Metropius Fuels The Avalanche Network with Multimedia Dieselpunk
Metropius is the most epic multimedia immersion of interactive Dieselpunk that the world has ever seen. It is an outstanding crossover of animated series, comic books, NFTs, cryptocurrency, and interactive metaverse. Its genesis mint of high-quality NFTs, the Thorns, includes a hard copy comic book and is now Minting LIVE on the Avalanche Blockchain Network. Learn how to become a Metropian and how to have an active experience in this exciting and deep Dieselpunk metaverse.
GREETINGS, METROPIANS
TODAY WE GIVE THANKS TO ROSE DIESEL
IT POWERS OUR AMBITION
IT FUELS OUR DREAMS
IT MANIFESTS OUR WILL
ALL METROPIANS WORK FOR THE SUCCESS OF ALL
NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
THERE IS HOPE FOR ALL LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS
THE LIGHT OF THE UPPER CITY IS YOUR DESTINY
THE FRUITS OF THE PERIANTH AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF ALL GOOD METROPIANS
OBEY THE THORNS AND THE ROSES
THOSE WHO DENY OUR LOVE WILL BE JUDGED
WE ARE ALWAYS WATCHING
YOUR COMPLIANCE IS OUR STRENGTH
YOUR SAFETY IS WITHIN OUR WALLS
YOUR SECURITY IS UNDER OUR PROTECTION
Enter a Sci-Fi Dieselpunk World
World War II continues to rage after 40 years. The globe is locked in a deadly stalemate
But in the isolated desert, a rare commodity is discovered
Rose Diesel
A highly potent fuel gives rise to a new world power. The world’s greatest city is born:
Metropius.
Ruled by corporations and enforced by their Roses and Thorns, Metropians are complacent and largely content.
But within these border walls there is growing dissent. An underbelly festers beneath the streets of the world’s greatest city, and the fight for Metropius begins.
Metropius is a revolutionary, award-winning Sci-Fi Dieselpunk animation and metaverse. Years in the making, it is ready to launch on the Avalanche Network as part of a multimedia experience that includes TV, comic books, and a set of four NFTs that each grants access to awesome perks and future staking utility as part of the Metropius metaverse. It’s one of the first Film & TV projects on the Avalanche Network.
From the official whitepaper:
Metropius is a Dieselpunk, sci-fi world and transmedia franchise developed by Australian film production company 18 Degrees Films.
The project began as a 20min animation and TV Series proof-of-concept funded by Screen Queensland and made in Unreal Engine.
The animation premiered at the Brisbane International Film Festival and won a GOLD ACS Award for cinematography.
The team have also spent several years developing the narrative and world of Metropius for the TV Series and are now in talks with major broadcasters and streamers.
The first NFT of this collection is now LIVE!
The genesis THORN NFT + COMIC mint is set for a total supply of 3333 Thorns at 2 Avax. The launch date was May 24th, 23:00 UTC and is now LIVE!
Metropius has two official websites, which are listed below
Mint: https://metropius.io/
You can also go to the .com page to learn all about the Metropius TV Series and universe: https://www.metropius.com/
This article will give you all you need to know about why it’s worth it to get involved now. Simply put, the creators are brilliant, the world building is compelling, the art is gorgeous, the roadmap is solid, and the benefits for holders are fun, exciting, and eventually profitable as $DIESEL token fuels the Metropius metaverse.
Read on to learn more.
Here is information from Dan MacArthur, the founder, from the official Discord channel:
METROPIUS began as an animated TV series pilot, with investment from Screen Queensland and Epic Games
Now this Dieselpunk, Sci-Fi Franchise is in development with:
COMIC SERIES + NFTS launching soon!
* P2E GAME
* BOARD GAME
* TV SERIES
* METAVERSE
METROPIUS, THE WORLD’S GREATEST CITY
It’s late in the 19th Century and in the isolated desert, a farmer and explorer named Rose makes a discovery which will change the world forever.
She strikes oil, but not just any oil — a highly powerful and volatile substance, which will later be known as Rose Diesel in honour of its discoverer.
⛽️ Too dangerous to ship, a new community forms around the oil-rich area and eventually the city of Metropius is founded.
The greatest minds on earth flock to the thriving metropolis.
But with the earth beneath them left infertile due to mining, the city must build up and up and up.
Three distinct levels form. They pay homage to the city’s founder Rose, shaped after the parts of a flowering plant.
The Roots, home to the miners, rebels, misfits and gangs who hide below the ground to escape the Rose surveillance.
The Filament, the street level where citizens work in the factories and manufacturing plants.
And The Perianth, the towering skyscrapers and platforms above the clouds where food is grown and the elite reside.
But the outside world is restless.
World War One begins and ends followed by World War Two which by now has been raging for 40 years.
The city closes its borders. Metropius becomes the world’s most powerful city, manufacturing with the help of their precious diesel.⛽️
Its citizens consider themselves lucky to be living in this desert haven.
But the founding corporations and their moral and law enforcers, the Roses and their Thorn henchmen, use this to control the population and keep the cogs turning.
The Metropians believe the propaganda that if they work hard and obey, they too may one day retire in the clean and sunny Perianth.
They are subject to wartime rations, child restrictions and labour aptitude testing.
Within these border walls there is a melting pot of unruly characters and dark tales. The seedy underbelly of illegal robot tournaments, human mechanical grafts, corruption and black market operations festers beneath the streets of the world’s greatest city…Metropius
THE THREE LEVELS OF METROPIUS: THE ROOTS, FILAMENT AND PERIANTH
Extracting the Rose Diesel has had environmental consequences. The Earth has been left barren and unstable.
The solution was to build up into the heavens, to reach out to the light like a skyscraping flower.
Each major level or section of Metropius is built and named after the parts of a flowering plant in honour of the founder, Rose.
THE ROOTS: the underground level of Metropius,. Home to diesel mines and power stations. Able to avoid the strict surveillance of the Rose, the poor and outcast seek refuge in the surrounding abandoned tunnels. In the shadows of the catacombs the criminal gangs thrive.
THE FILAMENT: the city’s middle-class level. Where the citizens work tirelessly for the profit-driven corporations and weapons manufacturing plants. These workers are grateful for their place in the world’s ‘greatest’ city and are complacent to the growing regime.
THE PERIANTH: the city’s top tier above the clouds. With access to sunlight and rain above the smog, the city’s elite, wealthy and powerful reside among the farmlands and primary industries which honour Rose’s image.
This city is heavy with industry and iron-laden piping, and outside its heavily armoured walls, there is vast desert as far as the eye can see.
Metropians live amongst legendary achievements to the human spirit. The city founders, in their genius and cooperation, have built a sanctuary of security in the midst of the deadly desert. Their resourcefulness and ingenuity gave birth the greatest city the world has ever known!
You! Weary wanderer! Walk no longer in the endless desert of your sorrows. Move to a place of security and strength. Come to Metropius!
Join as a citizen of Metropius and be the change the world needs! Build a greater future with Rose Diesel, and soar into a bright tomorrow!
Become a Metropian!
The first mint of the collection — The Thorns — is available for the public soon. The total supply is 3333 and the value is 2 Avax.
Benefits of Becoming a Metropian
Minting a Thorns NFT — and the other 3 NFTs in the future collections — will grant you the honorary title of Metropian and allow access to special rewards and status for this on-going project.
SPECIAL LIMITED FIRST EDITION COMIC BOOK, in HARD COPY
One comic book per one Thorn NFT. This is next level in itself — never before has a hard copy of a comic book ever been connected as part of an NFT or metaverse before. The comic book will be delivered to you.
This comic book is an instant collector’s item.
Become a Metropius VIP
When you mint a Thorns, you become a Metropian, and not just any ol’ Metropian — you’re VIP, baby.
Benefits of Metropius NFT Ownership
These are immediate benefits for Thorns NFT holders:
NFT ART PRINT
You receive a high quality print of your numbered NFT art which you can display on a wall or perhaps in your own personal NFT gallery inside your café or place of business.
THE SPEAKEASY
You are granted access to an exclusive Discord channel, kind of like a secret speakeasy for those-in-the-know.
It’s home to Metropius’ most notable supporters and creative team.
The Speakeasy will allow Metropians to contribute to the creative process of building Metropius, have access to alpha and updates, merchandise vouchers, exclusive event invitations, sponsor perks and beta game testing.
GUARANTEED WHITELIST
Holders of a Metropius NFT from any of the sets will automatically be whitelisted for the following NFT Series.
You get put on a guaranteed whitelist for the next NFT mint — The Roses
PERKS
GOLDEN PASSPORT
When you hold a full set of four Metropius NFTs — Thorn, Rose, Rebel, and Automaton — you will receive a GOLDEN PASSPORT to the first Metropius Metaverse Event, as well as IRL invitations, exclusive behind the scenes access, Founding Citizen Role and more.
You will receive special rewards and airdrops as long as you are a Thorns NFT holder — forever. This includes real-life merchandise and other perks. Genesis minters will also have a special benefit when the $DIESEL tokenomics are eventually introduced.
P2E Game and Metaverse
I’m excited for the possibilities of an innovative P2E within the awesome Dieselpunk aesthetic. It would be fun to play as a character in Metropius while interacting, playing, and earning. Metropius NFT holders — starting with the Thorns genesis mint — get first early access to the game and early utility in the Metropius Metaverse.
JOIN METROPIUS
FOLLOW THE ROSES AND THORNS
YOUR SAFETY IS SECURED
Info on The Thorns, the First Mint
Thorns are the stormtroopers and law enforcers of Metropius. They are the faceless faces of the system. They are the boot on the face of the opposition.
Do not resist the Thorns.
Their priority is your security.
Your security is our freedom.
Henchmen for the Roses in Metropius, the Thorns are part of the moral and law enforcement of the city. They often carry out the dirty work for the city’s elite and wear a gas mask to protect them from dangerous and grimy missions in The Roots.
They are the symbol of the power that the corporations have in their Rose Diesel dominance.
They are more than the dogs — they are the dire wolves of their superiors.
Through blood and fear, the Thorns maintain control of the city and carry out the will of their superiors without question. The superiors know what is best for the good of all Metropians.
The Thorns are the messengers of the will of those who command them.
Their controllers are the owners and elites of Metropius.
THEY KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR METROPIUS
THE THORNS’ WILL IS THE WILL OF METROPIUS
THE THORNS’ WILL IS TH…………….
*>*>*>*<<<Yeah, sure!! Go back to your masters, you brainless lap dogs!!>>>>****
***Metropius and ***Rose Diesel***
Psst…hey…
Hey!…thanks for sticking with us…sorry for putting you through that Perianth propaganda about the will of the Thorns! Can you believe that!? We have to do that to appease the bots. But the bots can’t scrawl this far down, I’ve personally hacked the code using the latest in Rose Diesel Spy Mech. Now that you’re still here, I’ll let you in on the truth — We the people living in The Roots are the true heart and soul of Metropius!
The Thorns are mindless stormtroopers who carry out dirty tasks with violence and cruelty! We’ve had enough of it! But we need your help. By minting a Thorns, one by one, you and others will help us wrest control back from heartless corporate overlords, because your stake in Metropius will infiltrate their ranks and help us enact real change in this cold bloody mechanistic system and bring life back to this so-called “greatest city!”
So here’s a history lesson of why we are here right now.
The discovery of an extremely powerful energy source, called Rose Diesel, changes the world. Rose is the name of the discoverer of this special oil and is also the inspiration for the Roses that we will see in Metropius. The Roses are the 2nd NFT mint in Metropius, which will also be on Avalanche.
Many are seeking the higher quality of life that Metropians can have in the Perianth, the upper levels. The dream is to live safely and securely, but the reality is that a deep corporatocracy controls the population with fearful law enforcement. The Thorns and the Roses maintain control and keep the systems running smoothly, despite the rising dark underbelly that exists within the walls…
Metropius will have Four NFTs + Four Limited Edition Comic Books
There are three more NFTs planned after Thorns. Each NFT will come with an exclusive limited edition comic book issue of Metropius.
A Rose
Rose Ministries rises to power in Metropius after the death of founder Rose, whom they revere, and from her teachings they model their ideals. Their laws and propaganda keep people compliant, complacent, and working as social cogs, without question. The industrial and mechanical are in service to this growing ideal.
A Rebel
Not all citizens of Metropius buy into the teachings of the Roses. It is the working class, the miners in the Roots, who must engage in the life-threatening task of extracting the highly volatile diesel from the earth. Alongside the miners, a band of outcasts and crime bosses are drawn to the Roots, making their homes in the abandoned mines and caverns. Dissent against the Roses festers as they struggle to live in the grimey underground.
an Automaton
With Metropius built on the highly volatile Rose Diesel resource, the technology in the city is largely industrial and pre-computer age. Automatons are rudimentary robots who assist with tasks across the city. Cleaners, ticket masters, bartenders and newspaper boys may all be friendly automatons. They keep the city running like clockwork.
There is one Automaton that is well known to the Metropian Discord members — Mr. Monty. Join the Discord and say hello.
Please see the whitepaper for all of the details.
Reaching Out With A Global Thorns Poster Hunt
I represent the people of the roots. The outcasts, the rebels, the unappreciated, the underpaid and the overworked. The Roots campaign for retribution and harmony have already encroached out into the universe. A poster hunt /scavenger hunt was started recently. Winners receive a free Thorn NFT, which jumpstarts our mission.
TV Animation
Metropius is inspired by 1930s noir and art deco style. The result is just awesome. Check out some of these sneak previews of the vehicles we will see in Metropius.
I recommend subscribing to their Youtube channel to check out more cool animation being done. There’s also a lot of sneak previews being posted in the Discord channel.
There’s a lot of exciting things that have already been developed in the world of Metropius, and the way forward looks super great.
Roadmap
The way ahead for Metropius looks exciting, with lots of NFTs, hard copy comic books, web comics, games, a TV show, and a board game. Let’s take a look at what’s next for 2022 and beyond.
Metropius animation clips can be found on their YouTube page as I have previously mentioned. This funding launched the Metropius project into reality.
Metropius is already an award-winning animation. The project consists of a fully-doxxed team of creative artists, including film directors, illustrators, animators, and more.
By minting a Thorns, you become an early investor an extremely promising project that is evolving along with the advances of the Avalanche network.
This is one I’m excited for. I loved playing board games growing up. This type of aesthetic is perfect for a game. Not only that, but there’s going to be a hardcover book available containing the amazingly slick artwork, and that’s in addition to the hardcopy comic books.
The $DIESEL Token will fuel the Metropius Metaverse. As a Metropian, the token is the currency of exchange. Rose Diesel already makes intuitive and logical sense as the token currency of the metaverse. The metaverse is already established in vision, and now we will see it come to fruition as blockchain technology continues to positively change how we interact and make transactions. This is the Q1 2023 phase for Metropius.
Meet the Founders
Dan MacArthur, Founder / Director
Dan Mac is a director/DOP who has worked with Academy Award winners like Russell Crowe and Cuba Gooding Jnr. In 2014 Dan directed feature Nice Package which won Best Film at Chandler International Film Festival and in 2017 Dan’s short film Anthesis of Man won several awards including Best Comedy at Austin Comedy Film Festival.
As a DOP, Dan has also won several ACS Gold awards for feature films & music videos, working with major Aussie bands like Powderfinger, The Whitlams and Regurgitator.
Dan has worked across the globe shooting films and commercials in the U.S., Europe, Africa and even Bollywood productions in India.
As a director, Dan has a strong narrative style taken from his many years of film experience — with a talent for comedy, beauty, cars and drama.
Dan’s Discord Bio:
Hi my name is Dan I am the head creator of Metropius. My career has been in film as a Director of Photography. I’ve been Directing for many years also. See my work here DP www.danmacdp.com
Mel Poole, Founder / Creative Producer
Mel Poole is a Director and Producer passionate about emotive storytelling.
In 2019 Mel directed Sock and Buskin which took out the Audience Award at the Academy Award-qualifying St Kilda Film Festival. Dry, also directed by Mel in 2020 won the People’s Choice Award and Best QLD Film at the AIFF and was selected for numerous international festivals.
Mel has directed commercials for Wonder White Bread, AFL, Hewlett Packard, Ramsay Health, and Allianz to name just a few.
Some of her most memorable moments include shooting the famous Gerewol courting festival in the middle of Niger and the epic trek to Everest Base Camp.
Mel is known for her knack in capturing genuine and candid performances, capitalizing on raw human emotion.
My Thoughts on the Dieselpunk Genre and Metropius
In all conditions, whether up or down, happy or sad, bear or bull, it’s important to keep moving forward and continue to self-evaluate and build and grow. In bear markets and slow days, we can have faith that the best projects are being built with dedicated focus. What is being built is important and worth it. These creative visions flourish as the art becomes a kind of poetic mirror or metaphor or creative analog for real-life experiences both at the individual and societal level.
I recognize Metropius as being one of these important art projects that the world is ready for now. As a teenager, I played a popular WWII game that constantly reminded the player why war is wrong and why this situation shouldn’t happen again, but the idea is since it did happen, let’s learn from it and treat it as an important history lesson.
What I find fascinating about the Dieselpunk genre and specifically Metropius’ take on it is that this “endless WWII” operating under a corporate rule could really help us learn about our own history and world. The best sci-fi always has this kind of thought-provoking effect.
I believe people will resonate with Metropius as it exists analogous to real-world situations under global corporatocracy and strong wafts of fascism floating through the currents. The metaverse will allow people to learn about these systems and the roles they play in the world in a playful or exploratory sense. The art becomes a stage for us to learn and play and interact and grow and build and become something better.
The City of Metropius
Let’s look at the main website for the television series, www.metropius.com, where we can read a succinct description of what the city of Metropius is and what goes on within and around its walls.
Who controls rose-diesel controls the world, basically. Control for the world’s most important resource and how normal citizens are caught up in this overwhelming corporatocracy.
The Roses are a very interesting flip on the traditional ideas of power and patriarchy. The whole idea reminds me of the American Rosie the Riveter.
Some forget the critically important role of women in WWII — while men were overseas, the industrial factory roles were assigned to women who fueled the war effort. It is said that without these hard-working women, the Allies would have struggled to end the war. Posters like Rosie the Riveter are symbolic of the incredibly important roles that women play in society. By highlighting the all-female Roses as leaders of a diesel-fueled, mechanized society, I think Metropius pays an homage to this part of history, and now within this story, Roses are feared, loved, and idolized, and I think it’s going to be very cool to watch this story playout.
Detective Goodall is a protagonist in this story.
Although I’m not directly working with him, you can be sure that his goals align with ours, at least to some extent.
I can’t say I blame him for what he did — everyone fell victim to the Rose propaganda at some point. The promises of living “that good life” are so enticing.
But it’s a lie! The system is rigged! The people of the roots are oppressed! The honest workers of the filament are brainwashed! And we are here not just for some idyllic “good life” fantasies, but a chance at thriving in Metropius as peaceful, ordinary citizens amongst loving brethren.
Comparing Piecraftian and Ottensian Dieselpunk
This interesting article highlights the two major “flavors” of Dieselpunk. The Ottensian style is more optimistic and cheery.
With no Great Depression having occurred in this alternate history, it is a time defined by seemingly unstoppable progress and unfaltering faith in the future. Skyscrapers are erected in Art Deco style, zeppelins still grace the skies. It is perhaps the most attractive type of dieselpunk and certainly the most optimistic.
The other flavor is labeled as Piecraftian, which is a theme of a more perpetual warring, a more hellish bleakness engulfed in a consciousness of early 20th century fascism and 1940s film-noir.
Either a world in which the enemy ruling authoritarian state is a controlling force, unveiling a truly hopeless dystopian future reminiscent of Nineteen-Eighty-Four or Brazil, or the post-apocalyptic outcome seen in such movies as Six-String Samurai and Mad Max.
I definitely see elements of both Dieselpunk styles in Metropius. On one hand, we have the upper city residents of the Perianth who live in “the towering skyscrapers and platforms above the clouds where food is grown and the elite reside.” They reap the bounties and benefits Metropian machine’s output. Their general outlook may be more optimistic, with a more Art Deco, roaring 20s style.
However, the heavy film-noir elements remind us of a darker element. We can see from an outsider’s perspective that the people of the Roots are oppressed and the Filament is also oppresed via propaganda and subtle fear techniques in order that the status quo would be maintained against opposition. The interests of the people — humanity itself — are at odds with the interests of the corporate state. The voices of the outspoken are silenced (but don’t worry, the bots won’t crawl this far, you’re safe in this deep-end part of the article).
I had a question for the founder about which style Metropius may be. I asked if Metropius was inspired by a Piecraftian or Ottensian Dieselpunk vibe or a blend.
Dan’s response:
Hey Ant this is a great question and what I can say about Metropius is that we are able to combine all of the elements of Dieselpunk I believe because first of all Metropius’s history spans over decades so not only will we be able to play on earlier deco ornamental style Aztec style, but we will progress, as Art Deco did, through to streamline.
And then down in the roots is where the much darker industrial side of Dieselpunk will take place since far less emphasis is placed on style, looks and luxury items as much as it is concerned with diesel, grease black smoke and pipes. Whereas, high up in the Perianth, we will go further and invent a very extreme high concept version of Dieselpunk. So to answer your question in a nutshell, Metropius will have lots of fun with all aspects of Dieselpunk and we can’t wait to explore much more than what exists in the world today. In other words we intend to use Metropius as a vehicle to fully explore this genre, the way it deserves to be discovered.
I think that’s cool and it makes sense. This is a living and breathing art project and both the community and creators are pioneers. While of course there is inspiration from certain parts of history and previous sci-fi, what is being built on Avalanche now is something unprecedented.
Thorns NFT **MINT IS LIVE**
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Keep up to date on the official social media channels:
Metropius.com Animation + Comic + Merch Homepage
Metropius.io Official Avalanche representation + mint
If you think this stuff looks rad, then go the merch homepage to check out some sweet posters and a thorns T-Shirt.
……………………………………………..
THE THORNS ARE HERE
THE THORNS ARE YOUR CARETAKERS
THERE WILL BE ORDER
(Last Updated: 13 June 2022)
