Hotsuace Interview: An up in coming Bot Developer in Star Wars: Galaxy of Hereos

Guest Written by Rangkor:

There are many people within the Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes community who provide a wealth of knowledge (Skelturix for Raids or Warrior for the Pillar system), or experience in fields to bring usable entities, such as bots, to the community. Let’s take the time to get to know someone, who you may or may not know already, to get a bigger picture of who that person is; HotSauce.

Rangkor: As there might not be a lot of people who know you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you started playing SWGOH, for how long you’ve been playing now and what guild you’re with?

HotSauce: I started my SWGOH experience about Christmas time of 2017. I now have two accounts, both in MAW, one account at the 6.2M level and the other close to 5.9M now. Through that journey and my never-ending love of PVP, especially with the initial release of Territory Wars, it is really what launched the second side of my involvement with the game, the development of my HotUtils system and HotBot. I had come to quickly realize there was a real need for data collection, analysis and reporting. I leveraged my software development experience, engaged with other tool makers in the community, and now have had quite a long, exciting, and rewarding journey as a third-party toolmaker.

Rangkor: As we are all Star Wars fans who play this game, who is your favorite Star Wars Character? If they’re in the game already, then who would you like to see added to the game?

HotSauce: My favorite character has always been JarJar, and to this day I am still waiting. JUST KIDDING. I am a huge fan of the Star Wars universe; it honestly is a real tough call. I guess if I was forced to pick, I will go with Yoda. As for who they should add then, let’s go back to JarJar with some kind of licking ability. Not because I like him, just because it would bring a lot of action to reddit 😊 and I am definitely guilty of always wanting a good dose of entertainment on Reddit.

Rangkor: Do you provide any type of SWGOH “content” to the community? If so, what do you provide and where can you be found (I.E. – Discord, Facebook)?

HotSauce: Yes, I continue to develop and maintain HotUtils and HotBot for the community. There is a huge list of functions and tools with specific focus in these categories:

• Territory War/Territory Battle data collection, analysis, and reporting.

• Guild tools such as scheduled ticket/raid checks and notifications.

• Guild and player analysis/compare functions.

• Mod Tools (Grand Ivory Integration, Unequipped Mod Manager, and Full Roster Loadouts).

• GAC tracking and compare functions.

The best place to find me and the tools is on my discord server at https://discord.me/hotutils, which has grown to be quite a large community.

Rangkor: What implored you to start providing the HotBot services to the community?

HotSauce: This one’s easy, the desire as an officer and a player, to have more data available to help assist the guild in improving our performance in Territory Wars. I was able to leverage my experience from 15+ years of software development, work with guilds and alliances, to develop out a base of tools to help improve quality of life primarily through data collection and availability. This then extended to many

other features over time, but that is where it started.

Rangkor: With all the “Bots” throughout the community, how does your bot separate from all the rest?

HotSauce: I am one of the few systems out there that uses systems to access actual account/guild data. This is a touchy subject in the community, there is always Terms of Service concerns, but throughout the years of developing out my system, I have done my absolute best to stay as transparent as possible with Capital Games and let them know everything I am doing. I have focused strictly on what I would deem quality of life tools that enhance peoples experience with the game, encourage deeper involvement/engagement, and have avoided anything that I feel would go off-side with CG.

Rangkor: Is your service only a bot, or is there another portion to it?

HotSauce: I really have two systems, which are somewhat intertwined and somewhat separate. One if HotBot which is providing an interface to discord with my tools and systems, and the other is the HotUtils website which provides a much better interface for many of the more complex feature sets.

Rangkor: Are there different levels to your services? If so, what are the different levels and how do they differ?

HotSauce: Yes, many of the more complex systems require a lot of data storage and processing power. I like many of the other toolmakers out there have chosen to cover those costs via Patreon. I have levels focused on individuals such as my “Chile” level which includes such things as the Mod Tools, compares, GAC system. Then as you move up my levels to the top one “Habanero”, it is a guild level subscription to include all of the Territory War, Territory Battle, and guild level tools. A full breakdown of my subscription services can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/hotutils.

Rangkor: Can you go into a little bit of detail about what your next update contains and when the community could possibly expect it?

HotSauce: My next major release, which I had hoped to already have out, but is likely more like a month away is essentially an improvement/overhaul to both my GAC and mod tools system.

GAC V2: I already have full history tracking in place, version 2 of this will have smarter enemy stat analysis, will give you the ability to record your attacks with notes against the results, and just a more complete management system.

Mod Tools V2: This will be improved versions of all of my mod systems based on feedback and feature requests. I believe Mods are one of the largest continued time sink and management tasks we all experience, and I want to continue to improve and provide features to help streamline the entire process from farming, to selling, to equipping.

Rangkor: What is your favorite feature of your bot and why?

HotSauce: I am torn between all my Territory War functionality and my mod tools honestly. They both have had such huge impact on peoples experience with the game. The Grand Ivory integration and Unequipped Mod Manager is one of the most popular features of my system, and if I based it on feedback and how many people have told me that they love and appreciate what I had built and I had contributed positively to their gaming experience and lives, for that reason it would have to be the mod tools. I truly am happy that my love of coding/developing software systems, and enjoyment of the game, can both be combined to positively impact other people as well.

Rangkor: Are there any type of specific features that would you would not code for your bot?

HotSauce: Yes, I avoid any sort of game automation or features that use the game data in a way that other people could not do manually/reproduce if they had the time or the patience.

Rangkor: Should anyone be skeptical about being banned from using your services? If not, how do you reassure people?

HotSauce: First… I do not work for, cannot and do not speak for Capital Games, and therefore I cannot 100% guarantee anything. All I can do is tell people that my systems have been public and known for years now. I do my absolute best to reach out to my contacts with CG, and let them know everything I am doing. Honestly, they have been great to work with and I have 0 complaints. I have told them out right if they took issue with any features, I am providing to just let me know and I would turn those specific functions off. I STRONGLY believe they would come to me and let me know if they took issue with anything, far before interrupting anyone’s gaming experience. It is why I manage my relationship with them purposefully and carefully, and why I focus on quality of life type features that only positively affect the community’s engagement with the game.

Rangkor: If you could ask Capital Games to implement one thing into the game, what would it be?

HotSauce: As a player, I really feel more repeatable in-game engagement is extremely important to the game and its long-term life span. I believe the one feature they should create over any other for the community, is the ability to post teams into guild chat that other players can then attack. There does not have to be any sort of rewards, just simply a fun way to challenge either other, practices team comps, counters and explore their rosters.

Rangkor: What is one thing you would like to tell the community of SWGOH?

HotSauce: Just personal advice from a 40+ old fart who has gamed for 25 years… Do not let the noise of reddit, forums and even guild mates at times drag you down. Might sound cheesy but assuming you’re playing the game for the love of Star Wars and the gaming experience, surround yourself and interact with people that feel the same way. In today’s world regardless of the game, social media tends to just be a slew of negativity. People are far more likely to go post or communicate over problems/issues then over positive things. Understand that, and once again… ignore the noise or at least do not let it drag you down.

Remember any other game you were to go to; the focus is going to be on them making money still and you will be starting at the ground level again. You also will still have the complainers leading the charge. I personally believe CG has done a great job. Of course, they have made some big mistakes along the way, but I do not see this game going anywhere any time soon, and look forward to continuing to be part of it. 

As we close out this interview, and you’ve yet to hear about HotSauce and the amazing services he provides to the community head on over to his Discord to check it out.

https://discord.gg/5ANR3Er