Edit: Unfortunately, this roadmap has proven to be a bit too ambitious. The game will not ship in August of 2026.
It's been a year this month since the early access release of Aviassembly. Development has been a bit inconsistent, so I want to bring some more structure to it and start pushing towards the full release. I'll be doing monthly updates from now on, with the full release planned for August this year. In this post, I'll lay out the future of Aviassembly in a bit more detail.
The updates will primarily be focused on what I believe to be Aviassembly’s biggest shortcoming: the game is too short and not very replayable. Please let me know if the list below is missing any features or changes you think are essential.
April: Physics
Aviassembly's physics have always been designed with accessibility and simplicity as a priority over simulation depth. This means there will always be a ceiling to how complex the physics can get. That said, there is still room for improvement, and ways to add more depth to the game.
Features
- Rebalancing helicopters, and making downward thrust possible.
- Engine performance that varies with speed and altitude
- Propeller collisions on all propeller engines
- Barrel roll and aileron roll also possible with auto steer turned on
- Subtle handling differences based on weight and control surfaces
- Friction stat on wheels
May: Visuals, performance and effects
There is still a lot of room for improvement in how the game looks. Given that rendering and performance are tightly connected, it is also a good opportunity to improve the performance of the game.
Features
- Better water shader, color correction and skybox
- LODs for terrain generation and foliage
- Particles for wheels and engines
- Better destruction effects
- First person flight and multiple camera modes
- Bird flocks and animals in the world
June: Replayability and polish
Once you've finished the campaign, there hasn't been much reason to keep playing. I’ve decided that instead of scattering the game across multiple game modes, I will double down on the campaign and make it more replayable and easier to continue playing after you’ve finished it. I also aim to add Steam workshop support this update.
Features
- Endless mode
- Hard mode
- Steam workshop support
- Improved tooltip system
- Improved sound effects
- Build mode improvements
- UI tweaks
July: Campaign and game length
The most common piece of feedback is simple: the game ends too soon. This update addresses that directly with a longer, reworked campaign that raises the bar on both length and quality.
Features
- Reworked campaign that is at least 30% longer
- Improved story and world building
- Wind and weather effects
- Balance improvements
- Seaplanes
- Temperature mechanics
- Firefighting
August: Release
The final stretch before 1.0. This month is about making sure Aviassembly is ready for everyone, and adding a bunch of support features.
Features
- Localisation support
- Cloud save support
- Steam deck support
- HOTAS support