This article is an introductory overview regarding the fundamentals of Star Atlas, an upcoming massively-multiplayer online meta-verse that will run on PC, Console & Mobile using the Unreal 5 Engine. This is an initial complication of data available currently, 04/06/2021, about Star Atlas as total gamification of finance. This is not financial advice; anything you read online anywhere should not be interpreted as financial advice. The author takes no responsibility if you choose to invest in any project, and is not liable for any decision made by readers, unless of course, it made you fabulously wealthy, then it definitely was the author and you should buy them a drink. This research attempts to remain unbiased. This research is not intended as a promotion for Star Atlas, nor is it part of any paid promotion.
Introduction
Star Atlas is a massively-multiplayer online meta-verse. In the distant future, three galactic factions have emerged, in an ongoing struggle for resources, territorial conquest, and political domination. Players can join a faction, directly influence the course of the meta-verse, and earn real-world income for their contributions:
- The MUD Territory governed by humankind.
- The ONI Region is a consortium of alien races.
- The Ustur Sector is controlled by sentient androids.
PROJECT: Star Atlas
TOKENS: (ATLAS) and (POLIS)
FOUNDED: August 2020
WEB PAGE: https://staratlas.com/
WHITEPAPER: https://staratlas.com/files/star-atlas-white-paper.pdf
Is this the future of blockchain gaming?
The main thing that drew this author's attention towards Star Atlas, was that rather than be "another blockchain/browser game", the developers have set themselves two lofty goals with a project the scope of which has currently not seen before with blockchain. Initially, they are setting up a next-gen MMO (targeting mainstream gamers with flashy unreal 5 engine graphics, rather than DeFi fanatics) that uses blockchain technology to have a full financial economy, with currency, governance tokens, and NFT ownership of items. Leading on from this they are expecting to expand into the further metaverse of projects around this game, culminating in a fully immersive, virtual reality that people can "persist within" - essentially futuristic MMO meets Second Life. It all feels a bit "Ready Player One" or "The Matrix". Are we ready for that? Technologically? Socially? Economically? Star Atlas is attempting to find out!
Star Atlas has all the whisperings of Eve Online. Eve Online is a space-based, massively multiplayer online role-playing game in which has a daily player count of over 20k players, peaking at around 33k. Eve Online is an old game, it has been active since 2003 but it features some of the most die-hard gaming fans known, possibly second to only World of Warcraft. Because it is old, the games code does not take advantage of current hardware features. This is an opportunity for Star Atlas, which we will explore later on.
Star Atlas is setting itself up nicely with a whole host of game mechanics which will allow intricate gameplay in its vast space-based massively multiplayer online game. It is also adding blockchain game mechanics which will allow it to set itself apart from other games within the genre.
Some of the blockchain mechanics include:
- Blockchain based in games currencies (ATLAS and POLIS).
- Decentralised NFT asset ownership.
- Mining revenue based on territory control.
- Decentralised digital currency exchange with automated market making (AMM) in game.
- Real-time smart contract execution of game scenarios.
- On-chain governance model designed for political control.
- Built on Solana for a server-less approach.
Game mechanics:
- Grand strategy space exploration.
- Land and territory control.
- Vehicle and fleet control.
- Space and land-based mining.
- Player vs Environment missions (PVE).
- Player vs Player combat (PVP).
- Dynamic career system.
Interesting Gameplay Features
Faction Security Zones - New players will choose one of the three factions and start in that faction secured safe zone. This is to allow them time to get used to the basic functions of the game and to also introduce them to the gameplay loops, such as rescue, combat and salvage.
When the player is more confident they can venture out into a medium tiered safety one, one which is secured by mercenary groups. Combat is allowed in their medium tiered zone but your assets will reset if they are destroyed.
The final zone is a wild frontier where full combat and destruction of assets takes place, the destruction is also a permanent event. However, only a portion of assets are destroyed permanently. Permadeath. Of your ship. Your NFTs. The stakes are real here. The remains of a destroyed ship can be collected in the form of components, scrap, and escape podded crew members. However, whilst moving through these zones (read: difficulty levels) increases the risk to your assets, so do the rewards yielded.
Deep Space Exploration - Star Atlas is a massively multiplayer open universe meaning that all visible stars are real assets and can be visited. This will give players true open exploration to go anywhere within the universe but some destinations, however, are extremely far away and would require a ship to have the correct amount of fuel to reach them.
Players can manually pilot their ships to explore and uncover the riches of the Star Atlas universe. A cool game mechanic is the upgradable scanning modules which will allow them to perform deeper and broader scans of the universe to identify new locations and riches. The results of the scanning data can be acted upon by the player or sold on the marketplace. Some players who don't want the risk of adventure themselves could possibly make a nice living purely out of scanning and selling data; star-chart-treasure-maps if you will.
Combat - Ships will be fitted with weapon and missile bays. The weapons will be energy, ballistic and disruption types which can target enemy ships and installations. When a player encounters another ship, they have the ability to scan the ship to identify the subsystems, which can give them advantage in a fight. Ships also have the ability to scan and target land-based installations as well as having the ability to set their combat stance to either passive or aggressive adding even more depth to the combat mechanics.
Station Modular Construction - Star Atlas will feature mining installations which will protect their mining claims. Space stations will have the same installations but with an added feature called ‘decks’. Each deck enhances the functionality of the space station and unlocks features the player can engage with. Decks include:
- Commerce (storage and trading)
- Shipyard (for ship manufacturing, repairs, re-fueling, configuration and docking)
- Refinery
- Hangar (ship storage)
- Retail (crafting and selling components and advanced materials)
- University (training and recruiting crew members)
- Cargo (storage of materials and components)
- Defense (building turrets for defensive purposes)
Space stations that feature commerce decks will be required to connect to the universal marketplace where they can sell low-tier ore and other items.
Crew & Ship Component Outfitting - All ships contain components and crew members which will enhance the overall features and statistics of each ship. Each ship will have a different aptitude for the variety of gameplay features available. Individual crew members can also enhance the ship’s functionality with their different aptitudes which they can advance at the University deck. Crew members that have a history together will buff each other’s stats over time.
Star Atlas promises the future of space flight to be smart, sexy and cool.
Decentralised Autonomous Corporations - The universe of Star Atlas is enormous! It is a lonely, challenging environment where space pirates and mercenaries are waiting to destroy you. Therefore, players are encouraged to create factions, combine their resources, and compete as a group to outsmart other players. Through the Decentralised Autonomous Corporations (DAC), entire space cities can be built, and the micro-economy can be managed by those in charge. Strategic cooperation will allow players to dominate and control the resources within. The POLIS token will serve as a pivotal role in these cities, permitting owners of political power to impose taxes, fees, fines, rules and laws on those wishing to gain access to these independently owned cities. On the other hand, it is control like this that will kickstart the inevitable consequence of uprising and war!
Economics - Star Atlas will provide the player with the unique opportunity to extract in-game earning into real world income. The model for traditional, non-blockchain games is to monopolise asset ownership and distribution through restrictions on reselling. Star Atlas allows the ownership of assets through the implementation of blockchain and NFT marketplaces. Digital assets owned always belong to the holder, and crypto assets earned can be converted into fiat currencies friction-free.
(ATLAS) will be the in-game currency of Star Atlas. It can be used to acquire digital assets in the form of NFTs such as ships, crew members, components, land and equipment.
(POLIS) is a multifunctional governance token, with applications both in-game and in directing real world economic policy. Holders of POLIS will be in a unique position of jurisdictional ownership over entire regions, regardless of who owns title (NFT) to the land and equipment rights. Externally, control of POLIS will enable the gaming community to influence decision making of the Star Atlas development team.
Core Gameplay Loops:
SCANNING GAMEPLAY LOOP
- Scanning Star Systems & Celestial Bodies
- Discover Mineable Resources
- Stake Claim & Sell Mined Resources OR Sell Scan Data
COMBAT GAMEPLAY LOOP
- Scanner Finds Other Player or Enemy
- Destroy Ship & Crew
- Salvage Ship Components, Crew & Pirate Cargo
- Use or Sell Stolen Components & Cargo in Black Market Regions
TIERED SHIP MODULES & COMPONENTS
The ship size correlates to module slots. Each module and component unlocks gameplay features for that ship.
Examples: Scanning(Data), Cargo(Trade), Rescue(Crew), Mining(Ore), Salvage(Scrap), etc.
SHIP CLASS SIZES
Starter, Small, Medium, Large, Capital, Commander, Dreadnought
Star Atlas will cater for four distinct types of gamers, they are: Killers, Achievers, Explorers and Socializers.
The Killers: Interfere with the game world or the playing experience of others.
- Piracy and smuggling (killing and looting other players to sell their goods on the black and grey markets).
- Ship to ship combat (offensive & defensive, player vs player, player vs environment).
- Ship to structure combat (offensive & defensive, destroying space and ground mining structures.
The Achievers: Accumulate status tokens by beating the rule based challenges of the game world.
- Collectible ships and crew members (ships are enhanced by crew members and their individual stats).
- Land and space mining accumulation (planetary, asteroid and nebula bodies are claimed and fitted with mining structures to acquire their resources).
- Space station builds (deck expansions per space station determine its in game functionality).
The Explorers: Discover the systems governing the operation of the game world.
- Open world, unlimited space exploration (as players explore the universe is revealed in an unlimited celestial and terrestrial universe simulation).
- Scanning data economy (after scanning space and celestial bodies, players can choose to either settle the land and space claims or sell the coordinate or resource data on the open market).
The Socializers: Form relationships with other players by telling stories within the game world.
- Sub faction organization (beneath the 3 major factions, players can manage their own organizations for teaming up and sharing resources).
- Real world economy (all game assets are backed by real world tokenized assets. This leads to an actively engaged community outside of the game world.
Star Atlas will focus around 4 distinct gameplay pillars. They are Grand Strategy, Exploration, Role-playing and Space Flight Simulation.
Grand Strategy: this genre encourages players to claim staking to expand their empire and install strategic trade routes using offensive and defensive tactical planning.
Exploration: the game enables players to captain deep-space crewed spaceships to scan and discover deep within the universe. Once they have been discovered, claims that have been staked can be mined, refined and traded through a network of commercial mining installations, refineries and the universal marketplace. Exploration will lead to many, many surprises in deep space.
Role-playing: the main principle driving the economy of Star Atlas is the mining gameplay. The wealth that can be obtained from mining will create many other revenue streams. You can trade raw and refined ore, haul cargo, craft retail components. There is a broad range of career choices for the player to choose from and advance their career.
Space flight simulation: the main beauty of science fiction is the space based adventure. The player can pilot or captain their own spacecraft into the vast emptiness of space. The immersive experience is fulfilled by allowing the player to use a virtual reality headset.
Tools used:
Unreal Engine 5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC5KtatMcUw)
Next-generation real-time graphics technology include: Nanite for cinema quality models, Lumen for real-time global illumination, the Chaos physics engine, and the Niagara particles system.
- Nanite: with the release of Nanite technology via Unreal Engine 5 in 2021, traditional asset authoring pipelines become optimized and the visual quality is dramatically improved. Nanite allows limitless polygon counts for select objects. Without real-time polygon budget constraints, Star Atlas’ visual fidelity rivals pre-rendered computer generated imagery.
- Lumen: Lumen will allow far more believable and dynamic environments as the lighting doesn’t require faked enhancements with manually placed lighting.
- Chaos: Chaos gives the game an optimized physics template for destructible meshes and believable vehicle rigs.
- Niagara: Niagara enhances traditional particle systems with fully exposed blueprinting for the artists and easily implements high level shading language (HLSL).
Solana (https://solana.com/)
As blockchain technology continues to evolve towards greater capabilities, innovative development possibilities emerge. With the release of Star Atlas, all in-game assets will be delivered to the player as direct-owned non-fungible digital tokens. Players will possess complete control of their purchased assets. Currently, Solana is capable of processing 50,000 transactions per second, at 400ms average block times, an industry leading protocol. To complement this speed, Solana additionally delivers an expansive and robust development toolset, which the Star Atlas development team will leverage to build the metaverse. Such performance at the blockchain layer enables a future in which all game logic can be computed on a suite of on-chain smart applications.
Serum (https://projectserum.com/)
An active in-game economy and a high volume of trading means users will need a feature-rich exchange to manage all of their asset sales. Serum’s decentralized exchange (DEX) fulfills the needs to support the Star Atlas economy. With nearly instant settlement and virtually zero operating costs, there isn’t a better fit for scaling the economy of Star Atlas (according to them.)
Stardust (https://www.stardust.gg/)
Stardust operates at a very important layer. They introduce optimized ways to deal with non-fungible token in-game assets securely and in a user-friendly manner. By utilizing their API, we will seamlessly integrate Solana-based NFTs for usage in our initial game client. Stardust has a very prominent item on their roadmap to support Serum DEX trading.
CHAIN /TOKEN TYPE: Solana
CONSENSUS MECHANISM: Proof of History (PoH)
LIVE MAINNET & SCALABILITY [TPS]: Solana 50,000 TPS
TEAM:
Michael Wagner CEO & Founder
Michael is a serial entrepreneur, having founded multiple technology companies centered around the emerging blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies, including: Tokes Platform, EDEN, Multichain Ventures, Automata, and most recently Star Atlas. He has 10+ years in capital markets analysis, holds his chartered financial designation, 7+ years in blockchain, 24+ years in gaming, and 4+ years in technology development leadership.
Interview Regarding Star Atlas With Micheal Wagner. Source: MikoBits Bitcoin Blockchain and DeFi Show (YouTube)
Jacob Floyd CTO
Jacob takes pride in elegant software development. With 11+ years of experience building apps in gaming, blockchain, and the fin-tech industries, he has launched over 33 successful projects. Acting as lead coder and tech architect in nearly every project he has been on has allowed Jacob to bolster creativity and prioritise innovation.
Danny Floyd CPO (Chief Product Officer)
Danny started his tech career with EA Westwood Studios on the first space-based MMORPG called Earth and Beyond. After 8 years of shipping AAA titles with Electronic Arts (EA), Mythic Entertainment, 3G Studios and 1047 Games, he co-founded Foware with his brother and continued first party video game and software development for another 10 years.
Pablo Quiroga COO
Pablo’s global business ecosystem has inspired multiple successful startups over the last decade, earning him proven expertise ranging from supply chain management, strategic market penetration and business intelligence. Pablo’s multi role engagement levels from leadership to founder to investor in companies such as Vanguard Scientific Systems, Reconscious Medical, and Fuelixir and continues with Star Atlas. Pablo’s exposure to plant-based supply chains and psychedelic mental health digital therapeutics brings a unique perspective to problem solving within the blockchain community. Pablo believes blockchain is the mycelium of the technology industry.
Tim Deneau Designer
Tim is a multidisciplinary designer, developer and artist. He has worked in the technology industry and marketing industry as a designer and developer, and in the independent games industry serving multiple roles in art production. He has 18+ years in graphic design & software design 10+ years in software development, 8+ years in art production, and 20+ years in gaming.
TOKEN USE CASE AND REVENUES
(ATLAS) will serve as the native in-game currency within Star Atlas. It is the lubricant of the meta-verse. Players will initially leverage ATLAS to acquire digital assets such as ships, crew, components, land, and equipment. However, as in any real economy, a financial system is necessary to facilitate commerce. Whether it be through NPC merchants, or direct peer-to-peer transactions, ATLAS is the unit of account to execute operational requirements.
Operating a business is challenging. Managing resources will require critical strategic decision making. Players seeking the monetary rewards available in-game will need to carefully balance their operating expenses against income derived. Operating expenses, such as personnel for mining equipment, fuel for ships, and repairs for damages will all need to be paid in ATLAS. It will also serve as the predominant currency within the NFT marketplace.
A fraction of the game currency will be available through various stages of the Galactic Asset Offering (GAO), leading up to full launch of the title. Upon completion of the GAO, ATLAS can only be earned through in-game activity or sales by other players. Unlike many projects in the crypto economy, the development team retains zero stake in the undistributed token supply.
(POLIS) within the Star Atlas meta-verse, political influence is yet another strategic consideration in the management of territory and the navigation of space. Controlling this political influence introduces a number of advantages for player status, which is represented by the POLIS token.
Holders of POLIS will be in a unique position of jurisdictional ownership over entire regions, regardless of who owns title (NFT) to the land and equipment rights. These players will be able to restrict some of the activity that can occur while under their oversight, impose taxes on other players, charge tolls, and otherwise create a separate set of laws with which other players must observe. However, POLIS represents voting rights, not dictatorial ownership. In this regard, it will likely require multiple players to collaborate on these rules, fines, fees, tolls, etc., lest they be superseded by a more powerful group of players. Decentralized Autonomous Corporations would do well to take advantage of this tool.
Externally, control of POLIS will enable the gaming community to influence decision making of the Star Atlas development team. This will follow a period of centralization of decision making, likely 2–3 years of game development and balance. At the conclusion of the centralized period, holders will be able to influence game economics (i.e. inflation rates), asset release schedules, game direction, and will otherwise provide some degree of ownership in development decision making.
POLIS distribution will take effect in two phases. The first phase consists of a 20% sale of the governance token during the Galactic Asset Offering. Following the GAO, the exclusive ability to generate POLIS relies on staking of ATLAS currency.
ATLAS staking will be delivered in-browser while game development is in pre-production, and will subsequently be accessible in-game once version 1 of the mini-game is released. Players should note, there is a tradeoff that takes place to earn POLIS. ATLAS that is reserved for POLIS rewards is not accessible for any other in-game requirement. In other words, a player can either stake, or use that currency balance to play.
The DeFi Financial System
Facilitated by a direct integration to the Serum DEX, players will be enabled to participate in decentralized finance activities, popularized during 2020, through a unique in-game interface. Players will engage with DeFi instruments (i.e. smart contracts) throughout the financial epicenters in the game.
DAO cities are a likely location for the rise of these financial centers, permitting the creators to establish their own fees for trading in their facilities. Examples of activities follow:
- Lending
- AMM
- Yield Farming
Conclusion
Star Atlas is positioning itself very well with a game concept that includes most of the features of the blockbuster game Eve Online. Star Atlas moves one step further and introduces blockchain mechanics, such as mining, NFTs and DeFi on top of its proposed gameplay pillars, game mechanics and intricacies which will produce some of the most fantastic meta-game elements. The following the game has on both twitter and discord has exploded recently.
Star Atlas is what one might call a generation 3 blockchain game. It moves far past predecessors such as Generation 1 - CryptoKitties and Generation 2 Chain Guardians. Star Atlas aims to be a fully functional game with the addition of blockchain features, we are truly seeing the transition from traditional gaming to blockchain gaming and with this game they are merging into one.
Star Atlas's use of the Unreal Engine 5 is exciting; with its real-time dynamic lighting with lumen, and unlimited polygon counts with nanite, as well as other features such as chaos and niagara, its unlike any current DeFi game. However, the impact of this will be dramatically lessened when this level of realism is the Triple-A industry developer's standard. It's still miles ahead of what most "indie studio" blockchain games are doing right now.
Star Atlas will use the Solana blockchain to utilize a server-less approach for the game. It is true we don’t know how this will perform just yet but as Solana allows up to 50k TPS it is, on paper, very impressive. It is also said that one million transactions on Solana costs $10 USD, which is a cost effective approach compared to servers.
Star Atlas will be available on PC, Console and Mobile. This is a fantastic opportunity to reach a higher player count. This feature all comes with natural cross-play meaning that if you are playing on PC and your friend is playing on Console or Mobile device you will be able to play together in the same universe. Whether we'll need "quantum phones" to run the full game is another story; perhaps the mobile edition is just for managing shops and trades?
The major concern for a new developer making a game this size is the sheer size and scope of what they are trying to create. In CEO Michael Wagner's own words: "Star Atlas is something transformative not only to the gaming community but to the global population." Which sounds like something as innovative and life-altering as the birth of the internet or indoor plumbing. The futuristic "game-meets-blockchain-meets-interplanetary government-meets-virtual-reality-living-space" endgame of the project is something this author would imagine that the largest gaming companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony and Activision-Blizzard would consider, and then ultimately decide against it as the scope of the project is "too large". These are all $10+ billion dollar companies, so you can see the concerns when a small team of developers with no huge corporation behind it announces a project of this size. Without vastly scaling up their human and financial resources, and the backing of a major studio, it's hard to see how Star Atlas can deliver on the gargantuan dreams it has.
This author could be wrong, and would love to see Star Atlas become the shining beacon of new-age gaming it promises, but in all likelihood its development could take so long that a larger gaming company, with its deeper pockets, unleashes an established IP game similar enough that Star Atlas might be swallowed in its wake. Then again, there is a small chance we're looking at the start of the gaming/financial/socializing evolution; perhaps the final frontier is the digital frontier.
Ten years from now we'll have either have forgotten all about Star Atlas, or be enslaved to it.
