Crowd-fund a Bitcoin-centric game (a proposal)

[the_thing]

Make a porn rpg.
Sex sells.

[SgtSpike]

I apologize in advance for the troll, but I can't help this one:

Nyhm: What do you guys want to see in a Bitcoin-centric game?
People: This.
Nyhm: No, this is not what this is focused on.  But srsly guys, what do you want to see in the game?
People: That.
Nyhm: No, that is not what I want to build.  For real though, what do you want to see in the game?
People: The other thing.
Nyhm: Sorry, I don't think the other thing will fit well into this project.
Nyhm: Ok fine, I'll tell you what I intend to make since you can't read my mind!



But seriously, I applaud you for your efforts, and hope you are able to create something epic.  I myself very much enjoy the economic/tycoon type games, so I am looking forward to what you come up with.

[Nyhm]

No need to apologize, SgtSpike. I didn't mean it, but that's very much how it went down! I'm still no good at public relations, but I'm trying.

When it comes time to discuss gameplay, I am open to public opinion, but starting out by just saying "a game" was way to open-ended. Later, if this takes off at all, I will define a much more solid concept, which can then be shaped and molded.

The first hurdle is funding. Crowd-funding is brilliant in concept, but would the Bitcoin community really get behind such an endeavor? Are there other ways to get Bitcoin funding for such a venture?

That's what I need to focus on, rather than the gameplay specifics. Hopefully, I can keep this ship on course.

[SgtSpike]

I only participate in crowd-funding if I have a reward for it (in this case, a free copy of the completed game), and when I see a project already partway to completion, with "something to show for it".  So, if I were to help crowd-fund your endeavor, I'd want to see you complete it partially in your own spare time, then ask for further funding to focus on it full-time and bring it to completion.  Have some screenshots, a basic demo of it, a really detailed design doc, or something of that nature.

So here's my idea:
Multi-player sim city with satoshi's as the base currency, you have to pay to start your city (i.e., fund it with 0.01 BTC or something to get 1,000,000 credits to start building with).  Cities are placed on a world map.  People can view each others cities.  Cities are constantly in motion - in other words, the gameplay doesn't pause just because you exit the game.

Here's where the money-maker for you comes in, and the challenge/reward for the players comes in:
- A base tax is levied over real-world time.  This is a fixed credit tax.  500 credits/day or something.
- A land tax is levied over real-world time.  This is a variable credit tax, dependent upon how much land you use.  5000 credits/sq mile or something.
- The experienced player must attempt to build a city large enough to sustain itself while paying the taxes.  Anything beyond that is icing on the cake, monies that they can actually withdraw if they like.

It should be difficult to successfully create a large, thriving city, but this is the only way that a person would actually be able to "make money" in the game.  Those monies would come from taxes on cities who don't turn a profit.  The difficulty should automatically adjust according to how much money is brought in from failed cities vs how much money is given out from successful cities.

Hmmm, this actually turned into an intriguing idea as I wrote it.  I kind of like it.

[Mageant]

How about a colony/wild-west type of game where people can have roles/shops (farmer, rancher, miner, blacksmith, shopkeeper, etc.)?
The idea is that each player can produce only a limited subset of goods and needs to trade with other players to get everything they need.

I imagine you start as a "worker" and can help an advanced player produce goods in his business (e.g. farm, mine) in exchange for pay.
As you accumulate money/goods/experience you can eventually run your own business.

The key is you can't do everything yourself because have limited time/manpower/opportunities.

When each "role" is filled in a town, then a new town is founded. Towns can also trade with each other, and that is another kind of business.

[Nyhm]

I only participate in crowd-funding if I have a reward for it (in this case, a free copy of the completed game), and when I see a project already partway to completion, with "something to show for it".  So, if I were to help crowd-fund your endeavor, I'd want to see you complete it partially in your own spare time, then ask for further funding to focus on it full-time and bring it to completion.  Have some screenshots, a basic demo of it, a really detailed design doc, or something of that nature.

Aye, and there's the rub. I've already done that, and I'm proud of everything I've accomplished, but I can't afford to do it again. I need a more reliable income. So maybe a change of tack: Anyone want to hire me to develop such a game? Then I can focus on the parts I'm best at (software development) and leave the business/marketing to those professionals!

Both of the above suggestions are really solid ideas. The SimCity approach really makes a lot of sense, and is a very clever balancing act of growing your city (which consumes more credits for maintenance/upkeep/population), but can generate more taxes if you can maintain it. Funds for the successful players come from a pool, filled by failed cities.

The colony/wild-west game is a very good setting. I'm not sure what the human player does to play, but probably like a sim world in which you direct your character to perform tasks. Or maybe manage your homestead to produce things. I envision it like SimFarm and whatnot; definitely a popular and well-established genre.

(I started writing my game design here, but I need to go back to my notes and do it properly. I've dropped some hints at the setting. I'll publish something as soon as I can.)

[markm]

I have started a projects section thread responding to two suggestions/posters above in the context of the Galactic Milieu project:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108812.0

-MarkM-

[Nyhm]

Regarding my call for employment... I owe the crowd at least a chance to show support. I'm still looking for work, but I'll keep this game concept to myself until at least the end of September. That is, if you're a company that would like to hire/contract me to develop such a game for you, I am interested, but not until October. (If you want to hire/contract me for anything else, games or otherwise, please let me know!)

What if I set up a donation address, where the crowd can fund this endeavor? Does that sound at all reasonable/realistic? Yes, it's entirely vaporware at this point, but I'll at least document my concept. Please don't use my sig address. If folks want this, I will set up a dedicated address with specific wording on how the funds will be handled. I want this to be as open as possible. What do you think?

[kasimir]

With respect to your statement "As much as I'd like to light this wildfire immediately, I must ask you not to contribute to this idea yet, until I can define how the funds will be handled.", it seems like there might be a need for a bitcoin Kickstarter / Indiegogo...

[Nyhm]

With respect to your statement "As much as I'd like to light this wildfire immediately, I must ask you not to contribute to this idea yet, until I can define how the funds will be handled.", it seems like there might be a need for a bitcoin Kickstarter / Indiegogo...

Thanks for reading it! Yes, that's my thought exactly. There is bitcoinstarter.com and bitcoinfunding.com, but I don't really know the details of how those services work yet. It would be much easier to just put up a BitcoinChipIn.com widget and ask for general donations. However, I understand that folks might not be comfortable just putting in donations, no matter what I claim I'm going to do.

The point of that sentence is that I want to make sure everything is clear before I would take anyone's hard-earned bitcoins.