Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances World

The Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances world is huge. It is a circle with a radius of 800 locations. That's roughly 2 million possible places to put your first base in (given that the server will have a maximum of 50,000 players). But of course, not all that area is free space. In fact, as you approach the center of the world, space becomes more and more packed with bases of the enemy AI - dubbed the Forgotten.

Unlike Ikariam, which is a game that has no distinct goal, except to remain as one of the top players in the rankings, there is a goal in Tiberium Alliances, and that is to attack, and presumably conquer the Forgotten Fortress which is located at the center of the world. The base levels surrounding that fortress are between levels 44 and 46. So that base is probably at level 50. To put that in perspective, you start the game at level 1. The best player (since he is ranked 1) in the server I'm playing in is currently at level 20 and he is in the region of the world were base levels are between 23 and 26. He currently has the most number of bases for an individual player, numbered at four. Assuming he has been playing since the server started, and assuming that has been on March 2012, when this game was officially released, this game has a long ways to go before the end.

I don't know what will happen when the Forgotten Fortress is finally controlled by an alliance. But one thing is certain, it will be a tough challenge if alliances focus on defeating one another - a zero sum game - when they could all focus on defeating the Forgotten Fortress. Clearly, a single player who is un-alligned will be heavily burdened to defeat the AI Fortress on his own. There are eight shield control hubs about 20 locations away from the fortress on all eight regions (N, E, S, W and those in-between). Four of these have to be disabled before you can even attack the main fortress. And bases upon bases of the enemy is all around - ranging from camps to outposts.

Alliances are also limited in the number of player slots, maxing out at 50 each. So even if all players would want to band together, getting to the center would probably take several years. This is a time-span that a casual gamer might not readily commit to.

I would want to see that day, when the main Forgotten Fortress finally falls. Hopefully, I would be part of one of the alliances responsible for AI's downfall. It would be a glorious day, and perhaps, also sad, since it signifies the end of the CCTA journey. But you at least in this game, you have a solid goal to aim for.