Author: FaultProofBen
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Gm!
I’ve finally returned after spending the last several weeks traveling for Devconnect and Thanksgiving.
We’ve spent a lot of time taking a macro view of the different onchain gaming ecosystems, including that of Arbitrum, Starknet, and Optimism.
This has been a lot of fun, but I want to shake things up a bit.
So, from now until the end of the year, we’ll have more pieces dedicated to deep dives into some of what I think are the most fun, innovative, and exciting onchain games.
Today, we’ll begin this journey by looking at one that meets all three of these criteria: Network States.
Network States is a PVP strategy game developed by Small Brain Games along with a crack team of other onchain gaming vets from projects like Moving Castles, Primodium, and more.
I’m a big fan of the game not just because I think it’s a lot of fun (it’s my third favorite) but because Network States is pushing the envelope of onchain game design.
In this piece, you’ll see why this is the case as we dive into:
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The history of Network States
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It’s architecture under-the-hood
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An overview and my thoughts on the game itself
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Why I’m bullish Network States
If you’re a gamer, investor, like the tech, or just a Small Brain Games simp, there’s something here for you.
Also, as with all Small Brain related articles, this piece is being released on Base.
If you like it, you can collect on there by annihilating the mint button above!
Now…let’s get to it!
The History of Network States
To start, let’s get some background on Network State’s development process.
Per its GitHub, Network States has been in the works since May 2023.
As mentioned above, the game is the product of a number of experienced onchain game developers.
This team includes Small Brain Dev of Small Games (Words3 and Drawtech), Arb of Moving Castles (This Cursed Machine), 0xHank of Primodium (who is assisting with the game’s AI lore), and Lyrong Ko Ting Keh of Seismic (who is helping with the Fog of War Mechanism).
Network States exemplifies the “build-in-public” ethos, as there is a bot in the Small Brain Games Discord that tracks and notifies server members of GitHub commits.
The team has also held numerous public playtests over the past several months, where they solicit feedback from players trying out the game over sessions that last about 30-60 minutes.
Network States has evolved considerably since these events began, with numerous new UI improvements, bug fixes, and gameplay mechanics introduced.
A few major updates include the introduction of a “fog of war,” AI-generated state lore, and improved spawn mechanics (more on these later).
Not so humble brag, but there was also a playtest where I absolutely DOMINATED and took over nearly every state.
(This is my favorite Network State’s history anecdote. But I may be a tad biased.)
Anyways, personal biases aside, the most significant playtest occurred earlier this month during the AW Assembly at Devconnect, where players could face off IRL and try out these new features.
This was a ton of fun, and in general, I appreciate the team’s openness regarding their playtests and their attitude toward feedback.
NPA (Not playtest advice), but I’d highly recommend you all check out the next one and see if you can defeat (or rather, humble) me.
Behind the State
Now that we have some background on Network States' history, let’s take a quick peek at its design under the hood.
As with all Small Brain Games titles, Network States is built using MUD.
The games’ playtests have also been held on MUD-aligned networks, including the old Lattice Testnet and the Redstone Testnet.
I have no knowledge as to where the game will launch on mainnet, but I’d guess Redstone has a decent shot at being its venue.
However, for cost purposes, I also wouldn’t be surprised if it launched on its own custom, L2.
Anywho, another key feature of Network State’s design is its use of burner wallets.
Burner wallets are authorized to confirm transactions on behalf of users and are generated automatically when a player opens their browser.
This means that, as of now, you won’t need to download a wallet to start playing (this will likely change on mainnet when gas costs “real” money), and that gameplay is signature-free.
Given that you’ll have to make a lot of moves (i.e., transactions) when playing, this provides a Network States with a huge UX boost.
A final important feature of Network States' design is its “Fog of War.”
Previously, all player states were made visible.
Now, as teased above, you can only see your state (and 1 tile-circumference surrounding it) when playing.
This Fog of War is enabled by a novel zk-proof system that utilizes a trusted setup.
While there is currently scant information available on the inner workings of this design, those of you who are more technical can get the alpha on it by viewing this talk from the AW Assembly.
The Game Itself
Now that we have some context on Network States' development process and design, let’s get to the fun part… the game itself!
You know the drill by now.
In this section, I’ll break down and share my thoughts on Network State’s gameplay, its AI-lore, along with its onboarding and UX.
The Core Gameplay
As previously mentioned, Network States is a PVP strategy game where your objective is to accumulate the greatest amount of territory.
This conquest occurs on a global grid of tiles shared between all players shrouded in the aforementioned Fog of War.
When you hop into this onchain battleground, you’ll be assigned a state with a distinct name, color, backstory (more on this later) and a capital that produces troops.
Troops are the tool through which you carry out your imperial ambitions, as they can be used to capture territory that is either neutral or held by enemy states. You can move moving your troops with the WASD (NICE) keys.
Each tile on the grid represents one unit of territory, and the amount you can capture, or distance you can move, is based 1:1 on your troop count.
For instance, if you have 10 troops, you can move and increase the size of your state by 10 tiles.
Players accumulate troops at a per-block rate that increases based on the size of their state and decreases based on the number of troops they have. However, this formula is not yet finalized and is being tweaked for each playtest.
A state’s troop count is also highly relevant to combat.
This is because if troops from two states clash head on, the larger squad will emerge victorious and eliminate the smaller one (albeit at a cost to themselves).
For example, if you have a cluster of 10 troops that clashes with a group of 8 troops, then you’ll “win” and emerge from the skirmish with 2 troops (10-8).
This is very important when trying to capture enemy capitals.
Conquering capitals is the best way to accumulate territory in Network States, as doing this to another player will eliminate them from the game and give you control over all of their tiles.
In addition, it will also transform their capital into a city, which is another hub where you can spawn additional troops.
Gameplay Thoughts and Strategy
Overall, I really enjoy the core gameplay of Network States.
Battling it out and capturing states while trying to defend your own is a ton of fun.
I also like how it’s a game that rewards aggression.
You won’t build an empire by playing it safe – If you want to rack up territory, you’ll have to go on the offensive and attack other players.
I think this helps speed up pacing and in doing so, makes the game more fun.
There is also quite a bit of strategy that goes into Network States, from determining how aggressive you should be, to the considerations you’ll have to make regarding when and where to deploy your troops.
For instance, as your state grows, you won’t be able to defend attacks on all fronts, forcing you to prioritize where you allocate your forces.
There will also be many times in which you’ll have to race to reach an enemy capital or reinforce your own before the troop count of an opposing force grows too large to where you’d lose a head-to-head clash.
This requires you to plot routes, offensives, and counter-attacks in advance rather than just blindly aping into a fight.
The Fog of War heightens the overall intensity of this gameplay.
While it took some getting used to, I feel its addition is a net positive, as it adds an element of suspense to the game.
Network States now feels far more ominous, as you don’t know where and when your opponents will strike.
With all this said, while I enjoy the underlying game loop, there are still some changes I’d like to see.
For starters, I think the spawning mechanics for new states can be tweaked further.
Previously, I felt new players spawned way too close to enemy states, allowing larger ones to engulf their capital with ease .
Now, I think the opposite is true, as in the most recent playtest, I found it too hard to find enemy players with the Fog of War.
In addition, I also think the game right now is too prone to “capital camping.”
This is a term I just coined that refers to players loading up their capital with an excessive amount of troops (which I may or may not be guilty of).
Players should be able to defend their capital. However, I think it's actually too easy to do so.
This is because early players have an outsized advantage based on the current troop growth formula, making it near-impossible for others to accumulate enough troops to take over their states.
This dynamic risks hurting the game’s competitive balance.
I can’t remember who, but I heard someone suggest that it could be a good idea for a capital’s troop total to decline over time.
Whoever you are, I agree with you!
AI Lore
Another major component of Network States is its GPT-4 generated lore.
As previously mentioned, each player’s state has its own backstory that includes details like its name, leader, currency, industrial focus, an inspirational quote, and something resembling a mission statement.
If (when) your state’s capital is captured, you’ll also be presented with what’s known as “death lore.”
Death lore is like a mini-eulogy for your state, consisting of a series of blurbs that chronicle its rise and subsequent fall.
The way in which Network State’s implements lore behind the scenes is pretty interesting.
Essentially the game uses a technique employed in traditional game design known as procedural narrative generation to create prompts.
At the highest level, procedural narrative generation involves using algorithms to create randomly generated information and storylines based on a player’s in-game actions.
(Ironically enough, I learned about this through GPT-4 itself)
Then, these prompts are fed into the LLM, which in-turn spits out the state lore.
As a nerd, I LOVE this lore aspect of Network States.
Not only do I think its an innovative use of AI, but it enriches the game world and makes each playthrough more memorable and unique.
It also adds to the game’s entertainment value, as the lore is often pretty funny, ridiculous, and over the top.
Onboarding, UX, and Aesthetics
Network States has great onboarding.
As discussed above, it’s very easy to get started with the game – With burner wallets, all you need to do is fire up your browser.
However, I think there’s still some work to be done regarding its overall UX.
While signature-free gameplay is nice, I’ve still encountered some performance and UI issues, such as lag and my screen freezing when I try to zoom in or out of the map.
I also think Network States could use more in-game documentation regarding its secondary rules and controls.
For instance, there is no information about the use of the “Q” key, which clears your transaction queue when a move you are trying to make isn’t going through.
The graphics are a bit barebones as well, and would love to see more of a visually stimulating first or third-party UI to engage players even further.
Bullish Network States
All in all, I’m very bullish on Network States.
Yes, the game is still in a work in progress. This means that like most onchain titles it’s rough around the edges and far from a finished product.
However, the potential is most certainly there.
The underlying gameplay is a lot of fun, consisting of fast-paced, aggressive, and intense PVP battles powered by bleeding edge tech like zk-proofs.
Of course, the AI-generated lore is awesome as well - Another example of how its pushing the onchain gaming envelope.
It’s not perfect.
But there’s no denying that Network States is innovative.
And getting better with each playtest.
Thanks for reading!
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