AETHUS is available now on Steam and the Humble Store at a special discounted launch price of $15.99 / £13.20 / €15.99, for two weeks!
AETHUS is a fully complete, v1.0 game with no Early Access, so you're getting a finished experience with 30+ hours of content all in one go, with no in-app purchases or other nonsense.
I'm beyond happy to finally have this labour of love out in the world for you to experience, in a full, complete 1.0 package, exactly as I intended.
I hope you enjoy the story of Maeve and Roland as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Oh, and remember, if you played the demo, your progress carries over seamlessly to the full game!
A: Firstly, naturally, you can play the entire game! Mainly though, your demo feedback has helped make the start of the game even smoother and removed any friction you might have felt if you played the demo early on.
Controls have been improved, Maeve's movement speed is faster, she can jump higher, Roland's gravity tethers are faster and have longer range, and there are many more improvements.
I'll keep balancing and tweaking as well as fixing any bugs that appear! Keep the feedback coming!
A: This is a great question! The biggest reason is that because the story and narrative are so core to the game, it just wouldn't be a good experience. No-one wants to start playing, get really into the story and gameplay, and then suddenly you just... can't play any more? That won't happen here!
Plus... we're all just a little bored of Early Access now, right? I wanted to do something different and provide a complete experience with a proper beginning, middle, and end. A full and wholesome adventure that you can devour at your own pace, with no artificial blockers or 'this bit isn't done yet'.
Now, all of this doesn't mean there is zero chance of bugs occurring, that tweaks to balancing won't happen, or that I won't even add more new content! It just means the game is a full, rounded and complete experience.
A: As the game is very mouse-heavy, I wanted to do a proper custom interaction scheme for gamepad that isn't just a half-assed 'support' that's a worse experience than playing with M+KB.
Unfortunately, there just wasn't time before release to do it proper justice. It's a top priority after launch, and I ask that if you want to play the game this way, you Follow and Wishlist on Steam and you'll see the news in future when support is added for a good, solid experience!
Steam Deck Support is officially signed off as 'Playable' by Valve, but I will also be working to make the experience better post-launch and aim to achieve Verified.
A: Honestly, that depends how things go! I'm a self-funded solodev, with no publisher, and honestly, I've put everything I have into this game! My genuine hope and belief is that it will resonate with players and allow me to keep doing this!
If you can help spread the word about the game, leave a positive review, and maybe even pick up the Supporter's Pack, you'll be greatly increasing the chance of me being able to keep going - whether it's on new AETHUS content, DLC, a sequel, or new games!
All that said, AETHUS is a 'complete' experience as described earlier - don't expect additional story content or anything, this is a full, finished narrative!
What I can pretty much guarantee is that I'll be doing:
Any required bug fixes and balancing.
Controller/Gamepad Support and attempting to get Steam Deck Verification.
Localization of game text (including dialogue) into several languages.
A: Absolutely, please do! I'd love to see what you create, so drop by the Discord and drop a link to your channel when you're streaming!
There is no need for a streamer mode as the game features a fully original soundtrack, so no need to worry there!
A: To be 100% clear, this isn't a factory building game, so there aren't any belts or conveyors!
As you explore the world you'll be able to restore equipment (as well as build your own!) which will allow you to automate resource generation - pretty much all the progression-based resources in the game are automate-able.
You can also craft cargo drones which will deliver those automated resources to your Outpost, with specially build Cargo Bays of varying sizes!
A: Feel free to add a comment below, or join the Discord and chat with me directly!
I sincerely hope you enjoy the game and come to love the characters I've created as much as I do.
See you underground,
-Alex and Apollo