A Development Thread for a Game funded With Bitcoin

[kiba]

Hey ho, you guys might remember me as the guy who did Bitcoin Weekly, or maybe not.

In any case, I am developing the game called "The City" for bitcoin. It is going to be an epic simulation of a colony of humanity in a huge dyson sphere. Think Dwarf Fortress, except it's cyperpunk and technologically heavy. It's going to deviate in several ways: efficient chain management system and little micromanagement, variable production process, and knowledge is  actually a resource.

If you want to know further about the game: visit http://kibabase.com/projects/the-city

If you're interested in trying a demo despite the incompleteness and buggyness, you're welcome to try but it may break your computer. The link is on my project page which I mentioned last paragraph. Just don't expect fun yet.

Lately, productivity is very uneven. My motivation is not going to keep me going so I figured I need a crowd of people who watch the game development's progress and comment. That way, it'll keep me going even when I have low morale.

Lastly, this game is made possible through donation and is contingent on donation. I may ask for donation from time to time so that I am motivated to continue my work. My eventual goal is to be able to work on this game for a living.

If you have any questions, feedback, wishes, I welcome every comment.

[1713875070]

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[1713875070]

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[SgtSpike]

Screenshots?

[kiba]

Screenshots?

I am afraid I don't have any, though you can try the demo. It doesn't have much...yet.

[weex]

Glad to see you're getting back into this project. I think the funding model is interesting so look forward to something playable!

[SgtSpike]

Well... I don't get it at all.     But I think it's awesome you're developing a game for Bitcoin!

[kiba]

Glad to see you're getting back into this project. I think the funding model is interesting so look forward to something playable!

I never abandoned this project. I was only really quiet, but that mean nobody knows that I am actually working on something.

[kiba]

Well... I don't get it at all.    But I think it's awesome you're developing a game for Bitcoin!

When you making circles, you're allocating stockpile points. Your units will then gather crystals, represented as deep blue.. I think the game suffered an inability to gather resource, so I am fixing it when I wake up.

[genjix]

kiba, you wanna write something for bitcoin media? either about your adventures with this game or about your thoughts on bitcoin gamedev in general? email me 'myusername'@riseup.net

[kiba]

kiba, you wanna write something for bitcoin media? either about your adventures with this game or about your thoughts on bitcoin gamedev in general? email me 'myusername'@riseup.net

That's a great idea for advertising my project. I'll think about it.

[finway]

Interesting!

[kiba]

Posted a new log on the project page. The FPS of the game is dramatically boosted at the cost of extra complexity in drawing.

[kiba]

Been working all morning to fix issues related to FPS boosting breaking how objects are drawn. Camera and menu system are fixed. There are still more display issues to go but I am getting the hang of it.

Now, I will take a break and then work on something else before coming back to this project.

[psiborg]

The only thing I see now is a black screen with 2 menu options, not much of a game

[kiba]

The only thing I see now is a black screen with 2 menu options, not much of a game

There is more than just two menu options, but it's still not much of a game.

[psiborg]

Well I can't seem to get beyond new game and test arena...

[kiba]

Well I can't seem to get beyond new game and test arena...

Click on the game, anywhere. Press return/enter to select.

[kiba]

The redrawing bugs are almost gone. This give me a chance to focus on fixing all the bugs that are cropping up in the system.

Tomorrow, I'll fix some of the last remaining redrawing bug and getting the combat system finished for this development stage.

If you want to read up more on what I am doing, head to the game's project page where I post even more detailed development logs.

[kiba]

The combat system now have a proper dodging maneuver when opponents attempt to strike you. You can test them in the scenario "combat" in test arena. It's not completed though, because I need to add disabling effect to dodging when units' leg are injured.

Units are now color coded by gender to help better distinguish between units.

[kiba]

I am thinking of raising the price of development considerable or changing my business model to beat back the cost of maintaining my existence in the world. I paid 300 dollars a month to rent my own room from my parents. I also pay some money for cheap hotdogs and the occasional starbuck coffee, car maintenance, and so on. This mean I'll eventually lose all my saving in the process of creating this game and I will have to look for a real job again.

If I could get at least 300 dollars a month, that mean my burnrate will decrease to a level in which I will be slightly losing money. While it won't make me profitable, it will at the very least increase the longevity of my ability to work on this project. If I found a way to make myself slightly profitable, this will let me maintain my project indefinitely. It won't do much to increase my ability to survive emergencies, but it will help maintain my current lifestyle atm. It meant that I can dedicate my time toward this project and build my magnum opus, the video game that will encompass my life's work. It is my dream to be able to do this, but if I need to put food on the table, I will have to set aside this project of mine or work dramatically less each day on this project.

So how do I reach this 300 dollars worth of bitcoin goal?

We could continue the previous model of spec driven development. Each development stage, I promise to achieve a certain set goal and once funding is done. However, if I added a lot of things for this stage, I basically overwork myself. This is the currently the case. I have not gotten any new funding since more than one month ago because there was so many features that I need to achieve before asking for more funding.

I could go toward another direction. Instead of completing milestones before asking for more funding, I ijust aim for weekly goals. If I achieve my goal for that particular week, I would simply add more stuff to work on. Otherwise, I need to scale back. Users can see the progress I am making on a day to day basis, assuming I didn't forget to deploy. Users are free to donate as many bitcoin as they like. Perhaps users can get little extra something if they donate enough bitcoin, perhaps a drawing or a short story. This could be a way to improve my writing or artistic skills! I am basically imitating the Dwarf Fortress business model, except that I have a much tighter feedback process. Donation usually peak when a new version of dwarffortress is released, which can be very occasional. I, on the other hand, pretty much release new versions to the public frequently. I think this business model suit me a lot better than the business model I am on now.

I am leaning toward the second business model. It's more suited to my style of development. What do you guys think? Do you think I could feasibly achieve my goal or do I have to get a real job developing website for clients?  I think the biggest question is how many people are willing to support my effort. I don't have any loyal fans yet because my game doesn't have much for people to have fun with. It may be a long time before I can achieve even a minimum of 300 dollars a month in bitcoin.

[bb113]

Maybe if you provide some idea of what it will look like in the end. So far I have just been confused. My H ran into a blue square and then made a circle then I couldn't do anything.