Game Mechanics
And Core Loop
Last updated
And Core Loop
Last updated
Although Echoes of Cryptalia is a multimode game and it’s somewhat strange to include a Core Loop in a web3 paper, we consider –with good reason, as you’ll read ahead– as key knowledge this particular aspects of the game, since they constitute not only the Core Loop of the game, but also, by design, the main financial drive behind our thesis for the usecase of web3 gaming tokens: Gamified Staking. Players are welcomed by a main screen where they have a panoramic view of the main base of their team of Heroes, in addition to the Upgrades that the player has built (and can continue building as their resources allow). There, they can plan improvements of various kinds, with the aim of increasing the effectiveness of their Team in the Combat feature, which is accessed by choosing one of the Quests available for the period of time in which they carry out their activities.
By sending parties to Quests, and therefore engaging in Combat, players, to the extent of their degree of success or completion, obtain a variety of resources that, in turn, can be used on the main optimization screen; to refine them, build new Upgrades or level them up, as well as develop new skills and equipment, among other variations that the design team makes available to the player base so that they can optimize, each in their own unique way, the performance of the team they have at their disposal as Master Tacticians.
The Main Screen (above) represents the center of operations for the group of heroes managed by the Master Tactician (player). The space available for building Upgrades in exchange for resources is subdivided into a hexagonal grid, which is only visible when in building mode. We see, in the center, the Main Base. Below it, we find a Blacksmith with its awning, an Upgrade that the player has added to their Base, using a number of resources (represented by the icons in the upper right corner) in exchange for a flow of benefits for their progress in the optimization variant they have chosen. Specifically, the Blacksmith has the ability to keep in shape players' weapons, as well as, with sufficient materials, provide players with newly minted NFT equipment, each time an arbitrary game cycle is completed. In the extreme upper right side we can see a Sawmill, which transforms log resources into planks available for the construction of advanced structures. It also provides a limited warehouse for the use of the player and their team. Each Base has at least one natural water source, since certain buildings require to be built in contiguity with them.
The above mentioned are, of course, only a couple of examples within a large, deep system of modular Upgrade buildings that players can choose from. Written in more general, technical terms, our team forwards the following loop for the Gamified Staking aspect of Echoes of Cryptalia, as a way to promote staking as a deflationary measure while transforming it into the main source of endless fun. These are the five types of Upgrades that players may build on their Main Bases:
Extractors: Provides an N amount of X NFT 1155 raw materials in a time cycle T.
Refiners: Transforms n*S_x NFT 1155 raw materials into m*R_x NFT 1155 refined materials in a time cycle T.
Processors: Swaps a linear combination of A_x NFT 721 advanced items and NFT 1155 materials for an A_x NFT 721 advanced item.
Crafters: Generates an A_x NFT 721 advanced item in a time cycle T, as long as the player meets the staking requirements to burn a linear combination of 1155 NFTs.
Training: Enables Heroic Growth. NFT 721 Heroes must be staked along other assets for a time cycle T in order to surpass their current level cap and gain a new skill.
Which can be schematized, in a simplified version, through the following flowchart:
The combat aspect will be manually controlled in a turn-based system, but we plan on an idle feature as well, as we see a lot of potential in this gaming experience, with a mentality set to accommodate the game to our player base time availability and pacing and not the other way around, foolishly trying to force it. Accommodating these two perspectives towards our game might seem strange, but we only see it as a game design challenge –which is, of course, the game that game developers play as they do their jobs. Our Player vs Player feature is currently under development and we plan on implementing organized play on one or more of the modes, as we include them progressively in accordance to our inclination towards building in public and in consideration of the material conditions of the market.
Consequently, the resource management aspect (Gamified Staking) consists of the game of combat optimization, boosting player progression. In combat, Hero NFTs face enemies one by one in a tag-team style, turn-based system over a 1-dimensional board of 7 blocks. When in idle mode, Heroes will perform actions according to machine-optimized algorithms as well as to predefined tactical outlines set by the player. Divided into four macro-categories (Asskickers, Tricksters, Wisedudes, and Pactbounds), an arbitrary number of Classes belonging to one of those macro-categories (initial classes include Warrior, Ranger, Performer, and Guardian), an arbitrary number of Peoples (initial peoples include Witness Humans, Mountain Elves and High Voidlings), a set of skill progression for each class, and a mechanism of weapon-specialization, as well as a variety of items powered by a generative machine trained for that purpose, players are confronted with a vast playground to develop their in-game personas however they choose.
