A Look Back at the Past Year & Projects For 2018 — What To Expect and Look Forward To
What happened in 2017?
2017 was a big year for us. Starting the year off with what was perhaps the most exciting thing for us.
on January 4th, our Kickstarter project was successfully funded, as we hit 100% of our €50,000 goal. Although a major contribution to development of the game, the Kickstarter campaign was not only to receive money. It was also created to evaluate interest in Renegade Line.
We were overwhelmed with support and interest during the first few days of the campaign, with almost half of the goal reached in the first days.
From the Kickstarter project page updates :
Thank you for the amazing support. The Early Bird offers for alpha keys were gone within a day and within 3 days you pledged more than 22.000€!
We are blown away by the success of this campaign so far. Nobody expected that the first few days would be so crazy. We want to thank each and every one of you for helping us and the project.
Our Kickstarter campaign ended on the 15th of January. A date we were all looking forward to with a lot of excitement and anxiety. We were greatly relieved and delighted to receive €67,355 from 2,148 backers, well over our goal of €50,000.
O n January 20th, we opened our own donation page, where we’ve gathered, since then, more than an additional €75,000 from almost 6,000 more backers. The €42,500 from just over 8,000 total contributors allowed us to have a new vision for the game, one that was hardly imaginable before we launched the Kickstarter campaign, while keeping all of the ideas that we previously had. We’ve said this before, but we feel we need to say it plenty more — thank you!
So, we had the possibility to improve many, many aspects of the game.
We’ve since then upgraded our art style with a new map, environment assets, UI and HUD designs and new character models we’re still working very hard on.
We were then able, in 2017, to create a brand new map, with amazing new assets. We decided to create a new map to fit the style of our new character models, and to greatly improve the overall performance and look of the game.
We had very big plans in 2017, and while we achieved many good things, we were unfortunately not able to deliver on all of them.
This year was everything but perfect when it comes to testing and playing Renegade Line, as there were many issues, and we were not able to release Alpha tests as frequently as we would have liked. We also had to change our ETA for the Beta, as we initially thought we would be able to release an Open Beta before the end of the year. Yes, we were way off!
So, what can we expect in 2018?
For next year, we have many big plans and project we are very excited about, and we’re hoping you will like them just as much!
More frequent Alpha tests
We are well aware that 2017 was not what you expected when it comes to testing the game. We are going to change that as much as possible in 2018, with more frequent updates and Alpha tests. This also means that we will release more unfinished content. This way, we’re hoping to involve the community in the development even more than before.
New character models
This one has been long-awaited, and for good reasons. The new models are a big upgrade visually, but also a huge boost when it comes to animations and overall feel.
Those models were announced near the start of the release of the Alpha, with great concepts, and we are still working on them, because we want to make those new models and animations perfect! However, we’re working very hard to have them available as soon as possible.
A few more game modes and maps
The Italy map will be our main focus at the start of 2018, but we’re hoping to have a few more maps ready for testing next year.
As for the game modes, we’re working on Capture the Flags, Team Death Match, and concepts of more special and secret game modes…
Character creation and a new Main Menu
We’ve shown you concepts of the main menu before, and we’re currently working hard on it. We are also hoping to have character creation ready and available next year. That means that you will be able to create a character, choose its faction, its class and its name! Wooh!
In the main menu, you will be able to view your character (of course), access your inventory and change your characters apparel, buy the freshest clothes, items and weapons, create and join lobbies with friends, and get right into the game using quick play matchmaking, join friends or join a server of your choice.
Better communication with the community
We are currently testing many different things and weighting our options regarding communication with the community.
Our plans include:
- more frequent Twitch live streams — to involve the community directly into parts of game development,
- more blogs like this,
- as well as occasional blogs and articles from some of our game departments and personal blogs from some of Raw Vengeance Games employees, regarding various parts of game development, art, programming, etc.
We also have a cool Discord server you can join to chat with other members of the community and the developers of Renegade Line!
Your own game server and admin tools
We have been working on RCON tools for server owners and moderators to use, and this should be available in 2018.
This will allow moderators to kick troublesome players from their server, create their own map rotation, have their own server banner and much more!
We will also give players the possibility to rent their own servers so they can setup their own set of rules, create a map rotation they like and with the game modes they prefer, chose moderators to help them with keeping the server clean and tidy, and reward the regular visitors with a cool VIP role.
Delivery of Kickstarter rewards and other goodies
We are planning on delivering the Kickstarter rewards such as the forum tags, clothing items, weapon skins, special sweaters, etc. during next year. This has been something we have been asked for a lot, for good reasons. Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten, and the wait shouldn’t be too long anymore.
2017 was a big year for us, with many ups and downs, successes and failures.
We’re looking forward to what should be a very big year for us, and for game development for Renegade Line.
We have many projects, bigger projects, smaller ones, but all of them very exciting, we think.
As always, feel free to leave a comment on the upcoming features and tell us what you’re most excited about for next year.
Thank you all for the tremendous help, support and patience you’ve shown this year. We’re all looking forward to what should be an awesome 2018, with all of you! ❤
