Olympia Development Series — Part 2: Welcome to the Gorgoroth Trials

Welcome to the Gorgoroth Trials

The Ethereum Classic community is invited to participate in the Gorgoroth Trials - a comprehensive alpha testing campaign for Fukuii, a high-performance Scala 3 implementation of the Ethereum Classic protocol. This is your opportunity to help validate Fukuii's compatibility and readiness before mainnet deployment.

Named after the volcanic plateau in Mordor where Sauron trained his armies, the Gorgoroth Trials represent a crucible through which Fukuii must pass to prove its mettle alongside battle-tested clients like Core-Geth and Hyperledger Besu.

What Are the Battlenets?

The Battlenets are specialized testing environments designed to validate different aspects of Fukuii's implementation. Each Battlenet isolates a specific dimension of client behavior, allowing testers to observe how Fukuii performs under controlled but realistic protocol conditions. Together, these environments create a structured pathway for validating networking, mining, consensus, and interoperability before advancing toward mainnet readiness.

Gorgoroth — The Multi-Client Proving Ground

Gorgoroth is a private test network where Fukuii faces off against Core-Geth and Hyperledger Besu in controlled combat scenarios. Here we validate:

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  Network Communication - Can Fukuii shake hands with diverse peers?
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  Mining Compatibility - Do blocks mined by different clients achieve consensus?
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  Protocol Compatibility - Does Fukuii speak the same language as Core-Geth and Besu?
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  Faucet Service - Can testnet tokens flow to those who need them?

Configurations Available:

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  3nodes - 3 Fukuii nodes (baseline validation)
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  fukuii-geth - 3 Fukuii + 3 Core-Geth nodes
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  fukuii-besu - 3 Fukuii + 3 Besu nodes
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  mixed - 3 Fukuii + 3 Core-Geth + 3 Besu nodes (ultimate test)

Estimated time: 1–2 hours for basic validation.

Why Community Validation Matters

Community testing ensures Fukuii is evaluated under real-world conditions that no internal environment can fully replicate, revealing compatibility issues and stability concerns early. By running Fukuii on diverse machines, networks, and configurations, testers expose edge cases that only emerge outside controlled lab scenarios. This collective effort accelerates maturity, strengthens client reliability, and builds confidence ahead of broader ecosystem adoption.

How to Participate in the Gorgoroth Trials

Participation is simple: choose a trial configuration, run the test suite, record your experience, and share your results to help refine the client before mainnet readiness. Before starting, ensure your environment includes Java 21, SBT for building and managing the Scala project, and Python 3 for running the supporting test scripts. Testers should also confirm they have a reliable network connection, adequate disk space, and permission to execute local scripts, as these setup factors often surface edge cases that help strengthen Fukuii’s real-world robustness.

Testing Timeline

The timeline below outlines the alpha testing window and the sequence of review and refinement phases leading into the planned beta release. These milestones are part of the broader preparation for the Olympia upgrade, where reliable multi-client support becomes essential for testing EVM compatibility changes and validating BASEFEE-related improvements. As Fukuii progresses through alpha, beta, and production-readiness stages, its stability and interoperability will directly strengthen the network’s ability to adopt Olympia with confidence and maintain ETC’s commitment to a diverse and resilient client ecosystem.

Documentation

Comprehensive guides and testing references are available to help you navigate the Gorgoroth Trials, troubleshoot issues, and explore advanced validation paths like Cirith Ungol.

Recognition for Testers

Hall of Fame. Participants who submit detailed field reports will:

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  Be included in CONTRIBUTORS.md
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  Receive recognition in release notes
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  Be acknowledged in community channels

A Note on Cirith Ungol (The Bonus Trial)

Cirith Ungol represents the next level of validation - testing Fukuii against the real Ethereum Classic network. This is optional but highly valuable:

Why Test with Cirith Ungol?

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  Validates sync performance with 20M+ real blocks
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  Tests peer diversity (public network has many client types)
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  Reveals issues that only appear with substantial state
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  Measures real-world resource usage

When to Try Cirith Ungol:

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  After successfully completing Gorgoroth trials
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  When you have 4-8 hours for sync to complete
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  If you have 100GB+ available disk space
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  If you're comfortable with longer-running tests

What We Learn:

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  SNAP sync performance and reliability
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  Fast sync completion and state verification
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  Long-term stability (24+ hour continuous operation)
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  Memory usage patterns with large state
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  Disk I/O characteristics

Even if only a handful of testers attempt Cirith Ungol, the data will be invaluable for understanding Fukuii's production readiness.

Final Thoughts

The Gorgoroth Trials are more than just testing — they are a collective statement about the values that define Ethereum Classic and the future we are building together. They showcase a community willing to roll up its sleeves, validate its own infrastructure, and ensure that every upgrade stands on a foundation of open participation and technical rigor. In helping Fukuii take shape, we reinforce the ethos that has carried ETC through a decade of challenges:

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  Decentralization - Multiple independent client implementations
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  Quality - Thorough validation before production use
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  Transparency - Open testing and public results
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  Collaboration - Community-driven development

Your participation, whether testing for 15 minutes or running week-long stability tests, contributes to a stronger, more resilient Ethereum Classic network.

The gates of Gorgoroth are open. The trials have begun.

For the glory of Ethereum Classic!

— The Fukuii Development Team