Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?

"You can think of us as EOS on ethereum," Loom Network officials once said.
With an SDK as the entry point, Loom Network is committed to expanding ethereum and planning to build an infrastructure platform.In addition to their own game, zombiebattle. com, there are several games that are now plugged into the Loom Network SDK.
Examples include the previously popular cyberpunk chain game neon block, the well-known battle formation game Axie Infinity, strategy game CryptoWars, and the MMORPG Coin&Steel.
Recently, Coin&Steel has started an internal test. Thanks to its delicacy and interest, it has attracted a lot of attention abroad, but few people in China have reported on it.
Based on the review of Coin&Steel, this paper will make a simple inventory of several games of Loom Network, and truly restore the development process of the current game ecosystem of Loom Network.
At the end of this article, we try to explain the feasibility of the ethereum side chain mechanism, because many people do not know that god V once put forward the idea that it is possible to run starcraft on the blockchain.
01 introduction to Coin &Steel
Compared to most blockchain games on the market, the first impression of Coin&Steel was pretty good.It looks like a well-crafted mobile game rather than a crude "platform for reselling".At the same time, the inherent playability of mmorpgs gave me something to look forward to.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
Just two weeks ago, the team released a demo of the game.Although there are few demo contents at present, players can also learn about the basic gameplay.
While Coin&Steel is a blockchain game based on the ethereum and Loom side chains, right now players don't need to download a wallet or install a plugin to play it.Android users can download APK and install it, while iOS users need to download TestFlight in the App Store to participate in the demo test.
02 introduction to Coin &Steel
Before the game officially begins, players need to create a character.Currently, only one class is available in Coin&Steel, but it is expected that there will be multiple classes available in the final version of the game, each with its own specific skill.
The character menu in the game is divided into three parts: equipment bar, material bar and character properties.
Players are free to change up to 10 body parts, and each piece of equipment has a very detailed numerical design and random additional properties.The material bar can see the type and amount of material collected by players.The material is not currently available in the current version, but can be used in the official version to enhance the building of new equipment.
Character attributes clearly show the strength of the current character, up to 25 attribute values, will let the player understand that the game's combat system is not simple.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
The game map shows the player the overall terrain of the area, the position of the character and the location of the birth point.As you can see, the entire map is divided into 89 square blocks, numbered to help players record the location.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
The lower right corner of the main interface is the interactive button area, and the functions will change according to the objects near the role.For example, when the player walks to the tree, the "felling" button will appear in the lower right corner. After clicking, the character will start felling and get the corresponding material.
When close to the enemy, the player can choose whether to enter the battle.You can also trade items with other online players when you encounter them.
While exploring the map, players will encounter enemies such as bandits and goblins.You can decide whether to take the initiative or not based on the level displayed on their heads, but there will be enemies taking the initiative to hit you in areas where the level is generally higher.
Coin &Steel's combat system
The combat in Coin&Steel is similar to that in many mobile game's, where the character automatically attacks the enemy based on the attack rate attribute, but the skill requires a manual release.
The upper left corner of the combat interface is the life value and mana value of the character. When the life value drops to 0, the battle fails. Each battle also has a time limit.
As the character level increases, all kinds of exclusive skills will be unlocked in turn, which is very helpful to combat.However, you also need to pay attention to the mana cost and cooldown of each skill. Proper use is the key to success.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
After the battle is won, players receive a variety of loot, including equipment and materials.Rare blue gear and legendary orange gear are not to be missed.
In addition to normal enemies, players have the opportunity to encounter some of their "enhanced" versions, known as elite monsters.In addition, there are bosses in this game, which can only be brought down by the joint efforts of multiple players.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
04 the blockchain section of Coin &Steel
On the website of Coin&Steel, we can see this:
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
The currency, resources and synthetic props in the game are Token based on ERC20, while the equipment and unannounced pet system are NFT based on ERC721.Players are free to trade the content in the game, and it can eventually be exchanged for real money.
This part has not been opened in the demo, but it is not different from other chain games. Coin &Steel's use of blockchain technology still does not escape the concept of "right confirmation".
But it also does a good job of mixing traditional content with blockchain, especially for casual gamers.
First of all, this is a delicate and interesting game, even if the player does not know anything about blockchain, can also get a good experience in the game.
When players want to learn about and touch the blockchain, they can get some practical benefits from the game and thus have more fun.This is similar to the way blockchain is handled in the recent hit let's hunt.
In addition, some details of the current demo make me think that the game has great potential.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
For example, the character's stats, 25 items including fire/freeze resistance, crit rate, and dodge gives the team a lot of room to design the game.This makes the game much less repetitive and opens up plenty of possibilities for future skill and enemy design work.
If future characters have more classes and enemies, bigger maps and more variety, then the game might have a good future.
Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
In addition, as for the pet system that has not been installed yet, the development team decided to reuse assets with CryptoKitties.Players can pass their own ether cat into Coin&Steel;Among them, get a cute cat with exclusive image.
Loom game ecosystem empire
Loom Network's game ecosystem empire, Coins&Steel, is just the tip of the iceberg.There are other games to watch:

1. Neon District
   This is a cyberpunk-style multiplayer online RPG set in a future filled with dark science fiction stories, in which players have to play rebels against the brutal rule of a future government.
   Neon community focuses on character development. As the level increases, the appearance of the characters will change slightly as the level increases. The changes of these characters will be stored on the chain.
   Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
   In addition to the traditional rpg-character culturing gameplay, the neon block incorporates decryption gameplay to engage geek players.
2. Axie Infinity
   Axie Infinity is a game that collects and feeds fantasy creatures called Axie.
   The collected and traded pets, Axies, are similar to real life pets and can be divided into many types, such as beasts, birds, plants, reptiles and aquatic animals.Each species has a unique look and different attributes, and players can breed them with different genes.
   In addition, players can battle in Axie Infinity, and the battle strategy and proper use of each Axie's strength will determine the outcome of the battle.
   Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
   While there have been plenty of blockchain-like games that have been developed since the days of the ether cat.However, the pet art in Axie Infinity games is very cute and wins many people's love.
3. CryptoWars
   CryptoWars is a warlike strategy game where players can build and customize their own villages, ally with others, rally armies, and fight enemies to conquer other territories.
   Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
   Players from a village and city center, responsible for the development of civilization, the establishment of bases, barracks, etc., in the process can upgrade the building, so as to more quickly to conquer other fields.
   When upgrading buildings and building armies, the game will be played using digital currencies, and the use of these digital currencies will be calculated into points, which users will rank according to.
   There are also Loom's own proactive-card strategy game "Zombie Battleground," another AR blockchain game "Moss land," and collection's casual social game "Plasma Bears," and other variations.
   Loom Network also launched several products outside of its gaming empire:
4. DelegateCall: the platform to earn replacement COINS by Posting and answering questions.
5. EthFiddle: the Solidity code sharing site
6. SoliidityX: security-first programming language
   The Loom Network, which doesn't have a white paper, does have some real apps.
   05 epilogue
   Many people criticized the SDK of Loom Network for only providing an interface to provide an interactive switching channel between a single game and the main chain.Based on this single-point switching mode, each game still needs a separate server.The pattern of side chains, in people's imagination, is not plump enough or tall enough.
   When it comes to why not redevelop a public chain of games, the founder of Loom Network wrote:
   Even if you could get a million TPS, it would only be enough for about a dozen of these apps and games.What do you do if you double the number of users?Obviously, trying to run all dapps on the same chain is not realistic.
   Even if a single blockchain can handle thousands of transactions per second, or a million transactions per second, that's not the point. No blockchain is fast enough to handle the needs of all the decentralized applications in the world on one chain.
   Adding extensibility must be done in the second layer.
   This is the original intention of the Loom Network, which is based on ethereum, to develop a side chain that claims to be able to optimize the data on the ethereum smart contract on a large scale -- the goal of DApp chains, and also their ambition to become the "game" and "social" platform on the ethereum Network.
   As a side chain to solve the congestion in ethereum, Loom was once praised by god V:
   Starting from Loom, can blockchain really run starcraft as Vitalik told you?
   V god also imagined:
   It is possible to run starcraft on a blockchain.
   All these different things can be built on a blockchain if you have a high level of security and scalability.Ethereum is a secure infrastructure with few features (extensibility).
   Ethereum can provide a secure base layer for the second layer solution.
   What is clear is that the current layering on the blockchain game run chain has a dual pattern:
   The first layer, the most important feature, is decentralization.
   Second, design a solution to improve scalability.
   When faced with a problem, most people choose to rebuild a wheel.
   The Loom Network, on the other hand, chose to maintain the wheels.
   Back to the heart of the matter, do we really need to abandon ethereum and redevelop so many public chains?Are other public chains necessarily better?
   No one can give an answer at this stage, but time will tell.