Cardano NFT Gaming - Lovelace Saga!

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem.

Incorporating blockchain into playable games allows users to own their in-game assets and give more control to the user. We will build Lovelace Saga, a play-to-earn NFT game built on Cardano.

[GENERAL] Summarize your relevant experience.

We are a diverse team of entrepreneurs with over 20 years of combined experience integrating emerging technologies with existing systems from FinTech, E-Commerce, Marketing, Non-Profit, and Legal. Our developers have experience with web-dev and blockchain technology.

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

What Sets Us Apart?

Our solution will provide the gaming community an avenue to become familiar with the benefits of incorporating blockchain technology. The reason we have chosen this approach is because users who play major titles often spend countless dollars and still have no ownership over their in-game assets. Lovelace Saga is a game built on Cardano that incorporates NFTs as a way to give ownership back to the users. Our project will engage the gaming community on Cardano, as well as the wider gaming community. Players will have a means to earn assets simply by playing the game. Lovelace Saga will be implemented as a web based game and will be a fun way for the Cardano community to learn about NFTs, blockchain gaming, and smart contracts. Our aim is to bring awareness to the benefits of blockchain technology in a fun and engaging way. The broader Cardano ecosystem will benefit as a result of this project because it will be an avenue to bring in new users and further adoption.

Where Are The Killer Apps?

Blockchain technology is a novel idea that can be used across a number of different industries from supply chain to healthcare. Our solution is aimed at tackling the gaming industry, a niche which generated a whopping 180 Billion dollars in revenue in 2021. By creating a platform which helps to onboard digital natives, we start with a much lower barrier to entry for onboarding new users. Gamers are among the largest audience in terms of understanding how to create a wallet, setup an exchange account, and the other basics to getting started with crypto.

Source: https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/the-games-market-in-2021-the-year-in-numbers-esports-cloud-gaming#:~:text=The%20games%20market%20in%202021,%2B1.4%25%20over%20last%202020.

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

How Is This Solution Addressing The Challenge?

We are addressing the dApps, Products, and Integrations challenge by bringing more builders into the ecosystem and creating high-quality platforms built for the ecosystem. The more interesting and useful the products and integrations are that can be built in the ecosystem the more reasons people have to interact with the Cardano blockchain that can help further drive more adoption, feedback, growth, and even more innovation.

Lovelace Saga will be a NFT based blockchain game built on Cardano. With the addition of this game to the Cardano ecosystem, a huge number of potential users can be introduced to Cardano and blockchain technology. Our aim is to also help educate new users of the importance of holding your own keys, setting up a wallet, etc.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

Our team has accounted for multiple possibilities of potential setbacks. We are open to suggestions from the community on any additional risks and any mitigation strategies we should consider to increase the success of this project.

Risk:

• Improper communication and clarification of desired results from all team members

Solution:

• Our team has setup multiple communication channels to account for different time zones and ensure that the desired results of the project are communicated clearly with the proper guidelines.

Risk:

• Market volatility and ADA price volatility.

Solution:

• Funds will be allocated to a transparent wallet and held as USDC or DJED stablecoin.

Risk:

• Timeline goals are not met

Solution:

• A clear outline of workflow has been created and is shared with every team member working on the project
• The team has weekly meetings every Monday and Wednesday to discuss priorities of the week and goals for the current development sprint.

Risk:

• Lack of understanding from users of how to use the platform

Solution:

• We have addressed this issue by dedicating specific content that will walk users through the entire process of being able to interact with the platform.

Our team is dedicated to open communication and being inclusive and transparent with our community.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Steps we will take to implement development of Lovelace Saga

1. Create the login screen (completed)
2. Build user-journey flow (completed)
3. Design the UI (completed)
4. Revise the user journey (completed)
5. Create NFTs for playable characters (completed)
6. Begin development in Unity (in progress)
7. Design 3D character animations (completed)
8. Test functionality of logic 
9. Perform QC checks for code 
10. Integrate Cardano Wallet connections
11. Receive feedback from community
12. Revise code and UI for final version 
13. Complete Unity development for game mechanics

The Roadmap

August - September 2022

• Continue development in Unity
• Perform QC checks for code and UX
• Gather feedback from focus user group

October - November 2022

• Integrate Cardano Wallet connections
• Continue development in Unity
• Gather feedback from focus user group

December 2022

• First version of MVP launch
• Continue development in Unity

January - February 2023

• Continue development in Unity

March - July 2023

• Continue development in Unity
• Debug code for final version 
• Gather feedback from focus user group

August 2023

• Full game release

Long Term Vision

• Lovelace Saga is the most fun and interactive NFT game platform using the Cardano blockchain. The wider gaming community has seen the benefits of blockchain, and brought their unique ideas to the Cardano ecosystem through this game.   
• Our aim is to bring more people into the crypto space with a fun and interactive platform. We will have tournaments for players to earn rewards and play with their friends. This is an inclusive game that will build a vibrant community and encourage others to learn more about blockchain gaming. 

Managing Workload

• In addition to this proposal for the Lovelace Saga, the Kaizen Crypto team is submitting another 2 proposals for Fund 9. Our team is globally diverse, experienced, and resilient. Over 10 team members currently work across different timezones, and are connected to various networks and communities, which allows us to ensure we have a sustainable approach to managing our workload if we are to receive funding from Catalyst.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

The funding requested is needed to pay for the development costs associated with building the game. Invoices are paid based on an hourly basis, averaging approximately $60USD per hour. We also need to cover the costs of hosting servers, maintaining the code, and creating education and marketing materials. (Please see weekly invoice of development costs) 

Proposed Budget For Team Salary:

4 people full time on the development team at 5000 US$ per month = 240,000 US$ in one year

With an average hourly rate of $60 USD an hour, this budget allows us to pay for front end, back end, and blockchain developers to build the platform.

One Time Expenses:

Server Hosting Costs - $1000

3D Character Animations - $5,000

3D Map Animations - $3,000

Proposed Budget For Education and Marketing:

Education (Gitbook Subscription) - $500

Marketing (Videos, Articles) - $500

TOTAL: $250,000 

Weekly Invoice Example

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

Pritesh Gosai - Kaizen Crypto

Pritesh is a long-time Cardano community member who has been contributing to the ecosystem since 2017. He began creating educational content for the Cardano ecosystem in 2019 and operated the Kaizen stakepool during the Incentivized Testnet. Since then, he has gone on to create one of the most well established brands in the Cardano community with a Youtube channel that has over 1M views and 30k subscribers. He operates several stakepools and contributes to charity in India with operator rewards from Krishna stakepool. The Kaizen Crypto brand is now supported by several community members who span across the entire globe to continue the ethos of continuous improvement for Cardano. 

https://twitter.com/KaizenCrypto

Game Development Team - DevTeam.Space

DevTeam.Space is a vetted community of expert development teams supported by an AI-powered agile process. Companies like Disney, Airbus, NEC, and startups rely on us to build great online products. https://www.devteam.space/

Alex Sk - Account Manager (5 years)

Gleb Zadorozhnyy - Project Manager (4 years) - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleb-zadorozhnyy/

Valeria Bogdanova - Game Designer / Illustrator (7 years) 

Sergey Golubev - 3D Artist / Animator (5 years)

Denys Popov - Backend / Blockchain Developer (6 years)

Yulya Krivson - Frontend Developer (3 years)

(See attached images of team workflows)

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

If we are funded this round, we will likely have enough capital to complete the development of our MVP. Our aim is to prove to the community that we are committed to the completion of the project. After this seed funding, Lovelace Saga will be completely self-sustaining.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

We will measure the growth of the platform and overall engagement of the game. We will measure it by tracking the number of players who are active in the game over a set period. This will show us if the platform is reaching our target audience and if they are having a good experience playing the game. 

We will also measure the growth of the community built around the platform. We will measure this by tracking growth on social platforms such as Discord and Twitter. We will also measure the participation in community events such as tournaments. This will show us if the game is gaining momentum with the Cardano ecosystem and the broader gaming community. 

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

Success of this project would mean that the Cardano community has a fun and engaging platform that brings in new participants from the traditional gaming community. Platform users will experience an exciting game that allows them to earn rewards and grow in the community. The game would be an avenue of new user onboarding with more than 100 new users coming to the ecosystem each week. 

Success of this project would also mean that Kaizen NFT holders would claim further economic opportunities with the growth of new users coming to the community. The Kaizen Crypto brand would expand beyond the Cardano community and create lasting impact on growing economies. People from developing countries would come to the platform in search of earning a livelihood. A success story is told every month about how a person changed their life thanks to blockchain gaming and crypto.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This proposal is new and our team is excited to continue building on Cardano with the help of the community and Project Catalyst.

Social Networks:

• Join Lovelace Saga Discord: https://discord.com/invite/Trnssx5qTF
• Join Lovelace Saga Twitter: https://twitter.com/LovelaceSaga
• Join Lovelace Saga Telegram: https://t.me/LovelaceSaga