Introduction to CryptoFast: An upcoming NEO-based racing game

CryptoFast is a NEO-based racing game that allows players to create, customize and race cars. Official development on the game began in August 2018, following incubation in March the same year. Intensive development is still underway, and if all goes to plan the team aims to launch a series of game asset pre-sales in May 2019.

EasyCheers, the team behind CryptoFast, was founded by Junyu Zhou and currently has 18 members. They recently attended and presented at the NEO GameCon in Akihabara, Tokyo, where the Japanese pop group 9nine took the game for a test drive. Demo gameplay may be found in NEO News Today’s recap of the event.

Some team members participated in the development of various Ethereum-based blockchain games including Cryptohero, Ether.Online, and PirateConquest.

With translation assistance from Denis Suslov of NEO Global Development, NEO News Today interviewed EasyCheers to gain more insight into the project, who shared their vision of the game:

“We aim to create a large racing game market by utilizing the engine development capabilities of the founding team, and to use NEO blockchain technology to create a platform where talented creators can get rewarded for their content and players can have fun in the game.”

Game Design

CryptoFast is based on LayaBox’s HTML5 LayaAIR engine, which the team has combined with the NEO blockchain to create their own blockchain game engine tool, also called EasyCheers. The use of HTML5 allows the game to be cross-platform, with support for both mobile devices and PCs.

Although the core gameplay focuses on racing cars, CryptoFast also places a heavy focus on customization. Players will able to modify the parts and colors of their cars and can enhance a car’s attributes by completing levels. The progression system will allow new cars and tracks to be unlocked as more levels are completed, in addition to community rewards.

Players will be able to operate their own tuning shops that can provide services to other players, which can be done for free or with a price attached. It will also be possible to invest in repair shops, which entitles a player to receive the income received from repairs for cars damaged in races.

CryptoFast aims to be heavily community driven, represented by the presence of clubs. Players will be able to participate in racing competitions in various classes according to their level, or join larger competitions with their club to win rewards.

The team also noted that although it will be possible to purchase parts or tune-ups, the game will not be pay-to-win, with skill and other factors having a larger impact on the game. The game will be free-to-play, and the team intends to reward active behaviour and come down hard on cheaters that are using bots or scripts.

Blockchain Interaction

The economic model of CryptoFast involves the use of multiple tokens. Various actions taken in the game will require the use of a NEP-5 game token, called ECToken, which will be consumed to create a deflationary token model. It acts as the game currency and will also be used for voting on new game features or assets. Early acquisition of ECToken will be possible through NEO and GAS redemption, though new ways to acquire the token will be announced. EasyCheers will announce its allocation plan in a future announcement.

ECToken will also take on uses in other games within the EasyCheers community, though the team mentions that they are taking an open approach, allowing other developers or projects in the ecosystem to explore and link up their own economic models. This is hoped to encourage strong relationships within the NEO game community.

CryptoFast’s in-game assets are stored on the NEO blockchain as NFTs, and will represent items such as cars, replacement parts and also tuning parameters. These assets will be viewable in the “NEO-NFT Asset Wallet” that the team will release alongside the game.

EasyCheers notes that while it will use the proposed NEP-11 non-fungible token standard, it will use additional functionality to allow multiple token types to be packaged in a single trade. This is because although each car in the game is represented by an NFT, the separate car parts and cosmetics are all different NFTs. For a player to trade the whole car at once, the ability to package the NFTs is necessary, otherwise the car would need to be disassembled and traded piecemeal.

Where possible, game functionality will be decentralized through the use of NEO smart contracts to handle specific operations or game logic. The team will use ECToken’s voting functionality to allow the community to participate in decision-making and profit-sharing.

Smart contracts will also be used to provide fair, in-game business frameworks. For example, community members could create a used car trading platform, advertise on track billboards, or organize competitions that reward participation.

Expansion and Business Model

CryptoFast’s founding team will focus on developing a game community, envisioning a future where community creators can produce their own cars, colors, paints and other items to be added to the game. The community would then vote for which assets they would like to see.

To encourage community development, proceeds from voting on new items will be distributed to the creators and promoters. Profit generated from the car workshop, repair shop or market trades will also be shared as dividend payouts on in-game stocks. These stocks can be held and traded by players.

EasyCheers notes that it is dependent on the value of its own share of tokens to appreciate, encouraging it to promote community growth. Although it will raise funds by selling game assets, profits generated in this way will either be burned or put back into the game.

Following the growth of the player base, EasyCheers will also enable third-party advertisers to create their own sponsored championships and targeted advertisements. The team hopes that all participants will be able to profit from the growth of the ecosystem.