - the Market[/h2]
The ARC Planetary Exchange Network, or the 'Market', is one of the game features you'll quickly gain access to in the game.
The Market allows you to sell the resources you gather for ARC Credits, which you can use to purchase construction blueprints, crafting plans, and Upgrades for both your Mining Suit and Roland!
As you make purchases from the corporation, you'll level up in the ARC Resource Acquisition Partnership Program (RAPP) - as you do so, you'll unlock rewards like new blueprints and plans to purchase, gifts, and more!
If you're short on credits, don't worry - exploring the world will provide you with many of the blueprints and plans you can purchase on the Market! Oh, and you'll never be out of pocket - if you discover a plan or blueprint you've already purchased, you'll be reimbursed the credits!
This is just one of the small quality-of-life features I'm prioritising in the game.
You should never be penalised for exploring!
Playtesting Signups
I'm happy to say that development is proceeding well and I'm about ready to accept a new wave of playtesters for the next closed playtest of AETHUS!
This playtest will include the full extent of the post-demo area of the first biome in the game, the Outer Caverns, and span between 4-6 hours of gameplay in total.
You can sign up for playtesting here.
The form requires an email signup, but I promise it won't be used for anything except contacting you for this one specific playtest, and if you decide to join the Discord then please feel free to leave this empty as long as you provide your username so I can contact you!
Release Plans
In the spirit of transparency and open development (a big change from my AAA days!) I wanted to get your opinions on how AETHUS should be released.
Before I say anything else - my goal will always be to release the most high-quality and bug-free experience possible, regardless of what release plan I go for.
With that said, I had originally planned to go straight to a full, 1.0 release. For a couple of reasons, I'm now also considering the option of an Early Access release.
This is by no means decided, and I'm really keen to hear your thoughts and opinions.
[h3]Why Early Access?[/h3]
Primarily, an EA release would allow me to bring in some income (I am self-funded, no publisher, and Apollo needs to eat!) and allow you access to the game earlier at a lower price point. With money coming in, this would actually increase the budget of the game and allow me headroom to spend funds on making the game even better - higher fidelity, more content, etc.
[h3]What would it look like?[/h3]
The plan would be to release into Early Access with 2/3 of the biomes in the game, which effectively also means 2/3 of the total game content.
The target for launching into early access would be Q2 2025.
The EA period would likely only last for ~6mo and, aside from small patches and hotfixes, would likely only contain one large content update - the final biome of the game, new systems, constructions, items, etc. and the conclusion of the story.
Whether an EA or 1.0 release plan is what I go with in the end, quality is top priority, and EA would not be an excuse or justification for releasing a more buggy or lower quality game! Nor would there be any difference in the end product, the length of the game at 1.0 will be the same regardless of EA or not.
[h3]Let me hear your thoughts![/h3]
Would you rather have the chance to play the game and support me earlier, at a lower price point, or would you rather wait a bit longer and get everything all at once? Naturally, if going the EA route, I would also be continuing to build the game with your feedback at heart, but the vision is strong, the story and world are planned out, and the high-level plans aren't likely to change.
So, all that said, I want to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment, or join the discussion on Discord and let's chat about it. It'd be great to see you there.
That's it for this development diary - as always, thanks for your support.
Until next time,
Alex (and Apollo)