I heard Algorand is getting a new NFT Launchpad
For many creators, launching a large NFT collection in the Algorand ecosystem is an inelegant process. Launching a generative collection, one that assigns random characteristics to a base model, is even more cumbersome.
Algorand’s tools have been somewhat fragmented, often requiring creators to spend time and money in several different locations to bring their projects to life. This has lead many creators to mint their entire collection ahead of time using tools from several different websites and developers.
On Algorand, the launch of pre-minted NFTs is referred to as a “Shuffle” or “Instant Shuffle.”
There has been a growing demand for additional tools and resources to streamline the creation process. Mint-on-demand — the creation of NFTs at the point of purchase via smart contract, robust scheduling, and allowlist tools have been among some of the most requested.
Many blockchains have dedicated NFT Launch Pads that guide the creator process from start to finish. From assembly of image and image data, launch schedules, and other tooling, NFT Launch Pads help cut out a lot of guesswork.
High Forge, part of the AlgoSeas ecosystem, seeks to bring a fully customizable mint-on-demand NFT Launchpad powered by smart contracts to the ecosystem when it launches November 2nd.
Did I mention most of the setup is drag and drop?
In this article I will be giving an overview of the High Forge launchpad and some of the benefits it may bring to the Algorand ecosystem upon a successful launch.
QUICK LINKS
- INTRODUCTION
- BASICS: Setting Project Info, Launch Dates, Mint Limits, Creater Pricing, Alternate Tokens, and Royalties
- IMAGE GENERATING / RESOLVING CONFLICTS: Preview Window, Trait Editing
- REVIEW COLLECTION: Review Collection Window, Collection Stats, Unique Images
- COMMON QUESTIONS
INTRODUCTION
The High Forge landing page welcomes users with a simple message,
“we handle the techy stuff, you focus on the magic.”
It was evident while navigating their demo the team gave a lot of care and attention to detail to every aspect of the process. The prompts are easy to follow. They are written in plain english. And there is a lot of room to customize and see the effects of changes in real time.
Did I mention it’s drag-and-drop?
One can release a 38,000 generative collection — a collection with base model and randomly assigned traits based on the creator’s parameters on a preset date, with creator-set royalties that are guaranteed on their sister AlgoSeas marketplace, without knowing a single line of code.
For the purposes of this article, I did just that.
I simulated a 38,000 piece collection.
BASICS
When I preview platforms, I try to be as thorough as possible. This means treating it as if I’m running through the process myself as someone who knows nothing.
I also press all the buttons and try to break stuff.
And I almost succeed in pressing all the buttons. You’ll see what I mean later.
Entering the High Forge demo for the first time, the information page is very straightforward. A series of fields for basic project info.
I entered the name of my highly original and completely non-derivative collection Algo Crypto DeSkullpunk Yacht Club with accompanying description that will surely send this collection TO THE MOON.
The page also prompts you for an NFT Prefix and Unit Name.
The NFT Prefix is the name that usually appears at the top of listings on NFT Aggregators — Websites that show listings and sales across several NFT marketplaces.
While you can use any word for the NFT Prefix, most collections will use the collection name.
In my demo, I used the acronym ACDYC.
The numbers will be sequentially added as the collection is minted by the buyer. So for my Algo Crypto DeSkullpunk Yacht Club, that means ACDYC1, ACDYC2, ACDYC3, etc…
The Unit Name is the 7 digit ticker symbol that helps sort things in the background. I could have kept continuity and stayed with ACDYC instead of DeSkull, but I wanted to mix it up.
Scheduled Launch Dates
High Forge gives creators the flexibility to set their launch dates themselves, with option to have an Early Access period.
Creators choosing Early Access will receive Allowlist tokens to give to whomever they wish. 1 allowlist token = 1 mint
In my case, I decided to give my Early Access holders a whole 1-minute headstart into collecting my ACDYC collection.
Mint Limit and Creator Pricing
This section is self explanatory, but comes with some useful features like accepting alternate tokens as payments.
For sake of continuity, I’ll tell you my process.
I know I told people in my description that there were going to be 38,000 Algo DeCryptoskull Punks, and needed to back that up, so I set my mint limit to match.
You can also see I gave my holders a very generous discount if they are able to mint within my one-minute Early Access window.
Alternate Token Price
In addition to accepting $ALGO, High Forge allows creators to accept Alternative Tokens.
If you are in Algorand NFTs, you’ll know there are several utility tokens — on Algorand, these are loosely defined as monetarily valueless community tokens that often have freeze and clawback enabled.
[Related Article: Raffle Bees — Utility Token Market]
Utility tokens are used for raffles, access to holders benefits, ‘purchasing’ new NFTs, or upgrading existing NFT collections like Mostly Frens.
$SHRIMP (Shrimpies Shrimp Rewards) is offered as an Alternate Token, so I chose that.
Royalties
Lastly, I set my royalty %.
For this example I set 6.9% “for the culture”; but the standard on Algorand is typically 5% on generative projects. Higher for 1 of 1 images.
Note: NFTs minted on High Forge will have their creator-set royalties honored on AlgoSeas by default.
ROYALTIES Continued
Many collections keep their initial mint price low while relying on income for secondary sales to support development: contracting developers for ecosystem tools, hiring community managers, and purchasing NFTs from other collections as giveaways.
Royalties are the backbone of a healthy ecosystem.
As a collector myself, I tend to look for marketplaces that transparently display creator royalties and marketplaces fees so I can make informed decisions. I want to make sure creators are getting their fair share without having to do a lot of work.
AlgoSeas is incredibly transparent and displays both on each listing!
Alright, so we’ve seen some of the very basic set up for the collection. We’ve set Project Info and Launch Dates. The next element is Image Generation. And this is where High Forge really stands out.
IMAGE GENERATING / RESOLVING CONFLICTS
In the Demo version, High Forge gives you a set of assets from their AlgoSkulls collection to make a mock project.
The .zip file contains backgrounds, skulls, accessories and other image layers to understand how the final product will look.
I was able to add these layers one by one at this stage, make changes to trait names and see how often they occur in the collection.
Preview Window
After adding all the different categories, and editing some settings, I ended up with something like this:
As you can see there are still some conflicts in the layering. The ship’s sails poking through the skull won’t look good in my final product.
Fortunately, High Forge allows users to quickly edit rules for categories, and traits, and tags to fix this.
I won’t go through all of these, but I will show you one example of a simple fix at the trait level.
Trait Editing Window
By default, all categories and traits “play nice with everything.”
In the above example, the sails were in conflict with some of the traits in the “Base” category, so I edited the setting to exclude those.
I generated some new previews to check my work.
After generating a few new Preview Images, the issue was resolved.
HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO TO RECAP
Let’s say you were to release a collection of, I don’t know, 10,000 elephants wearing different hats and accessories like gasmasks while shooting laser beams from their eyes.
In this hypothetical scenario the elephant’s tusks and laser beams are clipping through the gasmask layer and one of your elephant’s ears are somehow spilling unflatteringly out their Bitcoin logo’d hat.
You could mint it as is and use it in your promotional materials.
Or, in the case of the totally made up and not real elephant example, you could avoid a spendy mistake by using High Forge instead; carefully reordering layers, and resolving conflicts at the category, trait, or tag level.
Now you are in the zone!
REVIEW COLLECTION
Once satisfied with the appearance of the collection, users can move to the Review Collection page where they can regenerate images, check Collection Stats, or add Unique Images.
In my initial pass of the collection, I tried to get through this process as quickly as possible, and you can see all the conflicts I left in place.
Below is what it did the first time:
…And this is what I should have done
Collection Stats and Unique Images
The review section is also where you can review your final Collection Stats and add Unique Images.
Collection Stats tell you exactly how many images in your collection share a certain trait.
Unique Images are custom images that have a user defined ID.
Example of Unique Image use case:
I could collaborate with a company like Pact Finance, an Automated Market Maker (AMM) on Algorand.
If I wanted to make a tribute piece for its anniversary on February 22nd (2/22), I could create one using unique traits. I could also take it one step further and change the image ID to 222 so it would show up as ACDYC222 in honor of the anniversary date.
Reviewing Collection Continued
On my first pass through the demo, I got to the Review Collection page with my 38,000 images, and it would not allow me to continue unless I reviewed all of them.
So I did…
…and it took over 30 minutes.
So I asked the good folks at AlgoSeas if there was a way to improve this process…
…and this was their response
In case you are wondering: Scrolling through 38,000 images 5 at a time is roughly 7,600 clicks. Likely a little more because I was extra passionate.
Protip: Look for the Skip Review button if you have large collection and are absolutely confident in your final images.
LAUNCH AND REVIEW
Lastly, I was able check my Launch Page and check to make sure all the information I entered in the first step were correct.
Satisfied with my demo collection, this is where I would hit ‘Launch’ if the option were available.
When the High Forge launchpad goes live on November 2nd, users will be able to run their full launch campaign.
RECAP
High Forge has the potential to be the premier NFT launchpad for generative projects on Algorand. With a smooth UI and accommodations for some of the most common edge cases, High Forge really does “handle the techy stuff” while allowing creators to put more of their time and energy into marketing and development.
The tie-ins to the AlgoSeas’ auctions and buy now platform could make this a one-stop shop for both creators and collectors. A huge step for the ecosystem.
High Forge on Twitter: @highforge.io
High Forge Launchpad: http://www.highforge.io
Algoseas Marketplace: https://algoseas.io/marketplace
You can find me on Twitter at @andrewwindmills
COMMON QUESTIONS
Andrew, what about metadata. What are the specs?
Minted with ARC-69 and ARC-19.
Can creators change collection metadata on High Forge or Algoseas after mint?
Not at launch. However, High Forge switches the managerial address to the creator address during mint via smart contract. This will allow creators to take their collection over to NFTExplorer, Evil Tools, or Kinn to update metadata.
Depending on the platform, this could allow creator to change their images or trait names.
What if I close out of my session on accident? Do I lose my stuff?
Your progress is saved on the client side (you) in your browser, so it can generally be refreshed. In the future there may be additional ways to save progress over longer periods of time.
How much does the High Forge cost for a creator launching a new collection?
High Forge will charge a 0.001 Algo fee per image / asset that needs to be hosted.
High Forge will take 10% from each purchase at time of purchase. However!
Creators launching a campaign can reduce this fee to 5% by redeeming an AlgoSkull.
If launching a collection using utility tokens, then a small network fee will be paid by the buyer.
What are AlgoSkulls?
AlgoSkulls are a utility NFT collection by AlgoSeas, NFT marketplace and creator of High Forge. Skulls can be used to:
- Reduce launchpad fees for creators (by trading in) or sellers (by holding one or more)
- Traded in to be featured on the front page of the AlgoSeas Marketplace
- Used in their idle pirate game
Is Algo Crypto DePunkskull Yacht Club going to be a real collection at some point?
I sincerely hope not.
Side Note: Being a creator is incredibly demanding
To get the best out of the ecosystem, it’s generally best to start as a collector in the community. Learning the market and ecosystem through social media platforms like Twitter and Discord and making genuine connections go a long way to having a successful launch.
Disclaimers and Disclosures
This article is for informational purposes only.
No compensation was taken in exchange for writing this post, including but not limited to allow list spots, tokens, currency in any form, etc.
My opinions are my own.
I purchased one AlgoSkull for full price while testing out the AlgoSeas minting function, but as of this writing hold no other AlgoSeas’ NFTs, digital collectibles, or AlgoSeas tokens.
NFTs, digital collectibles, and digital currencies are all extremely volatile assets.
There is a large chance assets will lose some or all of their monetary value.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal, tax, or investment advice. Nothing in this article is a replacement for one’s own proper due diligence.
We do not take any responsibility for any action or inaction resulting from the information in this article. Use of any website, link, application, etc. is at a user’s own risk.
