I've gone back and forth for quite a while on whether the original concept assets are good enough, or need to be turned into fully 3D assets.

The difficulty with 3D assets is that getting a good quality visuals with limited polygons is difficult. And the amount of polygons eventually adds up because as you build a larger and larger colony, then the game's rendering needs become larger, and the goal of making a visually appealing game that doesn't require an expensive setup is lost.

Original concept: Mine & Factory

A 2D asset has none of compute problems and is almost impossible to scale too much, but it can only really be viewed convincingly from one angle. So if you can have a game work from one angle only, you can use 2D assets that can look quite nice.

The problem is that this isn't really an isometric a 2D game. TRAPPIST-1 renders its eponymous solar system in full 3D and allows players to view all 7 planets from any angle. However, the scale of the game means that at close distances, the planetary surface might as well be 2D. This makes it possible to consider isometric 2D assets.

High-detail 2D Factory

So the decision here for Trappist was, do we allow multiple angles of view and therefore commit to either unimpressive 3D assets or demanding but impressive 3D assets? Or can we find a way to have the gameplay with a single view angle, at least at the planetary surface scale, and then use high quality 2D assets that hold up without too many angle changes.

High-detail 2D Mining Facility

So we're experimenting with these detailed, animated 2D assets. These are easy to create and animate, whereas 3D assets require a lot more juice for the user's computers. The main challenge is that any change in angle or rendering the 2D asset slightly off makes the whole thing instantly feel flat. So I have to get it just right and working properly. This week we're updating the factory and the mining facility with new detailed 2D assets and testing to see if it feels right.
You'll see the difference in the images above, although the previously used 2D assets were arguably more akin to icons destined to be used as placeholders. Anyway, I hope you like the update and give me your feedback regarding these changes.