What is Star Atlas (ATLAS crypto)?
Star Atlas is a multiplayer game based in a metaverse. Its main theme is space exploration and is based on the Solana blockchain. Developed by the company Automata SA, the game allows players to immerse themselves almost completely in a world that is both futuristic and intergalactic. In this world, they will have the opportunity to discover planets that have not yet been explored or to battle aboard their spaceships.
In its game, Star Atlas offers assets that integrate the concept of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). With this concept, players are the sole owners of their items and can at the same time generate income. However, in Star Atlas, each element of the game is an NFT based on the Solana blockchain.
To explore deep space, players must purchase ships and space vehicles. Which are, as a reminder, NFTs. These spaceships, each as different as the next, are essential in a player's ability to fight rival factions and discover rare materials, scattered throughout the galaxy.
Star Atlas (ATLAS crypto) gameplay
In Star Atlas, it is 2620 and there are only three factions: MUD, Ustur and ONI. The MUD territory is governed by humanity and is known for its firepower. The Ustur territory is controlled by androids, known for the strength of their hull. Finally, the ONI territory is a place with aliens, known for their diplomacy.
At the beginning of the game, you must select one of these three factions. But be careful, once chosen, you will not be able to change. It is only after having decided, that your space conquest can begin. Wanting to create a real economy within the game, Star Altas has set up two tokens, POLIS & ATLAS, which we will see a little later in this article.
In Star Atlas, it is therefore possible to buy and sell assets, such as ships or resources. USDC (a stablecoin) can be used as a means of payment, to exchange various in-game goods, but the ATLAS token remains the predominant currency.
The Star Atlas team has released their gameplay in modules and the only module available to play, is their mini-game, called "SCORE – Tier 0". In SCORE, players can stake their assets and earn ATLAS tokens, by enlisting their starships to aid their faction's side of the conflict.
Most annoying features?
The most annoying feature in Star Atlas, is the fact that you always have to resupply your ships. Indeed, it can happen that the resupply of your starships fails more than once, which can force you to retry several times before the transaction finally works.
This issue is commonly discussed on the Star Atlas discord, where players raise issues with resupplying their ships. Additionally, the problem of restocking ships tends to get worse when Solana experiences congestion issues.
Worse still, players are unable to restock or participate in the Star Atlas world when the Solana blockchain goes down. This has happened several times.
Also note that loading your Phantom wallet with enough funds to participate is also a pain. Without SOL in your Phantom wallet, as a player, you cannot choose a faction, as this initial action step requires a small SOL fee.
That’s not all. When you send SOL from Coinbase to your Phantom wallet, Coinbase may give you the following message: “Due to intermittent degraded performance on the external SOL network, sends/receives may fail at high rates.”
Much like restocking your ship, it takes multiple attempts to successfully deposit SOL into your Phantom wallet, and finally play the game.
The Biggest Surprise of the Star Atlas Project
The gameplay of Star Atlas’ SCORE, involves players solely purchasing ships, enlisting them in their faction’s fleet, earning ATLAS, and replenishing the ships with in-game resources.
Mirroring a similar sentiment in their SCORE guide, Star Atlas guild Aephia Industries stated, “Star Atlas is not yet a Play-2-Earn game, as there isn’t really much game play involved.”
Additionally, one would think that the gameplay would be superior to what it currently is, based on three metrics: a combined market cap of around $32 million for POLIS and ATLAS, a player base of over 95,000 users, and a cumulative total asset value of over $105 million USDC across all three factions.
With millions of dollars and nearly 100,000 players, you would think the gameplay would be more expansive, but in reality the current gameplay is limited to a simple mini-game. Finally, the metric for Star Atlas’s large player base does not specify whether the number of players playing is for a day, a week, a month, or all the time.
The Future of the Star Atlas Metaverse (ATLAS crypto)
To address the lack of expansive gameplay, the Star Atlas team announced on May 13 its next major browser-based gameplay module: SCREAM. An acronym that stands for “Ship Configuration, Resource Extraction and Missions.”
SCREAM “will be the first time players will be able to use their ships to fight for the future of their faction with fun, active, repeatable, and chained gameplay with earning potential,” the recent issue of Star Atlas stated. “Our features will run and resolve on the blockchain, from attacking starbases to harvesting resources, even the location of your fleets,” the team added.
What is the best feature of Star Atlas?
The best feature of Star Atlas (ATLAS crypto) is its community. The Star Atlas community on Discord, has more than 172,000 members where someone at almost any time of the day is ready to chat. While on Twitter Star Atlas has 315,000 subscribers.
The official Star Atlas team often posts updates on their social networks, to facilitate community engagement and support. The official gameplay has not been released and yet the players are still present, whether in the game, Discord or Twitter.
The Star Atlas community is therefore very dynamic and we observe real mutual support between the players. In doing so, the best asset of Star Atlas is, without a doubt, its community.
