What is Substrata? Where can I find more information about this project?
Substrata is a free, online 3D metaverse, where users can explore, chat, play and build.
You can find more information at this page on our website: about Substrata
Is there a roadmap?
There is not a formal roadmap, but you can read about some of the goals for the project on this page: about Substrata
Who is behind Substrata?
The company behind Substrata is Glare Technologies Limited. We are also the developers of Indigo Renderer and Chaotica Fractals.
You say Substrata is a ‘metaverse’. What does that mean?
We are aiming for Substrata to become one of the most important, and maybe the dominant 3D metaverse on the internet – just like the Web is the dominant '2D metaverse' today.
The main world on substrata.info is where new users will join the world. The centre of this world will be like a town square or forum.
Each user also has their own personal world, which anyone can visit, at sub://substrata.info/username in the Substrata client software. Users can upload and build whatever they want in there (with some disk usage limits etc..)
In future you will be able to run some server software on your own server, to serve data for your substrata.info parcel.
Therefore the ‘metaverse’ label refers to this future roadmap to have a series of interlinked worlds contained within Substrata, with users having the option of running their own Substrata servers.
What is the link between Substrata and CryptoVoxels?
We are currently embedding a snapshot of the CryptoVoxels world in Substrata, for testing and fun purposes!
To explore the CryptoVoxels world, just install and run Substrata, and then select from the menu bar: Go > Go to CryptoVoxels World
Note, this is a snapshot of the CryptoVoxels world and is likely to be out of date.
How can I buy a Substrata parcel?
Parcels will be regularly available for sale on the Substrata website and on OpenSea. The best way to learn about upcoming sales is to follow Substrata on Twitter and the parcel sale announcement channel on Discord.
If there are no auctions running at the moment, you could also try and purchase a parcel in the secondary market on OpenSea.
Is Substrata built on the blockchain?
By default, parcels in Substrata are not NFTs. However, once you own a parcel you can request that your parcel be minted as an Ethereum NFT.
In addition, we sometimes mint the parcels as NFTs from the beginning and then auction them on OpenSea.
Therefore, parcels for sale on the Substrata website will not be NFTs (but can be made into NFTs on request), whereas parcels for sale on OpenSea will already be NFTs.
How to mint a parcel you own as an NFT
1) Log into your existing account at the Substrata website: account
2) In the parcels section you should see the parcels you own listed.
3) With Metamask installed in your web browser, link your Substrata account to your eth address. You do this by signing a message with Metamask.
4) Navigate to the parcel you want to create as an NFT in the account section. Click that you want to mint the parcel as an NFT. You do not need to pay the eth gas fee for minting the NFT – that will be covered by Substrata.
5) The request to mint the NFT will be added to the Substrata queue. You’ll need to wait for the NFT to be minted by Nick. Note, this is still a semi-manual process so there may be a delay.
6) Once the minting process is complete, the eth address linked to your substrata account will be assigned as the owner of the Substrata parcel. The parcel should appear on the OpenSea account for your eth address.
How do I claim ownership of an NFT I bought in Substata itself?
1) Log in to your account (or create one) at the Substrata website: account
2) If you haven’t already, link your Substrata account to the eth address you control which owns the Substrata NFT. To do this you’ll need Metamask installed in your web browser, and to then sign a message to prove you own the eth address.
3) Go to prove parcel owner by nft The website should display your linked eth address if you have successfully linked your Substrata account to your eth address.
4) Type in the parcel number you own as an NFT (e.g. 151) and click the claim parcel button. Wait a few seconds for the process to work. Once the process is complete, the parcel should be listed on the account page.
How do I update the screenshots for my parcel on the Substrata website/Opensea?
1) Log into your existing account at the Substrata website: account
2) In the parcels section you should see the parcels you own listed. Click on the parcel for which you want the screenshot to be updated.
3) Near the bottom of the page you will see ‘Parcel owner tools’. Click ‘regenerate screenshots’.
4) Wait a few minutes. The images should then update on both the Substrata website and OpenSea.
Note: the screenshotting process is done by the Screenshot bot. If the process isn’t working you can check the status of the bot: bot status
How do I update the description of my parcel on the Substrata website?
1) Log into your existing account at the Substrata website: account
2) In the parcels section you should see the parcels you own listed. Click on the parcel for which you want the description to be updated.
3) Click ‘Edit description’ and input your changes.
Is it possible to share ownership of parcels in Substrata?
Yes, it is possible to add other users as ‘writers’ of your parcel. This means the user will be able to create, edit and delete objects in your parcel.
1) Log into your existing account at the Substrata website: account
2) On your user page, navigate to the parcel you want to share.
3) Click ‘add writer’ and input the Substrata username of the user you want to add as a writer for your parcel.
Another option is you can make your parcel temporarily or permanently ‘All Writeable’ so that any user can add, edit and delete objects in your parcel. To do this, select your parcel in world and in the object editor check the ‘All Writeable’ box.
How do I create objects in Substrata?
To create an object in the main world you need to either be in a parcel you own or the sandbox (parcel #20). Alternatively you could create objects in your personal world where there are no restrictions.
There are two ways to create models. In the client you can either select ‘Add Model / Image / Video’ and follow the dialogue prompts. Or you can create a model inside Substrata using voxels by selecting ‘Add Voxels’ (see the following question for more information).
Supported model formats are: OBJ, GLTF, GLB, VOX, STL and IGMESH
Supported image formats are: JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF, EXR, KTX, KTX2
Supported video formats are: MP4
Note: please do not add models with a very large number of polygons, or with large file sizes (including textures), as it may cause performance issues for other users.
How do voxels work in Substrata?
You can either add a voxel created outside Substrata (i.e. add a 3d model in one of the supported formats), or create a voxel inside Substrata itself.
To create a voxel in Subsrata move to a parcel where you have edit privileges and click ‘Add Voxels’ – this creates the first block (a grey cube). A help box should pop up with extra information on how to edit voxels.
The main thing to know is that once you’ve selected the voxel you can ‘Ctrl + left-click’ to add a voxel on the surface of the cube you click on. When you hold down Ctrl and hover over a voxel you will see a preview of where the new voxel will appear when you click.
Note voxels do not have to remain a perfect cube. You can amend the dimensions of the voxel by tweaking the ‘Scale’ of the object in the Editor box.
How do I animate objects in Substrata?
Scripting in the Substrata metaverse is currently done with the Winter programming language. You can read more on the Substrata website about scripting
In short, to make a script for an object, you edit code in the 'Script' text edit box in the object editor in the Substrata client, after selecting an object. You can only edit scripts on objects that you own (e.g. that you created).
Does Substrata have any policies on what stuff I can put in my parcel?
Yes. For example 'Not-safe-for-work' parcel content is not currently allowed. This includes sexual content and violence.
For more information, please read the Terms of Service on our website: terms
I'm having problems with Substrata – where can I get help?
The best place to get support is on the Substrata discord channel: https://discord.com/invite/R6tfYn3