Greetings everyone,

First of all, I'd like to thank you all for the generous support. The UAF 0.8 update have gathered around this many numbers five months after the update release date. I hope the 'Panic Fix' mini-updates have at least addressed some critical issues we discovered after release. If not, feel free to continue to report anywhere reachable by you. Don't worry, we may not look like it - but we pay attention to the forum thread too.

As we slowly advance towards the later half of the year, I'd like to publicly declare and announce several things for both IRL and the mod project itself.

First of all,

The Main Objective

As previously stated in the lore doodle post. The United Aurora Federation mod is still officially waiting for the release of the next Starsector major update. The forecasts indicated that the mod will likely break due to several significant changes in the game. It would be wise to be on stand by first in order to prevent unnecessary potential losses.

However... on the bright side.

This major set up allowed us time to look back into the mod and finalize the 'replayability' part of the mod. We still have a few gaps remaining in the ship tree. The following ships are the final few and will be implemented in this work-in-progress update.

Please note that I'm only disclosing the most important bit of the update for now. There are many more things we have planned for the 'Persephone' update but I prefer not to show them yet in order to remain focused on the things at hand. Once the listed things are completed and finalized, I will reveal the other half of the update in the future. All in good time, yes?

1. Cherry Vanguard class XXL-Freighter ( PRIMARY )

2. Vioceleste class Battleship ( PRIMARY )

3. Songbird class Missile Battleship ( REWORK / PRIMARY )

4. Purcellyra class Battlecruiser ( REWORK / PRIMARY ) formerly, Persephone Natasya.

5. Tsutsumu Ni class Mobile Refinery Ship ( SECONDARY )

Here are some screenshots of some work-in-progress ships. As you can see, things are looking good and progressing well so far. So, you might be wondering... why am I still making ships? Well, it's so that I have enough up-to-date assets in my sprite sheet to eventually make Auroran space station sets in the future. The Cherry Vanguard and Vioceleste are both large ships and make good practice for large scale projects.

FYI, remember the memes about a legendary weapon called Megabreve? Well, it's coming... and they're going to be on Persephone's flagship. Be very afraid.

Persephone's past is key to understand what happened in the Battle for Aurora.

I am aware that the majority of the UAF's lore are still a mystery and vaguely mentioned or described across the internet. Unfortunately, since the mod is temporarily delayed due to the potential crisis. We can't really go forward with the plan to implement the campaign just yet.. that won't stop us from telling a story still!

This is where we will finally put down the lore for you guys to understand what drove the Aurorans into the Persean Sector at long last.

1. We plan to release a set of battles that take place in the past as main menu mission sets. You will see the story from different perspectives, narrated by those who took part in the Battle for Aurora.

2. A side quest dedicated to Persephone will be made for this patch in the same style and form like the new quests. Complete with rewards and consequences from your actions. It will also contribute towards the future campaign result too.

3. The side quest will involve major characters such as Aeria Charlotte, Solvernia and several other named BoA veterans.

Art booths in Indonesia and Malaysia

We don't have any solid information yet but I've applied for art booths in the upcoming Comifuro ( Indonesia / November ) and Comic Fiesta ( Malaysia / December ). I'll let you guys know whenever I have the news in a month or two.

Alright, that kinda wrapped things up for now. I will be away for a week or two as I'll be flying over to the Philippines for the first time. Why? I'm about to meet my friends and Mayu the Co-Developer. I kinda took it personally when the immigration decided to deny Mayu's access to Malaysia when I was absolutely thrilled to meet him last year. So I took it to myself and be like:

"Fine, I'll go there myself."

Anyway, thank you for reading and please look forward to the next update. I don't know how long it's going to take but I prefer to keep it in development until the next Starsector update is out.

Do please lemme know watcha think of UAF 0.8 in the comments below and see you in the next devlog!

Sincerely,

CY / Milkydromeda