Cosmic Horizon

A strategy and trade-based cosmic multi-player game,            built on blockchain

W. Moglia, D. Pittman, S. Lott

March 2022

Abstract

Cosmic Horizon is a p2e strategy space-trading/conquest MMRPG, developed by Qwoyn Studios and powered by the Cosmos SDK. Cosmic Horizon takes inspiration from adventure and strategy games of the 1990s and updates the established concepts with a modern blockchain-based approach. The core elements of the game consist of the Universe (divided into thousands of individual sectors) and the elements within it, namely: Players, Ships, Planets (including special planets) and Ports (including special ports). Players will interact with the world and one another to gain resources and exert control over sections of the universe.

1        Introduction

1.1        The Cosmic Horizon

In the distant future, humans began experimenting with advanced space flight and exploring the outer edges of their galaxy. Unbeknownst to them, tucked away in a quiet corner of space is an artificial wormhole, created by an alien race known as the Vedic, who are avid explorers.

The Vedic made contact with the human race and introduced them to cyrillium, a power source with the potential to provide a great leap forward to human space travel. Within a few years, humans managed to develop a number of ships capable of traversing their galaxy in record time, and the Vedic ceased supplying this resource to the humans and instead invited them to use their wormhole to access the Theta quadrant where cyrillium is plentiful.

With good money to be made moving cyrillium, and population issues on Earth, eager colonists from Earth took transport ships to an M Class Planet [Terra Nova] in the Theta quadrant to start a new life. Others with more resources headed to Theta in private ships to take part in the lucrative cyrillium trade.

The Universe is a big place however, and cyrillium is highly prized. In the quadrant there are always a number of Kalin and Tar’ri moving about, collecting this resource and transporting it back to their homeworlds.

At first, the other aliens were viewed primarily with curiosity, some human/Tar’ri trade took place, but waned due to language barriers and the Kalin’s eagerness for a fight led to occasional Kalin/human skirmishes. Tensions escalated when a Kalin ship discovered and passed through the wormhole into the Milky Way. The human government sounded the alarm and decided in short order to take action. A secret plan was hatched to seek out and destroy the other artificial wormhole in the Theta quadrant and fortify the Earth/Theta wormhole that the Vedic constructed.

Though the Kalin’s ships were superior militarily, the destruction of their primary wormhole cut Kalin forces off from reinforcements. Thus, the Federal Authorities presumed the humans could outmatch any future Kalin threat with their superior numbers.

The Vedic were naturally aghast and urged all parties to cease hostilities before further damage was done, but cooler heads did not prevail.

The Kalin reacted swiftly to the human aggression. As the token Kalin forces were now stranded in the Theta quadrant, they elected not to invade the human sector in retaliation but instead endeavored to destroy the human wormhole, cutting them off from their supply of cyrillium as well. The hope of the Kalin was that in time, with both races cut off from the hope of reinforcements, the Kalin would achieve military dominance in the Theta quadrant. A Kalin partisan, piloting a captured Tar’ri freighter overloaded with a volatile combination of raw and refined cyrillium and sufficient Rache Devices^[1] to catalyze an explosion, was able to sneak into the wormhole and detonate—destroying the humans’ path to home.

The stranded humans and Kalin initially did engage in a number of military engagements shortly thereafter, but after decades of bloodshed and conflict, tensions slowly cooled and a cease-fire was established. The years of conflict weakened the Theta quadrants struggling human Federal Forces and a laissez-faire, market-driven approach to most police enforcement was adopted. Only major spacelanes and some protected sectors continue to be patrolled by Federal Forces. Individual complaints are managed by Justice Centers.

Ever in pursuit of greater wealth, the Tar’ri took advantage of the Kalin/Human conflict to establish trading routes and grow their personal domains and enterprises. The Vedic similarly established planets and ship production, though their long term ambitions in the sector remain nebulous.

Meanwhile tribal conflicts among the Kalin grew and their once unified factions splintered. The Kalin reverted to the old fractious ways. The clans the Kalin formed were now open to trade with Tar’ri, collaboration with Vedic and toleration (and even collusion with) humans in their dogged pursuit of establishing new dynasties.

Today all races coexist in the quadrant together, some in conflict, some in alliances. With no way home, you set out in the vast universe to carve out a piece for yourself, develop and protect it for future generations – with the hope that perhaps one day a new wormhole can be constructed, if not to take you home, than to a safer quadrant of the universe.

1.2        Gameplay Introduction

Players of Cosmic Horizon will begin at a stardock, where they can purchase and equip a ship, which they will then use to begin exploring space. The universe is vast, and there is no map provided. As such, exploration is vital to discover profitable starports to trade with and strategically significant sectors to secure and defend.

As mentioned, while exploring, the player may stop at various starports and purchase or sell resources, and earn funds through cosmic arbitrage.

If a player discovers a planet, they can claim it and colonize it. This is accomplished by collecting willing colonists from one of the protected special planets and depositing them on the planet to be colonized. With sufficient colonists and resources, one can then begin developing/upgrading the planet. Upgraded planets play a significant strategic role, as they can be fortified with shields and atmospheric defenses. If the player has a compatible ship, they can purchase a Planet Generating Device (PGD) to create a new planet.

Players will also encounter other players through the course of their journey and are free to attack, ignore or collaborate with them. Collaboration occurs informally or formally, the latter is accomplished by forming a guild. With a guild, multiple players can collectively hold planets, funds, resources and strategic defenses in common. If a guild member drops mines or attack-drones, these will only detonate or attack an individual player or players belonging to other guilds.

The ultimate goal of the game is to earn funds through trading of resources or commodities, attacking other players (piracy or to fulfill a contract), collecting tolls and many other means. These funds can then be used to buy better ships, upgrade planets, and generally to develop an arsenal with which one can enforce and maintain their presence in the game and attempt to dominate the quadrant. Greater resources allow players to control greater and greater areas of space (opening new opportunities for commerce).

2        Benefits of Blockchain

While Cosmic Horizon shares similarities with many other adventure space trading games, it is the sole variation built with blockchain technology. This allows for many of the game’s most exciting features.

Cosmos SDK will be used as the starting point for our blockchain, including but not limited to, the basic modules contained within it. The underlying technology will be enhanced with the use of Go modules, such as Cosmos SDK Groups Module, which allows nested governance within the chain and provides more robust gameplay. The eco credits module will also be utilized within the stack. This will allow the Cosmic Horizon game to have a real-world impact by providing players with the opportunity to contribute to positive ecological outcomes during their adventure.

Cosmic Horizon will also utilize EVMOS for smart contracts. This will allow our network to have versatility in economy design and the ability to provide in-game assets in the form of solidity designed NFTs.

Qwoyn Studios will adopt partnerships with new and current projects as the need arises and adopt technology provided by other application specific blockchains which provide and specialize in tools advantageous to the development and success of Cosmic Horizon

3        Gameplay

3.1         Universe

The universe of Cosmic Horizon is a vast galaxy made of interconnected sectors. With the exception of protected sectors, which function as safety zones for low level players, users may interact with the universe and its contents with wild abandon.

3.1.1        Map

The layout of the universe and its constellations of interconnected sectors is best imagined if we use a familiar map as a starting point. For this example we will use the classic game of Risk™.

In Cosmic Horizon, each country would represent one sector. If we simplify this map into a series of points (or sectors), one can begin to see a theoretical representation of a very small corner of the Cosmic Horizon universe.

Each dot in the map represents one sector, and each sector is accessible only from a connected sector. The above example represents an isolated corner of the universe, accessible from a single entry/exit point.

The entire universal map is a large, randomized collection of sectors as you see above and the player navigates from one to the other throughout the game. Exploring the universe is a key aspect of gameplay; through exploration the player can map out strategically valuable sectors that are easily defended, discover starports to trade at or discover other interesting and useful items along their journey. The player can also make a note of suspicious sectors or enemy territory to avoid (or potentially invade).

3.2        Sectors

As mentioned, Cosmic Horizon in-game universe is a constellation of thousands of sectors, which form the game map. As the player travels from one sector to another, they burn fuel and slowly build a map of their explored universe. Inside each sector a player might find empty space, other players, hazards, starports, planets, a stardock or other items of interest.

3.2.1 Sector Dynamics

Most sectors in the universe are standard sectors, but there are some atypical sectors with different properties.

3.2.1.1 Standard Sectors

Typical sectors allow the player to move from one sector to another. A single sector may have up to twelve adjacent sectors.

Example A: A player is in sector 220, they have the option to travel to any of the adjacent sectors (in this case, sectors 86 and 316). Assuming the player travels from sector 220 to sector 86, they will then have the option to navigate to sectors 100, 316 or 220.

3.2.1.2 Special sectors (one-way aka “drop offs”)

Some uncommon sectors allow passage through them. The player can travel from sector A to B, but once arriving in sector B they will see that sector A is no longer adjacent and the trip back might be a circuitous one. These sectors one can imagine as being “cliffs,” or “drop offs,” and are worth noting when one encounters them.

In the figure above, if the player finds themselves in sector 300, they can move to sector 305, but cannot travel back to sector 300 directly. In order to return to sector 300 they would need to travel from 305 → 402 → 450 → 300.

3.2.1.3 Choke points to isolated sectors

A choke point is a single or series of one-way sectors that one must pass through in order to reach the cluster of sectors within. Discovering sectors behind choke-points is of great strategic value, as the player minimizes the resources necessary to protect whatever planets or other items they might have in the sectors beyond the choke point. By fortifying a single choke point, the player can maximize their defensive expenditures.

In the figure above, sector 600 is a choke point between the greater cluster and the rest of the in-game universe.

3.2.1.4 Protected sectors

Some sectors of the universe are protected by the remaining federal forces in the universe. They serve as a “safe space” for players who travel through them. Players may not attack or be attacked in these sectors. Further, only low level players with minimal offensive weapons capabilities can leave ships unattended in protected spaces. More advanced players will be towed out to unprotected space if they leave their ships unattended for 24 hours.

Examples of protected space:

• Sectors containing and adjacent to seed planets^[2]
• Sectors containing a stardock

3.2.1.5 Major space lanes

Major spacelanes are those that run directly between seed planets and a stardock, and between stardocks. Major spacelanes are protected from deploying drones or mines. Any mines or drones deployed within major spacelanes are periodically destroyed by the federal authorities.

3.2.2 Sector contents

A sector may be completely empty or contain any number of things:

• A sector may be completely empty
• Each sector may contain a single starport
• Planets - each sector can hold a maximum of 5 planets. If this limit is exceeded, planets may collide with each other catastrophically.
• Derelict ships
• NPCs
• Drones (rogue, adversarial or friendly),
• Space debris (i.e. navigational hazard)
• Other players (ships, escape pods, cloaked ships),
• Space buoys
• Mines (tracking or halberd^[3])

3.3        Locations

3.3.1        Starports

Starports are scattered throughout the universe and exist as trading outposts, buying or selling different types of resources: cyrillium crystals (source of power for engines, shields and weapons), comestibles (food stuffs), hardware (technological equipment).

One of the first ways a player might earn funds is by locating a starport selling one commodity, buying it, and finding another port elsewhere that is buying this commodity, so that they might sell it for a profit.

As there are three available resources, and ports might either be buying or selling any of the three available resources, there are a total of 8 types of standard starports.

3.3.2        Refueling stations

Refueling stations are specialized starports selling only fuel. They are able to deliver fuel in larger quantities to directly replenish weapons and shields.

3.3.3        Planets

Planets are an integral element in the game and serve a multitude of purposes. By introducing eager colonists, the player can claim the valuable resources that their colonists extract from the planet. Colonists may also construct fully fueled tactical drones^[4]. By upgrading and militarizing planets, players can use the powerful planetary defenses to fortify and defend sectors. There are other strategic ways to utilize planets, but these fall under game play strategies, which is outside the scope of this document.

Planets are scattered throughout the universe for players to claim. Alternatively, players may create a planet by using a Planet Generating Device (PGD).

If a planet is uninhabited, it can simply be claimed by any player that lands and lays claim to it. If a planet is inhabited, but undefended, players may need to win the loyalty of the inhabitants with either a monetary or military inducement.

Militarized planets must be subdued by force before they can be claimed. Depending on the reputation of the owner of the planet, after planetary defenses have been destroyed, the remaining population may need to be persuaded monetarily or pacified militarily to recognize the player’s ownership of the planet.

Note: Statistics on planetary resource production rates, population growth and management statistics, planetary upgrade costs, planetary upgrade time, and other statistical information is outside the scope of this document, but will be available in the Cosmic Horizon Player’s Guide.

3.3.3.1 Planet Types

There are eight planetary types to discover or create in the universe.

• Class E                Goldilocks planet (GLP), Earth-class  
• Class D                Desert Planet
• Class O                Ocean Planet  
• Class A         Alpine Planet
• Class F                Frozen        Planet
• Class V                Volcanic Planet
• Class U         Gaseous Planet
• Class S                Colonist seed planets

Each planet, when colonized, will produce different resources at different rates. For example, if a Class E and Class D planet were equally colonized, the Class E would produce a higher daily yield in comestibles (food, Resource B) whereas the desert planet would produce a higher daily yield in cyrillium (fuel, Resource A).

3.3.3.2 Planet Colonization and upgrades

When a player discovers a planet they wish to colonize, they should visit one of the seed planets in the game. The most prominent of these is Terra Nova, located in sector 1000.

On Terra Nova (or other seed planets) the player can simply land and take as many willing colonists as their cargo holds can contain. The player then navigates to the planet they wish to colonize and unloads the colonists. Colonists on a new planet will begin producing resources immediately and will slowly increase in number.

Each planet has an ideal population level. When a planet is at this population level, resource production occurs at its maximum rate. If the population grows beyond this point, resource production will decline. More details on the dynamics of planet population, resource productions and other statistics will be covered in a different document (see: Cosmic Horizon Player’s Guide).

Class S planets, or seed planets, play an integral role in planet colonization.  They are inhabited by a growing population of restless colonists, eager to start a new life on a developing planet. The Cosmic Horizon universe contains more than one seed planet.

To colonize a planet, the player lands on a Class S planet and collects a load of colonists. The capacity of colonists the player can carry is limited to the number of cargo holds on their ship. After collecting a load of colonists, the player navigates to the planet they wish to develop, lands, and unloads the colonists.

If a planet has sufficient resources, the population will slowly climb by itself. If the planet is deficient in necessary resources, the population will decline. Each planet has an ideal population level. If the population of a planet exceeds this, the resource production rate of the population will decline relative to the rate of overpopulation. When a planet is overpopulated, the population should be reduced by collecting colonists from the planet and depositing them onto another.

3.3.3.3 Planetary Upgrades

Once a planet contains a sufficient number of colonists and adequate resources, it can be upgraded. There are eight stages of planetary development.

LEVEL 0

Most planets discovered will be level zero, either uninhabited or containing a small population with no industrial development. Such planets can be easily claimed with little to no resistance from the population.

Level 1 - Metropolis

After a planet reaches a sufficient population it can be upgraded to Level 1, whereby a Metropolis is constructed. A metropolis in itself is little more than a city with infrastructure for further upgrade. This is a sensitive stage for a developing planet.

Level 2 - Militarization

Upgrading a planet to Level 2 allows for fortifications to be deployed. Any tactical drones in the planet's inventory will now be activated. Using the militarization menu, the player can set drones to different defensive postures and reaction levels. Players can now deposit excess ships on the planet and park overnight. This phase also enables other features to be added to the planet such as ship transporters and sector scanners.

Level 3 - Atmospheric Defenses

Atmospheric Defenses can be constructed on the planet. They consist of large laser cannons which fire on unfriendly ships when they attempt to pass through the planet’s atmosphere (i.e. land on the planet). Similar to ships' weapons systems, they have their own power banks which must be charged. The player can set how much energy (i.e. how much damage is inflicted) is consumed with each shot from the laser cannons.

Level 4 - Planetary-based Sector Defenses

Planetary sector defenses (PSDs) are an upgrade to Atmospheric Defenses. PSDs extend the range of the laser cannons, so that they can fire at unfriendly ships if they pass through the same sector that the planet is located in. The player can configure the intensity of each burst from the cannon. PSDs deliver less damage per unit of energy consumed when compared to Atmospheric Defenses (due to the greater distance involved).

Level 5 - Planetary Shield System

A planetary shield generator adds a spherical shield around the planet, which must be defeated by invading players before they are able to land. Planetary shield systems store and use energy similar to how a ship’s shield generator functions, but on a larger scale.

Level 6 - Atmospheric Tractor Beam

An atmospheric tractor beam (ATB) can be constructed on a planet, which will grab and hold ships that pass through the sector where the planet is located.

Level 7 - Planetary Warp

A planetary warp drive is the final upgrade that can be added to a planet. This allows an entire planet to be moved from one sector to another. Great care should be taken when moving planets, warping them into an uncharted sector can result in the planet colliding with another object yielding very destructive results.

3.3.3.4 Discovering Planets

Random planets are scattered throughout the universe. When discovered, they are in one of various states. Though most planets are uninhabited, some may have a token population or, rarely, already feature some upgrades.^[5]

Players are free to develop discovered planets, but depending on their location, they may be difficult to defend.

3.3.3.5 Creating Planets

With a Planetary Generating Device (PGD) a player can create a new planet. This is especially useful for placing planets in strategically valuable sectors. The type of planet that a PGD creates is randomized. If the player does not create the type of planet they were hoping for, the planet can be terraformed.^[6]

The terraforming process involves purchasing real-world carbon credits and retiring them. For more on terraforming, see section 5, Ecology.

3.3.5        Stardocks

Stardocks are an important strategic and social hub in the Cosmic Horizon universe. The layout of a stardock may vary, but each may feature one or more of the following areas:

3.3.5.1 Shipyards

As the name implies, this is where players can come to purchase new ships. Different shipyards may have different ships on offer. If a player has captured a ship, this is also where a player can officially claim it, by registering it in their own name.

3.3.5.2 Ship repair and salvage yard

Ship salvage yard is where a player can sell captured or damaged ships, as well as sell discovered artifacts or derelict ships left behind by an as yet unidentified alien race.

3.3.5.3 Ship storage

Players can potentially tow one ship with another, but not more than one at a time. Additionally, towing ships increases fuel consumption. Ship storage allows a player to store additional ships securely, as opposed to parking them adrift in space, where they might potentially be captured. It should be noted that a ship can be parked in space with a cloaking device, but this does not always guarantee its safety.

3.3.5.4 Hotel

If a player chooses to park their primary ship in the ship storage facility, they can leave their avatar at a hotel before logging out.

3.3.5.5 Refueling Station

Refueling stations exist throughout the galaxy, in the form of special starports. Every stardock is also equipped with these facilities.

3.3.5.6 General Store

The general store sells a number of items and accessories to enhance gameplay and ship performance.

• Planet Generating Devices: Fired by ships capable of carrying them to generate new planets. Life from lifelessness.
• Space Buoys Buoys are simple cosmic sign posts. Players can leave a custom message on the buoys for passing ships to inspect. They can also be utilized to triangulate a cross-cosmos jump, for ships equipped with Jump Drives (see below, Jump Drives).
• Rache Devices Developed by Prof. Rache, these devices are set to detonate when the player's ship is destroyed. The explosive blast is meant to send a message to the attacker or, if the attacker was sufficiently weakened during the conflict, might potentially destroy their ship as well.
• Halberd mines (space mines, blow up when a ship enters the sector)
• Tracking mines (latch onto passing ships, allowing the player who deployed them to see the whereabouts of the tracked ship. Tracking mines can be removed at the Ship Repair and Salvage Yard, though the player will need to elect to have the ship scanned for mines.
• Minesweeping Torpedo (available on certain ships): These torpedoes can be fired into adjacent sectors to clear them of X% of halberd mine and all tracking mines present.
• Cloaking Devices (available on certain ships): As the name implies, these allow the player to cloak their ship, rendering it mostly invisible. This makes parking a ship in open space significantly safer. It is not infallible however. Cloaked ships might be detected by sector scanners, if the user has a careful eye and knows what to look for.
• Cosmo-Probes These are exploratory probes that a player can fire off toward a distant sector. The probes send back a report of the sectors they’ve passed through and their contents via cosmos-telecommunication. Probes are economical and disposable. If they encounter any resistance, they will self-destruct. Cosmos-probes are an extremely useful tool when expanding the player’s map of the universe.
• Planetary Scanner (limited to certain ships): Planetary scanners allow the user to get an understanding of the planets in a sector without landing on them. This is particularly useful if the planet turns out to be upgraded, as the scanner will give some insight into the planetary upgrade status and  military readiness of the planet.
• Disruptor Torpedoes: Some ships may be equipped with disruptor torpedoes. Firing them into an adjacent sector temporarily disables mines, cloaking devices and planetary cannons.
• Sector Scanner: Sector scanners give the player an idea of what lies in their adjacent sectors. The scanners are rudimentary however, and require some care to interpret their readouts correctly. For experienced players, they are possibly more comprehensive than advanced sector scanners.
• Advanced Sector Scanner: Advanced sector scanners similarly give the player a view on what lies in adjacent sectors, however the readout is much more user friendly. Advanced sector scanners are more expensive than standard scanners.
• Jump Drive: Certain ships are capable of being equipped with a transwarp drive. This allows the player to jump from one side of the universe to another, provided that the player has placed buoys or drones in the sector they intend to jump to. Players should take caution when using jump drives. Miscalculations can destroy ships.
• Cyrillium Refinement Rig A portable cyrillium refinement rig allows a player to refine raw cyrillium they might have in their cargo holds and use the refined cyrillium that results to recharge the power banks of their ship’s weapons, shielding or engine systems.

3.3.5.7        Cantina (aka the Hive of Villainy)

Every stardock needs a place for the inhabitants of the universe to whet their whistle. The cantina is the place for that and more. What secrets might be hidden in this dark, seedy place?

3.3.5.8        Justice Center

The federal authorities have limited resources to listen to or answer the complaints of everyone who has been wronged. Instead, the invisible hand of the free market doles out slaps of justice.

The Justice Center is where a player can put a bounty on another player or a reward for destroying a specific ship.

If any player successfully kills a wanted player or destroys a ship with a bounty, they can visit the justice center to collect the reward.

3.4        Resources

There are three primary resources in the game: cyrillium crystals (source of power for engines, shields and weapons), comestibles (food stuffs), hardware (technological equipment). All three can be traded (or arbitraged) between different starports to earn the player profit.

3.4.1        Cyrillium crystals (i.e. fuel)

Cyrillium crystals are the most economical of the three resources, but it is also the most versatile resource, as it serves multiple purposes. It is fuel for all ship engines, it is used to charge a ship's weapons and shielding systems. Many auxiliary ship functions (upgraded scanner sweeps, towing, engaging a cloaking device, hyper-warping), as well as planetary weapons and defensive systems also consume this fuel.

3.4.2        Comestibles (i.e. food)

Comestibles are a common and universally needed resource traded at starports throughout the universe. They are more costly than cyrillium (and therefore yield higher profit margins when traded) but not as expensive or lucrative for trading as hardware. Planets that do not have the resources to produce sufficient comestibles will need to be seeded by the player to keep the populations from declining and potentially revolting.

3.4.3        Equipment

Hardware is the most lucrative of the three resources to trade/arbitrage, and generally has the highest upfront cost. Like cyrillium and comestibles, it is also required for various stages of planetary development.

3.4.4        In-game Currency

The in-game currency is a bank token known as the Sagan (colloquially as “Carls”). The use of in-game currency will be covered in a separate document that will cover the in-game economy of Cosmic Horizon.

3.5        Ships

Cosmic Horizon players will have a number of ships to select from at the Stardock shipyards. The specifications of each ship are configured so that certain ships are tuned for certain tasks. A beginner player will seek to upgrade to a ship that performs in all areas adequately, whereas more advanced players will likely elect to own multiple ships and switch between them when performing different tasks or roles.

The number and specifications of the catalog of ships available in Cosmic Horizon will be outlined in a separate document (CoHo Player’s Guide)

Each ship has some universal properties i.e. each has a weapons system with its own power banks, an engine system with its own power banks, and nominal shielding system which draws power from the weapons system. Each ship is capable of carrying goods in its storage holds (with the exception of escape pods).

Some ships have unique properties, i.e. the ability to carry or use special items that other ships cannot be equipped with. For example, not all ships can be equipped with a jump drive.^[7]

3.6        Player Actions

3.6.1        Traversing Space

The ship’s computer offers the player a number of options when navigating through the universe.

Navigation 

A player can quickly navigate to adjacent sectors with a simple click. Alternatively, they can input a distant sector and the ship's navigation computer will calculate a path to the sector in question. Different route options will be displayed if available.

Dock

If a starport is in the sector, the player has the option to dock and engage in commerce. If there is a stardock in the sector, the player can land on the stardock and explore what it has to offer.

Landing Sequence

If planet(s) are in the sector, the player can engage a landing sequence to descend onto the planet’s surface.

Scan

With a scanner, which will need to be acquired in game, a player can get an idea of what hazards may exist in adjacent sectors. Different scanners will have a greater range and offer more or less user-friendly visualizations of the contents of scanned sectors.

Deploy Drones^[8]

If a player has acquired drones, they may deploy them in the current sector and set them to the desired mode. Drones may be used immediately for defense or offense. They may also be left behind in a toll mode, which allows them to collect tolls for the player.

Buoy Deployment^[9]

If a player has purchased space buoys, they can deploy them here. Buoys are simple space sign posts. The player can leave a custom message on the buoys for passing ships to inspect.

Tractor/Towing Beam

Ships with attractor beams are capable of towing other ships using the attractor beam. Towing other ships will increase fuel consumption, depending on the size of the ship being towed.

Teleportation Room

A player can use their ship’s transporter to send their avatar from one ship to another, provided the other ship belongs to them.

Eject Cargo

If for some reason the player’s cargo holds are fully occupied and there is no opportunity to sell or unload them, the player may elect to eject their cargo into space. This might occur if, for example, a ship is low on fuel and the player is far from a starport purchasing whatever goods they have on hand. Players should take care if they elect to eject colonists into space. This is generally a frowned upon practice, and if one of the passengers happens to be live-streaming their journey, your reputation may precede you when you next go to collect eager colonists (or visit planets in general).

Combat

Engage another ship in combat. For details, see 3.6.4, Combat.

3.6.2        Trading

Trading of resources is a core aspect of generating credits in the game and a fairly straightforward process. When a player encounters a starport, even without docking, they will see what starport type(1-8)^[10] they have encountered.

The player has the opportunity to dock and examine the supply and price of goods available for purchase. The price of resources at a given starport will depend on its supply of goods on hand. If a starport has little or none of a given resource on hand, they will pay a higher price for it. Conversely, if a starport has a great deal of a given resource on hand, they will pay a lower price.

If the player is a genesis NFT avatar, they will have discounts on certain goods or items, depending on the details of their NFT.

3.6.3        Upgrading ships

Ships^[11] come with set weapon and storage maximum values that can be upgraded within the limits of their ship’s specifications. Different ships will come with different initial settings and different upgrade limits. Below is a hypothetical ship, its starting limits and its maximum upgrade limits.

The generic example ship described above, when purchased new, comes equipped with a maximum weapons energy capacity of 75 and a maximum storage hold capacity of 10.

By upgrading the weapons system or cargo holds, which can be done at a Stardock General Store^[12], the maximum energy capacity for the weapons system can be boosted to 250, thereby increasing the maximum single attack power, and by extension the ship's ability to absorb damage, to this level.

Upgrading storage capacity is simply a matter of purchasing storage holds until the ship can carry no additional holds. Each ship comes with a default minimum number of holds which can be expanded up to the maximum limit of a given ship. In the example above, the generic ship comes standard with 10 holds, but can purchase up to 20 additional holds (for a maximum cargo hold capacity of 30).

Every ship has a shield generator, but it draws its power from the weapons system. When a ship absorbs a hit from another player, or is damaged in any other way, the shield system automatically depletes power from the weapons system.

The weapons system of a ship has a maximum charge level. In the example ship above, the weapons system is initially capable of being charged with 75 units of refined cyrillium.

The player might choose to attack with only 1 unit of power to nudge another player or destroy a buoy, or they may turn the energy level to maximum and deplete their entire weapons system in a single shot (if the object being attacked has sufficient defenses to absorb such an attack).

Ignoring attack and defense ratios for the sake of simplicity, it should be noted that if a hypothetical Player A attacks Player B with their weapons set to an energy level of 75, and Player B’s weapons/shield systems had only 10 units of energy, Player A will only expend the equivalent amount of energy in the attack (i.e. roughly 10 units of energy will be consumed and roughly 65 will remain in the power bank of Player A’s weapons system).

3.6.4        Combat

Combat may occur between players whenever two non-aligned players encounter one another. Using available stores of weapons and shields,  players may attack, defend and counterattack, or flee to a nearby sector.

Attack sequence:

When one player decides to attack another player, they must first power up their weapons system, lock onto the target, select how much energy they would like to expend in the attack, and fire.

The player being attacked will be alerted when their ship detects that another ship has locked their weapons on them. This will allow a brief moment to react. If they are quick, they may successfully flee in time to avoid the first fusillade, or alternatively they will be hit, at which point the combat will transition to a time-limited, turn-based battle.

During each time-limited turn, either player has the option to break off the attack (i.e. call for a truce), continue firing on their opponent, or flee to an adjacent sector.

Multiple ships can engage a single ship in combat. In that case, the chaos created by the multi-ship attack will increase the odds for the player under assault to successfully flee from the battle.

If multiple ships attack a single target and destroy it, all are affected by the damage delivered if the destroyed ship is equipped with Rache devices.^[13]

Example: Player A decides to attack Player B.

Player A

1. Charges their weapons system
2. Locks on their target
3. Fires

Player B

1. May or may not notice that Player A is charging their weapons system. If they are the only two ships in the sector, this is a “red flag” that an attack is likely imminent.
2. After Player A locks on and prior to firing, Player B will receive an alert and have a brief moment to react. They might choose to attempt to flee or charge and lock their own weapons on the adversary
3. After Player A fires, player B can again choose from fleeing, calling for a truce or returning fire.

If Player B flees successfully, and Player A has equipped their ship with a sector scanner^[14], they will have some visibility on adjacent sectors and can pursue with less guesswork.

3.6.4.1        Attack and Defense Ratios

Each ship has its own unique attack and defense ratios, which affect how much damage one ship does against another during combat. These ratios may also vary depending on the situation the player finds themselves in. For example, some ships might have advantageous odds when attacking a specific type of ship or in a specific type of military engagement (e.g. planetary assault vs. space combat) or when defending themselves against specific types of attacks (e.g. planetary cannons vs. mines vs. standard combat).

This is best illustrated with examples. In the scenarios below, we will examine potential combat scenarios between two ships. The first is a Battleship with an attack ratio of 2:1, a defense ratio of 1:1, and a weapon/shield energy level of 100. The second is a Runabout ship with an attack ratio of 1:1, a defense ratio of 2:1, and a weapon/shield energy level of 40. In each of the scenarios described below, the ships are starting the altercation with weapons systems fully charged.

Scenario A:

If the runabout attacks the battleship with weapons set to maximum, the result would be that the battleship would lose approximately 40 units of weapon energy, leaving 60 remaining units of energy.

Scenario B:

The battleship (attack ratio 2:1) attacks the runabout (defense ratio 2:1) with weapons set to 20%. The battleship expends 20 units of energy in the attack, with 2:1 attack odds. The runabout, however, has a 2:1 defensive odds, and thus the attack ratio would be 1:1. The battleship would inflict approximately 20 units of damage.

Scenario D:

The Battleship attacks the runabout with 60% power, draining the weapons/shield system entirely. At this point, the other ship would be stranded, and likely damaged or might explode.

3.6.4.2        Weapons and Shield system power

A player has three potential sources (and by extension storage locations) for cyrillium/power on their ship: The power banks of their weapons system, the power banks of their engine, and their cargo holds. Power banks store refined cyrillium and as such have a greater storage capacity than the ships cargo holds.

When a player attacks, it drains the power banks of their weapons system. When a weapon system power is fully depleted, the player has the option to manually draw power from any other available source to charge the power banks of their weapons system. There is no automation to recharging the weapons system.

When defending (i.e. when a player is under attack) the shielding system absorbs incoming laser fire, but does so by automatically pulling energy from the weapons system (until the power banks of the weapons system are depleted). At this point, the ship is extremely vulnerable to capture or destruction.

Engine power banks are never drained automatically, but the player may elect to do so manually. The player should be careful when draining the engine power for shield or weapons power, as this action could leave them stranded.

If the player has fuel in their cargo holds, they can manually refine^[15] and transfer this to their engine or weapons systems. This is important to keep in mind if a player is far from a refueling station, they have the ability to dock and purchase one full cargo load of cyrillium, refine it, and transfer this to their engines to cover a little more distance. This process is more time consuming than purchasing refined cyrillium from a refueling station however.

3.6.4.3        Escape Pods

Every ship has an escape pod, and if the ship the player is piloting is destroyed (for any reason) the player will eject automatically in an escape pod. Escape pods have no attack or defensive capabilities and move slowly, but they do not need to be refueled. If the escape pod is destroyed (for any reason) the player is killed.

3.6.4.4        Capturing Vessels

If a player can force an adversary to abandon their ship in combat, the victorious player can capture the abandoned ship. Any ship with towing capability can tow any ship, though it will drain the towing ship’s fuel at a higher than normal rate.

Captured ships must be towed to a stardock to be registered in the victorious player's name. Until a ship is registered, it can be claimed by anyone in possession of the ship. This means ships abandoned in space can be claimed by any player, without “winning” the ship through combat.

3.6.5        Alliances

Players can form alliances with other individual players, which can be canceled at any time. Alliances are a simple mechanism to keep one player’s drones from attacking people they have alliances with. Halberd mines can similarly be set to ignore members of your alliance. Alliances can be exited at any time, so one should use caution with whom they form an alliance. Alliances cannot be formed between an individual player and a guild. But a guild may make an alliance with another guild.^[16]

3.6.6        Guilds

Guilds allow small groups of players to form a unique alliance and create and utilize commonly owned property such as ships or planets. guilds can deploy guild mines or drones, which are always friendly to other guild members. Further, a guild can form a strategic alliance with a limited number of other guilds. Guild alliances do not allow for shared planets or items between the two organizations, and instead act as “non-aggression pacts,” so that members of aligned guilds are not attacked inadvertently by the drones, mines or fortifications of the other.

3.6.7 Guild Governance

Our tech stack allows guilds to have their own governance models and charters.  When a guild is formed the founding members will need to create a charter which outlines the rules and regulations of their guild. The use of the Cosmos SDK groups module will allow guilds to become self-governed entities and will be allowed to declare how members of the guild interact with one another, enforce rules and penalties and share resources etc.

4        General COHO Blockchain Economics

Note: Below outlines the outset of Cosmic Horizon economics as they relate to the blockchain itself. Further details regarding the in-game economics and token (Sagans) will be provided in a later paper.

Cosmic Horizon economics are structured to be robust and dynamic–utilizing a combination of staking rewards, an innovative in-game economy (IGE) bootstrapping pool, as well as blockchain inflationary rewards. Cosmic Horizon operates on a play-to-earn (P2E) model, whereby players will strategize, trade, colonize and battle to control strategic sectors of the cosmos–and earn rewards along the way in the form of CoHo tokens.

4.1        Genesis Distribution

At genesis, 100 million CoHo tokens will be minted and distributed to investors, Qwoyn Studios, the IGE bootstrapping pool, Qwoyn Foundation and a Cosmos-wide airdrop. The following sections describe token distribution and utilization.

4.1.1        Fundraising and Market Offerings

Qwoyn Studios is raising a portion of operating capital for Cosmic Horizon by performing a private token sale which will be used to support ongoing development and operating costs. Qwoyn Studios’ target is to sell 10M COHO tokens. In the event the goal is not met, the remaining tokens will be distributed to non-sale allocations.

4.1.2        Non-Sale Allocations

Non-Sale Allocations will be distributed to Qwoyn Studios to ensure the longevity of the Cosmic Horizon project. These funds will also be applied toward team allocations, marketing, testnet validator distributions and token swaps with current and future partners.

Breakdown of Non-Sale Allocations:

Team Allocations        -         12M COHO

Marketing                -        1.5M COHO

Token Swaps                -        2.5M COHO

Liquidity Bootstrapping        -           3M COHO

Testnet Distributions        -           1M COHO

4.1.3        In-Game Economy Bootstrapping Pool

An exciting component of Cosmic Horizon’s tokenomics is its IGE Bootstrapping Pool, which is leveraged to balance and support the dynamic in-game economics and Starport trading mechanics. From the genesis mint, 20M tokens will be permanently locked and staked. The resulting rewards from this pool will be distributed to a smart contract, which in turn provides an ancillary funding mechanism for Starports to enhance the gaming experience. You can read more about Starports in the “Celestial Arbitrage” section, later in this document.

4.1.4        Community Pool / Qwoyn Foundation

Following the venerable precedent set by many projects in the Cosmos ecosystem, and to further the betterment of society, we have created a community pool. From the genesis pool, 15M tokens will be distributed to the Qwoyn Foundation, which will in turn be dispersed to various Community Staking DAOs.  As the funds are distributed to the individual DAOs, they will be permanently locked. Only the resulting staking rewards will be available for use. Of the 15M tokens, 5M will be controlled by the Qwoyn Foundation, while the remaining 10M are to be distributed to the Community Staking DAOs.

4.1.5        Airdrop

The importance of a successful and measured initial distribution of tokens to the broader community cannot be overstated. It is with this in mind that Cosmic Horizon will be modeling its airdrop mechanics on those of the markedly successful Cosmos project Stargaze. Of the initial 100M genesis tokens, 40% will be distributed as a protocol to protocol distribution and airdrops to the Cosmos, Osmosis, Juno, Stargaze, EVMOS and Regen communities.. Each one of these communities and their respective projects align strategically with our own, and Cosmic Horizon will utilize elements of each to enable or enhance various in-game mechanics and the overall gaming experience.

4.2        Inflation and Lockups

4.2.1        COHO Inflation

Inflation is a proof-of-stake method of distributing funds to validators, in exchange for their contributions towards securing a given blockchain. The Cosmic Horizon chain will utilize inflation in a variety of ways, including the aforementioned inflationary rewards that validators receive. Another way we will be utilizing inflation rewards is by funding our in-game Starports, supporting a core gaming element known as celestial arbitrage. This topic will be covered further later in this document. We are also utilizing the inflation rewards to fund the on-chain community pool, from which funds can be utilized via community governance.

The inflation rate of Cosmic Horizon’s blockchain will begin at 45% and decrease over time via a commonly deployed Cosmos SDK mechanism. For example, if more than 67% of the total COHO tokens are bonded (i.e. staked) then the inflation rate will begin its descent toward 20%, over a period of 12 months. Conversely, if at any point the proportion of the blockchain’s bonded tokens fall below 67%, inflation will increase incrementally toward the maximum inflation rate of 45%.

4.2.2        Lockups

At genesis, much of the token supply will be either permanently locked, temporarily locked or bonded. As noted in the graphic above, 20M tokens will be permanently locked in the IGE bootstrapping pool. Additionally, and as described in the community pool section above, 25M tokens will be permanently locked in various DAOs after they are created.

This means that roughly 40% of the supply will be permanently locked at genesis. The private sale tokens acquired will be locked for either a 1 year or 3 year period

4.3        Celestial Arbitrage

One of the primary objectives for players in Cosmic Horizon is to engage in the profitable trade of resources between various starports, in a process we have dubbed celestial arbitrage. Starports throughout the galaxy buy or sell diverse resources. Supply and demand generally guides resource pricing, but buying power is also limited by a starport’s treasury. The in-game economy bootstrapping fund is an important tool (and financial catalyst) to keep starports and players trading, enabling more dynamic gameplay.

In order to do so, they will need to be balanced and funded, and a key element to the balancing/funding mechanism are the staking rewards of the IGE bootstrapping fund (as well as a portion of the chain’s inflationary rewards). As users purchase resources from a given starport, its funds will increase, however since the advantage goes to the players, our Starports will not always be able to fully replenish themselves purely through economics. Instead, smart contracts will ensure that the funds of the starports across the cosmos are replenished and balanced strategically–not merely to support their function but to enhance the gaming/trading experience of the player.

4.3.1        Starport Treasury Contract

This smart contract will hold staking rewards from the 10M permanently locked COHO tokens, along with 25% of inflation rewards. The smart contract will ensure that the starport treasuries throughout the cosmos are never stagnant and are strategically replenished.

5        Ecology

As a promise to planetary regeneration in the real world, our terraforming mechanism will allow players to retire credits on the Regen Network when they terraform planets in Cosmic Horizon.  As players discover planets they will encounter different types of resource output (see Planet Types, 3.3.3.1). Because of this variation, players may need to travel vast distances and expend a large amount of fuel in order to gather the resources they need to be successful.  Retiring credits will allow players to change the type of the planet to one that has a more strategic output for meeting the player’s needs and in turn contribute to the regeneration of planet Earth in the real world.

6         Technology

Cosmic Horizon is an independent blockchain built on the Cosmos ecosystem. Cosmos SDK will be used as the starting point for the blockchain, including but not limited to, the basic modules contained within it. The underlying technology will be enhanced with the use of Go modules, such as Cosmos SDK Groups Module, which allows nested governance within the chain and provides more robust gameplay. The eco credits module will also be utilized within the stack. This will allow the Cosmic Horizon game to have a real-world impact by providing players with the opportunity to contribute to positive ecological outcomes during their adventure.

Cosmic Horizon will also utilize EVMOS for smart contracts. This will allow our network to have versatility in economic design and the ability to provide in-game assets in the form of NFTs.

The in-game experience will include dynamic gameplay utilizing a 2D cockpit interface in some modes and a fully immersive environment in other modes (e.g. when interacting with other players in the Stardock). The Stardock and planet experiences are meant to simulate a community-based approach where players may interact with each other on a more personal level by voice chatting, making alliances and selling items to one another in real-time. Fully immersive gameplay will be built using the open-source Unreal Engine.