I haven't played the game since update 5. How much different is it now? I really liked it but when I had done everything that was realistic possible did I stop to wait for more content
It's not fundamentally different from Update 5, but it's on Update 8 now and there's lots of changes, lots of quality of life changes, entirely revamped areas, new technology behind it (Upgraded to Unreal Engine 5.1), and lots more updates to tech trees and milestones. You won't be getting a new game by jumping into Update 8, but you'll get a much more streamlined and enjoyable experience.
One of the main improvements is Blueprints, you can now build modular factories in the blueprint designer and easily build much larger factories without so much of the 'busywork' of setting everything up.
Nice! The most annoying thing was when I had to reanrange big areas to make it all fit together to make it more efficient and when the milestone became so absurd it felt like it was there because they hadn't set up any more milestones yet. But it sounds like I can wait a bit more. But nice to know it is getting better. The dev seemed very passionated (I stopped keeping up with the game when I stopped playing)
My first run was in Update 5. A lot of things have been tweaked, but the major ones I think you'd immediately notice:
Hogs no longer circle. They might run a quarter of the way around you to take off in another direction, but no more spinny spinny.
Pyroceratops now come in lots of colors.
moar ammo! Same detonator, rebar gun and rifle, but there's several ammo types for each with their own characteristics. Shock rebar, splinter rebar, homing bullets, etc.
It doesn't get as dark at night; it's more like there's bright daytime and blue daytime.
Ceiling conveyor hangers exist.
There's a blueprint system now so you can build assemblies.