The open-universe space exploration game Influence currently has its pre-sale for asteroids happening as it promises players an open universe with an economy where everybody will have a role. During the pre-sale you get to buy your own asteroid which contains valuable in-game resources. Trading will be a big part of the economic process in Influence. However, trading is just one of the ways to acquire what you want, as you are able to also build on your asteroid to increase your self reliance and provide unique skills to offer others.
Players can now acquire asteroids in different price ranges, starting from 0.028 ETH all the way up to hundreds of ETH. These prices are directly correlated to the size of the asteroid. The size of the asteroid influences the amount of players that can play and access resources.
The Influence asteroids sale will end on May 1st, and players interested can check the game’s universe on the official website. In total there are 250,000 asteroids that make up the virtual solar system. This is a finite system and no more asteroids will ever be created. Participating in current pre-sale will unlock special early adopter rewards for all who purchase an asteroid. This is the first pre-sale, and more sales events will happen at a later date, but the bonuses will not be the same.
Different asteroids in Influence
Within Influence there are 11 different types of asteroids,referred to as spectral types, an example of this is the C-type asteroid which has resources needed for life. These are the most common asteroids. A little bit less common are the S-type ones, which generate resources for building ships, structures and creating energy. In addition the rare M-type asteroid offers high quality building resources. While the I-type asteroids, which are very rare, contain resources for fuel and life support.
If a player wants to focus on trading resources for life support, then they will still need resources like metal to build their factories. Therefore players will need to trade with each other. In space there might be players ready to intercept transport and steal resources, and therefore safe havens of political alliances are needed as well. Influence will have PVP between ships, and that means that repair centers are needed. These also require resources to function. You can imagine that drama can unfold in a fashion similar to historic battles in EVE Online.
Where’s Influence going?
For now Influence is taking place on the Ethereum mainnet. However, current gas fee prices aren’t very suitable to run a full in-game economy. That’s why the developers of the Rise Cooperative are currently building for layer-2 solutions. It only makes sense if they would introduce their own cryptocurrency, to power the economy of their universe. However, there are no details on this technological step yet and the team hasn’t announced anything, other than their SWAY token which will serve as an in-game exchange currency and governance token. No details if this will provide any other utility yet, but the team is likely to release more information regarding the SWAY token before their next release.
Right now Influence is in its first development phase, called Arrival. It will take until the second stage, Exploitation, that the layer-2 support will get into play. Players will then be able to start mining, lease mining rights to other asteroids, build mining sites and factories, and are able to fly to other asteroids. They will be able to use the mined resources to create probes, freighters, and a myriad of buildable assets to increase their influence within the game. In-game assets will be tradable as ERC-1155 tokens.
Players will then also be able to create research facilities, discover and trade blueprints for energy reactors, engines, hulls, mining equipment and so on. However, there’s no story. The players will make their own story through alliances and rivalries. They get to create their own roles, jobs, political systems and so on.
Quick guide on getting an asteroid
How to buy an asteroid in Influence?
- Go to the official website
Make sure you’re logged in with your web3 wallet, and connected to the Ethereum mainnet.
- In the left side menu
Make sure you select both the second and the fourth search filter in the sidebar. This allow you to filter based on Spectral type (type of asteroid) and on size/price.
- Asteroids can be two types
In the list with Spectral types, you will find a the earlier mentioned 4 types, but also asteroids that combine these four. These combined types contain a variety of resources, but obviously in smaller amounts.
- Found something you like?
You can look at a planet in close-up by first clicking the planet in the solar system, and the pressing the magnifying glass in the left menu. If you like this planet you can either press the eye, and add it to your watchlist. Or you can press the flag and literally claim the asteroid as you own.
- The transaction
Influence is running on the Ethereum mainnet and it’s using ERC-721 for its asteroid NFTs. As a result the gas fees can be quite hefty. Make sure you keep an eye on the gas prices, at the moment (in the weekend) I’m able to purchase one with a gas fee for 0.00093 ETH or $21,55. During week days gas fees might as well be triple this amount.
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