Update:

Our intention is to always be upfront with our community about our project and never promise anything that we aren’t 100% certain that we can deliver. To that end, we wanted to add this brief update to our roadmap. Our initial launch didn’t go as well as we had hoped and we have only ourselves to blame for that. What matters now is how we move forward. With our decreased price, many of the items on this roadmap will be more difficult to attain.

For the foreseeable future, Invictus Order offers a welcoming community and some incredible art while we explore ways that we can create utility for our holders and for the broader NFT industry as a whole for minimal cost. The items on this roadmap are still very much on our mind so we’re not going to remove this post entirely. This blog post, while outdated with where we are currently, still gives good context for where we would like to go.

Contents

1. TLDR

2. What We’ve Done So Far

3. Short-Term Roadmap

4. Long-Term Goals

5. Outro

TLDR

What We’ve Done So Far

• After over a year of work, the art behind Invictus Order is some of the most complex and dynamic that the NFT space has ever seen.

• First project to utilize a SBT to manage an allowlist. For more information about our SBT process and the benefits of it, check out our previous blog post.

• Established relationships within web3, most notably with developers Kfish n’ Chips and our advisor Zeneca.

Short-Term Roadmap

• Short term- 6 months to a year- is focused on two areas: developing technology to promote moral conduct within web3 and laying the groundwork for Iron Hills as a sustainable business over the long-term.

• The story of the Sector Task Force will continue to develop in tandem with Iron Hills’ product offerings. Invictus Order holders will be able to participate in the development of the narrative.

• Iron Hills will explore the development of tools to assist other projects who have interest in utilizing a SBT for their allowlist. This is one of the ways that Iron Hills plans to generate revenue outside of royalties.

• Iron Hills will release Essences, Blessings, and The Altar, which are our first steps towards a proof-of-concept system of decentralized ownership in the gaming industry.

• Iron Hills will develop “dynamic royalties” which will automatically adjust the royalty paid to creators based on factors such as floor price and volume. This will first be implemented with Invictus Order.

Long-Term Goals

• Long-term goals are iterative and malleable. 1 year or more timeframe.

• Iron Hills will position itself to be able to continue the development of Spiral Knights if the opportunity arises in the future.

• As technology, regulation, and security improve within web3, Iron Hills will explore the possibility of creating a gaming asset marketplace.

What We’ve Done So Far

Any decision we made for Iron Hills or Invictus Order for the last year has centered around a single question: “what kind of project would we want if we were holders?” How would we want the founders to act, what kind of art would we like, how often would the project communicate, what kind of utility would we want, and what does the company behind the project stand for. The answers to these kinds of questions informed how we have operated over the last year and will continue to inform our development going forward.

Dynamic Art

Every NFT project wants to have good art. The actual art attached to the NFT is the most front-facing thing about a project. One can become instantly interested or instantly uninterested in a project based almost exclusively on the art. Our mentality with our art, and with just about everything else, was to push the status quo. We wanted to make our art feel unique and innovative compared to everything that had come before. Rare traits needed to look and feel rare, yet floor traits need to still look good. Floor pieces shouldn’t all look the same but rare pieces should be special enough to differentiate themselves from floor pieces. Each piece needed to be distinct enough that the collection could be looked at holistically and not feel too same-y. This is where the concept of base models came into play.

A “base model” is simply the base shape of a figure in an NFT. In the case of nearly all NFT projects, they will use a single base model and then layer various colors, traits, and attributes on top of that base model. Those traits might be a different body color or different clothing or different eye shapes, however the underlying base typically doesn’t change. For Invictus Order, we decided that we wanted to go the route of having more than just a single base model. Having multiple base models makes the collection as a whole significantly more dynamic but it also makes the creation of such a collection infinitely more complex. Because each base model is different, a trait that looks good on one base model might not look good on another base model. This means that for each base model, we needed to have a specific set of traits that only worked with that base model.

Nothing to the scale of what we were trying to do had ever been done before. To systematically generate a collection like this, our development team had to build a completely bespoke algorithm. There are many traits in our collection that are comprised of multiple layers. For example, for an Alterian to be able to grasp their gun, the palm of their hand, which is behind the handle of the gun, had to be on a separate layer than their fingers, which are in front of the handle. The hand looking like it is seamlessly holding a gun is actually the work of many layers working in tandem. To make this possible, we had to deviate from the typical “layer-based” generation and create a whole new system that was capable of what we call “trait-based” generation.

When everything was all said and done, we had 79 completely unique base models and well over 100 traits. The process of planning, designing, sketching, drawing, and organizing the art took us just about 10 months. The development of the system, art generation, layering, conditions, and auditing took us another nearly 4 months. We had over 300 pages of audit conditions and an ungodly amount of spreadsheets. Between the art creation and the art generation, our small team and our intrepid development team have spent cumulatively thousands of hours on Invictus Order (if any energy drink companies want to sponsor us, DM us on Twitter).

Was it all worth it? Fuck yea it was. We might be a little biased but Invictus Order is what we believe to be one of the most dynamic collections ever created. It may have taken far longer and much more work than the typical NFT project but we believe that the work is well worth it. The cohesion, variety, and downright quality of each piece and the collection as a whole is something we are proud to put our names behind.

Soulbound Token Allowlist

One of the other areas we felt it necessary to innovate in was the current state of allowlists in the NFT space. Since we already wrote an entire blog post about our methodology and mindset for using a soulbound token (SBT) to manage our allowlist, we won’t go into too much detail here. At a high level, utilizing a SBT to manage our allowlist encouraged higher quality applications, mitigated bot and troll entries, and, most importantly, it made the allowlist process fully transparent through on-chain mechanisms.

For more information on how and why we used a SBT to manage our allowlist, check out this blog post.

Partners

Along our journey, we’ve been lucky enough to expand beyond our core team. From developers and advisors to traders and other founders, we’ve gotten words of wisdom and constructive criticism from just about every corner of web3. However, there are two partners in particular who, without their support, we wouldn’t be remotely where we are today.

Kfish n’ Chips (KFNC):

One of the most important traits in a partner is that they share your morals and values. On this front, KFNC has been nothing short of perfect. With a level of professionalism that is rarely found in the wild west of web3, KFNC has been able to, time and time again, make our crazy ideas actually possible. KFNC shares Iron Hills’ desire for a more moral, transparent, accountable, and ultimately better NFT space and they are making tangible steps every day to make those desires a reality. As the brains and the brawn behind Iron Hills’ SBT allowlist system and our incredibly complicated art generation, KFNC has been able to consistently push the boundaries of what is currently possible with blockchain technology. None of what Iron Hills has done would have been possible without KFNC. As Iron Hills moves forward, we plan to continue working with KFNC to provide utility and innovate for the benefit of both Invictus Order and KFNC holders. For more information about KFNC, click here.

Zeneca:

With his experience in creating, growing, and maintaining a community, having Zeneca as an advisor for Iron Hills has been invaluable to us. On all of the calls we had with him and in private DMs, Zeneca was able to approach the twists and turns of our project with simplicity and an ability to see the bigger picture. From connecting us with an experienced web3 lawyer to giving us advice on marketing and branding, Zeneca has been personable, professional, and generous with his time and thoughts. For more information about Zeneca or his community ZenAcademy, click here.

Short-Term Roadmap

Our short term roadmap- the next 6 months to a year- focuses on two main areas:

• Developing systems and technologies to incentivize accountability, transparency, moral conduct, and professionalism in web3.

• Laying the groundwork for Iron Hills to be a sustainable business over the long-term and put ourselves in a position to be able to carry out our long-term goals.

The Sector Task Force

As keen observers in our Discord server would know, the Sector Task Force has already begun releasing internal memos detailing some mysterious happenings within the Invictus Order. These memos seem to reference a mirror found by a scouting team in which only a single Prismatian can see his reflection. Things go from strange to crazy when a research team at the Invictus Order discovers that the mirror is some kind of gateway to a parallel reality. Maybe this mirror could be the saving grace that the Invictus Order needs…

As we lead up to the launch of Invictus Order and beyond, we intend to continue to tell the story of the Invictus Order, the establishment of the Sector Task Force, and unravel the mysteries behind The Altar. As new details begin to reveal themselves, the Invictus Order community will have a say in how the story develops. This story allows us to engage both holders and non-holders alike while tying the Invictus Order collection and other Iron Hills product offerings into a compelling narrative.

SBT Allowlist Tools

One of the ways we’re planning to provide utility to our holders soon after we launch while also generating sustainable revenue outside of royalties for Iron Hills is by further improving upon and allowing other up-and-coming projects to utilize the same SBT allowlist approach that we have used for Invictus Order.

This tool would allow project founders to easily:

• Create and deploy a SBT for their collection which allows them to manage their allowlist with complete transparency, mitigates bot and troll entries, gives them another marketing avenue, and assists in engaging their community.

• Curate a community that aligns with their values and goals

• View detailed analytics such as acceptance ratios or owner demographics across various platforms.

• Directly engage with established communities to organize collaborations and giveaways.

• Receive suggestions for built-in safeguards, blocklists, and standardized terms of ownership agreements to stay protected and compliant with the ever-changing laws surrounding NFTs, crypto, and web3.

By taking advantage of something our team has already built and stress-tested, we are able to deliver a completed product in less time. Holders of Invictus Order can:

• Utilize this service for their own project at a discount.

• Have the opportunity to receive allowlist spots from projects that use this tool.

Essences, Blessings, and The Altar

Essences, Blessings, and The Altar are our first baby steps towards decentralized ownership within the gaming industry. The point of Essences, Blessings, and The Altar is to put a system in place that can and will be iterated on over time as Invictus Order and Iron Hills grows. We don’t want to speak too much to these things just yet but for the sake of expectation management, we’ll hit on a few points that we feel comfortable talking about at this stage:

• Essences, Blessings, and the Altar will work in tandem together as part of a prototype system of digital assets that will be representative of items in video games.

• Essences and Blessings will both be separate NFT collections. The only way to receive Essences will be through owning an Invictus Order asset (including our SBT).

• There will be multiple different kinds of Essences and which one you receive will be based on the traits of your Invictus Order- hence: trait based utility.

• The story of the Sector Task Force will tie in directly with The Altar.

Dynamic Royalties

Too often in the NFT space, we have seen bad actors benefitting from the immutability and perpetuity of royalties. For a long time, projects have been financially incentivized to make “announcements of announcements” or deliberately mislead their community to create artificial volume and, thus, make more money from royalties. Even during times of bad news, when people are dumping their NFTs, those sales still trigger royalties that get paid to the creators. We hope to solve some of these problems with what we’re calling “dynamic royalties.” Dynamic royalties is a royalty percentage that changes dynamically based on a predetermined algorithm that takes into account floor price, trading volume, the moving averages of both of those figures, and their relativity to the rest of the market. At a high level, the system will work somewhat similar to this:

• As the floor price of a collection increases, the amount that the seller pays in royalties to the creator will decrease.

• During times of highest volume over various timeframes, the amount that the seller pays in royalties to the creator will decrease.

• When a collection’s volume has decreased relative to the rest of the market and relative to that collections previous averages, the amount that the seller pays in royalties to the creator will decrease.

• Royalties will adjust in real time. Buyers and sellers will have some way to quickly and clearly know what the current royalty rate is at any point in time.

We plan to implement dynamic royalties first with Invictus Order and continue to iterate on the algorithms behind it before sharing it with other communities. As with the SBT allowlist system, we hope that this system of dynamic royalties is something that is adopted by other projects in the space.

Long-Term Goals

The best businesses deliver with operational excellence in the short-term while positioning and planning for the long-term in equal proportions. The nature of a business is evolutionary and iterative. The goalpost may, and often does, change. We view our long-term goals as things that will take longer than a year to achieve, more likely multiple years. That being said, these aren’t goals that exist in a vacuum by themselves. Our short-term roadmap informs and leads directly to these longer-term goals.

Back to Our Roots

The creation of Iron Hills and the Invictus Order, from day one, was always about creating a better future for the game that we all loved: Spiral Knights. Over the last year, we have had multiple interactions with the current owners of Spiral Knights. To our interest in continuing the development of Spiral Knights, they have told us that they are not looking to sell the game at this time.

On the topic of Spiral Knights in particular, we want to be very clear and manage expectations: whether or not Iron Hills is ever able to continue the development of Spiral Knights is solely in the hands of the owners. We accept that, and we will keep moving forward on our own path. Even if that never came to fruition, Iron Hills would still have a very clear path forward as a business. We want to put Iron Hills in a position where it has the capacity to acquire and continue the development of Spiral Knights if the day comes that the owners are interested in selling. In the meantime, Iron Hills will continue its work in other areas with Spiral Knights always in the back of our mind.

Gaming Asset Marketplace

The future that we imagine for the gaming industry is one in which characters, items, and experiences can all be owned in a decentralized manner, utilizing underlying blockchain technology. Iron Hills will explore the concept of a marketplace to facilitate such ownership:

• A fast, user friendly experience that obfuscates the underlying blockchain technology from the end user.

• Ability to buy, sell, and trade characters, items, and experiences across platforms and titles.

• Clear and transparent analytics for users on the market value of their gaming asset.

• Ability for gaming companies to receive royalties on the sale of assets from their game.

• Educate both gamers and gaming companies about the implications of blockchain technology and the concept of decentralized ownership on the gaming industry.

• Unobtrusive existence- there if you want it and not in your face if you don’t.

• Secure transactions.

We are not naïve to the fact that this is a monumental goal. This will be far from an overnight creation. In our eyes, there are years of advancement to be had on technology, user experience, security, regulation, and public sentiment before something like this is possible.

Though it may seem idealistic, we believe that kind of future is one worth working towards and we will do our best to make that dream a reality.

Outro

We’re incredibly excited to continue this journey that we started on over a year ago now with you by our side. We have been watching from the sidelines, building in silence but now is our time to take the field (who doesn’t love a good sports metaphor). We hope to continue to grow our community and continue to contribute to the industry in a positive manner. We truly believe in the power of decentralization and blockchain technology to reshape the world as we know it. We fully intend to not just be hanging along for the ride but to be leading the pack for years to come.

For more information about how you can get involved in Invictus Order, follow us on Twitter and join our Discord. Subscribe below to be notified of official Iron Hills communications.