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My RuneScape inspired indie fitness MMORPG WalkScape is looking for more beta testers (lemmy.zip)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by schamppu@lemmy.zip to c/games@lemmy.world

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Hello!

First off, I've struggled to exercise, and I also have ADHD. Gamifying exercise works really well for my dopamine-craving brain, but I'm also easily distracted, so the current mobile fitness games on the market didn't really work for me. That's how I came up with this idea.

Here are some info about the game and how it's different from Pokemon Go for example:

no distractions. I love games that value my time. WalkScape is designed so that it encourages you not to open it while you're walking, but afterwards. And even if you open it while walking, changing things in the game is super quick.
no GPS. So you can walk where ever you want. The game tracks your steps even without an internet connection, but you need a connection when you open the game.
no ads, no MTX. I hate predatory monetisation practises, and they encourage unhealthy spending habits. This game is about both mental and physical health.

In the game, you explore and work in different skills such as woodcutting, foraging, fishing and crafting by walking in real life. The game uses your phone's pedometer to track your progress. It's also online, so you can work with your friends towards common goals without needing to be physically in the same location.

The game has dozens of locations, hundreds of items, NPCs, shops and more is coming as I work towards the full release of the game. There's a lot of different unique and cute activities in the game you can set your character to do in addition to the typical woodcutting and mining, like volunteering in soup kitchen or helping locals repairing their boats. All fueled by walking IRL.

If you feel like you'd like to try it out, you can either apply to the closed beta (we're inviting more people right now) or if you like to support the development, you get instant to access through Patreon or Buy me a Coffee to start playing. The game is completely community funded.

Whether you decide to support or apply to the closed beta, you'll need to sign up at WalkScape Portal to the game and then apply or connect your Patreon on the account page.

You can also check our this video to hear me and the artist explain more about the game: Youtube introduction video

Or you can visit the website.

We also have my devblogs released every two weeks available at https://portal.walkscape.app/development

It's been a wild journey for me growing this thing from my personal hobby project, and awesome to see the game helping so many people to exercise more. I'll answer any questions you might have in the comments!

Stay hydrated, and keep walking ❤️

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[-] BorisBoreUs@lemmy.world 45 points 8 months ago

In the future, when this is wildly successful, please develop a plugin for my smart watch so i don't have too keep my phone in my pocket. /stuffthatsnotrelevantnow

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 15 points 8 months ago

Deal

[-] Abird1620@sh.itjust.works 11 points 8 months ago

You should do this now just to spite this man and go against his wishes.

[-] wizzim@infosec.pub 21 points 8 months ago

I looks wonderful!

I am a Pogo player and I hate having to stay looking at the phone, under the rain or with cold hands or bloody sun 😂

You write "no mtx, no ads". How do you plan to monetize your app ? Will it be a one time payment or with DLCs?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 26 points 8 months ago

Free to play so you can first try it out before making a purchase decision. Then you can either play it single player with single purchase, or if you want to play it online it's affordable subscription. This is the least predatory way of doing monetization that in my mind works great both for the players and makes sure we can support the game for long.

And thank you!

[-] pound_heap@lemm.ee 10 points 8 months ago

Will be there a way to purchase or subscribe outside of Google Play? Or even use the game without google services?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Probably. I'm not too keen on paying the 30% Google Play tax anyhow, as that cost would fall to be paid by the players with increased subscription cost. I want to keep the subscription as affordable as possible. I'll try my best to find ways around it, probably easy enough on Google Play but might prove to be more difficult on AppStore.

Edit: and even as of now, the game requires no Google Services. I'm doing my best to keep it that way.

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 18 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Hey there, it sounds like a very cool project.

I received my confirmation email but when I click accept the invite, it just takes me to the main page, but I still can't log in or confirm my account.

I'm using the same username as on lemmy, Varyk

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 11 points 8 months ago

Yeah, I'm aware of this issue and have been trying to find time to look fix it, but it's relatively rare. It's something wrong with cookies. Usually fixed after either clearing cookies from the Portal, or trying a different browser. Let me know if it works or not!

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Thanks, I just checked.

I've used chrome and duckduckgo on my Android, then Firefox and opera on my linux laptop, then chrome, edge and Opera on my windows 10 laptop.

I get taken straight to the main page on my Android and on the windows machine, but on the browsers using my Linux laptop, I receive the error message " application error: a client side exception has occurred. (See the browser console for more information. )."

Is there any other prerequisite I might have looked over before I'm supposed to click on that accept the invite link?

Thanks.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 6 points 8 months ago

Nope, that should be all. You can contact me with the email you signed up on contact@walkscape.app and I'll sort it out for you

[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Sent, thank you, and of course take your time.

[-] dodos@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

~~I'm having the same issue here.~~ I was hitting the website link in the email rather than the verify link.

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[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 16 points 8 months ago

It amuses me that my first thought was that this would be great for ADHDers like myself and then it turns out thats why you created it lol

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 8 points 8 months ago

Haha :D ADHD minds think alike I guess

[-] dev_null@lemmy.ml 16 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Since this is an MMORPG, how so you prevent cheating? Since this works offline, what prevents someone from faking the steps count and reporting to the game that they totally made 50000 steps while the phone was offline for 24 hours?

Looks amazing! But this was my main worry here.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 13 points 8 months ago

We're developing an anti-cheat, and have quite good plan how to deal with it. Obviously every MMO always has cheaters, but the great thing about WalkScape is that there's just one input to the game (your steps) which makes monitoring a lot easier.

We're already tracking the steps server side and getting some data to implement a version of the anti-cheat during closed beta, and then testing it out in our separate server with people who want to try cheating in order to perfect it before we go open beta. It's something we're committed to improve, and I'll do the best coding wizardry that I can.

My bottom line is that we probably can never catch every cheater, but as long as we can catch those who would ruin the economy or competition, it's not going to ruin the game for others. And I'll of course aim higher than that, but trying to stay realistic as this is an indie game and I don't have the resources to hire 20 people to work on anti-cheat.

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[-] CazzoBuco@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

Yeah, we need to know that when you finally add HCIM mode and someone reaches 200m with all skills -4,600,000,000 steps- it was entirely legit.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 4 points 8 months ago

Haha, agreed! Replied to the OP with more details, we have this planned out and will do the best we can.

[-] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 15 points 8 months ago

This is neat. I don't know if I'd stick with it enough to justify paying, but I like the idea. Also big fan of one time purchase options instead of a subscription

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 12 points 8 months ago

Offline mode of the game will be offered as one time payment, whereas the online mode costs an affordable subscription. Both will include F2P where you can try out the game for free to see if it's worth your money before making the decision.

If you're thinking of supporting, Buy me a Coffee offers one time purchase to get access immediately.

The reason we have subscription planned for the online mode is that we don't do ads or MTX. But running an online game comes with a hefty price tag, which we couldn't support with single purchases only. Affordable subscription at least to me personally is much better option than ads/MTX.

[-] Synapsisdos@aussie.zone 14 points 8 months ago

As someone who got into the closed beta a few days ago it is a fantastic motivator to get moving.

Absolutely love the artwork and the parts of the world I've seen so far.

Keep up the great work schamppu and team!

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[-] fushuan@lemm.ee 9 points 8 months ago

This sounds really cool. It would be cool if it could work with other services like Google fit or other devices that count steps so that we can go out without phone and it would still count those steps after syncing.

I'd be willing to pay for this feature, although I get that it feels like a post release extra.

Really cool, I'll sign up probably.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 months ago

Google Fit and Apple Health support is planned, and the most frequentlt requested feature. We first want to perfect the one we have now so the game is also completely "self sufficient" and doesn't depend on other apps. But support for those is coming during Closed Beta, including support for smart watches through them.

[-] fushuan@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago

I guessed as much, it doesn't matter if the game can pull step data from tons of sources if it doesn't do something worthwhile with it haha!

I hope my bug reports are worth the hassle <3

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago

The game tracks your steps even without an internet connection, but you need a connection when you open the game.

Could you elaborate on the reasons why?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It's an online game, with option for single player coming later. We run anti-cheat and cloud save your progress when you open it up, plus validate that you're running on the most recent version of the game so you can't be exploiting old game balance etc. found in previous versions.

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[-] aard@kyu.de 9 points 8 months ago

Any option without patreon? I deleted my account there a few years back after they tried to push those shitty payment policy changes.

[-] LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

possible with BuyMeACoffee too; https://www.buymeacoffee.com/walkscape

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[-] medgremlin@midwest.social 8 points 8 months ago

I was just looking for a game like this earlier today. This is perfect!

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[-] deezbutts@lemm.ee 7 points 8 months ago

Signed up and already find myself adding extra ways to my day to get steps, the gamification works!

Is there a Lemmy community to discuss this with other scapers?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 5 points 8 months ago

Not yet, we have a fairly active one over Reddit. I'll need to consider opening one here as well!

[-] Deestan@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago

When you say "apply to the closed beta", where do you want people to apply?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Sign up to the Portal https://portal.walkscape.app
Click your profile pic to get to account page
Press apply to beta

[-] KrokanteBamischijf@feddit.nl 7 points 8 months ago

Wow, this is awesome! Definitely going to consider supporting this, looks like a lot of fun for just moving around.

As a long time RuneScape player, this is exactly the kind of stuff I want to see more of.

Are you in contact with Jagex at all? They have a history of actually supporting "community projects", best possible analogy to this being Melvor Idle, which is officially recognised and published by Jagex. And they're also known for supporting mental and physical health causes. Seems like the perfect game to form some kind of partnership on.

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 6 points 8 months ago

Thank you so much! I've been in contact with Jagex. They've give us their legal blessings for our trademark and also license to use their trademark as part of our marketing. But nothing more than that.

We're now working to fix a lot of the issues that were brought up by the awesome testers we got, and then again expanding the game with more features, content and online stuff. I think as a RS enthusiast, you would probably enjoy a lot of the stuff we have in our roadmap :D

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[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 6 points 8 months ago

Will it be able to use my watch to track steps?

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 10 points 8 months ago

Watch support is coming later on when we add integrations with Google Fit and Apple Health, but at the moment not supported. Only phone's pedometer is now counted for

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[-] wandermind@sopuli.xyz 6 points 8 months ago

This is looking really cool! I'm really interested in trying it out.

Since you mentioned Garmin Connect in this thread, I would like to throw in my five cents too. I'm in the Garmin ecosystem for my fitness tracking devices, so it would be amazing if the game could get my step counts from Garmin Connect, since that's where I'm collecting them anyway, and lugging my phone around to do the step counting can be a bit cumbersome. But if the game is fun enough, I guess it's not a dealbreaker for the time being!

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 7 points 8 months ago

Depending on how easy Garmin Connect is to implement, it's probably eventually going to be supported. I know we have a lot of people in the community with Garmins, but Google Fit integration should also when added already allow Garmins to be used for progress in game. But of course, using Gamin Connect would be handier.

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[-] watersnipje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 8 months ago

Hello fellow developer with ADHD! This sounds perfect, exactly what I’ve been searching for. Most apps were not gamified enough, or quickly devolved into some manipulative microtransaction slot machine.
I’ve signed up as monthly supporter and am now eagerly awaiting access to the beta :) Can’t wait to try it.

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[-] sayitghoul@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

I applied for the beta today and got accepted straight away. I love the look of this game and will be using it to get me to walk out more.

First impressions are good, the game is very polished and you can see that the creators really take their time with things, the level of detail is insane.

The game seems easy to pick up and I am looking forward to following it's development closely.

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[-] Ethalis@jlai.lu 5 points 8 months ago

I'm mostly using my bike for my daily commutes these days but this looks super interesting. I'll give it a look !

[-] LunchEnjoyer@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

This looks super neat! Love the theme that you've chosen for this game, everything from the UI and graphical choices looks very good imo. Got a few questions im curious about;

Do you use Google Services Framework for this game to work? I know there are quite a few lemmies who use Graphene OS as their OS on Pixel phones, where some of them might not want to have this installed, (Not that im one of them).
You write that the game is kind of designed to be opened after the walk, but can be opened while walking. Are there any benefits/features/activities for the user while walking? Such as in Pokemon Go, you stop every now and then to fetch Pokemon. Or does this app kind of encourage not to use it while walking?
Will the game be open source? Will people be able to download it on F-droid? Or will this be strictly published on Play Store + App Store?
Will there be any implementations against people who try to spoof their locations to gain "steps" easily? As low as this is, people will always do it to see their name at the top of the leader-board

I very much look forward to seeing this game come to life, I will definitely be keeping a keen eye the next few days! 🌻

[-] schamppu@lemmy.zip 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Thank you so much for the questions, I'll answer them as best as I can:

I have intentionally built everything without relying on any Google service. We have couple of players with de-googled phones and the game works great. Worth noting is that when we add smart watch integration through Google Fit, that wouldn't work. We might later on build support for Garmin Connect too, but it's still a bit out of scope. But just using your phone to count steps already works with de-googled phones.

Worth noting is though that the closed beta is distributed via Google Play closed testing, but it's possible to get around that as some other players have.

No, no activities like that you would need to do while walking. If you need to open it during your walk, it's mostly changing what you're doing in the game.

All planned active gameplay components are designed so that they'll be something you play after the walk at your home.

If there's demand for more "active walking" gameplay, we might implement something for that later on. But for now, we encourage to keep it closed when you walk, and that's something a lot of players love about it, myself included.

No open sourcing planned. I have released some related stuff open source (like the character creation tool), but not the game or the server tech I've built. I have made my own game engine for it, and I feel like if I released it open source I would have to compete against clones of the game I've worked so hard to make, so not really keen on doing that.

Just Google Play and App Store for now, I might be releasing it on other app stores later on, but the publishing pipeline for it even now is quite a complex one for a single dev, and I'm not keen to make it even more so.

Yes! I replied to the other comment with the same question in more details if you're interested reading it.

And thank you so much, hopefully this answered your questions! ❤️

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