Cross-NFT Gaming: Shared Metaverse

"Cross-NFT Gaming" is a multi-proposal project. Each proposal develops a different piece of the larger project and can function independently from one another, or together as part of a larger whole. (See Cross-NFT Gaming: Shared Metaverse https://cardano.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Cross-NFT-Gaming-NFT-Fighters/383740-48088))))

This proposal will develop the Shared Metaverse component and Open-world 3D map and MMO in which NFT holders can gain access to areas on the map by holding that area's NFT in their wallet. The world will also include common areas where players can meet up and interact with one another regardless of wallet contents. 

The 3D world can optionally be combined with another proposal titled "Cross-NFT Gaming: NFT Fighters", allowing players to challenge each other and NPCs to in-game card battles using their wallet's NFTs, with a ranking system and tournaments (see NFT Fighters Proposal for further detail).

Metrics and Goals

This project will measure success through the following milestones and metrics over the course of 1 year:

- Total users (# of accounts) - 50 by Month 3, 500 by Month 6, 5000 by Month 9, 20000 by Month 12

- Total concurrent users – 20 by Month 3, 100 by Month 6, 500 by Month 9, 1000 by Month 12

- Number of Discord users - 100 by Month 3, 500 by Month 6, 1000 by Month 9, 2000 by Month 12

- Twitter followers - 100 by month 3, 500 by Month 6, 1000 by Month 9, 2000 by Month 12

Core Team

Lead Dev: John Moreland - A Unity developer, 3D artist, and project manager with 12 years experience creating educational games at Purdue University's Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation. "I love making games and playing them. I've dabbled in crypto since 2018, but just started developing with Cardano this year. I see such a bright future and am enthused to be bridging the gap between current tech and sci-fi stuff like Ready Player One https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnrmoreland/

Art: kinetic_pixels - A multidisciplinary designer with over 13 years of professional experience in Branding/Identity and Website/Application/Digital Experience design. Has worked on projects with larger Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller startups and independent artists. Currently crafting meaningful products & experiences in the B2B/Enterprise communications software space as Lead Product Designer.

"I'm a Crypto newbie...only started investing in early 2021 which is also when I found Cardano and fell in love with the underlying principles, global mission, and the methodical approach to creating a solution with lasting impact."

Backend Dev: Tanatos - A dev that loves everything related to web development, from the back-end to the front-end. Has been using web technologies professionally on a daily basis for the past 12 years, and has been really enjoying himself doing so.

"I got involved in Cardano this year, but thus far I love everything I'm seeing, that's why I decided to get involved in a bigger capacity than just an investor."

Community/Partnerships: Fenam - Lead mod from the Gingerbread NFT community.

"I am a crypto and human community-based investor. I believe in improving humankind and closing income inequality gaps. My experience is 33 years of being a human and many of them towards the benefit of all of us hopefully."

Roadmap/Milestones/Timeline

Months 1-3 (Prototype):

• - Open-world 3D map including common areas and core CNFT-specific areas
• - Character development (generic first, NFT-specific later)

Months 4-6:

• - Multiplayer capability
• - Community building
• - Partnerships
• - Optional Integration with "Cross-NFT Gaming: NFT Fighters"

Months 7-12:

• - Additional game integrations, balancing, and tournaments
• - NFT Metaverse Economy/Sustainability
• - Scale-up (additional NFT-specific areas and concurrent player capacity)

Requested Funds Breakdown:

• $10,000 (3D map modeling/texturing development)
• $5,000 (Character modeling/texturing/rigging/animation)
• $10,000 (Programming/Backend/Server)
• $2,000 (Music & Sound FX)
• $5,000 (Community building)
• $3,000 (Economy Building)

Methodology:

A working prototype that supported 20 concurrent users was developed using Unity 3D and Photon PUN with voice chat and deployed to WebGL. This project will scale that solution and enable up to 2,000 concurrent users. Scaling past 2,000 concurrent users is beyond the scope of this project, but is planned for future based on adoption and growth.

Challenges and Risks

Stress testing the server to support 500 and 1000+ concurrent users may be a challenge. We plan to incentivize stress testing events through NFT giveaways and similar benefits.