The Atlas Star ✧ Issue #15

Welcome to a fresh episode of the Atlas Star, the galactic newspaper of record!

In our previous edition, we bid farewell to 2022 by recapping all the memorable events that took place last year. Now, it’s time to gaze into the future and reveal what 2023 has in store for the Star Atlas metaverse.

Read on and learn about our roadmap with the upcoming releases for all public projects, from the main Unreal Engine 5 game module to SAGE and more.

We also discuss the latest developments in the Star Atlas ecosystem, including through the Punaab Whisper, the Atlas Brew, and all else related to Star Atlas.

Make yourself comfortable, put the tune of a Sogmian Ballad on in the background, and enjoy the sight of seeing your favorite metaverse materializing before your eyes.

The Unreal Star Atlas 2023: A Multiplayer Adventure with Ground Racing, Fighting, and more

In 2022, our collective vision of building the ultimate metaverse MMO manifested itself on the plane of reality with the release of the Showroom, the Star Atlas DAO, the F-KIT, CORE and a glimpse into SAGE through yet-unreleased blockchain contracts and a game manual. All of those paved the way for what is to come. Now, in 2023, we are creating engaging multiplayer experiences that will enable everyone sharing the frontier of the future with us to have fun while testing the limits of technological development itself.

This is a year of building together with our community, and we have many exciting features in our galactic pipeline being prepared for you.

Let us start by analyzing what is coming in the next modules of the Showroom, also known as R2.1 and R2.2 — and don’t get deceived by those incremental numbers.

An ancient and almost forgotten MUD saying states that a picture is worth a thousand words, and a moving picture is worth a thousand pictures, so let’s introduce this next update with a small peek into the future — a video of the upgraded UE5 environment:

Although the video itself is beautiful and intuitively self-explanatory (perhaps those MUD ancestors were right in their estimation of the medium’s worth), let us walk through some of the finer details of the plans for our future releases.

First of all, in R2.1, we are moving the Showroom itself to the latest stable Unreal Engine 5.1 version, a tangible update that allows us to improve the user experience even more by adding world partition, offering the prospect of experiencing a seamless, endless world without any loading screens.

This update will also fix existing game bugs, such as the infinite speed glitch, while also introducing a real flight trainer to refine your piloting skills!

Finally, we are striving to bring six new flyable ships with polished interiors into the UE5 environment: The Opal Jet, the Opal JetJet, the Opal JetJetJet, the Fimbul Lowbie, the Pearce X6, the Fimbul Airbike, and the Fimbul BYOS Packlite (spot the intruder in the bunch).

This update is also expected to increase the performance of the entire build, making your experience in the metaverse much smoother! As all roads lead to UE5, here’s another big change: We are integrating the now web-based Galactic Marketplace together with the Showroom, allowing you to buy your spaceships and fly them around in real time, all done within Unreal Engine.

Now, let’s move to everyone’s favorite idea of fun: game loops.

One of the most exciting revelations in our latest Town Hall was a ground racing game. Although we are tentatively planning to launch it as early as R2.1, the product team may elect to ship it to the Epic Games Store with more polish in the R2.2 release.

With this update, the game is getting competitive multiplayer ground racing. We are building an exciting 8-player racing track for you and seven other friends to zoom through and blast each other in the immersive landscape surrounding Volant Station.

You will be able to shoot your competitors and disable them while dodging and accelerating across the Showroom. The races will get serious (and seriously fun), and we sense many deadly and entertaining tournaments on the horizon.

Another feature we are tentatively looking to deploy in R2.2 or earlier in R2.1 is a top community favorite, Jetpacks.

As seen in the video above, it will enable everyone to fly around — Iron Man style. This will allow even players who currently don’t own any ships of their own to have fun exploring the limits of Volant Station.

As alluded to previously, the feature scope of R2.2 will have a massive improvement in the infrastructure side of the Showroom. How massive? We hope to provide our community with dedicated high-performance game servers that allow from four hundred to one thousand players in a single instance.

This way, you will be able to reunite your whole guild and have fun blasting each other!

Finally, we aim to release Showroom R3 during Solana Breakpoint towards the end of the year. Although we don’t want to spoil any surprises, we can share that the focus of R3 will be PVP features, coupled with on-chain rewards and the construction of the enormous and mysterious Warp Gate one can see in the skies above the station.

One final clue about what else is to come in R3 is hiding in the video below:

Star Atlas Golden Era: The Galia Expanse Chessboard is Coming to Life

A unique game that relies on the coordination and intelligence of players and their guilds, built on the Solana blockchain in its entirety, accessible to all with any web browser, and offering an unforgettable cross-section of free market economy, politics, and the gripping lore of the Galia Expanse.

This is the promise for Star Atlas Golden Era, a.k.a. SAGE, a promise whose delivery starts through a movement and coordinate system test.

SAGE is state-of-the-art technology using Solana blockchain smart contracts, and in its underlying structure it contains six founding contracts that enable the dream of a metaverse MMO with a real economy to come to life, each one representing a complex gameplay aspect:

1. Movement and Coordinate Systems
2. Combat
3. Mining
4. Crafting
5. Inventory Management
6. Player Progression

The first point of order is to stress test the Movement and Coordinate System contract, and there is a lot more you will be hearing about this endeavor as development intensifies — don’t worry, you’re the first in line to try this world-first achievement in action. This test phase could last until the spatial system is perfectly calibrated.

The next ones to follow will be the Mining and Crafting contracts, followed by the Combat protocols — one of the most awaited features.

Whatever the case may be, we have a spot reserved for you in this next stage of development!

The DAO and the Guilds: The Social and Political Layers of Star Atlas

The Star Atlas metaverse comprises many different layers of gaming experience. Two of them, the social and political ones, have captivated the heart of the community, which has been anxiously waiting for the game structures of those two dimensions of Star Atlas to connect.

We are happy to announce that in 2023, those two aspects of our metaverse will intertwine and blossom together.

In the Star Atlas DAO, we have created an extensive legislative process for proposals to be evaluated and voted on by our community members with POLIS voting power (PVP).

We have created a nine-step procedure that will allow ample participation by all of our politically engaged members to have their voices heard — and considered — in the process of using the DAO’s power to shape the direction of the metaverse. The POLISticians will be able to commence their careers in Star Atlas this year, and you can expect comprehensive articles and discussions about it going forward.

On the social front, another mechanism shines, bringing various tools for coordinating and functionalities for the guilds of Star Atlas, a platform for the Decentralized Autonomous Corporations (DACs).

While we await the DAC platform blockchain program to complete its audit, you should already anticipate for this guild registration application to allow for a variety of interesting features for your in-game organization, such as:

• Member management through a protocol that allows you to officially register your DAC before the Council of Peace and invite or exclude members.
• Creation of ranks and hierarchies within the DAC, working together with other features to allow different levels of access to the DAC assets and spaces.
• The creation of improved leaderboards that will also integrate DAC scores in the future.
• We are currently in the phase of wrapping up the work on the DAC user experience and we are hoping to align this release with the SAGE tech demo.

The introduction of those two new layers of gaming experience to Star Atlas is a perfect mix with the other programs in development in 2023. Before the end of this year, our community will be able to enjoy the vibrant and rich ecosystem of Star Atlas on all fronts, where politics, economy, social, military, and blockchain aspects of our game meld into the ultimate experience.

The Punaab Whisper — The Atlas Star Tabloid

My Dear Readers! Today, the Punaab Whisper is taking a darker turn, for we are investigating the tales about one of the most mysterious worlds in the inner reaches of the galaxy, the planet aptly known as Tenebra.

Known only by a few explorers and even fewer scientists, presumably due to its hard-to-spot nature, Tenebra is a mysterious secluded planet in the high-risk zone, filled with a strange gaseous lower orbit that reflects less than 1% of the light that it receives.

It’s a puzzle that the galaxy has yet to solve.

Very close to totally uncharted territory, Tenebra is located in a system popularly known as the Void, which is said to be home to unspeakable stories about the populations of all the other worlds in the system being abducted and taken to Tenebra to be used as slaves or worse, living sacrifices to whatever forces dwell beyond the dark veil.

This enigma caused much concern to the regional powers of the inner galactic zones, to the point where one of the most well-paid positions in the galaxy became that of a data runner hired to find information about the said planet — unfortunately, according to our sources, much less than 5% of those return to collect the reward.

Even those adventurers who manage to come back cannot share much. The dark gas that fills the planet hinders the effects of the scans, but what every one of them confirms on their mission is that something must be happening under the gaseous surface of that world…

This is inferred from the unconventional energy displays that sometimes appear as blood-red marks in the planet’s atmosphere, only observable at close distances, hypothesized to be a sub-product of chemical reactions and high energy outputs coming from construction-related activities.

Nevertheless, economic costs, extreme distances, and political discussions have stopped anyone from acting on Tenebra, as whatever is happening there is still contained in the Void.

Perhaps it is only a matter of time for that to change.

As the galaxy’s foremost whistleblower, we are writing this article to bring awareness of the still ongoing situation in the Void system and, hopefully, help steer the Council of Peace to send a mission to the planet and learn the truth of what is going on before it is too late.

If the rumors are true, Tenebra and whoever controls it must be stopped immediately.

Updates

In the second part of the Atlas Star, we summarize the latest updates and events since the last publication.

Star Atlas CORE Episode 4 is Out!

The fourth episode of CORE, the Star Atlas Graphic Novel, is ready for the lore aficionados in our community! The mysterious Timpo guides our heroes, Gyun and Moda, through secret passages within the space station in order to escape from the Order of Light and with the MUD investigators hot on their trail.

While Gyun is embracing this encounter as providence working in his favor, his Mierese partner Moda actually believes the elusive Ustur might be their demise. You will only learn the truth by acquiring your readable NFTs! Remember that the last day to acquire your own CORE Episode 04 is February 22, 2023. Make sure not to miss this chance!

Make sure to pay attention to the ARC cipher and unlock the secrets of CORE. If you haven’t checked out Episodes #1, #2, and #3, you are missing out on all the fun!

You can also sign up for the newsletter here and get extra lore content about Star Atlas.

The Atlas Brew

The Atlas Brew has upheld its mission to analyze and keep up with all the content being created in Star Atlas. Check our theorycrafting below:

Episode # 46 — Politics — Multi-faction guilds The Atlas Brew #46 politics

Episode # 47 — Game Structure — Council Rank and Star Bases The Atlas Brew #47 game structure

Episode # 48 — Politics — Community updates: The Atlas Brew #48

Episode #49 — Economics — Monopolies in SA The Atlas Brew #48

Episode #50 — SAGE Game Structure: Crewmembers The Atlas Brew #45 economics

Project Report

Project: UE5 Showroom — R2.1

Level Art: BUILDING /// Engineering: BUILDING /// Gameplay: BUILDING /// SFX: BUILDING /// Veh: BUILDING /// Characters: BUILDING /// UX/UI: BUILDING /// Animation: BUILDING

Updates:

Train Station: interior updates, Railway bridge material updates. Vegetation: Karoo Tree updates and Akenat Tree updates. Material Clean up. Dogfighting extension: Concepting and blockouts phase. /// (all engineering updates will come out with R2.1 release.) Bugfixing: Leaderboard Best score UI is now updated in game (if player wants to race multiple times in a row) and Racetrack related bugs (target, gates) fixed. Marketplace implementation: updates on Blockchain integration, completed integration of Solana Websocket in UE. Ship BP refactor: Transferred to C++, Gameplay Ability system implemented, ship landing updates. Gravity: Ship movement component refactor R&D, train movement component R&D, movement component for the ground race track. Common UI system integrated. Voice chat updates. Group chat updates. Transferring to the world partition — in progress. /// Opal Jet flight model in progress. Wheeled Vehicle Prototype. /// X4: SFXs for secondary movement (engine rolling), SFXs for airbrake (engage/release/loop), SFXs for headlight movement. Floydliner: SFXs for locomotion (basic engine, boost engage/disengage). Packlite — additional SFXs for the engine — SFXs for secondary motion (rolling), boost (engage/disengage) — SFXs for side thrusters, airbrake. Footstep / Foley system — New footstep system based on the new animations — Edited notifiers to trigger specific motions — Created SFXs for medium-sized humans on different surfaces. /// FloydLine — refactor. VSUS Solo — interior updates. VSUS Opod — exterior updates. Calico Scud exterior updates. Pearce C11. greybox updates. BYOS PackLite — Main engines/reactor room decals, Engines + storage area props. Pearce R6 — elevator fitting Pearce X6 — defining cockpit area, habitation updates, refining geo/decal work. ECOS Unibomba — cleaning up and engine exporting BP. Fimbul Lowbie upgrades. ECOS Greenader front bottom part detailing. Pearce X4 — interior and exterior updates. Opal JetJet — final art Opal Jet — size rework, skins creation. BYOS Earp — Starting whiteboxing stage. /// Mierese, MUD, Ustur tiers updates Squid Octopus, Working on octopus skin shader fx. /// 1. Galactic Marketplace mockups — in progress. 2. Widgets for Common UI for GM in progress. 3. Character skin selection based on the wallet inventory in progress. 4. Widgets for the ground race track in progress. 5. Refactoring chat tabs for full chat done 6. “F” interaction system refactor done. /// New animation movements for characters is done.

Upcoming activities: 1. Continue working on ground track assets. 2. Train exterior polishing and interior work. 3. Nanite foliage 4. Material optimization. /// 2. Coldwallet support for Galactic Marketplace. /// Finishing Ground track prototype Flight models for new veh. /// Fimbul Lowbie and for the Fimbul Airbike engine (5 stages of speed) + boost, thrusters (engage/disengage/loop), airbrake, interactibles. Next ones are Opal Jetjet, and Opal Jet.

Project: SAGE v0

Game Econ: BUILDING /// Web: BUILDING /// Blockchain: BUILDING /// UX/UI: BUILDING /// Audio: BUILDING

Updates:

Developed V0 of in-game loot and rewards mechanisms. Ensuring that in-game loot and rewards work effectively with the loot distribution mechanism. Working on starbase upkeep costs. /// Continuing to integrate simplified warping to Playcanvas for the Scavenger Hunt release including: Finishing sector warp UI flow (including onboarding flow, Sector warp destination selection flow…), editing Camera to match the intended designs, migrating grid to systems and components, Adding Scavenger Hunt warping data to Overview Menu, Finishing Transaction Manager, Finishing up LOD manager, Implementing ship animations + VFX, Working on the network manager. /// Continuing to work on a thin client/blockchain playground. The blockchain playground tests all SAGE blockchain programs with a simplified UI. The goal is to test instructions and transaction sets of our on-chain programs using tables and tabs instead of waiting for Playcanvas. Got Fleet cargo working on thin client, added cargo transfer between fleets owned by the same player, added interactions between fleet and starbase, added and remove cargo from fleets to and from the starbase, added warp movement to thin client, implemented Atlas Fee Payer basic actions into thin client, finished profile vault implementation into thin client, made some changes to the cargo and crafting programs after audit comments. /// Continuing to refine UX for Scavenger Hunt release, including: Trajectory and ship overlap, other players’ ships represented on grid, error states. /// Merged audio manager

Upcoming activities: Continue to provide economic thought leadership on SAGE as needed. /// Continue to develop the required features for the Scavenger hunt. /// Continue to work on SAGE programs and incorporate comments from auditors. /// Finish Scavenger Hunt UX.

Note: all on-chain programs associated with SAGE will undergo cybersecurity and threat modeling prior to the official launch.

Project: Star Atlas DAO — Usability Improvements

Web: BUILDING /// UX design: BUILDING /// Infrastructure: BUILDING /// Product: BUILDING

Updates:

Treasury View has been released. The Wallet refactor is ready for release. Additional polish tasks will be continuously deployed. /// Proposal v0 Feature Design in progress. /// Discourse forum deployed; staging tasks in progress. /// Atlas Locker Settlement History data analytics.

Upcoming activities: Engineering authentication solution for web3→web2 login.

Project: Graphic Novel

Art: BUILDING /// UX/UI: BUILDING

Updates: 

Episode 4 done; Episode 5 in progress. /// Episode 4 released.

Upcoming activities: Finish all promotional materials. /// Make the next Episode available.

Project: Play.staratlas.com

Features / Bug fixes: Live updated to v0.5.235 PRE-ALPHA: New Graphic Novel and DAO Icons. New Wallet Modal released (supports new 3rd party funding options). /// Graphic Novel: CORE Episode 4 launched, reader clarity improved, Links now support all languages (Share with your friends in your own language!). /// Galactic Marketplace: Start Sequence Rewards are live! Claim new Ships, Skins and more in your item inventory. Power Plants and Mining Drills will be available at a future date.

Features in pipeline: Star-atlas-portal. SCORE Claim Stakes app. Player Profile Program integration. DAC Platform

ABOUT STAR ATLAS

Star Atlas is a next-gen gaming metaverse emerging from the confluence of state-of-the-art blockchain, real-time graphics, multiplayer video games, and decentralized financial technologies.

Using Unreal Engine 5’s Nanite, real-time graphics technology allows for cinematic quality video game visuals. In addition, blockchain technology using the Solana protocol establishes a largely serverless and secured gameplay experience. Non-fungible tokens obtained and traded within Star Atlas create an economy that replicates tangible world assets and ownership. To learn more, visit StarAtlas.com, join a faction at Play.StarAtlas.com and send your spaceships on a deep space mission by enrolling them in a Faction Fleet.

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Disclaimer

The updates in this report are provided for informational purposes only about the Star Atlas game and metaverse, for which ATMTA, Inc. is the lead developer. Except for statements of historical fact, the statements included herein are forward-looking statements that are based on the beliefs of ATMTA, Inc.’s management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to ATMTA, Inc.’s management. Although ATMTA, Inc.’s management believes these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. ATMTA, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management’s estimates or opinions should change except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties and include, without limitation, statements about ATMTA, Inc.’s business prospects, future developments, industry and market trends and conditions, strategies, objectives, and goals. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. No financial, tax, or legal advice is given or implied.