Game Updates — August 2022

Published in

DEFY Labs Engineering

5 min readSep 1, 2022

The aim of this article is to cover all of the changes made within the DEFY app and gameplay over the past month.

Below is a quick overview of all the updates made within the app over the month of August (detailed explanation for major features can be found further down).

Updates

New Gameplay Features

Hunter Drones (ARM-2000) have been implemented.
A new Wallet Uploading System has been put in place replacing the former wallet banking system.
Operatives can now drop wallets back on the ground and re-pick them as part of a new strategy against Hunter Drones.
Mask degradation has been added by introducing the Battery Health mechanic (and providing the ability to repair batteries with $DEFY).
The EMP Weapon, first of many to come, has been added (along with capacitators to recharge energy with $DEFY).
Several new in-game audio cues have been added to support the new gameplay features.
Hunter Drones AI improved slightly to draw them towards players with little or no heat.

App User Interface

The overall UI has been updated to better handle smaller screens.
A new dashboard has been added with focus on mask and map buttons.
Both battery health and battery charge indicators are now front and centre on the active mask tile.
A restore mask energy button has been implemented.
The mask switching window now has a more polished design and animation.
The settings page has been improved animated buttons.
User profiles now feature additional stats such as total number of wallets decrypted, towers hacked, and drones destroyed.
The wallet screen has been updated with new icons and a refreshed look.
Purchases in the Black Market now cause the phone to vibrate.

Wallet Decryption

The value of High Security Wallets have been tweaked from ‘Up to 800 FCOIN’ to ‘Up to 900 FCOIN’.
Maximum Security Wallet values have been tweaked from ‘Up to 1200 FCOIN’ to ‘Over 900 FCOIN’.
Players who stocked up on Maximum Security Wallets prior to the change may find their wallets converted to High Security instead as a vast majority of them contained a range of 800 to 900 FCOIN.
Decryption puzzle has been refreshed with a new strategy-play introduced where FCOIN rewards are now scaled based on decryption performance rather than completely randomised.
The colours of the numbered tiles have been brightened to be easier on the eyes.
Both Sound effects and background music have been added for a more engaging experience.

Note: Decryption will be further tweaked in the coming days to be more rewarding than it presently is, and in the longer term more variations in puzzle types are being planned for.

Map View

SFX has been added to drones when spawning and for the different modes when in pursuit and inching close to players.
A new scrolling alert bar has been implemented at the top to warn of active events such as drone pursuits. You may hide the alert bar by tapping on it if you do not prefer having it.
Security bars have been added to the bottom of Network Towers and Wallet markers to better indicate its security level at a glance.
Both Network Tower and Wallet overlays on the map have been refreshed with new component.
Propeller sounds have been added when being pursued by a drone. This sound increases in volume as the drone gets closer to you.

Black Market

The purchase of Tier 1 Invites for 1,000 $DEFY has been discontinued.
An EMP Weapon has been added for 500 $DEFY. Players need only purchase one for multiple usage.
The Minting of Uprising Masks will soon be made possible via $DEFY, including in-app Alpha tokens.

Bug Fixes

The map no longer zooms out upon hacking or stealing.
Masks will now always display the correct number of energy bars.
Wallet status component improved to look better on different screen sizes.
Message count only shows for logged in users.
Users redirected from Settings to Dashboard on sign out.
EMPs are much more likely to hit drones even when GPS is a little wonky.
Stopped stacking modals on wallet decryption.

Major Game Updates Explained

1. Wallet Upload

Previously, Operatives had to move out of the active zone to automatically bank all stolen wallets. With the new upload system, you will notice every wallet stolen will automatically begin an uploading process to retrieve its data. This needs to be fully complete (100%) before the wallet is successfully banked, with higher security wallets taking a longer duration to upload its data.

An ‘Upload Speed Boost’ feature is currently in development to allow Operatives to consume more energy to temporarily boost their upload speed, especially useful when attempting to stay hidden from a nearby drone. Players also have the option to drop the wallet back on the ground in the event of being pursued by drones and being unable to outrun them or have weapons to take them down.

Note: Leaving your hexagonal zone while your wallet is in the middle of uploading its data will result in its progress reset to 0%. The process will restart upon re-entering the zone.

2. Hunter Drones

Future Systems is officially fighting back, having deployed a new set of drones that are now capable of actively pursuing Operatives in its radar if they are spotted carrying an unbanked wallet. These Hunter Drones can drain your mask’s energy and issue a hefty fine if you get caught by them.

For every unbanked wallet you carry that is in the middle of uploading its data, you will emit a greater level of heat (denoted by the red circle around your position). If that heat radius falls within the Hunter Drone’s radar, you will be actively targeted by them. When in pursuit, you have three options to escape from them; outrun them long enough to successfully upload the wallet’s data, drop the wallet back on the ground to avoid getting caught and fined, or use an EMP weapon (if you have one) to destroy the drone.

3. EMP Weapon

While more weapons are actively being developed, the EMP weapon is currently the only defence against Hunter Drones. When being pursued by a Hunter, hold the ‘Charge EMP’ button to increase the EMP radius. The greater the radius, the more energy it will cost to fire the EMP (you can swipe outside the EMP button to cancel the charge).

Releasing the charge button will fire the EMP, taking out any drones within the radius targeted.

Note:

- Once you fire the EMP you will be temporarily blinded for a few seconds. Therefore make it count and do not miss your target.

- You may purchase a capacitor for 20 $DEFY to refill your energy back to its maximum capacity.

4. Battery Heath

All masks now come with a maximum energy recharging capacity that will start to decrease by 1% for every certain amount of energy is consumed, therefore masks battery health and ability to store energy degrades with use over time. Genesis masks will degrade at the slowest pace, followed by Uprising, and thereafter the remaining mask groups. You may restore Battery Health back to 100% with 100 $DEFY.

About DEFY

DEFY is passionate about building the next generation tools and platforms that allow users to view and interact with NFTs and other digital collectibles in the real world. DEFY’s vision of the metaverse is one that involves merging the virtual and physical worlds in a compelling and inspiring way.