Dark Dungeons game
by 0x2e09a10eaace1ef3a66fbf6f1f782c8c0cb8c942 (Soulsinger)
Should the following Higher Tier grant in the In-World Content category be approved?
Abstract
Dark Dungeons is a game similar to Dungeons and Dragons played worldwide by an enormous range of players. And it is no less intriguing to watch others play, as evidenced by the great success of organisations such as Critical Role. We believe a good implementation of this concept has the power to introduce many new users to Decentraland!
Grant size
54,000 USD
Beneficiary address
0x2e09A10eaAcE1Ef3a66FbF6F1F782C8c0cb8c942
Email address
Description
Goal
The main goal in creating this game is to expand the user base of Decentraland and showcase it as a place to have fun! Decentraland has many casinos and other establishments that require financial investments from players. Thus, for an ordinary user Decentraland looks like a place where everyone wants to get money from you - but it is and can be much more than that!
We believe the main thing missing in Decentraland is the reasons for an ordinary user rather than an investor to join Decentraland. The main goal of our game is to become such a reason and thereby attract a large number of new users to Decentraland.
The game we want to create will be inspired by Dungeons and Dragons but won’t be its copy. We plan to fill the game with popular memes and other humorous content. There will also be cameos with famous pop culture characters. We decided to simplify some mechanics so that the game fits better into Decentraland and is easy to understand for all users regardless of their experience.
Scope
The scope of this grant proposal is ~8 months, until about the end of September 2023. Our goal is to release a game in several steps until we have, by the end of this time, a fully working v1 of our game accessible to all Decentraland users.
Game mechanics
As we mentioned, we decided to build a roleplaying experience specific to Decentraland. Some of those modifications are:
● A session in D&D lasts, on average, 2-3 hours; in our game, we want to reduce the time of one session to 15-20 minutes.
● An AI (Artificial Intelligence) will perform the role of the gamemaster (host). Players will have a limited number of action options in a given situation.
● Players will play for their avatars.
Specification
How we see the final result:
- 1-4 players in total in one session.
- Each character has characteristics (strength, charisma, etc.), specific items in the inventory (crossbow, potion, etc.), and other differences.
- The characters find themselves in a situation where they need to solve a problem or receive a task from a non-player character in the story. (We expect that the comicality of some situations and the integration of memes and pop culture characters will have a positive impact on marketing.)
For example, a simple scenario might be that players start their journey in a tavern, and they need to find a villager-werewolf.
The main gameplay will lay in the fact that players will choose options for actions, such as: "Inspect the tavern," or "Start talking to the quiet villager”
Some actions’ success gets determined by a dice roll. For example, to "Sneak attack the guard" you need to roll the dice to test your dexterity. The required number for success is a 10; if you get ten or a lower number - you miss, greater than 10 - you succeed.
In total, the player will change up to 5 locations during the game. The game ends when the players have completed the task, failed it, or when all the players’ characters have died.
Due to the variability, the game has great replay value. Play as another character, take other companions to your team, and the game outcome will be completely different. We also plan to release new scripts regularly.
Budget Breakdown
Total: 54k
Team Salaries:
● 14k SDK Dev
● 12k 3D Artists
● 8k Game Designer
● 4k Game Master
● 4k 2D Artist
● 3k Sound Designer
Marketing: 4k
Servers and infrastructure: 3k
Land Rental for 6 months: 2k
Tech Stack
Most of the game will be built using the Decentraland SDK, but part of the infrastructure will be external. For this, we will use a custom-built backend server to store player scores, preferences, gaming history, and more.
Revenue plan / Sustainability
We plan to create some wearables and advertising banners, but making a profit is not our main goal.
Personnel
Core team
○ Soulsinger - manager of the CEN studio, game designer
● The ideological inspirer of the project
● Over 5 years of game development experience
○ Alven - SDK Developer In Decentraland since 2020
● 6 years of software development experience
○ casuallvl & orina - 3d artists
● Specialists in 3D modelling of low-poly objects
○ Master Eador - gamemaster.
● Longtime TTRPG player
● 3 years experience as a professional gamemaster
○ Mia - 2d artist
● An art student with experience in building game assets
○ Alexander - sound designer
Relevant experience
● CEN studio office - Demonstration of low-poly modelling
● Tower Master - Roblox game with more than 2 million views in the last year
Roadmap and milestones
Estimated Timeline: 8 months
2023 Q2:
-Prototypes of the main game mechanics (action selection, dice roll, etc.)
-Adventure scenarios and building the world
-Concepts of characters, locations, items
-Rough 3D models (characters, objects, etc.)
Main goal: Alpha version of the game on testnet
2023 Q3:
-Development of all game mechanics based on Alpha feedback
-All 3D models (scenery, effects, etc.)
-Images (player cards, location backgrounds, etc.)
-Audio (sounds of objects, etc.)
Main goal: Beta version of the game in Decentraland
2023 Q4:
-Collect feedback from beta version users
-Implement remaining features and polish the game experience
-Marketing (payment to Twitch and YouTube channels, inviting famous bloggers to play our game)
Main goal: V1 Live
Off-Chain Vote
yes
4.58M VP40.2%
no
6.82M VP59.8%
Timeline
Mar 01, 2023Proposal created
Mar 01, 2023Proposal vote started
Mar 15, 2023Proposal vote ended
Oct 26, 2023Proposal updated