NiftySynth - Interactive NFT

I started to work on ideas for the NIFTY token next, I had previously seen ads for an app on a phone where you can buy virtual diamonds – which at first I thought was a pretty terrible idea.

The idea definitely seemed better to me over time and I wanted to look at a prototype which would utilise the cosmetic aspect of that idea, along with a level of interactivity. I gave the project the code name TREASURE

The first item I produced was a simple BETA_GOLD_BAR – it would shake with a left click, and spin 360 degrees on a right click – this was far from my best attempt but it held up as a unique item.

I wanted there to be a set of first edition bars following the BETA_BAR, so I produce three. In Gold, Silver and Iron – and these were all raven engraved as 1st Editions.

This was the first project which exceeded a 2MB file size, and there’s a considerable increase in the loading time due to this. Before producing further NFTs in this line and increasing interactivity, that’s an issue to resolve.

Assets created:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%2FNIFTY%231ED_BETA_GOLD_BAR

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%2FNIFTY%231ED_RVN_GOLD_BAR_

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%2FNIFTY%231ED_RVN_SILVER_BAR

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%2FNIFTY%231ED_RVN_IRON_BAR

New sub tokens were created after the stoppage of the INT_NFT series stifled productivity. NIFTY is the token for this website domain, and will contain the “next generation” interactive NFTs, which will go far beyond what was previously possible.

The Arcade token will be used for competitive arcade gaming within the blockchain, more to say on that in future.

I was starting to get some pretty decent interactivity in the NFTs, I wanted to make a companion version of INT_NFT_013 which would be a greyscale variant, with another Raven that was not in the original named Kuro.

Sound functions were also added to both ravens, but these have now been remotely disabled.

The NFT was sent to an auction organizer but following cancellation of the auction it was sold to the organizer.

Assets created:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_014

The thirteenth Interactive NFT directly under the SYNTH token was very interesting to create. It depicts a martial artist named Ken within an area where the owner can make him participate in three different training variants.

Doing the training raises the stats of the character, this was an early iteration of RVNPET in that the pet is recording stats, but unlike RVNPET they are not stored within the NFT so they will reset each time you reload the page.

This piece also includes the first glimpse of a recurring character in future NFT’s , the raven named Sawa.

013 is a companion piece with 014, but 014 was sold due to obligation – I’m thinking about making an arcade entry based on this in future.

Assets created:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_013

Another car & road based NFT, at this point I was starting to think – what If I could put something like GTA2 into one of these, but I was still restricted by file sizes so it’s not an idea that progressed.

Instead of a focus on racing this time I took a look at a more skill based interactivity. I made the roads that the car has to traverse much smaller, and by the same token the turns sharper.

This NFT is timed and will loop, to succeed the player must complete 3 laps in 70 seconds – although there’s no penalty for failure – primarily as during development I must have completed more than 1000 laps myself, and I felt that it’d take people quite a long time to get to the sort of skill level I had achieved – I was quite impressed with the depth of that for such a simple mini-game.

As before you can use the same inputs to control the car:

W/S – Speed up / Reverse

Mouse movement – Turn car

Speed capped to 100MPH, there is with all these racing games a way to achieve a far higher speed though, and with some skill/luck you can break through the barriers on the edge of the roads.

It was refreshing to switch to a grass track from ice, and I made some small graphical updates with some very basic extra sprites.

This NFT is kept in the possession of SYNTH at current.

Assets created:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_012

Another racing based NFT with oppenent AI but not time limit, allowing for practice on the turning mechanism.

The controls for these racing shorts are:

W/S – Speed up / Reverse

Mouse movement – Turn car

Minted assets:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_011

A great tool which has helped me with development along the way, RavencoinIPFS is the best way to host files within IPFS, and with the current state of play you can host anything that’s not publicity sensitive like, pictures, music tracks, games and more.

It also has a really handy encryption function, and some great sharing related auth functions like one time viewing link – which in it’s self will allow for some interesting future use-cases for RVN NFT’s

Visit RavencoinIPFS by clicking here

Now for something completely different

With the SYNTH token now in full swing with 9 issued assets it was time to get a little more complex with the NFT’s being produced.

I wanted something less abstract, and something that could have a value, my mind settled on some sort of short game-like NFT. And I needed to test the limits of what I could do with IPFS further. I decided to dip back into my game development experience, of which I have around 12 years.

Challenges at this stage included needing to keep the file sizes under what you could fit on a floppy disc to minimise loading and buffering times – rendering the experience playable with a mouse and keyboard, later this was something that became a lot simpler as I got to grips with what I was doing.

This asset was minted directly under the SYNTH token and submitted to RVNFT for auction with Stibits at Braveland Campus 04/30/2021

Minted NFTs:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_010

It’s been a pretty mad few weeks. I recently started doing Reddit, and somehow came across an NFT post from an artist who was publishing a piece on RVNFT – intruiged I decided to take a look at NFTs in general and within a short amount of time I was set up on Opensea, I got as far as seeing the gas fees and decided I needed to check out alternatives.

There seemed to be a few viable alternatives, but none as proven as RVN. It’s an exciting thing to be involved with new technology, and I wanted to explore a way of doing NFTs a little differently, I was 90% sure that the first 9 NFT’s I’d produce would fail, that they wouldn’t be possible to produce – and that the arbitrary file type limits found on all current marketplaces would still be a limiting factor.

I decided that all of my NFTs should be interactive in some way, at a very basic level to begin with, slowly advancing towards unique assets of tangible value.

At first I had three aims in mind:

1. A virtual pet build which will sit entirely within the blockchain – something that has now been achieved as an early version.
2. A framework within the blockchain that would allow people to play with NFT cards.
3. Multiplayer experiences served from a blockchain asset.

The first steps to achieving this would be to give some examples away for free, and hopefully at the same time raise some awareness on RVN NFTs.

So I made a post on Reddit and ended up distributing 9 in total, a few of them went to binance wallets, but that was not unexpected in this situation.

Assets issued:

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_001

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_002

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_003

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_004

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_005

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_006

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_007

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_008

https://ravencoin.asset-explorer.net/a/SYNTH%23INT_NFT_009