Wondering what the Star Atlas mini-game is? It is a browser game that will be released in several stages and will give all Star Atlas players the opportunity to earn income before the full release in the Unreal5 engine. This guide gives you an overview of the status quo of SCORE and the upcoming roadmap.
Building a complete metaverse is a gigantic undertaking. No wonder that the Star Atlas team estimates they require a total investment of at least 500 million dollars to pull it off. Being able to sit in the cockpit of a spaceship for the first time is still years away.
But players are already being sold these ships as part of the Galactic Asset Offering – along with other collectibles. To make sure they don’t gather dust in the years to come, the Star Atlas team is planning to release a browser game in which you can use said ships to generate revenue within a few weeks!
It should be noted that this mini-game will be kept alive in parallel even after the release of the full 3D game. So as a player you will always have the possibility to participate in the game on the browser and with a maybe older computer (or in the future also cell phone).
Start of the mini-game: SCORE
The first module that will be released for this browser mini-game is cryptically called SCORE – Ship Commissions on Remote Expeditions. It is to be the very first, highly simplified version (dubbed Tier 0 by Star Atlas) of what Ship Missions will one day become. The official roadmap describes this first module as follows: “Enlist ships you own to your faction’s fleet. Keep your ships supplied with fuel, food, ammo, and toolkits to earn faction rewards”. The target release date for the release of SCORE is currently the 9th of December (originally: 18th of November). Note that this is the target date, it has yet to be confirmed.
Within our community, we also use the nickname Ship Staking for this Tier 0 version of ship missions – it’s not a real game yet. But at least for the first time, there will be the possibility to earn ATLAS – the in-game currency – with your ships. Basically, you decide to make your ships available to your faction. The historical background is that the different factions are already fighting over the domination of the galaxy – by enlisting your ships, you are doing y0ur part. The type of your ship (such as freighter or fighter) doesn’t play a role at this stage.
As long as you provide enough Food, Fuel, Repair Kits, and Ammunition, your ship can participate in this fight (without you having to do anything yourself). These resources will be made available for purchase through the Star Atlas marketplace.
Michael Wagner (Star Atlas CEO) also mentioned that the ROI on ships is expected to be over 100% per ship per year net (after expenses). At least, in the initial period of the mini-game. However, this might still change or it can be adjusted if needed.
Michael recently shared some more details about the mission & resources management in SCORE:
- Regarding mission duration, there’s no limit of time, it will continue to run as long as there are enough resources in stock to fuel/power and upkeep the mission loop. You just need to periodically add the resources you used the most to balance your stocks for the whole fleet.
- All ships have a range of efficiencies and deficiencies, leading to different operation costs. Nevertheless, it has minimal impact on earnings potential, as earnings are adjusted to account for those differences. As they develop more sophisticated mechanics, those differences will be more apparent.
- Ship resources refill will require interaction. The time requirements depend on ship sizes. Larger ships can go longer between restocking.
How much can you earn?
A crucial question for many players and investors! Star Atlas CEO Michael Wagner recently stated in an interview that he expects a return on investment of over “100%” per ship per year. In addition, rumors circulated about a percentage of 7-15% APR per month. However, this might still change or it can be adjusted if needed.
It is also worth noting, that earnings will be based on the VWAP – the “volume-weighted average price” of your ship. Let us explain, what the VWAP is. Most ships in the Galactic Asset Offering were sold in different waves (or tranches) at different price points. The VWAP is the average sales price of these different waves. Here is an example:
The first wave of the Fimbul ECOS Greenader had a supply of 450 ships that were offered at $8,200 USDC. The second wave had a supply of 300 ships that were offered at $9,185 USDC. This would leave us with the following formula to calculate the VWAP: (450 x 8,200)+(300 x 9,185)/750. So, our VWAP for the Greenader is $8,594 USDC.
Based on this number, you will earn ATLAS by deploying your ships in the upcoming mini-game. Note that it does not matter if ships in a certain wave remain unsold. Wagner confirmed this recently, saying: “It is based on total potential VWAP, and not actually executed purchases. Essentially the full weighted value if everything was sold.”
If you want to see all the VWAP’s for all the ships and compare them to their current market price – check out our Star Atlas Ships page. Aephia put together this great resource to help you find the best deals! Note that while earnings in the initial SCORE module are based on VWAP, future benefits from owning ships are more closely linked to their rarity and other characteristics. So choose wisely and keep in mind, that in future stages of the game, the role of the ship will play an important role.
The future of SCORE
This first stage of the ship missions in the mini-game (SCORE) will most likely last for several months. As it stands now, only your ships will matter for your earnings – collectibles like sold clothes, charms, or NPCs will not matter yet. However, this is what we hope to see when Tier 1 arrives! Currently, this is targeted in the Star Atlas roadmap for mid-2022 and described thus:
“Players engage with Mission Giver story characters. Accept a large variety of ship missions for different ship role types. Assign the appropriately configured ships and launch missions for rewards and experience points. Configure your ship with full component, crew and module builds to satisfy recommended minimum ship score ratings for different roles. Level up your role licenses to advance your account-locked perks.”
