Note: This article is a summarised version of the video below for users who prefer an update in written form instead. We have also added timestamps onto the video for your convenience.
Introduction
This is our very first community update via a video format. Ideally, we would like to do this on a regular basis to keep users updated in all things DEFY, as well as provide an opportunity for our players to know our game developers and other team members.
Note: The exact frequency of uploads is yet to be confirmed, though likely to be on a quarterly basis.
The update is split into four main talking points, in an effort to structure the session in a manner that flows. We will follow the same format for future update videos as well. The talking points are as follows:
1. Past Development leading up to Present-day
This is where we acknowledge the past months, sharing more insights on unexpected difficulties that came along the way with development including potential delays that happened as a result.
2. Present-day Priorities
This primarily involves working on items targeted for release as soon as possible, typically for the weeks ahead.
3. Short-term Future
This covers upcoming developments planned for over the next couple of months, which in this instance will be about Q4, or the rest of 2022.
4. Long-term Vision
A look into some of the other things that are planned for further down the line.
1. Past Developments [01:34 — 11:20]
Release of EMP Weapons [02:13]
- Challenges: Not enough playtesting prior to release, which led to an overwhelming amount of feedback after the feature was shipped.
- Changes: We realized having the EMP button only show up when a drone was actively pursuing players restricted too much gameplay and have therefore made the change to allow usage of EMP weapons at any time desired.
Changes to Hunter Drones Search Pattern [03:57]
Instead of having Hunter Drones spawn and go after a wallet at random upon hacking a tower, changes have been made to the AI such that it targets the wallet closest to the player first — thereby presenting more opportunities encounters with the drone (and the ability to take them down).
Token Bridge [05:05]
A token bridge has been implemented so users may transfer tokens acquired from exchanges into the game for purchasing items, consumables, or minting new masks.
To bridge tokens from on-chain to in-game, visit: https://bridge.defydisrupt.io/
Note: DEFY is currently listed on ByBit and QuickSwap for the time being.
Additional Ways of Earning $DEFY [05:38]
Throughout the first four alpha missions, apart from bonus mission rewards, the only way players could earn $DEFY in-game was via pledging FCOIN daily. We have since made new sources for $DEFY, which includes destroying drones and hacking towers.
- Taking down Collector Drones: 20 $DEFY/drone*
- Taking down Hunter Drones: 50 $DEFY/drone*
- Hacking any zone daily: 2 $DEFY/zone* (hacking the same zone multiple times in the same day will not reward additional rewards)
- First to hack a zone that has never been hacked before: 10 $DEFY/zone*
Note:
- All $DEFY earned through alternative means still fall under the daily earnings cap.
- *The above reward values are for our current Alpha Mission 5 gameplay. These values will be reviewed and likely rebalanced in Beta.
Updates to App User Interface [07:28]
Thanks to a fellow community member who proactively decided to share design suggestions to better improve the appearance of our game, we have since brought on the user as a full-time employee and made significance changes to the game design. Expect more of such changes to come in the future to improve the gameplay experience, including a new design for our website before we head towards public launch.
New Augmentation to Gameplay [08:18]
In addition to major updates such as drones and EMP weapons, there have been tweaks made to further add to existing gameplay elements, such as the ability to speed up wallet uploads by spending energy. More of such tweaks are currently being planned for.
Improvements to Wallet Decryption Puzzle [08:50]
We realize the initial changes made to the decryption puzzle was too punishing in nature, with rewards not being balanced in a proper manner. This was partly due to not having done enough playtesting, however, we have since been tweaking it and will see towards shipping it after having it tested further internally.
Detecting Malicious Activities [10:35]
We have been building tools and security features behind the scenes capable of detecting foul play, identifying Operatives who attempt to circumvent systems put in place to ensure a fair game. Some of these measures have already been made live, while we will continue working on improving these measures in the near future.
Overall Learning Points:
- To tighten up internal playtesting further prior to public release, including getting select community members to help test brand new features pre-release.
- To communicate new updates in a clearer manner via update logs and release notes. This includes medium articles, announcements on Discord, and in-game notifications via the message inbox feature.
2. Current Priorities [11:20 — 19:09]
Getting Ready for Beta Release [11:33]
- Adding more features and gameplay elements to make the game significantly more fun and engaging — something that users would want to come back and play for rather than have the gameplay feel like a grind.
- Enabling Operatives to off-ramp $DEFY tokens earned in beta from in-game to on-chain
Levelling System [12:38]
We are currently designing a two-pronged levelling system where both the Operative Account and Mask NFTs are capable of levelling up, in efforts to introduce a balanced system that counters a pay-to-win pathway.
Example: A new user splurging on a high-level mask from OpenSea may have a slight advantage, however, in order to unlock the fullest potential and raise their mask’s level further, they would have to raise their own Operative level as well)
Introducing Classes [14:55]
In addition to the levelling system we’re designing different classes for masks. Currently we’re considering the trees being:
- Hacking
- Combat
- Tech
Each of these classes will have different strengths and weaknesses. The idea is for users to experience different strengths of the gameplay based on how they choose to build on their masks as they level them up. Operatives with multiple masks may choose to dedicate a specific class to each mask.
We’re in the midst of designing this and it’s very open to change, but we wanted to share how we’re currently thinking about the game design.
Note: While we have planned for the Levelling and Class mechanic up to 30 levels, the initial release of this system will offer levelling up to Level 10 for beta. This will be increased as we build the game with a lot more features and expand on having further functionality.
Enhancements to Existing Gameplay [16:21]
In efforts to make the game a lot more fun, we will be improving certain gameplay elements, such as providing abilities to roam the map faster, defend yourself from Future Systems drones better, as well as take down drones in new ways apart from the existing EMP weapon.
We are also working on an inventory system which will allow us to drop loot in different ways. This would enable us to implement a system where Operatives may stand a chance of obtaining a loot box from destroying a drone, which could then reward with consumables that help enrich the gameplay experience. We will look towards spawning items on the map, with a whole bunch of cool items already planned and in development currently.
Balancing Gameplay Economy when introducing $DEFY Withdrawals Off-Game [17:56]
We want to make sure the economy is balanced in a way where the token is able to continue to sustain our gameplay for the long run. A lot of discussion has taken place internally surrounding how we balance the sinks and faucets within the game, as well as new and upcoming features that will allow us to reward players for holding and earning tokens in-game.
We want to ensure that players who are acquiring tokens in-game are truly earning them rather than simply joining the game to drain the economy. Further information will be shared in the near future when these gameplay mechanics are ready for release, some of which may be tied to our levelling system.
3. Upcoming Developments for Q4 2022 [19:22 — 26:23]
Public Launch [19:30]
One of our primary goals for Q4 is to officially launch DEFY on app stores, however prior to that it is important for us to have a smooth experience in-place for new players joining in.
This includes an in-game tutorial phase of getting users acquainted with their masks, how they are used, the levelling and class system, the different gameplay mechanics and elements rather than having to navigate through everything by themselves or depend on a walkthrough guide online or join the Discord to understand the game.
Free-to-Play Masks [20:45]
We will be releasing free-to-play masks with our official public launch.
We have designed a system for players to come into the game for free, experience parts of the gameplay and get a feel for what the game context is about. Ideally, they would be able to play all the way up to being able to build their own mask.
Currently our alpha (and upcoming beta) phases have been gated behind premium masks. As we implement the levelling system, the strengths and utilities associated to them will become more apparent when noting differences between mask tiers and how powerful they can be.
Magic.Link Wallet Integration [21:53]
As we move towards expanding our player base beyond the current Operatives holding premium masks, we want to be able to provide a frictionless on-ramp, giving newcomers the ability to join without going through a lengthy and complicated crypto set-up.
This is especially important if we want to reach a large number of players currently familiar with the Web 2 gaming space. That means onboarding new players into the crypto space while removing away the complexities that come with a traditional crypto wallet like MetaMask.
Magic.Link wallets would allow new players to sign up with just an email address and have a crypto wallet within the game that is non-custodial. We will not, at any point, hold onto private keys of any users, as we believe it is important for our users to be the ones who retain complete control of their assets as opposed to the traditional Web 2 company that has assets sitting on a server.
The non-custodial experience that comes with Magic.Link allows players to get in and become crypto users seamlessly, potentially not even realizing it to begin with. When they continue playing and earn more $DEFY and assets within the game, they would have had a crypto wallet holding custody of their assets the entire time. We will provide the ability for users to export their private key from their device to pull out their assets off the app and use it in other manners in Web 3 as well.
Alternative Indoor Gameplay Options [24:52]
We are currently looking into building gameplay elements that will not require players to move out on their feet straight away in order to play the game
Example: Being able to do something within the app while at home or sitting by the desk working.
While we have brainstormed several options that we could potentially build on, we have yet to finalise on the exact feature yet at this time but wanted to acknowledge this request received from players and address that we are looking into providing this alternative form of gameplay.
4. Long-term Vision [26:32–33:44]
Note: Please keep in mind we are only in alpha, the earliest phase of the project. We have a big vision to create a deep and engaging location-based game that blurs the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds we are crafting in DEFY. There are so many dimensions to what we want to do in the space.
Gameplay Engagement via Immersion [26:45]
One of our plans to increase engagement within the game is adding a first-person shooter (FPS) element, which will help increase immersion and let players feel and experience the DEFY world in a more real and tangible way.
Live Gameplay Demo [27:50–29:44]
The live demo showcases gameplay in a 3D environment rather than in Augmented Reality (AR). While AR modes are popular due to the ability in creating shareable moments for social media, it is often switched off due to battery and performance reasons. This is the case with popular AR games, including Pokémon GO (where majority do not always enable AR when encountering wild Pokémon and only do so for taking pictures and videos).
We will be integrating AR into our platform as we move forward, however, we want to experiment with the best ways to do so such that it gives the best experience for our Operatives.
Blurring Boundaries via Augmented NFTs [29:44]
One way we believe we can blur boundaries between the real and virtual worlds in a deep and engaging way is using NFTs that are both forgeable and customisable.
One feature that we have plans for in the future is the ability to customise personal drones, similar to the way decals add towards customising one’s mask. While we are still mapping out how the gameplay aspects would work, we have a reasonably confident view towards setting up Player Versus Player (PvP), and Co-operative (Co-op) modes.
Drones Chassis and Assembling Your Own Drone [30:43]
For the time being we are looking at how the 3D assets we have created could be integrated — for example with our drone chassis, the way in which we allow users to attach weapons, batteries and other parts to them is something we have considered.
Each of the different drone parts are planned to be NFTs. Some of them may be collected via the map by destroying Future Systems drones, and others minted or sold within the Black Market.
The way players can collect the different parts will be according to a standard loot table where users can get a feel for what they want to build based on their class, pick up different items that may vary in rarity levels and looks. The display on the front is something we are looking at towards integrating other projects.
Collaboration between Operatives [32:31]
We have a lot of ideas and are passionate about providing methods for players to collaborate with one another.
Some of the things we are excited about and looking at in the future include allowing players to create their own teams to work together with, and potentially allowing teams to capture the hexagonal zones spread around the world and control them such as adding defenses and upgrades to them. We do not have any specifics to share on this just yet as this is more of a long-term vision. At some point, in a future update video, this could be covered under Part 3 for Upcoming Developments.
Conclusion
In an ideal situation, the above four-part structure to our update video would create a flow where an item that used to be covered in Part 4 of an initial update video would end up being covered in Part 3 of a later update as it moves from being a long-term vision to an upcoming development in the short-term.
Similarly, items once covered in Part 3 would eventually be highlighted under Part 2 of a future update video when it becomes a present-day priority. As items go from being planned, developed and prioritised, they will eventually be covered under Part 1 of a future update video to acknowledge it being released, including the challenges faced throughout the process (if any).
Of course, things do not always go according to plan as potential obstacles can occur throughout each new feature’s journey to being released, causing delays due to the unpredictable nature of development. We will strive towards communicating them as and when they happen.
With this being our first Community Update Video, we would like to hear your thoughts — if you like receiving updates in this new format, the structure of the session, feedback on the content and our direction towards gameplay. Pop onto our Discord server and share your view perhaps!
Note: We will still conduct live AMA sessions either on Discord or Twitter Space regularly to open the floor for questions form the community. These Community Update Videos are meant to be a separate and additional aspect and not a replacement to AMA sessions.
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.
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