The 6 Pillars of Realms World on Starknet

Starknet has one of the most promising gaming scenes in crypto, and an up-and-coming project that stands out to me here is Realms World. 

Realms World is both a gaming multiverse and a bespoke autonomous world protocol on Starknet, with the latter architecture being uniquely designed to bring this multiverse vision to life.

The first game to launch on this architecture is set to be Eternum, which I recently highlighted. Yet Realms World will be an onchain playground where Eternum, other Realms ecosystem games, and other non-Realms Starknet games like Influence can coalesce in totally unprecedented ways. 

As such, it’s a good time to catch up on what Realms World is getting ready to bring to the table once Eternum and the underlying protocol launch soon. Below, let’s go over six of the main pillars of the project and why they matter. 

1. $LORDS and veLORDS

At the center of the Realms World economy is its native ERC-20 token, $LORDS, which is used for nearly every transaction within this ecosystem, from trading resources to building in-game structures.

$LORDS also powers the veLORDS mechanism, through which players and developers can stake $LORDS to acquire veLORDS, granting them governance rights and a share of transaction fees generated across the ecosystem. For example, a portion of the $LORDS spent on in-game auctions or trades is allocated to the veLORDS pool for liquidity and funding future development. 

Additionally, $LORDS introduces monetization opportunities for alternative client interfaces. Developers can build custom web or mobile apps atop the Realms World smart contracts, and these interfaces can then capture a share of transaction fees generated through their usage, creating an economic incentive for great user experiences. 

Of course, onchain gaming infrastructure like Realms is also poised to be used by a growing array of AI players, so in the near future we’ll likely see automated agent-driven $LORDS activity becoming a salient aspect of the economic flywheel potential here. 

2. Core and Public Layers

Another innovative element of Realms World is its dual-layer architecture. 

First up, the Core Layer acts as the immutable foundation of the Realms ecosystem, hosting global standards and shared mechanisms like the Onchain Positioning System (OPS), a decentralized spatial mapping system for game assets. Changes to the Core Layer can only be implemented through governance votes, ensuring its integrity while allowing for adaptability over time. 

Then above this bedrock lies the Public Layer, a dynamic sandbox of sorts where developers can build freely without needing permission. This layer is where games, mods, and extensions coexist and interact using the standards established in the Core Layer. But it’s up to devs to decide how deeply they want to integrate here, as they’re free to innovate entirely new game mechanics in the Public Layer as they see fit. 

3. Game-to-Game Communication

The dual-layer architecture of Realms World paves the way for interoperability, i.e. game-to-game communication. 

To be sure, some people in mainstream gaming and in crypto consider interoperable games a fool’s errand. To that I say they lack imagination, plus we’ve never seen anyone try this approach in earnest before in the way that Realms World is trying now. 

In other words, Realms World is built from the ground up in such a way that this ecosystem and its assets, mechanics, and states can be readily shared or referenced across games, creating an interconnected network of titles.

Plus, integrations will take place in varying levels, so it’s not that everything here will be about interoperability all the time. 

Light integrations can involve shared tokens, allowing resources like $LORDS or NFTs to be used across multiple games. For instance, resources mined in Eternum could be traded or utilized in a separate crafting-focused game. Deeper integrations, on the other hand, can take things a step further by adopting game mechanics or systems from another game entirely. 

Either way, players will benefit from the freedom to carry their assets and achievements across games, while devs gain access to a shared pool of tools, assets, and states to build upon. Personally, I can’t wait to see the experiments to come here. 

4. Modding, Seasons, and Soft Forks

Also of note is how the Public Layer of Realms World makes its infra and the experiences built atop it wide open for customization and flexibility. 

For instance, think modding. A developer could make a mod for Eternum that introduces naval combat to leverage existing game mechanics while adding a unique layer of strategy. Then anyone who wants to use this mod could opt-in as they wish. 

Another interesting element here is the Seasons format, which will be used in Eternum but will also be available to other Realms World games. This system is set up so that each season operates under its own rules, paving the way to constant iteration on new features or gameplay systems. 

Lastly, the builders of Realms World have embraced the “soft fork” approach in their protocol. Devs can create alternative versions of Realms games, proposing changes or entirely new mechanics. Players will then be free to adopt or reject these forks, creating a meritocratic and creative environment where there will be a variety of experiences to choose from. 

5. Open Economies

Another thing I think will lead to lots of neat experiments is how Realms World embraces open economic principles, allowing for the integration of external currencies into its multiverse. 

In other words, players can bring their own ERC-20 tokens from outside the ecosystem into Realms games, adding flexibility, expanding the range of economic possibilities, and letting players define in-game value using the assets of their choice, whether that’s stablecoins for trading or the hot memecoin of the day. This approach will allow Realms World to support cross-game marketplaces and other sorts of related apps. 

6. Fractal Scalability with STARKS

Starknet already performs well, to say the least. In a recent gaming stress test stewarded by the Cartridge team, the network set a new record for L2s in eclipsing +850 transactions per second (TPS). 

That said, Realms World is in luck because Starknet can go even further. Beyond base layer optimizations, Starknet also boasts the potential for fractal scalability, i.e. splitting transactions across multiple network shards that can lean back on Starknet proper whenever they need. 

This approach can prove particularly useful for facilitating Realms World as its ecosystem grows. However, fractal scalability will also allows individual games within Realms World to scale independently. For example, Eternum can host thousands of players interacting in real-time, while other games or mods can operate simultaneously without affecting Eternum’s performance!