For potential customers - Void Destroyer will launch at its current price - $14.99 with a "industry standard" discount applied at launch. So if you are thinking of purchasing and want the discount - wait until launch day to purchase (add the game to your wish list). If you don't care about the discount - wait till release day anyway to spike sales and to gain Steam's attention ;)
I thought about increasing the price (I see other indie projects with higher prices), but I think that $14.99 is a great price for the value that the game provides. I want players to think - a great game at a great price, I have to tell a friend. The game won't be a success without that and future games are at stake.
Today:
Finalize tutorials (one left). Update Steam version.
Then start working on main launch trailer.
Tomorrow:
Finalize some annoying issues (mouse control of ship not always being on - is big on my list).
Next week:
Constant tests
Game play trailer, "dev video" trailer
Work on store page, new screen shots, home page
Marketing (emailing YouTube channels)
Launch:
Week after that (week of January 19th) - release on either Tuesday or Wednesday or sometime soon after, depending on conditions.
It means that I feel ready to leave Early Access. That Void Destroyer is feature complete, that is is stable, that it has a variety of game modes, that the new player experience is solid (tutorials and in game manual). And is a fun and interesting experience - at a great price.
Because Void Destroyer has been continually updated - you won't see some grand patch.
Handle release launch issues - hopefully a big influx of players - but this also means potentially a lot of issues that slipped through my grasp. Update as needed to fix issues ASAP.
Investigate porting (this depends on sales and cost of a port)
Investigate localization (this depends on sales and cost)
Add a few features that I didn't want to delay the release (for example: wing man commands and improvements to skirmish mode).
Investigate work shop support.
Investigate trading cards.
Most likely create better modding tools.
This is hard to say, a lot of this will depend on sales and based on feedback from you guys and new players.
Thank you for supporting Void Destroyer, Early Access has been an incredible thing for this project, without Early Access Void Destroyer would have been a much weaker game. I hope you guys are happy with your purchase and I hope we make space sim and RTS history together.
Paul
PS: as always feel free to contact me with feedback and thoughts.