Hello fellow daoists!

Today's news is something a little different. It's regarding the current state of the project - and a tale from the past. When I first began the project, I decided to hire an artist and for a time all was great!

We originally produced content like this:

Unfortunately, after just 2 months - "real life" problems arose and the artist bowed out indefinitely. After a discussion with a potential investor, I decided to purchase a 'certain program' and use it to create characters for the game. I did this as a means to continue development instead of being stuck in 'development limbo'.  After nearly 2 years of development, the game has reached it's current stage - and HPC is now transitioning to the first chapter on the Immortal Mountain. 

In Chapter 1 you will have complete freedom in the "sandbox" that is the Golden Lotus Academy. You'll meet new people, forge new bonds and reach new realms of power. New training methods, new acquaintances and new zones await. In preparation for this I actually began preparing last year, around November, I submitted and was approved for release on Steam. And, to date - I've had pretty good success so far. 

There was just one problem , a problem that would end up destroying all of my plans :

The software used to create characters held a clause within it's Terms Of Service that would completely derail the course of the project. It essentially states that any renders created with that software are owned by 'the company'. This means that, even though I purchased the product, I wouldn't be able to legally sell my project on a marketplace such as Steam.

Unfortunately, this was the money I counted on to improve the quality of the project moving forward. I reached out to the company to appeal for special circumstances regarding this and was flatly denied.  Having exhausted all of my options I released the public version of the game over on Steam, my plans having been dashed.

And, judging by my stats on Steam - I would have most likely met my project goals 2-3x over by this time.

As you can see here, almost 20,000 free licenses have been redeemed with about 25% of that number having actually played the game so far.

If I were to assume that just 20-30% of that number were to buy the game at some point, it would have generated nearly 30,000-50,000$ to date, more than enough to create art assets needed for the remainder of the project. As you might suspect, this also left a sour taste in my mouth, given all of my hard work thus far. 

At this point I'd like to improve several aspects of the project, and that money would have gone directly to the following:

For a better understanding of the aesthetic I'm trying to move towards,  check out the images below:

Clothing References (just clothing styles here, not the characters.)

Environment References -( I'd like the environments to look like something more from ancient china. This includes buildings, structures, and nature as well. Backgrounds will also be made to better represent the project.)

Some of the commissions are already underway, here is one of the outfits in the works:

The reality is if I tackle all of this financial burden on my own, it will take much longer to achieve. As a result,  future versions of Heavenly Peaks, public or otherwise would be affected.

To date I've spent out of pocket and invested an insane amount of time to  boot.  Most (if not all)  funding goes towards improving the project at current - sans feeding myself occasionally. Unfortunately, without meeting the funding goals the project I want to present will take much longer to realize. The alternative is to compromise, and work within the means I have for now.  I absolutely must hire artists to create new outfits and characters, new environmental props, writers, and 2D artists at some point, but the project itself is ready for those changes now!

With that in mind,I'd like to ask you to check out Heavenly Peak's crowdfunding effort. I do this with the hope that, 1) you've gained enough enjoyment from the project that you can see it's future potential and 2) that you believe in this epic cultivation adventure as much as I do. If you can answer yes to those two points, consider contributing - no matter how small or large.  If there was ever a time that the project needed you - this is it. If I can reach at least 15,000$ of funding for the project, I'll never need to do this sort of thing again.

My hope is that, together, we can achieve a better Heavenly Peaks.  

• You can read more about my decision here if you wish.
• You can visit the crowdfunding effort here.

Thanks for your time and support thus far, whether you're a follower, a supporter or just passing by. It means alot!

- My Big 'Little' Brother