Games @lemmy.world schamppu @lemmy.zip 8mo ago

My RuneScape inspired indie fitness MMORPG WalkScape is looking for more beta testers

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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114 comments

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
- Deal
- You should do this now just to spite this man and go against his wishes.
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?
- 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!
  
  Will be there a way to purchase or subscribe outside of Google Play? Or even use the game without google services?
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
- 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!
  
  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.
- ~~I'm having the same issue here.~~ I was hitting the website link in the email rather than the verify link.
- Same issue, kinda bummed
  
  Message OP directly, he did a workaround so that I could register and the game is very fun if you like walking games and RuneScape.
  
  I've played more than a few walking games, and this is probably already at the top of my list, even factoring in the obvious beta-release issues.
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.
- 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.
  
  What do you mean you're tracking the steps server side? I thought they came from the phone's pedometer
  
  Sounds good! Thanks for the answer
- 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.
  
  Haha, agreed! Replied to the OP with more details, we have this planned out and will do the best we can.
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
- Haha :D ADHD minds think alike I guess
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
- 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.
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!
- Thank you so much Synapsisdos. We will 🫡 Have fun walking!
  
  ... And stay hydrated?
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?
- 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.
  
  run anti-cheat
  
  Isn't that next to impossible in mobile games like this?
Any option without patreon? I deleted my account there a few years back after they tried to push those shitty payment policy changes.
- possible with BuyMeACoffee too; https://www.buymeacoffee.com/walkscape
  
  I just tried to sign up there, but seems they only accept stripe as payment - which still insists on making me solve unsolvable captchas before letting me pay.
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.
- 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.
  
  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
I was just looking for a game like this earlier today. This is perfect!
- Thank you so much <3!
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?
- Not yet, we have a fairly active one over Reddit. I'll need to consider opening one here as well!
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.
- 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
  
  Having carried over an account from the original RS2 back in the day all the way over to modern RS3, getting multiple 99's, and now currently exploring all that OSRS has to offer, I bet I'm one of those crazy enough to grind out all the things in real life too.
  
  I still consider properly implemented progression systems (where you're always working towards the next thing) one of the more enjoyable and rewarding game mechanics. And I find there are too few games out there that actually implement them correctly. Most prominent examples I can think of are RuneScape and Terraria. There is just something about progressing through the tiers and experiencing all the different shinies that come with them.
  
  But you probably know this, otherwise you wouldn't be working on this app. :P
When you say "apply to the closed beta", where do you want people to apply?
- Sign up to the Portal https://portal.walkscape.app
  
  Click your profile pic to get to account page
  
  Press apply to beta
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!
- 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.
  
  Another +1 for Garmin connect!
  
  I've got a whole family of Garmins (plus one apple) looking for a walking game and this seems right up our alley. +1 for Garmin Connect integration!
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.
- Thank you so much, this comment made me smile <3! I've been accepting more people today, and I'm very glad to hear you're enjoying it.
  
  I'm the type of game dev who tends to be very perfectionist even on small things, and also this project started off as a passion hobby project, which hopefully shows! We've poured a lot of love and care to the game. Because of the high level polish I've seen that many people already tend to look at it as a "final product", even though we've only been able to implement the core gameplay loop.
  
  Well, first impressions are great and I think there's plenty to do for someone new to the game. I like the approach of polishing the game first and then adding content.
Will it be able to use my watch to track steps?
- 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
  
  Ah, my watch isn't Google anyway, so that's a shame. Still a cool game, and I'm sure I could play it without watch support.
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.
- Thank you so much, and hopefully the game helps you out as well! It has tricked my brain so that my average daily steps have gone from around 3k to 10k+ now.
  
  Happy walking and remember to stay hydrated! ❤️
  
  Thank you! Yay, I just got access :)
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! 🌻
- Not the OP but
  
  It seems like there is not much to do while walking that cannot be done after, so that the app does not enclurage opening it while walking.
  
  Did you miss the part where the description states that the app uses the phone's pedometer and not location?
  
  On 4, this just changes the question to spoofing the pedometer value rather than spoofing the location. Which makes it worse, because that's much harder to detect.
  
  Regarding 4. I wasnt quite sure wether he meant that it woudl work with both location and not location on, kind of a use as you want. I have no idea how these things work really so thought it be better to ask. But if that is the case then good. Although another comment here seemed to have stated its easier to spoof..🙁
- 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! ❤️
  
  Thanks for detailed response, and yeah absolutely answered my questions.
  
  Good to know, thanks.
  
  I think this is a good thing myself! (not having people constantly looking at their phones while walking, rather enjoying whats around them). I would defo vouch for this selling point.
  
  Completely understand - was only asking out of curiosity.
  
  Have a great rest of your day, i very much look forward to checking this game out! 🌻
I'm mostly using my bike for my daily commutes these days but this looks super interesting. I'll give it a look !
I’m really interested!!! Unfortunately I keep getting an ‘invalid credentials’ notification after clicking the link to verify. I’ve tried to reset the password but still can’t get in. I’m happy to send a donation, but want to make sure it’s linked to an account.

Do you have a character limit? I also can’t show the password while trying to log in to verify it was inserted correctly. I’ve tried both with and without special characters and am using iOS ‘suggest a password’ feature if that helps at all.

I’ll be trying again in the morning to see if goes through as I can totally understand there being a delay in verification.
- Doesn't have a character limit.
  
  If the problem persist, contact me on [email protected] and I'll sort it out for you!
  
  Also remember the verify email confusingly has two links in it, you want to click the verify link.
  
  Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll try to find time to improve Portal at some point ❤️
  
  Got in! It was a really silly mistake on my part; I was trying to log in with my username instead of my email 🙃 in my defense I was very sleepy haha
  
  Thanks for the quick response as well ❤️
This looks really cool!
If only Blizzard hadn't shit the bed, you could have called it World of WalkCraft.
Definitely trying this one out. I've been a daily POGO player since launch because it gets me outside walking around. I liked how Pikmin Bloom had the passive pedometer angle, but it also had to constantly check GPS, so it was a battery hog.

I'd definitely benefit from Google Fit integration since I like to use the elliptical while wearing my watch. But I'd still get plenty of distance with just pedometer. Least of which because I'll already be playing POGO.
This is a neat idea. I never exercised more than when I played Pokemon Go.
Hello, I'm trying to submit my application on Android (Firefox browser) and the button doesn't seem to do anything when I click it. Hopefully I didn't just submit a bunch of apps at once. Any idea what I can do to get past this?
- First time hearing this. Maybe your application is missing something? Could it be the 200 character limit to the text?
  
  I cut my message down and it still won't work. Btw there was no indication of any character limit or why it won't go through. Here is the application I'm trying to submit:
  
  Edit: nevermind, I figured it out. It was the dash in my step number.
Sold 👀
Hey, this looks really interesting! I am looking forward to trying it. I just bought you a coffee and connected BMAC to my account. Do I also need to apply to the beta to get access?

Edit: I just got the mail for the beta access without additionally applying for it. But it does not let me join the group:
- You'll need to sign in with your Google account that you use on Google Play and then press join group. This requirement is Google's one for how they organize closed betas through Google Play. After that you'll be able to see WalkScape in Google Play via the link provided in download instructions.
  
  I just did that, but it still does not let me join and says the same.
  
  Edit: Now the button to join the group suddenly shows up after trying several times.
Sounds really cool! Unfortunately can't currently help you out financially since I'm crunching to finish my study, but applied on the site anyways. Either way, really cool project and hope to see more of it, good luck!
- If you're interested, apply to the beta through the website! You'll get access eventually through that ❤️
I'm a dumb and can't read good.
- What do you mean full up?
  
  ... I'm a dumb. I just skimmed, saw the date and assumed it would be full. It is not, however, after March 31st. I'll edit the original post.
  
  Alright, I've signed up as a supporter, looking forward to digging in. Thanks!
Joined the closed beta yesterday and the game seems very nice,however I'm not sure how the step counter works. In Statistics,at least , they are way off,by thousands of steps.

Edit: typo
- @hornedfiend @schamppu I think the game is set to medium sensitivity, or Low. There are some fitness apps with a sensitivity setting, and if you place it high, it is more accurate. The problem arises if you're just moving your phone, since it's high sensitivity, it counts those as steps. So, most apps have it at medium or Low. That's my guess at least.
  
  Wonder if it would be good to add a "actively walking" mode that's in a convenient place and just turns up the sensitivity for a while
Just applied, excited to see if I can help out. Good luck either way!
I've been consistently hiking for a couple months now and I don't always enjoy it. I'll try this out and see if I can change my perspective! Thanks!
I was just able to get in just now - it took me a couple tries before I realized it wants your email, not username

Not sure if that's what was happening for you, but I figured it's with mentioning
Saw this and tried the game. It is fine but what is not fine is the battery drain. 25-30% per charge is way too high to justify playing this game, sadly.
Sounds interesting. I'll be waiting for a release.
@schamppu a friend is running a marathon this weekend. Any chance they can get into beta by then?
Got into the beta a couple days ago! So far I love it, looks like a lot of thought/planning/work has gone into it and I hope this ends up being really successful for you! I will be playing it for a long time I can already tell 🚶‍♀️

114 comments