Author: 0xAkina

Gm everyone!

A few weeks ago, we explored Solana’s onchain gaming ecosystem.

In that piece, I mentioned a game many in the space have heard about, but few have actually played: SAGE Labs.

SAGE Labs is a part of Star Atlas, one of the biggest Web3 games and ecosystems.

While Star Atlas itself is not fully onchain, SAGE actually is!

I’ve been hooked on the game recently, and perhaps after today, you’ll see why.

That’s because we’ll be diving into all things SAGE including:

• Where it fits within the Star Atlas ecosystem

• The in-game economy

• It’s gameplay

• How to onboard into the game

Let’s get into it!

To start, let’s take a moment to understand where Sage Labs fits within the Star Atlas ecosystem.

Star Atlas is a Solana-based space exploration game founded in 2020.

Set in an open, outer-space world, in the game you’ll explore, navigate a complex economy, and battle in combat to secure galactic dominance.

Star Atlas is an ambitious project, having raised millions in funding and spending the past several years in development.

Although the full game is not yet live, there have been some limited releases.

For instance, in the latest one, players had the opportunity to practice space combat against AI, test a 3rd-person shooter mode vs bots, race in time trials, view spaceships, and even try the game in VR.

In addition to the “main” Star Atlas game, the team has also built a secondary title called SAGE Labs.

SAGE is a 2D, fully onchain browser game where you’ll explore, mine resources, craft items and more.

You can think of it as “Star Atlas V0”, as it uses the same economy and assets as Star Atlas itself.

SAGE has complex economy with numerous moving parts.

To understand its gameplay, you have to have a sense of how the economy works - So I’ll do my best to simplify it for you all.

Two main tokens power the ecosystem: ATLAS and POLIS.

ATLAS is a payments token used as a medium of exchange within the game.

It’s inflationary, with its supply growth rate intended to mirror that of the in-game economy.

POLIS, on the other hand, is the game’s governance token.

When staked, POLIS gives holders control over the Star Atlas DAO and its treasury. Unlike ATLAS, it has a fixed supply.

Beyond tokens, there are numerous resources that play a key role in the game.

One resource type is consumables, which are essential for exploration within the game.

The four types of consumables are:

• Food

• Ammo

• Fuel

• Toolkit

Each consumable plays a different role, as food and ammo are used for survival purposes, fuel for transportation, and toolkits to help discover resource deposits for mining.

Another resource type are raw materials. Raw materials can be mined and used to craft other items (More on these later).

For more information on resources, check out this site which provides comprehensive information on each.

A second major component within the SAGE economy are ships.

Ships are critical for in-game endeavors like SDU scanning and mining.

Each ship has a different size that can determine how far and fast you can travel, the quantity of materials you can transport, your mining speed, and more.

Additionally, ships can have modules and components that grant them advantages over other vessels in their class.

To see all of the stats for each ship as of the latest update, check out this Google Sheet.

(This sheet was shared by Star Atlas mods, but still be sure to always take safety precautions.)

Ships and other in-game assets can be purchased in the Star Atlas Universal Marketplace.

Players can also use the marketplace to post bounties to pay others to complete tasks for them.

Now that we have an understanding of SAGE’s economy, let’s dive into its gameplay.

As previously mentioned, there are three primary types of gameplay in SAGE Labs:

• SDU Scanning

• Mining

• Crafting

Let’s unpack each.

A core component of Sage Labs is scanning for Survey Data Units (SDU’s).

In this part of the game, you’ll use your ships to scan sections of the map in order to discover them.

The location and amount of available SDU’s in the game shifts over time, as only up to 25% of the map will contain them.

When you find an SDU, you can sell it in the marketplace or redeem them for in-game assets like items, ships, or golden ticket NFTs.

If you decide to focus on SDU’s, it’s good to have a fleet of at least 10 ships to increase your odds of finding one.

Given that the smallest ships are around $10, scanning is the best way to get into the game and with relatively little capital.

(Personally, that’s how I got started).

To maximize your chances of getting SDU’s, I’d recommend using this tool that determines the SDU drop rate based on the zone of the map you’re in.

Another crucial aspect of SAGE Labs is mining.

Mining involves using your ships to extract the various resources in the game.

Once you do, you can use them to craft components which you can then keep for yourself or sell on the open market.

The speed at which you can extract resources is determined by your ships, the planet you’re mining on, and the scarcity of the target resource.

Rather than have an artificial, fixed supply, resources in SAGE use a “size of the straw approach,” meaning their supply is limited only by the speed at which they can be mined from a given location.

Crafting is the third integral part of SAGE Labs gameplay.

As I mentioned earlier, crafting involves using your resources to create items that you can either use to build up your fleet in the game, or sell in the in-game marketplace.

Be sure to calculate the cost of your raw materials and the price of items on the marketplace, as crafting will not always be profitable!

Now that we have an understanding of SAGE Labs economy and gameplay, let’s take a moment to look at the game’s onboarding and UX.

I’m not going to lie, I found onboarding into the game to be quite challenging.

As previously mentioned, the in-game economy is complex, and you’ll need to do a lot of math and use some of the tools I’ve linked throughout the piece to make your way through it.

The game also does not use burner wallets or session keys, so you have to manually confirm a transaction for every action you take.

SAGE could definitely benefit from an in-game tutorial given this learning curve.

However, fear not, as I’ll do my best to help you through the first steps you need to get started.

The first few are easy, as you’ll just have to:

1. Connect your Solana wallet

2. Create your character

Then things get a bit more complicated, as you’ll need to:

3. Choose a faction

There are three different factions from which you pick including MUD, which represents humankind, ONI, a consortium of alien species, and Ustur, a collective of sentient androids.

The difference between factions is barely noticeable right now, though the majority of players have chosen MUD.

However, there are some benefits for you to also do so, as you can use MUD infrastructure and get help from other players in it.

After choosing a faction, you’ll need to:

4. Pick a name

5. Buy a ship(s)

You’ll need to purchase at least one ship to play from the marketplace, with the cheapest going for about $10.

In addition, you’ll have to stock up on the four consumables in order to begin SDU scanning.

This may be a bit overwhelming, so I’d recommend getting your information from the Star Atlas Discord, which is also a great place to potentially get recruited by a Guild.

I’d also suggest playing with Sage 2D V1, as its easier to run, less buggy while having more videos and tutorials.

All in all, I’ve really enjoyed Sage Labs.

Although it has a steep learning curve, the game is fascinating once you get your head around the economy and its various mechanisms.

The developers are constantly building, shipping updates, and teasing new features.

It’s a great way to get exposure to Star Atlas so you’re ready to go when the 3D version of the game is finished – And it’s very fun in its own right.

I’m excited to continue playing it (While repping and establishing a WASD Guild presence of course) and to see where the game evolves from here!

If you have any questions, need help onboarding, or setting up strategies, don’t hesitate to hit me up in the WASD Discord.

But for now, I’ll be continuing to feed my SAGE addiction, playing Project Awakening, and preparing for the second season of World Sky League.

See you all next week!

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