Earth 2 has recently released in-world footage of what is set to be the the first rendition of its 3D world – Earth 2 Version 1 or E2V1, which is a 1:1 virtual representation of planet Earth. Earth 2 is claimed to be a Geolocational Metaverse, allowing digital land ownership corresponding to real world locations and is already the largest virtual land registry in the world across any Metaverse platform (over 100 million player tiles).
This footage was scheduled to be released just prior to the launch of the Essence token (Earth 2 platform’s native currency), however since the token launch itself was delayed, Earth 2 decided to release the footage to share the progress it has made on it’s 3D world release.
We take a walkthrough and decode the video:
Video
Expansiveness, Open World, ‘Not a shoe box’
The video shows various real world locations and their corresponding terrain, emphasizing the magnitude of its scale, promising an unbounded open world. The footage is claimed to be directly from inside the game and not pre-rendered.
100% Player Built & Owned
It’s noteworthy that while the terrain is replicated corresponding to the real world locations, E2V1 is a brand new world without any legacy structures/ buildings and hopes that the users will build a world of their own. We see a massive sprawling city in the video envisaged to be built by Earth 2 users themselves. Players can build by participating in the EcoSim and using Ether, Essence and Resources that can be farmed on virtual land. We need to understand how will Earth 2 influence or incentivize a build-up, else there is a risk of this process being extremely slow.
Avatar System
For the first time we see a close-up of an avatar inside Earth 2. This avatar system is powered by a partnership announced between Earth 2 and Ready Player Me. It also allows Avatars that have likeness to oneself, and the same can be achieved by scanning one’s face using the Ready Player Me app, and then importing the Avatar inside Earth 2. We can only guess if we will see more such partnerships just for the Avatar system given that an Avatar primarily represents a user’s persona inside a digital world.
Cydroids in Action
We see multiple Cydroids in action during the course of the video. Cydroids are supposed to play a key role in the gameplay within Earth 2. One can imagine an entire army of Cydroids traversing the Earth 2 terrain. We also believe that these coupled with NPCs (civilians) at a later stage is a smart solution for the filling the low player density that is naturally expected within such an expansive environment that E2V1 promises to be.
Newer Vehicles
We can see many newer vehicles roaming the streets or over the terrain, a train, and even tanks. The physics of moving vehicles look quite authentic
Detailed Indoor Areas
Users are shown a glimpse of potential indoor environments and with a high detail – storefronts, lobbies, elevators, apartments and offices – personal spaces that can be customized and populated with various virtual objects. Personal spaces can also be rented out to other users or used to house own civilians.
BEWARE, the Earth 2 elevator comes with a disclaimer … xD
Immersive shopping
Metaverse shopping can be very immersive and not constrained by the physical space as in the real world. The Earth 2 virtual shops (Player owned or run by Earth 2) would cater to various in-game items that users may require – avatar gear, vehicles, cydroids and other digital items. It will be interesting to see what kind of SDK or editors Earth 2 comes up with to allow players to build and trade various digital objects inside.
We see 3 classes of Cydroids displayed here – Sandsekars, Myneghalds, and Naswatas
Even resources could be tradeable via virtual shops.
We also spotted the live game feed inside the virtual shop, and it’s expected that virtual item purchases will be shown in the game feed, just how it currently happens with land and jewels.
Welcome to ShaneVerse!
Virtual objects will be available from Earth 2 as well as other creators
Even Land Deeds…
Additionally, besides digital items, Earth 2 claims that users will be able to buy physical goods as well! Thus, Earth 2 will enable anyone to run their physical or virtual business from inside Earth 2
It’s the night that matters!
Earth 2 will have day night cycles. We also liked the lighting and the ground reflections shown when it turns dark.
Worlds within a World, within the World
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Earth 2 Portal concept allows teleportation to off-world experiences and games.
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DRONE will be the first such gaming experience that Earth 2 team is working on.
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Anyone will be able to submit games and experiences, that will be able to load from a portal inside E2V1. We assume Earth 2 may release some SDKs to allow experiences and games created by users.
So What is the Earth 2 Droid Craft (also pending a Trademark filed by Earth 2)?
We are excited about E2V1 as a scaled, open-world Metaverse, size of the Earth – which will eventually enable a multitude of activities and experiences.
Some Questions that come to mind (submitted by various Earth 2 users)
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Is there a ceiling limit on E2V1, how high can you zoom out. Will be able to explore nearby space – at least low orbit? Will there be satellittes?
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Do typical Earth 1 rules apply to an Earth 2 city – does it have sanitation, taxes, civic body, waste management, licenses to do things (party, public gathering, fireworks), police, prisons, courts?
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Can we customize asset names – objects, vehicles, street names? Can we name default streets provided by Earth 2 between plots? Who names them?
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Can we change course of rivers or fill-up water bodies to reclaim land?
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Can Avatars fight each other, can they break in buildings or vehicles?
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Do Avatars get injured or even die if a vehicle hits them, or they jump off a train, or if they jump off a building. Will they have health bars like in most games – or more detailed vitals?
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Can Avatars fly? Can they Swim?
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Will Avatars and/or civilians be able to express emotion at some stage?
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Are more avatar partnerships coming?
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Will all users be supported in the same instance? Wont that crash the game?
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Can you resize assets or holograms?
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Can personal spaces be secured via a lock so that others cannot come in?
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Can Civilians drive vehicles or operate other complex machinery?
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Will external objects like Nike NFT shoes be allowed inside Earth 2?
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How collisions are handled between vehicles or aircraft?
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Are Cydroids destructible or self-destructible? Can someone steal my Cydroid?
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Will EPLs have doorways like shown for DRONE in the video?
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Can Mentars be re-aligned, say if someone wants them at the corner of their plot versus in the center
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Will plot grid lines be visible in 3D world, can it be turned off for aesthetics?
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How will trains or overhead objects move over other people’s plots?
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Will we have underground available on Earth 2? How deep?
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Can vehicles, ships or aircraft teleport. How do they gain access to a completely surrounded plot on all sides?
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How many concurrent Cydroids can raid a property in a 3D world – 100, 1000, 10000 or less?
