RimWorld - Anomaly and our plans (Patreon)

I’m over the moon to chat about the latest bombshell from Ludeon Studios: RimWorld - Anomaly, their brand-new horror-themed expansion. I won't lie, since I'm a Ludeon graphic artist, I knew about it for quite some time, but I am very excited to tell you about all the mods we have planned for it.

Ludeon Studios has outdone themselves this time, again, bringing us an expansion that promises a mix of monstrous threats, dark mysteries, and a twist on reality itself that RimWorld has never seen before. Anomaly kicks off with your colonists accidentally stirring up trouble with a mad superintelligence, leading to a series of events straight out of a horror flick. We’re talking invisible predators, colossal flesh monsters, mind-controlling parasites, and a whole lot more spine-chilling fun.

Inspired by horror classics like Cabin in the Woods, The Thing, and the Cthulhu mythos, Anomaly isn't just about battling monsters; it’s about surviving in a world that’s constantly trying to undermine your sanity. With new gear like flamethrowers, IEDs that raise the dead, and insanity-inducing weapons, plus the challenge of capturing and studying entities to gain their powers, this expansion is set to turn our RimWorld experience on its head - I am personally a huge fan of SCP and I'm very excited to see it manifest in RimWorld.

And let’s not forget about the simultaneous release of update 1.5 for the base game! With a whopping 18 pages of changes, including new items, performance improvements, and gameplay tweaks, it's big. Trust me.

So, why am I so hyped about modding for Anomaly? Ludeon Studios has opened up a whole new avenue of creativity with this horror theme. The introduction of such rich, dark, and complex elements means we can explore new modding territories: think custom monsters, unique containment and research facilities, horror-inspired gear and weapons, and even more intricate storylines!

The possibility of expanding on the cultist aspect alone has me brainstorming all sorts of mods, from new psychic rituals and cult formations to expanding the narrative around the abyssal void and its impact on the colony.

I already have a pipeline full of cool mods that I will be presenting to you as soon as I am able to, but obviously with such a big DLC announcement, it means several things for VE.

What happens next?

We already have a few mods deep in development that I fully aim to release before Anomaly DLC. This includes Vanilla Aspirations Expanded, Vanilla Temperature Expanded, Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Sophian Style.

The new roadmap posted at the beginning of April will include information about some new planned additions and will generally present a major reshuffle of our priorities. Of course mods already in development will remain in development.

With that new roadmap, an infographic will be presented showing our mod updating priorities, as well as what mods will NOT be getting updated to 1.5.

I can already confidently state that currently ongoing saves with VFE-Medieval, VFE-Vikings and VFE-Insectoids will not work on 1.5, as we will not be updating those mods to 1.5 due to the mods being remade. I repeat: If you're using any of those mods, wrap up your playthrough.

I have a list of about 12 new Anomaly-related mods I plan to do, but I don't care what order they will be done in - which means there will be a public poll where you will be able to vote what mods I should work on first.

There is also a few big new mods that will utilize the features added in 1.5. For example: Vanilla Mining Expanded - allowing you to dig deeper into the crust of the planet and make underground bases!

I am super excited for the future of VE, and I absolutely cannot wait to take you on this whopping horror journey.