Look, I wont tell you how to run your business, but I do honestly believe that removing the "ASCII" in ascii sector will most likely estrange all of the current, passionate, fans of this game. I mean, some of us have been hanging around for years waiting for updates.
Nevertheless, you got to do what makes you happy. I am just suggesting that, from a business perspective, a core of passionate fans in a niche marked (ascii games) might be a better, more supportive platform for game development than what i presume would become yet another Elite clone, disappearing in a broader marked. just something for you to think about, and hopefully find constructive.
Regardless what you decide, I think a lot of us hope you might consider finishing Retro and Kilrathi fleets and adding the last two systems before moving on. (maybe even simultaniously with Hidden assets? hehe

)
As a last remark, I would like to point at games like Dwarf Fortress, that have incredible support through donations, while maintaining independent freedome. I do think AS has that kind of fans as well, and could get more of them if it remained an ASCII game rather than becoming a commercial, graphical title appealing to the standard consumer.