Mechagotchis: Chapter 2

Author: Thrax (8676) Quorum Requirement: 20% (7.2M) Vote Duration: 14 days

Our original DAO-backed alpha (V1) showed that NFT-driven mech combat works, and is fun af. We built a 10-player arena shooter where you could pilot mechs with your Aavegotchi boasting fast matches and chaotic gameplay - a nice taste of what Web3 mech battles could offer. The initial grant was just 20,000 DAI, and despite the tight budget and many challenges, we delivered an exciting game that people enjoyed - albeit with a few bugs - and learned a lot through the process.

Check out gameplay footage from a stress test last year: https://x.com/Nofuturephoto/status/1867988051244491080

Now with the DAOs help - it’s time to polish the game up, add new features like monetization and new content, and market to the wider crypto ecosystem to bring new eyes to Aavegotchi.

Plans for V2 moving forward:

Mechanics Upgrades:

Cross-NFT pilot support - pilot mechs using avatars from MANY different NFT collections - This will allow us to market to the general cryptosphere instead of just Gotchigang.

Fuel system - daily free matches + optional fuel top-ups for more play

Modular mech skins + lootboxes - collect and trade cosmetic parts to customize your mech (these will be modular - arm, leg, torso, etc to encourage more trade)

Interface Upgrades:

The Armory - to empower players to trade skins (and potentially weapons?) with royalties to help fund ongoing costs

Player profile - where you can add friends, check your gaming stats, and customize your profile

Mech Bay - for players to build their mech with collected skins

Lobby chat and Voice chat - for trash talk (absolutely mission critical)

Content Upgrades:

More maps, weapons, and mech models (potentially seasonally?), and a redesigned cockpit.

And of course we’ll need to iron out whatever bugs remained at the end of the last dev cycle.

Importantly, we’re aiming for a model that covers its own operations costs (through skin sales, royalties, fuel, etc.) without needing ongoing DAO grants to fund running the day-to-day gameplay.

We expect these upgrades to take ~a year of development and we’re budgeting for 130k usd. These funds should be disbursed in 2 tranches, the first payment once the coreprop passes, and the 2nd half based on the completion of development milestones. (To be paid in USDC or DAI, funds would be sent to the Mechagotchis Wallet 0x0d9aea352C6d25DD39a3E6c60327B444bcBC613F)

What our players are saying: “I made it to one of the game testing sessions and was blown away by how awesome it looked. 100% like a ‘real’ game! And that was v1 wip. I would love to see v2 come to fruition. I think we would be shooting ourselves in the foot to not fund this prop” - Forin

“I played in most of the alpha testing sessions. The overall game look and feel improved each time, and it was always good fun being in the vc when we had full games going on. I hope we get to see MechaGotchis in its final form” - Internetfase

To address concerns about end of contract terms - At the end of the development cycle the DAO will be able to vote to continue development with the current Mechagotchis team, or alternatively the code will be forked and delivered to the DAO to continue development at their discretion.

So gear up, power up your mechs, and let's unleash Aavegotchi on the world like never before!