SIP-6: MAGIC PALETTE - A powerful design tool for Land Owners, Builders, and Creators

Council recommendation: Positive 🙂

TLDR

What

Magic Palette is your key to transforming empty LAND into immersive, playable experiences with just a few clicks. This fully web-based creator's tool leverages voxels as building blocks to streamline the level design process. Whether you're a beginner, seasoned builder, or professional studio, Magic Palette enables rapid level design for you and your team. With Magic Palette, you can:

• Generate Maps: Automatically create unique and themed maps for your LAND.
• Swap Themes: Easily change the themes or seasons of your full LAND with a click.
• Customize Levels: Access an extensive collection of BLOCKs to fine-tune your level design.
• Work with Voxel Maps: Advanced users can convert their own voxel creations into ready-to-play experiences.

Magic Palette empowers you to dynamically create engaging games and virtual spaces, attracting new players and continually bringing your LAND parcels to life in The Sandbox Metaverse. Adventure Awaits!

Why

Magic Palette tackles a significant challenge of any Metaverse platform: Empty LANDs. With over 166k LANDs on the TSB map, only about 1% currently host active experiences. Many LAND owners aspire to activate their virtual real estate for gameplay, social events, or other projects but face several barriers:

• They have great ideas but are not builders or designers themselves
• Extensive time commitments required for project development
• Insufficient familiarity with tools like VoxEdit and Game Maker
• Limited budgets to engage professional creators or studios

Magic Palette addresses these obstacles by providing a tool that accelerates the creation process, requiring fewer resources. It even enables users to automatically generate fully playable and engaging experiences with just a few clicks!

How

We are seeking 350k SAND, to fund the development and launch of the Magic Palette app for The Sandbox's builders community and LAND owners. With a Beta release planned in the coming weeks, this funding also covers part of the extensive development work we've undertaken over the last six months to bring the app to its current state. The funds will be distributed in milestone-based payments to support the upcoming roll-out of the app.

When

• Phase I: Finalize core features, the map generator and improve performance
• Phase II: Internal testing by The Sandbox level design and art department team
• Phase III: Beta release for everyone to start building/generating their maps
• Phase IV: Official public release of the web app for all builders and LAND owners

Who

SAND RUSH, a TSB Hall of Fame member and Trusted Partner within The Sandbox ecosystem has been at the forefront of innovation since the platform's inception. Known for our pioneering contributions, we've developed for vibrant communities like CyberKongz and created tech stack and tools now integral to The Sandbox's suite. At SAND RUSH, we merge art and technology, continuously innovating to deliver state-of-the-art web3 solutions to the builder’s community.

SIP Details

Background/Context

The Sandbox offers tools like VoxEdit and Game Maker, which, while powerful, do not facilitate rapid design and iteration during the early phases of game or social hub development. Drawing from our production experience, we at SAND RUSH developed apps to speed up level design, texturing, and animation. With early versions of Magic Palette we've streamlined the level design process, enabling instant testing and iteration of player journeys in Game Maker. This has also significantly accelerated cross-studio projects, enhancing early design improvements.

We've expanded Magic Palette by porting it to the web and introducing powerful new features as we are convinced this tool should be available to all builders for the benefit of the platform. Additionally, we are developing procedural level generators that enable even those without building experience to easily create unique levels and games for The Sandbox with just a few clicks.

Features

Magic Palette Creators’ Features:

Web-based and free access for all builders and creators Converts voxel models to TSB BLOCK-based levels and vice versa Compatible with voxel editors like MagicaVoxel and VoxEdit Supports import/export of VOX, OBJ, and MV/VE color palettes Easy direct BLOCK swapping for theme changes with a click Access to over 1200 high-quality BLOCKs and later import your custom BLOCKs Advanced search and filter option to find the perfect BLOCKs for your project Customizable color and BLOCK palette based on your imported or generated map Features Voxel/BLOCK mode, Iso/Perspective views, and screenshot capabilities Detailed BLOCK inspector linked directly to the TSB Marketplace

Magic Palette Generators’ Features:

Beta release includes a “Dungeon” generator with various customization options The Dungeon generator features over 60 rooms, hallways, and structure types Customize parameters like level height, density, room size, and landscape type Generate hundreds of unique levels and select your favorite Theme swap with a click, from lava fields to ancient underwater temples Choose from flat or naturally elevated terrains as a scene for your level In-viewport adjustments for customizing all BLOCKs to your liking Future updates to include more LAND generators - stay tuned for more magic!

Benefit

Magic Palette has garnered strong support from the TSB level design team, professional studios, and active builders within The Sandbox community. Many LAND owners have expressed a desire for a quicker way to develop and publish engaging content. By providing this tool to the builders community, we aim to empower creators and enhance the ecosystem of The Sandbox. Risks With a fully operational prototype app and endorsement from TSB leadership for enhanced integration with Game Maker, the risks associated with this project are minimal. The direct data transfer to GM can pose some technical challenges so we are in direct contact with TSB to enable interoperability as soon as possible. Initial workflows might require fine-tuning post-launch, but the app is stable and has been thoroughly tested.

Implementation Plan

We are dedicated to a swift, phased rollout of Magic Palette to quickly deliver value to the builder's community and expedite game design on the platform. We target a 4-month deployment period following DAO approval.

Resources required

Our team has already dedicated more than six months to evolving Magic Palette from a proof of concept to a fully functional product. Significant groundwork has been laid, enabling a rapid release. We seek funding to make Magic Palette freely available to creators, eliminating barriers like paywalls or subscription fees. Here is an overview of our near-term roadmap:

Phase I / unlocks 87.5k SAND funding:

Improve the voxel parser for seamless model transitions from MagicaVoxel and VoxEdit to Magic Palette Upgrade the Dungeon generator set with over 60 possible rooms and structures Develop a secondary landscape generator integrated into the Dungeon creator Add the first 10 pre-fab styles for easy theme switching of a generated dungeon

Phase II / unlocks 87.5k SAND funding:

Develop a voxel slicer to enable direct Multi-LAND import from .vox files Establish a database featuring over 1200 high-quality BLOCKs available for free use Enhance the search and filtering capabilities in the BLOCK library Write a knowledge base and set up a product support channel for the app Initial testing phase with the TSB Level Design Team

Phase III / unlocks 87.5k SAND funding:

Develop a live map testing mode directly in Magic Palette with an avatar camera Automate BLOCK assignments based on the voxel model HEX colors Saving and loading custom palette files for custom styles plus undo/redo functionality Release a Beta version of Magic Palette web app with access for everyone (limited export functionalities)

Phase IV / unlocks 87.5k SAND funding:

Develop and implement functionality for loading custom BLOCKs Enable a way to transfer LAND data between Magic Palette and Game Maker Officially launch Magic Palette to the builders and creators' community Announce the first Magic Palette builder’s contest to encourage hands-on use of the app post-launch

These are just a few key features we list here to give you an overview on how we plan to proceed. There are many additional features and improvements that will be implemented on top of these. We will focus on feature requests from TSB teams and early Beta adopters and add the features with the most value first.

Metrics for Success

Success will be measured primarily by two metrics: App usage and the number of TSB experiences created with Magic Palette. As we aim to keep the app free and do not track user data, success will only be gauged by monitoring monthly unique user interactions, starting with an expected 1,000 users per month. This number is anticipated to grow with the introduction of additional LAND generators and enhanced features. The launch of community-focused features like a map gallery and an open-source BLOCK library will allow us to increase user engagement further.

Alternatives Considered

We opted against developing Magic Palette as standalone desktop software, prioritizing accessibility and user trust over performance at this stage. Being web-based, the app can be accessed seamlessly anywhere via any browser, reducing entry barriers for all users. This approach also enhances trust, as users are cautious of downloading potentially harmful software prevalent in the crypto space.

APPENDIX

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