(EDIT: Some people asked, so I created a community for the game here too with some useful links on the pinned post: !walkscape@lemmy.world)
Hello there, Lemmy! It’s been a while since I last posted here, and a lot has happened since!
First off, we’re once again inviting new players to our third closed beta wave. If you’re interested to give it a try, you can apply to the beta by following these instructions. If you feel like you want to support the development and want to gain access immediately, you can do so here.
I started this project more than two years ago as a hobby while studying Computer Science in the university. I have ADHD and finding motivation to be active is tricky, but gamification works really well for my dopamine craving brain. I first off tried the games on offer from Google Play, but they all either had horrendous monetisation (MTX, ads, or both) or were too distracting. Especially GPS games usually need you to have the game open all the time while you’re trying to enjoy being outside and they also pose privacy concerns.
So that’s when I started to think of what would do the trick for me, and combining my life long RuneScape addiction into fitness seemed like the obvious choice. And I’m happy to say that I’ve definitely been walking nearly three times as much this year compared to last year.
WalkScape in nutshell is a game where everything that happens in the game requires you to walk. So if you want to explore or travel to a location, want to chop some trees, or you want to craft stuff - everything needs steps. You set your character to do what you want, and then go for a walk. The game counts your steps even when it’s closed, and you can open it ip when you’re taking a break or back home to see your progress and maybe switch what you’re doing.
The game doesn’t use GPS, so you can walk on a treadmill. And it can track your steps when you don’t have internet connection, and only when opening the game needs you to be connected.
Here’s what we’ve added in the last three months since I last posted:
- Achievement system with almost 50 achievements. And an achievement rewards track, giving you unique items or cosmetics for your progress.
- Social features. You can add friends in the game and have your personal leaderboards with them.
- A new underwater realm (that has merfolk!) with a bunch of new locations, more than hundred new items, new crafting recipes, activities and more.
- Realm reputation system. You can become famous in any of the four fantasy realms we have now and gain rewards for doing so.
- Job boards & jobs. You can accept jobs that function as miniquests and gain rewards and reputation for completing those. These work as an item sink in preparation for player trading which is what we’re working on next.
- Privacy features. These are all opt-out, so your steps and profile are hidden from others unless you specifically want them to be visible.
- And a lot more!
As always, I’m happy to answer to any questions or feedback you may have about the game. Also from last post, I know many users here might have GrapheneOS, and the game seems to be running on it fine if you run it sandboxed.
Keep walking, and stay hydrated! ❤️
Some pictures:
Edit: small errors and had the same picture listed twice
Edit 2: I created an official community for the game here on Lemmy !walkscape@lemmy.world after many people asked for it. For official development blogs, I still recommend to check WalkScape Portal as I can’t promise we can post them here as well. But we’ll see!
I’ve been in the closed beta since February and I can vouch for this game being awesome. It’s been a great way to encourage me to take my dogs on walks and stay healthy. I definitely recommend checking it out.
To the dev, your game has motivated me to learn flutter/dart. I’ve been working with it for four months now and I’m getting close to finishing my first app, so thank you for the inspiration!
Woah, thank you so much ❤️
Awesome to hear that the game has inspired you to learn Dart & Flutter. Dart is an awesome language, and Flutter is versatile and easy tool for making some great looking UIs! But even more so, it always warms my heart to hear that the game has a positive impact on people’s lives. Keep it up, and thank you again!
This is super cool! I’m in a position right now where I have to walk my dog a few times a day. I’d love to chip in, but I just don’t have anything to spare right now. I’m gonna sign up for the beta and cross my fingers. Thank you for making this
Thank you! We’re accepting people who’ve applied to the Closed Beta throughout the wave, so there’s a good chance you’ll gain access! The wave ends on October 6th.
We’ve got a lot of pictures of happy doggos on the Discord :D I have cats that I walk sometimes, but they’re not as effective from XP gain perspective.
Edit: and just to clarify here, access gained during any point of Closed Beta stays until Open Beta when everyone can start playing it. Open Beta is planned for next year.
I just sent in my application. My partner is filling one out too. I look forward to trying this. Thank you for the information
No problem, thank you and your partner for signing up and being awesome! ❤️
Fantastic concept. I agree that most of the other apps are either super monetized or too “in app” like a Pokemkon GO, or they’re just boring and don’t offer much.
This looks like something fun, motivating, and really well made.
Thank you! And I definitely know the feeling of “being boring and don’t offer much”. That’s what I also got from many of the fitness games out there - I felt the games were way too casual to offer long-term motivation. If I’m collecting stuff for the sake of just collecting, there’s not enough to keep me hooked.
We’re trying here to keep it quite casual friendly by that the complexity reveals itself slowly. But I also think that complexity often for people comes from controls and such - here the input being just walking already lowers the bar a lot.
The combat that’s coming to the game I think really is the final missing piece, as then all of the hard grind you’ve done also ties to combat progression. Making the perfect combat build to beat a boss with your hard earned steps!
I just got my access to the closed beta and fired it up today. Even the initial setup, character customization, story intro, and tutorials are top notch. I feel pretty excited to get this started, more than I’ve felt about a game in awhile. Looking forward to the experience and contributing to the feedback where I can.
I’ve been using this for about 3 months. I would estimate that my dog walks are now about twice as long as they used to be. I don’t really enjoy walking, but this gives me just enough incentive to do it everyday and, if I feel like taking a shortcut, taking the long way instead.
Last time I applied, it took like 6 months for my beta app to be accepted. That’s fine but I had ran a marathon like the week before, and did all my marathon training during that time. Was big sad. Anyways best of luck with the next round!
We’ve been accepting thousands of applications each wave, so it sounds like you’ve been terribly unlucky if it took you that long. Sorry to hear that. We’re also accepting applications during this wave all the way until October 6th, so nee applicants have a good chance on getting accepted!
