Seeing as me and schema are fuckbuddies, I think I could insert some input.
First of all, Schema is planning to redesign a small part of the engine which is causing many of the problems with netcode. This means that multiplayer is going to be a lot smoother in the future.
In addition, he has heard the community\'s desires and is implementing at least three new gun types: Railgun, which requires a specific structure and actual ammo, Laser beam, which has longer range but smaller damage than AMC, and on top of this he\'s going to program a mechanic for player-made torpedoes, making bombers and such finally viable.
This is not all, however, as schema is based and can program faster than you can speak. With the help of some of the players who have decided to help him with their talents, schema is also bringing in a new set of textures which should make starmade look a lot more realistic and less \'legoish\'. Something like Space Engineers, but better.
And finally, the feature everybody has been waiting for: Jump gates/hyperdrive. Players will finally be able to construct and maintain jumpgates which allow them to move from one place to another in an efficient manner. The minimum size for these is 16x16 circle, and maximum is 250x250 circle, with larger ones requiring humongous amounts of resources and energy to upkeep. Going through the jumpgate also requires energy proportional to the mass of the ship. The jumpgates will be accomplished with three types of blocks: jumpgate controller, jumpgate ring block and jumpgate \'fuel\' tank. This leaves lots of space for faction-specific design and details.
The patch will also include numerous bugfixes.
Anyways, that\'s what schema has been working on lately, hope it makes you excited!