Locus Game Chain is a Serverless Multiplayer App. No NFT or Mining is Involved.

[Lockon]

Dear KUF: War of Heroes Users,
This is Bloom Technology. First, we would like to thank you for your interest in our game. We are amazed at the number of loyal fans expressing their fascination with the original game!

Our company was established back in 1996 under the name Phantagram (the original developer and owner of Kingdom Under Fire series) and has been developing games for decades. We started developing blockchain technology in 2017 and changed our company name to Bloom Technology in 2018.

Further, we have reviewed your comments, and it seems there is a misunderstanding of how and why we use blockchain technology in this game version, as well as its relation to cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
I would like to take this opportunity to unveil some facts to ensure no further misconceptions and misunderstandings vilifying KUF, Bloom Technology, and Locus Chain arise.

First, blockchain technology does not equate to cryptocurrency or NFT. Cryptocurrency and NFTs are digital assets that make use of blockchain technology. Comparing crypto with blockchain is like comparing email with the internet. A project adopting blockchain technology to enhance certain features of its product does not necessarily mean that the project supports cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Kingdom Under Fire: War of Heroes is an RTS game from the early 2000s and uses a P2P multiplayer networking system similar to other RTS games of its time. In this structure, the server's role was limited to multi-player session construction, game results, user information records, and P2P relays. Kingdom Under Fire operated a server called wargate.net at the time of its service back in the 2000s. In the current Steam version, the Locus Chain blockchain shares session information by recording multiplayer game session data in a synchronized distributed ledger and acts as the wargate.net server. So, yes, we are technically replacing the server.

In addition, Locus Chain is part of the Kingdom Under Fire distribution package, which operates together when Kingdom Under Fire is executed and terminates when the game session is closed. The system uses distributed ledger technology to build multi-player sessions and does not interact with cryptocurrencies or NFTs in any way. There is no spyware function to read and send a user's computer environment; only when sending logs the user's permission is obtained and transmitted separately. You can easily confirm that the blockchain does not interact with cryptocurrencies by scrutinizing the logs sent by Locus Chain.

It may seem strange that chain-related traffic occurs even during a single play, but this is a system for user convenience and node operation testing. The resources occupied by Locus Chain itself in a typical PC environment are less than 1% CPU and 1% network bandwidth. However, when you start the node, you need a few minutes of distributed ledger synchronization time. Although this is a very short timeframe compared to most blockchain nodes, it may seem a little long for gamers who are used to server connection environment; therefore, the system is designed to start the node execution and synchronization process as soon as the game executes to enable a single-player game even during synchronization.

Why do we even use it?

This technology will be a stepping stone and an excellent example of how online game developers, who sometimes go out of business because of high server maintenance costs, can save up tons of money and focus on building the games. Old online games can be revived at no significant costs, while modern online games can significantly reduce their service maintenance costs as well.

As far as we know, Kingdom Under Fire is the first successful attempt to apply and operate a blockchain node as part of the game, so I understand that this is as misleading as it is unprecedented. Kingdom Under Fire was launched free through Early Access because of the need to test the environment in real-time. You can see the progress we have achieved so far and the track record in the Updates section on Steam to gauge how we actually make use of this new tech.

Hope you will find this comment helpful and see the value in using Locus Chain blockchain as we do.

[Felipepepe]

This includes a blockchain app that launches with the game

Not only nothing about this is mentioned on the Store page, but also Steam's guidelines clearly says:

"You shouldn’t publish on Steam:
Applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs."

[Fred the Undead]

Explains why this thing was free.

[Asimov]

So let's report this sh.........

[Arthandas]

Originally posted by Felipepepe:

"You shouldn’t publish on Steam:
Applications built on blockchain technology that issue or allow exchange of cryptocurrencies or NFTs."

Isn't blockchain banned only if it's allowing exchange of cryptocurrencies/NFTs?

[Castyles]

Damn!

[Arsene Lupin]

According to that press release (the one you linked to on Twitter) the blockchain stuff is a means to host multiplayer games without the use of external servers. So... is that accurate, or just BS to justify its inclusion?

If it's the former, it's... well, maybe not innocuous, but certainly less nefarious. God knows there were plenty of older PC games that required you to install third-party garbage to handle online stuff.

[DodoGeo]

"Locus Chain’s GameChain, a technology that has been used in the upcoming KUF launched on Steam as the modern game build, replaces the online game server with Locus Chain’s blockchain network, enabling users to play the game online anytime, anywhere, without a publisher or a developer."

Don't see any issuing or exchange of crypto that would break the terms.
Don't ruin people's fun, you have the Codex for that :P

[Felipepepe]

If you want to play a game that even on single-player mode has a blockchain app running in the background, feel free to do it, but people should be made aware of this before downloading it.

Also, their website says Locus Chain will soon implement coins & mining, charging coins for use "if there's a large number of transactions".

[DodoGeo]

It runs fine offline without even starting Locus Chain in the background, so you have that to play singleplayer.
Had fun with this as a kid, but never finished it. I'm glad to have it back as it was a pain in the ass to get running on Win10 and even then the AI was "weird".
From day one noticed it, but didn't find that it did anything suspicious so I'll keep playing until I finish the campaign or someone puts forth some substantial evidence considering crypto shenanigans.
That would be preferable to trying to start a twitter ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with the game clearly showing you what it is running in your tray.

[Toikka]

Yeah reporting this as well, thank you for notifying.

[Toikka]

Originally posted by DodoGeo:

Do you muppets understand anything about blockchain or is it all cryptobro scams and NFT scams in your minds?

Yes.

[Arsene Lupin]

Originally posted by DodoGeo:

Do you muppets understand anything about blockchain or is it all cryptobro scams and NFT scams in your minds?

You'd have to be a lunatic to assume otherwise.

If anything, knowing what a blockchain is just makes the idea that you could substitute one for a server even more suspect.

[Sirgs]

Ah well guess it's back to the usual rotation of RTS for me, cryptocurrency strikes again

[David Young Henning]

Originally posted by DodoGeo:

It runs fine offline without even starting Locus Chain in the background, so you have that to play singleplayer.
Had fun with this as a kid, but never finished it. I'm glad to have it back as it was a pain in the ass to get running on Win10 and even then the AI was "weird".
From day one noticed it, but didn't find that it did anything suspicious so I'll keep playing until I finish the campaign or someone puts forth some substantial evidence considering crypto shenanigans.
That would be preferable to trying to start a twitter ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with the game clearly showing you what it is running in your tray.

Of course whenever I run a game on Steam I check Task Manager to see if the game is running any additional rogue processes.
You're joking, right?

[Castyles]

Let's be straightforward and crystal clear here: What happens with the ones who played the game, then?

Are we now part of a botnet collective that uses our machines to mine crap or what?