I have good news to share:
I've achieved near parity with the original ORION: Prelude. Achievements stay exactly as they are, the content you know is carrying forward and it's all getting polished up. >> The First Preview will be focused on Survival.
Back on June 1, 2026 I shared a methodology update on Discord ahead of the public reveal and my goal of reaching parity with the original ORION: Prelude. At the time, it was problem after problem and it was burning enormous amounts of time for very little return. So I put it on ice and refocused on my three pillars:
FOUNDATION
= FPS, TPS, Vehicles, Combat, AI. The stuff everything else sits on.
COOPERATIVE
= Large-scale action / adventure.
SYSTEMIC CONTROL
= Multiplayer, UI, AI, Combat, Content Pipeline.
Owning the whole stack: getting the project, files, backend and workflow into a state where fixes ship quickly, content integrates fast, and no single thing can block me.
Working without parity, the downstream costs kept adding up. The most recent and tangible example was the Achievements discussion:
https://steamcommunity.com/games/104900/announcements/detail/702151321303646317 I ultimately wasn't comfortable moving forward with where that was heading and finding any alternative path meant serious investigation and work; so I went back in.
Near parity is achieved. That means:
My fundamental improvements to FPS, TPS and AI carry forward.
= Right onto the content you already know and love.
Achievements remain as they always have been.
= If anything, I'll look at addressing anomalies or issues with them as they get reported.
The existing content is getting polished.
= This will have it looking better than ever Revisiting iconic themes and inspirations across Dino Beatdown, Dino Horde and ORION: Prelude.
FAN FAVORITES:
If you've been here since the beginning, you may recognize some of these elements as they get introduced.
BRAND NEW: Beyond this there are also brand new and significant improvements such as the brand new menu system that opens up modernized features and support; such as Ultra-Wide Support. I’ll dive in deeper to these improvements on a per topic basis as research and development continues.
Full parity is currently blocked on Conquest, specifically the limitations of the 32-bit engine. I'm going to keep investigating for a bit and I already have a Plan B in mind.
Optimize and tweak the two existing Conquest maps and get them resolved the way they ran on older operating systems.
Plains
Tundra
Bring the second set of Survival maps over to Conquest, which also serves my pacing and structure goals.
Raupi_II
Summit
Outlands
Dune
Marsh
One of my big goals in coming back to ORION: Prelude was to polish everything up and make it as smooth and intentional as possible while retaining the core spirit and features of the game you already know. To simply make the experience better rather than radically change any one thing.
That means:
Polish
Performance improvements
Bug fixes
Modernization (where possible)
Keeping the spirit of what's always been there.
VISUAL BUFFS:
The good news is that will include some visual upgrades: With parity achieved this will help retain any critical aspects like Player Achievements, Progression, Cosmetics & more.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Are scheduled to remain as is with the focus be purely on bug fixing, definition clarity and ensuring they work on this branch of the game.
PROGRESSION
Your levels and unlocks will carry forward.
COSMETICS
Your customization items will carry forward.
RESULT: There are no radical deviations planned for the game, rather improving what you already know and love thanks to parity.
The last couple of weeks went into chasing parity and it paid off. As a result, the first mode and map(s) for the First Preview will be the fan favorite: Survival. In the background I am going to continue investigating Conquest and which route I move forward with.
~ Once I know more I will share that information with you.
UPDATE:
I am hoping to get this out next week with as many questions answered.
Additional previews
Dev interaction
Poll voting
Early testing opportunities
& more
TikTok:
http://tiktok.com/@dankie.dev
Twitter:
https://x.com/dankiedev
YouTube:
ORION: Prelude @ Steam:
ORION: Prelude is back in active development.
The goals are simple:
A better game across gameplay and feel.
A more optimized game across polish and performance.
An open development process worth following along with.
This is all on an existing game that you may already own. Every update and quality-of-life improvement goes to existing owners for FREE.
With Love,
PRAZ