🚜 Metarace in 2023

2022 was quite a challenging year for the whole crypto industry and Metarace. Despite all the difficulties and problems, we continue developing Metarace, and in this article, I will open the curtain of what awaits the Metarace community in the new year.

🥳 Desktop Application Release

The initial Metarace plan was to develop a browser game with the lowest entry barrier — you open a browser on any device and play. We delivered and released it in mid-2022, but after several tournaments and months of tests, we realized that many players could not enjoy the game — system requirements for a fast-paced multiplayer game in the browser are too high for mid- and low-end devices. It was not easy to start development almost from the beginning, but we did it, and after nearly 6 months of development, the Unity version is ready for release.

Metarace Desktop Application Demo

The new Desktop Application will be released on January 2023 and bring:

• Better User Experience. Lower loading time and better login process.
• Improved graphics. Thanks to Unity, we now have much better graphics and will continue improving it.
• New trucks. After the migration, it became MUCH more manageable to add new trucks and boosters, so we implemented all boosters and increased the number of trucks to 6.
• New in-game mechanics (more details below)

After the release of the desktop application, we will focus on two main priorities — launching the first tournament and adding more maps (a little spoiler — the next map will be called Mars, and going to be crazy).

New Mars Map demo

📱 iOS and Android Apps

Another significant deliverable (thanks to Unity) that we were able to develop in almost no time mobile applications for both iOS and Android.

Apps are almost ready for public beta testing — they will be available for active community members in January 2023. Just imagine playing Metarace while going somewhere or when you have some spare time away from the keyboard/laptop — it's going to be possible in less than a month!

After the beta test, it will take some time to finalize the app and get App Store and Google Play approvals, so we expect the beta testing and review stage to take up to two months.

When the apps are live, we will start marketing for Metarace because mobile apps lower all barriers for new players, so that the marketing budget will be spent way more effectively!

🔮 AI-GENERATED TRUCKS!

Along with trucks by the team, we also will introduce a unique way of generating content in the game this year. Players will be able to generate their unique trucks with different traits.

Every “parent” of a truck will be an NFT which you can buy on OpenSea. After 3 mixes, you will get the final result which we will convert to a 3D model and make available in the game. Below you can see a simplified example of how mixing will work (traits in the example below are almost random). Stay tuned not to miss the “parent” trait NFTs sale start. If you have ideas of traits you’d like to see, please share them on Twitter mentioning our official account.

Unique Trucks Mixing Example (Just an example!)

🪙 More $RACE utility!

We see $RACE utility (and price, which is a function of utility) as our primary focus for 2023, so we will add more utility to the token.

🚜 New trucks

We already added 6 trucks to the game, so players with different preferences and NFTs as drivers can find the best suitable for them. These trucks will be available in the game and on the secondary market (OpenSea and Puzzle Market).

Every truck type has its characteristics, such as speed, handleability, and weight, so they can be used in different game strategies.

Existing trucks in Metarace

✨ Boosters model change

To increase the $RACE utility, we also will change how boosters work in the game. Before, they were unique NFTs and associated with a user account, so owning a booster NFT allowed you to use them with any truck in your garage. However, after the update, boosters will no longer be a unique NFT; they will be a characteristic of a truck. So when you buy a booster, you do it for one particular truck. We also will make a migration for existing boosters so they will be attached to the LawnMower truck.

🎟️ Spendable tokens

With the release of desktop and mobile apps, we will also add a new feature called “Tokens”. Tokens allow you to get benefits in one game (race). You can buy tokens using $RACE and spend in games you prefer — during the tournament or in a game with your friends. Tokens are spendable items, so they can be used only once, but you can always buy more tokens using $RACE. We will share more details on available tokens and their effect before the release.

🔗 Polygon migration

Another important update in the coming months is a Polygon migration. We’ve been thinking about it for months, but now we have to act — due to a lack of support from the Waves protocol team, significant issues on the platform, and a small user base, we decided to move to Polygon as a main chain. We will continue supporting Waves for those who want, but the main chain for newcomers and tournaments will be Polygon.

Thanks to Meta0 technologies, we will be able to migrate pretty fast, so expect it to be finished by the end of Q1 2023.

These are all the main plans of the team for the next 5–6 months. Please share your feedback and question in our Telegram chat and in Twitter (and don’t forget to mention our official Twitter account @racemeta).