Hydra Minecraft

[Proposal setup] Proposal title

Please provide your proposal title

Hydra Minecraft

[Proposal Summary] Budget Information

Enter the amount of funding you are requesting in ADA

38000

[Proposal Summary] Time

Please specify how many months you expect your project to last

4

[Proposal Summary] Translation Information

Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated

No

Original Language

en

[Proposal Summary] Problem Statement

What is the problem you want to solve?

This proposal introduces a tech demo using a popular game Minecraft to showcase server synchronization through Hydra L2, aiming to increase awareness for the Cardano's scaling technology.

[Proposal Summary] Project Dependencies

Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

Describe any dependencies or write 'No dependencies'

No dependencies

[Proposal Summary] Project Open Source

Will your project's outputs be fully open source?

Yes

License and Additional Information

The source code will be released under the MIT license.

[Theme Selection] Theme

Please choose the most relevant theme and tag related to the outcomes of your proposal.

Layer2

[Campaign Category] Category Questions

Describe what makes your idea innovative compared to what has been previously funded (whether by you or others).

This project goes beyond simply showcasing Hydra's transaction speed to demonstrate real-time, cross-server synchronization in a highly interactive environment (Minecraft). By enabling independent Minecraft servers to share and reflect world changes through Hydra, it highlights a new class of applications where shared state consistency across multiple systems is required. The use of a popular game makes this innovation accessible, engaging, and relatable, while also providing developers with a practical blueprint for integrating Hydra with complex, real-time systems.

Describe what your prototype or MVP will demonstrate, and where it can be accessed.

The MVP will demonstrate synchronized world changes across multiple Minecraft servers using Hydra, with each block placement or destruction instantly propagated to all participating servers. This not only proves Hydra's capability for real-time, low-latency synchronization, but also promotes Hydra's speed and scalability in an engaging and familiar gaming environment.

The MVP will be open-source and publicly accessible on GitHub: https://github.com/CardanoProphet/hydra-minecraft

Describe realistic measures of success, ideally with on-chain metrics.

The primary measure of success will be the number of unique players in the public demo. It will run for some time, allowing anyone to join and experience Hydra-powered cross-server sync. We aim for at least 30 unique players, though the final number may be much higher depending on community interest and outreach. Additional metrics include: community engagement (views, shares, interactions with demo posts and videos) and on-chain activity (hundreds of thousands of Hydra transactions from player actions, showing real-time scalability).

[Your Project and Solution] Solution

Please describe your proposed solution and how it addresses the problem

The proposed solution leverages Hydra, Cardano's Layer 2 scaling solution, to enable real-time synchronization of changes across multiple Minecraft servers. While the initial technical demo will showcase players interacting on different servers that are not interconnected directly, they will still be able to observe and experience changes in the game world made by other players across these servers. This synchronization will happen through Hydra, which will be tracking the changes by all the players.

Each player's actions, such as placing or breaking a block, will be represented by individual transactions within the Hydra network. These transactions will record and track the state changes within the game world. A websocket connection, maintained by the running Hydra node, will serve as the communication channel through which these game world changes are transmitted to all relevant servers.

Minecraft servers, which support the use of Java plugins, will utilize a custom-built plugin designed to integrate with Hydra. The plugin will actively listen for in-game events (e.g. a block being placed or destroyed). Upon detecting these events, the plugin will initiate a transaction submission to Hydra, recording the change. Conversely, when a new transaction is communicated via Hydra, the plugin will interpret the transaction data and apply the corresponding change to the Minecraft world on all participating servers. This ensures that even though players are on different servers, their worlds remain synchronized, reflecting the cumulative changes made by all players across the network.

Newly launched servers will have the capability to retrieve and replay the entire transaction history from Hydra, ensuring that the game world is fully synchronized and up-to-date with the latest state changes.

A simplified diagram can be seen below:

As an initial proof of concept, this project will focus on synchronizing key player actions, specifically block placement and block breaking. Certain events, such as explosions, item interactions (e.g. opening chests/doors or pressing levers), mob-related block destruction, and similar, will be excluded from this phase. This is primarily due to the potential performance impact on the Java Minecraft server (not Hydra), particularly in scenarios involving chained explosions, which can create significant server load. Additionally, these excluded events are not critical to demonstrating the core functionality of this showcase and would require substantially more resources and development time. These exclusions will be restricted plugin-side to ensure smooth and uninterrupted gameplay.

This solution can serve as an additional tech demo and marketing asset for Hydra, building upon the success of projects like "Doom on Hydra" and showcasing the broader potential of Hydra's technology.

[Your Project and Solution] Impact

Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

• Transaction Efficiency Demonstration: By utilizing Hydra, the project can highlight the efficiency and scalability of Cardano's infrastructure, which can lead to broader discussions about its application in other real-time systems
• Strong Promotional Opportunity: By showcasing Hydra's capabilities through a popular game like Minecraft, this project can generate significant buzz, similar to the success of Doom on Hydra. This initiative can attract media attention and engage the gaming community, showcasing Cardano as a leader in innovative blockchain applications and driving interest in the ecosystem.
• Educational Opportunities: This project can serve as an educational tool, illustrating how blockchain technology can enhance gaming experiences. It may inspire other developers to incorporate blockchain concepts into their games or projects.

[Your Project and Solution] Capabilities & Feasibility

What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

• Adam Valach: Smart Contract Developer at Anastasia Labs with prior experience at WingRiders (V1, V2, Stableswap, Launchpad), Wincent (High-Frequency Trading) and has also worked on projects with teams from IOG, Shielded and Midnight Foundation (Glacier Drop). Adam brings deep expertise in Plutus and Plutarch, alongside strong web development skills, and began building on Cardano from the first day smart contracts were available on testnets.

In terms of feasibility, I have previously deployed a similar project on Cardano's Layer 1 involving CNFTs, which used to be publicly accessible at https://x.com/CardaCraft While that project did not utilize Hydra or involve server synchronization, I have conducted multiple tests with Hydra to assess its viability. Additionally, I am familiar with Hydra's HTTP and WebSocket APIs, which further strengthens my confidence in the feasibility of this proposal. Based on this experience, I am highly confident in the smooth delivery of the proposed solution.

[Milestones] Project Milestones

Milestone Title

The initial environment setup and listening to in-game events

Milestone Outputs

• An initial version of the plugin
  • A basic version of the plugin that listens to specific in-game events (block placement and block breaking) with no Hydra interaction yet
• Docker Compose setup
  • A configuration file for Docker Compose that sets up 2 Minecraft servers, a Cardano Node and opens a Hydra Head
• Logging & Reporting
  • The plugin logs the desired events (block placement and breaking) to the Minecraft chat

Acceptance Criteria

• A functional plugin
  • The initial version of the plugin successfully detects and reports block placement and block breaking events initiated by the player in the Minecraft chat
• Successful environment setup
  • Docker compose correctly configures and launches two Minecraft servers, a Cardano node, and a Hydra head
• The Hydra Head is successfully opened on the Cardano testnet

Evidence of Completion

• Code repository
  • The plugin and Docker Compose configuration publicly available in the repository: https://github.com/CardanoProphet/hydra-minecraft

Delivery Month

2

Cost

11250

Progress

30 %

Milestone Title

Submitting state updates to Hydra

Milestone Outputs

• Plugin submitting world updates to Hydra
  • The plugin has added support for sending transactions to Hydra based on the events happening in the Minecraft world
• Logging & Reporting
  • The plugin logs the transaction related information to the Minecraft in-game chat

Acceptance Criteria

• Storing world changes successfully
  • The plugin successfully stores the information related to the in-game world changes in the L2 ledger
• Video is provided that showcases storing data in the Hydra Head

Evidence of Completion

• Code repository
  • The updates related to this milestone are publicly available in the repository: https://github.com/CardanoProphet/hydra-minecraft
• Video demonstration
  • Showing the plugin submitting transactions based on the world changes
  • Showing the in-game debug logs related to the Hydra transactions
  • Shared at https://x.com/CardanoProphet

Delivery Month

3

Cost

11250

Progress

60 %

Milestone Title

Synchronizing the servers

Milestone Outputs

• Finalized plugin
  • The plugin is now capable of creating or destroying blocks in the Minecraft world based on transactions submitted to the Hydra L2 ledger by other Minecraft server instances
• Finalized environment setup
  • Docker compose setup should now also be final. Any adjustments identified during previous milestones are implemented here
• Logging & Reporting
  • The plugin outputs logs related to events, sending transactions and world modifications based on the L2 transactions
  • The logs are made optional enablable in the plugin config

Acceptance Criteria

• Server synchronization
  • Multiple Minecraft servers are synchronized through Hydra, meaning any world changes made by players (block placement or destruction) performed on one server are reflected on all other connected servers
  • The Hydra head successfully propagates all transactions between servers with no data loss or inconsistencies

Evidence of Completion

• Code repository
  • The final code is available at: https://github.com/CardanoProphet/hydra-minecraft
• Video demonstration
  • Showing the plugin placing/destroying blocks based on the Hydra transactions
  • Shared at https://x.com/CardanoProphet

Delivery Month

4

Cost

11250

Progress

90 %

Milestone Title

Project Close-out Report and Video

Milestone Outputs

• Project Close-out Report
  • Comprehensive report that provides a detailed summary of the project's overall achievements, key challenges faced, and the milestones completed
  • Includes an overview of each milestone, detailing the specific outputs, and how each milestone was successfully met
  • Summary of the final state of the plugin and the Docker Compose environment setup
• Project Close-out Video
  • Video demonstrating the plugin in action, with a focus on key features such as server synchronization and Hydra L2 transactions
  • Overview of the plugin's architecture and functionality, visually explaining how it integrates with Hydra and Cardano

Acceptance Criteria

• The close-out report clearly describes the project from start to finish, including setup details, and milestone achievements
• The report is published and accessible to the community
• The video accurately showcases the plugin's core functionalities, including server synchronization and blockchain transactions through Hydra L2
• The video is shared with the community via X

Evidence of Completion

• The project report will be published on Medium and shared on X at https://x.com/CardanoProphet
• The final project demonstration video will be posted and shared on X at https://x.com/CardanoProphet

Delivery Month

4

Cost

2250

Progress

100 %

[Final Pitch] Budget & Costs

Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

The proposed budget is structured at 9,500 ADA per month, with the project expected to take approximately 4 months to complete, totaling 38,000 ADA.

Total project budget: 38,000 ADA

Milestone 1: The initial environment setup and listening to in-game events

• 11,875 ADA (31.25% of the total budget)
• Estimated time: 5 weeks

Milestone 2: Submitting state updates to Hydra

• 11,875 ADA (31.25% of the total budget)
• Estimated time: 5 weeks

Milestone 3: Synchronizing the servers

• 11,875 ADA (31.25% of the total budget)
• Estimated time: 5 weeks

Milestone 4: Project Close-out Report and Video

• 2,375 ADA (6.25% of the total budget)
• Estimated time: 1 week

[Final Pitch] Value for Money

How does the cost of the project represent value for the Cardano ecosystem?

The cost of this project represents excellent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem, as it leverages the widespread popularity and accessibility of Minecraft to showcase the capabilities of Hydra in a practical, engaging, and easily understood way. By building on the success of previous tech demos like "Doom on Hydra", this project will provide a powerful marketing asset for Cardano, highlighting Hydra’s scalability and low-latency potential in a high-visibility environment.

The project's relatively low cost, in comparison to the marketing and educational impact it can deliver, makes it a cost-effective investment. Not only does it contribute to advancing Hydra as a key scaling solution, but it also educates both developers and the broader public on its real-world applicability. The demo will serve as an open-source resource, adding long-term value to the ecosystem by providing a blueprint for future use cases that may arise from this initiative.

[Required Acknowledgements] Consent & Confirmation

Terms and Conditions:

Yes