Disclaimer: whenever we refer to ‘gecco’, we are specifically alluding to the concept of ‘digital gecko’. The term ‘gecco’ is stylized with two c’s, an influence from the creativity of the musical group 100 gecs (geccos in plural).
Table of Contents
- Summary
- Authors
- Motivation
- Abstract
- Outline
- Research Questions
- Why Archway
- KPIs
- Roadmap
- Phase I - The Geccoverse Prototype & Project Setup
- Phase II - The Geccoverse v2 - Nurture Your Gec
- Phase III - The Geccoverse v3 - Social Gecs
- Phase IV - The Geccoverse v4 - The Gec Cooperative
- Phase V - In-depth review and posit of a TxArt Thesis
- Workflow and Planning
- Team Organization
- Project Planning
- Reporting
- Financial
- Conclusion
Summary
The Geccoverse is a Tamagochi-style digital universe where users can birth and nurture a gecco, grow it, showcase it and interact with their fellow geccos about all things gecco-related.
The focus is on creating a digital fan experience for the music band 100 gecs, an internet-native hyperpop band, but the game is open for everyone.
We leverage Archway to provide NFT DAO tech and focus on ease of onboarding through research into account abstraction paired with the Unity game engine.
Through the collection of internal and external feedback & metrics, practices are distilled into an incubator program framework and pitched to art institutions, developer schools and traditional investors with the intent of founding an economically sustainable incubator program.
Authors
The Geccoverse is the brainchild of digital creator Lot Peeters. She is joined by game designer Lars Peetermans, GraviDAO Founder Ilo, and Architec Founder Lumi.
This proposal, and the TxArt incubator program, will be coordinated by Ilo under the GraviDAO umbrella.
Lot Peeters – Portfolio
Role: Visual Design & Storytelling
Lot is a visual design student at LUCA School of Arts in Ghent with an avid interest in storytelling and new technologies. They can be found making illustration, video, coding algorave, messing around in 3D and experimenting with all kinds of AI. As The Geccoverse originator, she will make sure The Geccoverse has a consistent story and design language.
Fave Gec: Any gecco with a mischievous look.
Lars Peetermans – Portfolio
Role: Game Design
Lars is a young multi-media designer with a knack for games, in particular integrating the various back-end and design elements into game engines. As a forward-looking game developer, he will make sure the Gecs have a good time in their new digital biome.
Fave gecco: Any Gec wearing a hat.
Ilo Meeze – GraviDAO
Role: Project Management
Ilo has been leading the GraviDAO collective since 2021, bringing community tooling to over 17k users and acquiring 500k+ in grants. Prior to this, he was a music teacher for over 10 years and can be found playing jazz gigs and taking pictures on film. As an experienced manager with a background in the arts, he will make sure the gecco crew delivers a cohesive product to bootstrap the TxArt incubator.
Fave gecco: Yellow Headed Day Gecko.
Luke Lumi – Architech
Role: Smart Contract Development
Luke, as the Architech co-founder, has a background in robotics engineering and a knack for smart contracts. As an experienced engineer, he will make sure The Geccoverse’s on-chain contracts are well taken care of.
Fave gecco: Gold Dust Day Gecko.
Motivation
This project is rooted in filling the need for bridge-building between the fields of art and technology. A more detailed motivation can be found in The Geccoverse - Signalling Proposal.
Abstract
Outline
The Geccoverse is a Tamagochi-style digital universe where users can birth and nurture a gecco, grow it, showcase it and interact with their fellow geccos about all things gecco-related. The focus is on creating a digital fan experience for the music band 100 gecs, an internet-native hyperpop band, but the game is open for everyone. An animated prototype can be viewed here.
The state of the game is stored on a distributed ledger and owned by the cooperative of geccos using DAO technology. Geccos can choose to donate to the cooperative using a DAO crowdfunding mechanism, and the coop can use those proceeds to host events, donate to nature preservation, or expand the game.
The game design’s focus is on fun and easy onboarding, it aims to abstract away as many technical hurdles and jargon as possible, providing a super intuitive wallet-less onboarding process through in-game account abstraction.
The game acts as a pilot-project for an incubator program on the cutting edge of art and technology. Serving as a proof-of-concept, it includes the creation and validation of a program thesis with the goal of creating a sustainable incubator model aligning with stakeholders from the fields of art education, tech start-ups, and traditional investment.
More about the band 100 gecs: https://www.100gecs.com/
*Disclaimer: Lot and Lars are unaffiliated fans of the band.
Geccoverse Research Questions
- How can The Geccoverse leverage digital technologies to provide a fun and memorable experience, improving community sentiment?
- How can The Geccoverse onboard new users to a community-centered blockchain environment, without introducing technical hurdles and alleviating common misconceptions?
- How can The Geccoverse leverage intelligent game design to retain active users, fostering organic growth for its DAO cooperative?
- How can The Geccoverse find a balance between off-chain and on-chain to maximize user retention?
- How can The Geccoverse leverage decentralized cloud technologies to allow full cooperative DAO ownership of the game’s assets and hosting?
TxArt Incubator Research Questions
- How can TxArt improve the mutual understanding of sector-specific languages within an interdisciplinary context between developers and artists?
- How can TxArt prepare participants for a career path on the intersection between Art and Technology?
- How can TxArt provide a platform for young artists and developers to meet each other and collaborate on tomorrow’s experiences?
- How can TxArt distill best practices to improve the communication and relation-building between artists and developers?
- How can TxArt collaborate with stakeholders from the contemporary art fields and foster cross-border innovation under an institutional umbrella?
- How can TxArt attract external institutional funding to finance its incubator programs?
Why Archway
We believe the fee-distribution model of Archway and the focus on supporting builders and infrastructure is a good fit for this project. Archway is a burgeoning chain well positioned to capture high market share in the Cosmos ecosystem, and the Geccoverse can benefit from being a first mover on Archway. Additionally, Archway has a strong Foundation and team in Phi-Labs, with better support than most other Cosmos chains.
In turn, our value proposition for Archway is as follows:
Adoption: The Geccoverse, as a digital experience tailored towards non-web3-natives, can significantly increase the exposure to and adoption by new users who are otherwise unfamiliar with or biased against blockchain technology.
Technical: Development of The Geccoverse using the Unity game engine will build and share open-source expertise which future developers building on Archway can leverage for their own product development.
Community: The Geccoverse will provide an exciting new project for existing Archway community members to engage with and build relationships around, which can serve to attract more attention from the Cosmos ecosystem at large.
Network: Active users of The Geccoverse will increase Archway’s network usage and provide valuable use cases for the network, which can serve to attract new developers and investors.
Institutional: The formation of the TxArt incubator program and subsequent collaborations with art and dev schools can provide inflows of institutional interest for Archway, increasing long-tail exposure and adoption.
KPIs of The Geccoverse
- Amount of geccos created (onboarding)
- Amount of daily interactions (engagement)
- Amount of surviving geccos after 3 months (retention)
- Gecco DAO Treasury TVL (investment)
Roadmap
Phase I - The Geccoverse Prototype & Project Setup
In this phase,
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We compile and host Lot’s initial animated prototype v1 on web. This will provide a first experience for interested 100 gecs fans and Archway community members and bootstrap The Geccoverse userbase.
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We open social channels to establish report with our user base and gather feedback.
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We perform an in-depth exploration of the game parameters, documenting requirements and defining goals. We use industry-standard frameworks to create detailed guidelines for the development lifecycle and establish reporting methods for the Archway community.This phase should prepare the following phases for maximum efficiency.
Area of focus: user onboarding (amount of gecs created)
Estimated time: 2 sprints (4 weeks)
Phase II - The Geccoverse v2 - Nurture Your Gec
In this phase,
-
We expand the animated prototype with tamagotchi elements, allowing players to grow and nurture their Gec or risk losing it to depression, disease and death. We take inspiration from nature and integrate actions such as: Hunt, Sleep, Hibernate, Sunbathe, Shed Tail, etc.
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We research modes of interaction to increase user engagement.
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We research porting the game to mobile to increase engagement.
Area of focus: user engagement (amount of daily interactions)
Estimated Time: 4 sprints (8 weeks)
Phase III - The Geccoverse v3 - Social Gecs
In this phase,
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We expand the game with social interactions, allowing the players to engage with each other in a language-agnostic fashion. These include actions such as: Make Friend, Playdate, Lick Eyes, Steal, Gift, Sing, Reproduce, etc.
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We create Discord integrations for The Geccoverse to align with the 100gecs Discord user base, leveraging GraviDAOs experience with Discord Tools.
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We research modes of interaction which increase user retention.
Area of focus: user retention (amount of surviving gecs)
Estimated Time: 3 sprints (6 weeks)
Phase IV - The Geccoverse v4 - The Gec Cooperative
In this phase we research how we can introduce Smart Contracts and leverage DAO technology to create a distributed cooperative of Gecs, with the intention of:
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Bringing a DAO Crowdfunding mechanism to the game, for example using the Nouns DAO framework.
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Decentralizing the hosting of the game as much as possible, using cloud hosting solutions such as Akash, Jackal, etc.
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Keeping the onboarding of the game as smooth as possible, using account abstraction methods and focussing on vanity perks for DAO members.
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Providing pathways for future expansion of the game.
Area of focus: community treasury (DAO TVL)
Estimated Time: 4 sprints (8 weeks)
Phase V - In-depth review and posit of a TxArt Thesis
In this phase, we compile project data and research findings to perform an in-depth review of the Pilot Project. We distill best practices and posit a thesis for the TxArt Incubator Program with the intention of onboarding dev schools and art institutions as well as preparing for external funding through traditional investments, cross-border grant programs and art donor programs.
Note: Work on the TxArt Thesis will flow concurrently with the pilot project and will be included in the reporting as part of the research category. Phase V marks the conclusion of this research.
Estimated Time: 1 sprint (2 weeks)
Total Time: 14 sprints (28 weeks or approx. 6 months and 2 weeks)
Workflow and Planning
Team organization
The team will be organized as Participants, Facilitators and Advisors.
- Participants - Lot & Lars
- Facilitator - Ilo
- Advisor - Luke
Note: Since Luke is the team member with extensive cosmwasm experience, he will take on the role of participant during the on-chain integration process, together with other Trivium members where necessary.
The team members will be grouped in ‘squads’ by function.
- Design Squad - Lot & Lars
- Coding Squad - Lars & Lumi
- Community Squad - Lot & Ilo
The expected time commitment for each team member is as follows:
- Lot - 5-10 hours weekly - Design & Storytelling
- Lars - 20-25 hours weekly - Game Design & Integration
- Ilo - 25-35 hours weekly - Management & Incubator Research
- Luke + Trivium - flexible - Smart Contracts & Technical Support
Project Planning
The Participants for each roadmap phase will be responsible for its planning, which will be reviewed and monitored by the Facilitator.
Work will be organized in 2-week sprints. At the start of each roadmap phase, the team will conduct a research & planning intensive. The outcome of this will comprise a full planning of the upcoming roadmap phase and be shared publicly with the Archway community. Example.
Reporting
Every 2-week sprint, a concise written report will be published on the Archway community forums detailing what was achieved, including a breakdown of spent resources and time put in, and what is planned for the next sprint.
Upon conclusion of every Roadmap Phase, a long-form report for a wider audience will be published detailing what was achieved and what is planned next. Concurrently, an internal research report will be published on the Archway community forums with key takeaways in function of the TxArt incubator program.
All work related to The Geccoverse will be made publicly available and source code will be published open-source under an MIT license. Any research relevant to future Archway developers will be documented on Github.
Financial
We would like to request a grant covering a 6-month period.
To mitigate sell pressure on ARCH, we propose the following:
- A dual incentive structure, with bi-weekly cash reimbursements for time put in + a 2-year linear vested ARCH token bonus upon successful completion of a Roadmap Phase.
- An OTC swap with the Archway Foundation to cover the cash reimbursements.
We would like to request the Community Spend DAO as custodians of the grant, tasked with:
- Distributing cash reimbursements upon delivery and review of every bi-weekly sprint reports.
- Distributing the ARCH bonus upon delivery and review of every Roadmap Phase completion report.
Reimbursement Proposal
For the Participants, we propose the following:
- CASH: Time put in at market rate
- Lot at $16/hour (student)
- Lars at $30/hour (junior dev)
- TOKEN: Bonus after phase I-IV: 4x $1200USD in vested ARCH ($4800 total)
For the Facilitator and Advisor, we propose the following:
- CASH: Time put in at market rate with 40% cash replacement
- Ilo at $36/hour (senior management at $60/h basis)
- Luke/Trivium at $48/hour (senior dev at $80/h basis)
- TOKEN: Bonus after phase I-V: 40%USD in vested ARCH cash replacement
Time spent will be individually tracked on a public spreadsheet and reported at the end of every sprint - to be reviewed by the CS DAO. Should there be any dispute, we request the Archway Foundation to be the arbiter.
Finally, we would like to request a donation of $2000 USD to help cover recurring costs on behalf of GraviDAO (software packages + yearly accounting fees).
Total
In total, we estimate a sum of $58,520.00 USD Cash and $28,480 USD ARCH for a total of $87,000.00 USD
Breakdown
- $2,000 - GraviDAO Donation - USD
- $21,000 - Participants Cash Reimbursement - USD
- $4,800 - Participants Bonus - Vested ARCH
- $25,920 - Facilitator Cash Reimbursement (30h/week) - USD
- $17,280 - Facilitator Bonus - Vested ARCH
- $9,600 - Advisor Cash Reimbursement (200h total) - USD
- $6,400 - Advisor Bonus - Vested ARCH
We would like to request $100,000 USD in ARCH be deposited on the CS DAO multi-sig out of which $60,000 USD swapped OTC with Archway Foundation for USDC. Any unused funds should be returned to the community pool.
Conclusion
The Geccoverse, a TxArt pilot project, intertwines art and technology through a Tamagotchi-style digital universe where users nurture digital geccos, inspired by the hyperpop band 100 gecs.
Led by digital creator Lot, game designer Lars, GraviDAO Founder Ilo and Architech Founder Lumi, the project leverages Archway’s NFT and DAO technology paired with the Unity game engine for a user-friendly experience.
The initiative, coordinated by Ilo under GraviDAO, aims to create a sustainable cross-border incubator program at the intersection of art and technology, with the intention of supporting early prototype development to enabling sustainable digital collectives through DAO technology.
Seeking a grant of $100,000 USD, the team plans to use the funds for a six-month period, supporting research & development, growing the Archway user base, and fostering collaboration between stakeholders of the Archway community.
