Brilliantcrypto’s Game Development: The Story So Far
New to the project? Learn all about the previous beta tests and the history of the game’s development.
Have you played Brilliantcrypto yet?
Since the beta test ended in January, no new beta tests have been announced as the team continues to focus on the game’s pre-release.
Many people have been community members since our very first alpha test and have played the game many times, but we know many more have not been so lucky — especially new joiners.
In this article, we’d like to give a full overview of the development history of Brilliantcrypto to bring all our new community members up to speed. We hope you will learn something about the Brilliantcrypto journey, and the future to come!
Contents
1. The Founding of Brilliantcrypto
2. Initial Internal Testing
3. The Closed Alpha Test
4. Pickaxe Rush Competition
5. Closed Beta Test 1–2
6. Closed Beta Test 3
7. Multiplayer Beta Test
8. December Closed Beta
9. Finalizing Internal Testing
10. What’s Next?
The Founding of Brilliantcrypto
Brilliantcrypto, Inc. was founded on November 9, 2022 as a subsidiary (child company) of the Japanese mobile gaming giant COLOPL, Inc. Naruatsu Baba, the original founder of COLOPL, Inc. was announced as the CEO and project manager of the Brilliantcrypto project.
However, it was not until July 25, 2023 that Brilliantcrypto’s intention to create authentic gemstones in the digital world was announced. Before then, the development team worked in secret to build the foundations of the game that would power this ambitious vision.
Initial Internal Testing
>>> Internal Test 1&2 New Features <<<
🔸 A basic mining environment and scenery
🔸 The core mining mechanics and experience
🔸 Original including the detector, ladder, illuminator and explosives
🔸 Rough Gemstones, then-called “Loose Gemstones”
The very first internal play-test, codeword “muscle”, occurred in secrecy on December 8, 2022. It was a basic version of the game tested by the core members of the new company Brilliantcrypto, Inc. The first priority for developers of Brilliantcrypto was to create the mining experience and mechanics — but as this game is the first ever game focused entirely on mining, this is easier said than done. Developers played the game with an intense focus on understanding what it would feel like to players to play the game for hours on-end.
For that reason, high-quality design and detail to the environment were put on hold, as developers aimed to create an experience that felt satisfying, but not over-stimulating. The aim was to allow users to relax while playing and enjoy the experience.
The previously unreleased image below is of an old version of Brilliantcrypto. The 2nd ever build, and only played
>>> Internal Test 3 New Features <<<
🔸 Upgraded detail to the environment & scenery
🔸 Invention of the tunnel systems that are made when users mine
🔸 Adjustments to mining speed & mechanics
🔸 Changes to design of items & pickaxe (more futuristic)
🔸 Upgrades to the gemstone inspection scene
The next tests focused on two major issues — building the environment of Brilliantcrypto, and developing an authentic gemstone inspection screen for the gemstones mined in the game.
With regards to the environment, authenticity is important in Brilliantcrypto so developers took time to ensure they created an environment that feels realistic, while it is a digital world in essence. The gemstone inspection screen is also one of the most important features in the game: the whole project revolves around building authenticity and scarcity for the gemstones, so if they don’t look or feels true to life, then there would be no point in continuing.
However, creating a beautiful mining environment takes time. However, it has been clear that the world of Brilliantcrypto has become more and more scenic with every new build.
The image below is an old build of Brilliantcrypto. The 3rd ever build, and the first one played by our Community Managers.
The Closed Alpha Test
>>> Alpha Test Version New Features <<<
🔸 Further detail to the environment & scenery
🔸 More Adjustment to mining mechanics
🔸 Redesign of basic U.I. & settings menu
🔸 Basic English language translation
🔸 Further detail to gemstone inspection screen
Not every gamer is willing to play a new type of game. Even less are happy to play an unfinished game. Adding on that there was no public information about the game, and the only people left who would willingly test such a game are hardcore, dedicated web3 gamers.
We were very honored to have the presence of around 100 hardcore players for our first Alpha test. These players joined us through web3 guilds and DAOs, based mainly in South East Asia, Latin America and Japan.
We were extremely pleased when we realized that 91% of players clearly the objective for the game. But we were even more pleased to learn they genuinely enjoyed the game, and 86% of them said they felt real potential from the game. Since Brilliantcrypto is in a genre of its own, we truly didn’t know what type of response we would get, but it was a great result.
All alpha testers who completed the alpha test were given the “Trailblazer” role, and many of them still remain active community members today.
The image below is of the old build as of the Alpha Test last year, played by alpha testers.
Pickaxe Rush Competition
>>> Pickaxe Rush New Features<<<
🔸 This test used the previous alpha test build.
While development progressed, we ran multiple different projects for the community. One such project was the “Pickaxe Rush.”
Miners returned to the mines of Brilliantcrypto with the promise of NFT Pickaxes at stake. The 12 players who found the biggest gemstones would be delivered an NFT pickaxe around the launch period. Players naturally went wild for this opportunity, and the trailblazers tried their hardest in the mines, but at the end of it all, 12 players were victorious.
Until now, this is the only time players have ever had an opportunity to win pickaxes outright and was reserved for those who supported us at the very beginning.
Closed Beta Test 1–2
>>> Closed Beta Test 1–2 Version New Features <<<
🔸 Further detail to the environment & scenery
🔸 More Adjustment to mining mechanics
🔸 Redesign of basic U.I. & settings menu
🔸 Basic English language translation
🔸 Further detail to gemstone inspection screen
As Brilliantcrypto was revealed on July 25, 2023, it was announced that 3 different closed beta tests would take place in August, October and November. All players selected to participate would be eligible to win 0.02 ETH and would be entered into a lottery to win VIP seats and return flight tickets to Paris to watch Paris Saint-Germain play.
This was the first an opportunity for general users who hadn’t been invited to try out the game, and the initial release went viral as the partnership with Paris Saint-Germain was also announced. The response to the first two beta tests was as positive as the first, with users commenting particularly on the quality of the game and the concept.
The image below is of the old beta version of the game, provided by a player of beta test 1.
Closed Beta Test 3
>>> Closed Beta Test 3 New Features <<<
🔸 A.I. Generated Gemstone Names & History
🔸 A.I. Generated Profile Creation & Character Creation
🔸 More Adjustment to mining mechanics
🔸 Redesign of basic U.I. & settings menu
🔸 Additional English Language Translation
🔸 Further detail to gemstone inspection screen
Between the end of the 2nd test and the beginning of the 3rd, multiple new features were released to add value to the gemstones and immersion story-building to the game.
In the real world, there are famous gemstones which are so well known that they have been given names. And some have been around for a very long time. As we are creating authentic gemstones of the digital world, we expect they will be around even longer, and in the future, others will read the history and be fascinated about how they were found. Meanwhile, A.I. generated history and added character customization options allowed users to express themselves more in the world of Brilliantcrypto.
Users had a great time posting their gemstones and profiles on X and some of the better submissions were retweeted by the main account.
Many streamers in our community also gathered to play the new version, resulting in the compilation video below being made.
Multiplayer Beta Test
>>> Multiplayer Beta Test New Features <<<
🔸 Mountain size roughly increased x3
🔸 Amount of gemstones per mountain increased
🔸 Multiplayer U.I. and settings added
🔸 Quick-chat added
🔸 Changes to mining mechanics and pickaxe attributes
The Multiplayer Beta Test was a closed, invitation-only test specifically focused on testing servers and game functions. Only a few were invited as the test required players to be online at the same time. Players also had to work as a team to fully mine the gemstones in each mountain, while actively participating themself.
In the multiplayer test, features such as “mine selection” (being actively able to choose the mine you play in rather than being randomly given an automatically generated mine) were introduced. More excitingly, players were able to mine together for the very first time in teams of up to 6.
The image below is of an old temporary UI that enabled players to play together in Brilliantcrypto for the first time, in the multiplayer beta test.
This was also the first time that external players experienced the expanded-size mine. This time, the mine was around 3x larger than it had been in previous tests — players truly had to cooperate to overcome this new challenge. It appeared that the most battle-hardened players were able to overcome the challenge more than new players, indicating that Brilliantcrypto had become more skill-based.
December Closed Beta
>>> December Closed Beta New Features <<<
🔸 Rupert the cat added
🔸 Mine selection mini-game added
🔸 New home screen/mining headquarters
🔸 Option to apply pickaxes to acquire mountains added
🔸 Music added to various different screens
🔸 Further changes to mining mechanics and gemstone placement
🔸 Gemstone Cutter character added
🔸 Support for 6 new languages added
🔸 Improved login infrastructure
🔸 Character customization options improved
🔸 Updates to items such as the detector
Brilliantcrypto fans became able to play the new version of the beta test and earn rewards once again.
In this new version, a feature was added where players were first required to scan a topological map for mines available to acquire. These mines were first-come first-serve and showed a prediction of how big each gemstone would be, so many of the good locations were taken quickly by the more hardcore players.
This was also the version of the game in which our beloved mascot, Rupert, made his first appearance. Rupert is your personal navigation companion and will give you everything from helpful advice to enthusiastic support as you continue your mining journey.
Despite the cute cat, in this beta test, there was a twist: In order to earn your reward in ETH, you needed to first mine all 5 gemstones out of the 90 stones lying in the mine. Then, each Brilliantstone you find after that would be worth a small amount of ETH. The more you succeed, the more your rewards add up — turning this into a more interactive play-to-earn experience
Finalizing Internal Testing
>>> Future Development Features <<<
🔸 Finalizing mining mechanics
🔸 Adding more story-building elements
🔸 Changes and additions to the gemstone inspection screen
🔸 Adding more features to the game (exciting!)
🔸 Perfecting in-game infrastructure such as wallet & marketplace
🔸 Finalizing translation and wording
🔸 And more…
The December Beta Test, which would turn out to be the last public beta test, ended in mid-January. Since then, the development of the game has begun to enter its final stages and as well as various new aesthetic aspects and features being added to the game, the final game balance is consistently adjusted so that the final product is as polished as possible. The team continues to test the game as this article is being written.
What’s Next?
As written above, development is in its final stages. Meanwhile, there is extra information about IEO, NFT and whitelist sale on the horizon. Additionally, the pre-release of the game is scheduled for Spring. You can check the roadmap below for the details, but you should know that announcements can take place at any time and we are nearing the busy phase before the release of the game.
Therefore, it would be wise to keep up to date with the development of Brilliantcrypto. Moving forward, the best place to read complex patch-notes and their explanations will be here on Medium, as well as X & Discord for the quickest news announcements.
We hope you enjoyed this article and that it was informative.
Please do follow the medium website and our socials, and we truly hope you’ll join us for the release and become an everlasting part of Brilliantcrypto history.
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Links:
Website: https://brilliantcrypto.net
Discord: https://discord.gg/brilliantcrypto
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/Brypto_Official
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@brilliantcrypto
