Diary of the Druid of ECOS — “Cultivating” the Fimbul ECOS Superphoenix. Factions at movement

Building the future /// Metaverse in Light Speed Expansion /// Immersive Blockchain-Powered UE5 Experience

“The Titan needed to not waste a single round of ammo. As soon as its shadow covered the entire horizon of the world, our fleet was destroyed. If not physically, in every other possible manner.”

— General Pac.Eldr — Memories of the Convergence War”

This is beautiful. I had outdone myself once more, I realized, without a single drop of humility, as I moved my feet two steps back to watch the huge module component I had built for my baby.

Then, mother nature’s twisted sense of humor thought it was time to teach me a lesson, and I fell from the platform. My journey began pleasantly enough. I could see the ceiling of the dome, the flawless geometric design, the intricate shapes that let just the right amount of light enter and bring life to the world under it.

Then came the end.

The impact slammed the air from my lungs. I could hear Brikda, my best friend and protector, screaming.

“Druid!!! Druid!! Are you ok?!” She came rumbling in my direction like only a 300 hundred kilo rocky colossal could. The exosuit I used to help me with the construction took most of the blow. Aside from the initial scare, only my pride was hurt, but I knew I had to work fast. Otherwise, the force of Brikda heavy strides would be my end.

An end full of motherly love, but an end for sure.

“I’m ok!” I half screamed and coughed as my air returned. “Everything is ok,” I said, waving my hand as I felt the comfort of grass under my back.

“Are you ok, Alicia?” she said in a whisper, making sure that no one would be able to hear her saying my real name.

“Yeah, you absolute meteorite!” I said with a smile and threw a punch at her shoulder. “It would be better if you didn’t cause extinction on impact,” I laughed.

Upon seeing that I was fine, she visibly relaxed and pulled me from the comfortable grass bed up to my feet without much effort. Then, adopting a serious look, she said:

“The leader sent me to fill you in about the ATMTA weekly report. It seems they are holding to their part of the deal.” After looking up for a bit, she asked: “Did you finish building the prototype of the Impulse Engine component?” I could hear in her tone that she doubted the diligence of my work.

“What do you think?” I asked. When she stubbornly didn’t answer, I added: “I just completed this beauty while the others were at lunch. It’s incredible what one can do when properly motivated by hunger, Brikda. Don’t you have something for me over there?” I said, envying the goodies she was carrying in a side bag, which — let’s be honest — were probably for me anyway.

She smiled as she handed me the bag. How could such a loving creature like Brikda be known as the Cataclysm’s Scourge? That was beyond me. For all that I know, the Tufa was one of the most gentle creatures in existence.

We both started walking through the beautiful field of the biosphere. I had designed this particular dome myself and was pretty happy with how we managed to stabilize a living ecosystem at such a massive scale.

“So,” I started, my mouth filled with the sweet bread made with heirloom wheat harvested in our dome fields, “did you say ATMTA sent us their weekly report, like, the real report?” I asked, not believing they would share it with us.

“It seems so. At least for the time being, they seem to be holding the terms of the collaboration with us perfectly. It appears they valued your considerations regarding their new missile module,” Brikda guessed.

“I’m not so sure,” I stated. “Perhaps ATMTA already knows about what we are doing here?” The idea chilled me to the bone. If someone outside of ECOS knew that we were building our own Titan, the consequences would be… unpredictable, to say the least. This could trigger a large-scale war.

“I don’t think so,” Brikda opined. “ATMTA is entwined with the Council of Peace to the core. If they knew that we were building the Titan right now, you would see that ustur himself flying his fleet to our doorstep.”

“But don’t worry,” she said, preparing to pat me on my head. “I would never allow that risk to come close to you.” I knew she meant it, for Brikda had been by my side for as long as I could remember. She was my mother in every way possible.

“Haha, stop! I’m not a child anymore!” I said, laughing and evading her heavy hand. “Before you get all emotional and rocks start rolling from your eyes, tell me, what were the updates ATMTA shared with us?”

Brikda didn’t want me to see the holographic transmission, so she made her way towards the nearest pond as she played it between her massive arms. I followed as best I could.

“Well, they started their communication with the Showroom,” she began. “As you know, ATMTA is nearing completion of that project, and they have some thrilling updates.”

Soon I was sitting by the edge of the small lake, seeing my reflection in the water. I was generally happy with what I saw. Ok, my light-brown hair was half out of its ponytail, and the engineering outfit didn’t exactly fit my slender frame, but I was nevertheless confident in the lines of my grease-filled face and the Earth-blue/golden brown mix of my eyes.

Before delving further into the beauty of my reflection, I took an apul to the head.

“Ouch!! That hurts, you brute!” I lashed out.

“Next time, I’m throwing a jaca,” she said emotionlessly. “Now proceeding, they sent us the complete log of updates, which you can access later by clicking on the roadmap update link that I sent you, but regarding the Showroom per se, it’s every day filled with more life, as you can see in those files.

Attention to detail /// Metaverse in Light Speed Expansion /// Immersive Blockchain-Powered UE5 Experience

The holograms that appeared in front of me were indeed impressive. ATMTA’s attention to detail was no joke. “Maybe they would be interested in sharing some of that technology. I could use this level of art for the project of the desert biosphere.”

“Unlikely. I’m surprised that they even shared those images with us. This is not usual. Maybe they will send us a video next time, but I can’t imagine them sharing the technology. Or will they?”” she replied, looking at the people passing nearby.

After a few seconds, she added: “From what we uncovered last week, the most exciting update is that the user interface general system, including the buttons/pop-ups/windows, ship placement, and pad assignments are progressing well on the tests.”

I commanded my engineering exosuit to come back into cubic form and jumped into the lake’s water before my friend could object. It was perfect, not cold nor warm, and I started to float in the calm water while again admiring the ceiling. It was a new kind of glass. Not sure of the specifics, but the sand used in its production came together with components of deep space. The ustur responsible for this part of the project swore that nothing in this galaxy short of another titan could destroy it.

The hexagonal design also further enhanced the strength of the whole structure and looked pretty cool.

That moment, a giant jaca slammed into the water, just two hands to the right side of my head.

“What the hell, Brickda! What if that actually hit me?” I protested, trying to throw water at her.

“Unfortunately, we will never know since I missed.” She said with the saddest face a Tufa could muster. After a few seconds she restarted: “Since I have your attention now, let me talk about the Galactic Marketplace.” She started talking while suppressing a smile as my efforts of throwing water were failing miserably.

“The Galactic Marketplace had an exciting week from what I see here. The audit and the Atlas Staking prototype are ongoing. At the same time, the User Experience and the front end are finally ready for internal user testing. After that, they will probably work on the feedback received and start, in the following weeks, the next stage of implementation.”

Hmm.. I tried to calculate the implications of this movement, but nothing obvious occurred to me, so I nodded to Brika as a sign for her to keep going.

“They also sent pieces of information about the DAO. Yeah, you are right. They opened their hearts to us, which I had never heard of regarding ATMTA. Among the many progress logs, they even shared the latest developments. Here check it out:”

The hologram showed the following message:

a) User Experience Design: All sections but the Lockers are completed. Looking for the last details on the lockers.

b) Blockchain: On-chain program is close to completion.

We both stood there in silence, our minds on the work. My central hypothesis was that the developments were outdated or that they would come asking for something else.

“This might be linked with the movements of other factions, Alicia.” She said in a grave tone. Unfortunately, it’s been ages since we got any proper update from our spies at the COP or the other factions.

Maybe they knew something that we didn’t. Yeah… the ATMTA CEO had a reputation for knowing everything that happened in the galaxy. That’s why we couldn’t understand his motivations.

Everything but our Titan, growing hidden in a location that I don’t dare disclose even in thought, as even those are not safe nowadays.

“You might be right,” I answered. “Well, tell me what else they shared.” While enjoying a few more precious moments in the water.

“They also sent us a report about SCREAM and System Polishing. On the first, they continue to refine the three programs that they have been prototyping on the Blockchain front. They also started a new blockchain program while updating SCREAM blockchain architecture based on refinements to gameplay mechanics.

They have also completed SCREAM outliner in the User Interface front and are now adding Gameplay Depth to WebGL proof of concept.

On the System Polishing side, they have fixed the bug where the ledger address path changed, implemented updated unit tests and refactored the cookies and Legal Models/VM.

Another upcoming feature is that they are implementing extra cranks, which facilitate transaction processing across the network, for resources market reliability and a banner that displays Solana’s transactions reliability.”

“Interesting developments from ATMTA…” I thought to myself. They have been onboarding people every week, as my connections told me. It seems as if they are preparing for a new moment. Perhaps we all are, every faction, every DAC, everyone is feeling that something is coming.

No use thinking about that though, I reckoned, while I got out of the water. Then, a burst of inspiration came to me, like it always did when I felt pressured. I realized it was time for us to get back to work. I called Brikda.

Once out of the lake, I activated the exosuit and we walked to the transport station and beyond to the next biosphere.

What we were building here was a place for everyone, from everywhere, to work together with nature in peace.

“It’s scary, Brikda.” I said almost in a whisper.

“I think the Council of Peace, they have the power, the Polis, and have deceived millions of citizens who sleep peacefully every night, resting on the remains of a galaxy their leaders tore apart in their wars.

“But we won’t let the other factions rule the galaxy and destroy nature as they please — especially Gotti and their people who left Earth as a lifeless husk in our hands.” I added, feeling the hate burning in my interior, using fear as fuel.

“We won’t be denied, Brikda.” I said while looking at the luxurious rainforest of the next biosphere through the glass of the solar powered transportation. “Should the COP, or any other faction try to stop us, they will find my baby ready for them soon.”

Weekly Project Report

See the full report in the Official Star Atlas Roadmap here.

See previous weekly reports here.

Project: Showroom Alpha

Concept Art: DONE /// Art: BUILDING /// UX/UI: BUILDING /// Game Design: DONE /// Blockchain: BUILDING /// Game Play: BUILDING

Updates: Alpha quality is in progress for all art-related disciplines /// UX is locked. We are working on Title Screen, In-game Menu, and Fast-Travel mockups. Also, we started developing a Splash screen. /// Blockchain UX is ready, and the wireframes are done. /// UI general system (buttons/pop ups/windows), Ships placement and assigning to Pads — developing system and testing.

Upcoming activities: Continue to work on Alpha-quality for all environment depts: Level Art, Props, Vegetation, Lighting, VFX /// continuing the mockup creation for all features and their integration to the game /// Planned to start wallet testing. /// Keep working with UI and Ships.

Project: Galactic Marketplace

Blockchain: BUILDING /// UX/UI: PROTOTYPING /// FRONT END: PROTOTYPING

Updates: Marketplace program audit ongoing, and ATLAS staking program ongoing /// Started testing prototype with our internal users /// Prototype is ready for user testing

Upcoming activities: Update factory methods, prepare mock data for devnet front-end integration /// Conduct testing sessions with community users, address feedback in the high fidelity designs /// Address feedback from user testing and start final implementation

Project: System Polishing

Bug fixes: Ledger changed address path changed

New Features: Update unit tests/// Refactor Cookie and Legal Models/VM

Upcoming features: Bundle of GDPR compliance features /// Redesign of play.staratlas.com menu system to enhance UX /// Solana network health indicators /// Solana health endpoint for Galaxy/// Extra cranks for R4 market reliability

Known issues: Player net worth not accurate on profile /// Badges not available on player profile /// Ships can’t be withdrawn from Faction Fleet if a rent account is missing /// Toolkit TXs failing

Project: SCREAM v1.0

Game Design: PROTOTYPING /// Blockchain: PROTOTYPING/// UX: PROTOTYPING /// UI Design: BUILDING /// Economy Design: R&D /// Front End: PROTOTYPING

Updates: Continuing to define explicit requirements for core gameplay mechanics and game systems design while exploring rewards structure with Game Economics stakeholders. /// Continuing testing and refining three existing prototypes. Started a new blockchain program — updating SCREAM blockchain architecture based on refinements to gameplay mechanics. /// Continuing to refine user interaction flows based on refinements to game mechanics. Continuing low fidelity wireframes for SCREAM player onboarding /// Continuing to refine concepts for SCREAM views. Completed SCREAM outliner /// Assessing economic implications of rewards structure. Produced analysis on a key feature /// Adding gameplay depth to WebGL Proof of Concept

Upcoming activities: Continue to define explicit requirements for core gameplay mechanics and incorporate feedback from SCREAM stakeholders. Validate gameplay loops playability with WebGL Proof of Concept. Assess feasibility of game mechanics with blockchain program proof of concepts. Guide UX/UI design based on game mechanics /// Test and refine prototypes across all SCREAM teams and stakeholders /// Prototype the game views and all of the interactive elements /// Solicit feedback on SCREAM UI and refine it. /// Continue to analyze economic impacts of SCREAM /// Validate gameplay loops and key SCREAM concepts with Proof of Concept.

Project: DAO

UX/UI: PROTOTYPING /// Front End: PROTOTYPING /// Blockchain: BUILDING

Updates: Working out details of the Lockers section. All other sections are completed. /// Connecting proposals UI with blockchain models, adding blockchain models and building user profile flow. /// On-chain program is close to completion.

Upcoming activities: Preparing to move to high fidelity designs (pending final review on the wireframes by all stakeholders) /// Indexing /database streaming solution. /// Schedule Audit for on-chain program. Work on off-chain tooling, Implementing data-lake service.

ABOUT STAR ATLAS

Star Atlas is a next-gen gaming metaverse emerging from the confluence of state-of-the-art blockchain, real-time graphics, multiplayer video games, and decentralized financial technologies.

Using Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite, real-time graphics technology allows for cinematic quality video game visuals. In addition, blockchain technology using the Solana protocol establishes a largely serverless and secured gameplay experience. Non-fungible tokens obtained and traded within Star Atlas create an economy that replicates tangible world assets and ownership. To learn more, visit StarAtlas.com, join a faction at Play.StarAtlas.com and send your spaceships on a deep space mission by enrolling them in a Faction Fleet.

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ECOS Crafting the Future: Star Atlas Roadmap Scan #04 was originally published in Star Atlas on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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