(The Creator Spotlight is an official Decentraland guest blog by community member Clark Kent. The Creator Spotlight aims to bring a spotlight to projects being developed in Decentraland by participants in the Creator Program. You can follow Clark Kent on Twitter at: @metaverseNFT)
Every four years the world grinds to a halt. Shops are closed. People take off work. Wars have even been put on hold. All so that the world can pay homage to a sport that has captivated the minds and hearts of people everywhere. Perhaps the Brazilians put it best, O Jogo Bonito (The Beautiful Game). And now, that excitement is being brought to Decentraland by creator dzsunyec (pronounced ‘joon-yets’) who is proud to bring Decentralanders in-world virtual football (“soccer” for some) in an event that is sure to amaze – the first Moonshot Crypto World Cup!
About The Creator
Many of you know dzsunyec as the mastermind behind the Infinity Engine, a truly unique technology that takes full advantage of and expands the possibilities of what can be done with limited space in Decentraland. Recently, dzsunyec has been hard at work on a new project; one that will introduce multiplayer gaming to Decentraland on a whole new level. But before we get to his newest accomplishment, I’d like to tell you a little more about the man behind it.
By day, dzsunyec goes by the name of Bence Varga, a self taught 3D artist with over fifteen years of experience. Bence has a degree in software engineering and has worked as a 3D design team leader at a mobile GPU benchmarking company as well as in business development and sales at a self driving AI software company. For the last year, he has been teaching himself Blender and the Decentraland SDK.
By night, Bence becomes dzsunyec, and when he is not hard at work on his own projects, he “wanders around Decentraland and the Discord channels saving innocent people from SDK bugs.” This is exactly the type of hero Decentraland needs right now. As a solo developer, dzsunyec is grateful for the support of the DCL Team and of HPrivakos, who have been integral in helping him bring his creations to life.
Dzsunyec first came to Decentraland to participate in a builder contest. Chasing a MANA prize, dzsunyec created his first scene and took home a sponsor prize. And the rest is history. From that moment on, dzsunyec was hooked and fell in love with the SDK while learning it for a hackathon challenge. Some of dzsunyec favorite features of Decentraland include the ability to stand at his scenes and ask users for feedback as they experience the scene in real time and the fact that you can deploy virtually any game, experience, or art you wish on Decentraland.
The 2020 Moonshot Crypto World Cup
Dzsunyec’s newest creation, the Moonshot Crypto World Cup is a multiplayer football game that allows players to compete in 5 on 5 football alongside other Decentralanders. The in-world mechanics are much like that of real football. Users pass a ball to their teammates with the goal of moving the ball down the field and ultimately shooting it into the goal. The game allows you to aim the ball either at the goal or at teammates, and the game’s dedicated server based real time multiplayer capability is intended to make the playing experience seamless. The game also features custom player avatars with lower latency so that the ball can be passed to exactly where the other players are.
While many of you saw the old version of the Moonshot stadium during the treasure hunt, the new stadium is improved in almost every way. It features brand new stands that provide Decentralanders a great view of the pitch from all angles and a playing field with realistic grass.
I asked dzsunyec what his inspiration behind the project was and he told me:
I was on the lookout for a game that would fit Decentraland both from the technical side as well as being fun to play with online friends. My first game The Infinity Engine was “too single-player”, and I quickly realized after the DCL launch event that fun comes from multiplayer and social experiences. A sports event is also something I thought could be broadcasted more easily, so non-players could also follow it and enjoy it. It is basically both a general event and skill-based game in one package.
A Look to the Future
Dzsunyec plans on the Moonshot Crypto World Cup game being “a regular, open-for-all soccer game tournament.” He also plans on incorporating a single player mode where users will be able to do trick shots from different positions on the field and score as many goals as possible. “This would allow having skill-based leaderboards of the best players ‘off-season’, so people could start organizing better teams.” Further, dzsunyec plans on “open[ing] up friendly multiplayer capabilities, so people can just play a multiplayer match for a small-fee that would cover the dedicated server costs.”
Dzsunyec is also hard at work on another game through the Creator Program called DecentRally. This will be a multiplayer kart racing game which will take advantage of the technology behind Infinity Engine (the cars will stay in place and only the environment will move around the user). This will allow for high speed multiplayer racing and that will be able to be scaled down to even a single parcel of land. In short, dzsunyec is hard at work continuing to make amazing content for Decentraland.
Finally, dzsunyec wants to let all Decentralanders know that he is always happy to answer any questions about the SDK, Blender, and 3D in general in Decentraland’s Discord server. His username is: dzsunyec#0493. I also encourage you to follow him on Twitter at: @bence_m_varga