This blog post is going to explain everything you need to know about Clastr. How Clastr will work, why it will work, and what are some of the Pros of Clastr over competitors.
Keep in mind that we are still a startup, and these things may change in the future.
General questions:
How does Clastr work?
We will connect those gamers who don't have gaming PCs with people who have strong PCs and live nearby. The connection will be direct, peer-2-peer, and will allow gamers to play the newest games with small latency. Strong PC owners who are going to provide their PC on our platform will earn money for their service.
How far along are we?
We have been working on a similar project as a part of the student's competition since March 2020.
We started working on Clastr part-time somewhere in mid-October, and now we are working part-time since we still haven't got enough money to leave our jobs and work full-time on Clastr. The idea is to gather an investment, start paying ourselves some modest salary so we can go full-time on Clastr.
When will Clastr be released?
Clastr will be released for testing in around 2 months, which is around middle of the summer of 2021. Clastr beta will be launched in spring 2022.
How will Clastr work in the beginning?
In the beginning (testing phase) you will be able to connect only to your friend's PC, and if you would want to rent out your PC, you will be recommended to rent it only to your friends. This is because we want to make sure that our platform is safe for both parties, and this takes time. This is why we want to ensure that you would only connect to a friend you trust with your PC. The friend playing at your PC will still be able to donate to you in order to play for electricity, and donate to us so we can improve our service & launch full-version ASAP.
Will you be able to use your PC while renting it?
At the beginning, no. After we create a sandbox within Windows, you will be able to allocate the certain amount of memory/GPU/CPU to Clastr, and use the rest while gamer is playing at your PC.
What is the biggest difference compared to competitors?
The main difference between us and our competitors is that we are, in fact, creating a "network" of gamers who have the hardware, both good and bad, and will be able to "exchange it" how they want. This will disrupt the current paradigm of cloud gaming where companies need to build servers in order to scale & pay for servers when people aren't even using them.
Our main focus is gaming, but in the future we want to be a full-desktop solution for both gamers, business people, freelancers, companies etc.
We will write about the differences between our competitors & ourselves in the upcoming blogs.
How much will Clastr cost / How much will provider earn at Clastr?
Clastr cost will depend on several factors: region you're located in, PC you are renting, Provider's demand, electricity cost, time spent gaming, etc.
As a provider, your total profit will depend on the above factors & the time you spent renting out your PC.
How will we charge to gamers?
We will charge by an hour, and take a percentage of the Provider's revenue. We are also considering subscription type of payments, but we will need more time so we can see if this plan will work.
Security & Privacy
How will we handle security for Providers at the beginning?
We will make sure that providers are only giving access for their PCs to their friends. Therefore, you won't be able to make money with your PC right away, except if your friend donates to you personally.
How will we handle security for Providers in later stages?
As already mentioned, we will create a virtual machine within Provider's desktop,and gamers will only have access to that VM & applications installed on VM. Gamers won't be able to access the Provider's desktop.
Will provider be able to see what you are playing?
No, your screen will be blurred to a provider, so that provider can see that you are in-game, but they won't be able to see what you are doing, typing, mouse movements etc.
How will we handle save files & other metadata?
We will probably use Blockchain / DAG to handle the saved data & other metadata info.
Will I be able to use VPN with Clastr?
No, because we will need your exact IP in order to connect you to the best-fit provider in your area.
Connectivity & Bottlenecks
How close I would have to be to provider in order to get a good quality connection?
This depends on several factors: Your internet speed, Provider's internet speed, Type of connection (5G, Wi-Fi, Optical cable connection & other), ISP, and physical distance between the gamer and the provider. We are currently testing our service, and after the testing we will be able to say more about the service.
What type of connection is best for Clastr?
The best connection is optical cable on both providers and gamers side. Providers will need to have a good upload speed (20-30mbps & more) and be connected via optical cable. The gamer will have the choice on how they will connect to provider, but the optical cable connection will be optimal.
What FPS will I have as a gamer?
Depends on a strength of a PC you rent. You may have up to 60FPS on FullHD resolution.
Where we are right now and what we are doing
We are currently working hard to develop a public MVP which you will be able to test somewhere in summer 2021. Other than that we are focused on creating a database of users who are interested in testing or using Clastr.
Our core values
Transparency
We want to be transparent & open with our ideas & execution. We believe that users who are using Clastr need to know what Clastr is doing and where the company is going.
Community
Community is a great part of our identity. We believe creating a strong community will help us increase value that we are giving to the people, and also increase our revenue by a significant amount.
Security
Creating a secured network is our top priority. We want everyone to feel & be secured. This is why we are going to take security personally.
Feedback
If you have something to say or share with us, please don't hasitate to do so. We are strongly encouraging you to give us your feedback so we can improve in the future.
Technology
Technology is driving innovation, and it's helping us achieve our goals. We value our tecnology and we believe it is going to help to make the world a better place.
Team
Having a compact team that can solve the difficult problems is necessarry in order to bring value to the market. We cherish our team and want it to get bigger, improve both individually & as a team.
Conclusion
We are a small team, but we take Clastr very seriously. We want it to grow, but we also want to remain agile so we can quickly adapt to new situations. We hope to bring you the full version of Clastr in the summer 2022, and we can only promise that we will work as hard as we can to succeed in our endeavors.
