This litepaper is an open plan discussion regarding future ideas and developments of Procedural Space and its role in progressing to a more extensive system (referred to as ‘Beyond’). This lite paper will discuss topics such as the method of displaying collectibles in the Exodus collection through a detailed database (Ardex), a breakdown of an all-access pass for the Procedural Space ecosystem, the technological integrations that will be used, and the goals and features of the phase ‘Beyond’.

An official whitepaper will supersede this lite paper, with a more comprehensive and in depth discussion during the development of ‘Beyond’. We are incredibly excited about the next steps our team will be taking, and we look forward to sharing our ideas with you to make a unique game world that sparks curiosity and adventure for all.

Procedural Space has always been the first step in a grander plan. It is a preliminary exercise in developing and creating fully articulated systems from a planet’s ecosystem through to high-level solar architecture.

Our goal for Procedural Space is simple: to create awe-inspiring art with a true sense of exploration that many digital procedural art collections do not have. With this goal in mind, the collections within Procedural Space (i.e. ‘Genesis’ and ‘Exodus’) are heavily data-driven. Much of the data used within each interstellar object has been deliberately planned, and impacts the visual variety of the image (and the sub-attributes within the attribute tree).

PHASES

Multiple phases are planned for Procedural Space, with each phase designed to add value to its respective collection.

The Genesis collection was a creation stemming from a deep love of space and the thrill of exploration. The Genesis collection consists of 10,000 procedurally generated planets.

At its core, this collection was a proof of concept that took procedural NFT art complexity, at the time, to the next level. Alongside fully ray traced images and videos, the NFTs included a dataset that was influenced by, and interacted with, traits found in and around the planets.

EXPANSION

We are looking at expanding Genesis in the future with additional experiences and functionality. This includes access to the ‘Medallion Pass’ which will grant access to exclusive features and experiences (See ‘Beyond’ for further details). Upon release of the ‘Medallion Pass’, each collectable will have a corresponding medallion allocated to it that can be claimed by the owner.

Additionally, by phase 4, Genesis collectables will be integrated into the Ardex marketplace to allow for quick and easy viewing of all available collections. The Ardex will be designed in a way that will display all relevant data for each collection, as well as including additional information (such as system information, geological activity, etc).

Exodus will be a crucial building block for our long-term goals and will focus on the development of an all-new attribute tree, implementing functional utility, as well as technological integrations. Exodus will be more than just utility and technology. This time around, Exodus will feature more interstellar objects, including (but not limited to) terrestrial planets and Jovian planets and stars, to name a few.

Compared to Genesis, planets in Exodus will also have a vast visual upgrade. Industry standard programs ensure our workflow makes the generation process more streamlined, giving the team further opportunities to explore and develop more attributes. Our proprietary Procedural Space Forge (PROCFORGE) will be able to simulate large-scale solar system variables like, for example, orbital period, orbital electricity, and distance from the main sequence. It will also simulate the attributes of each planet down to the surface level. This includes ecology, planet constraints and even geological compositions of mineral structures.

In the later stages of development, all interstellar objects will have added features, along with access to the ‘Medallion Pass’.

This collection will be critical to the development of the project ‘Beyond’ as Exodus will act as a public fundraising event which will help accelerate the development of Beyond.

Cinder ($CNDR) will be the main token used within the Procedural Space ecosystem. Incorporating this token into the Ardex will allow the buying and selling of the token, as well as enabling the purchase of Exodus collectibles at a later date.

The Cinder token will pave the way as an ecosystem token for Procedural Space and as an integral part of Internet Computer integrations with the project Beyond. Genesis holders will be given a set amount of Cinder for every planet they hold as an Airdrop. Cinder will also be used to purchase other items within the Procedural Space ecosystem both physically and digitally. Examples of these include metal CNC land plots and the purchasing of restricted systems.

A full write up of the Cinder token will be included in the release of the complete whitepaper where topics such as token allocations, governance, use cases and protocols will be discussed in further detail.

The database known as ‘Ardex’ is the primary web-based tool to aid in viewing data about each collectible in Exodus. Ardex will also function as a marketplace with trading functionality.

FEATURES

Plus a range a features that will be announced closer to release.

The Ardex, on launch, will use the Opensea API as its backend, allowing for easy integration with existing frameworks. The database will move to a custom standard and backend once Exodus is fully released. This inbuilt marketplace within Ardex will benefit the planet holders, allowing easier trading with other Procedural Space explorers and negating Opensea fees.

INTEGRATING WITH IC

The development of our own market standard will allow us (and planet holders) to have a more fine tuned experience. We are very excited for the launch of this marketplace as we believe the experience will be unmatched in terms of visual and technical capabilities. Benefits of integrating with Internet Computer:

The attribute tree is a new rarity system designed for collectibles that don’t fit a generic attribute system. This system is unique as it is an amalgamation of statistical rarity and weighted rarity systems that provide further clarity of rarity in a collection that has many interconnected attributes.

We are implementing this standard as the current rarity system used in the generative NFT space is basic. The systems and attributes designed within the Exodus collection are too complicated for a generic and standardized system.

As an example, some attributes do not exist without others existing. We hope that this new standard will also fix a number of the problems that were faced with the Genesis collections rarities.

This attribute tree rarity system will have a primary function in the Ardex and will help users determine the rarity of a planet. This information will help buyers make an informed decision when looking to invest in Exodus. The attribute tree will only be visible and usable through the Ardex which will make rarity calculations of the collection on third party platforms inaccurate.

The land in Exodus will be the primary way to bring a dynamic and interactive experience to a static art collection.

On the collection release, planet holders will be able to view the land plots of all Exodus terrestrial planets in much greater detail through the Ardex.

Additionally, the Ardex viewer will contain multiple viewers for a complete analysis of the terrestrial land, including mineral heatmap, geological activity, atmosphere view (subject to atmospheric planets) and more. This was important for us to add as we wanted a way to allow more complex exploration of the planet’s surfaces.

In the future, this land will also act as a primary catalyst for all other utilities planned for Exodus.

Procedural Space Forge (PROCFORGE) is our custom, behind-the-scenes tool that generates all the stars, planets, and gas giants in Exodus.

PROCFORGE will help to create a workflow that is one of the most sophisticated in the web3 space. This sophistication does more than allow our artists the freedom to develop anything. It produces higher quality images in a fraction of the time it would have taken for a Genesis planet to be built.

PROCFORGE is also responsible for generating each object attribute tree along with the rarities of each planet. With this, the team can precisely simulate the potential outcomes of an entire generation galaxy of systems for the Exodus collection. Even with this complexity no two stellar bodies will be alike.

PROCFORGE will be capable of generating genuinely unique 1-of-1 work on top of the standard objects in Exodus. We have spent significant time developing PROCFORGE as Genesis showed us the importance of a robust rarity system.

The ‘Medallion Pass’ is a way of standardizing an early access system for holders of any collection within the ecosystem for future projects and utilities. All Exodus holders will be able to claim a pass. Genesis holders will also be able to claim a ‘Medallion Pass’.

In future, holders of these passes will have early access to, and benefits from, the Beyond phase of the development. These benefits will include a vehicle starter pack, character starter pack and early access to the Beyond phase demo.

The Traldeshi Archives will be an exclusive community for Genesis and Exodus collection holders.

The Traldeshi Archives will be the main hub for players to interact with others in the Procedural Space Ecosystem. Players will be able to see early developments of Beyond and begin and using the Cinder ($CNDR) they have accrued to take part in the early racing systems for Beyond.

We would like to preface this section with the comment that this topic is very extensive and this Lite paper will not even scratch the surface of what can be implemented with this technology.

A full, in depth, analysis will be given with the release of the Beyond whitepaper.

The Procedural Space project and Beyond will utilize the Internet Computer (IC). There are multiple reasons why we have chosen the IC and these reasons will be outlined in the following sections. This choice is something that the Procedural Space project will transition to as the project continues updating and upgrading its infrastructure. We are aware that many of the features will be more relevant to Beyond, however some features will also apply to the Genesis and Exodus collections.

EXODUS ON IC

No, the Exodus Collection will launch and remain on Ethereum. As mentioned later in this paper, one major advantage of the Internet Computer is its ability to transact with Ethereum assets using chain key cryptography.

Currently Ethereum has a much larger user base and we would like to capitalize on that. We are also aware that there are advantages to marketing the benefits of the Internet Computer to the more general crypto and NFT communities.

PERFORMANCE

For a user experience that is smooth and seamless, it is crucial that transaction times are quick. Due to many breakthroughs by the Dfinity foundation, the Internet Computer is one of, if not the fastest, blockchain currently available.

Reading and writing data from chain is quick and will improve with time. Additionally, in theory, the Internet Computer is able to scale infinitely through its subnet architecture. Having a platform that can scale is also important for accommodating large user bases from the web2 community and transitioning them to the web3 space.

ON CHAIN ASSET STORAGE

One crucial and fundamental concept of web3 is building an experience that can be entirely served and maintained on a blockchain. Many crypto/NFT games are served and built using a mismatch of architectures that don’t always align with the fundamentals of a web3 application. The Internet Computer will allow for all assets to be fully stored on a chain, something that currently no blockchain offers.

REVERSE GAS MODEL

Another fundamental concept that is key to user experience is the paying of gas fees when transacting items in game, or using a smart contract. The Internet Computer’s reverse gas model means that users do not pay gas fees and instead pass on those costs to the developers / maintainers of the project. This in turn, simplifies the user experience, reduces costs, and makes it easily accessible to everyday users.

CHAIN KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY

Another breakthrough is the removal of bridges between blockchain protocols. This is ideal as we transition to the Internet Computer as it will allow the user to trade their Procedural Space NFTs from Ethereum using an IC wallet.

Additionally, this will allow users within the Beyond economy to transact from the Internet Computer using cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin without the use of a bridge or other methods such as token wrapping. This means that the NFTs that are currently on Ethereum will be native and tradable via the Internet Computer.

This creates the potential for many interesting economic incentives and situations when there is a DAO/SNS is developed in the future for the project

The Beyond project is the beginning of the long term vision we have for Procedural Space.

This section will talk about the long term goals that exist for Beyond, the foundations that Beyond will be built upon, and the advantages these have over current web3 games. Additionally, more detail will be provided about the integration of the Internet Computer as well as the benefits that the Medallion Pass provides to holders. Finally, primary gameplay mechanics will be discussed.

GOAL

Our goal for Beyond is to create an experience which is fun and engaging with a gameplay first approach. We want to create a platform that has thriving economic systems in an open world setting where users can enjoy playing alone or with a group of friends.

FOUNDATIONS

These core foundations will be a very important guide for us during the creation of Beyond as we aim to create a platform that is truly unique in the space.

Currently, in our opinion, the web3 gaming space is very generic with many platforms forgoing interesting gameplay in place of repetitive play-to-earn mechanics. There is also a common misconception amongst the general gaming ecosystem that games with web3 features are 'scams' for the primary reason they lack a rich gameplay experience which many web2 games offer.

INTEGRATING MEDALLION PASS

Integration of the Medallion Pass will be a major component of bringing value to Medallion holders. The Medallion's primary purpose will be to provide early access features and benefits in Beyond.

These will include:

Further benefits will also be available as development progresses, with thought in mind given to tiered rewards based on time held.

GAMEPLAY

Gameplay will be released in multiple stages over the development cycle.

Initially a platform within the racing genre will be released. This will include a variety of ship types and layouts as well as a number of courses. The aim will be to encourage early adoption of Cinder ($CNDR) and initiate an early supply demand economy.

A demo of Beyond will be made available which will give an idea of the world being developed. The Beyond Narrative Path will also be released which will allow users to experience the worlds in greater detail and discover the truths and mysteries that lie within.

Finally, Beyond Open Worlds will be released which will incorporate everything developed previously, but will allow users the opportunity to branch out and explore further, meet and develop allies, and carve their own adventure.

In Beyond Open Worlds there will be a number of ways to develop a character and legacy in the game, including but not limited to:

Each character will have the opportunity to expand on their journey with equipment that will be available through marketplaces and independent traders.

We would like to point out once again that Beyond Open Worlds will not be a meta verse. As developers, we don't like the term 'metaverse' as it implies something dystopian and depressing. Beyond Open Worlds has been designed for people to experience and enjoy, NOT to live in or participate in 24 hours/day. Our intention has always been for this to be fun, not a job.

PROCEDURAL LABS

Procedural Labs is a company within the web3 space behind the creation of all collections within the Procedural Space ecosystem. Currently, Procedural Labs is developing experiences and art that will be shaping the future of art complexity. For more information visit procedurallabs.net