The new downloadable desktop client for 3D metaverse Decentraland marks the revamped 2.0 release of this virtual world that now comes with a host of upgrades and features that all help in delivering a smoother and more engaging blockchain gaming experience.
What’s New in Decentraland 2.0?
The new version comes packed with plenty of updates the developers have been working on the past few months in an effort to “rebuild the virtual world’s client from the ground up,” according to last week’s announcement. These plans were previously teased in their 2024 Manifesto early this year, and according to a Discord announcement, came as a result of the team recognizing the need “for a more robust and high-performing experience” following the end of their Music Festival 2023 in November last year.
Almost a year later, the new overhauled desktop client is now officially live, moving the virtual world away from being a browser-based experience to now being a downloadable client, giving the developers more room to further enhance their blockchain-powered world with new features and smoother gameplay.
That being said, the Decentraland 2.0 release not only introduces a desktop client, but it also brings with it better performance, more immersive environments, upgraded avatars, enhanced social features, Badges, Daily Quests, Mini-Games, the Creator Hub, and even more smaller and larger changes, such as a new map, improved Backpack, and so on. This launch could also pave the way for future expansion to other platforms such as mobile and VR.
Load times should now be faster than ever before, and higher frame rates should now be easily achievable even in crowded places, making social occasions and overall multiplayer gameplay more enjoyable. Environments now feel more immersive thanks to a complete graphical overhaul that comes with increased render distance that lets you see farther than ever, “with the horizon loading scenes even 80 parcels away.” Further enhancing visual fidelity is the introduction of binary suns and moons to Genesis City, which is now actually an island. Parcels that haven’t been worked on now feature wonderful procedurally-generated landscapes that are “complete with fluttering leaves, flowing streams, chirping birds, and dappled sunlight.”
Avatars have been upgraded with better animations and physics interaction improvements that make them move more naturally than before while reacting accordingly to their surroundings. This means that the character’s head will now move based on where you’re moving the camera, while standing next to a tree will cause your avatar to touch it. More of these avatar enhancements are said to be planned as well.
With this new version, you can now see a chat bubble pop up when conversing in the world, so you don’t have to look at the chat box when talking with someone next to you. It even comes with emoji support. You can look forward to seeing more social features added in the future.
Badges are achievements that let you show off your progress to other players on your profile. There are unique and tiered Badges, and they’re divided into various categories related to explorer, socializer, creator, and builder-related successes. Daily Quests are a list of challenges you can complete each day to earn either a Wearable or Emote. Most of the challenges are related to the new Mini-Games you can enjoy throughout this Ethereum-powered world, and you can check out what the quests are for the day by clicking the rocket icon in the top left corner of the screen.
The Creator Hub is not part of the client itself, but is rather a new program you can download to easily create scenes using drag-and-drop tools. It also features advanced coding for experts looking to unlock more possibilities, and the software comes packaged with all of the metaverse’s resources and asset packs so that creators have everything they need in one place. The Decentraland Creator Hub can be downloaded on Windows and Mac for free here.
Check out the official announcement as well as the new detailed White Paper 2.0 for more details on Decentraland 2.0, which can be downloaded through the link in this official X post.
Play to Earn $MANA in Decentraland’s Mini-Games Tournament
If you missed the inaugural parade for the client that took place on October 22nd, then you may not want to miss out on the Mini-Games Tournament, which starts on October 28th at 11 PM UTC and lasts only 1 hour.
By participating in this new competition organized by the Decentraland Foundation, you stand a chance of winning 250 $MANA by being among the winners topping the scoreboards across 5 different mini-games. All 5 winners will get 250 $MANA tokens each, so if you want to test your gaming skills to earn what is currently ~$71 worth of tokens, then download the desktop client and head over to Genesis Plaza five minutes before the tournament starts to find out what new mini-games await so you can be a bit more prepared to top the leaderboards. Before the event starts, you may also want to go the special Wearable dispenser in Genesis Plaza to gear yourself up with the exclusive Gamepocket Wearable by Meryshark.
After this event, there will be 2 community parties, one cross-cultural, Halloween-themed on November 1st at 10 PM UTC, while the other is a pre-festival party taking place on November 12th at 10:30 PM UTC, a week before this year’s Music Festival begins. $MANA prizes are up for grabs in those parties, but also for taking pictures in “Get High”, an exploration-based event in which the Decentraland community goes on a tour of the virtual world’s highest viewpoints to get some stunning panoramic views and earn the Vertical Voyager Badge for climbing at least 500 meters in elevation. That one starts on November 7th at 7 PM UTC.
