NiftyDOS NFT — The first ever NFT Operating System
Nifty DOS NFTs in a Nutshell
NiftyDOS NFTs are vaporwave inspired interactive works of art. These NFTs are unlike any other NFT art to date. Each NiftyDOS NFT comes with 3 distinct things, namely a unique collectible NiftyDOS artwork, your very own 1-of-1 Mr Pencil PFP character, and access to the NiftyDOS operating system with its 22 web applications. NiftyDOS also exists within the context of a fun and mysterious origin story, which includes spacefaring futuristic apes, a parallel universe, and lost digital relics rediscovered.
The collection is capped at 10,000 NFTs and NiftyDOS NFTs will be available for purchase at mint on the 28th of April at 6 PM EST. These NFTs are on the Ethereum blockchain. Continue reading this article for more information on the magical world of NiftyDOS.
The origin story of “The Lost DOS” — Spacefaring Apes rediscovering a software relic from the past
NiftyDOS brings you the mind bending time travel plot that only a 1980s Sci-Fi film could deliver. So jump into the nearest DeLorean and buckle up for the ride.
According to the NiftyDOS NFT website text and intro video, the story of the lost operating System goes something like this. In a parallel universe in the early 1980’s, a team of extraordinary computer scientists, artists, and dreamers set out to build an operating system like no other. Based on the idea that no two instances should be alike, NiftyDOS was born.
Years passed and NiftyDOS was lost to the sands of time. In a distant future, a spaceship carrying highly evolved apes crashes into the now dystopian desert wasteland the planet has turned into. On an excursion out in the dunes beyond the crashed spaceship, one of these spacefaring apes then rediscovers the long lost retro NiftyDOS operating systems protruding from the sand.
In this same distant future, these unique NiftyDOS Operating Systems are then repackaged and sold as NFTs. This origin story is part Planet of the Apes, part Dune, part Star Wars inspired, and creates the possibility for an open ended NiftyDOS universe.
Although quite rare, origin stories for art collections are not exclusive to the world of NFT art. In 2017, contemporary artist Damien Hirst revealed his Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable Collection. Hirst created an fictitious origin story around the artworks in his collection, claiming that they had been lost in a legendary shipwreck some 2,000 years ago, and that he and his team of divers had discovered the wreckage and raised the artefacts from the seabed. Hirst even filmed a short mockumentary to better explain his origin story narrative.
What do you get? A 3-in-1 NFT
So here we are, presented now with a collection of 10,000 NFTs maximum.
Ownership of a NiftyDOS NFT will come with three elements, with each offering its holder an entirely different experience:
- 1x Unique Collectible NiftyDOS Artwork — Each NFT is visually represented by a unique 1-of-1 square artwork piece which is a digital collage made up of elements of the NiftyDOS Operating System. These have a specific background color theme, a Nifty Screensaver theme (floating elements), a visual preview of one of the 22 NiftyDOS Apps, and your very own distinct Mr Pencil in the lower right corner of the digital composition. A real groundbreaking thing here is that these artworks are not static images, but rather interactive artworks (interactive even directly in Opensea!).
- 1x MR PENCIL — A PFP and your very own and unique personal assistant — When you interact with your unique version of the NiftyDOS operating system, you will be able to interact with your Mr Pencil Personal Assistant. Mr Pencil pops up on request when you click on the “?” box on the bottom right bar in the OS. Each Mr Pencil is made up of several attributes that make up his unique DNA. They include a hat or wig, facial hair, glasses, mouths, skin tone, jewelry, collar color, and pencil base color. No two Mr Pencils are the same.
- 1x OPERATING SYSTEM ACCESS to 22 web applications — Ownership of a NiftyDOS NFT gives you access to all of the applications of the NiftyDOS Operating System. You can access an interactive version of the Operating System directly from within Opensea. The NiftyDOS Operating System comes built-in with a myriad of retro and at times intentionally glitchy apps that remind us of the start of the personal PC software area. Some of these apps include hidden clues and easter eggs, which will be useful in solving hidden puzzles and mysteries for the treasure hunt. More on this later.
The style — A tribute to vaporwave and early software design
When reviewing this project and its artistic aspects, we notice the many artistic references to retro design, user interface design from the early age of personal computing, as well as references to vaporwave style screensavers, early gaming software, digital office assistants, and the first basic computing applications.
For those of you who don’t know, Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style that emerged in the early 2010s. From a more visual dimension, Vaporwave is a subculture and digital art movement of the internet that is characterized by the inclusion of nostalgic media formats, glitch art, retro software UI, 1980s retail design, and washed out color palettes. NiftyDOS NFTs incorporate stylistic elements from the vaporwave style, but draws inspiration from several other sources and styles.
The website’s intro video and several of the graphics in the operating system are inspired by sci-fi cartoons, while other aspects of the DOS borrow from 8 bit art, NFT culture, but also traditional pop art.
Vaporwave art also frequently references consumerism by utilising advertisements, television commercials, and corporate logos throughout the art. In NiftyDOS, you will also discover a wide array of old fashioned spoof consumer pop up ads.
Backgrounds — Infinity Grid and gradients
There are 12 background variants in the Nifty DOS Operating System. Each background is made up of an infinity grid, which is a flat plane that edges out into the distance and becomes less visible as it moves further back. Every time the operating system is relaunched, a few different squares on the grid become filled while the rest remain empty. Behind the grid lies the gradient color, which at times can be 2 or 3 toned, or in other instances fully monochromatic (black or white). The background grid folds down in a simple elegant animation every time the operating system is launched or refreshed. In some colorways, the infinity grid background is reminiscent of sci-fi films such as Tron.
The Nifty Screensavers — The fun background floating elements
There are 17 Nifty Screensaver themes that appear in the NiftyDOS Operating Systems. These screensavers are somewhat unique and feature groups of commonly themed graphic elements that float or make their way from one side of the screen to the other and back. These include, but are not limited to, groups of jockeys racing on unicorns with rainbows coming out of their backsides, cartoon airplanes flying through clouds, submarines navigating between 8 bit fish, and more.
While nowadays, screen savers are mostly used as a means of relaxation, or purely decorative purpose, the very first concept of a screen saver was invented well before the introduction of the personal computer by Robert A Heinlein in his 1961 novel Stranger in a strange land.
In the case of NiftyDOS, the floating elements in the screensavers have mainly a cosmetic and entertainment value. However, in the past, this was noy always the case. The graphic user interfaces displayed in NiftyDOS trailer and its advertising material clearly remind us of a time when computer monitors were equipped with a cathode ray tube. The problem with cathode ray tube hardware was that its electron gun could erode the phosphor screen coating when showing a persistent image for a long time, creating a ghost image that would never leave. Therefore, unlike in NiftyDOS, screensavers of old served a real technical use case.
NiftyDOS screen background honors these timeless screensavers. In the graphic below, we use 17 icons to represent the different NiftyDOS Sreensaver themes.
Software Assistant — Hi, I’m Mr Pencil!
NiftyDOS comes with your very own unique personal assistant, who pops up from a corner of the Operating System when prompted (when you click on the “?” box). Each time he is summoned, Mr Pencil will prompt you with something different, either a nerdy computing joke, or a message encouraging you to try a certain app. Mr Pencil is certainly a reminder of Clippy, the paper clip cartoon assistant built into Microsoft Windows Office (1997 to 2003). Unlike Clippy NiftyDOS’ Mr. Pencil incorporates style elements from 8 bit art and iconic crypto characters such as the CryptoPunks.
The anatomy of Mr Pencil — All Mr Pencils are unique, no 2 are the same. Below is a list of all attributes that make up each Mr Pencil.
Notes: HAT includes hats, beanies, and wigs. BLING is not present on all Mr Pencils. MOUTH includes mouth + facial hair.
22 NiftyDOS Apps — an interactive work of art.
From a weather app that tells you the approximate weather right now and a news app that attempts to predict the future rather badly but in a humorous way, to fantastic features that will have you wondering “wait is that not actually a bug?”, NiftyDOS gives you a nostalgic and whimsical glimpse into the magical world of 1980s computer technology.
The 22 apps are accessible from the desktop video as soon as you launch the NiftyDOS operating system. Simply click (or tap on mobile) on the app icon of the app you would like to play with. Each of the 22 apps has its own unique and bespoke 8 bit art app icon. Some are square and more traditional in design, while others such as the Quiz app or Meow Friends app have more distinct shapes.
Gaming Apps
The tribute to retro computing continues with the gaming applications. Back in October 1958, Physicist William Higinbotham created what is thought to be the first video game. It was a very simple tennis game, similar to the classic 1970s video game Pong, and it was quite a hit at a Brookhaven National Laboratory open house. Today, NiftyDOS brings you a basic Ping game hosted in a colorful blue GAMEDUDE 3000 UI console. Other games include the Quizz, Unicorn Chicken Run, Cobra Munchies, TicTacToe, and Bricks.
Creative Apps
NiftyDOS is not only the first NFT Operating System, it’s also one of the first NFTs with which you can create micro pieces of content. The Paint app allows you to create and save small 8 bit artwork drawings, while the Sequencer app allows users to create short looping musical beats using up to 6 instruments and with the option of changing the BPM (beats per minute).
Utilities Apps
The NiftyDOS operating system includes utilities apps, such as the settings app and the commands app which allow users to change the way they interact with the DOS. Other utilities apps include the highly impractical calculator app, which reshuffles its digit buttons after every operation, as well as the weather app.
Other Apps
There is a range of other entertaining and visually captivating apps. The Psychic Predictions app features a pair of magician hands hovering over a blue ball. When clicked on (or tapped in mobile), the app offers viewers a new and whimsical prediction which has more entertainment value than prediction value. The Maps app showcases a large 2D map of the imaginary Ye Old Nifty Dos Island, with its own lagoon, volcano, unicorn racing stadium, and more. The intentionally tacky pink MeowFrens app, a sort of tinder style spoof cat adoption app, showcases the profiles of several imaginary friendly felines who are seeking adoption.
Useless Apps
The NiftyDOS Operating System also includes several seemingly less useful apps, such as the Compass app, which showcases a bespoke compass that erratically spins in all directions, as well as the Robot language app which displays a rain of green Japanese characters and alphanumeric symbols on a black background. Although these apps do not seem to have a clear utility, they are in themselves components of the interactive work of art that is NiftyDOS.
Glitches, error messages, and easter eggs
There is also an array of fun and interactive spoof error messages, glitches, and intentional bugs in the operating system. These include reshuffling keys in the calculator app, spoof pop up ads that can be activated from the settings app, and more. These intentional bugs offer users a fun user experience, and are as much part of the interactive artwork as the other components of the DOS.
How does Rarity work? NFT Rarity and Rarity Ranking
Like most other NFT collections, NiftyDOS NFTs also have a rarity system based on the rarity of the intrinsic attributes that make up each NFT.
Every NiftyDOS NFT is unique and made up of the following attributes:
- Backgrounds: 12 in total
- Nifty Screensavers: 17 in total
- Apps: 22 in total (all 22 included in every interactive version of the DOS, but only 1 out of 22 app previous shown in the Unique Collectible NiftyDOS Artwork)
- Mr Pencil speech bubble text variants in static collective artwork: 19 in total
- Mr Pencil Attributes: 7 attributes with 111 variants in total.
Below is a more detailed list of the Mr Pencil attributes and variants:
- Hat (Hats, Beanies, and Wigs): 18 variants
- Skin Color: 10 variants
- Mouths (Mouth + Facial Hair combos): 17 variants
- Glasses: 38 variants
- Neck (Collar Color): 9 variants
- Cylinder Color: 10 variants
- Bling (Jewellery earrings and necklaces): 9 variants
Based on this, there are theoretically over 90 million possible permutations / possible versions of Mr Pencil, but only 10,000 max will be created. As the Mr Pencil is itself only a part of the NiftyDOS NFT, all in all, as there are 4 other attribute fields for each NiftyDOS NFT, there are thus over 8 trillion possible permutations. This is a testament to the amount of artworks and components that make up this unique NFT collection. That being said, these NFTs will be scarce, every single one will be unique, and only 10,000 will be available maximum.
After the sale and NFT reveal, there will be a publication of the rarity rank of each of these NFTs from the NiftyDOS collection.
It is important to remember that NiftyDOS NFTs are designed to be beautiful digital interactive artworks. Beyond rank and rarity, you may choose to collect them based on their intrinsic beauty and your appreciation for certain pieces or designs in particular.
Bigger Picture
In conclusion, we believe that NiftyDOS NFTs are unprecedented and groundbreaking works of interactive digital art. With each NiftyDOS NFT, collectors get a lot with their NFT, namely a collectible digital collage, a unique PFP, and access to the NiftyDOS Operating System with its 22 different apps. The NiftyDOS universe is also intriguing and the inclusion of clues and puzzles inside the DOS allow for a fun and interactive treasure hunt experience after the NFTs are revealed. NiftyDOS is the first of its kind and really offers something quite unique when compared to what is available today in the NFT space. Finally, the NiftyDOS universe is also quite open ended, and although mysterious, the intriguing origin story and a lot of the context gives room for further possible expansion of the NiftyDOS universe.
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NiftyDOS NFTs will be available for purchase at mint on the 28th of April at 6 PM EST from and only from the NiftyDOS official website: https://niftydos.com
The NiftyDOS collection is capped at 10,000 NFTs max.
Please Note:
NiftyDOS is solely a creative art project. It is not a stock, not a club subscription, and not a financial investment. Prices of these NFTs may go up or down.
