MinimalDF is a zero-knowledge proof-based game based on the original darkforest game. It has the basic feature set and functionality of the original darkforest game.
Application type
zkDAO
Proposal Overview
MinimalDF serves as a proof of concept implementation and as a teaching tool for the original darkforest game. The game has player spawn and move functionality. Players can interact with the frontend and submit snark proofs to generate and move to different locations in the game without revealing their coordinates. Specific locations contain planets, and each planet has a different amount of resources. To reveal what each location contains, players have to mine coordinates, and the objective is to collect the maximum amount of resources.
Use Cases
Games bring a lot of traffic to the ecosystem. The traffic generated can stress test the harmony chain. For context, the original darkforest game led to a massive increase in traffic on the Ethereum network, almost crashing it. The influx of users could potentially draw more users to the ecosystem and demonstrate the advantages of harmony.
MinimalDF serves as a pedagogical tool for zku. Darkforest is one of the most popular applications of zkp, and students at zku are taught and given assignments based on it. MinimalDF, a barebones implementation of darkforest, is easy to understand and extend for students new to the field.
Proposal ask
In order to get this up and running, we request $15k/year stable basic income to take care of welfare and development costs.
This ask will be in line with the laid down milestones as detailed below
launching a feature-complete product on testnet
forming a DAO with 5-out-of-9 multisig with our DAOs
launching on our mainnet with audit
attracting 1k daily active users (with launch video, full PR promotion)
attracting 10k daily active users (with a detailed roadmap, governance process)
Road Map
MinimalDF is currently live on harmony mainnet.
Objective
Date
Status
Testnet launch
Feb 21st
Done
Beta testing
Apr 15th
Pending
Contract Audit
Apr 30th
Pending
Mainnet Launch
Mar 2nd
Done
Improvements
May 15th
Pending
Post the full launch of Minimaldf, we would continue work on the project and keep adding more features to make it more interesting and fully playable.
This application can be used by zku for teaching students and help them better understand dark forest game. Also it utilizes low fees of Harmony blockchain, which can attract more users. I support this idea. As a governor of zkDAO it’s yes from me.
This application is invaluable to understanding the dark forest game and benefits from the low fees and 2-second finality of Harmony. It’s a yes from me as a governor of zkDAO
it seems that one interesting possibility is, from here, one can also develop the game into different variants. i wonder if the applicant has considered already suggesting this as an idea to current ZKU students, to fork this version of DF instead of the much more complicated current official version of DF, to build new games of their own as final projects
given such potentials, a yes from me as a governor as well
Great resource to teach dark forest to new-comers into zero-knowledge. The game is also super interesting so this is a strong yes for me as a ZKU governor
A DAO has been formed with a 5-out-of-9 multisig (address: 0x1537af8E676a9d2D6Ac57ebab0a7bCE81215D00A)
minimalDF DAO
Mandates
Maintain and promote the use of the application to serve its purpose as a pedagogical tool for ZKU.
Improve and extend minimalDF to add more features.
Founding Governors
Kousik
Governor of zkDAO and teaching assistant at ZKU pursuing bachelor’s in Computer Science and Engineering.
Cathie
Founder of zkPhoto, governor at zkDAO, and teaching staff at ZKU. Cathie is a public speaker and instructor on the topics of machine learning, blockchain, and web3 development in Hong Kong.
Alex
Governor at zkDAO and teaching staff at ZKU. Alex is a master’s degree student and TA at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Tosin
Governor at zkDAO and teaching staff at ZKU. Tosin is a software engineer at a leading bank in Africa and contributing to the Harmony Blockchain in the areas of zero-knowledge proofs and privacy.
Hakwan
Governor at zkDAO and course director of ZKU. Hakwan has over 14 years of experience in tertiary education. Besides working at Harmony as a core team member, he also directs the Laboratory for Consciousness at the RIKEN Institute (Center for Brain Science) near Tokyo.
Tomo
Teaching staff and graduate from the second cohort of ZKU, software developer and a founder of a startup building a product for people who work in the Web3 field pseudonymously.
Semar
Governor at zkDAO and teaching staff at ZKU. Semar also works at Webb-Protocol as a software engineer.
Pran
Teaching staff at ZKU. Pran is an engineer contributing to Cardano and Harmony ecosystems, working on wallets, bridges, and zero-knowledge proof.
Kayuet
She is currently a tenured associate professor at UCLA. She studies social networks and has previously worked with Harmony on research about data marketplace and privacy. She will contribute to the DAO with her expertise in university-level administration and funding management.