News from The Grid — Issue #3
An End of Year message from the 2112.run team
2022 is coming to an end and we are one year closer to 2112.
We feel blessed to have you all here and proud of all the work we have been doing for more than a year now.
In this special End of Year issue, we will share with you what we’ve been cooking regarding the First Narrative Season, news about “2112.run: Into The Grid” the Roguelike Deckbuilder game, and what 2023 has in store for us.
Without further ado, let’s jump into it!
The Doppelgänger Initiative
January will bring us the release of the first ever 2112 Narrative Season, called “The Doppelgänger Initiative”.
A world-changing event is unfolding in the 2112 Universe. The United Nations Bioethics Council, pressured by Corporations and the masses on the streets, is about to vote on the legalization of human cloning. A step forward into the future for some, potentially the biggest mistake in history for others.
During the span of almost two months, Cryptorunners all over the world will run the Grids of the Corporations pushing this agenda and try to unveil the secrets behind all this.
The resolution of the vote and how it will affect the future of the 2112 Narrative Universe will lay in the hands of the community, with or without some help from new characters they will find down the road.
For this event, you can expect a ton of new material, ranging from 2D and 3D illustrations to voice-acted videos, a handful of new characters with their own motivations and agendas, and a new mini-collection of unique NFTs created for the sole purpose of telling this emerging story that will unfold week after week.
Stay tuned to our Twitter account for further news.
2112.run: Into The Grid
Game Development updates.
The team has been working non-stop on our new game, the Roguelike Deckbuilder we named “2112.run: Into The Grid”.
Up to this point, we have already defined, prototyped, and tested all the core mechanics of the game:
↳ A dual resource card battle system that allows the player to combine cards and abilities in a new and fresh way.
↳ A node map that works both as a minigame and a strategic planning tool during the runs.
↳ An initial card pool of around 80 different cards that enable different playstyles and archetypes.
Also, the ongoing work includes:
↳ Tweaks & balances of card values, effects, and enemies.
↳ Design of the off-chain in-game economy (currency system that works only inside of each Run).
↳ Scripting and designing the implementation of a single-player narrative-driven campaign.
↳ Creation of:
⎯⎯ More enemies for different categories (regular, special, bosses).
⎯⎯ Procedural Events and their effects.
⎯⎯ An entirely new User Interface with a polished look & feel, animations, and new iconography.
⎯⎯ Brand-new graphical assets: new enemies, backgrounds, loading and splash screens, etc.
⎯⎯ Illustrations for all the cards.
⎯⎯ New original soundtrack and SFX.
Prototyping and alpha playtesting
We started reaching out to community members to invite them to a small alpha playtesting group.
The goal of these playtesting sessions is to gather feedback from people external to the development team and keep adjusting and balancing the game experience.
These tests are planned to happen sometime between mid-January and mid-February, and for this, we will use an internal prototype with the core game mechanics but without the final UI, sounds or animations.
As we approach the launch of the game, we plan to open the playtests to all holders.
2112.run coming to a gaming platform near you
The main goal for this release of the game is to increase the reach and player base, to attract players regardless of their stance on web3 and cryptos, and to expand our narrative universe to any sci-fi fan out there.
That’s why, following our objective of becoming leaders in the web3 space, we plan to publish our game on established web2 distribution platforms (like Steam, Epic Store, GOG, etc) in order to accelerate the growth of our community.
We sustained from day 1 the belief that a game must first and foremost be fun and engaging. That any kind of earning possibility or new tech integration must come only after the game itself has proven to be good. Otherwise, you are only building a tool for speculators and bots to extract the value you are working hard to imbue in your product. Facing this challenge any other way would be unethical on our part, just trying to take an advantage of “web3 being the next big thing”.
All holders of our NFTs will be able to redeem codes for the web2 version of the game for free. The number of redeemable codes per NFT will depend on the allocations each distribution platform provides.
The hybrid web2-web3 approach
Considering everything exposed above, we believe the approach we are taking is only the natural way to evolve a young indie game studio.
After the release of the web2 version of the game, we will start developing the web3 integrations (many of them are already in the early design stages), with features like (but not limited to):*
↳ Console, Land & Faction gameplay.
↳ Token and digital collectible rewards.
↳ Competitive leaderboards.
↳ Character progression.
↳ Narrative Seasons that affect the web2 game campaigns.
↳ Passive and/or semi-passive gameplay.
↳Game assets trading and renting.
↳ Direct and indirect PVP.
↳ Metaverse development.
*This list is not in chronological order and some of these goals are planned for a longer term.
The web2 version will continue to be updated over time with new content, focusing always on the narrative-driven gameplay and replayable style of Roguelikes, while the web3 version will be our most immersive and interactive offering.
For the release of the game with web3 features, we plan on partnering with distribution platforms similar to those in the web2 space. As you may know, we are already partners of Flame Store (being developed by Steam founder) and we plan to reach others like Elixir.
All this will increase the chances of successfully onboarding the already existing players of the game into the web3 version.
Upcoming development updates
Starting around mid-January, we plan to release periodic updates and sneak peeks so you can follow the development process.
We expect to have a defined UI by mid-February and the game up on the platforms sometime early in Q2 2023.
Closing thoughts
2022 was a great year in many aspects. We got to work for an entire year on a project that we love, that it’s our passion, along with incredibly talented people.
We grew friendships and learned a lot, from within the team and from our community.
We entered another bear market, and many of us are still navigating it together.
For 2023, even harder challenges await us all, but we have the strength, talent, and force of will to face them all!
We hope you are right there along with us in this next chapter.
From the whole 2112.run team, we wish you all the best possible 2023 you could dream of!
