Man, time sure is flying while having fun...

Roy Aster - Co-Owner & Creative Director

Hello there, and welcome to this first real rendition of a more formal blog post from me. I wanted to type something up as it's now officially been a little over 1 month since we went onto the Spacestation portal, and had gone officially live off our playtest. Since then things have been BUSY! I even have at my forepaws some lovely metrics! As of today, our highest concurrent player count has been 67 players at one time, that record being set on June 20th! Our average concurrent player count over the last month has also been really encouraging to see at around 33 players! Needless to say, we've been really encouraged by how many of you have been enjoying the server and have been sticking with us as we continue to develop and work to smooth out hiccups.

Of course, stability and bugfixing are always going to be things we look to prioritize at the top of our plate, but today that's not what I'm here to really talk about. With so many of you now here and enjoying the Zekke sector, it felt right to sit here and talk about what are the future goals with Wayfarer, and where I want to take this lovely little server. Let's start with some near term stuff and a refresher of what our server is, then the ladder half will be more lofty and future goals to look at. Also, I apologize in advance if this get's rather long and rambly. It's a blog and one of the first times I've done something like this. It's suddenly a whole new exciting thing to try and sort out!

What is Wayfarer?

A good place to start is going and visiting out about page which talks a bit about our values and the design philosophy. If you're familiar with Frontier or Frontier forks, you probably are already well aware of our gameplay loops then and how they work for the most part. You play as a Wayfarer (or other role) in classic Spacestation 14 style gameplay, and make a name for yourself out in the stars by choosing your own goals while living in a simulated world. Where Wayfarer comes in however is by choosing to take this traditionally shorter round based gameplay and deciding to put in more persistent elements into the mix that make rounds feel like they touch into other genre's of game.

In a nutshell, Wayfarer:

Is designed for mature, story-driven roleplay. We welcome players who want to create rich, nuanced characters and engage in meaningful interactions. Whether you're interested in intense action, political intrigue, personal drama, comedy, or quiet character moments, Wayfarer provides the framework for the stories you want to tell.

Our Values are

• Respect, Treat all players with respect and maintain clear boundaries
• Story, Prioritize narrative and character development in all interactions
• Inclusion, Foster a welcoming environment for all players

For me, who has been predominantly a writer for most of my life as well as an avid roleplayer, this is something I wholeheartedly get behind as part of our mission to make Wayfarer the best roleplaying community we can be. And to help fulfill those goals is also making this living world that you all play in also have the mechanical depth to make these moments of roleplay be all the more enjoyable and fun than just another DM roleplay, or MUCK.

My personal mission is to make Wayfarer a place where any player can have an interesting, thoughtful, and adult experience that can creating amazing and memorable stories that will hopefully be something you can always keep in your heart and mind for years to come. Weather from the meaningful friendships you make along the way, flings and flirts with your spacefaring adventurers, or even melancholic dips... Whatever you're looking for in your stories, I hope that you'll find one here on Wayfarer.

Additionally, it's my mission too to allow you to have a comfortable place where you can explore erotic content too. While the server's main focus is on story and mechanics to help continue to make this little world feel more lived in day by day, I also am very much pro erotica. I want you to be able to be kinky, and find other kinky people to be able to enjoy yourself with, but to have the separation too from other servers who seem to be only interested in sex. I want you to be able to come into wayfarer to have a good time and play, but have the option to get frisky and fuck.

⚠️ Warning, Every "Target" is an Estimate⚠️

This project is made by contributors and volunteers who are spending time to make the project better. All timeframes are not finalized and are subject to change. These are VERY early estimates, and with considerations of scaling up our team as we go. All of this could lead into potentially next year.

Jobs and Positions

Let's start with the basic frontier loop... There are jobs within the sector even if it has been quite decoupled from Spacestation's normal department restrictions. We'll begin there and then get into some more abstract.

Janitorial and Cleaning

The goat and easiest job to learn... Honestly? Right now it feels more or less perfect... There is currently nothing planned for Jani except potentially being open to new cleaning toys as we go.

Cargo and Hauling

Cargo has felt honestly like one of the most boring roles to play, as it's mostly taking randomized crates from point A to B... Or C... Or D... And then doing it all over again. It's mindless busywork which has made it rather dull. There are player discussions about how to change things, and one that I had particularly liked was from a community member who thought about making all POI's now be a place for shipping and receiving cargo. Creating a logistical network is something that I think will add value to the game and reinvigorate the role to be more fun than just boring hauling. This is going to be especially true when we work on finally reeling in the economy...

Re-adding the bounty system is also on the docket. Making POI's require bounties to be filled in order to continuing running optimally. Without POI's getting bounties fufilled slowly the they will start falling out of stock with goods and items. Vending machines will start going out of stock, parts will be unavailable and POI's might start breaking down, there may begin having shortages in power or breathable gas. Keeping a POI stocked and logistically happy means that it will keep running and staying in tip top shape.

Salvage and Mining

Salvagers loop is mainly to go out to space and either do mining or gathering lootables off of space wrecks. We'll tackle this in two sections.

For the mining aspects, we want to lessen the amount of materials found on space rocks and asteroids, and have this more as simple way to contribute to the economy of Wayfarer. By removing some of the more important materials, we plan to now put these in more dangerous riskier locations, like on planetsides so that you will have to go into potentially combat areas or build defenses to do heavier mining operations. Besides more rare materials being shifted to planets, I have been thinking of making heavier machinery be a part of the Salvagers arsenal. Dig and Laser drills to help extract new material nodes, as well as possibly tools that can be attached to shuttles to make mining faster.

For salvagers, more meaningful loot options should be available on wrecks to make them scale in worth while, with some wrecks containing specialty items for other departments for you to be able to trade with. Additionally, possibly making a new mechanic for searching specific wrecks and rigs to have more targeted searches as your shuttle is upgraded. Lastly, discovering alien or ancient technology or shuttles that you can turn in, repair or exploit for your gain.

Engineering and Atmospherics

Engineers typically do not have much to do besides fabricating POI extensions here and there... We've already added some helpful new resources to our engi's and atmosians by bringing some PR's that help made building faster with the new pipe laying tool... We're looking to do even more ways to make building faster and easier to highly trained professionals. Additionally, Edison will be removed soon, and a new shipyard POI will be taking it's place. The shipyard will be the place for players to come to you for building ships from scratch. It is not on the radar yet... But having blueprints become an easy way to build ships is something I would like to see come to fruition soon for collaborative building, and saving schematics for later. Not to mention a possibly easy way to map a ship live, that could then be even easier to turn into a possible PR later for a shuttle? It could make the gap to mapping even shorter for players who can just build live in a game.

Atmos players, I do see you, and want to make gas mining a bit easier on yourself. We still would like to explore meaningful changes to make gas mining more interesting. Something I want to see is perhaps removing the gas miners on stations, and require atmos miners to actually supply the gasses needed to POI's.

Medical

We're cooking here slowly but surely. If you can forgive me that Medical Dispatch is probably on it's way out... Then lemme tell you, that we're interested in bringing some new quirks to medicine and healing. Surgery has been on the list for awhile, however we're waiting for other things to fall into place before we fully commit to it. For starters, we want to have in place a dedicated permanent space for you to be able to always do surgery from if you need to. The plan is to have a hospital on Port Arboris, but that then means we need our planet code made so that you can go down planetside. Have no fear though, we do plan on letting there be a hospital ship for large med teams to be able to operate a mobile hospital ship too that will be able to perform surgery on. But this ship will be restricted to Emergency Responders only... Potentially locked to the DoC role. Additionally, we are thinking of taking another look at healing chemicals and how they're fabricated.

Botany

Personally, Botany is in a really weird place. It is supposed to be the support to service for a lot of food items but also oddly is needed for some of Chemistry's supplies. I am thinking of taking botany and decoupling it from Chemistry more, making some plants be able to enhance some chemicals for medicinal purposes, but otherwise chemisty and chemical synthesis should be it's own iceburg. Botany will turn into the main food source and production. Personally, I would like to take inspiration from beloved farming game Stardew Valley and take a route of longer crop times, but having different quality plants and crops that provide better results in cooking dishes. And then removing most ways to eat snacks and things.

Service

If the results of Botany work out, there would be an even greater reason to work on making excellent dishes with high quality crops. Maybe minigame it slightly where you can make perfected dishes that provide big stat boosts for great meals and drinks. Additionally for cooks, adding a much needed better recipe book that expands on recipes and gives you much clearer directions and navigability. I don't know why it sucks worse than the chemistry recipe book, but that needs to get fixed!

Science

Science is weird... On one hand, it really makes no sense in universe to "research" things every shift. Wouldn't you think once something is "researched" it would be unlocked for everyone and be a perpetual thing? To me, it does. The research tree is something I would like to look at redoing instead of research points going towards unlocking parts to the research points. Research points would now primarily be used as a secondary currency for use in community goals that go to unlocking community wide boons and items. We're going to begin taking the approach of new PR items that we add to the game will need to have science teams unlock them for the playerbase. Additionally, research points will be important for understanding alot of the crises! Alot of weight on your shoulders but hopefully gratifying work that you're helping bring new things to Zekkeans from your gameplay!

So what about the research tree though? How will that work if points no longer distribute to it? It's something we are wanting to resolve and are actively considering how to then make it actually rewarding in a world that has persistence. We are still in early planning stages of how to make a meaningful tree that makes sense "restarting" every round.

Another big part will be a brand new system Rico had planned originally on Coyote Sector before we departed that server, which was a "Anomalous Signal" shuttle event. The science vessel would be tasked with checking out the anomalous signals the RAEWS has put out, and resolve the issue, usually by solving a small puzzle after they arrive at the tasked location. Some signals may include danger, or be traps even! Payouts can be either in science points or cash.

Lastly, for the puzzle lovers out there, something I want to add is joint ventures with the Mercs (listed below), where they would be tasked in protecting you while you explore ancient alien excavation sites. This is going to be intended as high risk high reward longform content with big payouts after completion of an excavation site. Expect special puzzle dungeons for these events. Science teams will be crucial for progressing through the dungeon, while mercs will be essential for protection from hazards.

Mercenaries

Finally, a more targeted thing to do. We'd like to introduce a brand new role, as well as an upgrade to the Expeditionary Lodge. With the Lodge Owners having vacated the building, Concordia will be purchasing the location, and installing the one of our two new exclusive to Wayfarer jobs!

Introducing Concordia's Defensive Contract Specialist (DCS) position. The Defense Contractor will be a new role offered at the newly updated Expedition Center. They will now be the middleman in providing bounties and contracts for mercenaries to collect. CGP can put out bounties to the DCS to be fufilled, as well as we will be migrating the expedition console mechanics and changing them for this new position. The expedition console will now somewhat work like hybrid of expedition consoles and cargo bounty computers. There will be a rotating list of missions with a variety of locations (Planets, Space Hulks... Even potentially on Concordia itself!) and proposed difficulties. Mercenaries will connect with a DCS, get their mission bounty and go to complete their mission. Mercenaries would now not get payout until they return to the DCS to get payment for their completed missions. We believe this change will also bring Mercenaries back into the economy too and reign in their unchecked behaviors as well as contraband dodging.

CGP

CGP is a difficult bean to think about. We're trying to adjust a few things to make it more satisfying to play as and to encourage more interaction and things that make sense. One of those things is killing Vaults as it continues to instead be a location that more or less is a "Camp and if someone shows up PVP" which just doesn't feel right. UIV's also are currently in a weird spot with CGP as the vanilla Frontier ones leave it less than desired for it's usefulness.

So what we'd like to do is first of all make Vault more interesting. For starters instead, giving more reason for Outlaws to potentially challenge it, there could be two varients. Both would be CGP owned and it would be a defense objective. They would instead be escort missions, with you keeping an autonomous hauler safe as it starts from CGPO and travels a distance (or heck maybe to Barrier Gate) and leaves. Succeeding in delivery of the escort to it's end destination net's cash and ZC's to all current awake CGP.

On the flip side to encourage Outlaws, there will be two variations, one with high end loot for them to attempt to take, and the other will be an High Level criminal. Breaking the NPC out of jail and bringing them back to Perdition to Exfil will net cash and DC's to all currently awake outlaws.

Now for UIV's. Addding way more to do. Currently there's like... Three? And they're all just "go in and kill the mobs." And that's it. Having them more dynamic and essentially be mini missions is the goal to work with Wayfarers to overcome. For example, having a new UIV that is a vessel decelerating from warp and having a distress signal. Your objective is to discover what is creating the distress signal. Concept wise, teaming up with merc wayfarers to clear the shuttle (maybe it's full of xenos and friendly NPCS). You need to stop the distress signal for the clear condition, xenos need to be killed. And the NPCS on board need to make it to the medical pods for exfil.

Another situation might be a UIV that is a strange anomalous vessel that is on a collision course for a POI. You need to get with a science Wayfarer team to go and get to the UIV and stop it before it collides. To do so, science needs to use an ape or chimp to target it's three engine nodes with the correct particles until it. Meanwhile while they try to work, automations of this alien vessel start trying to attack and the scientists will need defending.

For current UIV's syndies will change out to potentially a Coldlight Wolf vessel that targets CGPO and it's just a straight up attack/defend UIV where you need to destroy the vessel and it's inhabitants.

Cultists are casting an incantation and if it's completed it will cause an evil entity to come through that will cause mass destruction. The cultists need to be stopped, and holy wayfarers will need to help reverse the spells effects.

Outlaws

We need more ways to help you commit crime. As you might have read above in the CGP section, we plant to make changes to Vaults to make them a bit more enticing to go and attack. As pointed out, they will now be automated haulers and come in two varieties. Ones that are full of contraband loot, and another that has wanted outlaw prisoners. Breaking that NPC (Or potentially special occasion players) and bringing them to perdition to be exfilled will net you cash and DC's

SR/STC And new Astrological Meteorologist

Sadly, STC is going to be removed and will be merging it's assets to SR to just be another SR post. We believe the role does not really function well with our fork, and believe that the SR is perfectly capable of handling their Docks, and so giving more Representatives to help one another will make the job absorption now as painful.

Introducing the Astrological Meteorologist (AR). We are looking at a way to potentially make weather somewhat dynamic, and replacing the STC job into being a meteorologist. You would be on job to report the weather and where it's traveling. This will especially be true when planets become a thing, as you'll also be able to report conditions of planet surfaces and potentially give insight to changing conditions and hazards to people who may be traveling. You'll be hanging out alot over at the RAEWS looking at the weather data coming from the advanced dishes! We'd like to get a brand new console that makes the RAEWS have more functional usefulness.

SR's will have some new tools to hopefully make paying out players easier for their contributions to Dusk or other Concordia properties (While this is mainly a target for SR's this will also help other Command Staff payouts as well). A new timecard and timeclock punch-in and punch-out system has been tossed about to let players be able to easier timekeep their time in a position. A submitted timecard can then be reviewed by an SR and adjusted (in case of fraudulent outlawish behavior). If an SR is not present, and there are outstanding timecards, they will automatically payout at the start of a new round, and be pushed into the mail system for when the player logs in the next time.

Mail

Mail is fairly straightforward. We're open to further improvements but are mainly looking to add QOL improvements in this area. Something we think will be neat and tie a bit close to the universe is moving RPI payments into payouts that are mail deliverable instead, giving players more incentive to directly engage with the mail system more. A new QOL improvement feature is a better system for tracking down players, and being able to deposit mail into shuttles easier without disturbing the sleeping crew.

The Near Term

So that takes us then to the near term... So let's start with already clearing the air of expectations. We are a Small team. Let's be clear here that I'm not putting timelines on anything really because I do not want to burn out the team of stakeholder Dev's I have. They have just as much right to enjoy playing and having fun just as the rest of us who get to benefit from their work! They may be developers helping work towards this vision, but they are contributing to this open source project just the same as anyone else. To prevent burnout and give them ample room to be able to not stress about game dev is VERY important to me. And while I can't personally reach around the globe to some of our diverse players who come from countries far and wide to shake them and tell em' to take a break. It will always be my goal to not overload our crew. Please be patient with us as we make cool stuff for you all to enjoy. A BIG REMINDER that the targets are all subject to change, and could be pushed back.

Here are some other general things that are on the docket of what we want to work for in the near term!

• As mentioned in the bit of the CGP section, Planets as new POI's*... With dungeons... Expeds will be changed to now have dedicated planets for you to travel to and be able to fight on. Missions will be tasked by our new Mercenary Quartermaster as described in the merc section above. They will be the one ordering new missions, building teams, and slinging contracts.
  • We're taking inspiration from PvE encounters from other popular games like Destiny 2 strike, Helldivers missions, and other mission-based gamemodes to accomplish.
  • The Zekke system has seven planets in it's solar system.
    • Zekke - 1, nearest to the sun, this planet seems just far enough outside the gravity well of the sun to not be swallowed into the burning gas ball. However, it's proximity certainly has made this place a hot wasteland. It's constant shifting tetonic plates and active volcanoes make this place nearly impossible to inhabit... However because of this constant churning crust, it seems to frequently have rare metals on it's surface. Only the Bravest miners should go here, as this hostile of a place has made some pretty impressive hunters.
    • Zekke - 2, second from the sun, this planet was the first scouted location based on the amount of water content on this world. However it was ruled out due to not having any real land masses capable of holding the majority of the Dusk's inhabitants. This rich water world has lots of options for fishing and hunting of water creatures if you have the
    • Zekke - 3, (See next main bullet about Concordia and Port Arboris)
    • Zekke - 4, fourth from the sun, this planet is not planned yet, and is reserved for possible future expansion.
    • Zekke - 5, fifth from the sun, this planet is not planned yet, and is reserved for possible future expansion.
    • Zekke - 6, sixth from the sun, this planet is not planned yet, and is reserved for possible future expansion.
    • Zekke - 7, seventh from the sun, this planet is a fridged wasteland. Severely cold, is has little to offer but hides a dark secret. If you can brave the cold and snow, you might find fame and fortune on this icey rock.
• Concordia and Port Arboris as a playable location. You'll be able to freely travel between planet and space, and there will be additional roleplay options there. We're also thinking of adding a couple more jobs to this location. It will also host the stationary New Hope Hospital. There will be Concordia's Police for traditional security gameplay. As well as a planetary warp gate for our new Arrivals onboarding for players.
• New Spacehulk Variation Dungeons. Addition of some new Spacehulk designs for dungeons. We'd like to add some more dungeon variety, adding meat dungeons, nature sprites, and maybe bluespace fauna ones. Targeting lower difficulty PvE content, spacing out Spacehulks so they last longer but are more infrequent.
• Get the Lewd POI Resort completed. The brand new POI for lewd endeavors will be constructed for those who want to have a location to get into fun and openly frisky. The location we've been planning is actually an all inclusive resort rather than some dull dive bar or stip club. There you can go and have fun and get into some lovely lewd situations with those at the establishment. This will be the Only Location where open nudity, and public sex and kink play will be allowed from the Wayfarer admin team, however...
  • When the Corporate Drift update comes out, you'll also be able to freely make your own lewd POI as well!
  • We plan on making some more lewd mechanics available for players to have fun with that will be locked to this location. For example... Addition of special fluids, drinks, and chemicals. As well as potentially future lewd content.
  • A new system to toggle your grid to have these options set on, so your own ship or own POI can be marked as (Erotic On) which will allow your grid access to these options now. It will also add a new notification upon entering the grid amended after the scroll text warning you as you enter.
• Actually competent enemy AI. Making more distinguished fighters, with better rock-paper-scissors mechanical combat than bullet sponginess. This is a huge priority to me personally, and I'm at the point of even possibly hiring an AI designer to specifically work on this.
  • Enemies will start falling into archtypes, and we'll begin adjusting and making the enemy's feel hopefully all unique. There will also be different difficulties for each enemy type, so if you prefer a certain kind of enemy to fight, you can tune it to the fun you want to have.
  • Changing our list of common enemy mobs to better fit the world of Wayfarer
    • Staying enemies: Xenonids, Mercenaries, Zombies, Cultists, Rogue Silicons
      • All of them will be getting revised and changed, do not expect them to stay exactly how they are.
    • Full rework: Miners, Dinos, Syndies, Dragons and Carps
      • Miners to be completely overhauled to a different faction, but keeping the same kind of combat. Rushdown fighters.
      • Dinos and Dragons will be more passive aggressive mobs to add flavor. They can occasionally be enemy encounters, but will not be consistently problems.
      • Carps and other Space Fauna will continue to be aggressive weird things. Maybe we can add even more! The main change is that these will be changed to "Bluespace Fauna" as things that have been corrupted by bluespace and are hostile to the player.
      • Syndicate. GONE. GOOD BYE SYNDIES...... But in your place... The Coldlight Wolves take their rightful place...
    • New Enemies: (Taken from the planet section)
      • Phlegravores, Lavaland (Zekke-1) lots of new lavaland mobs. Melee combatants, these are aggressive melee fighters are slow but accurate. Living in the harsh environments of Zekke-1 has made excellent ambush predators that go for the kill in quick strikes.
      • Thalassids, Oceanana (Zekke-2) lots of new oceanic mobs. Melee combatants, these attack and forget melee fighters are fast, often taking small bites out of you until your weak enough to be finished off. Comparative to your slow movements in heavy water, trying to fight them off is difficult
      • Zekke - 7, has a mix. Zekke - 7 has two factions... Xenonids and Rogue Silcons... But why are they here...?
• Addition of brand new traits. We'll be porting the DeltaV Trait System, adding a whole lot of new traits to help further customize your character.
  • Taking a different stance on omnicharacters, and hopefully also tackling omniships in the process.
  • Players will have an allotment of points to use on also skills now
    • Skills will be new RPG like requirements in order to unlock more difficult parts of your role. The approach is to take inspiration from async multiplayer games, or DnD style feats and abilities to add deeper customization
  • A theorized example:
  • Another theorized example:
  • These are just THEORIZED, and not finalized. Just what we're currently thinking about.
• Rebalance the Economy. A truly monumental task, but this is something we want to tackle before years end, or into early next year. Making it more satisfying to have money, by having a shared economy system. Admins will have some levers to be able to adjust money values, but to a much greater degree. Players will have supply and demand chains needing to be completed to keep things running, but also spesos will have all new costs for items.
• Solar Weather, as well as Planetary Weather. New hazards that might make flying more interesting than just going from point A to point B.
  • For now we're targeting just normal saturated weather events that affect the whole map.
  • Introduce new weather consoles to track weather, and gameify it so that it has mechanics for meteorologists to determine.
  • Interesting effects that add variety. Weather it's just pleasant rains or snows, solar rains and dust storms... To more destructive like thunderstorms, radiation, meteors, etc

Still On The List, Needing To Get Done

• Persistant Books. We were watching Frontiers implementation. We will likely be working on our own implementation.
• Continued Scrubbing of Vanilla SS14 lore
• Part 2 Of the Corporate Drift Update. Build your own POI's
• Grid-to-Grid Spacewalk Platforms. Adding from the Community Event, still needing to be done.
• Adding additional options for the Community Events terminal. So that we can have more diverse events!
• Wayfarer Bark System. Adding new player voices to the game similar to Animal Crossing Animalies or WebFishing style TTS for characters.
• New Constructables and Furniture
• New Clothing Items
• New Combat Mechanics.

Speaking of Combat Mechanics, you can look forward to:

• Making pump shotguns need manual cycling
• Making bolt actions need manual cycling
• New reloading mechanic for double barrels (Bolt needs to be open to reload)
• Weapon Attachments system to be able to adjust weapon stats
• Smart IFF with paired IFF Attachments that can ignore friendly fire. (Shoot Through)
• Magazine low audio affects
• Dual Wielding of Handguns
• "Aiming" and Accuracy Changes
  • Using new "Spacebar" aim mechanic for scoped weapons
• Laser weapon differentiation in their names. Changes to beam coloration, and power cell magazines.
  • Laser weapons no longer recharge automatically without a microreactor cell.
  • Antique cells will only fit in certain rare weapon types and equipment and have a unique bonus of increased damage, and faster automatic recharge.
  • Damage balance changes for switching to a magazine focused system.
  • "Bolt" style weapons to be renamed as part of the "Blaster" family tree of weapons
    • Blaster weapons having new mixed burn and shock damage.
• New Guns! (Resprites as well as new ones entirely)
  • Focus on weapon manufacturers rather than "Factions"
  • Guns will now have intended damages and ranges, with weapon families and armors
  • Adjustments in weapon classifications and intended roles they should be filling
• New Armors!
  • Armor damage reductions getting a full re-specing to focus on a new Rock, Paper, Scissors balancing approach
  • Hardsuits and Armor will now focus on being good in one category of damage, and weaker in others.
    • Armors will now provide a clear LOW, MEDIUM, or HIGH armor values. With speed reduction on the armor type you choose.
      • Low and Medium are the typical spacestation experience. Think Jug suits as something we're thinking of High armor value types.
    • New Armor plates will be added to allow players to be able to slightly push armors into a second tier defense area, allowing for customization options
    • Players will now need to adapt on the fly to their enemy, what they're fighting with, and how to counteract them.
    • Enemy mobs and AI will begin to use armor and armor plating system to provide new challenges.
    • Adding new audio and visual queues to have feedback and understand what you're hitting. Hitting armor should sound/look different than normal. As well as breaking sounds for when plates have become broken.
• New Melee Weapons! (Resprites as well as new ones entirely)
  • Melee mechanics, with blocking and parrying. Allowing you a greater chance in closing the distance to deal strong damage in CQB

In The Long View, Mid 2027 and Beyond.

• Refreshing Wayfarer to fit more of a Solarpunk and Nasapunk aesthetic for walls and tileset designs.
• Potentiality of instanced player homes on Concordia, using the Corporate Drift update framework to buy persistent land plots.
• Building our first "Raid" style dungeon with design choices in mind for parties of players, taking some inspiration from Destiny 2 a bit.
• Look into rougelite mechanics for making planetary expedition challenges more difficult, but provide new interesting rewards.
• Shuttle Blueprint system, for players to be able to make their custom shuttle from scratch, save it as a blueprint that works directly as a YML file.
  • Blueprints can be Imported and Exported
  • Imported Blueprints will let players see a "Construction Ghost" scale for the entire project, and be visible to other players to collaboratively build shuttles together.
  • Later on, potentially a "shuttle garage" attachment to Corporate Drift POI's when you can save your shuttles to POI's that persist to further rounds.