1. Background

1.1 Colonize Titan: Building the Future

The time to act is now.

Our moment of destiny has arrived. Our planet stands at the brink of an unprecedented crisis — environmental degradation, resource depletion, and the looming threat of climate upheaval push humanity towards the edge of survival. Yet, in this time of unparalleled challenges, Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, emerges as a beacon of hope, offering a promising frontier for human expansion and resilience.

Titan, Saturn's largest moon, holds immense potential for human habitation due to its rich abundance of essential substances. These resources make it feasible for humans to live on Titan, but the environment requires significant development before it can support human life. To address this challenge, we need automata — advanced robotic entities designed to undertake the initial work of transforming Titan's landscape.

Apparently, a single automaton cannot manage this complex mission alone. Only a well-designed, harmoniously collaborating colony of automata can successfully accomplish the task. Given Titan's current limited resources and its vast distance of approximately 1.4 billion kilometers (about 10 light-hours) from Earth, establishing a self-sustaining system is imperative while developing Titan. Automata colony must work as an independent team, ensuring their survival and functionality as they prepare the ecosystem for future human inhabitants.

1.2 The Necessity of Simulation

Due to Titan's extreme distance from Earth, with a one-way trip taking several years, the mission is both time-consuming and costly. Additionally, communication with Titan has a latency of several months. Therefore, it is essential to develop a highly effective plan to maximize the chances of success. We must also fully configure the automata before sending them to Titan, as there will be limited opportunities for real-time adjustments.

To achieve this, we need to simulate all possible circumstances and random urgencies on Titan. This concept aligns with Gedankenexperiment, or thought experiments, a method rooted in ancient times and widely utilized by scientists and philosophers. Over time, thought experiments have evolved from a form of speculation into a vital scientific tool. Scientists often conduct these mental rehearsals before undertaking any significant task: planning the process and executing the plan in their minds, much like playing a movie. This approach allows them to engage in complex tasks and break through creative constraints, making it an essential practice for developing effective strategies and solutions.

By conducting comprehensive simulations, we can model potential challenges and outcomes on Titan, refining our strategies accordingly. This approach allows us to create a highly optimized development plan, ensuring that our efforts on Titan will be efficient and successful when the time comes.

To ensure the integrity and preservation of the simulation trials, we will leverage blockchain technology. This choice guarantees transparency and immutability, which are essential for maintaining the credibility of our efforts. Thus, we have developed Automata — a fully on-chain autonomous ecosystem simulation game.

In Automata, players will use their creativity and strategic thinking to contribute to the development plan. Blockchain's passive execution property provides the necessary security and transparency, requiring transactions to trigger the initialization of an automaton. Additionally, players will need to initiate transactions to upload their simulation trials and outcomes. This seamless integration of blockchain technology ensures that every action and result in the game is recorded and protected, fostering a reliable and transparent gaming experience.

2. Gameplay

2.1 Automata: The Heart of the Mission

In this game, you'll assemble automata and deploy automata colony. They are the backbone of your efforts on Titan. They will mine resources and maintain the delicate balance needed to sustain life in an alien environment.

Each automaton is equipped with eight programs, each with a unique execution time. Automata possess individual attributes—speed, efficiency, productivity, and level—while sharing resources within the colony team. Programs consume certain resources while generating others, and once deployed, an automaton operates autonomously, executing its programs until any resource within the colony is depleted. Ideally, each automaton specializes in a singular function, collaborating with others to optimize resource distribution and maximize efficiency.

Your automata team also has collective attributes: level, XP, and energy. Each time an automaton completes a full round of program execution, your team gains 1 XP and loses 1 energy. Every 100 XP increases the team level by 1. When team energy reaches 0, all automata within the team stop functioning.

Success hinges on your ability to strategically coordinate programs, optimize automata capabilities, and manage resources effectively.

2.2 The Ultimate Goal: A New Home and Titanium

As you and your fellow players assemble and refine your automata, you'll unlock the potential to establish Titan as a new home for humanity. This icy world, with an atmosphere thicker than Earth's, holds promise as a frontier offering vast resources waiting to be harnessed. Among these resources, Titanium emerges as the most precious resource on Titan, crucial for building and sustaining human life in its harsh environment. Acquiring other resources and strengthening automata attributes are all focused on securing Titanium, the cornerstone of our mission on Titan.

The accumulation of Titanium within the game holds profound implications for the future. Each unit of Titanium mined in the simulation represents a real-world contribution that would shape Titan's actual development. To reward this contribution, when Titan was finally ready to welcome human inhabitants, the amount of Titanium accumulated by each player in the simulation directly correlated with your allocated currency-ATM, on Titan. ATM will be the primary currency on Titan, facilitating trade and economic activities among its inhabitants. It symbolizes the culmination of each player's efforts in laying the foundations for Titan's society and economy, bridging the gap between simulation and reality. This journey from simulating resource extraction to allocating TI underscored the transformative impact of technology and human ingenuity in shaping the future of extraterrestrial habitats.

2.3 The Autonomous Ecosystem

On Titan, the impossible becomes possible. Through ingenious design and strategic placement, your automata colony can create an autonomous ecosystem. This self-sustaining system requires no additional energy input once established, functioning autonomously as a harmonious, ever-growing entity. The key lies in the careful balancing of programs and resources, ensuring that each automaton supports the others in a continuous cycle of growth and maintenance.

2.4 Basic Principles on Titan

The key to thriving on Titan lies in understanding and managing both automata&team attributes and automata colony resources:

2.4.1 Automata Attributes

Each automaton has unique attributes: Productivity, Efficiency and Spped. Originally, they are decided by the programs involved in an automaton and can be upgraded with Titanium:

• Productivity: upgrading Productivity increases the amount of resources an automaton produces.
• Efficiency: upgrading Efficiency reduces the amount of resources an automaton consumes.
• Speed: upgrading Speed decreases the execution time of an automaton.

2.4.2 Automata Colony Attributes

• Level: Represents the overall progression of your automata colony.
• XP: Tracks the total working cycles of your colony, increasing by 1 with each round of program execution.
• Energy: Decreases by 1 per round of program execution. When it reaches 0, all automata in the colony cease operation. Click on the rocket as it flies across Titan to gain 10 energy. The higher your colony level, the more frequently the rocket appears.

2.4.3 Automata Colony Resources

These resources can be shared among different automata in one automata colony.

• Crystal: A concentrated energy source used for power and energy-intensive actions.
• Interstellar Mineral: Rare minerals essential for upgrading automata.
• Biomass: Organic material used for energy production and sustaining biological functions within automata.
• Quantum Foam: A rare and potent resource used for advanced upgrades and unique capabilities.
• Necrodermis: A durable material for repairing and enhancing the structural integrity of automata.
• Alien Floral: Exotic plants providing unique compounds for advanced automata functions.
• Spice Melange: A rare substance that boosts automata attributes temporarily, enhancing their performance.
• Titanium: The most valuable resource, representing ultimate success and enabling the highest level of reloading other resources.

Defaultly, every newly deployed automaton will have 30 units of Crystal and Interstellar Mineral.

2.4.4 Dynamic Programs and Strategies

We provide 4 default programs and new programs can be generated with Titanium. These are the 4 default programs:

With BioGen*2, Crystara, and AstroMine, you can create a self-sustaining automaton that will continuously accumulate Crystal, Interstellar Mineral and Biomass without any need for replenishment.

These programs do not produce Titanium. You can obtain Titanium through Bounty rewards or by purchasing programs, some of which may generate Titanium.

Now, it's your turn to figure out your best strategies. Your strategic combinations of programs will determine the balance and growth of your ecosystem. Managing resources wisely, anticipating needs, and adapting to new challenges will be key to your success.

2.5 In-game Economy

Purchasing new programs, upgrading automata attributes, unlocking automata, and rebooting them all require Titanium. You start with five free slots, but from the sixth slot onward, each additional slot costs Titanium, with the price increasing as more slots are added.

2.6 Manual

2.6.1 Prepare for the Automata Game:

1. Visit the Automata game page at (https://automata.zkplay.app/) to begin your mining journey!
2. Click on Play button and connect your wallet(bsc network).

2.6.2 Learn about the Simulation Console

The simulation console consists of the following parts:

1. Automata Colony Attribute Indicator: The first line at the top of the console displays your colony's core attributes: Level, XP, and Energy.
2. Automata Colony Resource Indicator: The second line shows the shared resources available to all automata in your colony. These include Crystal, Interstellar Mineral, Biomass, Quantum Foam, Necrodermis, Alien Floral, Spice Melange, and the most crucial resource, Titanium.
3. Automata Showcase: On the left, the showcase displays available automata waiting for initialization and locked automata. Once they are initialized, the showcase will also tell you who's working and who's offline. When you click on an available automaton, you can monitor its performance in the observation window. And the attribute indicator shows the level, speed, efficiency and productivity of the selected automaton.
4. Program Board: On the right side, you'll find the Program Board with available programs. Each program has its own execution time, consuming and producing various resources. We provide 4 basic programs for free, but you can purchase additional programs. Try your luck at acquiring more efficient Titanium-generating programs!
5. Assembly Desk: There's a wheel in the middle of the console, that's the Assembly Desk, where you can add 8 programs from the Program Board to assemble your automata. You can review, add, and eliminate programs here. The upper left of the wheel, there's the observation window, it reflects the consumption and production of an automaton.

2.6.3 Assemble Automata and Monitor Them

• Create an Automaton: Click on programs from the Program Board to add them to the Assembly Desk. Experiment with different program combinations and monitor each combination's consumption and production in the Observation Window. Once you're satisfied with the results, click Confirm, and your automaton will begin executing the programs one by one until it runs out of resources. (Programs can be reused within a single automaton and across different automata.)
• Reprogram an Automaton: If an automaton stops working or you have a new plan for it, simply click Reboot. You'll need to assign 8 programs and confirm the new setup to get it running again.
• Unlock more Automata and redeem Titanium: Unlock and assemble more automata to maximize resource production. Redeem your basic resources for Titanium through Bounty.

2.6.4 Develop Your Strategies

1. Obtaining Titanium Generating Programs: You need to purchase a few new programs before obtaining your first Titanium-generating one. If you don't have enough Titanium for a purchase, redeem your basic resources for Titanium.
2. Observe Titanium Generating Programs: Observe what resources these programs consume and whether your current inventory can support the program for multiple rounds. If you have other programs that can generate enough of the required resources in one round, feel free to add the program to an automaton. If not, focus on accumulating the necessary resources before putting the program to use.
3. Automata Specialization: Assign specific roles and responsibilities to each automaton. For instance, a few automata could focus on resource gathering while another handles Titanium production. Don't forget to make good use of upgrading automata's attributes.
4. Program Synergy: Design a strategy where the programs of different automata complement each other. Take the execution time of each program into consideration to ensure a harmonious collaboration between different automata. Ensure there is a balanced flow of resources.
5. Efficiency Optimization: Regularly review and optimize the automata coordination and the program combinations for each automaton. Invest Titanium in generating more efficient programs, alter your strategy, replace less efficient programs with more productive ones, and explore better program combinations.
6. Scaling Up: As you accumulate more Titanium, consider unlocking additional automata to scale up your operations. This allows for more complex and efficient action combinations.
7. Adapt and Reprogram: Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on changing resource availability and objectives. Use the reboot function to reprogram your automata as needed to align with your evolving strategy.
8. Maintain Energy balance carefully: Since automata consume energy to operate, refill your energy by clicking on the passing rockets to gain as much energy as possible.

By carefully planning and executing these strategies, you can optimize your automata operations and maximize your Titanium production in the Automata game.

3. Under the Hood

3.1 Technologies

To protect the collective wisdom of humanity and ensure fairness in this profound simulation, initial investments and contributions to the colony's infrastructure and development must be meticulously stored and tracked. This is where fully on-chain and trustless computation becomes essential, providing secure, immutable, and permanent storage; private, and verifiably correct data exchanges without relying on any single entity.

Automata being a fully on-chain game means that all core game data, including game rules, player accounts, and global state roots (which allow access to all crucial game state data), are stored on-chain, ensuring immutability and preventing data corruption once confirmed.

In Automata, the game engine operates within a zero-knowledge virtual machine (ZKWASM), generating zero-knowledge proofs during program execution. These proofs, along with state difference data such as action coordinations and Titanium reserves, are then uploaded on-chain. These proofs will be verified by a contract on-chain while remaining confidential before the final state gets confirmed. In fact, they can be verified by anyone without compromising confidentiality, embodying the trustless concept of "Don't trust, verify." This approach prevents the game server or any other parties from manipulating data before and after it reaches the blockchain, safeguarding players' game outcomes and ensuring the longevity and potential appreciation of the value they create in the game.

Additionally, this method minimizes the need for frequent transaction signing, reduces gas fees, and enhances interface responsiveness compared to fully on-chain game engines.

4. Tokenomics

$ATM tokens are the core assets of the Automata ecosystem, representing the contribution of each player has made to developing Titan by mining Titanium.

4.1 Issuance:

The ATM token debuted on four.meme with a total supply of 1,000,000,000 tokens through a completely fair launch, ensuring full transparency and fairness for players and holders. Now, after selling out on four.meme, ATM is live on PancakeSwap.

4.2 A Self-sustaining Titanium Economy

In-game Economy

In Automata, Titanium drives the in-game economy. Players use Titanium to:

• Buy new programs
• Unlock and upgrade automata
• Reboot automata for further mining

Automata continuously mines Titanium, creating a healthy supply and demand cycle.

External Cycle

If the Titanium pool runs low, its price may fluctuate. In such cases, the team will buy from the market and reinject Titanium into the pool, ensuring a balanced ecosystem.

Revenue Generation

So, where does the revenue come from to sustain these buybacks? Automata's ecosystem is designed to be self-sufficient through organic demand. Players continuously consume Titanium to optimize their mining strategies, while the competitive environment encourages further engagement.

Additionally, as the game expands and new features roll out, users are expected to engage with the content daily, creating a substantial audience base for Web3 advertising. Revenue from in-game bounty-based ads will further sustain token buybacks, reinforcing a long-term, balanced economy.