Introducing Super8BallClub: The first ever multiplayer-based pool game for Android - Powered by STEEM Blockchain - Using PlayFab and Photon Technology - Get paid for winning the matches!
Dear STEEM community,
I've been giving the hints in my countless posts of how hard I'm working on something special for STEEM community. Now, after the months of tough and sweaty work, I'm really excited to announce the project to the public. So ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce:
Super8BallClub's Official Website Google Play Store
What is Super 8 Ball Club?
Super 8 Ball Club is an android game that I developed in c# and javascript with my friend. It is the first ever multiplayer-based pool game which allows you to earn STEEM for winning the matches and costs you nothing when you get beaten by your opponent. You know what's the great part? All the players will be Steemians playing with each other in multiplayer mode.
On STEEM Blockchain, we have an alternative of YouTube and that's DTube (special thanks to @heimindanger for developing that application). We also have an alternative of SoundCloud and that's DSound (a big thanks to @prc). What's more? We have a greatest @utopian-io project on STEEM blockchain which rewards steemians for their contributions to open-source projects. (hats off to you @elear) How exciting! In short, we've covered almost everything but I noticed that gaming on STEEM blockchain is missing.
I started considering to develop a game for STEEM community which could hold the potential to trend worldwide. Actually, it all started with an idea which I shared with @donkeypong. He not only liked the idea but encouraged me to start working on it. Then I shared this idea with some other big stars of Steemit and they were really excited but they all had one question; "Which game you're going to develop?" I had one answer and that was "Super 8 Ball Club" (i.e pool game).
Why Super 8 Ball Club?
If you're not living under the rock, you'd be aware that 8 Ball Pool by Miniclip is trending worldwide and so far, it attracted more than 100 Million Downloads from just Google Play Store alone. It made me realize that pool games are more popular than any other games. Furthermore, it's fun to compete in a skill based game instead of purely luck based games. Choosing the genre of the game wasn't a tough decision to make for me but committing to develop the powerful app for Android users was a challenging task.
Main Features of Super 8 Ball Club:
Here are the main features of the game:
- Play against real humans with multiplayer (i.e steemians)
Using Photon Realtime technology, Super 8 Ball Club allows you to play the game on multiplayer and also in practice mode with minimum to no lag. For both things, you need an internet connection. In multiplayer, when you choose the board on which you wish to compete, it starts searching for an opponent and randomly assigns the player who was also looking to play on the same board. The great part is that all the players will be Steemians as we only allow access to boards to the verified STEEM users. All players' names will match their STEEM account names. Imagine the fun when a minnow would be playing with a whale? Wouldn't it be a fun to play? Hell yeah!
- Earn STEEM for winning the matches and lose nothing otherwise
In Super 8 Ball Club, there are two in-game currencies:
- Coins
- Shares
Coins are used to pay the board fees just like any other game and you get x2 of fees paid when you beat your opponent OR you lose the fees if you lose the match. You can buy cues and chat packs with coins. The more matches you win, the more coins you will earn. Coins let you play the game by paying the fees. If you have more coins, you can play big matches and earn even more. Coins by itself don't have any monetary value.
Shares are convertible to STEEM. Upon winning the match, not only you get x2 of fees paid (in coins) but you also get shares. Unlike coins, you can't lose your shares once earned. To earn more shares, you need more coins to be able to play more matches or big matches. You can request us for converting the shares into STEEM. Your STEEM will be transferred to your STEEM Blockchain Wallet.
We use the following formula to determine your share from Super 8 Ball Club reward pool:
Your requested shares conversion / Total number of shares requested for conversion by all players x 100
The above formula returns a percentage. We will multiply the reward pool with that percentage and your STEEM/SP will be sent to your STEEM Blockchain Wallet.
- Unique fraud prevention system
Unlike 8 Ball Pool, you get paid for winning the matches at Super 8 Ball Club and lose nothing when otherwise. Due to the nature of the game, it is highly expected that a large number of people will try to use fraudulent methods to earn more.
In order to prevent fraud (or reduce it to the minimum), we use multiple fraud prevention techniques. We've implemented some security measures in the game that will allow us to track the activity of the player. But more than that, we've implemented the greatest fraud detection technique and that's to require STEEM identity verification from every registered player. Once the player is verified, he will get access to the boards. (Scroll down the page for more information about verification system).
- Custom avatar option
In Super 8 Ball Club, we allow you to set your custom avatar.
In order to change the default avatar to your own, click on "Avatar" from the Menu. Player Statistics page will pop up. There you will see "Pencil" icon, click on it, paste your "Image URL" to that field and click save.
- Chat over the game room
Using Photon Chat technology, we allow gamers to chat while playing the game in multiplayer.
We don't support custom messages right now. We give one chat pack by default to everyone but if you want to buy more chat packs, you can buy from "Shop" within the game using your "Coins". However, the default pack will be enough for you to start with. Wouldn't it be amazing to chat while playing with your opponent?
- 100% Security for STEEM accounts
Security is our main concern. Initially, we had the intention to use SteemConnect for authentication but we had to change our intention. Why? if games like Assassin Creed and 8 Ball Pool are not safe from hacking attempts, how can we ensure the security of our app? In fact, all games are hackable. The key is to keep all the important stuff on the server side and that's what we do.
Instead of using SteemConnect, we use PlayFab to store the player data and statistics, the database which is used by SEGA, CAPCOM, Miniclip and other big names. Your STEEM accounts are 100% secured. You know why? because we never ask you to use your STEEM passwords. Rather, we ask you to register an account on our PlayFab database through our game. (Learn more about registering an account below).
- 8+ Tables with different board rules and rewards.
In Super 8 Ball Club, we have 8+ tables. Each table has different entry fees and rewards. Some boards are easy while some boards are hard.
We have: London, Sydney, Moscow, Tokyo, Las Vegas, Jakarta, Toronto, and Sheffield. The last one is the most challenging board but the most rewarding one too.
- 20+ Cues available to purchase with in-game coins.
We have 20+ cues available in our shop. You can purchase your desired one with your in-game coins.
Each cue comes with different force, aim and timing. You will have the advantage of nice aim with powerful cue and the game will become easy for you (except the Sheffield board).
- Daily coins reward system & paid ads system:
By default, when you register at Super 8 Ball Club, you receive 500+ coins for free to start playing with. Furthermore, we have a daily coins reward system. You can claim up to 300+ coins a day from our daily coins reward system.
If that's not enough, you can watch ads and get 50+ coins for every completed ad view. We can't give you a guarantee of the availability of ads though.
- Shares Conversion Request:
As explained above, Coins don't have any direct monetary value but Shares is convertible to STEEM. Please come to the Menu and click on "Convert Shares". Click on Submit.
We will apply the formula, verify your activity and request manually and if you pass our manual review, you will get your share of rewards in your STEEM Blockchain Wallet.
How to register for Super 8 Ball Club?
We don't want to let bots destroy the game. We want real humans to play with each other and enjoy the STEEM rewards. To ensure that we allow only real humans, we use unique fraud prevention technique. Please take a note that you must have a STEEM blockchain account when registering with us. For using Super 8 Ball Club, you don't need your STEEM Blockchain passwords. Follow the steps:
Step 1: Download the app from Play Store, install it and run it. You'll see the Login page. Please click on "Register here" button as shown below:
Step 2: Registration panel will pop up. Write the information correctly:
Enter your email address that will be used to recover the password of your game account when you ever forget it. We don't send confirmation emails so please write carefully.
Enter your password (min 6 characters). Please use the strong password only. (Note: Don't paste your STEEM account passwords, we don't need your STEEM password. This is a game account which is separate from STEEM blockchain account).
Please enter your unique tracking name. You will be asked to write your tracking name during the verification process. More information about verification process is available within this post.
Please enter your STEEM username without "@". (i.e princewahaj in my case).
If you're referred by someone, please write his STEEM username without "@". Leave blank if none.
Hit "Register" button.
Step 3: You will be redirected to the Menu. As you can see, the Play button is disabled by default and it says that you are "Unverified User". You need to verify your Super 8 Ball Club account.
How to verify your Super 8 Ball Club account?
Verification system allows us to filter the fake people and keeping the fraud to the minimum level. Please consider the following:
If your STEEM account reputation is less than < 60
Please take your picture while holding the piece of paper/board (not anything special, just a blank paper). Write your STEEM username and game tracking name on that piece of paper or board. Your face, STEEM username and your game tracking name must be clearly visible. Write a post on STEEM blockchain and upload your taken picture (the one which meets the above requirements) in your post. Make sure to use "super8ballclub" tag when posting on steemit.
See the picture for an example. (It can be a piece of paper but you must be holding it in your hands).
If your STEEM account reputation is more than > 60
Please write a post on STEEM blockchain with your game tracking name. Make sure to use "super8ballclub" tag when posting on steemit.
Once done, please wait for 24-72 hours and we will enable your account as soon as we verify your identity.
How are the winners rewarded after submitting the shares conversion request?
We have an official project account @super8ballclub. We will use the beneficiary system to reward the winners. After the player requests us to convert the shares into STEEM, we will verify his activity and if he passes manual review, we will include him in the "eligible for rewards" list. We will make a public post on STEEM Blockchain with their names on each post and will assign the appropriate percentage as beneficiary rewards and vote accordingly. They will get their prize in SP.
Why using STEEM Blockchain?
It's difficult to keep blockchain as a database for saving game statistics. And it doesn't make sense to fill the blockchain with garbage like "Player X poted the white ball" etc stuff. In our opinion, the greatest approach to keep the game on STEEM blockchain is by keeping the winner names and their requested shares count on STEEM blockchain and rewarding them in SP with the beneficiary system.
Delegate to @super8ballclub & Welcome Millions of Users on STEEM Blockchain:
No project can be successful without the support of community members. We know that there are people in this community who would love to support the development projects selflessly. If you want to see the STEEM value to skyrocket, you will have to support the development projects. Wide distribution is necessary for the success of any currency. If you believe that this project is good enough and can deliver wide and wise distribution, please delegate to us at @super8ballclub
50 SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.
Note: We are preparing the rewards system for delegators.
Follow me at @princewahaj and follow our official account at @super8ballclub for more updates. I'd like to thank my friend "Rafal" for his help during the development process. He is not on STEEM Blockchain, though.
Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/GXR88FT
If you have any questions, please write them down in the comments and I'd be glad to answer them. If you just registered an account using the game and want us to verify your account, please use "super8ballclub" tag in your post.
Amazing! Thank you @princewahaj!
I have never heard of such a game that could earn you a cryptocurrency from another existing blockchain before. I'm gonna download it right away!
So, I understand that only Shares are convertible to STEEM. But who is trading their STEEM with these Shares?
Thank you @buzz.lightyear for your nice words.
Coins and Shares, both are virtual in-game currencies. We use "Shares system" to track how much you've earned and in order to give you the ability to request your payout whenever you want, we had to use shares system. That way, you can accumulate shares as much as you want and request the payout weekly/bi-weekly/monthly or whenever you want.
When you send us the request of converting shares, we manually verify the gaming activity for possible exploits/pirated version/fake identity or any other abuse. If there's no such abuse, we include your name in the "eligible for payout" list and make a public post on STEEM blockchain with @super8ballclub account.
As stated above, we use a beneficiary system. After your request is approved, we create winner posts on STEEM blockchain and vote from our official account to distribute the prize through a beneficiary system and you get your rewards in SP that will automatically be delivered to your STEEM wallet.
So in short, the reward still comes from voting activity. No one directly trades shares for STEEM. They just request the conversion to get their names included in our winners vote list and get the share of their prize from our reward pool.
Cool! I hope this game takes off successfully as you project.
I delegated some SP your way. Exciting to see projects like this taking shape. Good luck!
Hey @lukestokes, I am speechless! Thank you very much for your delegation. You're the first one to delegate and it's like having a dream come true. You're great!
Thanks once again!
Unfortunately I've got an iPhone so I can't play it myself. I'm trying to convince @corinnestokes to let me try it on her new phone she just got today though. :)
Any plans for an iPhone release?
I've been waiting for more cryptocurrency-connected games for a while now and was sad when the Cryptohunt ICO failed (thankfully it was a smart contract, so I got my money back).
What are your thoughts about when the winners vote list posts get a bunch of votes and show up on trending? Do you think some people will be bothered by that and flag if they think the rewards pool shouldn't fund games like this? Do you have plans to do an SMT in the future?
That's really unfortunate but I'm sure @corinnestokes will permit you to test on her phone. :)
Yes, I'm planning for an iPhone release. Unfortunately, I don't have an iPhone and that's preventing me to test the game on it. As soon as I arrange multiple versions of iPhones and test on it (or if my family members or friends could arrange some), I will give it a go. I have the iPhone code ready as well. iPhone version is my first priority. ;)
There are two types of posts that will be made daily from @super8ballclub.
The first type will have the names of all the winners who are "eligible for the payout" after we manually verify their gaming activity. Since the system allows only 8 beneficiaries per post, we cannot include all the winners in one post.
The second is going to use the beneficiary system to reward those winners with the appropriate percentages, and there will be multiple posts which will essentially divide the value of votes too. I'm planning to write a detailed post about it soon.
For the second type, I don't think it can make to trending page as we are allowed only 8 beneficiaries per post. So, there would be multiple posts to reward other winners as well. In case if there are only 8 winners, then yes, it may trend on the front page but that's very less likely. For the first type, there are more possibilities to get it on trending page more often since it would be a single post.
In both cases, the flagging risk exists. I don't think big stakeholders would mind seeing the project successful. 8 Ball Pool is downloaded 100 Million times just from Play store alone and there are many other pool games. The fact that gamers at Super 8 Ball Club are being rewarded for their time will make it attractive for new people to join in. But if the posts start bothering others, then we can adjust the voting time to ensure that such posts won't make on the trending page.
As for an SMT, I have some plans but they are not yet final. I'd love to see how successful it becomes without SMT at first.
Thank you for everything. Have a nice day!
Sounds like a good plan. I noticed you said beneficiaries and was curious how you'd get around the 8 account limit. Sounds like something worth increasing on the blockchain level (it's come up before as well).
I imagine everyone who gets tagged on a winning post will vote it up as well. Kind of like a self-payment from the rewards pool for winner. Can't say I blame them either. If I won a tournament and my name was listed in the post that's going to partially pay out to me, I'd probably vote it up also (even though I don't self-vote or use voting bots, which are just another version of self-voting).
I'm excited to see where this project goes. Good luck!
I've read somewhere that Steemit INC is planning to increase the beneficiaries limit from 8 to 256 in one of the upcoming hard forks but I'm not confirmed about it.
You're right about the self-upvote thingy. That was one of the reasons for saying that winners vote list is expected to trend more often than payout posts. But you described it better than me.
Thanks. I'm also excited about the project and your delegation should start pumping the things up now. ;)
It was so great that it is first time I have seen a game built on Steem community. You are so right on this article the pool game is one the good game people playing out there and it is a nice decision. I barely finish to read the post and jump right away to comment section to put my appreciation and gratitude for all you efforts cause I wanna install it right now and tell to my friends who are in games. I may play this game if I got a chance. Great job and installing it now @peincewahaj
Looks great. Looking for for games to come
You rock @princewahaj! Waaaaah! Fancy playing pool with fellow Steemians and get paid in Steem for winning matches! I'm IN! But wait, first, let me go have my hair cut for a nice photo for your verification. :p
Upvoted and resteemed -- am sure many of my friends will be super excited to play with fellow Steemians too!
Best wishes from #teammalaysia and #teammalaysiababes!
Thank you for your appreciation.
Looking forward to having you as one of the gamers. Don't forget to use super8ballclub tag so that we could discover your verification post easily.
I hope it will also be available in IOS soon so that I can play. 😊
iPhone version is our main priority.
This might be the first time I have voted big on a post that also has bidbots on it. :) Wonderful work and congrats to you for getting this done!
Hey Tom!
It's an honor to see you here. Thank you for all the support as well as for keeping me motivated to develop that successfully.
This sounds like a great idea. I am confused about the verification process. It says take a picture of myself holding the card. What is the card and where do I get it?
I'm sorry for the confusion. By card, I meant any kind of blank paper/card/board. You need to write your STEEM username and game tracking name. Your face and text on that piece must be clearly visible.
It can be any paper. Thanks for pointing out, I am editing the post right away.
You're welcome. I was thinking it was a card that I would have to print out or something. Thank you for the explanation
Lol yeah, it was confusing before. Just a piece of paper and write down your STEEM username and game tracking name on it. That's it!
You're welcome!
I like the idea, but I'm not going to upload a picture of me for verification just to try your game.
That's the most ridiculous account creation process for a game I've ever seen.
I can trade cryptocurrencies on binance without verification, but not play your game because you're afraid of bots? How does the verification even help against me cheating at your game?
Hi @cmichel
Thanks for liking the idea. I can understand your point. But unfortunately, the verification helps us preventing the people to cheat as it limits the multiple accounts scenario. However, we're working to make the verification process easier for those who don't want to post their photo.
Till then, if you reach 60+ reputation, you can join us without providing a selfie.
Thank you!
On one hand, yes, a photo verification to play this game might seem like a bit too much, and is a potential source of privacy or security issues.
On the other hand, the fact that people expect to be able to trade on exchanges with little to no proof of identity or kyc is a big reason governments are going to spank them hard for doing so.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing! Links to your app, account and post were included in the Steem.center wiki page Steem Ecosystem: Steeo-Z. Thanks and good luck again!
Thank you!