[DAO:46eb7e7] Vroomway Continuation & Expansion

Governance
1

by 0x56469159d91eb810dce34dd13ec4ed8194bca7be (NikkiFuego)

Should the following $93,000 grant in the In-World Content category be approved?

Abstract

Vroomway strives to create the most engaging vehicle experience in the metaverse. We pride ourselves on our integration with the Decentraland platform and aim to foster that growth throughout our journey to create an interoperable game for anyone of any play style to enjoy. Racers can collect materials or win competitions to claim a Skin/Helmet Wearable NFTs that are paired with a matching Vehicle. Racers can also earn Vehicle Mods NFTs as well to decorate their vehicles. Expanding even more the self-identity expression. Vroomway is also a club for those who prefer a more socialized experience with our night club The Recharge. Whatever your play style is Vroomway is sure to have a zone just for you.
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Grant size

93,000 USD in DAI

Project duration

6 months

Beneficiary address

0x4b99aD2Fad8B5553dc734EDA80695591b3CA1fD5

Email address

vroomwayracing@gmail.com

Description

This funding will allow us to stay compliant with the new Decentraland guidelines regarding the sunset of SDK 6 and migration to SDK 7. Here in a few months, the Decentraland Foundation will stop updating components in SDK 6 and only focusing on SDK 7. The rewrite from SDK 6 to SDK 7 is huge. Not only will we be in compliance with the standard, but our scene will perform ten-fold how it does now thanks to the amazing new SDK 7 components. This will also allow us to scale significantly easier and come much closer to sustainability.

Previously, we open sourced our robust Inventory and Leveling systems (in SDK 7) for the community and plan to open source every component of our game. We aim to provide plug-and-play repositories for anyone to use in their game. We know the hurdle of starting a new game from scratch and we want to help bridge that as much as we can. These open source pieces will be available through the Decentraland Awesome Repository just like the first set was. Being able to create new features will allow us to open source even more game components.

With this migration we will be able to make the following items SDK 7 compatible and open source:

  • 3 Game Modes
  • 20 Scenes
  • Vehicle System
  • Leveling System (done)
  • Inventory System (done)
  • Vehicle Mods (cosmetic attachments)
  • Gathering System
  • Loot System
  • Reward System
  • Crafting system
  • Material Shop (buy & sell materials)
  • 2D UI (extremely robust and dynamic)
  • FUEL Purchase (on-parcel MANA transactions)
  • Dynamic NPCs
  • Timer & Timed Systems
  • Infinity Engine (used by multiple projects in the community)

This will also allow us to continue to deliver a game people enjoy playing and stimulate the economy. Players have sold their Skins they earned for free for hundreds and hundreds of MANA. We’ve stimulated the Decentraland economy with over 14,000+ MANA in mint/secondary sales combined. We’ve had single skins sell for up to 400 MANA on secondary.

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We have many features we want to introduce (and open source) such as:

  • New Game Mode: Balloon Heist
  • New Game Mode: Bumper Cars
  • Battle Pass
  • Professions: Gathering & Mileage
  • Optional AI Opponents in Game Modes
  • 20 Additional Vehicles (Skin or Helmet Wearables)
  • New Missions: Daily, Weekly, Events
    Plus many more collaborations and events!

In case you missed it, here is a video we made for a Town Hall update in June. We’ve done a lot more since this video too!

January23 - June23 Recap!

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Roadmap and milestones

Month 1-3: SDK 7 Migration & Scene Update
We will migrate all of our current systems over to the new SDK 7 framework. This will bring a new scene as well since we’ve expanded our 4x4 estate to a 6x4 estate courtesy of the Foundation. This will include a refactor of 3 static scenes and 17 game mode scenes. This involves extensive front-end and back-end programming as well as setting up new server systems.

Month 4-6: New Features and Game Modes
We will develop and integrate our new features and vehicles to craft and claim. Integrate the new game modes and begin open sourcing every major component of our game for others to use. Focusing on increasing user retention and playability for the game. We will also host our third annual Grand Prix for the whole Decentraland Community to enjoy.

Vote on this proposal on the Decentraland DAO

View this proposal on Snapshot

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I’d love to understand why it makes sense for the DAO to allocate 40% of this quarter’s budget to the grant.

The daily user count from dcl metrics indicates that you have an average of 24 users daily for the past 2 months.

I believe the DAO has provided a total funding of 180k USD since last year, but traction seems lacking.

Personally I love the wearables that Vroomway has made, but the financial sense isn’t there.

Might I add that with the introduction of smart wearables, perhaps a good pivot would be to sell vehicular wearables that can perhaps also race on DCL roads. I don’t know much about the mechanics of that so just throwing out the idea to see if it’s feasible, instead of keeping vroomway as a game.

1 Like
3

100% YES this is such an amazing project and needs to be able to grow and flourish.
Vroomway is an essential hub in Decentraland, it’s gameplay is second to none and the community around it has helped me so much over the past year with my mental health and general well-being that I would be lost without it.
The potential for growth is endless and I know the whole team is destined for greatness! Vote YES for this awesome project.

1 Like
4

This project is great! However, I do recall a something along the lines of them trying to become sustainable on their own. I am NOT voting NO because I am against the project. I am voting no because I think at this time the DAO needs a break on grants with high amounts in this category.

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5

i think this team has over worked for not just Vroomway, but literally every major experience in Decentraland.
Not only is this sharing their hard work, but allowing people to create their own world and experiences and not have to go through the hell of learning SDK like you make the rest of the community.

yall want a better experience made by users? this is it.

fully support and they deserve more tbh

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6

I am voting NO this time. We have already given Vroomway 180K DAI…

https://vesting.decentraland.org/#/0xad4656f85fa4a46c88505574875e7945200cec2b

https://vesting.decentraland.org/#/0xf265a437cc3566492221266b69ef69dd8936aa4c

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7

While I think Vroomway is great and want to see them continue to be successful, I’m hesitant about another grant of this size mainly due to the portions allocated to the salaries of those who are not directly involved in the development/switch to SDK7. Specifically, the project and community managers are each slated to receive $18k over 6 months. I would love to see more clarification on what this is used for before voting, as the grant focus seems to be on making the switch from SDK6 to SDK7. Additionally, there are two separate budget categories for the development portions- could you elaborate on this as well?

Voting abstain for now.

8

Hello friends and community. We appreciate all the sentiments shared about this grant. We wanted to take the time to respond to some of the feedback to provide more clarification.

We think it’s important that we as a DAO community understands the reality that not only our project, but all projects face right now with the migration of SDK 7. Most scenes that are party scenes and social experiences do not require heavy lifting when migrating. But when you factor in extensive systems, UI, and functions that games bring it becomes quite expensive to migrate. If scene don’t start updating to SDK 7 soon, their scenes will start to break over time and become non-playable as support for SDK 6 libraries will end this quarter.

The transition from SDK 6 to SDK 7 is a complete rewrite of the syntax and the 2D UI portion received the largest change in which our game relies heavily on 2D UI. @Mimsy to clarify, A good portion of my time is in programming the 3D art side of the game. I am in charge of all scene management across our 20 scenes. Which means I have to convert those 20 scenes to SDK 7. I also create, texture, and animate all of our vehicles (36 as of right now) and formatting them to our different game modes and server lobbies. I also manage the developers and repos/branches that we work out of.

We are working with a very talented developer, CryptoTrader, in converting the entire 2D UI (very extensive) as well as a good portion of our systems. He is also the person that open sources our code and maintenance, which we are planning to have done to our entire game after this grant. So this monthly stipend makes more sense for us. A good portion of the SDK 7 budget is allocated for converting the Infinity Engine (used by other projects in the community) which two of our game modes run on. It’s also to convert our more complex systems that touch both front-end and back-end. Our game modes involve a lot of SDK syntax so converting that as a whole rewrite is a lot of work and a lot of hours.

Regarding the community manager role, that role is crucial to our game. Doc organizes our racers and keeps them active and incentivized with regular giveaways, contests, and engagement mini-games. He is the voice of the racers and is passionate about building this game for them, the right way - without cheaters, multi-accounters, or whales who dominate the floor. Doc has personally funded most of our giveaways and has gone on to consume the Event Planning role. You’ll notice that this grant does not have a major marketing role, and Doc has agreed to consume the remainder of these tasks that surround our weekly events. Doc has dedicated his full-time IN Decentraland representing Vroomway across events and ensuring that the community is getting support from the Vroomway project. He has fostered many healthy relationships between different groups and projects in Decentraland which have helped the Vroomway project achieve its ultimate goals.

We’ve found that this team is highly efficient as a unit and are fully dedicated to their role. With 30 hours per week each committed to working on this project, our entire team exceeds this both in duration and deliverables on a regular basis.

Some Milestones to consider:

Game Metrics

  • Solo-Sprint - 2 Courses
  • Demo Derby - 1 Course
  • Fuego Circuits - 7 Tracks
  • Drag Racing - 7 Tracks
  • 3 Static Scenes: Main Entrance, Scrapyard, The Recharge
  • Hyperfy World Mini-Quest
  • 15 Materials
  • 6 Power Ups
  • 26 Missions
  • 5 Leaderboards
  • Vehicle Mods
  • 10 Unique Helmet Wearables
  • 26 Skin Wearables
  • 36 total Playable Vehicles
  • 25 Smart Wearable Activations
  • 8 Partnerships/Collaborations: WonderMine, Decentral Games, Babydolls. Droffo Marketplace. GolfCraft, MetaGamiMall, Polygonal Mind, LowPolyModels
  • 15,000+ hours of entertainment in The Recharge
  • 650+ claims on parcel
  • 2 Open Source components
  • 14,000 MANA in wearable sales mint/secondary
  • 1,200 MANA in FUEL sales
  • 4,000+ Unique Wallets/Players

Events

  • 48 Social Friday’s
  • 100+ Giveaways
  • MVFW in the Neo Plaza
  • Wagmi x Vroomway BBD
  • 2 Solo-Sprint Tournaments
  • 4 Competitive Seasons
  • Hyperfy Activation
  • Grand Prix 2023
  • 5 Launch Parties

Being able to open source a game from head to toe will allow new game makers and creators to utilize plug-and-play programming. Avoiding a lot of the heavy lifting when starting out. The docs provided by the foundation are a great start at understanding the framework, but what’s better is having relevant working examples. We received great positive feedback about our Leveling and Inventory repository and will deliver the same amazing quality with all of our game components. One of the biggest mistakes our community made early on was not developing enough experiences. When the bull market came, it left as quickly as it arrived due to the fact that there wasn’t much to keep them around. Now Decentraland has a lot more to offer.

@CheddarQueso we understand and appreciate the budgetary concerns, and would agree with you that we’re in a state where DAO funds should be carefully considered. However, we’re most excited to be one of the first to deliver a full repo for Decentraland users to create their own P2E game with, as this is something we always wished for, and had to go through a few developers to get to. In retrospect, we truly believe we have delivered more than promised in a shorter time than some grants that have received twice as much. It’s unfortunate that developing in this kind of environment can be expensive but we’ve been more than diligent with our costs and value in return. I believe too that we are one of very few that give back to the DAO from our revenue. Which if we hit a bull run, will be great for the DAO.

Lastly, @3Point1Four our traffic is authentic and we’re proud of that. While other projects inflate traffic and users, we keep ours real to indicate true growth, which is not the ideal KPI to measure for a blockchain game during a bear market anyways. We’ve protected our product from cheaters, multi-accounts and potential exploits. We’ve designed our rewards to distribute evenly so there is no army of whales controlling the floor and destroying the game. It is through these practices that we’re geared for a bull run. Anyone familiar with analytics at all knows that one KPI is not enough to determine any valuable data.

Our goal is to constantly strive for sustainability and that part takes time. As for what value DCL gains today from this grant; a fully open-sourced multi-faceted P2E environment (in SDK 7) put in the hands of Decentraland users.

If you haven’t yet, take a look at our Leveling and Inventory Systems that we already open-sourced a few months ago, check it out:

2 Likes
9

No I dont agree with more funds to go in a project that isn`t making the desired impact.

this game has like 3 to 7 ppl playing and its not every day.

Its completely a waste.

(I believe the efforts that was put in this can be put in something else more attractive)

1 Like
10

Game developing can be hard, but I really wanted to vote yes for @DOCTORdripp to be completely

honest, but I think its time you people ask for less money it’s totally possible I think you got 2 grants already for a reasonable price but a third one this high is really pushing the limits.

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11

It would be asinine for the DAO to have spent money making these games and to just abandon them to die now that the Foundation is sunsetting SDK6.

I don’t get the impression most of the people commenting on this grant actually read and understand what is being proposed. And what the potential outcomes actually are.

It continues to baffle me that anyone thinks it would be possible to make a complete game in ideal circumstances for the sub $200k Vroomway has gotten to this point, let alone building in as difficult an environment as DCL. People talking about “sustainability” are out of touch with the reality of game development.

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12

That’s a weird way of saying “a top 20 most active scene in Decentraland,” and as Nikki has already pointed out, they are certainly sitting behind at least a few botted-out locations, if not many.

And of the ones that aren’t botted, 4 of them are WonderMine spots being counted as different locations.

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14

Voting no on this. The DAO already spent enough money on Vroomway. They can’t be sustainable and thats why we have to bring this to a end.

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15

I personally like this game, played it a few times by myself as I’ve barely seen people at the times I have visited however…

What happens when SDK 8 gets here, will we see another grant to migrate SDKs and stay compliant with DCL guidelines? I don’t think DAO should be funding migrations to new SDKs especially if a project has received several grants already or was started up with a DAO grant.

Voted no, on the last grant I had originally voted “No” as well. Which I then changed to a “Yes” because I was told you had “support from foundation devs” and with the last grant, believed it would bring you to the point of self-sustainability yet here we are asking for another 93K.

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16

Why are people talking about “self-sustainability” like there is a single project in Decentraland that isn’t hemorrhaging money?

You need users to make a profitable game.

It’s fine to say “I don’t think DCL needs this content” but to suggest that a game failing to be “sustainable” while developing in a desert wasteland is the reason you are voting no is just silly.

2 Likes
17

I am unsure on this one. I am a big fan of vroomway and the work they have accomplished but this props brings up a bigger issue of grant sustainability. Are we supposed to keep giving projects 100k a year to survive? You dont need to make a profitable game but there are steps for sustainability. voting abstain for now but not set on it. If there are no users now what will be the catalyst to bring users? IMO games funded by the dao should be onboarding users separate of DCL dau’s.

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18

Thank you for your honest feedback @dogman.

This is not an injection of funds to support sustainability. Vroomway is already on the road to sustainability through FUEL purchases, vehicle purchases and marketing opportunities. We can build the infrastructure but pumping the machine during a bear market does not produce results.

The purpose of this grant is to migrate to SDK7, and the discussion could be: should DCL be funding large grantees to migrate to SDK7 while they forcefully sunset SDK6. Many of these games have received large portions of money just to be potentially dumped on their head. I think the sunsetting of SDK6 could be handled differently so that games are not forced to recode or shut down.

The benefit of this grant is to deliver a fully deployable SDK7 P2E game codebase for the community. No more gatekept codebases - we are finally working with devs who truly support open-source repositories and want this to be in the hands of users who can create their own game experiences with it. Currently this is lacking and experiences must be pieced together using the Awesome Repo.

And as for your point about onboarding new users; we’ve had multiple talented marketing roles - and they were major roles filled by professionals. The results were subpar (due to the obvious challenge marketing the metaverse in the current market). Because of this, we’ve reduced our marketing efforts and have started working in collaboration with other P2E games to tap into the current DAU. We’ve worked with these games in staggering our Seasons so that we can share player bases. We’ve produced smart item vehicle skins that have perks in their games as well and have seen a huge increase in regular activity (from users all over the world). Personally, I’m proud of everything that Vroomway has done. I’m all for tightening the budget - but this is one grant that I’m sure the community will benefit from.

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20

Hi Mims,

Thanks for your honest feedback and concern for budget transparency. I value financial transparency and voted that grantees release financial records.

With that being said, Nikki and I each have received a $3,000 monthly stipend that requires full-time participation in Decentraland, both in-game and in our Discord. However, it is not simply a paycheck that ensures full-time commitment to the platform. There are many additional tasks that get consumed by our talents. Code implementations like our auto-dance floor and our anti-jetpack teleporting sections were covered by these stipends. Giveaways are funded by the stipend and we like to give our racers exciting ones. 100% of the models in our game are original artwork (not sample packs) and were done by Nikki under her stipend. That’s a lot of 3D modeling and animation that would otherwise be paid for, probably with the same amount.

I’m very proud of every single day I’ve spent here and all the relationships I’ve made. But I’m here out of passion. I make more money in web2, and thus my time is probably more valuable there. So if my part in this proposal is a roadblock for Vroomway moving onto its next stage, I’d even be willing to step down.

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21

Sugarclub is not a complex P2E game. It took me 1 hour to convert Fresh Mint to SDK7. This will convert the entire Infinity Engine which is used by other platforms as well.

Let me see if I can post a more detailed budget breakdown for the SDK7 conversion. I’m actually surprised it wasn’t already included.

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23

Correction, I did not say that Sugarclub is complex. I said it’s not complex.

Also, I did not infer that AutoDance was a large feat - I stated that it was included in my stipend. It was Mattimus that provided a modified version of Lastraum’s AutoDance repository. The point was not the complexity of coding the Dance floor.

The SDK7 conversion is not for the AutoDance, but for the large components that our game uses. The biggest is the Infinity Engine, FUEL purchases, and a few others. I’m working on publishing the detailed breakdown and you’ll have the info you’re looking for then.

2 Likes