Generative on-chain Nounish Super-Mario-like game (cyberh49)

NounsDAO NounsDAO Proposals
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ABSTRACT

We developed a very efficient on-chain compression algorithm that allows us to put very complex pieces fully on-chain (games, images, gifs, etc.). This proposal is to fund the building of a Nouns-themed on-chain retro game as a POC for an entire arcade that will make Nouns a household name using the appeal of retro games and their huge target audience.

MOTIVATION

I joined Nouns DAO with a mission to grow the Nouns brand, and to take the NFT space forward using the DAO’s power.

One of my greatest achievements is my on-chain compression mechanism which we already put to good use when we dropped the gmoney Brick Breaker game - the first fully on-chain game (which is inside the NFT itself). We compressed it from about 1MB to about 20KB - meaning ~50x.

After showcasing this game, I wanted to make something bigger, and immediately thought about Nouns, as there are so many noun combos and it is cc0, and I believe that they have a Super-Mario or Sonic like appeal that can become something huge.

That’s when I came up with the idea of really making an on-chain retro gaming eco-system based on nouns, where every few months we will drop a new game. It will have a decentralized leaderboard, tokens, and more.

I believe this could make Nouns known all over the world, and can attract interest from gaming companies, and media companies.

So TL;DR -

  1. Cutting-edge tech
  2. Making nouns huge

WHY DO WE NEED THE INVESTMENT?

In order to develop a POC of this sort, we need a team of devs, a product manager, and a marketing expert, for the community building and drop.

Most of the budget will be spent on salaries, and some on marketing campaigns.

The budget will be given for running as a team for 4 months, to complete the POC.

Monthly budget breakdown -

5 full-stack devs’ salaries (including myself) - 20 eth
1 product manager - 4 eth
1 marketing manager - 4 eth
Marketing campaigns and expenses - 2 eth

Total of 30 eth per month.

4 months x 30 eth = 120 eth

I will give more info about it below -

ASK

We’re asking for 120 eth total, to complete the game and the drop within 4 months.

MILESTONES

POC (~4 months) - A generative drop of 10,000 generative Noun-themed Super-Mario-like fully on-chain games, where Nouns are the Marios, and the enemies are Toadz.

Deliverables -

  • 10,000 unique games
  • A decentralized secure leaderboard
  • Compressed nouns, and toadz to be put on-chain

WHY SHOULD YOU SUPPORT THIS INITIATIVE?
I believe that the power of nouns is in their simplicity and their ability to infiltrate into mainstream culture. I believe that NFTs are also going to infiltrate mainstream culture more, and games are a great champion that can lead the way there. Combining Nouns, gaming, and blockchain can benefit Nouns in a way we’ve never seen before, and the derivative benefits for the space are huge - Nouns as a household name, using the compression tech to make more complex content available on-chain, and more.

FEEDBACK

It is the third time I’m writing this after a back-and-forth with this amazing community that gave me valuable feedback. Please read and give me more feedback, because I want this proposal to pass.

1 Like
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Can noun holders get a free mint? :slight_smile: Also, I think this a great first pass before moving to the bigger ask!

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Yup. Each noun will get a free mint.

2 Likes
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what are the mint/drop economics being contemplated?

should the DAO treasury receive a % of the 10k NFTs for funding this?

after completion are you planning to shop this around to other brands and do future drops/launches? wondering how we should think about dilution as it relates to future drops

4 Likes
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Well, I’m thinking of a 0.1 eth per piece drop, of 10k pieces. There will be secured pieces for my GM420 token holders, for noun owners, and I will give a free set of 200 pieces to the treasury.

After completion, well, I want to make more games, hopefully nouns branded (the first couple of ones), because I want to grow the brand. I want to go with it to big gaming companies as well.

In terms of dilution, I see it like the old video game stores - you can trade games, only the owner can play, so it might be worth it for you to try a new one, etc.

What do you think?

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heyhey,
I love the idea (and I am not a noun holder).
If the funding is from the noun dao. Shouldn’t most of the reward from the minting go to the nounDAO?
120 ETH for the POC or then another 240 ETH for the full game to be released?
At the very least, If the full cost is 360 ETH the nounDAO should get back at least 360ETH (3600 mints).

7

4 months is an extremely short timespan to make a fun, unbroken game from the ground up. Have you already begun production or only starting once the proposal passes?

4 Likes
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can you share more about the compelling use-cases related to putting something like this on-chain? it seems to me that the same game off-chain wouldn’t be worth building. why does this game require the censorship resistance, composability etc. of ethereum, and why does this make it more compelling? as it stands it feels more like a noun-themed tech demo than a way to proliferate nouns, and at a cost of 120 ETH i would vote against

1 Like
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Well, as I said, we’ve already made two games in the past 6 months. One on-chain and one off, which are very fun. We have a lot of IP already and experience building.

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Well, I would have to disagree that it is a demo, or that it is not a way to proliferate the brand, but I will start with the on-chain part.

Basically, what we’ve done is that we’ve practically made the game on-chain so that it would be centralized-control resistant - first of all, we have a decentralized leaderboard in the game, where users can record their high scores, thus claiming rewards, new levels, etc.

Second, I believe that minting a full game on-chain is a huge tech milestone, using my compression mechanism.

Third - going back to ownership - there are many use-cases I can think about where ownership of a game can benefit the user, and whichever company that designs the game - creating a completely decentralized arcade and a game trading market are a few.

Regarding the demo - we already showcased our tech in gmoney’s Brick Breaker, so here we’re taking a step forward, making a full game, and a much more complex one. I believe that Nouns are great IP for a series of retro-games that can surely proliferate the brand, and without it being on-chain, you can’t have an ecosystem that allows everyone to develop a noun-themed game, that will be part of this market (in terms of trading, decentralized tournaments, and more).

As I see it, I believe it can really create a decentralized arcade which can also be irl - a machine that runs one NFT in London, and another in NY, and they have the same leaderboard, and running the same tournament on the contract - can be done only on-chain for it to be censorship resistant.

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Is hoverblast a game or a level? I think this is an important distinction when discussing the release of a ‘super-mario-like game’ or 1 infinite level.

1 Like
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That’s a great distinction - HoverBlast is an infinite level, but it is made of different levels - there’s a barrier you have to pass to get to the next level within the level, etc.

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hi cyber!

what game engine/services/platforms would be used to build everything?

approx what % of code/backend infra would you be planning to use or base off your previously built gmoney/animetas games?

you mentioned making a full, much more complex game when compared to gmoney brick breaker. what would be some of the differentiators for the nouns game?

are you chunking out certain distances/milestones of an infinite side scroller as different levels? if so, what all is expected to change between these sections/levels?

are there any game design backgrounds (systems, art, level design, ui/ux, audio) across the 5x fullstack devs?

what is the background/experience of the game’s product manager?

1 Like
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We are building everything in js.

I believe that the compression algorithm will be based on stuff we’ve done, and maybe the graphics will be inspired by stuff we’ve done, but I guess it is like 25%.

First of all, the game play will be much more diverse, with many different levels - actually a full game. In gmoney’s game, it was more of a demo or a showcase.

No, it won’t be an infinite side scroller - real levels with bosses, a storyline, and more.

3 of the devs are game design experts who’ve build more than a few retro and modern games over the last decade - I’ve worked with them on the previous games I released as well.

The product manager’s experience is also about a decade in the gaming industry.

It is the team I’m always working with.

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a fun game with nounish levels, bosses, story, and art on a four month schedule doesn’t sound realistic to me. Do you have any examples of full games like this one that anyone on the team has worked on, and in what capacity?

1 Like
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Yes. They worked on many games - here is some of the portfolio -

Also, just for reference - as we work 24/7 - we made Animetas (over 4K traits) in less than 2 months, and HoverBlast in about 2 months.

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I think I’m more interested, then, in how long Escape Lala 1 or 2 took, because that’s more analogous to the experience described in the proposal.

Like it’s substantially more complex than Animetas or HoverBlast, - both projects have lots of art assets, yes, but roughly no actual gameplay design, animation, story, or level of testing needed for a full game. I also personally would not support making a team crunch from start to finish across four months.

I guess I’m just trying to ask: is there a reason the timeline is so short?

2 Likes
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Escape Lala took ~4.5 months to develop. It is more complex, and it is not a team crunch, we just have our way of how we split the work between us. That’s basically how the capacity of my team is bigger than most.

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thanks for clarifying the workload. 24/7 was concerning.

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No problem - what I meant with 24/7 is that we divide working hours across timezones, and try to make the most efficient sprints we can.