Proposal: We Are All Going To Die - You Will Not Survive

WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive is a F2P roguelike RPG mobile video game that lets players and holders take control of their WAGDIE characters. With engaging gameplay, addictive leveling and powering, and a way to play through the entire WAGDIE story, this will become the premium product for the WAGDIE project. To deliver version 1.0 of this game, we are asking for $60,000.

Who We Are

Rama and b33f are long-time WAGDIE holders and experienced game devs. Rama has created a plethora of art and games for various projects that are beautiful, tight, and fun to play. B33f has spent the past year as the game director of EtherOrcs Dungeons, an exciting turn-based RPG with over 200 weekly players; prior to web3, he worked in film and video games for Vice, Kotaku, ESPN, and other media outlets. Both profoundly understand the WAGDIE story and what makes games fun and compelling to play.

Why a WAGDIE videogame?

Videogames and NFTs seem to be the perfect match, but the space still needs to realize and execute the core principles of what makes games FUN and sustainable game ecosystems. We put gaming and fun first; making a GOOD game is what’s most important.

With WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive, we plan to make a compelling web3 gaming experience and a wide-funnel web2 game for those outside NFTs to play and enjoy!

ezgif.com-gif-maker (15)

WAGDIE pfps come alive, and holders are granted in-game benefits befitting their status as WAGDIE holders. Experience the story of WAGDIE in a whole new way!

The Conclave would receive 30% of all game sales initially. Once 100% of the funds of the 60k have been recovered, the conclave rate drops to 15% in perpetuity.

We want to leave the door open for a formal game publisher to enter and offer porting services, marketing, the mobile market, licensing copyright, and more.

We reserve the right to make other funding agreements with various blockchains, publishers, and distributors for the continued success of the game.

If a new publisher or investor wishes to make a deal that would require more equity, the game devs reserve the right to have the conclave “bought out” if required to execute a new deal that is more advantageous.

Why we’re doing this

  • We are massive fans of WAGDIE and web3
  • We believe that the WAGDIE story is best told in a game format, relive the Battle of the Church, The Crows Trial, and venture into the Primordial Lands
  • We can pioneer and position WAGDIE as the Lore and Game-based ecosystem and community
  • This will create the base game and allow us to continue to build and expand a living-breathing WAGDIE game for years to come.
  • We want to utilize previously made WAGDIE assets like The World of WAGDIE map and truly bring it to life.

Budget

We are asking for 60k USD to bring version 1.0 of WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive to market. 40k USD to be paid initially, with 20k USD coming after the playable beta/early access debuts in 4–6 months.

Development Milestones
February - Base Game concept completion with:

  • 4 Initial Character Classes
  • 15 Base Weapons
  • 10 Base Items
  • Elemental Effects Systems
  • Chest Mechanics
  • Endless Mode Level 1 structure and scoring system

March/April - Story Mode concept completion:

  • Integrate Spaces audio w/game effects and dialogue boxes to tell the story of WAGDIE
  • Complete the first level, “The Burning of the Ape”
  • Continue on to levels 2-67, “The Stalwart Fortress”, “Trial of the Crow”, “Summoning of the Amalgam”, “The Grand Tournament”, “The Primordial Lands”, “Yuria’s Heart”
  • Integrate World of WAGDIE map as the level selector
  • Title Screen

April/May - Leveling & Devotion to the 17 systems

  • Create and Implement meta-progression systems aligned w/story lore
  • Players will have the choice of Devoting themselves to 1 of the 17 to gain power
  • Introduce tech trees and new effects that align w/power of the 17

May/June - Abyss Mode & Beta Test

  • Create “The Abyss” which is a dungeon-style game mode w/micro battles (1/2 mins long)
  • Players start their journey at the surface, and most make it to The Serpent to win, fighting in several battles with various goals along the way
  • This is a roguelike dungeon mode combined with our existing gameplay loop
  • Release the game for Beta Test, token gate it for WAGDIE holders

June/July - Early Access Release/Server Integration

  • Work out backend and server verification/anti-cheat with SPY
  • Release an Early Access version of the game on Steam/Epic

July/September - Continued development

  • Team will continue to work out bugs and fixes for the current Early Access game
  • Story, Abyss, Endless, and the leveling system will be refined and built out to a further extent.
  • Multiplayer/Battle Royale, the team will begin concepting and working on a multiplayer mode for the game as a stretch goal.

October/November - Testing, Go Gold, Release

  • Team will on-board various community members to push and test the game
  • Game will go Gold in November for Version 1.0 Launch
  • Game will launch Version 1.0 in November on Steam/Epic and other PC game stores.

2024 - Porting, Multiplayer, DLC

  • Ports to other platforms like mobile, console, and mac will begin
  • Multiplayer will be fleshed out and move into beta
  • New Story, Endless, Abyss, and Devotion tech trees will be sold as DLC

Budget Breakdown

  • Game Development — 40k USD (Rama & b33f)
  • Art & Music — 5k USD (Grant Holzter, EtherOrcs Soundtrack. Rolu & Rama for art)
  • Backend and Server Development — 5k USD
  • Smart Contract/Web3 Integration —5k USD (LookingforOwls)
  • Distribution/Marketing — 5k USD
  • Total: 60k USD

Revenue Model

We will be taking the route of a web2-style game with a web3 offering down the line. This model would have an MSRP of $6.66 USD for the base game, and we would have DLC packs for $2-3 USD for future updates!

We would plan to release the game to Epic and Steam initially, with porting support to consoles if we can find the correct publisher services to enable that expansion.

The initial distribution of the game will be controlled by Rama and b33f, unless we can strike a deal with a game publisher.

The team’s LLC will handle all revenue generated by the game unless further publishing or licensing deals are struck in the long term.

What is WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive

WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive is a F2P Roguelike RPG that is playable on mobile devices. Players will play as their WAGDIE characters, fight monsters with auto-aim combat, level up in-game as the enemy Hordes crash in around them, earn in-game currency to spend on meta-progression power-ups, and get more characters.

There will be several game modes:

  • Story Mode (Play through the story of WAGDIE)
  • Endless Mode (Play until you DIE, try for the highest score)
  • Abyss Mode (Battle through micro-encounters to reach and defeat The Serpent)
  • PvP ( Play the same map with up to 4 other players, may the best WAGDIE win)

ezgif.com-gif-maker (17)

Close games in the genre would be Vampire Survivors, 20 Minutes Til Dawn, Rogue Genesia, Tiny Rogues, and Hades.

Deliverables

After 4–6 months of receiving conclave funds, we will release the early access beta of the game exclusively to WAGDIE holders to test and play.

Once the beta has been delivered, four months after, we will release the full Version 1.0 mobile version of the game for mass consumption.

Benefits to WAGDIE holders and Conclave

  • Premium access to the game world, free in-game currency, and the ability to play as and level up your characters
  • A wide-funnel f2p game that will impact people outside the NFT space
  • New ways to get people exposed to WAGDIE
  • A Revenue model for the Conclave
  • A module to utilize in partnerships with other NFT projects

Project Updates

  • Monthly Spaces with the community
  • Bi-Weekly Mediums on in-game progress

Closing

The release of WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive is just the beginning; we plan on maintaining and developing the game as the WAGDIE story continues and develops, adding characters and creatures to a living and breathing world!

Link to Medium: We Are All Going To Die: You Will Not Survive | by B33f | Jan, 2023 | Medium

Link to Tech Demo: ​WAGDIE: You Will Not Survive by Rollinorama#7647

Note: Current tech demo utilizes EtherOrcs Dungeon monsters for in-game enemies, weapons for in-game items, and music from the EtherOrcs soundtrack. This will not be the case in the future unless we receive full permissions from both the EtherOrcs team and WAGDIE conclave for integration.

13 Likes

Love this proposition and have full confidence in @b33f_eth as well as the others to deliver.

3 Likes

This is looking really great.

My one point of criticism is that I am unable to survive in the tech demo for more than 5 minutes.

Will the main release have an easy difficulty level?

4 Likes

I think this is a great idea and an excellent fit for WAGDIE. This genre is getting very popular though so different ways of standing out from similar games is a must. The only part I don’t like is the energy mechanic. I feel like monetization is something we as a community are going to have to talk about so we get it right.

2 Likes

I love that this is brought up and already relatively flushed out idea.

My thoughts are that we should form an official board (similar to conclave or could just be conclave)

-along side board there should be a collective art and audio community team along side to help streamline.

Create individual roles to participate or will be part of the developing team, create weekly or monthly milestones the metrics used to achieve them.

-is this the game? Should there be an open house to ideas and vision board going for continued development.

-the need for continued sustainability needs to be thoroughly considered. key word on sustainability.

:clap:t3: great job for bringing this up

1 Like

We had a community vote WIP 1: Community Projects Royalty Fee back in July on what amount should for-profit treasury-funded projects return back to treasury and the voted amount was 30%.
Might be possible to resolve this in one way or another, I guess.

How this game will be different from the new EtherOrcs game? Will the two projects be in conflict? This is especially odd since the staff is engaged in both.

1 Like

I see that the teaser is now deleted. Was it scrapped for EO after all? Any particular game-specific reasons or just EO staff decision?

I like the game. I like the team. I don’t like the business model.

You’ve got a $5k marketing / distribution budget which isn’t enough to promote any F2P seriously. Even with the Conclave standard 30% return, you’d have to make over $200k net to hit a recoup, and I really don’t see that happening. Especially after the market’s interest in the genre has dried out by the time it comes to release.

However, I do think there’s a strong chance that the project could reach profitability as a paid release across multiple platforms. Even the least popular of the example games has sales somewhere in the ballpark of 50-75k units on its own. Accounting for obscurity, market decline, and just bad luck, it’s quite reasonable to sell 20k copies within this genre at a $5 MSRP over the course of 4 months post-release (just on Steam).

Add in the potential of other marketplaces, opportunities like Humble Bundles, and other outlets to leverage the game, it’s quite reasonable to expect a profitable venture out of it.

This is much preferred to the infinite grind that comes after releasing a F2P game, the spend rate required to market such a thing, and the ceaseless need to tweak gameplay vs monetization to squeeze the last blood out of your whales.

All of the wide-funnel goals can be achieved through a paid game while better focusing the reach, turning profit, and valuing the brand. Even if the game’s on sale for $1.99 every month, it’s just a better equation to be working in.

6 Likes

This is mine and Rama’s concept that we started on our own with our time and funds.

I’m currently shopping it for funding outside of Rama and myself continuing to self-fund.

I’d like to include EtherOrcs assets in the game eventually, but the main game will be catered towards whoever can supply us the funds to continue development.

3 Likes

Totally fine with going a paid game route! Personally think the revenue ceiling is much lower, and if a game is free, you’re likely to get more players vs. even a 1$ game.

We’d move to a $6.66 base game and then have paid DLC content to add later story chapters, new weapons, characters, and mechanics to the game!

1 Like

I replied to King Offling with an alternative to a F2P model!

2 Likes

This is a Tech Demo of the core gameplay! A proof of concept.

As listed in the proposal, the game will have different modes:

  • Story Mode (Play through the story of WAGDIE)
  • Endless Mode (Play until you DIE, try for the highest score)
  • Abyss Mode (Battle through micro-encounters to reach and defeat The Serpent)
  • PvP ( Play the same map with up to 4 other players, may the best WAGDIE win)

Art will be handled by WAGDIE members Rama and Rolu!
Music will be handled by Grant, who I worked with on the EtherOrcs soundtrack and did a fantastic job.
Rama and I will handle game development.

Milestones will be shown through weekly medium articles on what the team is working on and monthly AMA’s with the team on development.

3 Likes

$6.66, siiiick. :laughing:

I genuinely think it’s more likely to find success this way.
Lower ceiling may be true, but it’s the safer bet imho.

If you’re very passionate about it being F2P, then I can be swayed with evidence of a strong release, marketing, upkeep, and monetization plan.

As a paid game, all I need to see is that it’s fun (and you’re already there).

4 Likes

I would gladly pay for this game. Didn’t Steam ban games with NFTs though? I like this approach but unsure how it’d actually play out.

1 Like

I think I look at it from the perspective that a majority of indie games make 15k USD on average in their first year on Steam.

Granted, this is just one platform, and WAGDIE has a built-in audience!

Plus, this game will be great. :smiling_imp:

3 Likes

There’s an approach here where multiple versions of the said game exist.

The Web3 version is web-based. Then the wide-funnel versions, without web3 or NFT, go to various platforms for mass consumption!

6 Likes

Makes sense. You have my vote. Now excuse me I have to get back to the tech demo.

Edit: Nox is OP

3 Likes

That stat is heavily weighed down by a bottom of the curve.

There’s 10 morons throwing literal garbage at the new release chart with zero effort or plan for every 1 genuine effort. It’s those dingdongs that skew the numbers so negatively.

Releasing to success is tough but it’s not that tough.

Also, yah. Multiple versions is solid.

3 Likes

The tech demo is fun!

3 Likes

This gets my vote 100%

Played the demo, love it,
Only note on the controls is a wish to have a little more control of the auto attack direction.

But I give this 100% yes. :white_check_mark:

Also, I’m down to help out with the art and design if wanted.

6 Likes