<incom> ICT4D vs Village the Game

[Soenke Zehle]

Here we go, ICT4D finally turns sim, maybe we could develop a couple of 
mods around accountability and multistakeholder involvement ... this is 
where some of the Gates-Buffet money might be going, see grant app 
below, Soenke

-------- Original Message --------
From: 	Darian Hickman <darian.hickman at villagethegame.com>

My video game project is called Village. Village is a multiplayer online 
  real-time strategy game for the PC that immerses the player into the 
role of an entrepreneur building companies to bring prosperity to the 
villages of the third world. Check out the full game proposal at 
http://www.villagethegame.com and let me know what you think.

-- 
Darian Hickman
(407) 697 6392
http://www.darianhickman.com
http://www.villagethegame.com
1570 N Holliston Ave, Pasadena, CA 91104

  Letter to Gates Foundation
Here's the letter I just sent to the Gates Foundation asking for $4 
million to fund VillagetheGame development. Let me know if you have 
ideas on improving this letter ...

Dear Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,

First off, congratulations on partnering with Warren Buffet to improve 
the lives of billions of people! I saw part of a Charlie Rose interview 
with Warren Buffett and how he chose the Bill and Melinda Gates 
Foundation because your enthusiasm for philanthropic work really stood 
out. That is quite a testimony to your passion for improving people's lives!

My first experience with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was as a 
Computer Science major at Johns Hopkins University in 1998. Vivek 
Baluja, another Computer Science major, convinced the Gates Foundation 
to donate $60,000 and 13+ state-of-the-art NT machines to the Greenmount 
Recreation Center. The second half of my freshman year I volunteered as 
a teacher at the Greenmount Computer Center of Baltimore, MD funded by 
this foundation.

Nine years later am I writing you to request support for a whole new 
effort that addresses multiple goals of the Bill and Melinda Gates 
Foundation. It will:

    1.

       Educate charitable donors on how to more effectively improve the 
health, education, and livelihoods of people in developing nations.
    2.

       Provide a new and entertaining tool to educate America's high 
school students on how to be socially responsible entrepreneurs.
    3.

       Offer a simulation platform to experiment with solutions of 
public health issues in developing nations.

I call it Village. http://www.villagethegame.com. Fully developed, 
Village is a multiplayer, online, real-time strategy game for the PC 
that immerses the player in the role of an entrepreneur building 
companies to bring prosperity to the villages of the third world.

Quantity and Type of Support
Based on current salary surveys and a 3 year initial development cycle 
VillagetheGame needs $4 million for development. Once the game is built 
and operational Village will be self sustaining from sales of the game, 
sales of online play subscriptions, and sales of advertising spots 
within the game.
In addition to the $4 million startup funding, the Gates Foundation 
could also provide contacts within the Xbox community to prepare Village 
for porting to the Xbox platform.

Needs Statement
Charitable donors, high school students, and public health professionals 
all have one common need: experimenting with solutions. Village lets 
them do that. The charitable sector needs to see what impact their 
donations will have on developing nations even before they make those 
donations. Experimenting with solutions gives donors confidence in their 
choices. Many high school students need a higher purpose to motivate 
them to graduate. When a high school student sees through Village how 
they could help transform the lives of thousands of less-fortunate 
people while learning how to be a socially responsible entrepreneur they 
will gain that higher purpose. And finally, public health professionals 
will have a new tool to show how the products or services they are 
promoting will impact the lives of the villagers they serve.

Gauging Progress and Results
For Village progress and results are multidimensional. Measuring that 
impact happens mostly through surveying the players of Village when they 
sign up for their online account and monitor their progress in improving 
their virtual villages. Yet the greatest metric of all is how many real 
villages grow healthier and more prosperous as Village gamers choose to 
get involved.

Organizational Information
Villagethegame.com has not yet incorporated or filed for 501(c)3 status. 
That decision depends on who fully funds the production first: 
foundations or venture capitalists. If a foundation realizes the impact 
VillagetheGame.com has on their mission, then it will go nonprofit. 
Otherwise Village will seek out funding from appropriate venture 
capitalists and move forward as a for profit venture. Village has the 
same double bottom line as the social enterprises that it promotes, 
hence both sources of funding are relevant.

Below is my contact info and a copy of the one page game proposal. Thank 
you for reading this letter. Together, I'm looking forward to leveraging 
Gates Foundation's altruism to inspire and inform the altruism of 
millions of more people.
...

posted by Hick Man @ 6:47 PM   0 comments
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Design Notes for Village
Here is a link to the latest design notes for Village. It definitely not 
a design document yet, but it should give you an idea what research I 
still need to do and what I have done already:
http://villagethegame.com/downloads/village%20design%20document%202.rtf

posted by Hick Man @ 4:59 PM   0 comments
Looking for RTS game designers
I originally posted this on Gamedev.net -
Team name:
TBD
Project name:
Village
Brief description:
Village is a multiplayer online real-time strategy game for the PC that 
immerses the player into the role of an entrepreneur building companies 
to bring prosperity to the villages of the third world.

Target aim:
While testing: casual download and when ready for broad distribution 
full retail push.

Compensation:
Development budget before institutional funding: $50,000. Target 
fundraising $4 million. Compensation based on experience and hitting 
milestones.

Technology:
Mostly TBD, but very interested in Torque game engine with the RTS pack.

Talent needed:
Initially game designers with 1 to 3 years of RTS game design 
experience. People who show a passion for the project will also be 
considered for business partners

Team structure:
Just the founder at the moment: Darian Hickman - 
http://www.darianhickman.com

Website:
http://www.villagethegame.com

Contacts:
darian.hickman at villagethegame.com


Feedback:
ENCOURAGING and useful criticism.