Hello everyone! Here's a a little different post - neither an update or a status report, but instead an information post on how you can help us.

Who we are

First off, let me just recap who we are. I'm Amina, the creator/founder/the sole driving force behind this project. There's also Lumi, my partner whom helps me work on textures, characters, weather/color grading and writing. We both love working on this game and have been doing so for years (in fact, she was the very first person I played with, before I started calling them Alpha!). You can read more about our journey at the bottom, but for now, let me just summarize my thoughts about making this a sustainable project.

Monetization plans

I want this project to go on for a very long time, so I have meticulously set up the world in a way that it would support future expansion packs, sequels, and stories. I'm in it for the long haul - so I must find a way to earn money to get it going. That leads us to Monetization - how would I realistically make money from this?

1. Monthly subscription (funder) - a basic monthly income that would allow you to get full access to the network game and with useful features unlocked.  This would be the primary source of income for us and would let us keep working on the game without worrying so much about day-to-day living.
2. E-shop, digital items - a spontaneous way for you to give us money and in return get a small item for your character. This would be an extra income,  and it would make you happy for a relatively small cost. The items are also fully respectful to the world and lore.
3. Base game cost with free to play "chat only" version - Free players are still welcome, so I want you to be able to enter the world and just chat without paying anything. This is only an idea for now, and will likely come later when the game is more feature complete.
4. Custom content - In the future, I could consider taking a fee to create/assign your character with an advanced/custom high quality skin texture that isn't generated from the built-in patterns. This is only an idea for now and may not happen. If you meet me in-game, you'll see how it looks. 

As you can tell, the latter two are just ideas, and the former two actually already exists in the game but as an alpha preview. 

What if you don't pay?

That's a fair question. I understand that not everyone has money, is willing to spend money, or feels safe enough to spend money on a new game, and that's why I want to keep the basic character creation, chatting, and exploring free. You're still a visitor to the Kemoverse, so that means you're still welcome to hang out with us.

And the good thing is, you don't have to only give us money to be helpful. 

How we need help

Basically, we need help "getting out there" and to make people see and know that we exist. Marketing - to reach out to people and show them what this new game is all about. And since it's a social game, it makes sense to keep inviting new players, doesn't it? I could blow lots of money to put ads everywhere on the internet, but truth be told, I want to find the genuine players who would love the game for how it is - that's the challenge, and that's how you can help me.

Being online and helping out

One of the most straightforward ways to help me out - the game is still young and doesn't always have players, so if you can be online, leave the game running in background, and help new players that walk out of the sanctuary - that would do wonders and make them feel welcome.

Writing down experiences

If you or someone you know tried to play the game but felt confused, didn't know what to do, or was disappointed - it would really help me if you could write it down. I try my best to imagine playing the game as all kinds of people... but I can't imagine everyone! Telling me how you felt, what you didn't like, and what could be improved - tell me, and I will be eternally grateful for how to make the experience better.

Fanart and media creation...

If you're the creative type, such as writing, drawing, or making music - I would love it if you deep dived in to Kemoverse and took inspiration from the game's soundtrack, visual aesthetic and storytelling and made your own works. And don't be shy about it! I absolutely love, no, adore taking in various interpretations of the Kemoverse. It warms my heart every time and reminds me why I undertake all of this effort. It makes it all worth it.

And you can also show off the game itself! You can take in-game screenshots (F5 to move camera, F6 to hide UI, Shift+mousewheel to increase depth blur) and modify them as you wish - maybe put on a filter or show off your character. Or, you can take videos and make some machinima-style videos telling a story.

...and posting it to social media

Speaking of social media. This is one of the biggest challenges for me. I simply do not have time, patience, or energy running a social media account and to show what I'm doing - I'm too busy working on the game itself. The plan is to eventually hire someone who can manage it for me, but until then, I need your help because this is also a real source of discovery: 1/4th of today's players found it through social media.

It's simple. Share the things you have created with the world: the screenshots you've taken, your thoughts about the Kemoverse, and simply post it online. I usually use the #kemoverse hashtag on twitter, youtube, tumblr, etc. But as long as you mention "Kemoverse Online" you bet the name will pick up popularity: I can even see how the google searches for this game is slowly increasing, day by day. I don't know, you can even post it to TikTok or whatever platform is popular right now if you want. More players is more fun!

So by posting, talking, chatting about it online, you will definitely be helping me. 

Just tell people about it

You don't have to even be public about it. The other 1/4 of players found it through word of mouth: A friend telling another friend, a link shared on a private discord server, or just telling a classmate. It's simple! Just share a link or an image from the game and be sure to let people know which game it is.

If you are on PC and use discord, you can install the addon "DiscordSDK" that shows the game as your activity.  

Why?

You'd help us.

These days, I am working as hard as I can to get the game up and running so that we can completely devote ourselves to this project. To get there, I have worked full-time on this project close to a year by myself. I love it, but it's a lot of work - I don't just sit there and fantasize about ideas and make a half-effort attempt, but I actually learn how to create things, I work to add the things I want and hang out in the game together with the players.

How often do you see that, out there, on the internet?

Everything you see in the game, interact with and perceive (except fonts, sound effects and game engine) is made by one single person: me.  I made everything you know and love from the game. I organized, planned, imagined, and believed in this idea and took the frightening step of pushing myself to do it, and even made Lumi believe in it too. I have designed, drawn, done worldbuilding, 3d modelled, video recorded, made music, made characters, directed cutscenes, made items, themes, network systems and infrastructure, and the list goes on...

I taught myself how to do all of this, by myself, without anyone's help.  How often do you see this passion out there?

We have agreed together, disagreed and argued, fought when things didn't work out and been defeated when it got difficult, always with a sight towards the unsure future - and me? I have dropped out of college, moved countries, and essentially started over my life to try and make this game. That's how much I care about this project.

And I give it out for free for you to play. Isn't that something?  

The story of Kemze Studios is very young. Your help will actually make a difference to our survival as opposed to large, established corporations or publishers. You, the life blood of this game, will be remembered for helping us out in our earliest days - and in return, we will always be here, stay here and continue to create things you will love.