The time of the year where we sit down and plan for the season ahead is here again. Hi, Sutorcen here with another Hotgates update.
Summer vacation has come and gone and left me with a serious injury as I had an accident where I injured my back and right shoulder. Work for me was out of the question for these past few weeks, but I’m fine now and ready for the journey ahead. So if you haven’t heard from me on social media I apologize, now you know the reason. On a more pleasant note a lot of work has been completed during that time.
Asset Packs
Speaking of completed tasks, our first asset pack “HG Sci-Fi Decals” has been released. It is a collection of 800+ decals for use with Unreal Engine 4. They are fully customizable and you can use them on any sci-fi project or any other project/theme you like. For more information head over to the Unreal Engine forums or watch the video below.
HG Sci-Fi Decals is available on Gumroad, itch.io and on Unreal Marketplace.
Crowdfunding
Another task we completed was the launch of our Patron page. Game development is our passion. Independent game development is neither cheap nor risk free, the only thing we have is our own devotion and determination. That and our desire to let you get involved with the development of the game is why we decided to give it a go with Patreon. We are not so fond off early access games, we rather give something back for your support, namely tutorials and asset packs. Of course if you want to get your hands on an early build of the game we have that option too (once it is available). Contrary to the other crowdfunding platforms Patreon was the best suit for us as it gives us a more direct relation with our backers. Also the fact that backers can opt out any time they want resonated better with us then a one off pledge on Kickstarter or Indie GoGo, where you would have to go through a refund process if something goes wrong. For more information on Patreon and our vision check out our Patron page and the video below. One last thing, in order to honor our backers we created a new page on our site, the Backers Hall of Fame don’t forget to check it out. Thank you for your continued support.
Tutorials
Tutorials will continue to come in a monthly basis with the next due for release in the coming weeks. We hope in the coming months to be able to create some extra mini tutorials for hotgates.eu and our Patreon page, plus video tutorials. It all depends on the support we will receive and the sales of our asset packs.
Project Origins
Development is currently on hold because we are upgrading our hardware, which is never a bad reason. We have also decided on the name and there will be an announcement in the near future. Once the new hardware arrives we will polish the demo as we plan to take part in various events around Europe to promote our game. More on the subject on a future post dedicated to “Project Origins”.
Hotgates
We completed our first financial report and things are looking good this early on. No, we’re not rich and we don’t get to quit our jobs, yet. Thanks to Patreon and our asset pack we have acquired a small stream of income which covers some of Hotgates’ expenses. In other words we can keep Hotgates running for the foreseeable future which is a good thing. That allows us to focus more on our game, assets, tutorials and community management. It also boosted morale as it is the first time we reap some rewards after almost two years of hard work. Hotgates will turn two years old in a few weeks. Just as a baby takes more confident steps we too walk on solid ground ready to overcome new challenges. Will it be easy? No, it will be hard as hell, but we will do our best and ejoy the ride.
Closing we would like to thank all of you for we wouldn’t be here without you. From the bottom of our hearts a big hug goes out to our families and friends who put up with our long working hours and support us anyway they can. A hug also goes out to all our fans and backers too. We love you.