I am sorry but this is feels like a non-answer. Can you please state at which stage of development SQ42 is? The old roadmap showed that it should now be in beta but based on the monthly reports that still mention prototyping I think it is safe to assume that this is not the case.asked by Yonas
TL;DRThe developer declines to name a development stage or date, saying Squadron 42 will be done when it is polished, the new roadmap will show progress without being a perfect predictor, and it is still some way from Beta.
...finally a lot of people just want to know when a feature or the game will be done. And I think that's the crux of the issue; it's impossible to please all the people all the time, and with a project as complicated as Star Citizen or even Squadron 42 it's impossible to have iron clad dates due to the huge amount of ongoing R&D.
Emphasis mine.
I answered the question asked, just not the question YOU wanted answered :)
You're not really asking about what is being worked on Squadron 42, you really just want to know when it will be done. The best answer for your question is Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date but instead once all the tech and content is finished, polished and it plays great. I am not willing to compromise making a game I believe in with all my heart and soul, and even though everyone (including me) wants Squadron 42 sooner than later, it would be doing a huge disservice to everyone working really hard on the project and all of you that are looking forward to it to deliver something that isn't great.
The new roadmap will show how we are doing towards that goal and as we get closer to the end it will be more accurate but it will never be a perfect crystal ball of the future as there is always a certain amount of unpredictability in game development, especially when the game is hugely ambitious and has a very high quality bar; Red Dead Redemption 2, Last of US 2 and now Cyberpunk have all taken a lot longer than originally communicated and those projects didn't even announce a release date until very deep into their production, when most of their tech had been resolved.
We still have a ways to go before we are in Beta, but everyone on Squadron 42 is working very hard to deliver something great.