- Detecting Lifesigns - 9 September 2026
New Momentum Building UpIt's been silent for a while around the Gate Project, but that wasn't a bad thing. It was a time of a lot of testing, reflection and rethinking how to proceed with this project. Always keeping in mind the end goal: a full game release.There was a lot going on regarding reworks and new directions, but these steps are seen as necessary for this game to eventually see the light of day.What Changes Are Coming?During editing of the old text materials, we noticed the changes are actually surprisingly small. They focus mainly on the combat mechanics and focus switch from full 3D to a 2D/3D mix. In detail, that means:RTS elements changed to Auto-Battler3D environments simplified to a 2D/3D mix with simpler travel mechanicsThat's basically it, though other reworks derive from the changes aboveAll the lore, narratives, events, locations etc. are supposed to stay as much in…
- Demo out now! - 24 March 2025
Demo Released, Feedback Welcomed! Announced and delivered, a key milestone for my very first game dev project. Even if it's no Balatro or R.E.P.O., still proud that I made it that far. Now it's time to see, how the overall feedback and response will be. Thing will move forward based on the responses... Glimpse Back in Time, and a Shoulder Pat Looking back, it has been so far a hell of a journey. Extremely ambitious goals for a self-taught, first time solo dev. But I think it is because of these ambitions that I learned an incredible array of skills in game dev and around it, and feel prepared for any challenges to come. So, no matter how this projects proceeds, it was already a huge win on a personal level...
- What's up? Where is the Demo? (2nd half of March) - 4 March 2025
Main Goal: Demo The demo release remains the main goal #1. At the moment, QA is undergoing in full speed. After a dozen demo builds or so, less and less bugs are found - which hopefully means, that indeed there are not that many left. Basic balancing is done for combat to make sure things work reasonably well. That leaves full confidence, that in 2-3 weeks, it can be released. Prior to that will share more about the scope and content. Refreshed Look Artworks were done and delivered by Hollow and Hues. Great like always, I love it and it boosts the whole project to a new level. Thanks for that! What else? As QA is the main focus, there is not much else going on at the moment. (Re-)activating some close-to-final features like weapons, maps, weather effects, finalizing and fixing them where necessary. Will wrap things up for the demo release with a fresh new trailer - already feeling, that…
- Demo in March 2025 and 4 Minutes Gameplay Footage - 11 February 2025
Swamp with Updates Actually a good thing: I feel there is so much going on, that I think it makes sense to cut the news a bit, and focus just on the most-interesting things - and just mention the rest briefly. Road to the Demo in March A small and solid playable demo remains the next big milestone. Currently steps are polishing and debugging. Just like in the weeks before, I remain absolutely confident, that Q1, more specifically march, is absolutely realistic. That's 3-6 weeks from now. 4 Minutes Gameplay Preview Youtube Link. This gameplay preview from unreleased footage focuses on the non-combat, such as dialogues, looting, environment and feeling itself. While combat is a big part of the game, it was shown already a lot in previous updates, so this time, things are showing another side of the game. Refreshed Look First impressions are important, so Gate Project is in coop with our f…
- FAQ and Discord Set Up - 4 February 2025
FAQ on Website It is somewhat tricky to explain and showcase the game via pictures and short videos, as it is not a clean "1-genre game". To tackle that, I've setup a FAQ section on the website. Discord Setup Speaking of setup: A Discord server is now up and running and decided to open it up. While the game is still in development and there is no public playable game out, can't hurt to have the Discord already in place for quick questions and so on. Colors and UI More color improvements and UI cleanups. Originally it felt like something to do later, but after some really valuable feedback, I pulled that work a bit in. So, started to de-clutter the UI, modernize it a bit and make sure, that visually it is a bit more pleasing. Demo remains focus Previous plans like the focus on the Demo development for Q1 remain in place. This is a vital milestone to showcase the game and what to expect.
- Wishlist Breakthrough, Let's Go! - 28 January 2025
Wishlists Exploding It's awesome to see, that Gate Project's wishlist count is taking off like a rocket - a great motivator to stay committed to the development and deliver the best possible game and experience! The numbers itself may be "small", but the trend is going in the right direction, a nice growth curve. For that, many thanks to you all wishlisters! Polish Things Up On the dev-side, the focus was to finish and polish the new map, HN Librae b. For that, many new props were introduced, details were added and placeholders were replaced with "release candidate"-worthy items. The goal is clear... Demo In Q1, Release Later I had many talks with experienced devs and game industry professionals during the Taipei Game Show, which offered valuable insights and opportunities for self-reflection. The good thing is, that the main goals from the 2025 year-start are fine and still valid. It r…
- Gate Project is part of the RTS Fest! ... and added new mission location - 21 January 2025
Steam RTS-Fest Gate Project appears in the "Upcoming" list - for the popular list, it is of course still some way to go, but hey.... got to start somewhere. In parallel, the Taipei Game Show is running this week, so let's see, what kind of games this week will bring! HN Librae b, a new trashy place Besides that, wrapped up to make a new mission location, called HN Librae b. A trashed place, so who knows, what's going on there... Other than that, just added minor visual improvements and bugfixes.
- Interactive Elements, Map Sizes and more - 14 January 2025
Adding Interactive Objects As part of the out-of-combat work, last week was somewhat sluggish and filled with non-dev occupations, but still managed to make a few interesting additions and progresses. For example added interactive elements, which will have various purposes like triggering doors, mechanisms and many more. One is for now a mystic "Power Stone", which can be activated, often acting as an incredible energy source. Some Intermediate Dev Steps Other than that, adding in parallel various map sizes, templates for it and elaborating a workflow for it, to make sure map additions can happen as quickly and efficient as possible. Currently aiming to have ~8 map sizes ranging from "micro" size, which should take only a few minutes to complete, up to "huge", which will be very likely handcrafted key story missions, taking an hour or so to complete. Related to that, I'm adding the real…
- Hello There, 2025! Upcoming Plans... - 7 January 2025
What's upcoming? 2025 has arrived, time flies by and it's time to lay out some battle plans for the upcoming time. Thinking about something like following and will move things as needed - given that it is for now a "1 man wolf pack" project, since it's start in June 2024. (End of 01-2025) Steam's Real-Time Strategy Fest is coming. For that, might update some of the marketing contents like images and videos, but this has a lower priority (End of 01-2025) Taipei Game Show - will be there only as visitor, unfortunately, game won't be presented there (Q1-2025) More dev focus on out-of-combat elements, as combat is already pretty fleshed out, except for some bugs. (Q1-2025) Including plans to get up a Steam Demo in Q1-2025 - originally idea was to do web-based demos and testing for easy accessibility, but the technical limitations regarding performance and quality are just (too) big. So inst…
- Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year! - 23 December 2024
Surprisingly lot happened during last week in and out of the core game dev. Short updates below... Dedicated Gate Project Website Opened Lucky find (like with epic loot ːsteamhappyː) was that the domain gate-project.com was still free to be taken. As emergency action, all work was temporarily set on hold to get it up and running with basic info. Just as the Steam store page, it will be from now on frequently updated. New Trailer A lot happened since the trailer release in beginning of September. To reflect the latest content and status of the development, a new trailer was released. Internal Wiki is Expanding The Gate Project universe is expanding rapidly. As such, to keep the game's main story line and all other elements coherent and in line, the wiki is growing as well. Just to name a few exciting locations, which were added to the plans: Proxima Centauri b, Trappist 1 d, Gliese 667 C…
- Polishing the Core Experience - 17 December 2024
Better animations, better UI, better combat There were improvements on all fronts at a surprising pace - must have to do with the new workflow since last month, pays really off. The UI keeps improving to levels, where it can be considered as robust enough for proper usage. Feeling for the core game loop of going out on missions keeps getting better, too, via SFX and VFX improvements. And ultimately, also some combat improvements were made, leading to a first boss battle. All in all, the development keeps picking up speed... Lastly, as more content is added, it feels like an excellent idea to start with a game wiki. For now it's for internal dev purposes, but once the game is released, the plan is to make it public to repurpose it as a played manual/guide.
- Time to Plan Your Next Mission - 10 December 2024
Focus on out-of-combat experience In the HQ there is a lot to do. One of that is to plan your missions in terms of setting the next destination, selecting and equipping your team properly. Unlike last weeks combat features, it is a very UI-heavy and often not visually popping topic, but it is needed nevertheless.
- Gameplay Overview On Steam and Scaling Combat Up - 4 December 2024
More Units On The Field Without Chaos "Perfectly balanced, as all things should be" - at least that's the goal, and we're on good terms with it. Got to make sure, that scaling up the combats with more units, abilities and so on does not hurt first and foremost the fun, but also overall balance, performance and so on. In this regard, the updates for this week were a success. We're now on good terms with up to regular-sized combats, around 10v10, on micro-sized maps. We're also confident, that 20v20 should work fine as well with larger maps. Ultimately for now, 50v50 and 100v100 battles are the upper limit for the largest missions and maps. Tactical Slow Motion Replaced the simple "pause" with a slowmotion effect. It feels like the to-go-solution, striking the perfect balance between not interrupting the overall combat flow, and at the same time allowing enough room to react to new combat…
- The Right Mission Flow - 26 November 2024
Starting with small scale mission maps and setups to make sure, the overall game flow is cohesive and feels right. Already for micro-sized mission maps, the experience has to feel on spot - and it does. It just took the previous weeks' general tweaks and reworks, consuming several articles, video tutorials and more on game design theory, applying it to a first proper micro-mission map. The result: engaging gameplay, straight out of the box. A satisfying, wholesome feeling to know that all the previous work comes together...
- Unit Behavior Rework: 1 Step Back, 5 Steps Forward - 20 November 2024
Full Internal Unit Behavior Rework It was a large task, which was tried to be avoided with "the old system still works - wonky - but works". But it kept breaking, being sometimes unpredictable and hard to debug, so it had to go. A full revamp of the way, how units behave and act, took 3 days (which actually is nothing compared to the current and future benefits). Only during dev of the new Behavior-Tree system, it was actually obvious, how much the old and outdated (FSM) system slowed down everything. Yes, probably could have stayed with FSM and just properly rework it, but honestly, it felt like FSM would hit again the wall sooner than later. Ultimately, it was totally worth it... after that repair fix, now can focus on new content again.
- Getting used to a planned workflow, focusing on what matters - 15 November 2024
Stop to drift away It's too easy to get carried away during gamedev a la "let's improve this on the way" or "got a new idea, will immediately implement it, will be quick". Stopping that and will focus on a more planned, disciplined way. That also helps to keep updates more frequent in all directions: new features, bugfixes, something to show. Hopes are, that this will speed things up significantly. So, what's new to show? Unit equipment and customization is of course a thing. So this week, the focus was to build a framework, which will support equipment, skins, cosmetics and more. Started with examples, such as colorful armbands for grouping units and a new laser beam weapon.
- Continuous work regarding feeling, pacing and performance - 7 November 2024
Continuous work regarding feeling, pacing and performance A bit less "visual" updates happened, as the focus was more towards gameplay and feeling. That means, reaction times of the units, general behaviour improvements and fixing performance issues, which were all in the way of a nice, smooth and consistent experience. As a small test, 100 units were simultaneously running around, sensing each other, doing their tasks independently. Nothing "big" I guess, but it has to be done. It might be possible, that there will be few larger combats with so many units - so having that in a workable state, is a good thing.
- Combat tests - fluent fights and highly performant updates go hand in hand - 26 October 2024
The combat-tests were great, and focused on improving not only the feeling and responsiveness of the units, but also ironed out bugs and fully reworked a key element: the unit sensor system. Questions (and answers) from the play-test - Is the combat engaging and fun? - Definitely engaging! The cover mechanics work, strategy, positioning is key to win... However, we want to improve on the active abilities, add more variation here. - Is it fluent, stable and properly working? - Debugged lot's of hiccups, improved responsiveness and ultimately the combat of ~25v25 units ran well (with old sensors, see below for the good news). - Is it performant? With many units it was okay on a mid-tier PC, but that was not enough. We identified a 3rd party (unit) sensor system as a major slow-down, despite only using sensor updates sparingly. Better optimize it now, as it is vital in so many parts of the…
- What's next? Early combat playtests! - 30 September 2024
Currently working on a playable small combat-orientated test arena. It is meant for a basic check of feeling and performance at this stage of the development. Questions, which this playtest shall answer are: - Is the combat engaging and fun? - Is it fluent, stable and properly working? - Is it performant?
- New Store Page Media Content - 1 September 2024
Nothing serious, just updated all the related media content like trailers and images to reflect the latest status of the development. Some key differences compared to before are: Overhauled UI, new map and visuals as well as sound improvements. Basically, worked on all fronts. Anyways, was just intended to be a small update to also test the news function on Steam itself, as this is the very first update post!
