Aspects of the whole chain of games: castle in the air or desert oasis?

In the crypto world, GameFi is going through a slump and less attention has been paid to it. However, the concept of full-chain games has recently begun to attract more attention and discussion, which seems to have brought a new life.

Full-chain games are a game form that is closely integrated with blockchain technology. Does its emergence become a new oasis in the desert?

This article will deeply analyze the technical characteristics, use cases, current difficulties, and future prospects of full-chain games, and reveal the potential and possibility of full-chain games, as well as its impact on the game industry and players.

full and "half" chains

Before everything starts, it is important to have a clear definition.

When I heard the name of a full chain game, my first reaction was what is a "half" chain game? Or is there any difference in the way previous games interact with the blockchain?

Following this line of thought, we can make a distinction:

• Off-chain games:

That is, the traditional full-chain off-chain game. It means that the core logic, rules and interaction process of the game are completely executed on the server of the game company, while the game assets and virtual items owned by the players only exist in the database of the centralized server. In this model, game companies have absolute control and data ownership.

• Half chain game:

Early blockchain games solved the problem of ownership of virtual items in traditional games by recording the ownership of game assets and virtual items on the blockchain. However, the core logic and interaction process of the game is still centralized and needs to rely on centralized servers for calculation and processing.

• Full chain game:

A new form of game that combines blockchain technology and decentralization. In the full-chain game, the core logic, rules and interaction process of the game are completely executed on the blockchain, and smart contracts are used to implement the execution and verification of game rules. At the same time, game assets and virtual items also exist in the form of blockchain, and players can directly own, trade and transfer these assets without relying on the centralized server of the game company.

A simple comparison of the three is as follows:

It can be seen that the three differ in terms of core logic, asset ownership, operability, data security, and decentralization. Full-chain games achieve true decentralization by recording both core logic and assets on the blockchain, providing players with higher autonomy and security.

(Note: The above does not consider whether the game art resources are stored on the chain. Generally speaking, such resources are not on the chain, or are solved by decentralized storage)

Auxiliary puzzles for the whole chain game

The logic and assets are all on the chain, can it be run as simple as that? Although full-chain games store the logic and assets of the game on the blockchain, some auxiliary technology stacks and tools are needed to provide complete functions and experience in order for the game to actually run.

The reason why other tools are needed is that the blockchain itself is a state machine with limited performance or precious resources on the chain, so it is difficult to handle redundant call requirements in high-frequency interactive scenarios such as games alone. **

At the ETHDenver held in the past few months, the developer William Robinson made a very in-depth summary of some other auxiliary tools that the full-chain game may need, which can be roughly divided into the following directions.

Ephemeral chain (ephemeral chain): Ephemeral chain is an important part of the full chain game. It is an ephemeral blockchain designed to handle transient data and calculations in games. By using ephemeral chains, full-chain games can achieve fast transaction confirmation and instant status updates, providing a smoother gaming experience.

And after these calculations are over, the ephemeral chain disappears.

App-specific precompile: Smart contract precompiler designed for specific application scenarios. In full-chain games, application-specific precompilation can provide some specific functions and computing power to speed up the execution of game logic and reduce transaction costs. It brings higher scalability and efficiency to the full-chain game.

This is very similar to the "preloading" principle in traditional games. Generally speaking, it is to prepare resources in advance and read them when needed.

Battle rollup (Battle Rollup): A technical mechanism used to simplify the battle process in the full-chain game. By batching and summarizing the combat behaviors between players into one block, Combat Rollup can reduce the number and cost of transactions, and improve the performance and playability of the game.

My understanding is that if you consider an example: "He knocked Tom down after 2 steps forward, 3 steps back, 4 steps left". Maybe we can aggregate the total result of the player's several displacement actions into a block instead of recording each step.

Although this does not achieve the full chain in the true sense, just like the Rollup of L2 has not fully achieved the "full chain".

Engine for On-Chain Games: The full-chain game engine is an engine tool specially developed for full-chain games. It provides a set of development frameworks and tools to help developers build game logic and interactive functions on the blockchain. The full-chain game engine simplifies the development process and provides a rich library of functions and tools to enable developers to create full-chain games more efficiently.

Regarding this point, some developers are already trying, such as the game development engine on the MUD chain shared by developers at the Ethereum DEVCON conference.

Synchronization (synchronization mechanism): In the full-chain game, the synchronization mechanism is an important mechanism to ensure the consistency of operations and states between players. In traditional games, the front end and the server are synchronized through a collaborative mechanism. In full-chain games, the synchronization mechanism needs to use blockchain and smart contracts to ensure the synchronization of operations and states between players, and to ensure the fairness and credibility of the game.

The following table can help you understand some of the tools and mechanisms that the full-chain game needs to match more quickly.

**With so much effort, is it necessary to play a game? **

"I'm just having a good time playing the game. Is it necessary for the game to be like this?" - There is obviously a certain contradiction between the player's perspective and the encrypted narrative.

Full chain games provide freedom, control and composability. Players can own and control their own game assets, no longer restricted by the centralized game platform, and create a unique game experience.

At the same time, it can generate financial benefits and economic value more equitably. The rules and behaviors are all on the chain, and everything depends on whether you are honest or not. This model is relatively fair, and you can also get economic returns through the game, which is obviously more suitable for non-player gold mining groups.

In addition, ** emphasizes that the narrative is far more important than the thing itself. **The encryption world has always advocated decentralization and anti-authority, making a game that is not controlled by game developers is more like a spiritual banner. More specifically, in the full chain game, you can participate in creating the narrative of the game, and jointly build the world view and storyline of the game, which looks good.

At present, sacrifice convenience, fluency and entertainment, in exchange for the absolute fairness and control of fundamentalism. Not everyone can understand and accept this concept.

In order to better understand the applicability of full-chain games, we can summarize its advantages, disadvantages and audiences in the following table:

In addition, in some game types, the application of full-chain games is more necessary. This is often determined by the rules of the game itself:

Note: * indicates that it is not the whole chain, and some logic is still under the chain, but it has a certain similarity.

We have even seen another full-chain game in the recent BRC-20 boom: through the form of H5 mini-games, the game files are directly moved to the BTC chain, engraved on the blockchain through inscriptions, and access to relevant web pages Then you can play.

This is more like a "one-time" full chain, and the player's actions do not need to interact with the chain. Typical example like @OrdzGames. The game itself is all small levels, and Tuyile in leisure time is also suitable for the characteristics of this small-capacity game itself.

future

** In the future, full-chain games may be combined with technologies such as account abstraction, such as batch transaction processing, signatures, and delegated signatures. This means that some routine operations in the game, such as the next 20 moves in the game, do not require signatures or can be simplified using delegated signatures. This integration will bring more efficient interaction and operation experience to the game. **

Right now, full-chain games are more of an exploration of theory and thinking than a business impetus. Although it brings new business models and opportunities, there are still many problems of interest whether it can be accepted by the giants.

The full-chain game is more like a subversion starting from the edge. The concept is beautiful and desirable, but it is not necessary. Its realization needs to overcome many technical and commercial challenges, and needs to establish its own position in the existing game industry.

However, for those geeks and cyberpunks who are keen on innovation and pursuing the spirit of decentralization, full-chain games may become a unique and wonderful desert oasis.