Alien Arsenal Tutorial and Explanation
An Introduction to Blockchain Gaming
Congratulations! You have been selected to meet visitors from outer space and help bring their alien technology to your fellow Earthlings! This is the origin season of Alien Arsenal: Battle for the Blockchain. Alien Arsenal is a mobile game that is designed to provide gamers a portal into the world of blockchains, tokens, and cute collectable characters.
For the first, season, your alien visitors are providing a Space Drop of 8Bit Tokens as a friendly greeting. These are real 8Bit Tokens on the Ethereum blockchain…and soon you will be able to use these tokens to collect more alien friends, and evolve your aliens into formidable allies. These 8Bit Tokens will sit safely in your app wallet until we complete some initial tests to make sure the alien technology is safe for everyone to use. Then, we will turn on the features that allow you to move them from the safety of the Alien Arsenal app wallet.
Getting Started
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to join the Alien Arsenal Space drop by signing up at http://bit.ly/AASpaceDrop. You’ll be sent an email with an invitation code once we’ve had the opportunity to process your request.
Be sure to join our Discord channel to plugin to our community and get all the latest information. Discord will be our primary method of communicating changes and collecting feedback.
Once you have the invitation email, follow the instructions to get Alien Arsenal on your mobile device.
Logging In
We’ll need to authenticate your account so you’re the only one with access to your 8Bit Tokens, these things are valuable and we don’t want you to lose them!
Start by tapping the “Sign In With Google” button then follow the steps on screen.
IMPORTANT: For the Space Drop, you will need to use the same email you provided us (and if you are on a Android device it will need to be the same email that is associated with your device).
Creating A Wallet
After you’ve created your login, simply tap the orange “Create Wallet” button at the bottom of the screen.
This step initiates communication with the Ethereum blockchain and creates a wallet for you.
What’s a Wallet?
Think of a wallet as your personal storage space for your cryptocurrency, in this case the 8Bit Tokens, and eventually for all the Smart Game Objects you’re going to collect while playing games from 8 Circuit Studios. Your wallet is an address on the Ethereum blockchain and that address will be used to track everything you own from Alien Arsenal.
Seems Like I’m Waiting a Long Time
It takes some time to create a wallet. You’ll see that little spinner at the bottom of the screen for up to a couple of minutes after creating your wallet. We are waiting for Ethereum to confirm that your wallet has been created and your address is correct. Be patient and don’t leave the screen… you’re only a step away from claiming your 8Bit Tokens, and two steps from incubating your first Alien.
Claim Your Tokens
You’ve got your wallet, now you just need to get your 8Bit Tokens.
First, tap the button to enter the invite code you were sent from 8 Circuit Studios to join the Space Drop Program. Follow the instructions to enter your code and this will unlock the rest of the App for you.
Now you can simply tap the purple top button to collect your 8Bit Tokens.
It might take a minute for the transaction to be confirmed on the Ethereum Blockchain, but once it is the tokens will be moved to your wallet you should see the number of tokens you have in the pink burst update.
Transactions
You’ll notice that after the confirmation is complete for claiming your tokens the button changes to say “Press to View This Transaction.” Clicking that button will open a browser window and navigate to a site called etherscan.io. The web page that opens will show you the transaction that was issued to send you your 8Bit Tokens. If you’ve never used a cryptocurrency before, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have now. The confirmation on etherscan.io is a public record of the 8Bit Tokens being transferred to your wallet.
Currently, anytime there is a blockchain transaction in Alien Arsenal: Battle for the Blockchain we give you access to review it on etherscan.io. Simply click the “transaction” link and it will open in etherscan.io.
To the left is an example of an Etherscan web page.
#1 Is the transaction ID you are looking at
#2 Indicates the status of the transaction. In this case it is still “pending” meaning the transaction has not been “confirmed” by the Ethereum network yet
#3 is the “Close” button that will close the browser window and return you to Alien Arsenal.
It might not seem like a much right now, but these transactions on a public blockchain are the cornerstone of ownership and exchange of tokens and digital assets. We’ve done everything we can to make this valuable technology easy and accessible.
Your First Alien
As a member of the season one “Space Drop” you’ve earned a free Alien. Choose one to join you in the upcoming Battle for the Blockchain. Make your selection carefully; initially you’ll only be able to incubate a single alien. In future seasons additional aliens can be incubated to join your arsenal, but those will require you to redeem your 8Bit Tokens in exchange.
From the home screen, select the blue button labeled “Incubate Alien.”
Select Alien
The next screen will tell you about your alien ally. You’ll notice to either side of Tid Bit there are arrows. Clicking the arrows will scroll through our three available aliens (Tid Bit, Bartemis, and Gillian).
When you find the alien that appeals to you, simply click the “Incubate” button at the bottom of the screen of the alien you want to enter your arsenal.
Skill
Once you choose which Alien will join you’ll be asked to select an initial skill or attack type for your alien. This skill will be used in future battles as your Alien’s attack style.
Waiting For Incubation
Once the transaction for your alien is verified on the Ethereum blockchain, it’s yours… and one of the very first digital, upgradable assets ever made. Just a reminder: initially these alien friends are for testing purposes, but in the near future you’ll be welcoming your first, permanent alien into your arsenal.
What’s Next?
Congratulations, again, for joining us early in the origin story of Alien Arsenal: Battle for the Blockchain. Each feature that is added is a huge advancement for gaming and blockchain. Though it might not seem like much, a lot of amazing science is happening to make this alien technology available, so we are introducing each new feature slowly and deliberately. Our goal is for blockchain integration to be nearly invisible and this process to be simple. In future builds we’ll be introducing gameplay elements and moving Alien Arsenal to the App and Play Stores to make it easier to participate. In the mean time, please, let us know your thoughts and comments. Jump in on Discord and tell us what you’re thinking and join the conversation.
