It’s time to show off some more exclusive Mirandus-Themed Town Star Skins, and today we’re digging into the contents of Pack 2. In this series, we’re sharing behind-the-scenes details, alternate art and creation stories. Basically we’re giving you an inside look at some of the most intricate and interesting details of the video game creation process, so enjoy!
The Dragon Familiar
As a gamer, when you hear the word “skins,” you may usually think of a lot of fluff with no real value. Thanks to the power of blockchain ownership and NFTs, we’re putting such preconceived notions to rest. These NFT skins are simply another way that Gala Games is able to return value and power to you, the players.
In addition to each skin being a limited supply NFT that can be traded on Opensea or transferred between accounts, these packs are giving you an opportunity to have a Dragon Familiar of your own in the world of Mirandus. All you need to do is collect all 10 Dragon Vouchers! You’ll find 1 Dragon Voucher in each of the 10 Mirandus-Themed Skin Packs.
This Dragon won’t be just for show, and it won’t simply follow you around like some familiars or pets in other games. The Dragon Familiar will play a strong role in your adventure, providing assistance and utility in multiple TBD ways. The bottom line is that you never know what treacherous dangers will be in store when you at last go adventuring in the fantasy world of Mirandus. It couldn’t possibly hurt to have a Dragon on your side.
Now with In-Game Bonuses!
Additionally, deploying your Mirandus-themed Skins in Town Star will give you an incredible in-game boost to both worker speed and production! The more packs you use, the greater your bonus will be! For more information on the in-game bonus, check out THIS POST!
Digging In — Mirandus-Themed Skin Pack 2
In Pack 2 you’ll find some more reimagined Town Star buildings that will be crucial to your success in any weekly competition: Chicken Coup, Fuel Storage, Oil Pump, Lumber Yard and Paved Road. Also found in this pack (as an extension of the Chicken Coup) is the hero that we all deserve: The masked chicken aka the Pecksecutioner, aka the Eggsecutioner!
Chicken Coup
What do foxes, coyotes, bears, hawks, owls, weasels, opossums, badgers, raccoons, bobcats and wolves have in common? Like humans, they all like to eat chicken. Even in the Middle Ages, keepers of livestock had to protect their birds from all sorts of predators day and night. That’s why the Mirandus-themed Chicken Coup is similarly fortified to the modern Town Star version. Every farmer and rancher knows that if you keep your chickens safe and sound, they’ll produce eggs more plentifully.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the ideas that went into the redesign of the chicken itself. The chicken may be the only character unit included in this pack of skins, but it will make an incredible addition to anyone’s Town Star collection. Clearly the art team knew that the stakes were high, because they first submitted 8 different options for the Mirandus chicken.
The team broke off into smaller groups and private meetings to deliberate. Some of the chickens above (such as the jungle safari chicken and the feathered hat chicken) were easy to eliminate from consideration, and others were harder. Led by Art Director Warren Marshall, the art team dug deep and went back to the drawing board, coming up several hours later with sore, sweaty hands and 4 final choices. One of them was destined to be the chosen one.
Fuel Storage
With the direction to make every Mirandus-themed equivalency as authentic as possible, our art team had a tough time coming up with a solid concept for the fuel storage. Obviously there were no oil-based fuels in the Middle Ages. Instead, “fuel” meant wood or coal, things that provided energy when burned. Finally, our artists imagined what liquid fuel storage would have looked like in medieval times and arrived at something similar to corked whiskey barrels. There were a couple different choices presented, and the one chosen favored one large barrel over three smaller ones.
Oil Pump
The oil pump in this form is anachronistic for the medieval time period, and while crude oil already had various uses in different parts of the world, they would be difficult to depict in any recognizable way. Documentation on the earliest known oil wells is found in Chinese records from around 300 AD. In the 9th century Middle East, petroleum products such as tar were refined and used to create pavement. It was not until the mid 1800s that petroleum was refined into paraffin and kerosene and the Oil Age truly began.
Our Mirandus-themed Oil Pump came out as a slightly redesigned all wood version of the modern oil pump that we all recognize.
Lumber Yard
There’s not much interesting to say about the Lumber Yard. Here it is, effectively storing lumber with a fresh Mirandus theme!
Paved Road
Throughout a Town Star weekly competition, the Paved Road becomes a crucial component of any player’s success. Certain industrial buildings must be placed next to Paved Roads, but most importantly, all your workers travel faster along these roads.
Throughout most of the world during the Middle Ages, paved roads meant stone roads. As mentioned above, tar-based pavements were used in some regions, but only where oil was naturally easy to find and harvest. For medieval Europe, roads were built of flat-sided stones (cobble). When applied to your Town Star build, these cobblestone Paved Roads come together for a beautiful old time look.
Mirandus-Themed Skin Packs are currently available in the Town Star store, but only in limited quantity, and there is no telling how long they will last. In this first (and lowest priced) wave of the packs’ release, only 2000 of each are available. Future sales and releases are TBD in both date and price, so right now is probably your cheapest chance to fill your collection and collect all 10 Dragon Vouchers.
Next time we’ll dig into Pack 3, from which you’ll absolutely love the Bakery and the Express Depot. Good luck on all your Town Star builds. May these skins bring you luck and tide you over for Mirandus, the incredible blockchain MMORPG that we’re all waiting for!
