Open-sourcing The Mirror: Roblox & UEFN Alternative built on Godot

themirrorgdp

Freedom to own: We've fully open-sourced The Mirror as an open-source Roblox & UEFN alternative giving you freedom to own what you create with the permissive MIT license.

If you build on others like Roblox, UEFN/Unreal/Fortnite, and Unity, you don't actually own the full stack of what you build because you don't own the engine.

We're here to change that. 3D is arguably the next step of the internet and we can't let it be beholden to an oligopoly of companies that want to own your data and creations.

Akin to "Figma" for game development, our app is both tool and editor that let's you edit a game with friends in real-time. It can be extended: you have the full source code. It can be used as a complete game base, to build what you want on top. You can use this to accelerate your game, get it built quickly, and released to the public on the store of your choosing (e.g. Steam, Epic, In The Mirror, etc.). This saves you time: imagine not having to write pesky things like infrastructure, backend code, asset management, and various systems from scratch.

Also, come say if you're at GDC! We have a booth with Godot.

⭐️ Star on Github: https://github.com/the-mirror-gdp/the-mirror ⭐️

Tomcat

themirrorgdp the store ... In The Mirror

What's the "store In The Mirror"? What are its terms and conditions, how much does it monitor players and authors? Can free projects (with free [no forced] donation) be published there?

Megalomaniak

Yes, I'd like to hear more about the mirror store as well.

Tomcat

Since I didn't get an answer, but the question is very interesting, I tried to do my own search. The result was even more puzzling — what does a gift store in Holland have to do with computer games?

DaveTheCoder

The name of that store in Holland is In the Mirror.

Tomcat

DaveTheCoder The name of that store in Holland is In the Mirror.

I'm trying to find the difference...

DaveTheCoder

Tomcat I'm trying to find the difference...

Your words confuse me.

Tomcat

DaveTheCoder Your words confuse me.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something… I'm talking about the store names being completely the same:

(e.g. Steam, Epic, In The Mirror, etc.).

Welcome to In The Mirror - Amsterdam!

I took your message to mean that they are different in some way. Did I misunderstand you?

By the way, I was taught not to put a comma before "etc.". What is the correct way?

DaveTheCoder

Tomcat By the way, I was taught not to put a comma before "etc.". What is the correct way?

I'm not sure. Placing a comma before it "looks right" to me. A comma represents a pause. But in Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition, p.46, it is stated:

In formal writing, etc. is a misfit. An item important enough to call for etc. is probably important enough to be named.

I also think using both e.g. and etc. is redundant. The example you provided could be better written as

(for example, Steam, Epic and In The Mirror)

(Steam, Epic, In The Mirror and others)

That's important. Can we trust a game site whose author uses imperfect grammar? 😉

themirrorgdp

Tomcat We don't have any relation 🙂

Tomcat

themirrorgdp We don't have any relation

Thank you for the reply! Ah, could you tell me more about the shop?

themirrorgdp

Tomcat We'll be releasing our marketplace in the coming weeks so you can monetize things like 3D models, textures, audio, and even Mirror scripts. We'll take a far lower commission as well than the Unity asset store. Even more, because it's easy to create Spaces in The Mirror, you can create Spaces to exhibit your assets so someone can experience/play with them before they buy. A far better way for you to sell 🙂

Yes to an optional donation feature like Itch; we can add that if you'd like!

We'll announce it here, on our socials, and via our newsletter. I'd recommend subscribing to our newsletter at https://themirror.space.

Tomcat

themirrorgdp Yes to an optional donation feature like Itch; we can add that if you'd like!

Perhaps it would make sense to more than just me… although my concept of commercialisation is very non-standard.

How much user monitoring is expected? Will there be a rigid tie-in like in Steam?

Are there plans to set up a money account for authors in the shop (like Patreon) or only direct transfers to a personal bank account? Is the payment one-time, permanent or can be chosen?

themirrorgdp

Tomcat The general plan is to use Stripe Express; you can read about details here: https://support.stripe.com/express

Stripe Express offers direct transfers to your personal bank. We'll potentially add a "balance" feature in the future that you can use to buy other assets or in-game purchases on the platform, but that does require additional technical work, so TBD.

User monitoring: Can you elaborate? We do have analytics and we want creators like yourself to be able to understand what your players are doing in-game; this helps you monetize.

Tomcat

themirrorgdp The general plan is to use Stripe Express

Probably Stripe Express, the only decent payment system at the moment. It's a good thing it's not PayPal.

Stripe Express offers direct transfers to your personal bank.

The problem is that "my bank" (all of them) are under international sanctions. This is a specificity that is unlikely to be encountered ever again. The idea was to open a money account on the author's account, evacuate to a decent country and access the money already from that country's bank. That's the kind of escapade Patreon is proposing, but he has a problem. For example, there are no one-time payments.

User monitoring: Can you elaborate?

I could elaborate, but… that would be a lot of politics. To briefly say, I am strongly opposed to totalitarian surveillance. And I find Steam policies unacceptable.

We do have analytics and we want creators like yourself to be able to understand what your players are doing in-game; this helps you monetize.

I would certainly like to know who is playing my game and how. But!! If a person does not want to open his privacy — let him have the opportunity to play anonymously.

themirrorgdp

Tomcat On the bank side, we unfortunately can't help there, as political situations are outside of our control.

On the privacy side, we're implementing anon login for those who wish to do so 👍 You can also always use the free & open-source code if you prefer as well if you want zero login, self-hosting, zero analytics, etc. hence, freedom to own what you build and do with it as you please.

Tomcat

themirrorgdp On the bank side, we unfortunately can't help there, as political situations are outside of our control.

Nope, the solution does not lie on the political plane. If it is possible to organise a money account for authors in the shop itself, it is a possible solution. Patreon has done that. But as far as I understand, it seems to be a problem and not so easy to do.

gocat

Hey is this the metaverse everyone talking about? I read a lot of the metaverse but still not sure what it is and how to enter it? Perhaps I am too old for it...
(It was meant as a joke but seriously through, it seems close to the description of "the metaverse")

axolotl

gocat

Serious answer : there is no universally accepted definition of “metaverse”, it’s now a filler word that is used to make something more exciting, like “HD”.

So depending on who you ask, the Mirror is or is not the metaverse.

Megalomaniak

Warning, it's april 1st and some of us got mail. le gasp

themirrorgdp

Megalomaniak Don't worry 🙂