In a nutshell the future full game of Star Atlas will combine the power of Unreal Engine 5's Nanite technology for stunning visuals and use blockchain technology through the Solana protocol for secure and largely serverless gameplay.
In April 2023, the Star Atlas team released a technical showcase and game testing environment called Star Atlas: Escape Velocity, which was the first playable on-chain mini-game within the Star Atlas universe and its primary goal was to test the movement within the game. Escape Velocity serves as a precursor to the full game release and offers players a unique scavenger hunt experience in galactic space. By exploring the game world, players have the opportunity to win valuable in-game assets from a global loot pool worth over $600,000 USDC.
Release Velocity is easy to access as it is a browser-based, but note it will have frequent updates and evolving gameplay mechanics based on player feedback they receive.
To try it out while you can, go to https://sage.staratlas.com/?utm_medium=medium&utm_campaign=ev1 and connect a wallet that contains at least 1000 ATLAS.
The future plans for STar Atlas release strategy are this:
- Escape Velocity (Movement Test & Scavenger Hunt) [mainnet]
- Resource Extracting & Crafting [devnet]
- Pre-Alpha (Starbases & Combat) [devnet]
- V0 (full version of SAGE; introduces Player-2-player economy, Cargo transfers, Player-2-player refueling) [mainnet]
As we can see Escape Velocity is being released on Solana’s mainnet, whereas the next two modules will be released on devnet instead. The reason for this is that these two could greatly impact the SAGE economy, which means it is crucial to make sure everything is running smoothly before these both are released to the mainnet, which is a well thought out decision by the team.
From what I am reading on Twitter in regards to Escape Velocity, players have expressed a high level of excitement and anticipation for what the future holds in the Star Atlas universe. The response has been mostly positive, with minimal criticism reported thus far. This enthusiastic feedback indicates a strong community engagement and a positive outlook for the future gameplay of Star Atlas. Show Less