Hash Rush Progress Report — Looking at May

Greetings Voyagers,

May has recently ended, so this is the perfect time for us to look back the month and share all the juicy development news with you, covering game development, blockchain news, and even some in-person meetings.

Art News

What has the art team been working on? Why new units of course, with a special focus on heroes.

On a side note, you may have noticed that we’ve been talking and sharing a lot of content that focuses on heroes. If you’re wondering why then here it is, the heroic units will form a core part of Hash Rush as these are not only the strongest units that you’ll control, but a lot of the game’s content will revolve around them. In a way, you can think of the heroes as your (the player’s) avatar in the game.

The ‘Yak’ Rider

Note, this name is not final, the hero will have a much more heroic name!

For this, we have three stages of development to share. From left to right, the first is the final concept art, the middle is the unit’s ‘card’ and then the third is the first 3D render of the unit itself, though in this case, it is only the mount as the Ernack is a separate model.

Yala — An Ernack meets a Tree Ent

Next up we have another hero with a design that has not been seen in Hash Rush before, but one that fits the game very well!

With the two concept art-focused pieces out the way, let’s look at some newly created 3D models of some new units.

In this video, we’re taking a look at two new units joining Hash Rush, both work for the Crystal Scourge.

The first unit, the giant Tik-like creature is a Titan, one of the boss units that you need to defeat, and the second is the worker unit, a mutated creature that gathers resources for the Crystal Scourge.

Game Development News

Time to look at what our game developers have been doing. That said, this time we’ve got to do things a little differently. In previous updates, we were able share some videos from the current Hash Rush dev build so that you could see our work with your own eyes, however, this time round the majority of the work has been to set up the systems in the backend. This means that we can’t really show you what we’ve done, but instead of saying nothing, we wanted to at least list what we’ve been doing. With that said, as the backend of the features are done, we should soon be able to show you everything in action!

What we’ve completed:

• The game now supports the crafting system, and with it, a proper inventory system.
• Boosters/buffs are now supported by the game. These are temporary boosts to specific areas of the game that the player can activate, think + 10% to all unit health. It’s important to know that these items will come in the form of NFTs.
• The Crystals have been added back. As the game has changed in design quite a bit, we had to change how crystals are used, so they underwent a longer re-make in the background.
• Maps, many different maps in fact! One of the biggest issues with the original Hash Rush was that we did not have enough planets and once you memorized the layout, it became rather boring. For that reason, we’re really happy to let you know that Nathan has been hard at work preparing the multiple new maps for the game!

Vorto Gaming News

We’re ending this month’s update with some news from Vorto Gaming. Everyone knows that the last year has been incredibly difficult, with the coronavirus pandemic shutting down almost every part of the world. That said, the light at the end of the tunnel is almost here for some of us, and has arrived for others.

Earlier in the week, our co-founder and now CEO of Vorto Gaming flew out to Dubai to take part in the AIBCsummit to present Hash Rush in person, hopefully, the first of many events to come!

Be sure to follow the Vorto Gaming Twitter account to see more photos!

Talking Blockchain

What is the Hash Rush and Vorto Gaming vision for blockchain, NFTs, and the play-to-earn’ model? An excellent question, and one that Kris has recently answered in an interview with Ashlie Meredith, the Head of Education at MouseBelt Labs on the REIMAGINE 2020 — Global Blockchain Education YouTube channel.

Working with Neal Adams, the Legendary Comic Artist!

That title should tell you everything that you need to know, but for those that need a bit more information, Neal Adams is a comic artist who has worked with both DC Comics and Marvel, for Superman, X-Men, Green Lantern, and is best known for creating the modern-day Batman!

Through this partnership, we will be creating a special comic, in the form of limited edition NFTs that you can purchase — but only if you sign up for the Hash Rush playtest.

Registration is already open, so be sure to visit the Hash Rush homepage today!

Learn more about our upcoming collaboration here.