Re: [glob2-devel] Possible financing for Globulation

[Leo Wandersleb]

Hi,

> The Swiss foundation for culture propose help to finance swiss games.
> While Glob2 does not exactly fit inside the model (classical business
> model), I think that if we try we might still receive some money. The
> problem is that 51% of work-force should be in Switzerland. This might
> not be too difficult, as Luc-Olivier and I have invested a lot of time
> on this project.

Does the game need to have been developed 51%+ in Switzerland or does the funded
effort have to take place in Switzerland 51%+? I can't find anything on this.

> So here are some questions:
> - Leo, how much money have you invested on glob2 until now (to help
> building the budget)?

To help building the budget? I don't have any servers that I dedicated to glob2
100%. Both (yog/forum/wiki-server and the hudson-server) are used for other
stuff but together they cost 40€/month. When it comes to bandwidth and CPU,
glob2 is 95% of the load.
I'll send you a private mail regarding the payed development once I find time to
look it up.

> - What do we need to complete the game? (i.e. what do we still need, is
> it artwork/etc. ?)

imho that would be:
#1 Robustness. No crashes/desyncs without clear reasons.
#2 Tolerance to high latency (maybe some ability to vote on "wait player" or 
"kick")
#3 A faster game loop where the game keeps a certain pace no matter if one of
the clients is slower (drop frames on the slow machine, LOD, whatsoever).
#4 A server construct really tested for scalability. What if 2000 players want
to play glob2 at once?
#5 Security. What if one of those 2000 players is a troll?
#5 Sound effects
#6 monetarisation model (In-game-commercials? Sell on CD? flattr [1]?
Merchandise? get into the next humble indie bundle [2]) This point is critical.
No idea what your program is aiming at but most aim at starting successful
companies that pay off in taxes next year.
#7 gfx (glob2 looks 70s to most of my friends ;) Maybe settings like lava,
winter etc. would also be nice.

> - I am thinking about alternative way to have glob2 compatible with the
> rules of the financing framework. For instance, we could imagine a
> "commercial" derivative of glob2, focusing on the question of resource
> saving. This derivative could share the (open-source) codebase with
> glob2 but provide specific graphics, maps, and campaigns. I think that
> this way we have a better chance of getting the money.

I doubt anyone will run a business on gpl game + proprietary gfx for long.
Changing gfx for a free version is too easy.

While I'm absolutely for keeping glob2 free let me point out that there would be
an easy way to kind of close source glob2 that is the server. If anybody would
go and host a non standard yog server and continue to develop the client as open
source around his closed source yog he could even use the existing yog server as
a code base without violating the gpl. In my opinion such a "competitor" to the
free version would even be good for the project as it would draw attention to
the free version that is pretty dead right now. After all anybody can continue
glob2 as it is.

> What do you think?

I'm getting selfemployed next week so if there is money in glob2, I could
definitely spend lots of time. If there is a promise for a significant share I
would have time to spend on that prior to March 15th but I would ask at fantoche
if our plan has equal chances of winning
* due to the long history of glob2
* the monetarisation limitations given by the gpl
* and the international team.

I guess I could get us good gfx for a fair share of the price money.

>*. The *deadline for
> submissions is 15 March 2011* - a playable prototype of your game must
> be ready by that date.

If the expectation for a price is higher than ... lets say 15€/h at less than
160h I would be in.
Hmmm ... 38k€/(15€/h)=2500h. That would mean if our chances are 10% to win the
main price we could spend 250h on it ;)

> The scheme seeks to promote unreleased projects of a high standard, with
> artistic merit and strong distribution potential.

Hmm ... So new grafix and a business plan looks like a challenging part of the
submission.

> We are interested in
> creations of any kind from the field of computer games that are bold
> enough to take a chance on innovative game concepts, tell interactive
> stories, and use jaw-dropping graphics to push open doors to new visual
> worlds.

Hmm ...

> The "Call for Projects: Swiss Games" is aimed exclusively at games
> developers in or from Switzerland. A jury of international experts will
> award grants of up to CHF 50,000.- per project - for this first award of
> grants in 2011, a framework credit arrangement for a total of CHF
> 300,000.- will be available. The SUISA Foundation for Music is donating
> an additional CHF 15,000.- as a prize for the best original sound
> composition.

Hmm ... so they pay 300kCHF to at least 6 projects (50k/p max.).
That is 225kEUR to at least 6 projects (38k/p max.).
That is 302kUSD to at least 6 projects (50k/p max.).

Regards,

Leo Wandersleb

[1] http://flattr.com/ (i don't like it as it takes a very big share)
[2] http://www.wolfire.com/humble