Hey, I check in on you guys from time to time, glad to see you’re still at it!
I can relate to everything you’re dealing with (well, except Patreon, I’ve never touched crowdfunding). For now I’ve reigned in my ambitions and stuck to a solo project but I aspire to build somewhat bigger games. Funding is tough… having to rely on day jobs, freelancing, savings, investment gains, un(der)paid helpers, etc, until you build something impressive enough to get crowdfunding or a publisher deal. The odds of that are honestly pretty abysmal in the gamedev and entertainment business in general… but certainly higher in the long run for those who manage to follow through on these big, ambitious, slow-burn projects.