What exactly is PixeLAW? You are greatly mistaken if you think PixeLAW is just a fully onchain pixel art game. If you were an alien traveling through space, you might see Earth as just a twinkling star, passing by without realizing the rich societies and love it holds. What a missed opportunity. To prevent such an oversight, let’s take a closer look at PixeLAW.
Introduction
To understand what PixeLAW is, I must start by discussing my philosophy towards the Autonomous World(AW). I was introduced to the concept of AW in April and became completely engrossed. I devoured articles by guiltygyoza, 0xPARC, and Derio. Even in my sleep, I continued to ponder about AW. Fundamentally, I’m only interested in things that can change the world. So, I thought about how AW can change the world, or in other words, what AW can bring anew.
AW possesses permanence and verifiability due to the nature of blockchain, and moreover, it should have decentralization stemming from the philosophy of blockchain. While all these aspects are crucial, they might seem a bit complex to those unfamiliar with crypto. Therefore, I wrote an article focusing on a new experience that even those unfamiliar with AW or crypto can understand. I would love for those who haven’t read it to give it a read.
While I’d like readers to delve into the details in the article, in summary, the new possibilities brought about by AW are as follows:
- A new game genre: Metagames
- Composability through community
- Interoperability in the Autonomous World
- Free development for improved UI/UX
How can I maximize these possibilities? I pondered this for a while. As a result of considering how to maximize user-driven metagames and composability, I paradoxically concluded that it’s best to start with the most primitive components.
At the same time, I believe that creating an AW is, as the name suggests, akin to creating a new world. And the ultimate goal, which is most crucial, is to create a decentralized virtual world where people can comfortably invest their time and money.
In other words, it’s like creating a brand-new planet from scratch. A new virtual world’s planet doesn’t just emerge from nothingness. It requires laws that govern the planet and land.
The laws that govern planets in reality are physical laws. However, I don’t perceive these physical laws simply as rules that dictate “when A happens, B occurs”. In reality, physical laws, for instance, prevent scenarios where a person suddenly flies, becomes gigantic, and tyrannically forces everyone to only face right out of fear. Such rules are physically impossible to establish. Therefore, in reality, physical laws function as “rules for rules”, preventing the creation of overly fantastical and whimsical rules.
I’ve decided to provide the laws that govern the planet as “rules for rules” and the land as “land entities with coordinates.” This is the beginning of PixeLAW.
However, I didn’t expect people to readily understand this idea, so there was a need to make it easy to understand. That’s why I chose pixel art. In addition to the “rules for rules”, I introduced a “rule (system) for pixel art” and assigned a “numerical component” to each “land entity”. This became the prototype for PixeLAW.
Furthermore, while the hackathon versions and the games currently being developed prioritize offering an engaging experience, we do plan to introduce a few games from the start, but they will serve merely as demos.
Our ideal state is to start solely with the “rules for rules” and “land entities with coordinates”, aiming for a decentralized virtual world built from scratch by the community.
Rules for rules
At this point, I’d like to delve deeper into the concept of “rules for rules”. We believe that for an AW to be fully autonomous, the upgrade of its rules must also operate autonomously. We see onchain governance as the solution to this. There are references such as upgradable smart contracts related to onchain governance, and we are developing based on these references.
The boundaries of the PixeLAW world are determined by the “rules” set in accordance with these “rules for rules.” It’s essential to precisely design for the community’s free composability and to prevent the world from collapsing. There are technical challenges to delving into this topic. It would make for a lengthy discussion, so I plan to compile it in a separate article in the future.
PixeLAW Architecture
Let’s discuss the architecture of PixeLAW next.
PixeLAW is designed based on the ECS system. There are “land entities”, which have attributes such as “coordinates” and “numerical” components. Systems are designed on top of these entities. We are also considering adding an entity called “player”. For humans, the details of the components are yet to be decided, but at a minimum, they will have “coordinates” and “addresses”. It’s self-evident, but as interactions increase on PixeLAW, it will eventually function as a reputation system. Due to the permanence of the blockchain, even if the reputation system isn’t implemented from the start, it will deter malicious actions.
While the concept sounds ideal in theory, in practical scenarios, we need to manage aspects like write permissions. Thus, we use components like “timestamps” and “ownership”. However, we want to avoid a situation where land is held long-term by someone. This is because, as we learn from history, the concept of a landowner can lead to decay in the world. To put it briefly:
- It’s the activists who bring value to the land, not the landowners
- Landowners reap the benefits of rising land prices, while the activists bear the disadvantages.
- When managed by a state, the goal becomes developing the town rather than profiting from rising land prices.
- In PixeLAW, we design it such that smart contracts ensure proper management of the land.
For more details, please refer to the following tweet.
PixeLAW as a Decentralized Autonomous World
PixeLAW is not just an Autonomous World; it’s a Decentralized Autonomous World(DAW). I believe many might find this statement a bit unsettling. That’s because most people consider an Autonomous World to inherently be decentralized. The difference between a fully onchain game and an Autonomous World seems to be gradually becoming more understood. However, I feel the need to discuss the difference between a general Autonomous World and a Decentralized Autonomous World, or perhaps consider if an Autonomous World is inherently decentralized. I hope that eventually, the term “Autonomous World” will inherently include “Decentralized”. However, just as we currently need to specify “Decentralized” in “Decentralized Autonomous Organization(DAO)”, it’s not yet taken for granted in the context of “Autonomous World”.
Before discussing a Decentralized Autonomous World, I’d like to revisit the distinction between a fully onchain game and an Autonomous World. A fully onchain game, according to Derio’s definition, is “a game where all the logic and state exist onchain.” I share this view. Following 0xPARC’s article, “Autonomous Worlds have hard diegetic boundaries, formalized introduction rules, and no need for privileged individuals to keep the World alive.” While this is described in terms of the characteristics an Autonomous World possesses, rather than a formal definition, let’s treat it as a definition for now. The distinct features compared to existing games or worlds are the boundaries and perpetuity. This means “sovereignty” and “eternity” are present.
The term “sovereignty” has various usages, and it is also used to express “independence” from others. In this case, AW meets this criteria because of the definition. On the other hand, the primary usages of “sovereignty” are “ultimate decision-making authority” and “governing power.” The latter can be broken down into legislative, executive, and judicial powers. The ultimate decision-making authority is ensured through governance voting, and the legislative and judicial powers are met through governance proposals and smart contracts. However, we often feel that the executive power tends to be centralized. If the entity executing according to the proposal is a centralized body, it may not be considered true sovereignty. Therefore, we are committed to onchain governance.
In other words, to be a Decentralized Autonomous World, it’s not enough to have freely extensible features, grant ultimate decision-making authority to the public, and ensure the world has permanence. We believe that the new way of building a world that blockchain enables is more than this.
In thinking about a complete Decentralized Autonomous World, the consistent image we have is of creating a new planet in the virtual world. It’s not about citizens freely developing and creating a good nation in an online virtual world. It’s self-evident that a planet doesn’t have an owner. This planet is entirely controlled by smart contracts.
Following this vision, our course of action becomes clear. There shouldn’t be any initial allocation for land on the planet, so there’s no initial allocation for our team or investors. We won’t raise funds to build the planet. After creating it, we simply become one of its inhabitants. Creating a public good without fundraising involves significant challenges, but if someone needs to realize a “decentralized virtual world,” we’re more than happy to take on that role.
To judge the nature of a public good and its decentralization, refer to the following article by Vitalik.
In essence, for a mechanism to be neutral, Vitalik says it must meet the following four criteria:
- Don’t write specific people or specific outcomes into the mechanism.
- Open source and publicly verifiable execution.
- Keep it simple.
- Don’t change it too often.
The “rules for rules,” which define the boundaries and mechanism of PixeLAW, are designed to meet these criteria. However, while I’ve proposed the concept of DAW, I don’t believe PixeLAW is the first DAW project. In my opinion, the world’s first Decentralized Autonomous World is Loot. Some might argue it’s Bitcoin, and others might even say neither of them qualifies as an AW. (Given the current varied definitions depending on who you ask, I plan to publish an article classifying types of Autonomous Worlds next to encourage discussion. If anyone wants to discuss this in advance, I’m open to conversations.)
Loot, developed by dom, is an excellent project. However, we possess distinct characteristics. Both Loot and we are primitives, but we differ in terms of world boundaries, public nature, governance execution, and interoperability. If many are interested in a detailed comparison, I might compile it in a separate article in the future.
The New Experience PixeLAW Brings
Until now, I’ve discussed the passion and purpose imbued in PixeLAW. In this section, I’d like to delve deeper into the new and exciting experiences that PixeLAW brings.
The article I introduced at the beginning focuses on these new experiences. I’ll briefly touch upon each of these possibilities here.
Metagame and Composability
PixeLAW is a public good, possessing a neutral mechanism. It’s open-source and allows people to craft rules. This political act is among the most transparent ever undertaken. Composability extends not only to components or new systems but, albeit challenging, to the core mechanism of the world. Landing together on a new planet and determining the rules according to its “physical laws”. That’s the exciting experience our project offers. In this realm, there are no boring systems or unspoken rules; everything is transparent. The reason I named this project stems from here. While it is a Pixel-based Autonomous World, I also wanted everyone to enjoy exploring the optimal laws together. Hence, I decided to express “Pixel Autonomous World” as “PixeLAW”.
Interoperability Between Games
What should be mentioned next is a new form of interoperability. Since all games utilize the same land entity, interactions between games are exceptionally straightforward. Games on PixeLAW are designed to interact interestingly and effortlessly.
At the ETH Global Hackathon in Paris held in July, this aspect was recognized, and we were honored to receive the 1st prize from Starknet.
Most of the games to date can be implemented on PixeLAW, and PixeLAW offers new possibilities for every game that’s come before. I sincerely hope you’ll join us in exploring these limitless potentials.
The Potential of PixeLAW’s frontend
Moreover, the possibilities of the frontend need to be discussed. It’s not necessary to process all information as pixel art. You can express everything in the pixel art frontend, or different games can have separate frontends. In other words, if a particular game only uses one square, there’s no need to render information for other squares. You can create a rich frontend that only renders information for that one square. While we might currently be limited to 2D, with a projection function for 3D, transitioning to 3D becomes straightforward. Diving deep into the frontend, we find the metaverse. There’s no need for the frontend to be onchain, so it can be made as lavish as desired. Our vision is to create an fully onchain planet that embodies a decentralized virtual world. This might ultimately lead to the creation of a decentralized metaverse.
Limitations and Covenants
With such a plethora of new experiences, people might become overwhelmed. This is because the possibilities are so vast that they might not know where to start. However, I learned a solution to this from the manga. Are you familiar with “Hunter x Hunter”? If you haven’t read or watched it, I recommend doing so before reading on. In “Hunter x Hunter”, the concepts of “Limitations and Covenants” are introduced. It’s about a superpower called “Nen”, and the idea is that the stronger the limitations placed on its use, the more potent the power becomes.
This can be analogized to creativity in general. For instance, a painting exists precisely because its canvas is finite. Picasso’s “Guernica” is highly regarded because, despite the large canvas (a relatively loose constraint), it manages to impress and move people so profoundly.
So, what are the limitations of PixeLAW? It’s numbers. PixeLAW is a game where players compete to condense information within a constrained 32-bit canvas. The simplest approach is to interpret numbers as color information, allowing the expression of pixel art. There are countless other interpretations; given three settings, a rock-paper-scissors game becomes feasible, and even a snake game is conceivable. But that’s not all. By combining eight 32-bit squares, one can convert them into 256-bit information, which means you can represent 2²⁵⁶ states. Can you imagine how large a number 2²⁵⁶ is? If not, please refer to the video below.
In practice, we are considering using u32, and 2³² is roughly equivalent to 4 billion. This means that theoretically, any game with a state count of 4 billion or less can be represented. Furthermore, this is just when using one pixel; if you distribute the information across two pixels, you can represent 4 billion×4 billion=1.6×10¹⁹ states. However, this is not actively recommended as it would mean weakening the restrictions.
Not only limited to the number of expressible states, games that handle characters using ASCII codes (for example, Scrabble) can also be created, and Conway’s Game of Life, which continues to operate based on its system, can also be implemented.
And that’s not all. While I want to focus on everything being onchain for now and won’t go into details, it could also be used as proof of offchain execution results.
Although the canvas is finite, the possibilities are infinite.
PixeLAW’s Roadmap
Let’s discuss the current state of PixeLAW and its roadmap.
We plan to deploy on the testnet in November.
There, we will focus on:
- Composability driven by the community
- Interoperability through shared state
During this phase, we don’t plan to implement the “rules for rules”, that is, onchain governance. We intend to test PixeLAW with onchain governance at the next stage.
In November 2023, we will conduct our first demo at Devconnect. Anyone who wants to be among the first to play PixeLAW is warmly invited to come to Istanbul.
After deploying to the testnet, we eagerly anticipate everyone offering exciting games and experiences. Of course, we will also be involved in developing games and experiences as contributors.
In any case, please don’t forget to follow the account (@0xPixeLAW) and stay updated with the latest information.
We Need Your Help
The details of the design and technical aspects are still under discussion. Thus, as the first Decentralized Autonomous World equipped with Onchain Governance, we are open to proposals from various geeks to build PixeLAW. Furthermore, we want you all to fully utilize your creativity and show us what exciting things can be done.
In particular, we’d like to discuss the following:
- Technical details of onchain governance
- Scalability
- Balancing composability and precise world boundaries (separation of core rules and other systems)
- Community building
- Network effects in PixeLAW
- Incentive design like Bitcoin
- Communication standards between AWs when forked
- Cross-chain compatibility
We’ve been discussing and experimenting with these matters, but we’re open to discussions from additional contributors. We hope for active discussions on the “wakusei” channel in our Discord. (“wakusei” means planet in Japanese. We follow dojo’s cultures.)
Furthermore, since we’re not fundraising for the creation of PixeLAW’s base layer, we’re always in a financial crunch. Therefore, we’re looking for grants. If you sympathize with our vision of creating a Decentralized Autonomous World with Onchain Governance, a decentralized virtual world, we eagerly await contact regarding donations or grants. (Contacts: 0xPixeLAW)
Lastly, on a personal note, I’ve decided to focus solely on PixeLAW, so I’m currently living on borrowed money and traveling to events. But it’s this intense focus that gave birth to the idea of PixeLAW. I accept personal donations at syora.eth (Contacts: 0xsyora). Moreover, aside from donations, I’m currently offering paid consulting on Autonomous World. Please consider it.
