A game engine and framework for building games and applications integrated with the Nostr ecosystem

This project is still in early development, and many features are not yet implemented _{This page contains some AI generated imagery as placeholders, as the roadmap progresses they will be replaced with
actual engine screenshots and videos.}

Crossplatform

Linux Windows Android Browser MacOS iOS

_{Native performance on Windows, Linux, MacOS and Android, with planned support for browsers and iOS.}

Decentralized

p2p networking privacy ads Interoperable

_{True peer-to-peer networking eliminates server costs, while optional privacy-first monetization and
platform-agnostic
profiles give developers and players full control.}

Nostr inside

Social Matchmaking nostr drm nostr auth

_{Built-in Nostr integration provides serverless social features, decentralized matchmaking, and secure content
distribution without central authority or gatekeepers.}

Bitcoin

Microtransactions In-Game wallet

_{Bitcoin Lightning integration for microtransactions, in-game purchases, and
player-to-player
commerce with minimal fees and instant settlement.}

RoadMap

FOUNDATION

The project starts as a series of modules for the battle-tested jMonkeyEngine.
A JVM-based high performance, royalty-free, open-source modular game engine.

a high-performance nostr client designed for real-time application is developed and integrated into the engine

_{nostr4j standalone library}

player authentication via nostr local and remote signers

_{nge-auth engine module}

the network stack module is replaced with high-throughput, serverless, encrypted P2P using RTC over Nostr signaling, enabling easy development of decentralized games and apps

_{nge-networking engine module}

v0.0.x NGE

This is the first pre-release of Nostr Game Engine (NGE), which includes the P2P networking and essential Nostr functionalities, including player authentication and profile, event signing, and relay subscription.

The P2P network stack enables direct player-to-player connections, using Nostr solely as a coordinator, while actual traffic is P2P.

Experienced devs can already build on top of this to create decentralized games and apps for:

Windows
Linux
MacOS

using jvm based languages.

This release is accompanied by a tech demo showcasing the engine P2P networking capabilities, which can be found at github.com/NostrGameEngine/sea-of-nostriches-demo

a privacy-preserving adsframework is built on top of nostr

_{draft nip}

the ad framework is integrated into the engine for in-game, immersive advertising

context-aware advertising support is achieved by enabling developers to create metadata areas within the virtual world of their games

v0.1.x In-Game Ads

This release brings many bug fixes and improvements, but the headline feature is in-game advertising powered by the nostrads protocol, designed to bring ads to nostr in a privacy-friendly and permissionless way.

This release is accompanied by a tech demo showcasing the ad system in action github.com/NostrGameEngine/adcity-demo

Android release support

webgl2 based renderer and browser support

_{started at riccardobl/webmonkeyengine}

iOS release support

v0.2.x EXPANDING

At this stage the engine can be used to deploy games and apps to a wider range of platforms:

Windows
Linux
Android
MacOS
Web Browsers
iOS

gamer profile over nostr

achievements over nostr

_nip-58

match-making over nostr

player to player text-chat over nostr

_nip-17

proximity and area text-chat over nostr

_nip-28

v0.3.x SOCIAL

At this stage the engine provides modules with the tools and abstractions to implement social features in games.

high-level scripting language support module

sandboxed scripting language support for modding

v0.4.x SCRIPTING

At this stage, the engine supports high-level scripting languages like LUA and JavaScript, enabling faster development.

Even less experienced developers can create games and apps for supported platforms, while the sandboxed runtime also serves as a modding framework for games.

programmable pipelines

_{started at riccardobl/jmonkeyengine}

tiled deferred rendering

improved post processing stack

v0.5.x SCHISM

At this stage the engine core is changed to use programmable pipelines, giving developers full control over the execution flow. This allows for custom optimized implementations tailored to demanding and complex games seen often in AAA titles.

The primary rendering technique is switched to tiled based deferred rendering to improve performances with highly complex lightning and 4k+ rendering.

To support the new architecture, the engine is separated from the jMonkeyEngine codebase and no longer maintains backward compatibility.

internals overhaul and cleanup

high performance hardware accelerated ui framework

immersive audio technology

_{started at jmePhonon}

v0.6.x OVERHAUL

At this stage, more built-in features are added and the internals are improved to accommodate even higher-end games and apps.

nostr based drm

nostr based release management

_{based on
nip-51 sets
and
nip-94}

v0.7.x DISTRIBUTED DISTRIBUTION

At this stage games built with the engine can be fully distributed p2p over nostr markets with and licenses are managed by a nostr based digital rights management system.

voxel engine module

world paging module

world persistency over nostr

v0.8.x WORLDs

At this stage the engine is extended to support massive and voxel based world with optional nostr persistency (on supported relays).

This will enable developers to implement common modern gaming mechanics without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

in-game bitcoin wallet

bitcoin micro-transactions

v0.9.x PAYMENTS

At this stage the engine provides capabilities to implement microtransactions and in-game payments using bitcoin.
TBD: lightning? liquid? e-chash? ark?

frame generation and super resolution

final touches

v1.0.x NGE!

The engine is released as its first stable version.

v1.1.x TBD

Voice Chat with RTC nostr signaling
Proximity Voice Chat with RTC nostr signaling
Virtual Reality support
Augmented Reality support
AI capabilities are added on top of the engine to assist with content generation and player interaction.