Ethergy: The Concept
Development update #1
This article is meant as a starting point for the development of Ethergy. It expands on gameplay, the in-game economy, map, ships, and more! Keep in mind that nothing is final, so if you have any suggestions, criticisms, or ideas leave a comment or contact us! This article, like Ethergy, is a work in progress.
Gameplay
Ethergy was inspired by free to play .io-style games like slither.io, diep.io, and superhex.io. These games are a lot of fun, but lack meaningful progression and goals. Ethergy takes the casual gameplay of .io games and combines them with a vibrant in-game economy, progression, and the option for players to make money!
The gameplay of Ethergy can be split in two parts. Space, where all players navigate the same map, mining resources, scavenging, or fighting. And bases where players bank their resources, customize their ship, process raw materials, and have access to the in-game market.
You can try a prototype of Ethergy here.
Space: The main game
The main part of Ethergy is flying around an open space map trying to collect raw materials from asteroids and returning them to your base. The gameplay here draws inspiration from diep.io — check it out if you’re not familiar!
If your ship is destroyed before reaching the base other players can collect all raw materials held in your cargo hold at the time. This introduces an interesting risk reward mechanism.
Focus should however be on resource collection over combat, as combat should be considered risky even for players with high-level ships.
The map is a large circle. Players begin the game in the center, which is a peaceful zone without combat. The further out players venture the higher the risk, but the more common the resources. There are links, or “portals” to player bases spread out across the map. One static one at the center and several orbiting the map at different distances to the center. Once players have used a link to access their base they can also re-enter space from there.
In deep space (far away from the center) there will also be a chance of random black holes appearing which allow you to attack a random players base in an attempt to loot some of their resources.
Player Bases
You base is where you bank raw materials collected in space, process them into parts that can be used or sold, and customize/manage your ships. Bases have several different structures, clash of clans style:
- Hangar: Ship storage & customization. Upgrade for more ship slots.
- Warehouse: Resource storage. Upgrade for more storage & better health.
- Workshop: Resource processing. Upgrade for better % chance success of crafting, and faster processing.
- Defenses: Laser turrets, drones, etc. Upgrade to defend from looters.
Player bases also allow access to the in-game markets for goods & ships, and the withdrawal/deposit of currency and ship tokens.
Resources
The resource economy is the heart of Ethergy. Raw materials are dropped randomly by destroyed asteroids, although some asteroids may not drop anything. These raw materials can either be sold directly to other players, or they can be processed into more valuable, useful items. These raw materials and processed goods are as follows:
- Oil ➝ Fuel (used to move around space at normal speed) Very common
- Metal Ore ➝ Parts (used to upgrade ships and base buildings) Common
- Gold Ore ➝ Gold (used as in-game currency for everything) Rare
- Titanium ➝ Shields (in-space consumable) Very Rare
- Explosive ➝ Boost/Lock-on missiles (in-space consumables) Very Rare
Gold can also be withdrawn by players as an erc-20 token and traded on decentralized exchanges. In essence Gold would be an inflationary proof-of-play mined token. It’s important to note that it is a video game token and should not be treated as an investment vehicle. A closer look at the token-economics and the Ethergy in-game economy will be published in the future.
Ships
Each spaceship in Ethergy is a unique erc-721 token that keeps track of customization, installed upgrades and ship statistics like total kills, total distance traveled, and more! These tokens will work similarly to crypto kitties, except that they can’t mate, and most actions involving them will be off-chain as they are deposited in the game.
Players start with one free, basic ship that can be minted into an erc token once a certain level is met. Alternatively players can purchase basic & limited edition ships in their base, these are Ethereum tokens from purchase. Ships can be sold to other players in-game, or be rented out to earn some extra gold. But watch out, if a ship is destroyed three times it’s gone for good!
Upgrades
Aside from visual customization, ships can be optimized by installing upgrades. Metal parts are used to upgrade ships. There are 13 different aspects that can be upgraded from 1–10, so ships have a theoretical max level of 130. Aspects that can be upgraded:
- Movement Speed
- Max Health
- Health Regeneration
- Visibility Range
- Fire Rate
- Bullet Damage
- Bullet Range
- Bullet Speed
- Body Damage
- Fuel Capacity
- Fuel Efficiency
- Cargo Capacity
- Cargo Collection Range
Before entering space, players load ships with fuel, boost, missiles, and shields. Fuel capacity is covered by the basic upgrades. Boost, shield, and missile capacity can be upgraded separately as these are considered rare.
Monetization
While we have not decided on how Ethergy will be monetized it is important to us that the game isn’t pay to win, and it is fair to players in that we don’t just create items out of thin air and undercut them in the market.
Most likely monetization will be dynamic, changing depending on how the game evolves, and the community feedback we receive.
At this time our proposed monetization model involves Ethergy charging a 3% fee on ship sales & rentals, the creation & sale of basic/limited edition ships, and an offering of crates with visual customization options, consumables, and ships. If a player unsuccessfully processes raw materials, or abandons the game before making an account these resources are transferred to Ethergy and can be sold on the market. Ethergy can process raw materials in the same way players can, but can’t create and sell raw materials or processed goods from nothing.
If you have any thoughts leave a comment, contact us, or join the subreddit!