Project Overview
In the world of charity-driven gaming marathons, Zeldathon stands out as a powerhouse of entertainment and generosity. A dedicated group of streamers, known for their love of the Legend of Zelda franchise, come together twice a year to raise funds for various causes through the power of play. During my time working with Zeldathon between 2014 and 2016, I had the privilege of creating custom technical solutions to enhance the marathon experience and streamline donation tracking. These marathons became major fundraising events that left a lasting impact, raising over $780,000 in total for multiple causes.
The Role: Stream Layouts and Donation Tracking
My contribution to Zeldathon involved the development of several key systems that helped bring the marathons to life. Using Unity and C#, I built three programs in total, each designed to maximize engagement and transparency while ensuring a smooth donation experience. The systems I developed were not only functional but also visually compelling, providing a seamless experience for both streamers and viewers. Below, I’ll walk you through some of the most important features that I built for Zeldathon’s marathons.
1. Stream Layout
The backbone of any streaming event is the layout. I designed a custom layout that displayed critical information in an organized, visually appealing way. This included:
- Current Total Raised: A dynamic counter that updated in real-time as donations rolled in.
- Active and Upcoming Games: This section kept viewers in the loop about which Zelda titles were being played, enhancing the sense of immersion and excitement.
- Partnerships and Announcements: A designated area to showcase sponsors, partners, and other important messages, ensuring visibility for all supporters.
- Donation Goals: Clearly displayed goals that showed the fundraising target and current progress, encouraging viewers to contribute toward reaching milestones.
- Donation Animations and Alerts: When viewers made a donation, custom animations and sounds were triggered based on the amount donated, making each contribution feel special and appreciated.
2. Interactive Donation Tracking
One of the most important aspects of any charity event is transparency. To keep viewers engaged and aware of how their contributions were impacting the campaign, I developed a suite of donation tracking tools:
- Dynamic Donation Tracker: This tool displayed a live feed of incoming donations, ensuring that each contribution was acknowledged in real-time. It included buttons to toggle between different views of the donations, making it easier for the crew to highlight significant contributions or milestones during the event.
- Donation Tiers and Special Sounds: To incentivize larger donations, I created a tiered system with special sounds and animations for donations of specific amounts. For example, donations over $100 would trigger a unique sound, while larger amounts might result in more elaborate animations. This helped foster a sense of excitement and made viewers feel that their support was truly making a difference.
- Social Media Integration: We wanted to give donors more visibility, so I incorporated a feature that allowed tweets featuring the event’s hashtag to be displayed on the stream layout. This helped strengthen the sense of community and connected the stream to a broader social media conversation.
3. Virtual Goal Wheel
One of the more creative features I added was the Virtual Goal Wheel. This was an interactive tool that allowed the crew to set donation incentives, where viewers could influence the stream by donating toward specific goals. For instance:
- A spinning wheel displayed several customizable options (e.g., “Complete a specific Zelda dungeon,” “Play the next section while blindfolded,” “Special guest appearance,” etc.), and each donation over a certain amount would earn a spin of the wheel.
- The goal wheel not only engaged viewers but also provided a fun way to incentivize donations, making the experience feel more like a game within a game.
4. API Integration for Donation Announcements
As the donations flowed in, the crew needed a quick and easy way to announce them. I created a tool that integrated with charity APIs to display a list of donations, and the crew could simply click a button to highlight a donation on the layout. This streamlined the announcement process and ensured that no donation, big or small, went unrecognized.
5. Customization for Different Events
Each Zeldathon event had its own unique theme, and the tools I developed were flexible enough to allow for this level of customization. For example:
- The donation tracker, animations, and goal wheel could all be tailored to reflect the specific charity the event was supporting, whether it was Direct Relief, charity: water, Help Hope Live, or any other cause.
- The virtual goal wheel and other interactive elements could be customized for each specific marathon, ensuring the experience felt fresh every time.
Zeldathon Marathon Milestones: A Legacy of Giving
The four Zeldathons I worked on were incredibly successful, raising substantial amounts of money for important causes:
- Zeldathon Relief (December 2014): Raised $106,100 for Direct Relief
- Zeldathon Deluxe (June 2015): Raised $196,097 for charity: water
- Zeldathon Hope (December 2015): Raised $251,554 for Help Hope Live
- Zeldathon Recovery (June 2016): Raised $230,077 for Direct Relief
These milestones were more than just numbers—they represented the collective effort of a passionate community, and I was honored to be a part of that success. The systems I developed helped keep donors engaged, motivated, and excited, ensuring that each donation had a meaningful impact.
Conclusion
Working with Zeldathon was one of the most rewarding projects of my career. It gave me the opportunity to blend my technical skills with my passion for gaming and charity work. The tools I built provided the framework for seamless, engaging marathons that not only entertained but also empowered viewers to make a difference. The success of Zeldathon marathons from 2014 to 2016 proves that with the right combination of creativity, technology, and community spirit, you can turn gaming into a force for good.
If you’re interested in learning more about my work with Zeldathon or have a project that requires a similar mix of interactive elements and donation tracking, feel free to reach out!