GAME SYNTAXIS

This blog post, as well as all other inital posts, have been revised September 2024.

Building a whole ecosystem which brings together consistent coding, adequate financial components, generating rewarding mechanisms which bridge real and virtual, allow for augmented reality overlays, connecting all components of our game and application, requires multilevel ingenuity: especially, as we see our whole ecosystem evolving in a multiplayer game which will attract millions, and in later stages, possibly billions of players. However, simplicity is key. Hence we have chosen basic graphic forms to explain how our gameplay will evolve, being: hexagon, pentagon, diamond, circle, triangle and square. To keep it straightforward and relatively uncomplicated, at present time, we refrain ourselves to dive much deeper than these 6 basic formal elements:

Symbols are archetypical forms or designated formations of consecutive or combined forms, which in their totality represent our collective human, non-human (?) and superhuman consciousness. It would take us too far, for now, to fully unravel the thoughts of C.G. Jung, Plato, or a slew of mathematicians, like Srinivasa Ramanujan and others who have wonderfully explored symbols as well as geometric forms. From shamanism to tribalism, from alchemists to freemasons… The list of traditions, cultures, groups and people involved is overwhelming. What we do need to understand, at this point of our early ideation, are the relations between these formal elements. Most forms can be composed with triangles, except for the circle. Though the key consists out of triangles, the unlocking process itself, needs a circle. Using both, helps us (virtually) travel from 2D to 3D. Keep that in mind. Meanwhile, let’s observe what we are able to do, whilst playing around a bit:

We might want to add one diamond in the middle of the middle, but for now we may want to call the last figure a qubit, like a cube it: a ground map of a box or a cube. Not only is it funny & it will become more meaningful as we further dive into our gameplay, but it shows how ingenious these basic formal relationships are, once we start getting a bit creative. In all seriousness, we needed to find a way for coders to code, and players to un-code or decipher, as well as be able to build formations and structures, which are related to real & smart contracts, with real world consequences, such as effective climate action, legal requirements, or for instance efficient rewarding mechanisms, such as shared events and experiences. Luckily, geometrics and mathematics are so universally beautiful, they allow us to do exactly that. The big leap is between a flat screen, the rather 2D-ish representation of 3D elements and then the full 3D virtual world. We had to find ways to connect between the different gameplays we foresee to be fundamental to make it all work. Over time, with patience, and as tech evolves (especially AI and web3-related technology,) we will be able to combine all game modes: real, virtual, augmented and any imaginable cross-section or mixed reality. And we probably will be one of the first ones globally to thoroughly deliver that in terms of ESG/sustainability.

Let’s explore a bit more:

The first three representations could be seen as another way of stacking forms on one and other, maybe they represent wormholes? We will discover as we deploy the ground rules of our gameplay, together with our growing community. Just leave it up to your imagination, for now. The fourth are two triangles on top of each other; They may serve as an example of connectors, able to connect hexagons for instance. Then we see how connectors blend into a windmill. As we need energy for our treespaces, windmills will be a tech which we will be needing: in real life and in our gameplay. Next to our windmill, we have yet another way of how formations could be brought about. The last three are symbols we find in life. The triangle downwards with the corresponding line below stands for Earth/ground. The triangle pointing upwards with the corresponding line on top stands for air. The last one is an arrow to the right. Most importantly, we start to uncover motion and direction. The windmill needs a circular axis. Whilst the arrow points to somewhere. All are an indication of what is to come. One step at a time though.

One of the complexities we are confronted with, is computers work & process digital and thus binary in their representation and calculations, at least until quantum computers take over. But nowadays, we are still bound by binary processing: light on, light off. So switching from binary to circular, or for instance, using hexagons is more complex in terms of coding, but surely not impossible. A lot of NFTs nowadays seem to be stuck in a 24-pixelated daydream. We suggest a move towards a triangular approach which allows for hexagons & pentagons to enter the gaming/NFT scene more prominently. However within the underlying binary & digital coding framework. Our creative reasoning is very simple: even a child can design within the clear framework and boundaries of a hexagon, or a pentagon. Kids immediately see the relation to existing games, such as Trivial Pursuit or settlers of Catan…

We have been looking closely at some of the strongest physical building structures, being geodesic domes. Geodesic domes exist out of triangles, and more specific pentagons and hexagons. And these structures are the strongest known to mankind, and great at mittigating climate change. You could build a geodesic dome over New York or Singapore and they would withstand the harshest climatological circumstances. Moreover, you could regulate the temperature under the dome. These types of domes function on the Moon, Mars or in space… They are ideal for aquaponics combined with growing fruits, vegetables, plants and trees, and for harbouring humans and animals of all kinds. We could even make floating ones on the sea, or below the water. The sky is not even the limit. Here is a very interesting example from a Canadian company:

So, it becomes more clear, within our broader game ecosystem, groups of players will be able to form different teams, communities, constellations, councils or tribes, which can, for instance, work together to build structures like a geodesic dome. Architecture can have different sizes. Timing, in terms of forming required formations, will be important though. Achieving a certain architecture, formation or construction, as such is not enough to unlock a real world counterpart. Players will have to ‘lock up’ NFTs and/or tokens for a while. For this, they will be rewarded as a group, as well as individually, but these staking mechanisms, the temporary locking of tokens, and thus also the provision of liquidity to the whole community, will also exactly enable the funding of real world counterparts, as well as transaction fees. And the beauty is that teams or fleets will be able to then choose to which project in the real world they want to gift their unlocked structure(s) or elements. So, keep in mind, this will not only be in terms of architecture, it may as well be an amount of shovels, or for instance, the service of a lawyer to draw up a contract for land leasing, or so. The idea is that formations held a certain amount of time, lead to projects and communities in the real world benefiting from community actions in the virtual or augmented. NFTs greatly enhance our capacity to generate market and exchange mechanisms, which can seamlessly be arranged. Moreover, the capability to tokenise, fractionalise, insert voting mechanisms should make it exciting fun. And the fact that you are generating good & helping to re-green our planet, and beyond, should work as a jewel of an incentive, especially towards younger generations. Of course, all of this will not be achieved in one day. We will set out timelines and start with pilot projects, as well as gradually grow the game to more complex gameplays, exploration and adventures.

Teams, communities, tribes or groups may benefit to hold some formations indefinitely as they wish to build spaces in the virtual gameplay/metaverse, as some architectures will shelter them from any (virtual) attacks. These will be so-called free havens for their respective communities. Though we mostly intend peaceful gameplay, we realise a part of life thrives on competition and in some parts of the game, fleets will be able to fight it out. As it is virtual, we should grant people the option to have zones with higher risk and rewards, as that too can be fun and a part of life’s overall learning process. Some disputes will be handled in virtual courts and/or through councils. But mostly the competition will be tribal, in the sense that tribes that thrive will be able to grow considerably larger communities. These communities need to build larger architectures to be able to host everyone and thus also require these free havens in order for them to peacefully gather for voting or simple socialising, in any way virtually imaginable. Or, in gameplay with augmented parts, where people get to know each other in real life. Or, think of a grandma that can’t move much which then can visit a greenhouse project of her grandson in some local community, just by putting some VR-headset on. That social aspect is one we will, from in the beginning, keep a very crystal clear eye on. The whole gameplay should allow for fun & community building. On the other hand, we do appreciate there are differences between communities to be respected. Hence, also voting mechanisms and the option to join or create teams, as per wish of players or communities. People are free to join the groups they like. And inserting voting mechanisms at many levels of the game, allows for teams to make suggestions on most parts of the game. We are looking at different types of councils to enable communities to get their say on many parts of the game. We will try to create it in such a way that we maximise freedom. Here’s how we drew up some more first ideas on texture, formations and symbolic language:

If you haven’t yet read our initial blogpost on gameplay we suggest you do here. On our magictribe.one site click on the EXPLORE button, which will give you a broader overview, as well as a very specific example of how NFTs are connected and gamified…