Adopted the feedback. It’s almost time to release it and see what happens.
This is exciting. After all, it’s been our goal for over three years. I’m really excited to see it released and go live. Of course, that’s not to say there won’t be any bugs in the client. There will definitely be things that need fixing, areas that are rough or need improvement.
The game has gone live, and people are enjoying it and giving feedback saying they’re having a great time. They’re excited about strategizing. Now I just want to observe quietly. I’ll play anonymously myself, but it’ll be interesting to see how people start.
Nejc:
Yeah, I’ve scheduled a lot of game time. There are so many games like this now.
DarkosNightmare:
Yeah, I mean, planning ahead for the release is a must. I’m sure there will be people rushing for prime spots on Adelia Prime.
Nejc:
Yeah, some planning still needs to be done. On one hand, maybe we can explore slowly with the alliance in the first few days, let everyone get familiar with the game and gather in one place.
But it depends on how eager people are. I don’t know if there will be time to explore slowly.
DarkosNightmare:
Yeah, I know different alliances have different strategies. Some alliances plan to fly away as soon as possible and establish their new headquarters. And some alliances intend to stay on Adelia Prime, participate in market trading, and become manufacturers.
There are many different strategies. I’m excited to see which ones will ultimately succeed.
Nejc:
I’m curious if you have any other questions or concerns about the game or the game studio.
For example, do you have any unfinished business, any specific roles missing, or any specific directions you want to push for?
DarkosNightmare:
That’s a good question. I think a lot of things depend on the development in the next few months.
But one thing for sure is, I hope there will be more support for Cairo developers. We have a lot of plans for the future, and we will release the Discovery phase after the Exploitation phase, followed by the Conflict phase, so there’s still a lot to develop.
The Discovery phase will include skill trees, tech trees, and invention mechanisms, while the Conflict phase will bring attack and defense capabilities, as well as battles between ships and asteroids.
So there’s a gap here. Cairo developers are definitely in demand. And in terms of 3D, we’re committed to making Influence immersive and fun. Immersion is crucial in the 3D aspect. I think it’s a time-consuming and resource-intensive task, but it’s something we really want to do, and we’ll commit to doing it well.
So, this is definitely a direction we plan to expand on.
Nejc:
Alright. I think this is a question that developers in the metaverse are generally concerned about. Speaking of 3D and 3D artists, do you have any thoughts or insights on the current state of metaverse games? Is there any specific direction you hope this field will develop?
DarkosNightmare:
That’s a good question.
I think in the field of metaverse games, we’re seeing two types of games emerging in large numbers. One is turn-based games, where I think they focus on using the features of the metaverse as an anti-cheating measure to ensure fairness in scoring and ranking. The other is multiplayer online games like Eternum, Influence, and Dope Wars, which fall into this category.
I think both are good use cases. I hope to see more multiplayer games. I think this is an area where metaverse games can truly showcase their advantages. Frankly, I don’t think this is a widely recognized or popular view. But my opinion is that with the maturity of tools and underlying blockchains, developing metaverse games, especially large-scale multiplayer games, will eventually become an advantage.
Developing these games on the metaverse is more direct and straightforward compared to developing them in the traditional world. I think this is because you’re essentially in an environment where the server infrastructure is already set up, all the point-to-point communication and operation sequences have been handled, all these systems are in place, and you don’t need to hire a large systems engineering team to develop servers for you.
So, in actuality, I think we’ll eventually see the metaverse become a huge accelerator for these games, and it may even reach a point where developing large-scale MMOs is no longer as expensive as it used to be, which has been a problem in the past. In the past decade, we haven’t really seen many MMOs released.
I think that’s the reason. So, I hope to see a revival of a new, low-cost MMO because I think now it’s actually possible to do it without a large team.
Nejc:
Yeah, I’ve been playing free MMOs since around 2006 or 2007, and for seven years, I’ve been playing new free MMOs. There are so many new games. I’ve been following MMObyte, that website.
Whenever a new MMO with an exciting trailer comes out, I jump in and play with my friends for a while.
DarkosNightmare:
Yeah, I remember playing a lot of Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. I also played a lot of EVE Online and World of Warcraft. I think MMOs are a very magical experience, integrating social aspects into games is really cool. I think it forms a very strong community that can last a long time. It’s really amazing, I still have some good friends from 12 years ago who played EVE with me.
We haven’t played EVE together since then, but we still keep in touch and occasionally play other games together. So, I think MMOs are a game genre that should continue to evolve. If developing on the metaverse can make the cost lower and give small studios a chance to try, that would be great.
Nejc:
Yeah, I think with the development of the entire gaming industry, the development of MMOs is inevitable. I think it’s very healthy for the gaming industry.
Now more and more games are entering the production phase because many tools are becoming more accessible. As a new developer, you can refer to some metaverse games for comparison and seek advice.
So, in the process of developing Influence, what lessons do you hope to avoid? Do you have any advice for new developers?
DarkosNightmare:
I think one piece of advice may no longer be relevant. The advice is to try not to start too early. Many of our difficulties were simply because we started too early, like Terrence mentioned, identifying the need through our development of Dojo.
When we were developing Influence, we first realized that we shouldn’t use Solidity, that we shouldn’t develop on L1. And developing on L2 required learning Cairo. We went through the transition from Cairo 0 to Cairo 1 and had to develop Cubit because there was no alternative.
We put in a lot of effort, some of which has been recognized and even rewarded by the StarkNet Foundation, which is great, and I’m very grateful to them, but the process was very challenging.
I think the best advice I can give is that now is the time, it’s no longer early-stage, where most of the time is spent on developing tools, because now many tools already exist, which is great.
Of course, you can improve the tools and iterate continuously, but now these tools are already available. Starknet and other chains have various projects and initiatives to encourage metaverse games. I think now is the time.
Nejc:
Yeah, now is the time. I think that’s a good closing statement, fitting for any audience listening to this show.
As I ask every founder in the end, if you had to introduce your game in two sentences, how would you introduce it to everyone?
DarkosNightmare:
I don’t intend to look at the two sentences we wrote before. So, my summary is:
Influence is a deep strategy and social space MMO game. It is based on real science and set in a constantly moving asteroid belt, featuring authentic interstellar travel.
I think these are the core elements of the game.
Nejc:
Yeah, I think you hit the core. That’s great, man. I’m glad to hear a good two-sentence summary. Game developers often have different ways to introduce a game, and I think your summary is good.
DarkosNightmare:
Yeah, it’s not easy. Influence itself is designed to be complex, so there’s a lot to talk about. Sometimes I can’t help but talk about every aspect, but I think the summary I just gave is a good one for its core.
Nejc:
Alright, I’ll let you go back to the final preparations before the release. Anything else you want to say in the end?
DarkosNightmare:
No, thank you. See you on Adelia Prime.
Nejc:
Alright, see you in the game.
