Birth of Artifacts, or a Kord Named Beetle
The GrabCoinClub Artifacts collection is a fantastic loot box housing astonishing NFTs: game items, space pets, and robotics — everything that embellishes the GrabCoinClub metaverse and assists the FiHunters in their missions.
How did the developers create these artifacts? Let’s delve into the process by examining a first-generation Kord.
Project “Beetle”
Ladies and gentlemen, meet a first-type Kord, which you can easily find on OpenSea by selecting “Small Ranger Kord of Type 1” in the traits — that’s its official designation. However, among friends and those involved in its creation (artists, game developers, content creators, and other guys who participated in its creation), this little one is affectionately known as the “beetle.”
“During its creation, what seemed like an ordinary resource mining machine,” shares Anna Fokina, the art director of GrabCoinClub, “our kord turned out to be quite a recognizable character. It’s as if it’s alive!”
The artifact collection comprises 600 of these little beings. They belong to the 9th series and are valued at $10,000 each.
Type 1 Kords are divided into three groups, distinguished by their head shape, digging buckets, chassis type, and the appearance of energy pods on their backs.
What is the purpose of the “beetle” for FiHunters?
According to the official whitepaper, Kords are designed for resource mining in the GrabCoinClub metaverse. They autonomously or upon command from their owner, a FiHunter, collect minerals such as Rafid, Kelva, or Tarum. The extracted resources are then sent for processing, and in return, the FiHunter receives rewards in the local currency of $GC.
For those who are right now discovering the GrabCoinClub project, it should be noted that $GC is a utility token that can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies and withdrawn to your bank card in fiat. The $GC/USDT trading pair is available for transactions on the LBank cryptocurrency exchange, and it will soon be accessible on other exchanges as well.
Hence, any FiHunter would be thrilled to acquire “beetles” or bigger and pricier Kords (such as Type 2 from the 10th series) because they serve as excellent tools for advancement within and beyond the metaverse.
Stages of Creating the NFT Little Kord
Well, frens… First-type Kords may be tiny, but producing even one of these little beings required muxh efforts from the project team.
So, here’s the algorithm for creating the “beetle” NFT, kindly provided by the project’s art director.
ALGORITHM FOR CREATING THE “BEETLE”
1.Task formulation. The work begins with the task of creating a small Kord that extracts valuable minerals.
2. Exploration. We explore what the world already offers in response to this request, to avoid accidentally duplicating others’ work and create something unique :)
3. AI assistance. We integrate artificial intelligence into the process to easily test various ideas. The experimentation field is vast! For example, we tried crossbreeding the robot with reptiles, adding hoses, tentacles with suction cups like an octopus has got. From the characters proposed by the AI in response to our requests, we filter out the meme-like options and select the desired concept.
4. Artistic engineering. This is where the artist-engineer steps in (look what a range of specialized experts is involved in the project!). They create a blueprint for a universal robot. It’s a complex task: every aspect must be carefully calculated so that it can be assembled like a construction set by substituting the desired variables.
The blueprints for all subsequent “beetles” were approved at the main base. Sometimes the models required revisions, but more often than not, this stage went smoothly thanks to good preparation and an experienced artist.
5. 3D Alchemy. After meticulous work by the engineer, the blueprints with detailed descriptions of the functionality for future animations are sent to 3D artists. In the realm of three-dimensional alchemists, our flat drawing transforms into a three-dimensional object that can be rotated and viewed from all angles.
Our team of “threedees” is creative and always adds their vision to the blueprints. They add wires, connections, and fill in a lot of functionality.
The appearance and functionality of the 3D model are coordinated several times with the project manager. As it becomes three-dimensional and alive, the Kord undergoes slight changes — as if it comes to life.
6. Animation. The next stage of creating an NFT is animation, and Anna Fokina explains it with special love:
“Animation is a blend of real physics laws and the team’s imagination to immerse players in an amazing and different world, making the Kord special and recognizable. It’s like a pet that you love and want to have by your side. And now imagine: the team had to work out the tiniest movements of each ‘beetle,’ show how it extracts fossils, how it stores them in its belly, which parts move and light up…”
7. Textures. Each NFT has its own textures that correspond to the object’s purpose, the impression it should make, and its functionality.
“We debated for a long time whether the Kords should have wear and tear and scratches. While performing their tasks, they clearly don’t remain shiny and clean,” Anna notes. “But we decided that when buying a brand new Kord, it’s better to leave it without scratches. However, this vibe may appear in the game over time.”
8. Placing the object in space. For all collectible NFTs, there is a set of worlds that we adapt to each object. It is essential to consider the object’s size and its relationship with the sizes of other objects in the location.
The Type 1 Kord is small. Next to it, the stones and trees seem like giants. Our task is to demonstrate this, select angles, explore numerous lighting ideas, and determine how our “beetle” moves and navigates in space.
9. Naming and metadata. Now we need to work on the metadata. Take a look at them — it’s a work of art, poetry! No more “Detail 1,” “Detail 2.” Each object has a meaningful name.
Let’s look at the names of the “beetle” parts. Suppose you’re choosing the robot’s head. In the dropdown list, you’ll see several options:
• Hardy
• Wanderer
• Sweetheart
Not bad for just a head, right?
Let’s say you’ve assembled your Kord with Echidna Energy Spikes, Clever Finder Digging Scoops and Chassis, and the Wanderer head, and you go to the recycling factory. Approaching it, you notice the towering pipes — DYOR Vapor Diffusers (which stands for “Do Your Own Research” in crypto slang) and soon find a parking spot at Resource Miners Heaven, one of the unloading bases for Kords and harvesters.
10. Generation. After approving all the important aspects, the NFTs go through the generation process. A whole farm of computers was created for this purpose, allowing us to process large files quickly and efficiently. First, the NFT model undergoes a test generation: we identify errors, inaccuracies, and make corrections. Then we generate again, and if everything is fine, we proceed to the final generation.
11. Programming code. Finally, when the desired number of NFTs is prepared, they go to the programmers. After going through their transformations there, the NFTs end up on the website where you can see them and make purchases.
That’s how artifacts are created — Kord beetles and other NFTs from the GrabCoinClub collection. Many members of our community have become lucky winners, receiving their artifacts in our regular prize draws. If you’re among them, congratulations! And if not, we invite you to take a closer look at the collection and choose your assistant.
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