Imho as someone who is a bit informed about the insides of a game engine i can understand them changing it and I can understand the hurdles and the huge timeframe that they have to overcome or tackle.
But i also can understand all the critics, the last release for patrons was a year ago.
My guess about the future of this game is: this guy, ubercharge, who seems to be more than capable of making assets for this game is one of the answers to a quicker 0.6-release. The first map for the city part seems to be finished. On my end, they are wasting too much time converting the whole game to the new engine at this point (!) and they should concentrate more on bringing out 0.6 first (and then focus on converting).
But as a fact, the development seems to be sped up by at least 50% since the last 3 months.
If someone needs to know more from the inner circle jerks
just let me know it here or via pm.