It’s been quite a while since we’ve posted here on Steemit, which is a bit of a pitty as Steemit was one of the first platforms that we were really active on.

With that in mind, we feel that it’s high time that we fix this; so we’ve come up with a special series especially for Steemit.

We like to plan what we’re going to talk about in our Community platforms ahead of time, as this allows us to get the developers to prepare videos and screenshots of the game being worked on. So every Monday, here on Steemit, we’re going to look at the specific theme of the week and really break it down for you.

We’ve got two themes for this week, the creative history of the Ernacks, and the development of the Crystal Scourges multiple phases of resistance.

So without further ado, let’s get into it.

The Creative History of the Ernacks

It can be said that the Ernacks represent Hash Rush, they are our first truly unique race that has been with us since the very start of the game.

The shape and style of the Ernacks started with our co-founders, Kris and Nathan. As Hash Rush was originally a game directly related to cryptocurrency mining, the guys wanted the Ernacks to represent this visually, and the first thing that came was that the Ernacks should look like a hooded miner.

Whatsmore, they wanted to take a slightly different route to many modern RTS games; instead of going for a serious look, they wanted to go for a more silly-cute factor, so in came the little robes and the large bright eyes.

Here’s a fun fact, the original name was ‘the Knacks’ however as ‘Knack’ was already a video game they had to change it a bit, and eventually came up with the Ernacks as the name.

The Ernacks would become the first of three races designed for Hash Rush, with the other two taking a more traditional Human-based race and a corrupted Elf-based race.

The Ernacks in the Pre-Alpha version

One of the rewards for our early backers was access to a special Hash Rush Pre-Alpha. This was the very first playable version of the game and was designed to show our backers that we were seriously working on a game.

The pre-alpha also saw the Ernacks make their first in-game appearance, and though they can be recognized (as their design is very unique) they had a very different model compared to the current game.

Game Development Progress - The Crystal Scourge

The next part of this article looks at the work that our awesome developers over at Tractor, Set, Go! have been working on.

A key part of Hash Rush is the game loop, it is what keeps the game interesting and what challenges the player. The loop found in Hash Rush is that every planet can be completed (in the form of cleansing it of the Crystal Scourge), and once completed, the player starts on a new planet. Right now, we only have the single planet biome in the game, however, we are working on a desert planet and a frozen planet right now, and many more to come.

The Crystal Scourge is what we call the AI opponent, as it is what directly resists the player's attempts to cleanse the planet.

Players cleanse the planet by removing all of the Crypto Crystals that are embedded in the planet. From the lore’s perspective, these Crystals are slowly corrupting all life found on the planet, hence the necessity of the task.

Controlling the Crystal Scourge is the Crystal Titan, the end-of-planet boss that the player will ultimately have to defeat in order to put an end to the Crystal Scourge. However, the path to encountering the Titan is a long one, as the Crystal Scourge has set up multiple phases of resistance.

This week, we’re looking at the first phase, the Crystal Fog.

The Crystal Fog is a shroud that covers the entire planet and has a powerful ability to inject fear into the hearts and minds of anyone bold enough to venture into it. However, the fog has one major weakness, light. Therefore, in order to properly lift the fog, the player will have to build lamp poles, as these structures will create an area of light, pushing the fog back.

The Crystal Fog also serves as a very core feature found in almost every RTS game, a fog of war.

If you’re not sure what a ‘fog of war; is, think like an explorer who is exploring a previously un-mapped area. You travel into an unknown area, mapping the terrain as you go. When doing so, you can mark the static objects such as trees, lakes, mountains, etc with ease, however, what you cannot do is create a map that shows the real-time movement of the creatures that move around in that area, this is pretty much how the fog of war works!

This marks the end of this week’s article. Join us next week for more on the history of the Ernacks, along with a look at the second phase of resistance (there are 6 in total).