Time of Defiance

In order to celebrate the recent release of the new Time of Defiance client, MegaGames are presenting an in depth look at the game, including a Q&A with developers and an exclusive ToD competition, offering a combined total of 21 months of free subscription to the game.

The review will give extended insight into all aspects of one of the most innovative and unique MMOG's out there. ToD's uniqueness lies in a simple premise, it is a Strategy MMOG played in Real Time. Games of varying durations are on offer, from a 7 day fast paced skirmish to the full 28 day experienced server game. Success depends on your ability to think big and in a world boasting over 4,000 km x 4,000 Km of playing area and hundreds of players ToD is as big as they come.

What all this does is to create a unique and totally addictive gaming experience, immersing players in a world where immense military machines can succumb to quick thinking, where politics, treachery and propaganda are your most valuable weapons and where any player may become the leader of an all-powerful alliance.

The creators give everyone the chance to enjoy a free 8 day, fully featured, demo of Time of Defiance in order to warm-up to the conditions of a game.

Time of Defiance is based on an extensive story which offers the backdrop against which players are asked to set-up their empires.
Read on and begin your journey into a world of political intrigue and military dominance, the world of Time of Defiance.

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In any game of the scale and intricacy of Time of Defiance, the best way to prepare in order to join the game, is to study the story surrounding gameplay. Reading the story can offer great insight as to the purpose of the game as well as some subtle hints as to the best approach in order to tackle your mission and realise your goals.

Life on Nespanona was good. Technological advancement marched hand in hand with prosperity and the inhabitants of the planet enjoyed a charmed life. Their knowledge of the forces around them grew but unfortunately, their understanding of those forces did not.

While experimenting with methods of compression, scientists made a few errors causing the beginning of the end for Nespanona. Mistake upon mistake led to the initiation of the process for the compression of the planet's core. It would not be long before the planet's surface simply crumbled and fell into the super-dense compressed core. The countdown to Nespanona's demise had started.

Panic ensued, the six billion inhabitants and their possessions had to be evacuated, while at the same time thousands of anti-gravity machines were deployed in order to hold Nespanona together for as long as possible.

The surface of Nespanona literally hung around for nearly a decade before the pressures finally collapsed it. The anti-gravity machines, though, continue to function today - 1 million years after they were constructed - a testament to the engineering skills of the planet's ancient inhabitants. Each one of them clings on to a small chunk of crust, some only a few hundred meters across, some as big as small countries.

And that is what Nespanona looks like today - tens of thousands of floating lumps of land, each at a slightly different altitude, each with slightly different environmental conditions, and some large enough to continue supporting life.

Nespanona today has two intelligent races (although in the case of one of them, intelligent may be the wrong adjective), the Cog and the Shadoo - both descended from stranded Nespan. Until now, both races had evolved separately, as neither had the technology necessary to travel from island to island. But things are changing. And not a moment too soon, it turns out.

The Mighty Cog Eighth House

The Cog are a violent, greedy, manipulating, lying, deceiving race of poor excuses for living things and yet are the most honourable people you'd ever meet. Whilst they have almost no laws for murder, they have a billion laws covering treason and dishonourable behaviour. The Cog have no culture to speak of, but possess an expansive knowledge of drinking, drinking games, fighting games and swear words.

The Cog are divided up into houses, each representing enlarged families with long histories. The houses maintain an uneasy peace by conducting their wars on distant islands through proxy, thus never actually having to take any responsibility for anything.

The most important house is the Eighth House. Many years ago, they did a little clandestine science (science is frowned on in Cog society) and figured out how to use the ancient Nespan Quantum Gate relics. They then sold rights of passage through the gate network so that other Cog houses could go out and claim land - safe in the knowledge that they held the key, and thus made all the real money.

Nowadays, wandering Cog Clans fight it out on the remains of the Northern Continent and trade with the Eighth House in order to conduct their battles. As a monopoly, the Eighth House are entirely satisfied with this arrangement.

The Shadoo
In the course of experimenting with the Quantum Gates, the Eighth House have encountered the peaceful, cultured, science loving and intelligent Shadoo. The Shadoo have made significantly more progress with decoding the Nespan technology. As you can imagine, they don't get on. The Cog Eighth House are currently at war with the Shadoo, and regularly sell the spoils of war to anyone who wants it.

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When a player first joins a game he is given an island and a basic fleet. The premise is simple, use what you have and build yourself the mightiest empire in the realm.
Time of Defiance is suited for a variety of players. If you are the academic type you will find a wealth of Tutorials, strategy guides, FAQ's and tips on the game's website. They are extremely useful in establishing the basics of the game, what you need to mine (stone, crystal, water, moss), what you need to mine those resources, which worlds are worth colonizing etc. The website will, in most cases provide enough information to equip even the psychotic overachiever.

If you are less academic however and a more hands-on kind of player, then you can always jump straight in attempting a trial-by-error approach. Such an attempt can be especially rewarding if you have some Real Time Strategy experience, success in ToD after all depends on many skills, some of which, such as negotiation and strategic thinking, are not at all game specific.

Another option open to the ToD beginner, is to join in on one of the 8 day demo games which offer a good place for beginners to get their bearings and it is free.
The most advisable approach for first time players however, is to dive in on a game but to always have the ToD website within easy reach so that you can educate yourself on the intricacies of the game.

In order to win, or just do well in the game you have to have collected the most points at the end of the one month game period. Each player's rank in the game can change dramatically from one moment to the next depending on the fortunes of the empires established by other players. s can greatly affect the whole league table during the game. The unpredictable nature of the game makes it extremely intriuing, especially since you have to be extra cautious during the time you are not logged on and keeping track of your empire.

Once you have sorted out your mining issues and you have adequate resources you start building your fleet. The choice of which ships to build depends greatly on what treaties, alliances and enemies you have, if you are part of an alliance which guarantees some form of security you can focus on mining, colonizing and trading vessels, while if you do not, a variety of warships will almost certainly be required.

Trading is an extremely important aspect of the game since you will need to establish
trading routes through which your islands will exchange resources.

The game's interface is extremely easy to use and will guide most players in a straightforward way, giving easy access to most options.
ToD has a thriving community which takes a very active part in all aspects of the game. You can find anything from empire diaries to interviews given by the most prominent and successful players.

There is something about this game which brings out the devious side of your nature, be prepared because the change may be permanent.

Score

All scores are percentages (out of 100)

Sound : 65 (needs to become more engaging)
Graphics : 85 (Lean but extremely effective)
Gameplay : 90 (Forget sleep, buy coffee)
Addictive Factor: 100 You will eventually need therapy.

Overall Score: 90

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MegaGames recently had the opportunity to put a few questions about Time of Defiance to Mark Ashton, a member of the development team.

MG: What are the main influences behind ToD?

MA: The main influences behind ToD are Ben Simpson, our creative director, and Greg
Brown, our art manager. Between them, and the rest of the development team, they
have created the world of Nespanona and the setting for Time of Defiance.

ToD is set on the world of Nespanona - an old planet with a long history. Today,
the planet is a shattered landscape of small islands floating above a massively
compacted core. The islands are held up with gravity generators installed by the
ancient race that used to live on Nespanona. The two races that currently
inhabit Nespanona are at war, and they have quite different outlooks on life.
The Cog are very much a brute force, steam-powered, heavy-drinking kind of
people ... thickset and happy to live their lives in conflict. The Shadoo are a
bit more advanced culturally and technologically than the Cog, and have made
good progress in working out how to use some of the ancient machinery holding
Nespanona together.

Recently, sightings have been reported across Nespanona of strange craft of
alien design. Historians have claimed that the design of the vessels is
remarkably similar to the machinery left behind by the ancient Nespan ... a race
assumed to have died out millennia ago.

MG: What is ToD and what do you believe sets it apart from other MMOG's?

MA: ToD is a massive-multiplayer, real-time strategy game set in a persistent game
world with thousands of islands to claim over millions of square kilometres of
the Northern continent. We run games of varying durations - from 7 day 'fast
paced' skirmish games to our 28 day experienced server game. Each player
commands their own empire and vies for control of the continent by exploring and
claiming islands, and mining them for the resources they hold. Throughout the
game every player is aware of their score - and how that places them in
comparison to the other empires in the game. At game end, the top ten empires
are awarded league points and any empire that qualifies for a reward medal is
given one. The fun then starts again in a new game with each empire (hopefully)
more wise and knowledgeable, and also full of grudges for the players that
attacked them last game!

ToD is different from many other MMOG's simply because it is an RTS game, a rare
genre for MMP games in a persistent world. Also, because our games have a
definite end point it is much easier for new players to hold their own against
more experienced players. Experienced players obviously have more ToD skills
than newbies, but at the start of a game everyone is equal in terms of units and
potential.

MG: ToD has been online since August 21st 2002 and was tested for about a
year prior to that, (two million gaming minutes, I hear) what has the
development team gained from that experience and what changes has that
knowledge affected on the game?

MA: Feedback on online games is crucial to providing a better game for everyone
concerned. The main reason that ToD went online so soon in its development was
to get feedback on what worked, what didn't, and what needed improving. These
refinements are always an ongoing process, and the current version of ToD is a
much cleaner and more accessible game because of it. Each month we make a
release and over the past months the focus for enhancements and refinements has
varied from interface improvements, to content improvements, to 3rd party
accessibility. ach release we hope to not only provide brand new content (such
as new units) but also enhance what is there already - whether that be graphical
improvements or game play tweaks.

MG: What is your favorite aspect of the game?

MA: The propaganda and battle reports from players are one of the coolest aspects of
the game, and just show how the out-of-game action can be just as important as
the in-game action. A hard lesson for word-shy empires is finding out that the
enemy that attacked them unprovoked has beaten them to the propaganda and
managed to rally other players to join in their demise! Just as in real life,
not everything you read is the truth and it pays to be cautious of the motives
behind some empires 'reports'.

MG: The game seems to have extensive and continuous support. With the
new version, new features were introduced (such as the Cog Fighter
Tower) is that a priority for the development team and do you take into account ToD
community input when working on new features?

MA: As mentioned earlier, we try and get a balance between new features and
enhancements. We obviously can't implement every idea given to us by every
player, but we do read them all and give them serious consideration. Often an
idea from our community will be something we've already planned - which is nice
as it means everyone is on the same wavelength. Having specific forums asking
for feedback means we can keep an eye on what people are having problems with,
and if it becomes clear that a specific feature isn't understood we can make
changes to help with that. It is this kind of iterative enhancement that is
responsible for the changes in the ToD UI over time.

MG: Many MMOG games build extensive stories which surround the game. While
ToD does have a basic structure forming story, it gives the impression of being
much more dynamic. What I mean is that the story seems to be gameplay
driven. Players create it as they go along which makes ToD unpredictable and
extremely captivating. Was that intended or did the game evolve in that
direction?

MA: That was always an intended part of ToD. There *is* a large back story covering
a million years or so, but there is a conveniently placed empty space
corresponding to the timeline in which Time of Defiance is set. The idea is that
the world has a history and, to some degree, a future which we have designed.
The fine details of the here-and-now are what are being sorted out now - with
the games and the players being a large part of what will, in time, become the
history of the world. We don't want to stifle the players with the fine details
of what we say the story is - the story is dynamic enough that the fine detail
is created by the players and their happenings, while the big picture is
expanded upon by us.

MG: How important is the formation of large alliances to the game? Do you
believe alliances could ever become a problem by (for example) intimidating new
users?

MA: Alliances are always important in massively multiplayer games whether the reason
is for guidance, local-stability or tactical strength. ToD is no different in
this regard, and having well connected allies can certainly help your individual
game.
We've not had any major problems with alliances intimidating new users, but
there have been cases of ruthless alliances attacking others with no warning or
contact. When this happens though the alliance can often only get away with it
for one game or so before the other players realise that they need to band
together against a common enemy :-)

MG: What would your advice be to a MMOGRTS beginner, considering joining the
ToD world? Would you recommend it to them or would you ask them to gain
some experience before joining in?

MA: There is no reason why a beginner can't just jump straight in. Most people are
MMPO-RTS beginners simply because it isn't a common genre! Even players who are
experienced in single player, or LAN, RTS games will have new things to learn in
a massively multiplayer online environment.
My advice to a new player would be to tread carefully and remember that your
actions have an effect on another real-life human, not a piece of AI code. Some
people forget that the person they are attacking is human, and may well be (a)
much stronger than them or (b) have powerful friends.

MG: Having tried the game I can definitely say that it offers an immersive
experience, the only problem which may arise is that the Real Time
nature of the gameplay may cause stress when real life obligations force
you away from the PC. Do you have a warning system set up for offline
players i.e. email, sms? NiCE had also mentioned something about a pocket
PC version of the game, has that been completed?

MA: From with the Time of Defiance client you can set up email notifications about
certain key events - like being attacked - and so these can help you respond to
game-events without having to be logged on 24/7.
We are always looking into new ways of letting players access our game - and get
feedback from the game - and for that reason SMS is attractive, but not
something we have implemented yet.
The Pocket PC version of Time of Defiance is still underway, and will offer a
great way to access your empire while on the move.

MG: The game graphics seem to combine visual pleasure with efficiency quite
well, could you tell us a few things about the technology behind the game?

MA: It is very important for us to find a balance between fantastic visuals and a
decent download size that doesn't put people off. At the simplest level, our
game doesn't need flashy visuals to be playable ... but everyone appreciates a
gorgeous view when playing! The visuals are an area we have been improving ever
since launch - sometimes from feedback, sometimes because some new technology
has been made available to us which allows us to get more effect with a minimal
increase in download size.

We have over 30 types of ship, 20 types of building, and a dozen islands spread
over a 4000x4000 km play area all in a 10Mb download!

MG: Are there any plans for a sequel? What project is currently under way at
NiCE?

MA: The world of Nespanona has a lot of story still to be told, and so Time of
Defiance will grow as events unfold.
We do have plans for other projects, that aren't Time of Defiance, but it is too
early in their development to start giving teasers :-)

MG: Finally what games does the development team enjoy while taking a break?

MA: At the moment we're playing Battlefield 1942 - with the Desert Combat mod - and
also Quake 3 for a quick blast. We also play a lot of Time of Defiance, believe
it or not, and often have to spend some time defending our feeble empires
against players aspiring to trash a developer. They don't always succeed though.

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MegaGames, in association with Nicely Crafted Entertainment are holding an exclusive Time of Defiance competition giving the chance for 3 lucky winners to gain a combined total of 21 months of free ToD subscriptions. The prize breakdown is as follows:

1st Prize: 12 month ToD Subscription

2nd Prize: 6 month ToD Subscription

3rd Prize: 3 month ToD Subscription.

All you have to do is answer one simple ToD question, you will need to try out free demo in order to get the answer correctly and to enter the competition.
The question is:

How many Quantum Traders in total do you start a new game of Time of Defiance
with?
To enter you have to download the ToD client, by following the download tab above. Then visit the ToD Homepage. and set up your free demo account.

Once you know the answer send in your reply, together with the following details:

ToD demo CID (customer ID)
your empire name
and Email address

to megagames@123box.co.uk.

All entries arriving up to the 31st of March, inclusive, will be accepted and the three lucky winners will be drawn on Wednesday the 2nd of April.

The question is:

How many Quantum Traders in total do you start a new game of Time of Defiance
with?

Good Luck

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