As part of those who mod the game, your comments on what's "needed" for accessibility feel both uninformed and insulting.
I mean... you gotta pick one.
You can either have:
a) What you've got now, and a forum FULL of hacks, config edits, and ways to work around the limitations of the game engine/framework/UI
b) A different game engine/framework/UI, which costs money
I guess I used the term 2.0 because the business model itself would have to change. It would need to stop being a passion project, working with what is most accessible, and transition into something intentionally made.
That means a Publisher. I'm sorry, it's so, so difficult to get the proper engine, the proper assets, and (most people prefer) the pre-made framework ready so that you can spend as little time getting the new engine ready, and as much time as possible getting the old material moved into the new gilded frame.
That's going to require a biiiiigggg leap of faith. And, yeah, in a lot of ways it IS a new game. A remastering. I don't see ANY reason for the Starsector-that-is to go away!
But the hardware and software limitations are more than just not aging well.
...by the time we get around to 1.0 release, it's going to be PLAGUED with optimization problems! Which, by itself, will take a LOT of the groundswell of bringing out of private development! Maybe even ALL of it. Because an Indie game with mixed reviews is... painful.
Case and point: Endless Sky
It's got all the retro
It's got the mods
It's got the Steam
It's got the updates
It's got the 90% positive ratings
...it's got 5,000 reviews, give or take.
That's... not enough. It trips over its own limitations.
It's got mods, but they aren't in the Workshop.
It's got updates, but you have to retrieve them privately.
It's got the positive rating, but it LOOKS like it's abandonware.
It's not, but it LOOKS like that.
So, cautionary tale, I guess?
Because even if the current version of the game was 30% improved in terms of performance, memory usage, etc...
.... that would still fall short of anything made in the last 10 years. And it's not getting any younger.
I say all of this because I WANT Starsector to succeed! I want the Dev to be able to focus on his expansions, and get the recognition and sales this game richly deserves.
But just... going 1.0 isn't going to make that happen.
Does it NEED to do this? No. Of course not.
But where do we go from v0.96.3c ...?
Or v0.99.27hf2...? Or v1.13.2? Or, or, or...?
This game has reached Kenshi status.
It's gone as far as the hardware is going to take it.
You can expand the story, but everything you add just bites deeper into those hardware caps.
Maybe I'm wrong ^_^ Who am I? I mean... besides Jean Valjean.
But I've walked the Indie booths of PAX for the last decade.
Seen good games live or die based on dumb things like this.
Watched games pimp, and beg, and hire showgirls, even park a Bugatti in front of their booth, and STILL fall flat on their face because the changes necessary were fundamental.
They'd already lost before they arrived. Before the marketing meeting where somebody thought that a car would sell a space game. Before even finding a publisher.
We don't have to worry about 'a game that runs on older hardware', 'cause we've already got that! **laughs** It's not getting MORE compatible with OLDER hardware.
It's just getting less compatible with newer hardware.