On August 25th, 2000, a mod called INCOMING was announced to the internet with a promise:
Twenty six years later those are still the three pillars that keep ORION anchored.
Pre-production started in 1998. This included initial designs, concept art, the story, the universe, the characters; everything that came before actual development or a single line of code. Then the recruiting. On August 25th, 2000, we went public on Valve's GoldSRC engine, the tech behind the original Half-Life.
Two things from that era I still think about: A member of the Counter-Strike team personally got INCOMING hosted at PlanetHalfLife.com back in 2001, which handed a bunch of kids an audience they had no business having. We also had permission from a smaller company back then known as Bungie to use the likeness of the Warthog and Spartan Armor as long as it was a free mod. This was a huge motivation at the time; though this would later change with the transition to Incoming: Source (and ORION) to become its own wholly unique game universe. Fun Fact: We also got multi-passenger vehicles working on GoldSRC (including flyable ones) behind developer doors. Valve shipped theirs publicly first. We were still very proud of ours.
Nearly identical feature set, ported to Source (Episode 1 branch) after a few years of work. The whole series was torn down and rebuilt:
Architecture
Backstory
Game Universe
Races
Characters + Classes
Weapons & Gear
Vehicles
This paved the way for the conversion from INCOMING to ORION shortly after and within the Source era of development. One of the hardest but best decisions I ever made for the longevity of the game.
The first release to the public. Released for FREE as a Source Mod for Half-Life 2. Featuring the core foundation:
Class-Based Gameplay
Weapons
Abilities + Grenades & Melee.
PvP as a focus with objective-based gameplay.
The initial pitch for ORION: Prelude was focused on a PvP experience expanding what we did on the ORION: Source Multiplayer Beta. Focused on integrating the remaining pillars:
Dinosaurs
Vehicles
+ Expanding Core Combat + Ability Sandbox.
* Transitioned to Dino Beatdown due to needing to release earlier than expected.
This is where the concept for ORION: Dino Beatdown came from with a focus on:
Open World Gameplay
Objective-Based Online Co-op
Class-Based Gameplay
"Jetpacks + Dinosaurs & Mechs"
[ FREE for owners of ORION: Dino Beatdown ]
Focused on Upgrades + Power-Ups + Weapons & Gear.
Customization & Cosmetic Store
PvP-Based Gameplay is introduced across multiple game modes.
& more
[ FREE for owners of ORION: Dino Horde ]
Progression
Open World Gameplay (Conquest + Vital)
Playable Dinosaurs
& more
A brand new game in the ORION gaming franchise; originally launched as a Top-Down (Twin-Stick) Online Co-op Shooter. Received major free updates including elements such as:
Loot
Inventory
Crafting
Third Person
First Person
Social Hubs
New Heroes
New Weapons
New Abilities
& more...
[ FREE for owners of Guardians of Orion (Phase 1) ]
Focused on Fidelity + Optimization & Performance.
Revamped Visuals
File Size Reduction (20gb to 10gb)
Faster Load Times
Faster Boot Times
Most importantly: this transitioned the entire game architecture from Cloud Server to Player Hosted infrastructure for game preservation purposes. One of the harder developments we've done but I am happy with the end result as it keeps the game around to this very day.
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.
FREE FOR EXISTING OWNERS
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.
PRICING UPDATE
The price for ORION: Prelude is increasing on October 25, 2026 from $0.99 for the base game to $9.99 for new owners. If you've been sitting on this one, the window before October 25th is the cheapest it will ever be.
NEW GAMES
[ There are also new ORION projects in development ]
RECAP TO DATE:
Twenty-six years.
3 Products.
Across 4 Game Engines.
One idea that refused to die.
Held together by my love for the IP and your incredible support. Thank you.
Here's to the next chapter.
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:
With Love,
PRAZ