Novel map-population and rendering techniques for reinventing massively multiplayer online computer games

Project Information

Starborne

Grant agreement ID: 868691

DOI

10.3030/868691

Project closed

EC signature date 11 May 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 31 August 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

SOLID CLOUDS EHF
Iceland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Starborne (Novel map-population and rendering techniques for reinventing massively multiplayer online computer games)

Reporting period: 2019-05-01 to 2019-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Playing on huge maps is a trend that crosses every game genre (from Massive Multiplayer Online Real Time Strategy to First Person Shoot) and identified the need of game developers to either acquire new skills or to opt for an automated tool like Prosper Engine.

The objective of this project was to plan the engineering tasks for the development of this engine and a mitigation plan to avoid technical bottlenecks based on the return of experience of our internal team.

We have evaluated the technical compatibility between our current game on PC, STARBRNE, and the novel capabilities of Prosper Engine (3DmPGE/SCmRender), and we came up with a true finding: Prosper Engine is not only compatible with Starborne, but it enables the portability of this game on other platforms such as Mobile and tablets: the engine is a tremendous tool to make hex maps faster and opens the doors to a market in growth. We also defined the specifications to program the right modules to ensure the re-utilization of our technology for a seamless integration into 3rd-party AI benchmarks or map editor.

We performed an in-depth analysis of our entry strategy into the EU and global markets of PC and mobile video games (China, Russia, and the USA) and identified who could be our strategic commercialization partners to refine our business model. We will sell Starborne or its mobile version Ravage directly on our website or a content distribution platform for the PC version, or though constructors’ stores for the mobile version Ravage (Google Play market for Android or App store for Apple).

We built a dissemination plan consisting in an increased presence on specialized broadcasting channels or social media, and we refined our plan to maximize our impact in target markets beyond English-speaking EU countries. In order to secure our innovative technology, we have assessed an IPR policy that both protects our innovation and fosters the development of AI-based modules for the programmers’ community.

We plan on generating 48,711,078€ of cumulative revenue for the commercialisation of the Starborne and our mobile game Ravage, along with the licensing of Prosper Engine at the horizon 2025.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Solid Clouds was founded with the explicit purpose of creating a new game developed with solid technological foundations, formulating the grounds of STARBORNE and the PROSPER Engine (TRL2) in 2013. STARBORNE started as an initial proof-of-concept of the PROSPER Engine, which was internally tested by Solid Clouds' creative team (TRL3). After several years of graphic improvements and initial research on 3D hex-map population, the first version of 3DmPGE (v0) was implemented and tested in 2014 (TRL4-5). By 2015, an enhanced version was developed (v1), now allowing automatic generation of basic rules for in-game objects population. Combination of 3DmPGE with the desktop version of RenPGE has been tested since 2015 in a live environment (alpha-testing), reaching TRL6 by mid-2018. In the second half of 2016, Solid Clouds started implementing the grounds for cross-platform approach (iOS/Android platforms). As of 2019, all the creative innovations of STARBORNE’s gameplay are fully developed. Technologically, the current desktop version of RenPGE (Windows) is stable, and only translation to other desktop platforms and optimizations are required. The mobile version of RenPGE is already designed but not yet implemented. 3DmPGE needs to evolve from its current version (v1; stable but still requiring manual operation of game developers) to a completely automatic release. We still need to migrate our NetPGE over to more stable asp.net core which is better performing and enables us to use SignalR for our communication channel. Finally, RetPGE needs to be further developed to fully take advantage of special in game agents developed based on Artificial Intelligence Algorithms.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

STARBORNE’s proprietary, AI-based, PROSPER Engine is head and shoulders above what competitors are doing and takes the genre to a whole new level, both in terms of technological performance and creative experience. 3DmPGE provides the world's largest strategic 3D hex-map. RenPGE brings high resolution game graphics that provide players with detailed overviews of their actions. RetPGE leads to better engagement and immersion, significantly boosting retention. NetPGE enables thousands of players to simultaneously enjoy the game without lag issues.
• 3DmPGE solves information challenge, frees game designers from months of repetitive work in configuring virtual worlds, allows them to engage in other more productive tasks; this reduces time-to-market by 30% and development costs by 20%.
• NetPGE solves communication challenge, enables our PROSPER Engine to scale and allocate servers dynamically, decreasing costs associated with servers/bandwidth up to 50%.
• RenPGE solves computation challenge, permits a wider variety of game landscapes with the cross-platform delivery experience to resource-constrained devices (e.g. smartphones/tablets), enabling seamless access to all in-game functionalities from any platform; significantly expanding potential player base.
• RetPGE solves retention challenge. Efficiently developed tutorials & interactive game agents provided by RetPGE, will increase player retention up to 30% compared to traditional MMORTS games approaches.
• The combination of a full creative reinvention of the MMORTS genre and the introduction of technologies that are required to bring that creative reinvention to life set Solid Clouds apart from the competition. These technologies will also ease AI benchmarking need by providing novel scenarios for testing 3rd-party AI algorithms.
STARBORNE has now about 5.000 daily active users on 6 game servers connecting players from 4 different continents together. They do not only build alliances to expand their empire across our gigantic map, they are also helping each other, breaking down game mechanisms, and refining their strategies. They are contributing every day to the construction of this amazing community. We plan on reaching our goal of 150K daily active users by 2024 for STARBORNE (1M globally including other products derived from the PROSPER Engine by Solid Clouds and other game developers).

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