Netvrk Devlog - 0

2022-08-27

Welcome to the Netvrk Devlog, the inaugural edition. The commitment is to release an update to this Devlog on the first Monday of each month and populate it with as much information as we can. We expect the reliability of regular updates will be fundamental to the goal of transparency.  As this is our first Devlog, it will be rather long and will serve as a catalog of all the things our teams have been working on behind the scenes. 

Studio Update

In the past year, the studio team has grown from under 10 to over 50 team members. This includes Developers (Blockchain, Web, UE5, Network), Artists (Concept, 3D, Technical, Animation, Environment, Audio, UI), Game Designers, Scrum Masters, Producers, Quality Assurance, HR, Executives, and Directors.

As we have been growing rapidly, our production methodology has evolved. We recently made the transition to Agile Development and established development pipelines for our wide range of disciplines. This process is under the guidance of recent additions to the team with a deep understanding of the system.

Development Overview

As we developed our first mini-game release, our priority has been on creating scalable systems that will serve as the foundation of the metaverse release. The mining game is a small encapsulation of all the pieces that one day will form the Netvrk metaverse. The backend, server structure, blockchain components, and NFT integration serve as a test case for us to build upon as we create the metaverse.

This approach is consistent with large-scale metaverse development.  Smaller interactions built upon foundational elements provide opportunities to test and iterate rapidly. Once hardened, these elements can support the larger and more complex features that a metaverse requires.  Projects that work contrary to this flow are challenged with carrying heavy tech debt too long into their development.  The Netvrk development team is drawing upon their experience to avoid those challenges wherever possible.

Unreal Team Updates:

Mining Game:

Sharding

Every time you go into the Mining Game, you are playing through our sharding system and are being assigned to an instance in our servers.  The Mining game, although a single-player game, could be susceptible to hacking if it was played in an offline environment. For that reason, we have implemented the foundations of the metaverse instancing system by having servers automatically scale up/down based on demand to support player connections. The only difference when we scale this technology to the metaverse is changing the allowed players per instance from 1 to X, which will be as many people as we need to support per instance. This is great news for our next feature release, the social spaces, which will be using this functionality heavily to join you and your friends in your favorite parts of the metaverse universe.

Database

Likewise, all the data that our alpha testers have been generating, from player levels to currencies, live in our highly scalable database backend. The data is ready to be tokenized, into shiny NFT axes as our blockchain integration approaches its end.  This will be a part of the Mining Game beta release.

Metaverse Assets

From a metaverse perspective, we took a heavily modular approach to our development. We focused on laying down the foundations of creating an avatar that exceeded expectations, with animations that will be scalable, and materials and textures that take full advantage of the Unreal engine while maintaining release-level performance. All of the assets in the Mining Game are intended for use in the wider Metaverse and creation kit. This includes combat, creatures, traps, environment props, and abilities.

Ability System

For our character abilities, we used Unreal Engines Gameplay Ability System (GAS), the battle-tested ability system being used in Fortnite. This allows us to add new skills for all upcoming mini-games and metaverse with ease. GAS is highly modular and supports users with the ability to select the abilities they would like to add to their lands on the creation engine platform.

Visual Fidelity

Visually, we have taken full advantage of the nanite and lumen technology that is available to us using Unreal Engine 5, and you can check some of the visuals we have achieved in this video:

Creature Diversity

The mining cave is also home to the many creatures that roam around the Netvrk land, and you will need to fight them to reach the precious loot contained within these mines. You can check some of our unique monsters, that will be available both in the mining game and as fully game-ready AI for the metaverse

Audio Immersion

The audio environment of the alpha release consists of over 1,000 unique audio assets, all authored by our in-house audio designer. Utilizing the power of Unreal Engine 5, we aim to create a metaverse that will achieve a more immersive and larger-than-life experience.  The unique structure of the environments and atmosphere of the mines presented the perfect opportunity to let the audio department excel.

Metaverse:

The Aesthetics Subsystem (AES)

The AES is a procedural generation Unreal plugin developed in-house for the content creation engine. It facilitates organization, assignment, and randomization of props and gameplay objects in user-created worlds. Players will be able to use this powerful tool to apply custom-created themes, aesthetics, and audio to their worlds, affecting a range of gameplay assets from environments to creatures. As an example, a player could create a Christmas theme, apply it at runtime, and enjoy listening to some holiday songs.

Land and Weather System

Here we are showing WIP footage of the voxel land with dynamic sky & weather system tools that we are developing for creators. We were testing a new method for foliage placement that works with the voxel sculpting system and Unreal Engine 5.  You may take note of the cubes/pyramids/spheres which act as placeholders for foliage. The procedural terrain was generated by one of our procedural artist's noise algorithms. This is one of the "landscape shapes/styles" that can be generated in the sandbox.

This tool also gives the ability to control how random and frequent certain weather effects are, with variations from light rain to thunderstorms, snow to blizzards, fog to clear skies, and more. The system includes the concept of weather seasons, which give you control over what types of weather can spawn on a regular cycle. Adding this tool to the final foliage and smart materials, creators can have a unique biome with a dynamically changing atmosphere at the press of a button.

Metaverse Audio

On the audio side of development, we are currently working on adding voice chat to our social spaces. We can’t wait to hear the voices of the community brought to life in the metaverse. 

Blockchain:

Genesis NFT Collections

These are the first NFTs to get utility in the Netvrk ecosystem! Starting last November, our genesis NFTs have been minted through the Mint Map. To see the utility, check out the Docs. Current NFT utility includes Mine Runner Alpha wave 1 access (avatars), Netvrk Reserve rewards accumulation (staked land or transport) and Netvrk Reserve rewards bonus multiplier (staked bonus packs).

NFT Staking

Our NFT staking pools provide additional passive benefits for being a Netvrk NFT owner. Starting in June, our community has staked up to 38% of the land, 33% of transport, and 44% of bonus packs at Netvrk Staking. Stakers are accumulating Netvrk Reserve rewards and will be eligible for Mine Runner Alpha wave 2 access in September.

Mine Runner

Alpha

While there is no blockchain integration in this version, the blockchain team is compiling whitelisted ETH wallet addresses per wave and assigning valid codes. Check if you are eligible at Mine Runner Alpha Codes.

Beta

This is the highest priority for the blockchain team. We have a great start on the functionality around cashing into the game, cashing out of the game, minting axes into NFTs and providing avatar eligibility based on NFT ownership.

Our integration of blockchain technology into Unreal Engine 5 is the same core infrastructure for integrating blockchain functionality into the wider metaverse. 

Music Platform

Our first partner in our Music NFT category is Dame Dash Studios. We have built a minting product that allows each minted album to include every track and a bonus 3D avatar. Get more information and join the whitelist at Damon Dash | Whitelist for Pre-sale.

Netvrk Reserve Staking Rewards Distribution

Time to pay our stakers! This is currently being built and is expected to be completed in November. Rewards will be calculated and distributed rewards to Netvrk NFT stakers per Netvrk Reserve Docs. Make sure to stake your land, transport, and bonus packs at Netvrk Staking.

Netvrk DAO

The real start to building our shared future! Our plan is for the DAO to start with governance by land stakers and then add governance for NETVRK token stakers. For more details on our governance mechanism check out the Netvrk DAO Docs.

NFT Marketplace

The marketplace will serve as a central hub for discovering, exploring, buying, and selling Netvrk and approved partners' NFTs. We have a great start on the smart contracts and off-chain parts of the ecosystem, but the project has been put on hold until resources are freed up.