VSPACE
Minecraft meets YouTube, build/share 3D worlds on the web.
I have been discussing features with a couple of early adopters, and two of the things which came up were water physics (floating/swimming) and custom spawn points - so you can set the position someone starts when visiting one of your spaces.
Both are done, and it's kicked off a whole new phase of building and creating!
I now have a single user who is very enthusiastic about the product, they have spent 20+ hours building spaces on it and are engaged with the development process, requesting new features and providing reguarl feedback.
Big milestone as it proves that there is some (at least some!) value provided by the product. I now need to find more early adopters like this.
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Hey I just found your site and checked it out. This is super intriguing to me, the ability to seamlessly jump in and out of these virtual spaces is really awesome.
The thing I'm struggling with is the lack of information on the website, I think it's really cool but I have no clue who its for or why people should use it. It's obviously modelled quite closely after minecraft, but it's also obviously not trying to compete with it. Is it for planning and sharing minecraft ideas? Is purely a creative space, and if so why should I use it vs. just going into creative mode in minecraft? Are you trying to compete with minecraft videos on youtube? Are these supposed to be games or interactive artwork? I'm interested to see where this goes and if you can find the niche that this fits into as well as the messaging behind it.
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Hey!
Thanks for checking VSPACE out and the kind words.
There are kind of two answers to your questions.
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My hypothesis is that people love building stuff on minecraft but find it difficult to share what they build. At the moment they usually share via screenshots or youtube videos. However wouldn't it be better if it was as easy as sharing a link to your creation so others can explore it in the flesh? NB. I haven't confirmed this hypothesis yet.
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And I'm also driven by the longer term vision of interconnected 3D spaces and VR which I strongly believe will happen in some form. If I can edge VSPACE toward that vision then that's exciting for me.
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I think for #1 you're probably on the right track, the only thing that will be hard is how much of every item/block in minecraft are you going to replicate. But I agree this is a super cool and useful tool for creating and sharing. I almost see this as some sort of way for designers to sketch out their ideas and share them for feedback. Of course this is probably a very experimental project so I don't mean to try and push you in a certain direction I'm just curious as to what it could be in the future.
For #2 I think you're doing the right thing as well. When I was able to just click on a space and I was immediately inside with no loading or page change it was honestly an amazing feeling. It made me feel like I was at some sort of interactive art gallery. Look forward to seeing where it goes!
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Thanks! Glad you're excited about the project. :)
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Very technical product early on, lots of coding and custom 3D meshing/lighting code. The number of 'table stakes' and 'showstopper' features in this space is high.
Early playtest sessions are mixed, UX is clear, however the product isn't yet compelling enough to drive high engagement. People play, and then do not return.
Explored multiple ideas, most passionate about 3D connected worlds.
On the face of it, not the best idea for an 'indie hacker', as this is a longer, more VC style play. It's a consumer product requiring a high number of users before revenue.
Wish me luck!
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