The Godot community has in the recent days been rocked by controversy, with a growing number of users feeling that the focus is shifting away from the development of the engine towards identity politics. (It's been a gradual collectivist shift to insanity I guess.)
A community manager’s actions have sparked debate, and many developers are left wondering whether it's time to take action and shift the focus back to what really matters — game development.
I sense an opportunity:
But where others see challenges, I sense an opportunity.
What if we forked Godot (since it's Open Source, under the MIT-License) and brought it into the Hive ecosystem? Hive’s decentralized, blockchain-powered ecosystem offers us a unique way to incentivize development. Imagine building a game engine where contributions, from coding to game creation, are rewarded through tokenized incentives. Developers could receive Hive and other tokens, get involved in liquidity pools, or even launch NFT-based assets tied to their projects.
Why Hive?:
Hive stands out because of its strong developer community, decentralized governance, and rewarding ecosystem. Integrating a game engine like Godot into Hive could foster a vibrant community of game developers who are not only rewarded for their contributions but are also empowered to build freely — without corporate or political agendas dictating their direction. Hive offers the tools to make this happen, from NFTs to Smart Media Tokens (SMTs), which could be perfect for in-game assets or crowdfunding new features.
It's about forking time:
What do you think, Hivers, Hivians and other busy Bees?
Could this be the next big project for our platform? I believe we have the tools and the talent to pull this off. Whether you’re a developer, an artist, or just someone with a passion for decentralized gaming, now’s the time to get involved. Let’s discuss how we could make this idea a reality and build something that’s free from unnecessary distractions — a game engine focused on empowering creativity.
I took the liberty of asking ChatGPT for a mock-up idea for a Hive based logo. It's a neat one, but I feel it kinda needs a human touch.
Summa summarum:
There’s a huge opportunity here to capitalize on the situation and build something better — a game engine truly owned and driven by the community. I’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions. Let’s put our heads together and see where this could go. After all, what could be more exciting than coding games on Hive and getting rewarded for it?
Here are also some cool features that could be built into the forked Godot (Beengine, SwarmFarm, HoneyCode?... Brodot?) engine when integrated with Hive:
1. Tokenized Rewards for Contributions
Developers, artists, musicians, and other contributors could earn Hive or custom tokens for their contributions to the engine or games. For instance, we could:
- Award tokens for successful pull requests (improvements to the engine).
- Reward contributors for creating assets like 3D models, soundtracks, or game scripts.
- Implement bounty systems where users or developers can request features or fixes and offer a token reward for them.
2. NFT-based Game Assets
Games built on this forked engine could natively support Hive NFTs. Developers could tokenize game assets as NFTs, allowing them to be traded or sold on marketplaces like NFTShowroom or TribalDEX. Example ideas:
- In-game characters, skins, or items could be minted as NFTs, making them tradeable outside the games.
- Special editions of a game could come with unique NFTs for gamers.
- User-created mods or game levels could also be tokenized, allowing users to share or sell their creations.
3. Decentralized In-Game Economies with Hive Tokens
We could use Hive’s token ecosystem to build in-game economies:
- Gamers can earn tokens for completing tasks or challenges, and those tokens could be used to buy in-game items, access additional content, or participate in multiplayer modes.
- Create custom tokens (through Hive-Engine) specific to games, which could represent in-game currency, rare items, or voting rights within the game's community.
- Gamers could stake tokens to unlock features, game modes, or early access to updates.
4. Crowdfunding New Game Features with Hive
Developers could use Hive’s Smart Media Tokens (SMTs) or direct Hive crowdfunding to raise funds for new features:
- Players or community members could pledge Hive tokens to fund development of a new game feature, expansion, or mod.
- Crowdfunding for specific milestones could include bonus NFTs or early access to features for contributors.
- Devs could share dividends from game revenue, and award a share of in-game purchases to early backers.
5. DAO Governance for Game Projects
We don't really have to imagine a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where gamers, developers, and other stakeholders vote on game features and updates, but similar functionality could also be incorporated into the game-engine:
- SMT holders or staked Hive token holders could vote on proposed updates, new game modes, or roadmap changes.
- Governance could be set up to prioritize certain community requests or prioritize development based on token stakes.
- Developers could implement gamer-driven events or decisions (for example, a DAO vote could determine the plot of a game expansion or introduce new mechanics).
6. Proof of Play
We could implement a system where gamers can earn rewards based on how long they play, how well they perform, or what they contribute to the game’s ecosystem:
- Gamers who create mods, levels, or host multiplayer servers could receive rewards.
- Special Hive-backed leaderboards could provide token rewards to top-ranked gamers.
- Achievements could be tied to token payouts — gamers who complete rare tasks or difficult challenges could earn either Hive, other tokens or NFTs as rewards.
7. Decentralized Game Servers
Integrate Hive for managing decentralized game servers:
- Gamers could host decentralized servers, earning Hive tokens for hosting reliable game sessions.
- Token staking could be used to run high-performance servers, rewarding the most active and reliable hosts.
- Matchmaking could be token-driven, where gamers pay small fees to join premium servers, which in turn rewards the hosts.
8. Social and Community-driven Features
Hive’s social aspects could be integrated right into the game engine:
- Game devs could post updates directly on Hive as part of the development process, allowing gamers to engage with the dev team.
- In-game actions could automatically generate posts on Hive, earning gamers rewards for sharing their achievements.
- Developers and gamers alike could create content on Hive, such as development blogs, playthroughs, or fan art, and earn rewards via upvotes.
These are just a few ideas, but the potential is huge. By combining Hive's decentralized nature, token-based incentives, and powerful game-building tools, we could create an engine where gamers and developers are truly rewarded for their creativity and efforts. This would set it apart from other game engines, offering not just creative freedom but also real value for participation.
What do you think? Discuss below!