Block & Chain Game Studios Weekly Newsletter October 5, 2018
Block & Chain Game Studios
Weekly Newsletter
October 5, 2018
Hopefully, everyone had a chance to read our press release about our partnership with Fracture Labs and their MMORPG Decimated. This is the beginning of building a broad and diverse partnership platform, where collectively we bring mainstream-style games to the blockchain. We have more discussions underway with other potential partners, so look out for more news on those soon.
If you didn’t get a chance to read the press release, you can do so here: https://community.haloplatform.tech/blogs/entry/57-block-chain-game-studios-partners-with-top-blockchain-game/
Fracture Labs also posted an update to their community: https://medium.com/@fracturelabs/fracture-labs-and-halo-platform-join-forces-to-create-the-ultimate-blockchain-gaming-experience-ea93f7cc5ecb
News @ Block & Chain
This week we conducted a big internal playtest (plus moderators) for Draggin’ Dragons and we received some excellent feedback. We continue to apply polish and add new UI elements to the game in preparation for open beta launch to you, our players.
Ali, our Lead Designer on the project created a teaser reel for the Speed Races feature. While there will be more video trailers featuring breeding, battle races and special events, this is a taste of what’s to come!
In passing, we have alluded to our upcoming whitepaper. The whitepaper describes in great detail the game platform we are building and how we intend to bring mainstream gaming to the blockchain both with our own internally developed games and with game development partners. I am happy to report we have put the finishing touches on it and will be sharing it with the world in the next couple of weeks.
Game Maker’s Corner
Harold Perry: Lead Platform Developer
Behind the Curtain
I lead development on our game platform. I do the work that you barely even know you’re using…if I do my job well, that is. I create things like APIs, SDKs, and other acronyms, which power both our games and games developed by platform partners.
Since we’re building on blockchain, we’re often using different methods for authentication or purchasing in-game items than what other games (or apps) use. Instead of just using OAuth, traditional username/password systems, or iTunes and Google Play, we use wallet addresses, signatures, and cryptocurrency. So, we have to build a lot of it from scratch. And, in some cases, we have to wrap and morph other technologies to work the way we need. This is the challenge, and excitement, with trailblazing new technology!
It may not be sexy to many, but I love this stuff. Designing and building systems that talk to each other…that gets me going. Being on the leading edge of world-changing technology…that’s not so bad either.
In the News
What’s hot in gaming, on and off the blockchain? Here’s where you find out!
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/leading-blockchain-and-gaming-companies-form-blockchain-game-alliance/ — Leading companies in the gaming and blockchain space have come together to form the Blockchain Game Alliance, a coalition that will advocate for blockchain development within the gaming industry.
B&C: We have mixed feelings about this announcement. On one hand, the mandate to legitimize blockchain gaming is a noble one. On the other hand, this coalition was formed behind closed doors by self-appointed “leaders” in game development during the recent Blockchain Gamer Conference in Helsinki. The group is closed and if you aren’t part of the clique, you’re not getting in. This is the complete opposite of the democratized and decentralized philosophy the grassroots blockchain movement companies like Halo Platform and Block and Chain Games are evangelizing. Putting blockchain games in an “ivory tower” only serves those businesses involved in the group and the subsequent press focusing solely on Ubisoft’s involvement in this initiative is indicative of that.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2018/10/04/what-you-can-learn-about-business-from-these-wildly-successful-video-game-developers/#78c8ecfe1423 — Like many gamers in their thirties today, I spent much of the 90s and early 2000s playing popular video games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. id software, led by John Romero and John Carmack, developed these wildly successful video games and earned millions of dollars and the adoration of customers around the world.
B&C: This was an enjoyable article by some of the most iconic names in the games industry; my heros in fact. It’s refreshing to see a humble and honest retrospective on game development and a sincere desire to inspire future generations of game makers. I’m proud to say that we at Block and Chain draw inspiration from experiences of these giants and make the most of our motley little crew of game makers, with all the many tools, technologies and tricks-of-the-trade learned by those who came before us.
Please take a moment to sign up for our newsletter to receive it in your inbox each week: https://www.blockandchain.games/support.html
Join The Block & Chain Community!
Originally published at community.haloplatform.tech.
